Numerical modelling of resolution and sensitivity of ERT in horizontal boreholes

Resistivity in horizontal boreholes can give useful detailed information about the geological conditions for construction in rock, i.e. in front of a tunnel bore machine. This paper is an attempt to identify a suitable methodology for an effective measuring routine for this type of geophysical measurements under actual construction site conditions.Prior to any measurements numerical modelling was done in order to evaluate the resolution of different electrode arrays. Four different arrays were tested; dipole–pole, cross-hole dipole–dipole, cross-hole pole–tripole and multiple gradient array. Additionally the resolution of a combination of cross-hole dipole–dipole and multiple gradient was assessed. The 2D sensitivity patterns for various arrangements of the cross-hole dipole–dipole and multiple gradient array were examined. The sensitivity towards inaccurate borehole geometry and the influence of water in the boreholes were also investigated. Based on the model study the cross-hole dipole–dipole array, multiple gradient array and a combination of these were found to give the best result and therefore were used for test measurements in horizontal boreholes. The boreholes were 28.5 m long and drilled 6.5 m apart. Prototypes of semi-rigid borehole cables made it possible to insert multi electrode cables in an efficient way, allowing fast measurement routines. These measurements were then studied to determine their accuracy and applicability. The results showed a high resistivity rock mass at the site. A transition from high resistivity to slightly lower resistivity coincides well with a change in lithology from gneiss-granite to gneiss. It is likely that the shotcrete on the tunnel wall is seen as a low resistivity zone.The measurements are a valuable tool, but further development of the cables and streamlining of measuring routines have to be performed before the resistivity tomography can be used routinely in pilot holes during construction in rocks.     

The Plio-Pleistocene glaciation of the Barents Sea–Svalbard region: a new model based on revised chronostratigraphy

Based on a revised chronostratigraphy, and compilation of borehole data from the Barents Sea continental margin, a coherent glaciation model is proposed for the Barents Sea ice sheet over the past 3.5 million years (Ma). Three phases of ice growth are suggested: (1) The initial build-up phase, covering mountainous regions and reaching the coastline/shelf edge in the northern Barents Sea during short-term glacial intensification, is concomitant with the onset of the Northern Hemisphere Glaciation (3.6–2.4 Ma). (2) A transitional growth phase (2.4–1.0 Ma), during which the ice sheet expanded towards the southern Barents Sea and reached the northwestern Kara Sea. This is inferred from step-wise decrease of Siberian river-supplied smectite-rich sediments, likely caused by ice sheet blockade and possibly reduced sea ice formation in the Kara Sea as well as glacigenic wedge growth along the northwestern Barents Sea margin hampering entrainment and transport of sea ice sediments to the Arctic–Atlantic gateway. (3) Finally, large-scale glaciation in the Barents Sea occurred after 1 Ma with repeated advances to the shelf edge. The timing is inferred from ice grounding on the Yermak Plateau at about 0.95 Ma, and higher frequencies of gravity-driven mass movements along the western Barents Sea margin associated with expansive glacial growth.     

海进体系域碳氧同位素地球化学响应——以黔西南地区三叠系为例

层序地层研究表明,位于扬子地块西南缘的黔西南地区在中三叠世末期(相当于Ladinian-Carnian期)出现了一次与全球同步的大规模海侵,形成了一个向上变深的碳酸盐岩台地淹没沉积层序。垄头组顶部和竹竿坡组分别是海进体系域(TST)的下、上部分。碳、氧同位素研究表明,垄头组顶部自下而上δ(18O)持续增大,而δ(13C)先逐渐增大,后在顶部界面附近快速下降,反映了垄头组顶部在暴露环境下氧化作用的结果。竹竿坡组δ(13C)自下而上逐渐增大,δ(18O)总体呈现逐渐减小趋势,反映了海平面变化特征。研究认为,海进体系域的δ(13C)和δ(18O)演化不但反映了海平面和沉积环境变化,同时对密集段(CS)、层序界面和古暴露面等也有很好的识别作用,在层序地层研究中具有重要的意义。     

Late Cambrian microbial build-ups,Llano Area,Central Texas: A three-phase morphological evolution

Although Late Cambrian microbial build-ups were recognized in the Point Peak Member of the Wilberns Formation in Central Texas (USA) nearly 70 years ago, only a few studies focused specifically on the build-ups themselves. This study focuses on the interpretation of the regional (15 measured sections described in literature representing an area of 8000 km²) and local (field and drone photogrammetry studies in a 25 km² area from within south Mason County) microbial build-up occurrence, describes their growth phases and details their interactions with the surrounding inter-build-up sediments. The study establishes the occurrence of microbial build-ups in the lower and upper Point Peak members (the Point Peak Member is informally broken up into the lower Point Peak and the upper Point Peak members separated by Plectotrophia zone). The lower Point Peak Member consists of three <1 m thick microbial bioherms and biostrome units, in addition to heterolithic and skeletal/ooid grainstone and packstone beds. One, up to 14 m thick, microbial unit associated with inter-build-up skeletal and ooid grainstone and packstone beds, intercalated with mixed siliciclastic–carbonate silt beds, characterizes the upper Point Peak member. The microbial unit in the upper Point Peak member displays a three-phase growth evolution, from an initial colonization phase on flat based, rip-up clast lenses, to a second aggradation and lateral expansion phase, into a third well-defined capping phase. The ultimate demise of the microbial build-ups is interpreted to have been triggered by an increase of water turbidity caused by a sudden influx of fine siliciclastics. The lower Point Peak member represents inner ramp shallow subtidal and intertidal facies and the upper Point Peak member corresponds to mid-outer ramp subtidal facies. Understanding the morphological architecture and depositional context of these features is of importance for identifying signatures of early life on Earth.     

Assessment of Erythemal UV Level in Nepal Based on Solar UV Estimates from Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer

Nepal lies on the southern slope of Himalaya in Asia. In a width ranging between 150 and 250 km, the altitude varies greatly from about 100 m at its southern border to a maximum of 8848 min the northern part. Like the variation in altitude, climatic condition varies quite a lot. Long-term monthly mean erythemal UV daily dose values for Nepal are evaluated using Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) estimation from the time of its overpass between 1996 and 2003. The results are presented as summer and winter maps of mean UV levels in each satellite grid. The mean winter erythemal UV daily dose ranges between 2.1 and 3.6 kJ m-2 whereas summer values are found to lie between 4.6 and 9.7 kJ m-2. The altitude variation increases the UV levels by about 0.2 kJ km-1 in winter months, and 0.9 kJ km-1 in summer. A multiyear monthly average erythemal daily dose in most of the areas shows that the summer value is about three times higher than that in winter. Although year-to-year variation is not pronounced in high- and mid-elevation regions, UV levels seemed to decrease from 1997 to 2002 in the southern part of the country in the low elevation region by about 5.35%. Due to the combined effects of the altitude, low ozone concentration in the troposphere, and thin air, surface UV radiation at higher altitudes is found to be higher than in the surrounding regions.     

Cenozoic erosion and sediment yield in the drainage area of the Storfjorden Fan

The western Barents Sea continental margin, between 74° and 77°N, comprises 7–8 km post-Paleocene sediments. The margin sediments have been divided into four seismic sequences dated by seismic correlation to adjacent areas. This chronostratigraphy shows that the uppermost three sequences are of glacial origin, deposited during the last 2.3 m.y. A huge sedimentary wedge, the Storfjorden Fan, was deposited in front of the Storfjorden Trough between 2.3 and 0.44 Ma, whereas during the last 0.44 m.y. a more evenly distribution pattern is observed. The outbuilding of the fan is related to the onset of the northern hemisphere glaciations causing intense glacial erosion of predominantly consolidated rocks. Seismic facies interpretations indicates that the fan outbuilding was connected to large-scale mass movements. Within the uppermost part of the glacial sequence parallel and continuous reflectors and locally disturbed pattern on the upper slope are associated with downslope change in facies. Volumetric calculations, based on velocity studies and isopach maps, have been used to quantify Cenozoic erosion, sediment yield, sedimentation and erosion rates. Approximately 3300 m of post-Paleocene erosion is calculated within the drainage area of the Storfjorden Fan, of which about 1700 m was eroded in late Pliocene-Pleistocene times giving an average denudation rate of 0.63 mm/yr.     

Neogene stratigraphy and the sedimentary and oceanographic development of the NW European Atlantic margin

A regional correlation of Neogene stratigraphy has been attempted along and across the NW European Atlantic continental margin, between Mid-Norway and SW Ireland. Two unconformity-bounded successions are recognised. These are referred to as the lower and upper Neogene successions, and have been dated as Miocene–early Pliocene and early Pliocene–Holocene, respectively, in age. Their development is interpreted to reflect plate-wide, tectonically driven changes in the sedimentary, oceanographic and latterly climatic evolution of the NE Atlantic region. The lower Neogene succession mainly preserves a record of deep-water sedimentation that indicates an expansion of contourite sediment drifts above submarine unconformities, within this succession, on both sides of the eastern Greenland–Scotland Ridge from the mid-Miocene. This is interpreted to record enhanced deep-water exchange through the Faroe Conduit (deepest part of the Southern Gateway), and can be linked to compressive inversion of the Wyville–Thomson Ridge Complex. Thus, a pervasive, interconnected Arctic–North Atlantic deep-water circulation system is a Neogene phenomenon. The upper Neogene succession records a regional change, at about 4 Ma, in the patterns of contourite sedimentation (submarine erosion, new depocentres) coeval with the onset of rapid seaward-progradation of the continental margin by up to 100 km. This build-out of the shelf and slope is inferred to record a marked increase in sediment supply in response to uplift and tilting of the continental margin. Associated changes in deep-water circulation may be part of an Atlantic-wide reorganisation of ocean bottom currents. Glacial sediments form a major component of the prograding shelf margin (shelf-slope) sediment wedges, but stratigraphic data indicate that the onset of progradation pre-dates significant high-latitude glaciation by at least 1 Ma, and expansive Northern Hemisphere glaciation by at least 3 Ma.     

Cenozoic alongslope processes and sedimentation on the NW European Atlantic margin

Based on studies of sediment accumulations deposited from-and erode by-alongslope flowing ocean currents on the European continental margin from Porcupine (Ireland) to Lofoten (Norway), the evolution of the Cenozoic paleocirculation was reconstructed as part of the STRATAGEM project. There is evidence of ocean current-controlled erosion and deposition in the Rockall Trough, in the Faeroe-Shetland Channel and on the Vøring Plateau since the late Eocene, although the circulation pattern remains ambiguous. The late Palaeogene flow in the Rockall Trough was almost probably driven by southerly-derived Tethyan Outflow Water. The extent and strength of any northerly-derived flow is uncertain. From the early Neogene (early-mid-Miocene), there was a massive regional expansion of contourite drift development both in the North Atlantic and in the Norwegian-Greenland Sea. This was most probably related to the development of the Faroe Conduit, the opening of the Fram Strait and the general subsidence of the Greenland-Scotland Ridge. These may have combined to cause a considerable acceleration in the exchange and overflow of deep waters between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans. An early late Neogene (late early Pliocene) regional erosional event has been ascribed to a vigorous pulse of bottom-current activity, most probably the result of a global reorganisation of ocean currents associated with the closure of the Central American Seaway. During the late Neogene, contourites and sediment drifts developed in deep-water basins, between units of glacigenic sediments as well as infill of several paleo-slide scars. These sediments were derived from areas of bottom-current erosion as well as from the development of Plio-Pleistocene prograding sediment wedges, incorporating the extensive sediment supply derived from shelf-wide ice sheets. Presently a profound winnowing prevails along the shelf and upper slope due to the inflowing currents of Atlantic water. Depocentres of sediments derived from the winnowing are located (locally) in lower slope embayments and in slide scars.     

Quaternary denudation of southern Fennoscandia – evidence from the marine realm

Throughout the last 1.1 million years repeated glaciations have modified the southern Fennoscandian landscape and the neighbouring continental shelf into their present form. The glacigenic erosion products derived from the Fennoscandian landmasses were transported to the northern North Sea and the SE Nordic Seas continental margin. The prominent sub‐marine Norwegian Channel trough, along the south coast of Norway, was the main transport route for the erosion products between 1.1 and 0.0 Ma. Most of these erosion products were deposited in the North Sea Fan, which reaches a maximum thickness of 1500 m and has nearly 40 000 km³ of sediments. About 90% of the North Sea Fan sediments have been deposited during the last 500 000 years, in a time period when fast‐moving ice streams occupied the Norwegian Channel during each glacial stage. Back‐stripping the sediment volumes in the northern North Sea and SE Nordic Seas sink areas, including the North Sea Fan, to their assumed Fennoscandian source area gives an average vertical erosion of 164 m for the 1.1–0.0 Ma time period. The average 1.1–0.0 Ma erosion rate in the Fennoscandian source area is estimated to be 0.15 mm a^?1. We suggest, however, that large variations in erosion rates have existed through time and that the most intense Fennoscandian landscape denudation occurred during the time period of repeated shelf edge ice advances, namely from Marine Isotope Stage 12 (c. 0.5 Ma) onwards.     

Effects of sugar cane monocultures on origin and characteristics of dissolved organic matter in the Manguaba lagoon in northeast Brazil

Brazil has extensive sugar cane monocultures, which significantly alter hydrogeochemical material fluxes. We studied dissolved organic matter (OM) fluxes in the Manguaba lagoon-estuary system, which drains a sugar cane monoculture-dominated hinterland and discharges into the Atlantic coastal ocean. The OM fluxes into the lagoon originate from baseflow, field runoff and sugar cane factory effluents. In the study, dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration, δ¹³C DOC and UV absorbance were analysed along a freshwater-seawater salinity gradient that encompasses river (DOC 9-11 mg l⁻¹, δ¹³C −22.2‰ to −25.5‰); lagoon (4-11 mg l⁻¹, −20.5‰ to −24.8‰); estuary (3-9 mg l⁻¹, −22.6‰ to −25.3‰) and coastal waters (1.64 mg l⁻¹, −21‰) with different intra-seasonal runoff conditions. We used the carbon isotope data to quantify the sugar cane derived DOC. Where river water meets brackish lagoon water, substantial loss of DOC occurs during rainy conditions, when suspended sediment from eroded fields in the river is very high. During dry weather, at much lower suspension levels, DOC increases, however, presumably from addition of photolysed resuspended sedimentary OM. In the estuary, mixing of DOC is strictly conservative. Ca. 1/3 of riverine DOM discharged into the lagoon has a sugar cane source. Within the lagoon on avg. 20% of the bulk DOM is comprised of sugar cane DOM, whereas during heavy rainfall the amount increases to 31%, due to intensified drainage flow and soil erosion. In the estuary, 14-26% is of sugar cane origin. The sugar cane-derived component follows the mixing patterns of bulk DOM.