Reef exploration in the East Sengkang Basin,Sulawesi, Indonesia

Reconnaissance seismic shot in 1971/72 showed a number of well defined seismic anomalies within the East Sengkang Basin which were interpreted as buried reefs. Subsequent fieldwork revealed that Upper Miocene reefs outcropped along the southern margin of the basin. A drilling programme in 1975 and 1976 proved the presence of shallow, gas-bearing, Upper Miocene reefs in the northern part of the basin. Seismic acquisition and drilling during 1981 confirmed the economic significance of these discoveries, with four separate accumulations containing about 750 × 10⁹ cubic feet of dry gas in place at an average depth of 700 m. Kampung Baru is the largest field and contains over half the total, both reservoir quality and gas deliverability are excellent. Deposition in the East Sengkang Basin probably started during the Early Miocene. A sequence of Lower Miocene mudstones and limestones unconformably overlies acoustic basement which consists of Eocene volcanics. During the tectonically active Middle Miocene, deposition was interrupted by two periods of deformation and erosion. Carbonate deposition became established in the Late Miocene with widespread development of platform limestones throughout the East Sengkang Basin. Thick pinnacle reef complexes developed in the areas where reef growth could keep pace with the relative rise in sea level. Most reef growth ceased at the end of the Miocene and subsequent renewed clastic sedimentation covered the irregular limestone surface. Late Pliocene regression culminated in the Holocene with erosion. The Walanae fault zone, part of a major regional sinistral strike-slip system, separates the East and West Sengkang Basins. Both normal and reverse faulting are inferred from seismic data and post Late Pliocene reverse faulting is seen in outcrop.     

Microstructures of co-axially folded vein segments and crenulation cleavage： Evidence for dissolution phenomena in the Chamba Thrust Sheet, western Himalayas

The metasediments in the Chamba region experienced three phases of deformation: DF1, DF2 and DF3.Folded quartz veins are co-folded with the F2 crenulation folds. Their geometric and tectonic significance is studied by microstructures and shortening adjacent to the discrete crenulation cleavage, S2. Microstructures of folded vein segments, their geometric changes and truncation to cleavage (S2) are mainly due to pressure-solution phenomena and the estimated volume loss from reconstructed vein segments range from 16 to 25.5%,which is closely related to volume decrease (26%) calculated from the polydeformed slates of North Wales areas.     

SHRIMP U–Pb ages of diagenetic and hydrothermal xenotime from the Archaean Witwatersrand Supergroup of South Africa

SHRIMP dating of xenotime overgrowths on detrital zircon grains can constrain maximum durations since diagenesis and therefore provide minimum dates of sediment deposition. Thus, xenotime dating has significant economic application to Precambrian sediment-hosted ore deposits, such as Witwatersrand Au–U, for which there are no precise depositional ages. The growth history of xenotime in the Witwatersrand Supergroup is texturally complex, with several phases evident. The oldest authigenic xenotime ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁶Pb age obtained in sandstone underlying the Vaal Reef is 2764 ± 5 Myr (1 σ), and most likely represents a mixture of diagenetic and hydrothermal growth. Nevertheless, this represents the oldest authigenic mineral age yet recorded in the sequence and provides a minimum age of deposition. Other xenotime data record a spread of ages that correspond to numerous post-diagenetic thermotectonic events (including a Ventersdorp event at ≈ 2720 Ma) up to the ≈2020 Ma Vredefort event.     

The mass ratio of Nova Muscae 1991

We report intermediate resolution H spectroscopy of the black hole candidate Nova Muscae 1991 during quiescence. We classify the companion star as a K3-K4V which contributes 85±6 percent to the total flux from the binary. The photospheric absorption lines are broadened by 106±13 kms⁻¹ with respect to template field stars, leading to a system mass ratio of q =M₁/M₂ = 7.8_−2.0^+3.4. Doppler imaging of the H line shows strong emission coming from the secondary star (EW=3.1±0.6Å) which we associate with chromospheric activity. However, the hot-spot is not detected and this may indicate a lower mass transfer rate than in other X-ray transients of comparable orbital periods. The surface brightness distribution of the accretion disk in H follows a relation I∝R^−1.1, less steep than typically observed in cataclysmic variables. Updated system parameters are also presented.     

Transient‐state groundwater flow in various geometries with wells at arbitrary positions: analytical methods

We have developed a method for analytically solving the porous medium flow equation in many different geometries for horizontal (two‐dimensional), homogeneous and isotropic aquifers containing impermeable boundaries and any number of pumping or injection wells located at arbitrary positions within the system. Solutions and results are presented for rectangular and circular aquifers but the method presented here is easily extendible to many geometries. Results are also presented for systems where constant head boundary conditions can be emulated internal to the aquifer boundary. Recommendations for extensions of the present work are briefly discussed. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Structurally controlled gold and sulfosalt mineralization: the Altenberg example, Salzburg Province, Austria

Summary ?In the south-eastern Altenbergkar–Silbereck area in the eastern Tauern window (Lungau, Salzburg) structurally controlled precious-metal (Au–Ag) mineralization is hosted in marbles of the Permo(?)-Mesozoic Silbereck Formation and in the underlying Variscan Central gneiss. During the Alpine otogeny both lithologies were affected by ductile deformation (shearing, D1; folding, D2/D3) and subsequent brittle deformation (tension gashes, D4; normal faulting, D5) related to the uplift and exhumation of the Tauern window. Mineralization is controlled by brittle D4 structures. NE–SW trending steeply dipping tension gashes of the “Tauerngoldgang” type occur within the Central gneiss. Three different marble-hosted ore types following fracture systems as well as foliation and bedding planes can be distinguished: 1) metasomatic replacement ores, 2) ores in tension gashes and 3) ores in talc-bearing structures, often containing high-grade gold and silver mineralization (native gold in association with Ag–Pb–Bi–sulfosalts). Four stages of mineralization can be distinguished which occur in all ore types: arsenopyrite–pyrite–pyrrhotite (first stage), Au–(Ag–Pb–Bi–sulfosalts) (second stage), base-metal sulfides and tetrahedrite–tennantite (third stage) and Ag-rich galena (fourth stage). Preliminary fluid inclusion data indicate temperatures of ore formation well above 300 °C (346 °C mean) for the second stage within the Central gneiss and temperatures between 310 and 230 °C for the second and third stages in the marble. Received October 12, 2001; revised version accepted September 5, 2002 Published online March 10, 2003     

Biological and granulometric controls on sedimentary organic matter of an intertidal mudflat

A variety of measures of organic matter concentration and quality were made on samples collected from the top few mm of intertidal mudflat sediment over the course of a year, in order to assess the relative importance of biological and sedimentological influences on sedimentary organic matter. Winter and summer were times of relatively fine-grained sediment accumulation, caused by biological deposition or stabilization processes and resulting in higher organic matter concentrations. Stable carbon isotope and Br:C ratios indicated a planktonic source of bulk organic matter. Ratios of organic carbon to specific surface area of the sediments were consistent with an organic monolayer coverage of sediment grains. Correction for changing grain size during the year showed no change in the organic concentration per unit surface area, in spite of organic matter inputs by in situ primary production, buildup of heterotroph biomass and mucus coatings, and biodeposition of organic-rich seston. There were also no indications of changes in bulk organic quality, measured as hydrolyzable carbohydrates and amino acids, in response to these biological processes. It is concluded that biological processes on a seasonal time scale affect the bulk organic matter of these sediments via a modulation of grain size rather than creation or decay of organic matter.