Petrogenesis of the Pt–Pd mineralized Jinbaoshan ultramafic intrusion in the Permian Emeishan Large Igneous Province,SW China

The Jinbaoshan ultramafic intrusion is a sheet-like body with a thick wehrlite unit in the center and thin pyroxenite units at the margins. PGE are enriched in several disseminated sulfide zones in the intrusion. Olivine from the intrusion has low Fo and depleted Ni contents compared to olivine from coeval Emeishan picrites. Whole rock major and trace element concentrations suggest that the Jinbaoshan wehrlites originally contained <30% trapped liquid. The total amount of sulfide in the rocks exceeds that which could have been dissolved in the trapped liquid. The Jinbaoshan wehrlites are interpreted to represent residual assemblages formed by dissolution of plagioclase by passing magma. No clear evidence of crustal contamination is indicated by S, Nd and Os isotopes. We envision that sulfide saturation occurred at depth due to olivine and chromite crystallization. Immiscible sulfide droplets were transported to the Jinbaoshan conduit where they accumulated and reacted with magma successively passing through the conduit to achieve high PGE concentrations.     

Hierarchical probabilistic regionalization of volcanism for Sengan region,Japan

A 1 km square regular grid system created on the Universal Transverse Mercator zone 54 projected coordinate system is used to work with volcanism related data for Sengan region. The following geologic variables were determined as the most important for identifying volcanism: geothermal gradient, groundwater temperature, heat discharge, groundwater pH value, presence of volcanic rocks and presence of hydrothermal alteration. Data available for each of these important geologic variables were used to perform directional variogram modeling and kriging to estimate geologic variable vectors at each of the 23949 centers of the chosen 1 km cell grid system. Cluster analysis was performed on the 23949 complete variable vectors to classify each center of 1 km cell into one of five different statistically homogeneous groups with respect to potential volcanism spanning from lowest possible volcanism to highest possible volcanism with increasing group number. A discriminant analysis incorporating Bayes’ theorem was performed to construct maps showing the probability of group membership for each of the volcanism groups. The said maps showed good comparisons with the recorded locations of volcanism within the Sengan region. No volcanic data were found to exist in the group 1 region. The high probability areas within group 1 have the chance of being the no volcanism region. Entropy of classification is calculated to assess the uncertainty of the allocation process of each 1 km cell center location based on the calculated probabilities. The recorded volcanism data are also plotted on the entropy map to examine the uncertainty level of the estimations at the locations where volcanism exists. The volcanic data cell locations that are in the high volcanism regions (groups 4 and 5) showed relatively low mapping estimation uncertainty. On the other hand, the volcanic data cell locations that are in the low volcanism region (group 2) showed relatively high mapping estimation uncertainty. The volcanic data cell locations that are in the medium volcanism region (group 3) showed relatively moderate mapping estimation uncertainty. Areas of high uncertainty provide locations where additional site characterization resources can be spent most effectively. The new data collected can be added to the existing database to perform future regionalized mapping and reduce the uncertainty level of the existing estimations.     

Whole-rock, Phosphate, and Silicate Compositional Trends across an Amphibolite- to Granulite-facies Transition, Tamil Nadu, India

Chemical trends from north (amphibolite facies) to south (granulitefacies) along a 95 km traverse in Tamil Nadu, Southern India,include: whole-rock depletion of Rb, Cs, Th and U, enrichmentin Ti and F, and depletion in Fe and Mn in biotite and amphibole;increases in Al and decreases in Mn in orthopyroxene; enrichmentof fluorapatite in F. K-feldspar blebs are widespread alongquartz–plagioclase grain boundaries, and could indicateeither partial melting or metasomatism. In the northernmostportion of the traverse the principal rare earth element (REE)-bearingminerals are allanite and titanite. South of a clinopyroxeneisograd, monazite grains independent of fluorapatite are themajor REE- and Th-bearing phase. Further south independent monaziteis rare but Th-free monazite inclusions are common in fluorapatite.During prograde metamorphism, independent monazite was replacedby REE-rich fluorapatite in which the monazite inclusions laterformed. The loss of independent monazite was accompanied bya loss of whole-rock Th and possibly a small depletion in lightREE. Most mineralogical features along the traverse can be accountedfor by progressive dehydration and oxidation reactions. Trace-elementdepletion is best explained by the action of an externally derivedlow H₂O activity brine migrating from a source at greater depth,possibly preceded or accompanied by partial melting. KEY WORDS: granulite facies; charnockite; metasomatism; Archean; Tamil Nadu, India; fluorapatite; monazite; allanite; titanite; biotite     

Dependence of Waterline Mapping on Radar Frequency Used for SAR Images in Intertidal Areas

Waterline detection in the intertidal areas was investigated through synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images and field measurements. Two valuable facts were found in this letter: 1) A discrepancy of waterlines between L- and P-band airborne SAR images was discovered and investigated through precise global positioning system measurements and the theory of the SAR imaging mechanism. In the intertidal areas having low slopes, the Bragg waves resonant with the radar signal can reside in different depths depending on the radar frequency, with the result that the boundary between water and land can be mapped differently in the respective SAR images. 2) Intertidal areas covered with a water film present low radar backscatter in SAR images, which can cause mislocation of waterlines     

Embryo dune development on a large,actively accreting macrotidal beach: Calais,North Sea coast of France

Sediment budget data from an 18‐month topographic survey were analysed with data from brief experiments on wind parameters, beach moisture contents, bedforms and sand mobilization in order to monitor conditions and patterns of embryo dune development over a flat 150–1000 m wide accreting upper beach. The surface conditions over the upper beach locally affect aeolian transport, but net dune development over time depends on sustained strong winds and their orientation. Incoming marine sand supplied by storms and onshore winds is reorganized by the dominant offshore to longshore winds into elongated embryo dunes over this upper beach, imprinting a regional morphology of long‐term longshore dune ridge development. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The grain-size characterisation of coastal sand from the Somme estuary to Belgium: Sediment sorting processes and mixing in a tide- and storm-dominated setting

Sand-rich Holocene to modern clastic deposits in the eastern English Channel and the southern North Sea coasts of France and Belgium occur extensively as nearshore-sand bank, estuarine-tidal flat, aeolian dune and beach sub-environments. Sand samples (n = 665) collected from these deposits suggest the presence of three different populations: a largely dominant (83%) medium to fine quartz sand population (“b”), and finer- (14%) and coarser-grained (4%) populations (respectively “c” and “a”). The distribution of these populations among the four sub-environments reflects tide- and storm-dominated sorting and transport processes and a variable degree of mixing. These populations are derived from a mixture of very fine- to very coarse-grained fluvial, outwash and paraglacial sediments deposited on the beds of the eastern English Channel and southern North Sea during the late Pleistocene lowstand. The nearshore-sand bank environment, which also corresponds to the main offshore source area of the coastal deposits, exhibits population heterogeneity reflecting the variability of hydrodynamic conditions and sediment sorting in this zone. The nearshore topography of tidal ridges, banks and troughs in these tidal seas leads to variable bed and tide- and storm-induced shear stress conditions. These conditions only allow for the mobilisation and onshore transport of some of the finer fractions (populations “b” and “c”), leaving an offshore mixture of these finer populations with coarser, less mobilisable sediments (population “a”). Once in the coastal zone, these two finer populations undergo further hydrodynamic sorting and segregation. Variably sorted very fine sands to silts (population “c”) are trapped in the low-energy estuarine-tidal flat sub-environment, while the highly homogeneous population “b” is further sorted in aeolian dune and beach sub-environments. This sorting occurs via a coastal sand transport pathway linking the Somme estuary mouth to the southern North Sea bight where tidal range and wave energy decrease relative to the English Channel. Since this sand transport pathway enables longshore transport of hydrodynamically sorted medium to fine sand derived directly from the immediate nearshore zone, it has further contributed to a net flux of this sand population from the eastern English Channel sea bed to the southern North Sea.     

Identification of seismic anomalies caused by gas saturation on the basis of theoretical P and PS wavefield in the Carpathian Foredeep,SE Poland

The thin-layer build of the Carpathian Foredeep Miocene formations and large petrophysical parameter variation cause seismic images of gas-saturated zones to be ambiguous, and the location of prospection wells on the basis of anomalous seismic record is risky. A method that assists reservoir interpretation of standard recorded seismic profiles (P waves) can be a converted wave recording (PS waves). This paper presents the results of application of a multicomponent seismic survey for the reservoir interpretation over the Chałupki Dębniańskie gas deposit, carried out for the first time in Poland by Geofizyka Kraków Ltd. for the Polish Oil and Gas Company. Seismic modeling was applied as the basic research tool, using the SeisMod program based on the finite-difference solution of the acoustic wave equation and equations of motion. Seismogeological models for P waves were developed using Acoustic Logs; S-wave model (records only from part of the well) was developed on the basis of theoretical curves calculated by means of the Estymacja program calibrated with average S-velocities, calculated by correlation of recorded P and PS wavefields with 1D modeling. The conformity between theoretical and recorded wavefields makes it possible to apply the criteria established on the basis of modeling for reservoir interpretation. Direct hydrocarbon indicators (bright spots, phase change, time sag) unambiguously identify gas-prone layers within the ChD-2 prospect. A partial range of the indicators observed in the SW part of the studied profile (bright spot that covers a single, anticlinally bent seismic horizon) points to saturation of the horizon. The proposed location is confirmed by criteria determined for converted waves (continuous seismic horizons with constant, high amplitude) despite poorer agreement between theoretical and recorded wavefields.     

Smithsonian Institution’s Global Volcanism Network

Information included in this summary is based on more detailed reports published in the Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network, vol. 31, no. 7, July 2006 (on the Internet at ). Edited by scientists at the Smithsonian, this bulletin includes reports provided by a worldwide network of correspondents. The reports contain the names and contact information for all sources. Please note that these reports are preliminary and subject to change as events are studied in more detail. The Global Volcanism Program welcomes further reports of current volcanism, seismic unrest, monitoring data, and field observations.     

Smithsonian Institution’s Global Volcanism Network

Information included in this summary is based on more detailed reports published in the Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network, vol. 32, no. 2, February 2007 (on the Internet at ). Edited by scientists at the Smithsonian, this bulletin includes reports provided by a worldwide network of correspondents. The reports contain the names and contact information for all sources. Please note that these reports are preliminary and subject to change as events are studied in more detail. The Global Volcanism Program welcomes further reports of current volcanism, seismic unrest, monitoring data, and field observations.     

Hazard rate estimation of a mixture model with censored lifetimes

This paper is intended to compare the hazard rate from the Bayesian approach with the hazard rate from the maximum likelihood estimate (MLE) method. The MLE of a parameter is appropriate as long as there are sufficient data. For various reasons, however, sufficient data may not be available, which may make the result of the MLE method unreliable. In order to resolve the problem, it is necessary to rely on judgment about unknown parameters. This is done by adopting the Bayesian approach. The hazard rate of a mixture model can be inferred from a method called Bayesian estimation. For eliciting a prior distribution which can be used in deriving a Bayesian estimate, a computerized-simulation method is introduced. Finally, a numerical example is given to illustrate the potential benefits of the Bayesian approach.