Diagenesis and formation water chemistry of Triassic reservoir sandstones from southern Tunisia

The fluvial Triassic reservoir subarkoses and arkoses (2409·5–2519·45 m) of the El Borma oilfield, southern Tunisia, were subjected to cementation by haematite, anatase, infiltrated clays, kaolinite and K-feldspar at shallow burial depths from meteoric waters. Subsequently, basinal brines controlled the diagenetic evolution of the sandstones and resulted initially in the precipitation of quartz overgrowths, magnesian siderite, minor ferroan magnesite and anhydrite. The enrichment of siderite in ¹²C isotope (δ¹³C_PDB= - 14·5 to - 9‰) results from derivation of carbon from the thermal decarboxylation of organic matter. During further burial, the precipitation of dickite and pervasive transformation of kaolinite into dickite occurred, followed by the formation of microcrystalline K-feldspar and quartz, chlorite and illite, prior to the emplacement of oil. Present day formation waters are Na-Ca-Cl brines evolved by the evaporation of seawater and water/mineral interaction and are in equilibrium with the deep burial (≤ 3·1 km) minerals. These waters are suggested to be derived from the underlying Silurian and Devonian dolomitic mudstones.     

Stratosphere key for wintertime atmospheric response to warm Atlantic decadal conditions

There is evidence that the observed changes in winter North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) drive a significant portion of Atlantic Multi Decadal Variability (AMV). However, whether the observed decadal NAO changes can be forced by the ocean is controversial. There is also evidence that artificially imposed multi-decadal stratospheric changes can impact the troposphere in winter. But the origins of such stratospheric changes are still unclear, especially in early to mid winter, where the radiative ozone-impact is negligible. Here we show, through observational analysis and atmospheric model experiments, that large-scale Atlantic warming associated with AMV drives high-latitude precursory stratospheric warming in early to mid winter that propagates downward resulting in a negative tropospheric NAO in late winter. The mechanism involves stratosphere/troposphere dynamical coupling, and can be simulated to a large extent, but only with a stratosphere resolving model (i.e., high-top). Further analysis shows that this precursory stratospheric response can be explained by the shift of the daily extremes toward more major stratospheric warming events. This shift cannot be simulated with the atmospheric (low-top) model configuration that poorly resolves the stratosphere and implements a sponge layer in upper model levels. While the potential role of the stratosphere in multi-decadal NAO and Atlantic meridional overturning circulation changes has been recognised, our results show that the stratosphere is an essential element of extra-tropical atmospheric response to ocean variability. Our findings suggest that the use of stratosphere resolving models should improve the simulation, prediction, and projection of extra-tropical climate, and lead to a better understanding of natural and anthropogenic climate change.     

Origin of 1.8 Ga zircons in Post Eocene mafic dikes in the Roshtkhar area,NE Iran

The Roshtkhar area is located in the Khaf-Kashmar-Bardaskan volcano-plutonic belt to the northeastern Iran along the regional E–W trending Dorouneh Fault, northeastern of the Lut Block. There are several outcrops of subvolcanic rocks occurring mainly as dikes in the area, which intruded into Cenozoic intrusive rocks. We present U–Pb dating of zircons from a diabase dike and syenite rock using LA-ICP-MS that yielded an age of 1778 ± 10 Ma for the dike, indicating this Cenozoic dike has zircon xenocrysts inherited from deeper sources; and 38.0 ± 0.5 Ma, indicating an Late Eocene crystallization age for the syenite. Geochemically, the dikes typical of high-K calc-alkaline to shoshonitic magmas. Petrographic observations and major and trace element variations suggest that diabase melts underwent variable fractionation of clinopyroxene, olivine, and Fe-Ti oxides and minor crustal contamination during the differentiation process. Primitive mantle-normalized multi-element diagrams display enrichment in LILE, such as Rb, Ba, Th, U, and Sr compared to HFSE, as well as negative anomalies of Nb, Ta, P, and Ti, suggesting derivation from subduction-modified mantle. Chondrite-normalized REE plots show moderately LREE enriched patterns (<3.83 La_N/Yb_N <8.27), and no significant Eu anomalies. Geochemical modelling using Sm/Yb versus La/Yb and La/Sm ratios suggests a low-degree of batch melting (~1–3%) of a phlogopite-spinel peridotite source to generate the mafic dikes. The geochemical signatures suggest that the Roshtkhar mafic dikes cannot be related directly to subduction and likely resulted from melting of upper mantle in an extensional setting where the heat flow was provided from deeper levels. These dikes presumably derived the zircon xenocrysts from the assimilation of upper crust of Gondwanian basement. Processes responsible for partial melting of metasomatized lithospheric mantle and post-collision magmatism in NE Iran was triggered by heating due to asthenospheric upwelling in an extensional setting.     

Iranshahr Blueschists as Results of Subduction of the Neotethys Inner Makran Oceanic Crust, SE Iran

<正>The Makran accretionary prism is one of the most extensive subduction accretions on Earth.It is characterized by intense folding,thrust faulting and dislocation of the Cenozoic units consisted of sedimentary,igneous and metamorphic rocks.It is located in the southeast of Iran and southwest of Pakistan.Rock     

Metamorphic history of glaucophane‐paragonite‐zoisite eclogites from the Shanderman area,northern Iran

The Shanderman eclogites and related metamorphosed oceanic rocks mark the site of closure of the Palaeotethys ocean in northern Iran. The protolith of the eclogites was an oceanic tholeiitic basalt with MORB composition. Eclogite occurs within a serpentinite matrix, accompanied by mafic rocks resembling a dismembered ophiolite. The eclogitic mafic rocks record different stages of metamorphism during subduction and exhumation. Minerals formed during the prograde stages are preserved as inclusions in peak metamorphic garnet and omphacite. The rocks experienced blueschist facies metamorphism on their prograde path and were metamorphosed in eclogite facies at the peak of metamorphism. The peak metamorphic mineral paragenesis of the rocks is omphacite, garnet (pyrope‐rich), glaucophane, paragonite, zoisite and rutile. Based on textural relations, post‐peak stages can be divided into amphibolite and greenschist facies. Pressure and temperature estimates for eclogite facies minerals (peak of metamorphism) indicate 15–20 kbar at ~600 °C. The pre‐peak blueschist facies assemblage yields <11 kbar and 400–460 °C. The average pressure and temperature of the post‐peak amphibolite stage was 5–6 kbar, ~470 °C. The Shanderman eclogites were formed by subduction of Palaeotethys oceanic crust to a depth of no more than 75 km. Subduction was followed by collision between the Central Iran and Turan blocks, and then exhumation of the high pressure rocks in northern Iran.     

A multi‐label cellular automata model for land change simulation

The use of cellular automata (CA) has for some time been considered among the most appropriate approaches for modeling land‐use changes. Each cell in a traditional CA model has a state that evolves according to transition rules, taking into consideration its own and its neighbors’ states and characteristics. Here, we present a multi‐label CA model in which a cell may simultaneously have more than one state. The model uses a multi‐label learning method—a multi‐label support vector machine, Rank‐SVM—to define the transition rules. The model was used with a multi‐label land‐use dataset for Luxembourg, built from vector‐based land‐use data using a method presented here. The proposed multi‐label CA model showed promising performance in terms of its ability to capture and model the details and complexities of changes in land‐use patterns. Applied to historical land use data, the proposed model estimated the land use change with an accuracy of 87.2% exact matching and 98.84% when including cells with a misclassification of a single label, which is comparably better than a classical multi‐class model that achieved 83.6%. The multi‐label cellular automata outperformed a model combining CA and artificial neural networks. All model goodness‐of‐fit comparisons were quantified using various performance metrics for predictive models.     

Iranshahr blueschist: subduction of the inner Makran oceanic crust

The Makran accretionary prism in SE Iran and SW Pakistan is one of the most extensive subduction accretions on Earth. It is characterized by intense folding, thrust faulting and dislocation of the Cenozoic units that consist of sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic rocks. Rock units forming the northern Makran ophiolites are amalgamated as a mélange. Metamorphic rocks, including greenschist, amphibolite and blueschist, resulted from metamorphism of mafic rocks and serpentinites. In spite of the geodynamic significance of blueschist in this area, it has been rarely studied. Peak metamorphic phases of the northern Makran mafic blueschist in the Iranshahr area are glaucophane, phengite, quartz±omphacite+epidote. Post peak minerals are chlorite, albite and calcic amphibole. Blueschist facies metasedimentary rocks contain garnet, phengite, albite and epidote in the matrix and as inclusions in glaucophane. The calculated P–T pseudosection for a representative metabasic glaucophane schist yields peak pressure and temperature of 11.5–15 kbar at 400–510 °C. These rocks experienced retrograde metamorphism from blueschist to greenschist facies (350–450 °C and 7–8 kbar) during exhumation. A back arc basin was formed due to northward subduction of Neotethys under Eurasia (Lut block). Exhumation of the high‐pressure metamorphic rocks in northern Makran occurred contemporarily with subduction. Several reverse faults played an important role in exhumation of the ophiolitic and HP‐LT rocks. The presence of serpentinite shows the possible role of a serpentinite diapir for exhumation of the blueschist. A tectonic model is proposed here for metamorphism and exhumation of oceanic crust and accretionary sedimentary rocks of the Makran area. Vast accretion of subducted materials caused southward migration of the shore.     

Geodynamic evolution of the Sabzevar zone,northern central Iranian micro-continent

Mineralogy and Petrology - The Northern Central Iranian Micro-continent (CIM) represents Neotethys-related oceanic crust remnants, emplaced due to convergence between CIM and Eurasia plates during...