Deep-water sediment transport patterns and basin floor topography in early rift basins: Plio-Pleistocene syn-rift of the Corinth Rift,Greece

Our current understanding on sedimentary deep-water environments is mainly built of information obtained from tectonic settings such as passive margins and foreland basins. More observations from extensional settings are particularly needed in order to better constrain the role of active tectonics in controlling sediment pathways, depositional style and stratigraphic stacking patterns. This study focuses on the evolution of a Plio-Pleistocene deep-water sedimentary system (Rethi-Dendro Formation) and its relation to structural activity in the Amphithea fault block in the Corinth Rift, Greece. The Corinth Rift is an active extensional basin in the early stages of rift evolution, providing perfect opportunities for the study of early deep-water syn-rift deposits that are usually eroded from the rift shoulders due to erosion in mature basins like the Red Sea, North Sea and the Atlantic rifted margin. The depocentre is located at the exit of a structurally controlled sediment fairway, approximately 15 km from its main sediment source and 12 km basinwards from the basin margin coastline. Fieldwork, augmented by digital outcrop techniques (LiDAR and photogrammetry) and clast-count compositional analysis allowed identification of 16 stratigraphic units that are grouped into six types of depositional elements: A—mudstone-dominated sheets, B—conglomerate-dominated lobes, C—conglomerate channel belts and sandstone sheets, D—sandstone channel belts, E—sandstone-dominated broad shallow lobes, F—sandstone-dominated sheets with broad shallow channels. The formation represents an axial system sourced by a hinterland-fed Mavro delta, with minor contributions from a transverse system of conglomerate-dominated lobes sourced from intrabasinal highs. The results of clast compositional analysis enable precise attribution for the different sediment sources to the deep-water system and their link to other stratigraphic units in the area. Structures in the Amphithea fault block played a major role in controlling the location and orientation of sedimentary systems by modifying basin-floor gradients due to a combination of hangingwall tilt, displacement of faults internal to the depocentre and folding on top of blind growing faults. Fault activity also promoted large-scale subaqueous landslides and eventual uplift of the whole fault block.     

凤太矿田层控铅锌(铜)矿床的成矿物质来源探讨

秦岭凤太矿田层控铅锌(铜)矿床的金属物质、硫和成矿溶液主要来自深部基底的岩石,属海底喷流—沉积成因矿床。从这一理论认识出发可进一步分析控矿地质条件及今后在该区有效地寻找同类矿床。     

Late Quaternary submarine bedforms and ice‐sheet flow in Gerlache Strait and on the adjacent continental shelf,Antarctic Peninsula

Geophysical data from Gerlache Strait, Croker Passage, Bismarck Strait and the adjacent continental shelf reveal streamlined subglacial bedforms that were produced at the bed of the Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet (APIS) during the last glaciation. The spatial arrangement and orientation of these bedforms record the former drainage pattern and flow dynamics of an APIS outlet up‐flow, and feeding into, a palaeo‐ice stream in the Western Bransfield Basin. Evidence suggests that together, they represent a single ice‐flow system that drained the APIS during the last glaciation. The ice‐sheet outlet flowed north/northeastwards through Gerlache Strait and Croker Passage and converged with a second, more easterly ice‐flow tributary on the middle shelf to form the main palaeo‐ice stream. The dominance of drumlins with low elongation ratios suggests that ice‐sheet outlet draining through Gerlache Strait was comparatively slower than the main palaeo‐ice stream in the Western Bransfield Basin, although the low elongation ratios may also partly reflect the lack of sediment. Progressive elongation of drumlins further down‐flow indicates that the ice sheet accelerated through Croker Passage and the western tributary trough, and fed into the main zone of streaming flow in the Western Bransfield Basin. Topography would have exerted a strong control on the development of the palaeo‐ice stream system but subglacial geology may also have been significant given the transition from crystalline bedrock to sedimentary strata on the inner–mid‐shelf. In the broader context, the APIS was drained by a number of major fast‐flowing outlets through cross‐shelf troughs to the outer continental shelf during the last glaciation. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Thaw modification of frost-fissure wedges,Richards Island,Pleistocene Mackenzie Delta,Western Arctic Canada

Thaw modification is the general process whereby frost-fissure wedges are modified during thaw, and by which frost-fissure pseudomorphs may develop. Specific processes of thaw modification are inferred from ice-wedge pseudomorphs, composite-wedge pseudomorphs and deformed sand wedges in the Pleistocene Mackenzie Delta: i.e. thermal erosion, collapse, subsidence, refreezing, loading, buoyancy, spreading, folding and shearing. Thaw modification is believed to result in selective preservation of pseudomorphs and wedges. Sand wedges are more likely to be preserved than are ice-wedge pseudomorphs or compositewedge pseudomorphs, because only those sand wedges that penetrate massive ice or icy sediments are prone to thaw modification. Furthermore, whereas ice wedges preferentially develop in ice-rich, fine-grained sediments (thaw-sensitive), their pseudomorphs appear to be selectively preserved in ice-poor, coarse-grained sediments (thaw-stable).     

Defect properties of albite

Knowledge of the defect properties of Lunar and Mercurian minerals has recently become important, with the advent of models which attempt to explain the formation of the thin exosphere of these celestial bodies. Here, we have calculated the formation energies of sodium and oxygen vacancies in the mineral albite (NaAlSi₃O₈), as well as the Schottky defect energy for the removal of a Na₂O unit. We have employed both the supercell and Mott–Littleton approaches, using Kohn–Sham density functional theory and classical interatomic potential methods. As well as reporting the defect energies and structures, we comment upon the relative merits of the methods used.     

Carbon stable isotopes in estuarine sediments and their utility as migration markers for nursery studies in the Firth of Forth and Forth Estuary, Scotland

The stable carbon isotope ratios (δ¹³C) of the organic fraction of intertidal sediments in the Forth Estuary and the Firth of Forth, Scotland, were measured to determine if terrestrially derived carbon was present in the estuarine sediments. It was hypothesised that differences in the inputs from marine vs. terrestrial sources to the organic carbon of estuarine and marine sediments, as well as differences in ambient seawater stable oxygen isotope (δ¹⁸O) ratios between the estuary and the Outer Firth, would allow the use of these two stable isotopes as habitat markers for juvenile plaice (Pleuronectes platessa), to allow determination of nursery habitats. Muddy and sandy sediments from the estuary and sandy sediments from the Outer Firth were sampled and δ¹³C measured. Juvenile plaice were caught at two estuarine sites and at two Outer Firth sites and otoliths were removed for δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O analysis. The sandy sediments in the estuary showed a strong gradient of δ¹³C enrichment with distance down the estuary, while the muddy sediments showed a much shallower gradient. δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O measured in the carbonate of juvenile plaice otoliths showed no clear difference between otoliths of fish caught at one of the estuarine sites and at the two Outer Firth sites. However, the isotope ratios of both carbon and oxygen in plaice otoliths from the other estuarine site showed the expected trend of depletion in the heavier isotopes. While the measurements recorded here did not conclusively distinguish between otoliths from juveniles caught in the estuarine site and those caught in the other three sites, they show that stable isotopes have potential to distinguish between estuarine habitats with terrestrial carbon inputs, and coastal marine habitats with predominantly marine carbon inputs.     

胶州湾海水中颗粒有机碳含量的分布与变化

本文报道了胶州湾表层海水及C_3和D_3站中层和底层水中的颗粒有机碳(POC)的分布与变化规律。结果表明,胶州湾POC年平均浓度为155～410μg/L;平面分布有明显的规律性,近岸和河口一带的含量较高,湾中部较低,湾口诸站为最低;垂直分布有个别数值偏高或偏低现象,但没有明显的规律;季节变化较明显,初春较高,秋季较低。     

珠江口盆地西江主洼油气差异分布机制

西江主洼是珠江口盆地一个低勘探程度洼陷，油气差异聚集特征明显，但其机理不清。本文在断陷盆地油气成藏理论指导下，利用研究区地质、地球物理和地球化学等资料，开展了烃源岩、断盖组合、储集体系和运聚模式等方面的研究。结果表明，裂陷期沉降、沉积中心有序迁移，造成主力烃源岩自东向西由文四段迁移至文三段、文一+二段，控制东、西部油气差异分布。恩平组区域性泥岩发育且晚期断裂缺乏，导致油气纵向上更易聚集于下构造层；区域泥岩减薄尖灭或晚期断裂切开盖层的区域，上构造层有一定油气分布。"源-汇"类型从宏观上控制储层优劣，影响下构造层油气富集程度；"仓储"运移是控制上构造层油气规模聚集的主要模式。下构造层古近系应作为重点部署方向，东部围绕文四段、西部围绕文三段、文一+二段烃源岩构成的含油气系统展开；上构造层勘探需关注珠海组，在隆起周边寻找具备"仓储"运移模式的有利区带。     

Poverty, vulnerability and the impact of flooding in the Limpopo Province, South Africa

The article evaluates household vulnerability after the 2000 flood in two poor communities of the Limpopo Province, South Africa. The study analyses the forms of vulnerability which disasters such as floods present. Using data gathered from a survey of households, the study presents the impacts, coping and adapting strategies of households after the 2000 flood. The article argues that beyond the concern over socio-economic circumstances as the major determinant of household vulnerability, the management of the disaster can serve to perpetuate vulnerability.