Local source tomography: applications to Italian areas

We describe three study cases in which we used local earthquake and shot travel-time residuals to investigate the upper crustal structure of three regions in Italy. We inverted for velocity and hypocentral parameters using a damped least-squares technique making use of parameter (velocity and hypocentre) separation. The three studied regions are in Italy, namely (a) the Vulsinian Volcanic Complex (Latium), where there is an active geothermal field; (b) the Irpinia (Campania–Lucania) region, in the Southern Appennines, site of the strongest earthquake in Italy for at least 65 years (November 1980, M_s= 6.9); (c) the Friuli region, in Northeastern Italy, where another strong earthquake (M_s= 6.5) occurred in 1976. The computed shallow velocity models generally correspond with surface geological structures. For the three studied areas, the main results are, respectively: (a) A low-velocity anomaly detected in the centre of the Vulsinian Volcanic Complex at a depth of 5–8 km, probably due to anomalous heat flow caused by a partially molten or cooling intrusive body; (b) the identification of a deep (10 km) discontinuity in the crust beneath the Irpinia fault zone, approximately corresponding with the fault extension at depth; (c) the detection of a wedge of high-velocity, high density material at seismogenic depth (5–10 km) beneath the Friuli region, interpreted as a buried thrust of the metamorphic basement.     

Facies associations and evolution of pelagic carbonate platform/basin systems: examples from the Italian Jurassic

ABSTRACT During the structural and sedimentological evolution of rifted continental margins in carbonate dominated settings, a characteristic stage is commonly reached when pelagic carbonate sedimentation occurs in association with complex fault block systems. An integrated study of the ammonite biostratigraphy and sedimentology of Jurassic pelagic rocks in the Umbria-Marche Apennines (central Italy) and in the Sila Mountains (north-east Calabria, southern Italy) has revealed three distinctive facies associations which can be related to specific structural and depositional settings. The condensed pelagic facies association is the constituent of condensed, usually discontinuous sequences, with numerous hiatal surfaces. The normal and resedimented pelagic facies association is typical of thicker sequences, comprising gravity flow and rockfall deposits. The composite pelagic facies association is one in which rockfall deposits are found associated with condensed sequences containing minor or no gravity flow deposits. Palaeotopographical highs are dominated by the condensed pelagic facies association and constitute the pelagic carbonate platform (PCP). Structurally, the PCP can be coincident with the top of a horst (or ‘central high’) block or the crestal area of a tilted block. In the latter case, the sediment surface of the PCP slopes gently (maximum of 1–3°) in this, the shallowest area of a pelagic carbonate ramp. PCPs can have erosional, bypass (rare) and depositional margins. Stepped margins also exist as subparallel rows of erosional and bypass margins. Trends from erosional to depositional margins are usually seen as a response to basin filling and burial of submarine tectonic escarpments by pelagic deposits in late synrift or early post-rift times. This is apparent from ‘progradation’ of PCP facies deposits beyond the structural boundaries of the PCP. Palaeoenvironmental analysis in pelagic carbonate platform deposits of the Umbria-Marche Apennines suggests that drowning of ancestral peritidal carbonate platforms in Pliensbachian time was followed first by a moderate deepening and then by shallowing in the Tithonian.     

A geometry-modelling method to estimate landslide volume from source area

Landslides - Knowledge of landslide volume is important to understand the extent of damages and evaluating methods of remediation. However, the volume of landslide is difficult to quantify due to...     

Geodetically controlled taphrogenesis in back-arc environments: three examples from Central and Northern Greece

Repeated leveling data collected in the vicinity of three tectonic grabens in the Hellenic back-arc area reveal a tendency to continuation of taphrogenesis processes that started in the Quaternary or earlier. These processes are associated with earthquakes of short or long recurrence intervals: Corinthiakos—tens of years, Atalandi—hundreds of years. Although in most cases the geodetic displacement signal is small, I suggest that it reflects real motions, because first, the measurement specifications are very strict, and second, geologic and other data confirm geodetically derived displacements.     

Diagenesis of plattenkalk: examples from the Solnhofen area (Upper Jurassic,southern Germany)

The Upper Jurassic (Tithonian) plattenkalk successions in the Solnhofen/Eichstätt area consist of alternations of thin‐bedded, laminated, fine‐grained, very pure limestones (so‐called ‘flinz beds’) and softer interlayers with slightly lower carbonate contents that are also laminated and show a foliaceous weathering appearance (‘fäule beds’). These successions are world famous for their exceptionally well‐preserved fossils. In contrast to the well‐studied wealth of fossils, little is known about the origin and diagenesis of the host rock. The reason for this discrepancy might lay in the monotonous appearance of these fine‐grained mudstones that require electron microscopical examination. Study of samples from the Solnhofen–Eichstädt area implies that flinz and fäule beds have undergone differential diagenesis. The ultrastructure of the flinz beds is characterized by interlocking microspar crystals, whereas the fäule beds show smaller and less interlocking crystals. The ratios of diagenetically inert trace elements lack clear differences between the two interlayered lithologies. While most authors agree that the flinz–fäule rhythm reflects rhythmically changing environmental conditions, primary rhythms can be taken as proven only where statistically significant differences in diagenetically resistant proxies are found. The absence of clear primary differences between flinz and fäule beds, however, leaves the question of primary differences unsolved. It is concluded that diagenesis has had a strong influence on the genesis of the lithological rhythm, and that any primary rhythm underlying the diagenetically mature rhythm is less clear than generally assumed.     

黔西北大方地区龙潭组海陆过渡相烃源岩特征及评价

黔西北大方地区龙潭组以泥页岩、煤层与砂岩交替互层发育为特点,具有典型的海陆过渡相特征。文章在剖面实测和样品采集的基础上,结合全岩和黏土矿物XRD分析、总有机碳(TOC)含量测定、岩石热解、干酪根显微组分及镜质体反射率(R_O)等分析,对研究区龙潭组烃源岩发育特征进行了研究和评价。结果表明: ① 龙潭组矿物以黏土矿物为主,具有较强的吸附能力,但黏土矿物含量与石英含量呈明显的负相关关系(R>0.8),尤其是泥页岩中70%以上的黏土含量以及较低的脆性指数增加了压裂开发的难度。 ② 龙潭组有机质丰度受岩性变化控制明显。煤层具有最高的TOC含量(平均值42.9%)和生烃潜量(平均值为2.68 mg/g),显示强大的煤层气生烃潜力;泥页岩生烃潜量均小于2 mg/g,但约有80%样品的TOC含量超过2%,页岩气资源潜力不及煤层气;粉砂岩生烃潜力最差,生烃潜量平均值为0.13 mg/g,TOC含量为1.4%~5.6%,显示一定的致密气潜力。 ③ 龙潭组有机显微组以壳质组和镜质组占主导,干酪根以Ⅲ型为主,Ⅱ₂型为辅,热演化程度高,处于高-过成熟的生干气阶段。 ④ 煤层更为发育的龙潭组中段是大方地区煤层气、页岩气和致密砂岩气联合勘探的有利层段。     

海洋可控源电磁法多参数正演响应特征分析

鉴于介质的色散现象,充分考虑介质电磁参数(ε、μ、σ),获得各层介质中的电磁场和势函数。为了考察岩、矿石电磁参数、海水深度和海底地层厚度等变化时海洋电磁响应特征规律,给出典型地电模型和观测系统参数,借助高精度快速汉克尔滤波系数,采用30点高斯勒让德数值求积方法,计算水平电性源频率域可控源电磁法(CSEM)在海底各观测点电场Ez和磁场Bx的正演响应。结果表明,随海水深度变浅,电场Ez和磁场Bx振幅曲线变化幅度增大,空气波逐渐占据主导地位,当水深超过3km时,观测区内可以忽略空气波的影响;电场Ez分量对海底高阻层引起的异常大,而中低阻层引起的异常小,磁场Bx分量幅值对目标层电导率变化与Ez相同,因此,水平电性源频率域CSEM法不适宜探测海底低阻目标。并且对厚层目标层的探测能力高于薄层。针对岩层中磁导率变化的情况,海底沉积物电性均匀或者呈层状分布时,电场Ez和磁场Bx幅值均受到影响。此外,电场Ez和磁场Bx的幅值基本不受介电常数变化而影响。海洋可控源的探测效果与偏移距的选择有密切关系,有利偏移距范围为3000m^12000m。     

Glaciofluvial channels formed prior to the last deglaciation: examples from Swedish Lapland

At four localities in area east of the Sarek and Kebnekajse massifs in Swedish Lapland, glaciofluvial channels seem to have been overhidden by glaciers without having extensively modified. It is suggested that the channels were formed during an Early Weichselian stade. The last glaical advance had little effect on the pre-exiting landforms at these localities and probably also at many other places in the area. Earlier theories about glacial development and deglaciation patterns in this area are based on morphology and the assumption that the landforms were formed during the last deglaciation. These theories need to be revised.     

Groundwater and volcanoes: examples from the Azores archipelago

Groundwater at the Azores archipelago is a strategic resource for the freshwater supply. Freshwater, mineral and thermal water discharges occur in the archipelago, and especially at the Fogo and Furnas volcanoes (São Miguel). These discharges provide data for case studies of groundwater chemistry from volcanic monitoring due to the stable composition of the sampled waters. The mineral and thermal discharges are mainly of sodium bicarbonate types and present a large range of temperatures, from cold springs to waters at about 90 °C. Some boiling discharges have a sulfate-dominated composition, suggesting a steam-heating mechanism. Geochemical studies on these mineral and thermal waters began in the 19th century. Data gathered since these earlier studies provide a baseline for pH, temperature, CO₂ and major-element composition. Weekly measurements of pH and temperature also denote a rather stable behavior.     

华南过渡区凯里组及同期地层的初步研究

<正> 凯里组为卢衍豪教授1963年所建,周志毅等(1980)详细工作后,面貌比较清楚。它是分布于贵州东部丹寨、台江、玉屏一带的以泥、页岩为主厚约300m的一套地层,属过渡区。化石丰富,以三叶虫Pagetia,Oryctocephalids,Ptychopariids最为发育,由下而上建立了4个三叶虫带。与滇东陡坡寺组对比,顶、底界线一致;与黔北扩大的高台组(周志毅等1980,278页)对比,顶界略高于高台组。时代暂定为中寒武世(周志毅等1979,     

Sedimentology of magmatically and structurally controlled outburst valleys along rifted volcanic margins: examples from the Nuussuaq Basin, West Greenland

ABSTRACT After a period of early Palaeocene faulting and uplift of the Nuussuaq Basin, West Greenland, two valley systems were incised into the underlying sediments. Incision of the older Tupaasat valley took place during a single drainage event of large water masses, which resulted in catastrophic deposition. The valley was cut along early Palaeocene NW‐ to SE‐trending normal faults, clearly showing that the trend and the relief of the valley were structurally controlled. The valley fill is up to 120 m thick and consists of a lower part of sandstones and conglomerates deposited from catastrophic flows characterized by very high concentrations of suspended coarse‐grained sediment load. Catastrophic deposition was followed by rapid decrease in flow discharge and the establishment of a lacustrine environment within the valley characterized by the deposition of heterolithic sediments. The younger Paatuutkløften valley system was mainly cut into the Tupaasat valley fill, which was completely or nearly completely eroded away in many places. The younger valley is 1–2 km wide and up to 190 m deep. Incision of the Paatuutkløften valley probably reflected renewed tectonic activity and uplift of the basin. This phase was shortly followed by rapid major subsidence. The valley‐fill deposits comprise a uniform succession of fluvial and estuarine sandstones. The valley fill is topped by shoreface sandstones, which are succeeded abruptly by offshore mudstones deposited shortly before and during the initial extrusion of a thick hyaloclastite succession. The Paatuutkløften valley fill is attributed to a very rapid rise in relative sea level contemporary with extensive volcanism. It is suggested that this sequence of events coincided with the arrival of the North Atlantic mantle plume. In several respects, the early Palaeocene valley‐fill deposits of the Nuussuaq Basin are different from idealized facies models for incised valley systems and represent very special cases of incised valleys. Major differences from published examples include the dominance of catastrophic deposits and indications of large changes in relative sea level of several hundreds of metres taking place rapidly in less than 1 Myr. These changes were governed by the rise of the North Atlantic mantle plume.     

GC profiles of oils reflect organic maturity rather than depositional environment of parent source rock: examples from Central Australia

Abstract

Review and analysis of 1332 gas chromatography (GC) n-alkane traces of oils from the Cooper and Eromanga basins indicate the shape of any GC trace profile is primarily controlled by the degree of organic maturity (early, peak or late) at which the oils were expelled from the parent source rock, rather than indicating the depositional environment, and hence organic composition, of that source rock. The depositional environment of a source rock may still be inferred, however, from the position of the n-alkane maximum on the GC traces of early expulsion oils in association with the pour point of the oil. Departures of GC trace profiles from the standard early, peak or late expulsion profiles can indicate mixing of oils of different maturities, while variations in the GC trace profiles of oils within adjacent reservoir units may indicate phase separation of the parent liquid, or possible seal breach by an accumulation that exceeds the capacity of its overlying seal.

1. KEY POINTS

2. GC trace profiles of 1332 oils from across the Cooper and Eromanga basins of central Australia have been reviewed.

3. Organic maturity, rather than organic composition, of the parent source rock controls the shape of any GC trace profile.

4. All early maturity oils display a consistent GC trace profile shape that is different from all peak maturity oils and different again from all late maturity oils.

5. Depositional environment of the source rocks within a basin can be inferred from the relative pour points of the resultant oils.

     

From back-analysis to run-out prediction: a case study in the Western Italian Alps

Rock avalanches are complex phenomena that occur with a low frequency but which have a high destructive potential. As a consequence, the people who are responsible for the management of a territory are more and more interested in predicting the possible evolutions of well-known potential events. Tackling the above problems from a quantitative point of view, the RASH3D code, based on continuum mechanics concepts, has been here used to predict the evolution of a potential rock avalanche in the Western Italian Alps. A calibration-based approach, in which rheological parameters are constrained by systematic adjustment during trial-and-error back-analysis of past events similar to the landslide under investigation, is proposed to set rheological parameter values to be used for prediction purposes. The back-analysis of a 2?10⁶ m³ rock avalanche located in the Divedro Valley, close to the area of the potential event, has then been analysed using both a frictional and a Voellmy rheology. The characteristics of the slope and the dynamics of the event have made the frictional rheology more suitable to come to the correct simulation of the historical case. The back-analysis results have contributed not only in the selection of the rheological parameter values but also in the choice of the type of rheological law to use in the carried out forward-analyses.     

Crustal anisotropy in southwest Ireland from analysis of controlled source shear-wave data

Results from a travel-time analysis of three-component shear-wave (S-wave) data recorded in southwest Ireland during a controlled source seismic experiment have been used to investigate the magnitude of crustal anisotropy. The data used were recorded from 20 in-line shots on three-component short-period stations deployed at approximately 1-km spacing along two parallel profiles. Analysis of the travel-time differences between vertically and horizontally polarised S-waves recorded on vertical, radial and transverse seismometer components was undertaken using seismic phases travelling near the Earth's surface (S_g) and reflected from the Moho (S_mS). Travel-time differences between the components for both phases scatter largely within the range ± 0.2 s, which is about the uncertainty in the measurements, with no observed coherent variation with shot-receiver offset. Synthetic S-wave seismograms were also computed from 1-D S-wave velocity models with varying degrees of anisotropy in the upper and in the lower crusts. Travel-time differences of S_g and S_mS phases picked from these synthetic seismograms confirm that for anisotropies with probable symmetries of magnitude 1–2% in either the upper or lower crust should result in an observable variation of the travel-time differences between the transverse and radial, and transverse and vertical components with source–receiver offset. The study shows that crustal anisotropy does not contribute significantly to the marked anisotropy recently deduced from SKS and SKKS measurements in Ireland, which is therefore confirmed to reside at sub-crustal and deeper mantle levels.     

Contribution to the geology of Ataq area,Shabwah Province,southeastern central Yemen

The Pan-African (Neoproterozoic) low-grade ophiolitic fragment occurring to the south of Ataq City, Shabwah Province, southeastern central part of Yemen is positioned tectonically between the underlying Pre-Pan-African syntectonic granite infrastructure and the overlying Mesozoic–Cenozoic sedimentary successions. It is incomplete and differentiated in the field into (a) NW plunging nappes, namely a lower metagabbro nappe, and (b) the upper metavolcanic nappe. The sedimentary successions separated from each other by eastward dipping normal faults. These successions can be subdivided into three main rock units: Amran, Tawilah, and Hadramawt groups. The Amran Group is represented in the study area by Shuqra and Madbi formations. The Shuqra Formation consists mainly of highly fossiliferous carbonate facies yielding several terebratulids and rhynchonellids. It belongs to the Toracian–Oxfordian (or probably extend to Early Kimmeridgian) age. The Madbi Formation consists of sand–marl intercalations of Kimmeridgian–Early Tithonian age. The Tawilah Group is mainly composed of variegated unfossiliferous continental sandstones with few siltstone intercalations, and on the basis of its stratigraphic position, it is dated as Cretaceous (probably Early Cretaceous). The Hadramawt Group in the study area is represented by Umm er Radhuma Formation, which is widely distributed in the Arabian Gulf countries.     

Contribution of the MRS method to identifying fractured basement rock aquifers in an arid area: a case study near the Bleida mine site in Morocco

The Bleida fractured aquifer is not well studied in terms of water resources as previous geophysical investigations in this area were undertaken for mining purposes. This study utilized magnetic resonance sounding surveys in order to define the distribution of water resources in the region of Bleida and to locate areas favorable for the drilling and construction of productive hydraulic boreholes. For this purpose, eight magnetic resonance sounding surveys were conducted in two sites at the intersection of faults in basement rocks. The results of these surveys indicated that there were two distinct levels of saturation in fractured rock that decreased with depth.     

Ilmenite as a recorder of kimberlite history from mantle to surface: examples from Indian kimberlites

Five compositional-textural types of ilmenite can be distinguished in nine kimberlites from the Eastern Dharwar craton of southern India. These ilmenite generations record different processes in kimberlite history, from mantle to surface. A first generation of Mg-rich ilmenite (type 1) was produced by metasomatic processes in the mantle before the emplacement of the kimberlite. It is found as xenolithic polycrystalline ilmenite aggregates as well as megacrysts and macrocrysts. All of these ilmenite forms may disaggregate within the kimberlite. Due to the interaction with low-viscosity kimberlitic magma replacement of pre-existing type 1 ilmenite by a succeeding generation of geikielite (type 2) along grain boundaries and cracks occurs. Another generation of Mg-rich ilmenite maybe produced by exsolution processes (type 3 ilmenite). Although the identity of the host mineral is unclear due to extensive alteration and possibility includes enstatite. Type 4 Mn-rich ilmenite is produced before the crystallization of groundmass perovskite and ulvöspinel. It usually mantles ilmenite and other Ti-rich minerals. Type 5 Mn-rich ilmenite is produced after the crystallization of the groundmass minerals and replaces them. The contents of Cr and Nb in type 2, 4 and 5 ilmenites are highly dependent on the composition of the replaced minerals, they may not be a good argument in exploration. The highest Mg contents are recorded in metasomatic ilmenite that is produced during kimberlite emplacement, and cannot be associated with diamond formation. The higher Mn contents are linked to magmatic processes and also late processes clearly produced after the crystallization of the kimberlite groundmass, and therefore ilmenite with high Mn contents cannot be considered as a reliable diamond indicator mineral (DIM) and kimberlite indicator mineral (KIM).