The coast between Cabo de Santa Maria (Portugal) and Rabat (Morocco): a mega-size headland-bay shoreline under control of the North Atlantic swell?

Equilibrium headland-bay beach systems have been mathematically described by logarithmic, parabolic and hyperbolic curve functions. The largest system of this type reported to date has a shoreline length of about 62 km. In the present study, an apparent headland-bay system is presented which has a shoreline length of about 500 km. It was discovered on satellite images, and is located between Cabo de Santa Maria in Portugal and the coastal city of Rabat in Morocco. It appears to be controlled by long-period North Atlantic swells diffracting around Cabo São Vicente at the south-western tip of Portugal, in combination with SW–SE wind wave climates impinging on the northern shoreline of Cádiz Bay. The coast shows two marked departures from the equilibrium shoreline along its central section north and south of the Strait of Gibraltar, which are easily explained. Thus, the promontories to the north of the strait still exist because there has not been sufficient time to erode these back to the equilibrium shoreline since postglacial sea-level recovery. The coastal indentation to the south is explained by an insufficient sediment supply from terrestrial sources to facilitate the required beach accretion. Perfectly adjusted planimetric headland-bay shoreline shapes represent situations where wave orthogonals approach the coast at right angles everywhere, i.e. there is no longer any alongshore sediment transport. Equilibrium shorelines form independently of the grain size of the beach sediment, whereas morphodynamic beach states are indirectly affected by the shoreline shapes because the latter are modulated by wave period and breaker height which also control the morphodynamic response of the beach in combination with the local grain size.     

Successful sidetracking of a well onshore Germany by integration of 3D vertical seismic profiling technology – a case study

The exploration for and exploitation of deep Lower Rotliegend gasfields onshore in North Germany often suffers from poor surface seismic imaging. This is owing to the depth of the reservoirs and a thick and complex Zechstein salt overburden. RWE Dea conducted a 3D vertical seismic profile (VSP) survey in a low‐performing production well after the borehole was plugged near total depth. Our main objective was to improve the seismic image of the reservoir zone in the vicinity of the well to determine a new landing point for a planned sidetrack. Because acquisition was in a densely populated and also partially environmentally protected area, there were surface restrictions concerning source deployment. Additionally, due to the complex geological setting, we conducted two 2D VSP field tests and thorough pre‐survey modelling to achieve the best results in terms of seismic imaging, environmental impact and reasonable cost. Deformation bands in the drill core suggest that the initial well was drilled close to a major fault, which was regarded as the main reason for the disappointing production rate. Therefore, we put special emphasis on fault detection in our processing and interpretation. Our interpretation approach used an enhanced structural mapping workflow that helped to design a sidetrack. When the sidetrack was drilled two years later, it ended up being one of the most productive wells in the field.     

Tide-induced vertical suspended sediment concentration profiles: phase lag and amplitude attenuation

In tidal environments, the response of suspended sediment concentration (SSC) to the current velocity is not instantaneous, the SSC lagging behind the velocity (phase lag), and the amplitude of SSC variation decreasing with height above the bed (amplitude attenuation). In order to quantitatively describe this phenomenon, a one-dimensional vertical advection–diffusion equation of SSC is derived analytically for uniform unsteady tidal flow by defining a concentration boundary condition using a constant vertical eddy diffusivity and sediment settling velocity. The solution, in simple and straightforward terms, shows that the vertical phase lag increases linearly with the height above the bed, while the amplitude of the SSC variation decreases exponentially with the height. The relationship between the SSC and the normalized current velocity can be represented by an ellipse or a line, depending on the phase lag. The lag of sediment movement or “diffusion/settling lag” is the mechanism generating the phase lag effect. Field observations used for validation show that the theoretically predicted and the observed curves of the vertical SSC phase lag and amplitude attenuation show reasonable agreement. The procedure proposed in this paper substantially simplifies the modeling of suspended matter transport in tidal flows.     

Late orogenic extension in the Bohemian Massif: petrostructural evidence in the Hlinsko region

Abstract

The tectonic contact between low-grade metase-dimentary series and high-grade rocks in the Hlinsko region (Bohemian Massif) is commonly interpreted as a thrust of the Barrandian sediments over the upper Moldanubian nappe.

The sediments occur in an E-facing synform that contains a tonalitic laccolith on its eastern boundary with the Moldanubian, and is truncated by a granodiorite pluton to the west. The synform represents a late deformational folding event related to the granodiorite intrusion. NW-oriented normal shear in the tonalite is indicated by S-C microstructures. Kinematic criteria associated with the major foliation and lineation development in the metasediments also indicate a north-westward, normal shear. In addition, Moldanubian gneiss display late shear bands due to north-westward, normal shear. Consequently, the presumed thrust is a low-angle, normal shear zone.

Low-pressure type metamorphism (3 < P < 4 x 10² MPa) coeval with the major deformational phase in pelites of the Hlinsko synform is attributed to both the tonalite aureole and the extensive HT metamorphism (under P > 6 x 10² MPa) that has affected the underlying Moldanubian.

The possibly polyphase normal fault is consistent with the meta-morphic pressure jump between the metasediments and the Moldanubian.

We suggest that the tonalite intruded syntectonically within the normal ductile shear zone active during waning stages of the Variscan orogeny.     

Middle and Late Carboniferous extension In the Variscan Belt: structural and petrological evidences from the Vosges massif (Eastern France)

Abstract

In the Moldanubian domain of the Vosges massif (INK France) euperimposition of three distinct crustal units has been attributed to Middle to Late Carboniferous thrusting. Л kinematic analysis of mierostuetures within each unit suggests that extension, following the formation of a Stack of nappes, is actually responsible for the bulk structure of this region. In order to estimate the related exhumation, the temperature and pressure evolution of the lowermost unit is investigated. It is characterised by (i) a prograde evolution within the stability field of kyanite, followed by (ii) a syn-kinematic, 3-4 kbar, near-isothermal decompression before (iii) cooling. Thermal modeling shows that the isothermal decompression may be related to rapid exhumation (> I mm.a^-1), which cannot be accounted for by erosion alone. Therefore, exhumation is best explained by extensional processes, possibly related to gravitational collapse of a thickened crust.     

Formation and preservation of fresh lawsonite: Geothermobarometry of the North Makran Blueschists,southeast Iran

A low‐grade metamorphic “Coloured Mélange” in North Makran (SE Iran) contains lenses and a large klippe of low temperature, lawsonite‐bearing blueschists formed during the Cretaceous closure of the Tethys Ocean. The largest blueschist outcrop is a >1,000 m thick coherent unit with metagabbros overlain by interlayered metabasalts and metavolcanoclastic rocks. Blueschist metamorphism is only incipient in coarse‐grained rocks, whereas finer grained, foliated samples show thorough metamorphic recrystallization. The low‐variance blueschist peak assemblage is glaucophane, lawsonite, titanite, jadeite±phengitic mica. Investigated phase diagram sections of three blueschists with different protoliths yield peak conditions of ~300–380°C at 9–14 kbar. Magnesio‐hornblende and rutile cores indicate early amphibolite facies metamorphism at >460°C and 2–4 kbar. Later conditions at slightly higher pressures of 6–9 kbar at 350–450°C are recorded by barroisite, omphacite and rutile assemblages before entering into the blueschist facies and finally following a retrograde path through the pumpellyite–actinolite facies across the lawsonite stability field. Assuming that metamorphic pressure is lithostatic pressure, the corresponding counterclockwise P–T path is explained by burial along a warm geothermal gradient (~15°C/km) in a young subduction system, followed by exhumation along a cold gradient (~8°C/km); a specific setting that allows preservation of fresh undecomposed lawsonite in glaucophane‐bearing rocks.     

Continuous vs. discontinuous melt segregation in migmatites: insights from a cellular automaton model

A cellular automaton model is presented that simulates melt extraction from migmatites. The varying parameters are the relative amount of melt, thresholds for melt connection leading to movement and melt escape, and type of deformation (pure and/or simple shear). It is shown that when the melt percentage is about half that of the melt escape threshold, the competition between production and deformation-assisted extraction results in a discontinuous rate of melt extraction. The process can be compared to stick-slip motion during frictional experiments. At higher melt fraction, it is continuously extracted. Deformation assists significantly in segregating melt, particularly when a pure shear (compaction) component is added to simple shear.     

Exhumation across the Indus Suture Zone: a record of back sliding of the hanging wall

The Kohistan Arc Complex is an integral part of the NW Himalayan collision system and is bounded by two major suture zones, the Indus Suture Zone (ISZ) and the Northern Suture in the south and north respectively. Fission‐track analyses on samples collected along the Indus River across the arcuated ISZ in the Besham region are presented here. The footwall yields zircon and apatite fission‐track (FT) ages of ∼23 Ma and ∼3.7 Ma respectively; the hanging wall ages range from 24 to 42 Ma for zircon and ∼10 Ma for apatite. Thus, the change in ISZ kinematics from thrusting to normal faulting was not later than Oligocene and normal faulting on this ISZ segment was still active at least into early Pliocene times. At this time normal faulting had already ended at other ISZ segments, but it was still (or again) active across the ISZ in the Besham region most likely as a local phenomenon caused by the growth of the Indus Syntaxis, a transverse antiform parallel to the Nanga Parbat Syntaxis.