Some implications of statistical transport theory in rock mechanics

Summary Recently, a new theory of the subsidence of rock masses has been advanced byLitwiniszyn and coworkers, which is based on the notion that the individual rock particles perform random walks. It is shown in the present paper that the final equations of the random walk theory can be justified from general principles of statistical mechanics in which no specific theoretical model of particle behaviour has to be made. The theory appears to account appropriately for subsidence phenomena.The research reported in this paper was supported by the Petroleum Research Fund of the American Chemical Society. Acknowledgment is made to the donors of the Petroleum Research Fund administered by the American Chemical Society for support of this reseach.     

Compressional angles of isallo stress theory for a circular-cylindrical,spherical and elliptic-cylindrical elastic inhomogeneity in an elastic medium

Summary The compressional angle of isallo stress theory for the case of a cylindrical (circular and elliptic) and spherical subsurface inhomogeneity, assuming that the conjugate fracture surfaces are inclined at a Mohr angle of 30° toward the largest compression, has been calculated. The solution for a spherical and cylindrical inclusion in an infinite medium subject to a uniform stress field (at infinity) were taken as the basis for the stress analysis. The stress angle was then calculated for the mentioned types of inclusions.     

Apport de la cathodoluminescence à haute résolution à l'étude de la diagenèse météorique dans les formations sédimentaires carbonatées

Different diagenetic transformations and their relative chronological sequence are studied in the meteoric diagenetic zone from the Upper Oligocene limestone at the North of the Aquitaine Basin (France), by combining high-resolution cathodoluminescence spectroscopy and electron-microprobe analyses. More than 128 spot analyses by electron microprobe and 60 analyses by cathodoluminescence spectroscopy are done on different meteoric cements firstly identified by classic optical microscopy. Three cement types are identified according to the relative intensity of the bands of their respective cathodoluminescence spectra (350, 380, 430, 500, and 620 nm). From these investigations, we could identify for each meteoric cement different phases of crystalline growth and crystalline dissolution. As a result, a better and more realistic meteoric diagenetic model is proposed. It illustrates the cyclic transformations from vadose zone (unsaturated) to meteoric zone (saturated). To cite this article: R. Chapoulie et al., C. R. Geoscience 337 (2005).     

New insights into geochemical behaviour in ancient marine carbonates (Upper Jurassic Ammonitico Rosso): Novel proxies for interpreting sea‐level dynamics and palaeoceanography

Elemental concentrations in Phanerozoic sea water are known to fluctuate both in time and space. With regard to carbonates precipitated from marine fluids, elemental concentrations in the carbonate crystal lattice are affected by a complex array of equilibrium and non‐equilibrium as well as post‐depositional alteration processes. To assess the potential of carbonate elemental chemostratigraphy, seven Upper Jurassic sections were investigated along a proximal to distal transect across the south‐east Iberian palaeomargin. The aim was to explore stratigraphic and spatial variations in calcium, strontium, magnesium, iron and manganese elemental abundances. The epicontinental geochemical record is influenced by the combination of continental runoff and a significant diagenetic overprint. In contrast, the epioceanic geochemical record agrees with reconstructed open marine sea water values, reflecting a moderate degree of syn‐depositional to early marine pore water diagenesis. Establishing a fair degree of preservation of matrix micrite, a thorough statistical approach was applied and elemental associations tested for their environmental significance. Principal component and hierarchical cluster analyses revealed a persistent relation between carbonate magnesium, iron and strontium abundances. Processes related to early diagenetic nodulation in Ammonitico Rosso facies most probably account for the incorporation of these elements in the calcium carbonate lattice. The clear decoupling of carbonate manganese abundance with respect to the remaining elements is documented and related to high sea floor spreading rates and hydrothermal activity during the Late Jurassic. The investigation of potential time‐fluctuation of geochemical patterns was approached through variogram computation. The observed temporal behaviour is most likely to be forced by relative sea‐level dynamics, reflecting Late Jurassic palaeoceanographic conditions and potential planetary interactions. The data obtained in this study highlight the utility of elemental data from carbonate matrix micrites as geochemical proxies for studying the influence of remote trigger factors.     

Drained cavity expansions in soils of finite radial extent subjected to two boundary conditions

The problem of drained cavity expansion in soils of finite radial extent is investigated. Cylindrical and spherical cavities expanded from zero radius subjected to either constant stress or zero displacement at the finite boundary are considered. The generalised analytical solution procedure presented enables more advanced constitutive models to be implemented than have been possible in previous studies. Results generated for Sydney quartz sand highlight substantial differences between cavity limit pressures for the two boundary conditions and for boundaries of finite and infinite radial extent. This is of significance in accounting for boundary effects when interpreting cone penetration tests conducted in calibration chambers. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

<Superscript>10</Superscript>Be, <Superscript>18</Superscript>O and radiogenic isotopic constraints on the origin of adakitic signatures: a case study from Solander and Little Solander Islands,New Zealand

Subduction-related Quaternary volcanic rocks from Solander and Little Solander Islands, south of mainland New Zealand, are porphyritic trachyandesites and andesites (58.20–62.19 wt% SiO₂) with phenocrysts of amphibole, plagioclase and biotite. The Solander and Little Solander rocks are incompatible element enriched (e.g. Sr ~931–2,270 ppm, Ba ~619–798 ppm, Th ~8.7–21.4 ppm and La ~24.3–97.2 ppm) with MORB-like Sr and Nd isotopic signatures. Isotopically similar quench-textured enclaves reflect mixing with intermediate (basaltic-andesite) magmas. The Solander rocks have geochemical affinities with adakites (e.g. high Sr/Y and low Y), whose origin is often attributed to partial melting of subducted oceanic crust. Solander sits on isotopically distinct continental crust, thus excluding partial melting of the lower crust in the genesis of the magmas. Furthermore, the incompatible element enrichments of the Solander rocks are inconsistent with partial melting of newly underplated mafic lower crust; reproduction of their major element compositions would require unrealistically high degrees of partial melting. A similar argument precludes partial melting of the subducting oceanic crust and the inability to match the observed trace element patterns in the presence of residual garnet or plagioclase. Alternatively, an enriched end member of depleted MORB mantle source is inferred from Sr, Nd and Pb isotopic compositions, trace element enrichments and εHf ? 0 CHUR in detrital zircons, sourced from the volcanics. ¹⁰Be and Sr, Nd and Pb isotopic systematics are inconsistent with significant sediment involvement in the source region. The trace element enrichments and MORB-like Sr and Nd isotopic characteristics of the Solander rocks require a strong fractionation mechanism to impart the high incompatible element concentrations and subduction-related (e.g. high LILE/HFSE) geochemical signatures of the Solander magmas. Trace element modelling shows that this can be achieved by very low degrees of melting of a peridotitic source enriched by the addition of a slab-derived melt. Subsequent open-system fractionation, involving a key role for mafic magma recharge, resulted in the evolved andesitic adakites.     

Unravelling the evolution of an Alpine to post-glacially active fault in the Swiss Alps

The Gemmi fault is a prominent NW–SE striking lineament that crosses the Gemmi Pass in the central Swiss Alps. A multidisciplinary investigation of this structure that included geological mapping, joint profiling, cathodoluminescence and scanning electron microscopy, stable isotope measurements, luminescence- and U-TH-dating, 3D ground penetrating radar (GPR) surveying and trenching reveals a history of fault movements from the Miocene to the Holocene. The main fault zone comprises a 0.5–3 m thick calcite cataclasite formed during several cycles of veining and brittle deformation. Displaced Cretaceous rock layers show an apparent dextral slip of 10 m along the fault.A detailed study of a small sediment-filled depression that crosses the fault provides evidence for a post-glacial reactivation of the fault. A trench excavated across the fault exposed a Late-Glacial-age loess layer and late Holocene colluvial-like slope-wash deposits that showed evidence for fault displacement of a few centimeters, indicating a recent strike-slip reactivation of the fault. Focal mechanisms of recent instrumentally recorded earthquakes are consistent with our findings that show that the fault at the Gemmi Pass, together with other parallel faults in this area, may be reactivated in today's stress field. Taking together all the observations of its ancient and recent activity, the Gemmi fault can be viewed as a window through geological space and time.     

Evidence for centennial-scale Lateglacial and early Holocene climatic complexity from Quoyloo Meadow,Orkney, Scotland

The influence of the North Atlantic on the margins of Europe means the region is particularly sensitive to changes in the ocean–atmospheric system. During the Last Glacial–Interglacial Transition (16–8 cal ka bp ) this system was repeatedly disrupted, leading to a series of abrupt and short-lived shifts in climate. Despite much research, the number and magnitude of these ‘centennial-scale’ events is not well understood. To address this, we expand upon investigations at Quoyloo Meadow, Orkney, Scotland, one of the best chronologically constrained palaeoclimate records in northern Britain. By coupling stable isotope and chironomid fossil analyses with existing data, this study identifies multiple phases of centennial-scale disturbance at: c. 14.0, 11.1, 10.8, 10.5, 10.45 and 10.3 cal ka bp , with the events at 14.0 and 10.3 exhibiting a particularly pronounced cold-climate signature. During the Holocene, the strongest response to climate forcing was at c. 10.3–10.0 cal ka bp , expressed as a two-stage drop in mean July temperatures, a shift in pollen spectra indicative of ‘less-stable’ climatic regimes, and a depletion in δ¹⁸O values. We interpret this as the first reliably dated incidence of the ‘10.3-ka event’ in the British Isles and consider the wider impact of this climatic reversal in other Holocene records.     

Spatial geochemistry of a Carboniferous platform-margin-to-basin transect: Balancing environmental and diagenetic factors

Conventional (one-dimensional) chemostratigraphy of marine carbonates assesses the chemical archive of individual stratigraphic sections and their correlation in space and time. Whereas this approach has shown to be of value when linking isobathymetric domains, usually characterised by similar facies, more caution is needed when correlations are extended across different physiographic settings and hence different facies belts. Here, the spatial geochemical record of Pennsylvanian platform-margin-to-basin transects across a bathymetric range of about 800 m is documented and discussed in a process-oriented context. Particularly, the presence of layered palaeo-water masses and their potential control on slope facies distribution and geochemical properties requires attention. Whereas Carboniferous thermo- and/or chemo-clines most likely affected depth-related slope facies zonation, it was facies change and hence, variances in porosity–permeability properties, that controlled differential early burial diagenetic alteration. Specifically, the lower-slope related breccia facies is characterised by higher volumes of early burial carbonate cements. This implies that these sediments entered the shallow-burial domain with a considerable open pore space and gave way to an increased rock:fluid ratio. Whereas the δ¹³C record is invariant with bathymetry, the more diagenesis-sensitive δ¹⁸O proxy, records pronounced shifts observed across major facies boundaries. From this it is concluded that although the primary controlling factor of slope facies distribution with depth is probably palaeoceanographic in nature, it is differential rock:fluid ratios that control the first-order, spatial shifts in δ¹⁸O composition. These findings show that one-dimensional chemostratigraphy will severely underestimate the complexity of three-dimensional (bathymetric) data sets across platform margins. This is of relevance for the interpretation of the geochemical archive of fossil carbonate platforms in general.     

On the linear elastic responses of the 2D bonded discrete element model

The bonded discrete element model (DEM) is a numerical tool that is becoming widely used when studying fracturing, fragmentation, and failure of solids in various disciplines. However, its abilities to solve elastic problems are usually overlooked. In this work, the main features of the 2D bonded DEM which influence Poisson's ratio and Young's modulus, and accuracy when solving elastic boundary value problems, are investigated. Outputs of numerical simulations using the 2D bonded DEM, the finite element method, a hyper elasticity analysis, and the distinct lattice spring model (DLSM) are compared in the investigation. It is shown that a shear interaction (local) factor and a geometric (global) factor are two essential elements for the 2D bonded DEM to reproduce a full range of Poisson's ratios. It is also found that the 2D bonded DEM might be unable to reproduce the correct displacements for elastic boundary value problems when the represented Poisson's ratio is close to 0.5 or the long-range interaction is considered. In addition, an analytical relationship between the shear stiffness ratio and the Poisson's ratio, derived from a hyper elasticity analysis and applicable to discontinuum-based models, provides good agreement with outputs from the 2D bonded DEM and DLSM. Finally, it is shown that the selection of elastic parameters used the 2D bonded DEM has a significant effect on fracturing and fragment patterns of solids.