Characterization of a carbonate reservoir using elastic full-waveform inversion of vertical seismic profile data

Two-dimensional elastic full waveform inversion was applied to two lines extracted from a spiral three-dimensional vertical seismic profile data acquired in an oilfield offshore, Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates. The lines were selected to be parallel and perpendicular to the plane defined by the deviated borehole. The purpose of the inversion was to derive high-resolution elastic properties of the subsurface. After pre-processing, the data were band-pass filtered with a minimum frequency of 3.5 Hz and a maximum frequency of 30 Hz. A sequential inversion approach was used to mitigate non-linearity. The pre-processing of the data consisted in the removal of bad traces, followed by amplitude and phase corrections. High-resolution P- and S-wave velocity models that show good correlations with the available sonic logs were obtained. The results of the inversion suggest that the oilfield consists of a stack of layers with varying lithology, porosity and possibly fluid content.     

Post-glacial persistence of turbiditic activity within the Rhône deep-sea turbidite system (Gulf of Lions,Western Mediterranean): Linking the outer shelf and the basin sedimentary records

Emplacement of post-glacial turbidites is commonly controlled by rapid changes in sea level or by seismicity. On the continental rise of the Gulf of Lions (Western Mediterranean), an aseismic area, we identified turbiditic beds deposited during the rising stage and highstand of sea level. Swath bathymetry, sediment cores, in situ Cone Penetrating Tests (CPTU), heavy mineral associations and radiocarbon dating determined the source, composition, distribution and age of the turbiditic beds. Turbidites are composed of homogeneous to positively graded silts to medium sand with quartz (up to 90%), shell debris and shelfal benthic faunas. Their distribution on the sea floor is very patchy and controlled by abundant inherited erosional bedforms. Their source is found in relict regressive sands at the outershelf. Their deposition occurred just after the onset of the post-glacial sea level rise and the concomitant sediment starvation of the Rhône deep sea turbiditic system until recently. Whilst canyons are fed with sand by strong seasonal hydro-sedimentary dynamics on the outershelf, the emplacement of post-glacial turbidites is not controlled by sea level changes but probably by the periodic flushing of the canyons. Our study revealed that this low energy aseismic margin undergoes significant transport of sand, down to the base of slope, during the sea-level rise and the Holocene highstand.     

Comparative biomass structure and estimated carbon flow in food webs in the deep Gulf of Mexico

A budget of the standing stocks and cycling of organic carbon associated with the sea floor has been generated for seven sites across a 3-km depth gradient in the NE Gulf of Mexico, based on a series of reports by co-authors on specific biotic groups or processes. The standing stocks measured at each site were bacteria, Foraminifera, metazoan meiofauna, macrofauna, invertebrate megafauna, and demersal fishes. Sediment community oxygen consumption (SCOC) by the sediment-dwelling organisms was measured at each site using a remotely deployed benthic lander, profiles of oxygen concentration in the sediment pore water of recovered cores and ship-board core incubations. The long-term incorporation and burial of organic carbon into the sediments has been estimated using profiles of a combination of stable and radiocarbon isotopes. The total stock estimates, carbon burial, and the SCOC allowed estimates of living and detrital carbon residence time within the sediments, illustrating that the total biota turns over on time scales of months on the upper continental slope but this is extended to years on the abyssal plain at 3.6 km depth. The detrital carbon turnover is many times longer, however, over the same depths. A composite carbon budget illustrates that total carbon biomass and associated fluxes declined precipitously with increasing depth. Imbalances in the carbon budgets suggest that organic detritus is exported from the upper continental slope to greater depths offshore.The respiration of each individual “size” or functional group within the community has been estimated from allometric models, supplemented by direct measurements in the laboratory. The respiration and standing stocks were incorporated into budgets of carbon flow through and between the different size groups in hypothetical food webs. The decline in stocks and respiration with depth were more abrupt in the larger forms (fishes and megafauna), resulting in an increase in the relative predominance of smaller sizes (bacteria and meiofauna) at depth. Rates and stocks in the deep northern GoM appeared to be comparable to other continental margins where similar comparisons have been made.     

Factors influencing benthic bacterial abundance, biomass, and activity on the northern continental margin and deep basin of the Gulf of Mexico

As part of a larger project on the deep benthos of the Gulf of Mexico, an extensive data set on benthic bacterial abundance (n>750), supplemented with cell-size and rate measurements, was acquired from 51 sites across a depth range of 212–3732 m on the northern continental slope and deep basin during the years 2000, 2001, and 2002. Bacterial abundance, determined by epifluorescence microscopy, was examined region-wide as a function of spatial and temporal variables, while subsets of the data were examined for sediment-based chemical or mineralogical correlates according to the availability of collaborative data sets. In the latter case, depth of oxygen penetration helped to explain bacterial depth profiles into the sediment, but only porewater DOC correlated significantly (inversely) with bacterial abundance (p<0.05, n=24). Other (positive) correlations were detected with TOC, C/N ratios, and % sand when the analysis was restricted to data from the easternmost stations (p<0.05, n=9–12). Region-wide, neither surface bacterial abundance (3.30–16.8×10⁸ bacteria cm⁻³ in 0–1 cm and 4–5 cm strata) nor depth-integrated abundance (4.84–17.5×10¹³ bacteria m⁻², 0–15 cm) could be explained by water depth, station location, sampling year, or vertical POC flux. In contrast, depth-integrated bacterial biomass, derived from measured cell sizes of 0.027–0.072 μm³, declined significantly with station depth (p<0.001, n=56). Steeper declines in biomass were observed for the cross-slope transects (when unusual topographic sites and abyssal stations were excluded). The importance of resource changes with depth was supported by the positive relationship observed between bacterial biomass and vertical POC flux, derived from measures of overlying productivity, a relationship that remained significant when depth was held constant (partial correlation analysis, p<0.05, df=50). Whole-sediment incubation experiments under simulated in situ conditions, using ³H-thymidine or ¹⁴C-amino acids, yielded low production rates (5–75 μg C m⁻² d⁻¹) and higher respiration rates (76–242 μg C m⁻² d⁻¹), with kinetics suggestive of resource limitation at abyssal depths. Compared to similarly examined deep regions of the open ocean, the semi-enclosed Gulf of Mexico (like the Arabian Sea) harbors in its abyssal sediments a greater biomass of bacteria per unit of vertically delivered POC, likely reflecting the greater input of laterally advected, often unreactive, material from its margins.     

New evidence for drowned shelf edge reefs in the Great Barrier Reef,Australia

We present four new high-resolution multibeam bathymetry datasets from the shelf edge of the northern Great Barrier Reef (GBR). Analysis of these data, combined with Chirp sub-bottom profiles and existing submersible observation data provides a fresh insight into the detailed morphology and spatial distribution of submerged reefs and terraces at the shelf edge. An extensive and persistent line of drowned shelf edge reefs exist on the GBR margin in about 40 to 70 m. They appear as barrier reefs up to 200 m wide and comprising twin parallel ridges of rounded pinnacles. Subtle yet consistent terrace and step features lie between 78 and 114 m seaward of the shelf edge reefs in the southern study area. Submersible observations confirm that the drowned reefs now provide a favorable hard substrate for live soft corals and algae. They form a consistent and extensive seabed habitat that extends for possibly 900 km along the GBR shelf edge. The submerged reef and terraces features may reflect a complex history of growth and erosion during lower sea-levels, and are now capped by last deglaciation reef material.     

Weather regimes over Senegal during the summer monsoon season using self-organizing maps and hierarchical ascendant classification. Part I: synoptic time scale

The aim of this work is to define over the period 1979?C2002 the main synoptic weather regimes relevant for understanding the daily variability of rainfall during the summer monsoon season over Senegal. ??Pure?? synoptic weather regimes are defined by removing the influence of seasonal and interannual time scales, in order to highlight the day by day variability of the atmospheric circulation. The Self-Organizing Maps (SOM) approach, a clustering methodology based on non-linear artificial neural network, is combined with a Hierarchical Ascendant Classification to compute these regimes. Nine weather regimes are identified using the mean sea level pressure and 850?hPa wind field as variables, and gathered into three classes. Two of these weather regimes represent the classical 3?C5-day African easterly waves with a mean wavelength of about 3,000?km. Three others are characterized by a modulation of the semi-permanent trough located along the western coast of West Africa and might be interpreted in terms of the 6?C9-day easterly waves. The last four weather regimes are characterized by a more or less strong north?Csouth dipole of circulation. They can be interpreted as a northward/southward displacement of the Saharan Heat Low for two of them, and a filling/deepening of this depression for the other two. The circulation patterns of all these nine weather regimes are very consistent with the associated anomaly patterns of precipitable water, mid-troposphere vertical velocity, outgoing longwave radiation, and finally rainfall. Rainfall distribution is also highlighted over the southwestern area of Senegal.     

Potential collapse of the upper slope and tsunami generation on the Great Barrier Reef margin, north-eastern Australia

Analysis of high-resolution multibeam bathymetry and seismic profiles in the Noggin Passage region, north-eastern Australia, has identified a small area (Noggin block) in the upper-slope offshore Cairns that may potentially collapse and generate a tsunami wave. The Noggin block extends from 340 to 470 m depth covering a roughly circular (2.4 km long and 3.7 km wide) area of about 5.3 km². The well-defined margins of the block correspond to different bounding seabed features. These features include steep headscarps, small landslides and a group of aligned circular pockforms up to 500 m wide and 20 m deep. Slope stability simulations indicate that the Noggin block is stable under normal present-day gravitational conditions on the upper slope. However, block failure may result under external loads, such as those produced by earthquakes. Failure modelling shows that critical peak horizontal accelerations of 0.2–0.4 g could lead to the collapse of the Noggin block. In north-eastern Australia, these acceleration values would involve earthquakes generated at short hypocentral distances and short periods. The collapse of the potential sediment slide mass of about 0.86 km³ (162 m average thickness) may lead to the formation of a landslide-generated tsunami wave. Semi-empirical equations indicate the collapse of this mass would yield a 7–11-m high three-dimensional tsunami wave. These waves could reach an estimated run-up height at the coast of 5–7 m. Our first-order approach highlights the potential consequences for nearby coastal communities, the need for better sediment characterisation in the study area, and the systematic identification of other areas prone to slope failures along the Great Barrier Reef margin.     

Marine Bioactive Steryl Esters from the Red Sea Black Coral Antipathes dichotoma

Two new marine steryl hexadecanoates, 3β‐hexadecanoylcholest‐5‐en‐7‐one ( 1 ) and 3β‐hexadecanoylcholest‐5‐en‐7β‐ol ( 2 ), along with seven known compounds, cholest‐5‐en‐3β‐yl‐formate ( 3 ), thymidine ( 4 ), indole‐3‐carboxaldehyde ( 5 ), 3β‐hydroxycholest‐5‐en‐7‐one ( 6 ), cholesterol ( 7 ), 22‐dehydrocholestrol ( 8 ), and 24‐methylenecholesterol ( 9 ), were isolated from the anthozoan black coral, Antipathes dichotoma. The structures of all isolated compounds were determined by interpretation of their spectral data 1D (¹H, ¹³C and DEPT) and 2D (COSY, HSQC and HMBC) NMR, UV, IR, and MS. Compounds 1 – 5 were evaluated for their anticancer activities, employing four cancer panels; HepG2, WI 38, VERO, and MCF‐7. All tested compounds, except 4 , showed moderate activities. Compound 4 exhibited significant anticancer activity against VERO and MCF‐7, with IC₅₀ 20.5 and 20.2 µg/mL, respectively.     

Evaluating subsurface structures and stratigraphic units using 2D electrical and magnetic data at the area north Greater Cairo,Egypt

2D dipole–dipole resistivity data and ground magnetic survey are used in combination with available data from boreholes and surface geology to detect subsurface structures and stratigraphic units and to study the ability of the site area (located at north Grater Cairo) for a building construction.     

Extracting spatial patterns in bicycle routes from crowdsourced data

Much is done nowadays to provide cyclists with safe and sustainable road infrastructure. Its development requires the investigation of road usage and interactions between traffic commuters. This article is focused on exploiting crowdsourced user‐generated data, namely GPS trajectories collected by cyclists and road network infrastructure generated by citizens, to extract and analyze spatial patterns and road‐type use of cyclists in urban environments. Since user‐generated data shows data‐deficiencies, we introduce tailored spatial data‐handling processes for which several algorithms are developed and implemented. These include data filtering and segmentation, map‐matching and spatial arrangement of GPS trajectories with the road network. A spatial analysis and a characterization of road‐type use are then carried out to investigate and identify specific spatial patterns of cycle routes. The proposed analysis was applied to the cities of Amsterdam (The Netherlands) and Osnabrück (Germany), proving its feasibility and reliability in mining road‐type use and extracting pattern information and preferences. This information can help users who wish to explore friendlier and more interesting cycle patterns, based on collective usage, as well as city planners and transportation experts wishing to pinpoint areas most in need of further development and planning.