Lithofacies and origin of late Quaternary mass transport deposits in submarine canyons, central Scotian Slope, Canada

Mass transport deposits, up to 3·9 m thick, have been identified from piston cores collected from canyon floors and inter-canyon ridges on the central Scotian Slope. These deposits are characterized by four distinct mass-transport facies – folded mud, dipping stratified mud, various types of mud-clast conglomerate, and diamicton. Commonly, the folded and stratified mud facies are overlain by mud-clast conglomerate, followed by diamicton and then by turbidity current deposits of well-sorted sand. Stratified and folded mud facies were sourced from canyon walls. Overconsolidation in clasts in some mud-clast conglomerates indicates that the source sediment was buried 12–33 m, much deeper than the present cored depth, implying a source in canyon heads and canyon walls. The known stratigraphic framework for the region and new radiocarbon dating suggests that there were four or five episodes of sediment failure within the past 17 ka, most of which are found in more than one canyon system. The most likely mechanism for triggering occasional, synchronous failures in separate canyons is seismic ground shaking. The facies sequence is interpreted as resulting from local slides being overlain by mud-clast conglomerate deposits derived from failures farther upslope and finally by coarser-grained deposits resulting from retrogressive failure re-mobilizing upper slope sediments to form debrisflows and turbidity currents.     

Hybrid frequency–time domain models for dynamic response analysis of marine structures

Time-domain models of marine structures based on frequency domain data are usually built upon the Cummins equation. This type of model is a vector integro-differential equation which involves convolution terms. These convolution terms are not convenient for analysis and design of motion control systems. In addition, these models are not efficient with respect to simulation time, and ease of implementation in standard simulation packages. For these reasons, different methods have been proposed in the literature as approximate alternative representations of the convolutions. Because the convolution is a linear operation, different approaches can be followed to obtain an approximately equivalent linear system in the form of either transfer function or state-space models. This process involves the use of system identification, and several options are available depending on how the identification problem is posed. This raises the question whether one method is better than the others. This paper therefore has three objectives. The first objective is to revisit some of the methods for replacing the convolutions, which have been reported in different areas of analysis of marine systems: hydrodynamics, wave energy conversion, and motion control systems. The second objective is to compare the different methods in terms of complexity and performance. For this purpose, a model for the response in the vertical plane of a modern containership is considered. The third objective is to describe the implementation of the resulting model in the standard simulation environment Matlab/Simulink.     

Magmatic Evolution of the Ordovician Snowdon Volcanic Centre, North Wales (UK)

The Ordovician Snowdon Volcanic Centre (SVC) of North Walescomprises a bimodal basalt–subalkaline/peralkaline associationemplaced around a caldera within a shallow marine environment.The tectonic setting was associated with closure of the LowerPalaeozoic Iapetus Ocean and cessation of ocean plate subduction.The SVC volcanic products include basaltic lavas and pyroclasticrocks, rhyolitic pyroclastic flow deposits, high-level intrusions,domes, and flows, together with reworked equivalents. A programmeof detailed field mapping, sampling, and chemical analysis hasbeen used to evaluate the structure and magmatic evolution ofthe SVC volcanic system. SVC basalts show a range in chemicalcharacteristics between volcanic arc type and within-plate,ocean island basalt (OIB) type. Subalkaline, silica-oversaturatedintermediate intrusions (icelandites) and five chemically distinctgroups of extrusive and intrusive subalkaline/peralkaline rhyolites(termed A1, A2, B1, B2, and B3) were emplaced during the evolutionof the SVC. This evolution was driven by material and thermalinput from basaltic magma. The SVC basaltic lavas were derivedas partial melts from a heterogeneous volcanic arc to OIB-typespinel lherzolite mantle and experienced up to 60% olivine gabbrofractionation during storage in sill networks in the sub-crustor lower crust. Some magma batches experienced further fractionalcrystallization ({small tilde}70%) and minor crustal contamination({small tilde}10%) to yield the icelandites. Trace element andNd isotope data do not favour an origin for the rhyolites bypartial or total fusion of likely crustal material, and thefive rhyolite groups are regarded as distinct homogeneous batchesof magma derived from varied basaltic magmas. The icelanditesand peralkaline rhyolites (group B3) result, respectively, from{small tilde}50% and {small tilde}80–90% zircon-free fractionalcrystallization of SVC basalts. The subalkaline rhyolites (groupsA1 and B1) result from {small tilde}80–90% fractionalcrystallization of subduction-related basalts similar to thoseof Ordovician basalts which pre-date the Lower Rhyolitic TuffFormation, and groups A2 and B2 were formed by mixing and homogenizationof A1, B1, and B3 magma batches. These data and interpretationsprovide the basis of a model for the complex evolution of asilicic magma system below the SVC caldera around the time ofcessation of Caledonian subduction in North Wales. Rhyolitemagma chambers were short lived and discontinuous; the largestwas probably disc shaped and was almost entirely evacuated duringa >60-km³ ash-flow eruption.     

Mineral equilibria constraints on open‐system melting in metamafic compositions

The recent development of activity–composition relations for mineral and melt phases in high‐grade metamafic rocks allows mineral equilibria tools to be used to further aid our understanding of partial melting and the mineralogical consequences of melt segregation in these rocks. We show that bulk compositional data from natural amphibolites cover a wide compositional range, with particular variability in the content and ratios of Ca, Na and K indicating that low‐grade metasomatic alteration can substantially alter the igneous protolith chemistry and potentially affect the volume and composition of melt generated. Mineral equilibria calculations for five samples that span the compositional variability in our data set indicate that melting occurs primarily via the fluid‐absent breakdown of amphibole+quartz to produce a pressure‐sensitive peritectic assemblage of augite, orthopyroxene and/or garnet. The introduction of orthopyroxene at the onset of the amphibolite‐to‐granulite‐facies transition at lower pressure results in an increased rate of melt production until quartz is typically exhausted, and this is similarly seen for the introduction of garnet at higher pressure. Calculated melt compositions are dependent on the protolith composition, but initial solidus melting and biotite breakdown produce 1–3 mol.% of K‐rich granitic melts. As hornblende melting proceeds, 15–20 vol.% of either more granodioritic‐to‐tonalitic or granodioritic‐to‐trondhjemitic melt is produced. Once quartz is exhausted, intermediate to mafic melt compositions are produced at ultrahigh‐temperature conditions. Quartz‐rich lithologies with high Ca coupled to low Na and K are the most fertile under orogenic conditions, yielding up to 25 mol.% of sub‐alkalic granitic melt by 850°C. Such rocks did not experience significant subsolidus alteration. Altered compositions with low Ca and elevated Na and K are not as fertile, yielding less than 15 mol.% of alkalic granitic melt by 850°C. These melt volumes are enough to be segregated, and can make a contribution to granite magmatism and intracrustal differentiation that should not be overlooked.     

High-resolution analysis of submarine lobes deposits: Seismic-scale outcrops of the Lauzanier area (SE Alps, France)

The Lauzanier area represents the northernmost extension of the Annot Sandstone series and contains deposits between 650 and 900 m-thick. This basin was active from upper Bartonian or lower Priabonian to early Rupelian. It is composed of two superposed units separated by a major unconformity. The sediment supply is due to channelled flows coming from the south. Flow processes include mass flow to turbidity currents. The size of the particles and the absence of fine-grained sediment suggest a transport over a short distance. The Lower Unit is made of coarse-grained tabular beds interpreted as non-channelled lobe deposits. The Upper Unit is made of massive conglomerates interpreted as the channelled part of lobes. These lobe deposits settle in a tectonically confined basin according to topographic compensation that occurs from bed scale to unit scale. The abrupt progradation between the lower and the upper unit seems related to a major tectonic uplift in the area. This uplift is also suggested by a change in the petrographic nature of the source and an abrupt coarsening of the transported clasts.This field example allows providing high resolution analysis for depositional sedimentary sequences of terminal lobe deposits in a coarse-grained turbidite system. The outcrop analysis shows the lateral evolution of deposits and the system progradation allows a longitudinal analysis of facies evolution by superposing on the same outcrops the channelled lobe system and the non-channelled lobe system. These results of high-resolution outcrop analysis can be extrapolated to results obtained on sedimentary lobes in recent deep-sea turbidite system that are either restricted to cores, or with a lesser resolution (seismic).     

Practical aspects of frequency-domain identification of dynamic models of marine structures from hydrodynamic data

The motion response of marine structures in waves can be studied using finite-dimensional linear-time-invariant approximating models. These models, obtained using system identification with data computed by hydrodynamic codes, find application in offshore training simulators, hardware-in-the-loop simulators for positioning control testing, and also in initial designs of wave-energy conversion devices. Different proposals have appeared in the literature to address the identification problem in both time and frequency domains, and recent work has highlighted the superiority of the frequency-domain methods. This paper summarises practical frequency-domain estimation algorithms that use constraints on model structure and parameters to refine the search of approximating parametric models. Practical issues associated with the identification are discussed, including the influence of radiation model accuracy in force-to-motion models, which are usually the ultimate modelling objective. The illustration examples in the paper are obtained using a freely available MATLAB toolbox developed by the authors, which implements the estimation algorithms described.     

The 2011 expedition to the El'gygytgyn impact structure,Northeast Russia: Toward a new geological map for the crater area

El'gygytgyn is a 3.6 Ma, 18 km diameter, impact crater formed in an approximately 88 Ma old volcanic target in Northeast Siberia. The structure has been the subject of a recent ICDP drilling project. In parallel to those efforts, a Russian‐German expedition was undertaken in summer 2011 to investigate the permafrost soil, lake terraces, and the volcanic rocks of the southern and eastern crater rim. This provided the unique opportunity for mapping and sampling of the volcanic target rocks around a large part of this complex impact structure. Samples from 43 outcrops were collected and analyzed petrographically and geochemically. The results were combined with earlier mapping outcomes to create a new geological map of this impact structure and its immediate environs, at the scale of 1:50,000. Compositions of our rock suites are compared with the lithologies of the 2009 ICDP drill core. The ignimbrite described as lower bedrock in the ICDP drill core shows petrographically and chemically strong similarities to the rhyolitic and rhyodacitic ignimbrites observed on surface. The suevite sequence exposed in the ICDP drill core is a mixture of all observed target rocks at their respective proportions in the area. In contrast to previous studies, the calculated average target composition of El'gygytgyn takes the contribution of the basic target rocks into consideration: mafic and intermediate rocks approximately 7.5%, and felsic rocks approximately 92.5%.     

Palaeo-ice streams and the subglacial landscape mosaic of the North American mid-continental prairies

The analysis of the glacial landscape of southern Saskatchewan (Canada) through multiple data sets (e.g. digital elevation model, till compositional data) has revealed previously unrecognized subglacial sediment–landform assemblages. A southwest-trending corridor of mega-scale till lineations (Maskwa corridor) bounded on each side by hummocky terrain extends from the Canadian Shield to southwestern Saskatchewan. This landform assemblage is clearly cross-cut by a broad south to southeast trending corridor (Buffalo corridor) consisting of subparallel curvilinear till ridges. The carbonate content of the surface till is spatially consistent within these assemblages, suggesting a strong sediment–landform relationship. The two corridors are interpreted as the product of palaeo-ice streams. The Maskwa palaeo-ice stream flowed up the regional slope and across preglacial valleys, indicating it was thick and stable. Narrow dispersal trains extending across as well as down-glacier from the Athabasca Basin suggest that the Maskwa palaeo-ice stream extended far into the ice sheet across contrasting shield and platform terrains. In comparison, the Buffalo palaeo-ice stream was thinner and largely controlled by subglacial geology and topography. Its catchments were located at the Canadian Shield boundary and the system was oriented along-slope. It experienced lateral shifts and it was fed by a network of tributaries. The glacial dynamics shift from the Maskwa to the Buffalo system occurred at about 13.5 ¹⁴C kyr BP. The Buffalo system later evolved into thin outlet lobes until final deglaciation of the area. The proposed model has implications for ice-sheet reconstruction and the assessment of till properties in the prairies and in similar terrains.