Beef veins and thrust detachments in Early Cretaceous source rocks,foothills of Magallanes-Austral Basin,southern Chile and Argentina: Structural evidence for fluid overpressure during hydrocarbon maturation

We describe (1) bedding-parallel veins of fibrous calcite (beef) and (2) thrust detachments, which we believe provide good evidence for fluid overpressure in source rocks for petroleum. Our examples are from the surface or subsurface of the Magallanes-Austral Basin, which lies at the southern tip of South America. There, the best source rocks for petroleum are of Early Cretaceous age. In the central parts of the basin these source rocks have become overmature, but at the eastern edge, onshore and offshore, they are today either immature or in the oil window.In Tierra del Fuego, the foothills of the Andes consist mainly of sedimentary rocks, which have undergone thin-skinned thrusting. In the Vicuña area (Chile), Early Cretaceous source rocks have reached the surface above thrust detachments, which are visible on seismic data and well data. At the surface, we have found calcite beef, containing hydrocarbons (solid and/or fluid), in the Rio Jackson and Vicuña formations, which have reached the wet gas window. In the Rio Gallegos area (Argentina), the source rocks have not reached the surface, but seismic and well data provide good evidence for thin-skinned thrusting above flat-lying detachments in Early Cretaceous source rock, where it is in the early oil window. In contrast, there is little or no deformation where the source rock is still immature. Thus the deformation front coincides with the maturity front. Next to the central parts of the basin, where the source rocks have reached the surface within the Andes proper, they have undergone low-grade metamorphism. Within these source rocks, we have found beef veins, but of quartz, not calcite. To the east, within the foreland basin, seismic and well data provide evidence for a few compressional structures, including thin-skinned detachments in the deeply buried source rock. Finally, in the northern part of the basin (Santa Cruz province, Argentina), where it is shallower, the source rocks have reached the surface in the foothills, above a series of back-thrusts. At Lago San Martín, the source rocks have reached the oil window and they again contain calcite beef.In conclusion, where we have examined Early Cretaceous source rocks at the surface, they contain either calcite beef (if they have reached the late oil window or wet gas window) or quartz beef (if they are overmature). Independent evidence for overpressure, in the form of source-rock detachments, comes from subsurface data, especially at the southern end of the basin, where the source rocks are not overmature and deformation is relatively intense. Thus we argue that hydrocarbon generation has led to overpressure, as a result of chemical compaction and load transfer, or volume changes, or both.     

Improved understanding of petroleum migration history in the Hongche fault zone,northwestern Junggar Basin (northwest China): Constrained by vein-calcite fluid inclusions and trace elements

Calcite veins and cements occur widely in Carboniferous and Permian reservoirs of the Hongche fault zone, northwestern Junggar Basin in northwest China. The calcites were investigated by fluid inclusion and trace-element analyses, providing an improved understanding of the petroleum migration history. It is indicated that the Hongche fault behaved as a migration pathway before the Early Cretaceous, allowing two oil charges to migrate into the hanging-wall, fault-core and footwall reservoirs across the fault. Since the Late Cretaceous, the Hongche fault has been sealed. As a consequence, meteoric water flowed down only into the hanging-wall and fault-core reservoirs. The meteoric-water incursion is likely an important cause for degradation of reservoir oils. In contrast, the footwall reservoirs received gas charge (the third hydrocarbon event) following the Late Cretaceous. This helps explain the distribution of petroleum across the fault. This study provides an example of how a fault may evolve as pathway and seal over time, and how reservoir diagenetic minerals can provide clues to complex petroleum migration histories.     

南黄海冷水团海域溶解氧和叶绿素最大现象值及营养盐累积的季节演变

基于2006-2007年在南黄海冷水团海域开展的4个季度月的调查资料, 重点研究了该海域溶解氧(DO)、叶绿素a(Chl a)最大值现象和营养盐累积的季节演变规律。结果表明:春至秋季黄海冷水团海域DO和Chl a最大值层深度具有先加深后变浅的趋势, 出现最大值层的海域面积呈现出先增大后缩小的变化过程, DO和Chl a最大值层的深度及面积在夏季均达到最大, 至冬季DO和Chl a最大值现象消失;夏季冷水团海域深水区DO最大值处的氧含量整体高于春季, 而冷水团边界附近氧最大值处的氧含量整体低于春季;春至秋季冷水域深水区次表层Chl a最大值处的Chl a含量先降低后升高, 于夏季时最低, 入秋后开始升高, 而一年四季中冷水域边界附近Chl a最大值处的Chl a含量却在夏季时最高, 而且显著高于深水区。黄海冷水团海域的底层营养盐储库具有一定的空间异质性, 冷水域底层通常分别在深水区和西部边界处存在营养盐高值核心, 其中位于深水区的高值核心位置季节变化不明显, 而位于冷水域西部边界附近的高值核心位置则呈现出自春季至夏季向西移动、入秋后又向东部移动的季节变化特征。水文物理因素和生物化学过程对DO、Chl a最大值及营养盐储库的季节演变具有重要的调控作用。     

Modelling and mass balance assessments of nutrient retention in a seasonally-flowing estuary (Swan River Estuary,Western Australia)

An integrated mass balance and modelling approach for analysis of estuarine nutrient fluxes is demonstrated in the Swan River Estuary, a microtidal system with strong hydrological dependence on seasonal river inflows. Mass balance components included estimation of gauged and ungauged inputs to the estuary and losses to the ocean (outflow and tidal exchange). Modelling components included estimation of atmospheric (N fixation, denitrification) and sediment–water column nutrient exchanges. Gross and net denitrification derived using two independent methods were significantly correlated (r² = 0.49, p < 0.01) with net rates averaging 40% of gross. Annual nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) loads from major tributaries were linearly correlated with annual freshwater discharge and were 3-fold higher in wet years than in dry years. Urban drains and groundwater contributed, on average, 26% of N inputs and 19% of P inputs, with higher relative contributions in years of low river discharge. Overall, ungauged inputs accounted for almost 35% of total nitrogen loads. For N, elevated loading in wet years was accompanied by large increases in outflow (7x) and tidal flushing (2x) losses and resulted in overall lower retention efficiency (31%) relative to dry years (70%). For P, tidal flushing losses were similar in wet and dry years, while outflow losses (4-fold higher) were comparable in magnitude to increases in loading. As a result, P retention within the estuary was not substantially affected by inter-annual variation in water and P loading (ca. 50% in all years). Sediment nutrient stores increased in most years (remineralisation efficiency ca. 50%), but sediment nutrient releases were significant and in some circumstances were a net source of nutrients to the water column.     

Diversity and temporal variation of peracarid fauna (Crustacea: Peracarida) in the shallow subtidal of a sandy beach: Playa América (Galicia, NW Spain)

Peracarids (Crustacea: Peracarida) are an important component of soft-sediment faunas and are considered good indicators of quality of water and sediments. Nevertheless, little is known about diversity of peracarid crustaceans on the shallow subtidal sediments of Playa América, a sandy beach in the Ensenada de Baiona (Galicia, NW Spain). Therefore, the peracarid fauna of its shallow subtidal zone was studied in a fine-sand site at 4-m depth from February 1996 to February 1997. Monthly sampling yielded a total of 4753 individuals belonging to 60 species. Amphipods were dominant in number of individuals and species followed by cumaceans. The assemblage showed a stable composition in species through the year and was numerically dominated by a few species, namely the amphipods Siphonoecetes kroyeranus and Microprotopus maculatus and the cumacean Pseudocuma longicorne . These species showed large monthly fluctuations in abundance, with maximal values between summer and autumn.     

Mapping gas hydrate and fluid flow indicators and modeling gas hydrate stability zone (GHSZ) in the Ulleung Basin,East (Japan) Sea: Potential linkage between the occurrence of mass failures and gas hydrate dissociation

The Ulleung Basin, East (Japan) Sea, is well-known for the occurrence of submarine slope failures along its entire margins and associated mass-transport deposits (MTDs). Previous studies postulated that gas hydrates which broadly exist in the basin could be related with the failure process. In this study, we identified various features of slope failures on the margins, such as landslide scars, slide/slump bodies, glide planes and MTDs, from a regional multi-channel seismic dataset. Seismic indicators of gas hydrates and associated gas/fluid flow, such as the bottom-simulating reflector (BSR), seismic chimneys, pockmarks, and reflection anomalies, were re-compiled. The gas hydrate occurrence zone (GHOZ) within the slope sediments was defined from the BSR distribution. The BSR is more pronounced along the southwestern slope. Its minimal depth is about 100 m below seafloor (mbsf) at about 300 m below sea-level (mbsl). Gas/fluid flow and seepage structures were present on the seismic data as columnar acoustic-blanking zones varying in width and height from tens to hundreds of meters. They were classified into: (a) buried seismic chimneys (BSC), (b) chimneys with a mound (SCM), and (c) chimneys with a depression/pockmark (SCD) on the seafloor. Reflection anomalies, i.e., enhanced reflections below the BSR and hyperbolic reflections which could indicate the presence of gas, together with pockmarks which are not associated with seismic chimneys, and SCDs are predominant in the western-southwestern margin, while the BSR, BSCs and SCMs are widely distributed in the southern and southwestern margins. Calculation of the present-day gas-hydrate stability zone (GHSZ) shows that the base of the GHSZ (BGHSZ) pinches out at water depths ranging between 180 and 260 mbsl. The occurrence of the uppermost landslide scars which is below about 190 mbsl is close to the range of the GHSZ pinch-out. The depths of the BSR are typically greater than the depths of the BGHSZ on the basin margins which may imply that the GHOZ is not stable. Close correlation between the spatial distribution of landslides, seismic features of free gas, gas/fluid flow and expulsion and the GHSZ may suggest that excess pore-pressure caused by gas hydrate dissociation could have had a role in slope failures.     

Life Cycle of Liocarcinus arcuatus (Brachyura: Portunidae) in the Ría de Arousa (Galicia, NW Spain): Role of Beach and Mussel Raft Culture Areas

Abstract. The population biology of the portunid crab Liocarcinus arcuatus is analyzed over a yearly cycle in beach zones and mussel raft culture areas in the Ria de Arousa.
The breeding cycle of this species has two annual peaks, which result in two annual cohorts that are recruited in different areas. The growth rate is higher in the group settled in spring than in autumn, and, especially, in the culture areas compared with the beach zones. There are movements from the beach zones to the raft polygons related to reproductive and feeding behavior as well as growth. The role of mussel culture in the dynamics of this species is discussed.     

Feeding preferences of estuarine mysids Neomysis integer and Rhopalophthalmus tartessicus in a temperate estuary (Guadalquivir Estuary,SW Spain)

Mysid shrimps are an important component of estuarine food webs because they play a key role in energy transfer as intermediate prey. We investigated the seasonal, tidal and depth specific variation in the diet of the estuarine mysids Neomysis integer and Rhopalophthalmus tartessicus and explored its implications for the planktonic community structure of a temperate estuary (Guadalquivir Estuary, SW Spain). Neomysis integer is an opportunistic omnivore feeding mainly on mesozooplankton and on members of the detrital–microbial loop, shifting prey seasonally according to availability. In contrast, R. tartessicus showed a more carnivorous diet and shifted its target prey during seasons of low resource availability. Despite statistically significant differences in diet composition, both species shared prey of similar size, particularly juvenile Mesopodopsis slabberi, the most abundant mysid species in this estuary, and copepods. Although these similarities imply inter-specific resource competition, their co-existence is achieved by niche partitioning and spatial segregation: the higher osmoregulatory capacity and foraging plasticity of N. integer confers a broader niche breadth for this species allowing N. integer to inhabit the more stressful oligohaline region of the estuary where R. tartessicus cannot survive. We propose that this mechanism relaxes the potential for competition between N. integer and R. tartessicus.     

Short-term variability of fCO2 in seawater and air–sea CO2 fluxes in a coastal upwelling system (Ría de Vigo, NW Spain)

Coastal upwelling systems are regions with highly variable physical processes and very high rates of primary production and very little is known about the effect of these factors on the short-term variations of CO₂ fugacity in seawater (fCO₂^w). This paper presents the effect of short-term variability (<1 week) of upwelling–downwelling events on CO₂ fugacity in seawater (fCO₂^w), oxygen, temperature and salinity fields in the Ría de Vigo (a coastal upwelling ecosystem). The magnitude of fCO₂^w values is physically and biologically modulated and ranges from 285 μatm in July to 615 μatm in October. There is a sharp gradient in fCO₂^w between the inner and the outer zone of the Ría during almost all the sampling dates, with a landward increase in fCO₂^w.CO₂ fluxes calculated from local wind speed and air–sea fCO₂ differences indicate that the inner zone is a sink for atmospheric CO₂ in December only (−0.30 mmol m⁻² day⁻¹). The middle zone absorbs CO₂ in December and July (−0.05 and −0.27 mmol·m⁻² day⁻¹, respectively). The oceanic zone only emits CO₂ in October (0.36 mmol·m⁻² day⁻¹) and absorbs at the highest rate in December (−1.53 mmol·m⁻² day⁻¹).