Detection of detached forced-regressive nearshore wedges: a case study from the central-southern Siena Basin (Northern Apennines, Italy)

The detection of detached nearshore wedges formed in response to relative sea-level drops is considered one of the hottest topics in sequence stratigraphic analysis due to their importance as reservoir analogues. In fact, they usually constitute sandy and porous bodies generally encased in impermeable clay, thus presenting a good potential as traps for fluids. This paper focuses on the sequence stratigraphic analysis of the Pliocene deposits cropping out in the central-southern sector of the Siena Basin (Tuscany, Italy), a post-collisional basin of the Northern Apennines. The exposed sedimentary succession was investigated through a detailed sedimentological and stratigraphic approach, integrated by biostratigraphic analyses, aimed at a better characterization of the infilling history of this sector of the basin. Specifically, this study revealed the occurrence of repeated facies shifts that allowed the identification of two depositional sequences. In detail, a thick sand-rich body far from the basin margins, and previously considered as a turbiditic lobe, has been reinterpreted as formed in a nearshore setting during a fall in relative sea level. This body is totally encased in offshore clay, and due to the lack of physical connection with the related HST deposits, it has to be considered as a detached forced-regressive wedge. The present work led to the recognition of some sedimentological and stratigraphic features typical of falling stage systems tract deposits (e.g. presence of intrabasinal recycled materials, sedimentological evidence of a pre-existing fluvial network subsequently eroded) that can provide useful clues for the identification of detached forced-regressive nearshore wedges in core studies and poorly exposed settings.     

Seasonal nitrogen and phosphorus dynamics during benthic clam and suspended mussel cultivation

Effects of suspended mussel and infaunal clam cultivation on sediment characteristics, and benthic organic and inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus fluxes were compared in a shallow coastal lagoon. The two species had different impacts on sediment features, but both created “hotspots” of nutrient fluxes with annual N and P regeneration rates being 4.9 and 13.5 (mussel) and 4.5 and 14.9 (clams) fold greater than those of unfarmed control sediments. Mussel farming also caused considerable nutrient regeneration within the water column with the mussel ropes contributing ∼25% of total inorganic N and P production and at times dominating the sediments (e.g. 95% of SRP production in summer and 45% of DIN production in winter). Such nutrient regeneration rates seriously question the proposal that suspension-feeding bivalves act as a eutrophication buffer, especially during summer when nutrient regeneration rates are maximal, but other nutrient sources (freshwater run-off and unfarmed sediments) are at their lowest.     

The CM carbonaceous chondrite regolith Diepenveen

A carbonaceous chondrite was recovered immediately after the fall near the village of Diepenveen in the Netherlands on October 27, 1873, but came to light only in 2012. Analysis of sodium and poly‐aromatic hydrocarbon content suggests little contamination from handling. Diepenveen is a regolith breccia with an overall petrology consistent with a CM classification. Unlike most other CM chondrites, the bulk oxygen isotopes are extremely ¹⁶O rich, apparently dominated by the signature of anhydrous minerals, distributed on a steep slope pointing to the domain of intrinsic CM water. A small subset plots closer to the normal CM regime, on a parallel line 2 ‰ lower in δ¹⁷O. Different lithologies in Diepenveen experienced varying levels of aqueous alteration processing, being less aqueously altered at places rather than more heated. The presence of an agglutinate grain and the properties of methanol‐soluble organic compounds point to active impact processing of some of the clasts. Diepenveen belongs to a CM clan with ~5 Ma CRE age, longer than most other CM chondrites, and has a relatively young K‐Ar resetting age of ~1.5 Ga. As a CM chondrite, Diepenveen may be representative of samples soon to be returned from the surface of asteroid (162173) Ryugu by the Hayabusa2 spacecraft.     

A model of sand transport in Treporti channel: northern Venice lagoon

The origin of the sands in the Venice lagoon has been the subject of an extensive field survey in parallel with numerical modelling. Four transects along Treporti and Burano canals were conducted from which 33 bottom sediment samples were collected. These samples were analysed for grain size and sorting to examine any trends in the granulometry of these sediments that might shed light on transport paths. The modelling study consists of three parts: the sediment transport model sedtrans96 was used with a finite-element hydrodynamic model (Shyfem) and an empirical wave model (US Army Corps of Engineering) to simulate sand transport in the Treporti canal. A type of link box model was created where finite elements of the hydrodynamic model have been combined to macro-boxes on which the water and sediment flux over the sections, and a mass balance has been computed. Several grain size classes were simulated; the distributions before and after the simulation were examined. Idealised wind and tidal values were initially used to force 12 h simulations to test the sediment transport sensitivity. Finally, a full-year simulation (1987) has been carried out using measured tidal and wind data. Only a part of Venice lagoon was covered by the simulation: a major channel (Treporti) running from Lido inlet towards the northern lagoon. The total sand transport through all of the sections was computed for 1 year. Sediment mass balance was determined, and the resulting trends of erosion and deposition were computed. There were no trends in the median grain diameter and sorting of bottom samples from the Treporti canal; all sands were fine (120 μm, one outlier of 300 μm was removed). The absence of a trend in grain size suggests that there is no significant import of sand to the lagoon through the Lido inlet. The results from the simulations seem therefore to confirm the hypothesis of reworking of sand within the lagoon. The computed erosion is some centimeters per year diagnostic of channel scouring and enlargement with time. The Treporti canal is subject to strong current velocities of around 1 m/s, which hold fine sand in suspension and thus prevent sedimentation.     

Retrogressive hydration of calc-silicate xenoliths in the eastern Bushveld complex: evidence for late magmatic fluid movement

Two calc-silicate xenoliths in the Upper Zone of the Bushveld complex contain mineral assemblages which permit delineation of the metamorphic path followed after incorporation of the xenoliths into the magma. Peak metamorphism in these xenoliths occurred at T=1100–1200°C and P <1.5 kbar. Retrograde metamorphism, probably coinciding with the late magmatic stage, is characterized by the breakdown of akermanite to monticellite and wollastonite at 700°C and the growth of vesuvianite from melilite. The latter implies that water-rich fluids (X_CO2 <0.2) were present and probably circulating through the cooling magmatic pile. In contrast, calc-silicate xenoliths within the lower zones of the Bushveld complex, namely in the Marginal and Critical Zones, also contain melilite, monticellite and additional periclase with only rare development of vesuvianite. This suggests that the Upper Zone cumulate pile was much ‘wetter’ in the late-magmatic stage than the earlier-formed Critical and Marginal Zone cumulate piles.     

四合屯-义县地区义县组火山活动的旋回性特征

在岩石学特征分析的基础上,结合本区广为发育的火山间歇期沉凝灰岩、凝灰质粉砂岩以及其中的古生物化石特征等,作者将四合屯-义县地区义县组火山活动分为早、中、晚3个火山活动旋回,即早期以玄武岩、玄武安山质火山岩类为主的基性、中基性旋回;中期以流纹质及英安质火山岩类为主的中酸性旋回;晚期以玄武岩为主的基性旋回.义县组火山活动早期的基性、中基性旋回还可进一步分为4个亚旋回,在其中的沉凝灰岩中发育有以鹦鹉嘴龙为主的古脊椎动物化石.各旋回或亚旋回的底部不同程度地发育有爆发-沉积相的沉凝灰岩或内陆湖泊相沉积岩.包括珍稀动植物在内的热河生物群化石则产于义县组火山活动中期的沉凝灰岩以及钙质页岩之中.     

冲绳海槽中段表层沉积物物质来源的定量分离:Sr-Nd同位素方法

利用1994年85－904航次获取的冲绳海槽中段表层沉积物样品，测定其硅酸盐相的^87Sr/^86Cr和^143Nd/^144Nd比值，以定量研究冲绳海槽中段表层沉积物硅酸盐物质的来源，结果表明，冲绳海槽中段陆坡区表层沉积物硅酸盐相的^87Sr/^86Sr/^143Nd/^144Nd与东海陆架沉物硅酸盐相的^87Sr/^86Sr和^143Nd/^143Nd相当，槽底和东坡沉积物硅酸盐相的^87Sr/^86Cr和^143Nd/^144Nd值介于中国大陆硅酸盐物质和海槽水山碎屑的^87Sr/^86Sr,^143Nd/^144Nd比值之间，并大致具有两端员混合特征，利用以Sr同位素为参数的二端员混合方程进行物源定量分析的结果表明，冲绳海槽中段的西坡和槽底表层沉积物硅酸盐相以陆源物质为主，最大值为91．07％，由西向东，陆源物逐渐减少，在海槽东坡含量最小，最小值为9．93％，火山源物质在东坡含量最高，量大值为64．92％，由东向西，由北向东，火山源物质逐渐减少为零。     

Rapid directivity detection by azimuthal amplitude spectra inversion

An early detection of the presence of rupture directivity plays a major role in the correct estimation of ground motions and risks associated to the earthquake occurrence. We present here a simple method for a fast detection of rupture directivity, which may be additionally used to discriminate fault and auxiliary planes and have first estimations of important kinematic source parameters, such as rupture length and rupture time. Our method is based on the inversion of amplitude spectra from P-wave seismograms to derive the apparent duration at each station and on the successive modelling of its azimuthal behaviour. Synthetic waveforms are built assuming a spatial point source approximation, and the finite apparent duration of the spatial point source is interpreted in terms of rupture directivity. Since synthetic seismograms for a point source are calculated very quickly, the presence of directivity may be detected within few seconds, once a focal mechanism has been derived. The method is here first tested using synthetic datasets, both for linear and planar sources, and then successfully applied to recent Mw 6.2–6.8 shallow earthquakes in Peloponnese, Greece. The method is suitable for automated application and may be used to improve kinematic waveform modelling approaches.     

Characterizing the effect of elastic interactions on the effective elastic properties of porous,cracked rocks

Elastic interactions between pores and cracks reflect how they are organized or spatially distributed in porous rocks. The principle goal of this paper is to understand and characterize the effect of elastic interactions on the effective elastic properties. We perform finite element modelling to quantitatively study how the spatial arrangement of inclusions affects stress distribution and the resulting overall elasticity. It is found that the stress field can be significantly altered by elastic interactions. Compared with a non‐interacting situation, stress shielding considerably stiffens the effective media, while stress amplification appreciably reduces the effective elasticity. We also demonstrate that the T‐matrix approach, which takes into account the ellipsoid distribution of pores or cracks, can successfully characterize the competing effects between stress shielding and stress amplification. Numerical results suggest that, when the concentrations of cracks increase beyond the dilute limit, the single parameter crack density is not sufficient to characterize the contribution of the cracks to the effective elasticity. In order to obtain more reliable and accurate predictions for the effective elastic responses and seismic anisotropies, the spatial distribution of pores and cracks should be included. Additionally, such elastic interaction effects are also dependent on both the pore shapes and the fluid infill.     

安徽黄山地区侏罗纪—白垩纪层序地层学特征

通过 1∶ 5万区域地质调查工作对屯溪—休宁盆地、歙县洪琴盆地、绩溪华阳盆地、祁门盆地各类陆相沉积建造的沉积环境、沉积相、陆相沉积体系域进行了分析描述 ,将侏罗纪—白垩纪地层划分为四级地层层序 ,在层序地层学分析的基础上 ,建立了初步的红盆地层格架