Stratigraphic evidence for late-Holocene aeolian sand mobilization and soil formation in south-central Kansas, U.S.A.

Stratigraphic evidence and radiocarbon dating of sediments from the Great Bend Sand Prairie in Kansas indicates that significant deposits of aeolian sand have accumulated in the region during the late Holocene. Radiocarbon ages obtained from total humates in buried soils suggest that five periods of late-Holocene stability and soil formation are preserved in dune fields at approximately 2300, 1400, 1000, 700, 500 and 300 years B.P. Reactivation of aeolian sand in the past 1000 years has resulted in a variety of well defined, parabolic dunes. In general, events in the region correspond with established chronologies elsewhere on the Great Plains and in particular correlate well with dune fields in north-eastern Colorado. Overall, results indicate that the threshold of landscape stability on the Great Bend Sand Prairie can easily be crossed in the current climatic regime.     

老挝万象钾盐矿床盐背斜成因与判别标识初步研究

识别盐构造对于研究盐体改造作用、钾盐成矿预测以及钾盐矿山的安全开采利用等方面具有重要作用。本文以老挝万象钾盐矿区为主要研究对象,分析了区域盐背斜成因并尝试构建识别标志。研究表明,重力异常分布可以指示和圈定盐背斜构造位置和分布特征,研究区盐背斜的形成与古河道切割具有密切的成因联系,盐背斜构造在地形地貌上具有明显的响应特征。上述研究结果对于深入认识该区域钾盐矿床的成因与后期改造作用过程具有重要意义。     

A Petroleum System for the Salina Basin in Kansas Based on Organic Geochemistry and Geologic Analog

The Salina Basin historically has been an exploration desert—a home of dryholes. Although this basin, which underlies much of north-central Kansas, may never be a prolific source of hydrocarbons, recent research into the maturation and geochemistry of organic matter and oils in Kansas can provide guidelines for a new exploration strategy. The Salina Basin is similar to the oil-productive Forest City Basin in northeastern Kansas in many ways. Both basins originated as a single large basin (i.e., the North Kansas Basin) prior to the rise of the Nemaha Uplift in Late Mississippian-Early Pennsylvanian time. Their Paleozoic stratigraphy thus is similar and the axes of both basins are presently at approximately the same depth. Thermal maturation modeling and available organic-matter maturation data indicate that the lower Paleozoic rocks in the axes of both basins are in the early stages of oil generation. In the Forest City Basin the Ordovician Simpson Group is the deepest known hydrocarbon source-rock—oil-reservoir interval, and by analogy, exploration tests in the Salina Basin, at a minimum, should penetrate through this stratigraphic interval. Ordovician Simpson Group shales in the Forest City Basin are the source rocks for a geochemically distinct oil, which also occurs in Ordovician reservoirs in the extreme southern end of the Salina Basin. To increase the odds of success in an exploration program in the Salina Basin, wildcat wells should be drilled where thermal maturation is greatest. The broad NW–SE-trending basin axis is the most logical area. Exploration tests along this axis in the northern end of the basin may have an extra advantage as organic matter in the Simpson Group may be more thermally mature because of greater burial depth during the Cretaceous. Along the eastern margin of the nearby Central Kansas Uplift and Pratt Anticline, several Paleozoic geologic structures, some of which contain major oil fields, are attributable to tectonic reactivation along the western margin of the Precambrian Central North American Rift System (CNARS). Prospective structural trends in the Paleozoic section of the Salina Basin are anticipated to be associated with this underlying tectonic boundary. The western margin of the CNARS trends NNE–SSW where it passes under the axis of the Salina Basin in northeastern Lincoln and southeastern Mitchell counties. This area is sparsely drilled, with less than two tests per township. If an exploration program can define lower Paleozoic structural closures in this region, these structures may represent the best chance for future petroleum discoveries.     

Heat Flow and Geothermal Potential in the South-Central United States

Geothermal exploration is typically limited to high-grade hydrothermal reservoirs that are usually found in the western United States, yet large areas with subsurface temperatures above 150°C at economic drilling depths can be found east of the Rocky Mountains. The object of this paper is to present new heat flow data and to evaluate the geothermal potential of Texas and adjacent areas. The new data show that, west of the Ouachita Thrust Belt, the heat flow values are lower than east of the fault zone. Basement heat flow values for the Palo Duro and Fort Worth Basins are below 50 mW/m² while, in the frontal zone of the belt, they can exceed 60 mW/m². Further east, along the Balcones fault system the heat flow is in general higher than 55 mW/m². The eastern most heat flow sites are in Louisiana and they show very high heat flow (over 80 mW/m²), which is associated with the apparently highly radioactive basement of the Sabine uplift. The geothermal resource in this area is large and diverse, and can be divided in high grade (temperature above 150°C) convective systems, conductive based enhanced geothermal systems and geothermal/geopressured systems. One of the most attractive areas east of the cordillera extends from eastern Texas across Louisiana and Arkansas to western Mississippi. Here temperatures reach exploitation range at depths below 4 km, and tapping such a resource from shut in hydrocarbon fields is relatively easy. The initial costs of the development can be greatly reduced if existing hydrocarbon infrastructure is used, and therefore using shut-in hydrocarbon fields for geothermal purposes should not be neglected.     

The Origin and Evolution of Safe-Yield Policies in the Kansas Groundwater Management Districts

The management of groundwater resources in Kansas continues to evolve. Declines in theHigh Plains aquifer led to the establishment of groundwater management districts in themid-1970s and reduced streamflows prompted the enactment of minimum desirable streamflowstandards in the mid-1980s. Nonetheless, groundwater levels and streamflows continued todecline, although at reduced rates compared to premid-1980s rates. As a result, safe-yieldpolicies were revised to take into account natural groundwater discharge in the form of streambaseflow. These policies, although a step in the right direction, are deficient in several ways.In addition to the need for more accurate recharge data, pumping-induced streamflow depletion,natural stream losses, and groundwater evapotranspiration need to be accounted for in therevised safe-yield policies. Furthermore, the choice of the 90% flow-duration statistic as ameasure of baseflow needs to be reevaluated, as it significantly underestimates mean baseflowestimated from baseflow separation computer programs; moreover, baseflow estimation needsto be refined and validated.     

Statistical Analysis of Nitrate Movement through the Soil in Central Kansas

An earlier investigation by the Kansas Geological Survey in central Kansas studied the movement of nitrate from fertilizer through soil into the groundwater. Nitrate concentrations in soil water were measured on samples collected at three locations during a three-year span, from sets of lysimeters buried at different depths. Although patterns seemed apparent in the resulting measurements, no statistical analyses were performed to test their significance; this re-study of the data uses analyses of variance to test for differences in nitrate concentration attributable to time and to depth in the soil. The mean nitrate concentration of samples collected in the first year of the experiment was significantly higher than the means of second and third year samples at all three locations, perhaps reflecting the confounding influence of a previous flooding experiment. ANOVAs of depth across years determined few significant differences in nitrate concentration with depth. The wintertime gap in measurements and unequal sampling through time precludes formal time-series analyses, but graphs of concentration versus time show that peak concentration occurs at later times with increasing depth, and that maximum concentration decreases with depth. These statistical analyses support the conclusions from the original investigation.     

Scientific applications of downhole measurements in the ocean basins

Abstract The well logging activity of the Ocean Drilling Programme, which deploys the most technically advanced suite of downhole measurements available for routine use, is providing new opportunities for advancement in marine geoscience. Particular examples are cited of the application of wireline data to problems associated with global environmental changes, crust/ mantle interactions, crustal fluid circulation in the context of a global geochemical budget, lithospheric stress and deformation, and evolutionary processes in oceanic communities. Further technological developments will expand the scientific role of downhole measurements still further, especially in terms of the integration of geophysical data at different scales of measurement, and the interpretation of these data in accordance with; global scientific themes.     

Universality and variability in basin outlet spacing: implications for the two-dimensional form of drainage basins

It has been observed that the distance between the outlets of transverse basins in orogens is typically half of the distance between the main divide and the range front irrespective of mountain range size or erosional controls. Although it has been suggested that this relationship is the inherent expression of Hack's law, and/or possibly a function of range widening, there are cases of notable deviations from the typical half‐width average spacing. Moreover, it has not been demonstrated that this general relationship is also true for basins in morphologically similar nonorogenic settings, or for those that do not extend to the main drainage divide. These issues are explored by investigating the relationship between basin outlet spacing and the 2‐dimensional geometric properties of drainage basins (basin length, main valley length and basin area) in order to assess whether the basin outlet spacing‐range width ratio is a universal characteristic of fluvial systems. We examined basins spanning two orders of magnitude in area along the southern flank of the Himalayas and the coastal zone of southeast Africa. We found that the spacing between basin outlets (L_os) for major transverse basins that drain the main divide (range‐scale basins) is approximately half of the basin length (L_b) for all basins, irrespective of size, in southeast Africa. In the Himalayas, while this ratio was observed for eastern Himalayan basins (a region where the maximum elevations coincided with the main drainage divide), it was only observed in basins shorter than ～30 km in the western and central Himalayas. Our analysis indicates that basin outlet spacing is consistent with Hack's law, apparently because the increase in basin width (represented by outlet spacing) with basin area occurs at a rate similar to the increase in main stream length (L_v) with basin area. It is suggested that most river systems tend towards an approximately diamond‐shaped packing arrangement, and this applies both to the nonorogenic setting of southeast Africa as well as most orogenic settings. However, in the western Himalayas shortening associated with localised rock uplift appears to have occurred at length scales smaller than most the basins examined. As a result rivers in basins longer than ～30 km have been unable to erode in a direction normal to the range front at a sufficiently high rate to sustain this form and have been forced into an alternative, and possibly unstable, packing arrangement.     

1972-2012年青藏高原中南部内陆湖泊的水位变化

青藏高原的湖泊水位变化能够清晰的记录湖泊波动,分析近几十年来气候变暖背景下青藏高原典型湖泊水位的动态变化,对理解全球变化的区域响应特征和规律有重要意义。本文利用多源遥感数据,获取1972-2012年青藏高原南部地区5个典型湖泊的面积与水位序列,并分析了40年来湖泊水位的变化特征。研究结果表明,1972-2012年,普莫雍错,塔若错,扎日南木错水位呈上升趋势,分别上升了0.89 m、0.70 m、0.40 m;同期,佩枯错与玛旁雍错的水位呈下降趋势,分别下降了1.70 m、0.70 m。总体来看,五个湖泊在1990s-2012年的变化比1970s-1990s的变化更剧烈,从空间变化看,处于青藏高原边缘地带的佩枯错与玛旁雍错发生的变化呈现一致性,而位于中部地带的塔若错与扎日南木错的变化也呈现一致性。     

Problems for water resources development in typical small karst drainage basins and countermeasures

IntroductionThe karate runoff produchon process is a hydrO-geological process dependent on the shape and bining ofrainfall hydropoh and the spatial vacation Pattern Of landfonns, which is represented by the peak-forestdepression and peak-forest pci ie. It is also affected by tile unique chacterishcs and spatial pattern ofsurface and underground channel netWork exiSted in the karshc catChmellt, where the surface drainagedivide is different from the underground dlainage divide. Along with rese…     

Tectonic geomorphology and hydrocarbon induced topography of the Mid-Channel Anticline, Santa Barbara Basin, California

The geomorphology of the western sector of the Mid-Channel Anticline (MCA), Santa Barbara, southern California suggests the actively growing fold is laterally propagating to the west. The presence of fold scarps and cross faults that segment the structure suggests that buried faults that are producing the folding are present at shallow depths. The summit area of the anticline at the Last Glacial Maximum (22 to 19 ka) was probably a small late Pleistocene island. Evidence for presence of the island includes what appears to be terrestrial erosion and is supported by assumption of sea level change and rates of uplift and subsidence.Pockmarks and domes ranging in diameter from  10 to 100 m, and several meters deep are present along the crest and flanks of the MCA. These features appear to be the result of hydrocarbon emission. Their formation has significantly modified the surface features, producing simple to complex erosional and/or constructional topography. A large pockmark near the anticline crest dated by two calibrated AMS radiocarbon dates of 25.3 and 36.9 ka continues to emit hydrocarbon gases. We term the topography produced by hydrocarbon emission as Hydrocarbon Induced Topography (HIT).     

天水及其南北地区地热水水化学特征及起源

运用水化学和同位素示踪的原理追溯地热水的水岩相互作用和起源,得出武山和天水地热水为pH较高(7.94~9.06)的低TDS(226~255 mg/L)HCO₃型水,通渭和清水地热水为pH较低(7.1~8.07)的较高TDS(915~1 793 mg/L)SO₄型水,地热水的水化学特征主要受不同的围岩及与围岩相互作用的程度所控制。地热水的δD和δ¹⁸O值说明地热水起源于大气降水,且未受水-岩同位素交换明显影响。综合应用各种地热温标,估算地热水的热储温度为70~111℃,属于中低温地热资源。对年均降雨量约500 mm的天水及其南北地区,应采取采、停交替的地热水利用方式。     

Plan-view curvature of foreland basins and its implications for the palaeostrength of the lithosphere underlying the western Alps

In zones of continental collision, three methods can be used to calculate the strength of the underthrust lithosphere: (1) a forward model approach to the Bouguer gravity field, (2) an inverse model of the gravity and topography using admittance techniques, or (3) a forward model of the stratigraphic infill of the foreland basin to estimate the cross-sectional profile of the downflexed plate. The use of reconstructed stratigraphy has the potential to yield values for the equivalent elastic thickness (T_e) of the cratonic lithosphere at varying slices in geological time, and hence enable an insight into the longer term (10–50 Myr) mechanical behaviour of the continental lithosphere. Calculations of T_e based on isopachs of foreland basin stratigraphy use sea level as a reference line to estimate the basement deflection, and therefore are limited to using stratigraphy which records shallow marine or coastal sedimentation. A new empirical approach is applied to evaluating ancient T_e values using the reconstructed palaeocurvature of the basin in plan view. The radius of curvature of 12 curvilinear foreland basins is plotted against their documented T_e values and shows a linear relationship. The maximum T_e value for a given radius of curvature can also be plotted as a straight line. The palaeocurvature of reconstructed basins can then be compared with the plots, and estimates of likely maximum T_e values may be obtained. During Eocene times, the underfilled foreland basin of the Alps was characterized on its cratonic edge by the deposition of Nummulite-rich limestones. Palaeogeographical reconstructions of the Nummulitic Limestones enable estimates of the palaeocurvature of the cratonic margin of the Alpine foreland basin during the Eocene. By comparing this value with the curvature of documented basins, it is possible to suggest that the European lithosphere underlying the western Alps had an effective elastic thickness of no greater than 17 km during the Eocene. It has been suggested that the transition in the depositional state of the Alpine foreland basin from an underfilled to a filled state during middle Oligocene times was linked to a thickening of the continental lithosphere associated with the effective ramp of the Tethyan passive margin. The T_e value of less than 17 km during the underfilled stage combined with a value of 10±5 km for the later filled stage at 17 Ma does not lend support to this hypothesis.