High-resolution seismic analysis of the coastal Mecklenburg Bay (North German Basin): the pre-Alpine evolution

The pre-Alpine structural and geological evolution in the northern part of the North German Basin have been revealed on the basis of a very dense reflection seismic profile grid. The study area is situated in the coastal Mecklenburg Bay (Germany), part of the southwestern Baltic Sea. From the central part of the North German Basin to the northern basin margin in the Grimmen High area a series of high-resolution maps show the evolution from the base Zechstein to the Lower Jurassic. We present a map of basement faults affecting the pre-Zechstein. The pre-Alpine structural evolution of the region has been determined from digital mapping of post-Permian key horizons traced on the processed seismic time sections. The geological evolution of the North German Basin can be separated into four distinct periods in the Rerik study area. During Late Permian and Early Triassic evaporites and clastics were deposited. Salt movement was initiated after the deposition of the Middle Triassic Muschelkalk. Salt pillows, which were previously unmapped in the study area, are responsible for the creation of smaller subsidence centers and angular unconformities in the Late Triassic Keuper, especially in the vicinity of the fault-bounded Grimmen High. In this area, partly Lower Jurassic sediments overlie the Keuper unconformably. The change from extension to compression in the regional stress field remobilized the salt, leading to a major unconformity marked at the base of the Late Cretaceous.     

Some Results on the Spatial Breakdown Point of Robust Point Estimates of the Variogram

The effect of outliers on estimates of the variogram depends on how they are distributed in space. The ‘spatial breakdown point’ is the largest proportion of observations which can be drawn from some arbitrary contaminating process without destroying a robust variogram estimator, when they are arranged in the most damaging spatial pattern. A numerical method is presented to find the spatial breakdown point for any sample array in two dimensions or more. It is shown by means of some examples that such a numerical approach is needed to determine the spatial breakdown point for two or more dimensions, even on a regular square sample grid, since previous conjectures about the spatial breakdown point in two dimensions do not hold. The ‘average spatial breakdown point’ has been used as a basis for practical guidelines on the intensity of contaminating processes that can be tolerated by robust variogram estimators. It is the largest proportion of contaminating observations in a data set such that the breakdown point of the variance estimator used to obtain point estimates of the variogram is not exceeded by the expected proportion of contaminated pairs of observations over any lag. In this paper the behaviour of the average spatial breakdown point is investigated for cases where the contaminating process is spatially dependent. It is shown that in two dimensions the average spatial breakdown point is 0.25. Finally, the ‘empirical spatial breakdown point’, a tool for the exploratory analysis of spatial data thought to contain outliers, is introduced and demonstrated using data on metal content in the soils of Sheffield, England. The empirical spatial breakdown point of a particular data set can be used to indicate whether the distribution of possible contaminants is likely to undermine a robust variogram estimator.     

Numerical simulation of migration–accumulation of oil resources

Numerical simulation of oil migration and accumulation is to describe the history of oil migration and accumulation in basin evolution. It is of great value to the evaluation of oil resources and to the determination of the location and amount of oil deposits. This thesis discusses the characteristics of petroleum geology and permeation fluid mechanics. For the three-dimensional problems of Dongying hollow of Shengli Petroleum Oil Field, it puts forward a new model and a kind of modified method of upwind finite difference fractional steps implicit interactive scheme. For the famous hydraulic experiment of secondary migration–accumulation, the numerical simulation test has been done, and both the computational and experimental results are basically identical. For the actual problem of Dongying hollow, the numerical simulation test and the actual conditions are basically coincident. Thus, the well-known problem has been solved.     

The age of the martian meteorite Northwest Africa 1195 and the differentiation history of the shergottites

Samarium-neodymium isotopic analyses of unleached and acid-leached mineral fractions from the recently identified olivine-bearing shergottite Northwest Africa 1195 yield a crystallization age of 347 ± 13 Ma and an value of +40.1 ± 0.9. Maskelynite fractions do not lie on the Sm-Nd isochron and appear to contain a martian surface component with low ¹⁴⁷Sm/¹⁴⁴Nd and ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd ratios that was added during shock. The Rb-Sr system is disturbed and does not yield an isochron. Terrestrial Sr appears to have affected all of the mineral fractions, although a maximum initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio of 0.7016 is estimated by passing a 347 Ma reference line through the maskelynite fraction that is least affected by contamination. The high initial value and the low initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio, combined with the geologically young crystallization age, indicate that Northwest Africa 1195 is derived from a source region characterized by a long-term incompatible-element depletion.The age and initial Sr and Nd isotopic compositions of Northwest Africa 1195 are very similar to those of Queen Alexandra Range 94201, indicating these samples were derived from source regions with similar Sr-Nd isotopic systematics. These similarities suggest that these two meteorites share a close petrogenetic relationship and might have been erupted from a common volcano. The meteorites Yamato 980459, Dar al Gani 476, Sayh al Uhaymir 005/008, and Dhofar 019 also have relatively old ages between 474 and 575 Ma and trace element and/or isotopic systematics that are indicative of derivation from incompatible-element-depleted sources. This suggests that the oldest group of meteorites is more closely related to one another than they are to the younger meteorites that are derived from less incompatible-element-depleted sources. Closed-system fractional crystallization of this suite of meteorites is modeled with the MELTS algorithm using the bulk composition of Yamato 980459 as a parent. These models reproduce many of the major element and mineralogical variations observed in the suite. In addition, the rare earth element systematics of these meteorites are reproduced by fractional crystallization using the proportions of phases and extents of crystallization that are calculated by MELTS. Other shergottites that demonstrate enrichments in incompatible-elements and have evolved Sr and Nd isotopic systematics have some geochemical systematics that are similar to those observed in the depleted group. Most notably, although they exhibit a very limited range of incompatible trace element and isotopic compositions, they have highly variable major element compositions. This is also consistent with evolution from a common mantle source region by variable amounts of fractional crystallization. If this scenario is correct, it suggests that the combined effects of source composition and fractional crystallization are likely to account for the major element, trace element, and isotopic diversity of all shergottites.     

Calcite precipitation instability under laminar, open-channel flow

We present a 2D numerical model for the growth of calcite from supersaturated aqueous solutions under laminar, open-channel flow conditions. The model couples solution chemistry, precipitation at solution/calcite interfaces, hydrodynamics, diffusion and degassing. The model output is compared with experimental results obtained using an oversaturated calcite solution produced by mixing CaCl₂ and Na₂CO₃. The precipitation rate is observed to increase when the supersaturated solution flows over an obstruction, leading to a growth instability that causes the formation of terraces. At relatively high flow rates, the most important mechanism for this behaviour seems to be hydrodynamic advection of dissolved species either towards or away from the calcite surface, depending on location relative to the obstruction, which deforms the concentration gradients. At lower flow rates, steepening of diffusion gradients around protrusions becomes important. Enhanced degassing over the obstruction due to shallowing and pressure drop is not important on small scales. Diffusion controlled transport close to the calcite surface can lead to a fingering-type growth instability, which generates porous textures. Our results are consistent with existing diffusive boundary layer theory, but for flow over non-smooth surfaces, simple calcite precipitation models that include empirical correlations between fluid flow rate and calcite precipitation rate are inaccurate.     

A technical note on seismic microzonation in the central United States

Microzonation is an effort to evaluate and map potential hazards found in an area, urban area in particular, that could be induced by strong ground shaking during an earthquake. These hazards include: ground motion amplification, liquefaction, and slope failure. The microzonation maps, depicting ground-motion amplification, liquefaction, and landslide potentials, can be produced if the ground motion on bedrock (input) and the site conditions are known. These maps, in combination with ground-motion hazard maps (on bedrock), can be used to develop a variety of hazard mitigation strategies such as seismic risk assessment, emergency response and preparedness, and land-use planning. However, these maps have certain limitations that result from the nature of regional mapping, data limitations, generalization, and computer modeling. These microzonations show that when strong ground shaking occurs, damage is more likely to occur, or be more severe, in the higher hazard areas. The zones shown on the hazard maps should not serve as a substitute for site-specific evaluations.     

Seismic hazard assessment of Chennai city considering local site effects

Chennai city suffered moderate tremors during the 2001 Bhuj and Pondicherry earthquakes and the 2004 Sumatra earthquake. After the Bhuj earthquake, Indian Standard IS: 1893 was revised and Chennai city was upgraded from zone II to zone III which leads to a substantial increase of the design ground motion parameters. Therefore, a comprehensive study is carried out to assess the seismic hazard of Chennai city based on a deterministic approach. The seismicity and seismotectonic details within a 100 km radius of the study area have been considered. The one-dimensional ground response analysis was carried out for 38 representative sites by the equivalent linear method using the SHAKE91 program to estimate the ground motion parameters considering the local site effects. The shear wave velocity profile was inferred from the corrected blow counts and it was verified with the Multichannel Analysis of Surface Wave (MASW) test performed for a representative site. The seismic hazard is represented in terms of characteristic site period and Spectral Acceleration Ratio (SAR) contours for the entire city. It is found that structures with low natural period undergo significant amplification mostly in the central and southern parts of Chennai city due to the presence of deep soil sites with clayey or sandy deposits and the remaining parts undergo marginal amplification.     

Biaxial test simulations using a packing of polygonal particles

The mechanical response of cohesionless granular materials under monotonic loading is studied by performing molecular dynamic simulations. The diversity of shapes of soil grains is modelled by using randomly generated convex polygons as granular particles. Results of the biaxial test obtained for dense and loose media show that samples achieve the same void ratio at large strains independent of their initial density state. This limit state resembles the so‐called critical state of soil mechanics, except for some stress fluctuations, which remain for large deformations. These fluctuations are studied at the micro‐mechanical level, by following the evolution of the co‐ordination number, force chains and the fraction of the sliding contacts of the sample. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Upper Jurassic record of Polyphylloseris (Egypt, Northern Sinai)

Genus Polyphylloseris is a scleractinian colonial coral that has been established by d’Orbigny (1849) from the Neocomian of Yonne, France. The genus is characterized by having elevated domal calices that are mammillar or craterlike in shape and with porous confluent septa. Columella is absent or rudimentary, and the lower surface of the corallum is covered with a thick and wrinkled holotheca. Specimens having the above-mentioned characteristics have been collected from the Upper Jurassic Arousiah Member of the Masajid Formation (Callovian–Oxfordian) of Gebel Maghara, Northern Sinai, Egypt. They are characterized by having a cupolate colonial form and porous pennulate septa which reach 40–50 in number. Based on these characters and other characters such as density of septa, height, and width of mammillar calices, the studied material is attributed to a new species named Polyphylloseris magharensis. The new species is a first undoubted record of Polyphylloseris in the Jurassic. Previously recorded undoubted ages of the genus are Early and Late Cretaceous. The fewer number of septa and the smaller-sized and closer mammillar calices allow differentiation of the species from other species such as Polyphylloseris icaunensis d’Orbigny and Polyphylloseris convexa d’Orbigny.     

Intra-oceanic settings of the western Mexico Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous arc sequences. Implications for the Pacific-Tethys geodynamic relationships during the Cretaceous

Abstract

The Guerrero suspect terrane composed of Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous sequences, extends from Baja California up to Acapulco and is considered to be coeval with the Late Mesozoic igneous and sedimentary arc sequences of the Greater Antilles, Venezuela and Western Cordillera of Colombia. New geological, petrological and geochemical data from central and southern Mexico, led us to propose a new model for the building of the Alisitos-Teloloapan arc. This arc, partly built on the Pacific oceanic lithosphere and partly on continental fragments, could be related to the subduction of an oceanic basin - the Arperos basin - under the Paleo-Pacific plate. This subduction was dipping southwest.

At the beginning of the magmatic activity of the oceanic segment of this arc, depleted tholeiitic basalts were emitted in a submarine environnement below the CCD. While subduction was going on, the arc magmas evolved from LREE depleted tholeiites to slightly LREE enriched tholeiites and then, to calc-alkaline basalts and andesites enriched in LREE and HFSE. Concurrently, the arc sedimentary environment changed from deep oceanic to neritic with the deposition of Aptian-Albian reefal limestones, at the end of the arc building. In the continent-based segment, the arc magmas are exclusively differentiated calc-alkaline suites depleted in HREE and Y, formed of predominantly siliceous lavas and pyroclastic rocks, emitted in a sub-aerial or shallow marine environment.

Thus, taking into account this above mentioned model, the Cretaceous volcanic series, accreted to the margins of cratonal America, in Colombia, Venezuela, Greater Antilles and Mexico, could be related to the same west-south-west dipping subduction of oceanic basins, fringing the North and South American continental cratons and connected directly with the inter-American Tethys. While the subduction was proceeding, this magmatic arc drifted towards the North and South American cratons and finally, collided with the continental margins at different periods during the Cretaceous.