Characteristics and origins of middle Miocene mounds and channels in the northern South China Sea

Numerous elongated mounds and channels were found at the top of the middle Miocene strata using 2D/3D seismic data in the Liwan Sag of Zhujiang River Mouth Basin(ZRMB) and the Beijiao Sag of Qiongdongnan Basin(QDNB). They occur at intervals and are rarely revealed by drilling wells in the deepwater areas. Origins of the mounds and channels are controversial and poorly understood. Based on an integrated analysis of the seismic attribute, palaeotectonics and palaeogeography, and drilling well enco...     

Tectonic development of the Mid-Norway continental margin

The area reviewed covers the Mid-Norway continental margin between latitudes 62°N and 68°N. Main structural elements, as defined at the base Cretaceous level, are the Tröndelag Platform, underlying the inner shelf, the Möre and Vöring Basins, located beneath the outer shelf and slope, and the Möre Platform and the Outer Vöring Plateau, forming a base of slope trend of highs. Sediments contained in the Mid-Norway Basin range in age from Late Palaeozoic to Cenozoic. The basement was consolidated during the Caledonian orogenic cycle. Devonian and Early Carboniferous wrench movements along the axis of the Arctic-North Atlantic Caledonides are thought to have preceded the Namurian onset of crustal extension. Rifting processes were intermittently active for some 270 My until crustal separation between Greenland and Fennoscandia was achieved during the Early Eocene. During the evolution of the Norwegian-Greenland Sea rift system a stepwise concentration of tectonic activities to its axial zone (the area of subsequent continental separation) is observed. During the Late Palaeozoic to Mid-Jurassic a broad zone was affected by tensional faulting. During the Late Jurassic and Cretaceous the Tröndelag Platform was little affected by faulting whilst major rift systems in the Möre and Vöring Basins subsided rapidly and their shoulders became concomitantly upwarped. During the latest Cretaceous and Early Palaeogene terminal rifting phase only the western Möre and Vöring Basins were affected by intrusive and extrusive igneous activity. Following the Early Eocene crustal separation and the onset of sea floor spreading in the Norwegian-Greenland Sea, the Vöring segment of the Mid-Norway marginal basin subsided less rapidly than the Möre segment. During the Early and Mid Tertiary, minor compressional deformations affected the Vöring Basin and to a lesser degree the Möre Basin. Tensional forces dominated the Late Palaeozoic to Early Cenozoic evolution of the Mid-Norway Basin and effected strain mainly in the area where the crust was weakened by the previous lateral displacements. The lithosphere thinned progressively and the effects of the passively upwelling hot asthenospheric material became more pronounced. Massive dyke invasion of the thinned crust preceded its rupture.     

Oil and gas bearing in Norwegian Sea basins

The Norwegian passive continental margin is represented by an extensive gentle shelf and continental slope. On the continental slope, there are the isolated Vøring, Møre and Ras basins, the Halten Terrace is situated to the east of them at the shelf, then the Nordland submarine ridge and the Trondelag Platform at the seaboard. There are Paleozoic, Mesozoic and Cenozoic sediments in its sections. Two complex structures are clearly distinguished in the sedimentary section: the lower stage (up to the Upper Cretaceous), reflecting the rifting structure of the basins, broken by a system of dislocations to a series of horsts, grabens, and separated blocks; and the upper stage, poorly dislocated, like a mantle covering the lower stage, with erosion and sharp unconformity. The Halten Terrace is the principal oil and gas production basin. At present, there are more than 50 oil, gas, and condensate fields in it. The following particularities have been discovered: than the field lays in the deepwater, than the age of the hydrocarbon pay is younger. It is also interesting that all gas fields are situated in the Vøring and Møre basins and western part of the Halten Terrace; the oil and gas fields, mainly at the center of the Halten Terrace; but pure oil fields, in the north of the terrace. In conformity with discovering the particularities, it is possible to say that the prospects of oil and gas bearing in the Norwegian Sea are primarilyt related to the Halten Terrace and the Vøring and Møre basins, especially the territories situated at the boundary of the two basins, where it is possible to discover large hydrocarbon accumulations like the Ormen-Lange field, because the Paleocene-Upper Cretaceous productive turbidite thick at the boundary of these basins is on the continental slope, which is considered promising a priori.     

琼东南盆地北礁凹陷梅山组顶部丘形反射特征及成因分析

南海琼东南盆地北礁凹陷中中新统梅山组顶部丘形反射目前引起广泛关注,前人推测为生物礁、重力蠕动与底流叠加成因、等深积丘等。本文通过钻井资料、二维、三维地震资料精细刻画丘形反射（残丘）和丘间水道特征及其成因。残丘及水道在北礁凸起不发育,在边缘斜坡中部和高地较发育,且有向高地两边规模减小趋势,不具对称性,残丘和水道呈平行-亚平行近E-W向展布,局部有合并分叉现象,与北礁凸起走向呈一小角度;丘宽562~1 223 m,丘高29~87 m,丘长10 km左右,存在丘翼削蚀,水道底蚀现象。地震属性分析表明三维工区西南部残丘间水道由砂泥岩互层充填,形成长条形强振幅,而残丘为中-低振幅;地震、钻井资料分析表明丘形反射（残丘）由钙质泥岩和泥岩组成,属于半深海沉积,且残丘内部波阻抗为5.0×106~6.5×106kg/m3·m/s,低于火山岩、灰岩波阻抗,属于砂泥岩地层范畴;根据梅山组下段水道由西向东强振幅变弱、分叉、前积反射和海山附近底流（等深流）沉积剥蚀特征综合判定底流古流向自西向东,根据海山两翼地震反射特征推测底流可追溯至晚中新世早期（11.6 Ma BP）,综合分析认为,研究区中中新统梅山组丘形反射是晚中新世早期底流切割梅山组地层形成的残丘。     

Gas-related morphologies and diapirism in the Gulf of Cádiz

Recently developed high-resolution profiling (multibeam, sonar) and surface sampling were used to map seafloor morphology of the Gulf of Cádiz middle continental slope. Multichannel seismic profiling has made it possible to elucidate the geologic origin of these features as well as the main triggering mechanisms of gas-related morphologies, principally mud volcanoes, carbonate mud mounds, pockmarks and slides. Throughout the entire Gulf of Cádiz, from the continental slope to the shelf and even on land, a close correlation between morphology and gas mobility and associated diapirism can be observed. The middle slope area is strongly deformed by several diapiric ridges, named Guadalquivir, Cádiz and Doñana. Most of the diapirs identified in this study are related to the Allochthonous Unit of the Gulf of Cádiz, a chaotic body emplaced during the Tortonian, containing salt and shale nappes affected by later gravitational extension collapse and reactivated compression thrusts. It can be proposed that diapirism and related tectonics provided gas migration pathways.     

Stratigraphic development of the south Vøring margin (Mid-Norway) since early Cenozoic time and its influence on subsurface fluid flow

The Cenozoic seismic stratigraphy and geological development of the south Vøring margin are analyzed to understand their relation to fluid flow and margin stability. The regional stratigraphy and palaeomorphology of the Møre and Vøring basins indicate gradual changes in depositional environment and tectonic compression between 55 Ma to 2.8 Ma during Brygge and Kai periods, and abrupt changes associated with glacial/interglacial cycles from last 2.8 Ma during Naust period. These changes resulted in deposition of various types of sediments and led to processes such as polygonal faulting and dewatering, inter-fingering of contouritic, stratified and glacigenic sediments, and margin progradation.A gas hydrate related bottom simulating reflector (BSR) occurs at Nyegga and within the central Vøring Basin while pockmarks are observed at Nyegga only. Diagentic reflectors due to Opal A - Opal CT conversion (DBSRs) occur along a wider area beyond the shelf edge. The DBSRs are located in oozes within the Kai and late Brygge Formations. The gas hydrate BSR occurrence is concentrated above Eocene depocenters in hemipelagic and contouritic sediments deposited during Late Plio-Pleistocene. The BSR overlies polygonal faults and DBSRs but are confined to the slope of anticlines indicating its formation being related to fluid pathways from methanogenic rocks through focused fluid flow. Microbial gas production in Kai, Brygge and deeper formations may have supplied the gas for gas hydrate formation. Fluid expulsion due to DBSR formation and polygonal faulting in oozes may have created overpressure development in permeable layers belonging to the overlying Naust Formation. Slide headwalls are also located close to the anticlines in the study area, implying that over pressured oozes and focussed fluid flow may have been important in creating weak surfaces in the overlying Naust sediments, promoting conditions for failures to occur.     

Seismic stratigraphy and evolution of the Raggatt Basin,southern Kerguelen Plateau

Six major seismic stratigraphic sequences in the Raggatt Basin on the southern Kerguelen Plateau overlie a basement complex of Cretaceous or greater age. The complex includes dipping reflectors which were apparently folded and eroded before the Raggatt Basin developed. The seismic stratigraphic sequences include a basal unit F, which fills depressions in basement; a thick unit, E, which has a mounded upper surface (volcanic or carbonate mounds); a depression-filling unit, D; a thick unit C which is partly Middle to Late Eocene; and two post-Eocene units, A and B, which are relatively thin and more limited in areal extent than the underlying sequences. A mid or Late Cretaceous erosional episode was followed by subsidence and basin development, interrupted by major erosion in the mid Tertiary. Late Cenozoic sedimentation was affected by vigorous ocean currents.     

Evidence for hydrothermal venting and sediment volcanism discharged after recent short-lived volcanic eruptions at Deception Island,Bransfield Strait,Antarctica

The results of a combined geophysical and geochemical research programme on Deception Island, an active volcano at 62°43′S, 60°57′W in Bransfield Strait (Antarctica), are presented. Ultrahigh-resolution acoustic data obtained with a TOPAS (TOpographic PArameter Sonar) system and multibeam bathymetry (Simrad EM1000) allow a detailed analysis of submarine vents in Port Foster, the submerged caldera of Deception Island. The data show three different types of seafloor structures: low-relief mounds, high-relief mounds (‘wasp nest’-like) and spire-like structures. We interpret these structures as products of sediment volcanism and seeps caused by heating and boiling of pore fluids in gas-charged sediments, and related to recent short-lived volcanic events, possibly those that occurred in 1967, 1969 and 1970. In addition, subsurface vertical disturbed zones, formed by increased amplitude and phase-inverse reflectors beneath the mounds, suggest the presence of fluidised and brecciated sediments within hydrofracture systems. A key finding of this study is that there appears to be a close relationship between the submarine mounds detected by our ultrahigh-resolution seismic study, geochemical haloes, fault-pathways and present-day thermal anomalies in surface waters. We suggest that seafloor hydrofracture systems and subsurface pipes can be re-used as fluid migration pathways, resulting in hydrothermal seeps and vents on the seafloor, possibly up to decades after coeval volcanic eruptions.     

Late Cenozoic geological development of the south Vøring margin,mid-Norway

Late Cenozoic seismic stratigraphy of the Vøring continental margin has been studied in detail, with emphasis on the geological development of the Naust Formation deposited during the last 3 million years. The Kai Formation (15–3 Ma) comprises mainly biogenic ooze deposited in the Møre and Vøring Basins. In Naust time, there was a marked increase in supply of sediments from the inner shelf areas and the western part of the Scandinavian mountain range, and glaciers expanded to the shelf and reached the shelf edge several times during the last 1.5–2 million years. During early to mid Naust time the shelf was widened by westerly prograding sediment units, but for a long period the shallowest part of the Helland-Hansen Arch (HHA) formed a barrier preventing glacially derived debris from being distributed farther west. West of the HHA, mainly stratified marine and glacimarine sediments were deposited. A substantial part of these sediments were transported by the north-flowing Norwegian Atlantic Current, which redistributed suspended particles from ice streams, rivers, coastal erosion and seabed winnowing. After burial of the crest of the HHA at c. 0.5 Ma, glacial debris and slide deposits were also deposited west of this high. In the north, massive units of glacial debris were distributed beyond the crest of the HHA, also in mid Naust time, thinning westwards and interfingering with fine-grained sediments on the lower slope. The Sklinnadjupet Slide, inferred to be c. 250,000 years old, corresponds in age with an earlier huge slide in the Storegga area. An elongated area of uneven seabed topography previously interpreted as diapirs (Vigrid diapirs) on the slope west of the HHA is shown to be formed by ooze eruption from the crest of the arch and submarine sliding.     

Evidence for long-term instability in the Storegga Slide region off western Norway

Shallow-seismic surveys around the Storegga Slide off western Norway have allowed greater understanding of the development of this part of the European margin. The northern flank of the scarp is formed of seismically well-layered, hemipelagic and distal-glaciomarine deposits in which a variety of luid-escape structures, probably due to gas, are locally abundant. There is evidence of slides that substantially pre-date the earliest slide previously recognized. Surveying on the North Sea Fan to the southwest of the Storegga Slide shows the markedly different nature of the autochthonous sediments on the southern flank of the Storegga Slide; there is a predominance of glacigenic debris flows in the upper part of the sequence, lesser maximum slopes, and an apparent absence of interstitial gas and/or hydrates. This contrast has had considerable effect on slope stability and has influenced the position of the southwestern Storegga Slide boundary. The North Sea Fan succession includes at least three major buried slides, termed the Vigra, Møre and Tampen slides, all of which substantially pre-date the Storegga event and probably pre-date predominantly glacigenic margin sedimentation. Post-late Weichselian slope failure is locally significant. The region has a long, but as yet chronologically poorly defined history of instability in which seismic triggering is considered to have been important.     

Note on sediment sorting in a sandy bed under standing water waves

We present new quantitative data on the sorting of sediments on a sandy seabed under standing waves. Starting from a flat bed composed of a homogeneous mixture of a coarse and a fine sand with mean diameters 0.11 and 0.21 mm, we observed simultaneous ripple and sand bar formation and sand sorting on the seabed. Over days of wave action, sand bars formed with crests beneath the surface wave nodes and flat plateaus flanked by mounds beneath the antinodes. Bar crests were composed of sand coarser on average than 0.21 mm, while the flat plateaus were covered by sand finer on average than 0.11 mm. Comparison with two experiments involving sand beds of more homogeneous size distributions shows that the mounds are characteristic of the motion of fine suspensions.     

南海北部西沙海槽北侧陆坡块体搬运沉积体系的发育特征及演化

Triple mass-transport deposits(MTDs) with areas of 625, 494 and 902 km2, respectively, have been identified on the north slope of the Xisha Trough, northern South China Sea margin. Based on high-resolution seismic reflection data and multi-beam bathymetric data, the Quaternary MTDs are characterized by typical geometric shapes and internal structures. Results of slope analysis showed that they are developed in a steep slope ranging from 5° to 35°. The head wall scarps of the MTDs arrived to 50 km in length(from headwall to termination). Their inner structures include well developed basal shear surface, growth faults, stepping lateral scarps, erosion grooves, and frontal thrust deformation. From seismic images, the central deepwater channel system of the Xisha Trough has been filled by interbedded channel-levee deposits and thick MTDs. Therefore, we inferred that the MTDs in the deepwater channel system could be dominated by far-travelled slope failure deposits even though there are local collapses of the trough walls. And then, we drew the two-dimensional process model and threedimensional structure model diagram of the MTDs. Combined with the regional geological setting and previous studies, we discussed the trigger mechanisms of the triple MTDs.     

Seafloor and buried mounds on the western slope of the Niger Delta

Seafloor mounds are potential geohazards to offshore rig emplacement and drilling operations and may contain evidence of underlying petroleum systems. Therefore, identifying and mapping them is crucial in de-risking exploration and production activities in offshore domains.A 738 km² high resolution three-dimensional seismic dataset was used to investigate the occurrence, seismic characteristics and distribution of features interpreted as seafloor and buried sediment mounds, at water-depths of 800–1600 m, on the western Niger Delta slope. Fifteen seafloor mounds and eighteen shallowly buried mounds were identified. The seafloor mounds are characterised by lower seismic amplitude anomalies than the surrounding seabed sediments, and overlie vertical zones of acoustic blanking. The buried mounds in contrast are characterised by high amplitude anomalies; they also directly overlie sub-vertical zones of acoustic blanking. Seismic evidences from the features, their distribution patterns and tectono-stratigraphic associations suggest that their formation was controlled by the juxtaposition of buried channels and structural highs and their formation caused by focused fluid flow and expulsion of entrained sediments at the seabed.Considering the acoustic and geometrical characteristics of the mounds and comparing them with mound-shaped features from around the world, we conclude that the mounds most likely comprise heterolithic seafloor extrusions of muds and sands from the Agbada Formation with gas and possibly oil in some of the pore space giving rise to the acoustic characteristics.     

Morphology, distribution and origin of recent submarine landslides of the Ligurian Margin (North-western Mediterranean): some insights into geohazard assessment

Based on new multibeam bathymetric data, seismic-reflection profiles and side-scan sonar images, a great number of submarine failures of various types and sizes was identified along the northern margin of the Ligurian Basin and characterized with 3 distinct end-members concerning their location on the margin, sedimentary processes and possible triggering mechanisms. They include superficial landslides mainly located in the vicinity of the main mountain-supplied rivers and on the inner walls of canyons (typically smaller that 10⁸ m³ in volume: Type 1), deep scars 100?C500 m high along the base of the continental slope (Type 2), and large-scale scars and Mass Transport Deposits (MTDs) affecting the upper part of the slope (Type 3 failures). The MTDs are located in different environmental contexts of the margin, including the deep Var Sedimentary Ridge (VSR) and the upper part of the continental slope in the Gulf of Genova (Finale Slide and Portofino Slide), with volumes of missing sediment reaching up to 1.5 × 10⁹ m³. High sedimentation rates related to hyperpycnal flows, faults and earthquake activity, together with sea-level fluctuations are the main factors invoked to explain the distribution and sizes of these different failure types.     

Deformation and patterns of sedimentation,South San Clemente Basin,California Borderland

Seismic reflection profiling in the South San Clemente Basin and the southern portion of the San Diego Trough has revealed at least six sedimentary units exhibiting varying stages of deformation. Four of the units are interpreted to be marine turbidites supplied by adjacent submarine canyons. Sediments comprising the Descanso Plain and correlative material within the South San Clemente Basin are attributed to a southerly source (Banda Canyon), while the more recent Quaternary turbidites from Coronado Canyon filled the southern San Diego Trough and then spilled over into South San Clemente Basin. The relatively high but intermittent rates of sedimentation, together with shifting sources and areas of deposition, have resulted in sedimentary units that were emplaced in comparatively short episodes but which were subjected to relatively continuous tectonic activity. Consequently, the sedimentary layers of each unit appear uniformly affected by deformation which increases in successively older units.     

Development and flow structures of sand injectites: The Hind Sandstone Member injectite complex,Carboniferous, UK

The Hind Sandstone Member of the Carboniferous Craven Basin occurs within a thick succession of marine mudstone and is here interpreted as a sandstone injectite complex. Injectites take the form of (i) sills; (ii) upwards emplaced dykes; (iii) downwards emplaced dykes; (iv) a sedimentary laccolith; and (v) sandstone bodies remobilised in-situ. The remobilised and injected sand originated from small turbidite scour fills and potentially a more significant sand body such as a submarine slope gully fill. The sedimentary laccolith appears to jack-up the units it injects, and is filled by sandstone with a chaotic fabric suggestive of brecciation of partly cemented sand. The laccolith and sill-dominated nature are suggestive of relatively shallow remobilisation. Sills are commonly laterally gradational with upwards emplaced dykes, and in some cases these feed apparently downwards emplaced dykes. A series of flow structures are preserved within some of the injectites, and these provide clues to the emplacement history. Crack propagation direction is inferred from the orientation of undulating crests developed on the upper and lower surfaces of injectites. Peak-flow is indicated by scour marks, resembling flute and tool marks, which are superimposed onto these undulating surfaces. Internal flow structures highlighted by pyrite mineralistion record the waning stage of injection. The observed flow structures suggest that the apparent crack propagation direction was generally oblique to the peak flow, and nearly perpendicular to the direction of late-stage fluidised sediment flow. Crack propagation relates to the local stress field, whilst injection flow may be related to the local pore pressure distribution. Recognition of this suite of structures may provide a useful interpretational tool for other injectites in both core and outcrop. Pore fluid overpressure which drove injection developed through the migration of petroleum and mineralising fluids from the underlying Bowland Shales and older limestones. A complex brecciated fracture network within the mudstones underlying the injectites records fluid migration pathways. Sliced blocks and thin sections from injectites reveal flow structures defined by iron pyrite mineralisation. The trigger is here related to growth of compressional structures and associated syn-sedimentary slumps which occur at the same stratigraphic level as the injectites.     

Association among active seafloor deformation, mound formation, and gas hydrate growth and accumulation within the seafloor of the Santa Monica Basin, offshore California

Seafloor blister-like mounds, methane migration and gas hydrate formation were investigated through detailed seafloor surveys in Santa Monica Basin, offshore of Los Angeles, California. Two distinct deep-water (≥ 800 m water depth) topographic mounds were surveyed using an autonomous underwater vehicle (carrying a multibeam sonar and a chirp sub-bottom profiler) and one of these was explored with the remotely operated vehicle Tiburon. The mounds are > 10 m high and > 100 m wide dome-shaped bathymetric features. These mounds protrude from crests of broad anticlines (~ 20 m high and 1 to 3 km long) formed within latest Quaternary-aged seafloor sediment associated with compression between lateral offsets in regional faults. No allochthonous sediments were observed on the mounds, except slumped material off the steep slopes of the mounds. Continuous streams of methane gas bubbles emanate from the crest of the northeastern mound, and extensive methane-derived authigenic carbonate pavements and chemosynthetic communities mantle the mound surface. The large local vertical displacements needed to produce these mounds suggests a corresponding net mass accumulation has occurred within the immediate subsurface. Formation and accumulation of pure gas hydrate lenses in the subsurface is proposed as a mechanism to blister the seafloor and form these mounds.     

Scale invariant characteristics of the Storegga Slide and implications for large-scale submarine mass movements

This study documents the fractal characteristics of submarine mass movement statistics and morphology within the Storegga Slide. Geomorphometric mapping is used to identify one hundred and fifteen mass movements from within the Storegga Slide scar and to extract morphological information about their headwalls. Analyses of this morphological information reveal the occurrence of spatial scale invariance within the Storegga Slide. Non-cumulative frequency-area distribution of mass movements within the Storegga Slide satisfies an inverse power law with an exponent of 1.52. The headwalls exhibit geometric similarity at a wide range of scales and the lengths of headwalls scale with mass movement areas. Composite headwalls are self-similar.One of the explanations of the observed spatial scale invariance is that the Storegga Slide is a geomorphological system that may exhibit self-organized criticality. In such a system, the input of sediment is in the form of hemipelagic sedimentation and glacial sediment deposition, and the output is represented by mass movements that are spatially scale invariant. In comparison to subaerial mass movements, the aggregate behavior of the Storegga Slide mass movements is more comparable to that of the theoretical ‘sandpile’ model. The origin of spatial scale invariance may also be linked to the retrogressive nature of the Storegga Slide. The geometric similarity in headwall morphology implies that the slope failure processes are active on a range of scales, and that modeling of slope failures and geohazard assessment can extrapolate the properties of small landslides to those of larger landslides, within the limits of power law behavior. The results also have implications for the morphological classification of submarine mass movements, because headwall shape can be used as a proxy for the type of mass movement, which can otherwise only be detected with very high resolution acoustic data that are not commonly available.     

Seabed morphology and gas venting features in the continental slope region of Krishna–Godavari basin,Bay of Bengal: Implications in gas-hydrate exploration

Increased oil and gas exploration activity has led to a detailed investigation of the continental shelf and adjacent slope regions of Mahanadi, Krishna–Godavari (KG) and Cauvery basins, which are promising petroliferous basins along the eastern continental margin of India. In this paper, we analyze the high resolution sparker, subbottom profiler and multibeam data in KG offshore basin to understand the shallow structures and shallow deposits for gas hydrate exploration. We identified and mapped prominent positive topographic features in the bathymetry data. These mounds show fluid/gas migration features such as acoustic voids, acoustic chimneys, and acoustic turbid layers. It is interesting to note that drilling/coring onboard JOIDES in the vicinity of the mounds show the presence of thick accumulation of subsurface gas hydrate. Further, geological and geochemical study of long sediment cores collected onboard Marion Dufresne in the vicinity of the mounds and sedimentary ridges shows the imprints of paleo-expulsion of methane and sulfidic fluid from the seafloor.     

Formation and distribution of manganese nodule deposit in the northwestern margin of Clarion-Clipperton fracture zones,northeast equatorial Pacific

In the northwestern margin of the Clarion and Clipperton fracture zones, manganese nodules are latitudinally variable in character, resulting from the progressive (re)generation of nodules since the Oligocene as the Pacific Plate migrates northwestward beneath the equatorial production zone. Complemented by the surface water productivity, bottom current activities have concentrated nodules in the Oligocene to Miocene siliceous clay. Resedimentation processes on nodules form three types of nodules with concentric structures and 10 Å-manganaterich bottoms, by periodically causing the diagenetic growth of nodules within the topmost sediment layer.