Bottom Simulating Reflector and Gas Seepage in Okinawa Trough： Evidence of Gas Hydrate in an Active Back-Arc Basin

To look for gas hydrate, 22 multi-channel and 3 single-channel seismic lines on the East China Sea (ECS) shelf slope and at the bottom of the Okinawa Trough were examined. It was found that there was indeed bottom simulating reflector (BSR) occurrence, but it is very rare. Besides several BSRs, a gas seepage was also found. As shown by the data, both the BSR and gas seepage are all related with local geological structures, such as mud diapir, anticline, and fault-controlled graben-like structure. However, similar structural "anomalies" are quite common in the tectonically very active Okinawa Trough region, but very few of them have developed BSR or gas seepage. The article points out that the main reason is probably the low concentration of organic carbon of the sediment in this area. It was speculated that the rare occurrence of gas hydrates in this region is governed by structure-controlled fluid flow. Numerous faults and fractures form a network of high-permeability channels in the sediment and highly fractured igneous basement to allow fluid circulation and ventilation. Fluid flow in this tectonic environment is driven primarily by thermal buoyancy and takes place on a wide range of spatial scales. The fluid flow may play two roles to facilitate hydrate formation:to help gather enough methane into a small area and to modulate the thermal regime.     

Hill stability of satellite orbits

Szebehely's criterion for Hill stability of satellites is derived from Hill's problem and a more exact result is obtained. Direct, Hill stable, circular satellites can exist almost twice as far from the planet as retrograde satellites. For direct satellites the new result agrees with Kuiper's empirical estimate that such satellites are stable up to a distance of half the radius of action of the planet. Comparison with the results of numerical experiments shows that Hill 'stability is valid for direct satellites but meaningless for retrograde satellites. Further accuracy for the maximum distance of Hill stable orbits is obtained from the restricted problem formulation. This provides estimates for planetary distances in double star systems.     

浅海和陆相地层的高分辨率层序地层对比——以东犹他州书崖地区白垩系黑鹰组Sunnyside段为例

现代地层学研究中一个关键的问题是陆相和浅海相地层的对比和整和,尽管层序地层学在两种地层中均有很大发展,可是很少有成功的两者对比研究,本文的目的就是用陆地有机相和海相地层水进水退来产生一种新的层序地层演化的整和模式。     

THE BLOOMINGTON (LL6) CHONDRITE AND ITS SHOCK MELT GLASSES

The Bloomington meteorite, a 67.8 gram veined, brecciated chondrite, fell during the summer of 1938 in Bloomington, Illinois. Its olivine, orthopyroxene and metal compositions (fo₆₉, en₇₄ and Fe₅₂ Ni₄₈ respectively) and its texture identify it as a brecciated LL6 chondrite of shock facies d. Shock melt glasses occur in Bloomington as sparse melt pockets and veins in clasts and as isolated masses in the black, clast-rich matrix. The vein glasses chemically resemble bulk LL-group chondrites and thus appear to reflect total melting of the host meteorite. The melt pocket and matrix glasses, like those described previously in L-group chondrites, have more varied compositions and are typically enriched in normative plagioclase. All glasses that we analyzed in Bloomington have FeO/MgO and Na/Al ratios similar to those of LL-group chondrites, indicating that melting of this meteorite involved neither a significant change in the oxidation state of iron nor loss of sodium to a vapor phase. Bloomington is a monomict breccia whose components formed in place as a result of a single episode of shock and attendant melting.     

Changes in vertical distribution and aggregative behaviour in response to population density for larval sea urchins (Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis) and sea stars (Asterias rubens)

We examined the effects of the presence of larval conspecifics on larval vertical distribution of four‐arm and six‐arm plutei of Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis and bipinnaria of Asterias rubens, in laboratory experiments, by manipulating population density. Larvae were introduced to experimental columns (10 × 10 × 30 cm) at one of two or three population densities (S. droebachiensis: 0.1 and 10 larvae·ml^?1; A. rubens: 0.1, 1 and 10 larvae·ml^?1). Subsequent changes in vertical distribution were determined from images of the larvae in the columns illuminated by a 532‐nm laser and captured by a high‐resolution camera. Larvae of both species were found higher in the water column in the high than in the low and intermediate population densities. The relationship between vertical swimming velocity and nearest neighbour distance (NND) was measured for four‐arm plutei of S. droebachiensis, and used to determine a range in distances among individuals that may affect potential interactions. The variation in swimming velocity decreased with increasing proximity below a threshold distance among individuals of 10 mm, which was greater than the estimated distance in the high population density. We suggest that the increased larval aggregation near the water surface under high population density is the result of a behavioural response to conspecifics.     

Tectonics of an extinct ridge-transform intersection,Drake Passage (Antarctica)

New swath bathymetric, multichannel seismic and magnetic data reveal the complexity of the intersection between the extinct West Scotia Ridge (WSR) and the Shackleton Fracture Zone (SFZ), a first-order NW-SE trending high-relief ridge cutting across the Drake Passage. The SFZ is composed of shallow, ridge segments and depressions, largely parallel to the fracture zone with an `en echelon' pattern in plan view. These features are bounded by tectonic lineaments, interpreted as faults. The axial valley of the spreading center intersects the fracture zone in a complex area of deformation, where N120° E lineaments and E–W faults anastomose on both sides of the intersection. The fracture zone developed within an extensional regime, which facilitated the formation of oceanic transverse ridges parallel to the fracture zone and depressions attributed to pull-apart basins, bounded by normal and strike-slip faults.On the multichannel seismic (MCS) profiles, the igneous crust is well stratified, with numerous discontinuous high-amplitude reflectors and many irregular diffractions at the top, and a thicker layer below. The latter has sparse and weak reflectors, although it locally contains strong, dipping reflections. A bright, slightly undulating reflector observed below the spreading center axial valley at about 0.75 s (twt) depth in the igneous crust is interpreted as an indication of the relict axial magma chamber. Deep, high-amplitude subhorizontal and slightly dipping reflections are observed between 1.8 and 3.2 s (twt) below sea floor, but are preferentially located at about 2.8–3.0 s (twt) depth. Where these reflections are more continuous they may represent the Mohorovicic seismic discontinuity. More locally, short (2–3 km long), very high-amplitude reflections observed at 3.6 and 4.3 s (twt) depth below sea floor are attributed to an interlayered upper mantle transition zone. The MCS profiles also show a pattern of regularly spaced, steep-inclined reflectors, which cut across layers 2 and 3 of the oceanic crust. These reflectors are attributed to deformation under a transpressional regime that developed along the SFZ, shortly after spreading ceased at the WSR. Magnetic anomalies 5 to 5 E may be confidently identified on the flanks of the WSR. Our spreading model assumes slow rates (ca. 10–20 mm/yr), with slight asymmetries favoring the southeastern flank between 5C and 5, and the northwestern flank between 5 and extinction. The spreading rate asymmetry means that accretion was slower during formation of the steeper, shallower, southeastern flank than of the northwestern flank.     

High cyst concentrations of the potentially toxic dinoflagellate Alexandrium tamarense species complex in Bedford Basin,Halifax, Nova Scotia,Canada

We report a large cyst bed of the potentially toxic and bloom-forming dinoflagellate Alexandrium tamarense species complex in bottom sediments from the port of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The average cyst concentrations of that species ranged from 4033 ± 2647 to 220 872 ± 148 086 cysts g^?1 of dry sediments and the highest concentrations were found near ship terminals in Bedford Basin. Although this species is endemic to this region, our work strongly suggests that some of the cysts of A. tamarense species complex found in the port of Halifax were introduced through discharged ballast water and sediments.     

A 3D gravity data interpretation of the Matagami mining camp, Abitibi Subprovince, Superior Province, Québec, Canada: Application to VMS deposit exploration

Two inversions, unconstrained and constrained, of a gravity survey of the Matagami mining camp (Abitibi Archaean Subprovince, Canada) have been performed in order to identify the downward extension of a rhyolitic horizon hosting VMS-type base metals deposit and the morphologies of the major felsic plutons. A comparative study exhibits the similarities between measured and calculated densities from chemical compositions of the Matagami lithologies. This allows building an initial 3D geodensity model which integrates densities and available structural and geological surface mapping data. This model is integrated during the iteration process of the constrained inversion in the objective function. The resulting true density model and two derived cross-sections upgrade the 3D imaging of this area. Also, the model gives new insight for regional geological interpretation exposing possible shapes of the main geological units at depth and suggests the potential existence of deep fertile geological bodies.     

Integrated Deep Soil N and Groundwater Isotope Investigation of N Sources Captured by Municipal Wells

Identification of major nitrate sources that adversely impact groundwater quality in municipal well capture zones in areas of emerging nitrate contamination is essential to minimize leaching and prevent exceedance of the nitrate drinking water standard. Vertical profiles of nitrate leachate in deep soils provide an estimate of the amount of nitrate in transit beneath irrigated, row-cropped fields; depths of peak leachate; and the approximate rate of downward movement. Profiles of pore-water soil-nitrate concentrations in thick 60-feet (~18 m), fine-textured soils near Hastings, Nebraska clearly indicate that considerably more nitrate leached beneath furrow-irrigated than center-pivot irrigated fields. Peak leaching appeared to correlate with recorded periods of poor weather conditions during some growing seasons and may best be controlled by “spoon feeding” fertilizer to the crop through the sprinkler irrigation system at times of nutrient need. The presence of trace levels of atrazine and deethylatrazine to 60 feet (18 m) in core samples indicates that larger, more complex anthropogenic molecules also leach through the fine-textured soils. The light δ¹⁵N_NO3 values in the surficial groundwater beneath fertilized and irrigated cropland indicate that ammonium fertilizer is a major N source and suggest that the natural soil-N contribution is negligible. δ¹⁵N_NO3 values were most enriched in irrigation wells located within municipal well capture zones downgradient of a large feedlot. Dual isotope method (DIM) δ¹⁵N_NO3 and δ¹⁸O_NO3 values suggest that the Hastings’ municipal wells farther downgradient are contaminated with a mixture of nitrate from manure and commercial ammonium-based fertilizer. DIM values indicate an absence of denitrification, which has implications for long-term management of the water resources.     

A modified landform development model for the topography of drained thermokarst lake basins in fine‐grained sediments

Permafrost degradation associated with the expansion of thermokarst lakes is commonly interrupted by catastrophic drainage. Subsequently, in tundra areas, permafrost aggradation in drained basins leads to uneven topography characterized by raised centres and wet, depressed margins. The genesis of such topography has been investigated in Old Crow Flats (OCF), a glaciolacustrine plain in the continuous permafrost of northern Yukon. The thermokarst lakes of OCF have a mean depth of only 1.5 m because excess ice is dominantly found only in the uppermost 10 m of the ground. Surface conditions were measured in three drained thermokarst lake basins, including relief, snow conditions, ground temperatures, near‐surface ground ice, and sediment stratigraphy. Four nearby lakes provided information on wave base, shore recession patterns, and bathymetry before drainage: the bottoms of these lakes were not raised in the centre. An elevation difference of up to 2 m was recorded between drained basin margins and centres but was not associated with variations in ice‐wedge density or segregated ice content. Hence basin topography was not controlled by differences in volumetric ground‐ice content between margins and centres. We propose that transport of fine sediment away from eroding lake margins during lake development is the primary mechanism for the genesis of depressed margins and raised centres in drained basins of OCF. Over time, the transport results in the deposition of more and finer sediment in the central parts of lakes, where the lake bottom has subsided below wave base, than at the shallow margins, where resuspension by wave action occurs frequently. This difference in sediment volume is revealed in the topography after drainage, when permafrost aggrades in the lake‐bottom sediment and underlying talik. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.