A scaled experiment for the verification of the SeaBed Logging method

SeaBed Logging (SBL) is an application of the marine controlled source electromagnetic (CSEM) method that is used to directly detect and characterize possible hydrocarbon-bearing prospects. Although the CSEM method has been used by academia for more than three decades, the application as a direct hydrocarbon indicator was first introduced about five years ago. The central idea of SBL is the guiding of electromagnetic energy in thin resistive layers within conductive sediments. Even if it has been well known for a long time that electromagnetic signals can propagate from a conductive region to another via resistive regions such as air or resistive parts of the lithosphere, the application to hydrocarbon exploration has not been developed until recently. This might be due to the uncertainty of getting any significant response from thin resistive layers such as hydrocarbon reservoirs since electromagnetic energy is highly attenuated in conductive sediments. Thus, during the early development phase of the SBL technique, a scaled laboratory experiment was performed to validate if a thin resistive layer (e.g. hydrocarbons) buried within conductive media (e.g. sediments) could be remotely detected by using electric dipoles as sources and receivers. Data from this experiment were compared to a forward modelling code for layered media, and the comparison showed good agreement between experimental and theoretical results. This suggested that thin resistive layers buried in conductive media are detectable due to the guiding of the electromagnetic field within the resistor. The successful results were vital for realizing the application of marine CSEM as a hydrocarbon exploration technique. We here present the results of the first scaled SBL experiment.     

Considering dynamic soil structure interaction (SSI) effects on seismic isolation retrofit efficiency and the importance of natural frequency ratio

This paper utilizes and expands on existing coupled BEM–FEM (finite element method) methods for the investigation of the effects of soil structure interaction (SSI) on both an un-retrofitted and seismically isolated typical bridge structure. A simple numerical model of the bridge and surrounding soil is formulated and excited by an earthquake excitation. Utilizing Newmark's β FEM solution method along with the closed form B-spline BIRF method, the structural damped period, composite damping ratio, pier relative displacement, and base shear demand are monitored. From these results, the effects of SSI on this structure are identified. Additionally, the importance of the relative rigidity between the soil-foundation system and the bridge structure is also investigated. The results of the studies indicate that the response of the complete structure system considered is affected by the inclusion of SSI effects. Furthermore, the efficiency of the isolation measures designed using fixed base conditions is decreased by considering SSI over a certain relative rigidity range that is quantified using the structure to soil-foundation natural frequency ratio.     

Reassembling the Paleogene–Eocene North Atlantic igneous province: New paleomagnetic constraints from the Isle of Mull, Scotland

The paleomagnetic data sets from the British Tertiary Igneous Province (BTIP) have recently been criticized as being unreliable and discordant with data from elsewhere in the North Atlantic Igneous Province (NAIP) [Riisager et al. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 201 (2002) 261–276; Riisager et al. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 214 (2003) 409–425]. We offer new paleomagnetic data for the extensive lava flow sequence on the Isle of Mull, Scotland, and can confirm the paleomagnetic pole positions emanating from important earlier studies. Our new north paleomagnetic pole position for Eurasia at 59 ± 0.2 Ma has latitude 73.3°N, longitude 166.2°E (dp/dm = 5.2/7.0).A re-evaluation and an inter-comparison of the paleomagnetic database emanating from the NAIP were carried out to test for sub-province consistency. We find a general agreement between the Eurasian part of NAIP (BTIP and Faeroes) and East Greenland data. However a compilation of West Greenland data displays a large and unexplained dispersion. We speculate on if this is related to different sense of block rotation of the Tertiary West Greenland constituents. Combining all data from the NAIP constituents, give a pole position at 75.0°N, 169.9°E (N = 25, K = 84.3, A₉₅ = 3.2) in Eurasian reference frame.     

Spatial variability of N2O concentrations and of denitrification-related factors in the surficial groundwater of a catchment in Northern Germany

N₂O concentrations and denitrification-related factors (NO₃, SO₄, dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and CO₂) were investigated in the surface groundwater of a catchment in northern Germany, the Fuhrberger Feld Aquifer (FFA). We sampled 79 plots that were selected according to the three criteria of land use, historical land use conversion (1954–1995) and groundwater level. We sampled three sites within each plot. The sampling depth was 0.5 m below the groundwater surface.We found no indication for the occurrence of autotrophic denitrification in the surface groundwater. Heterotrophic denitrification was identified as the main process for N₂O accumulation. The variability of N₂O concentrations on the plot-scale was extremely high and was poorly explained by the three sampling criteria. Other denitrification-related variables such as NO₃, SO₄ and DOC were less variable. The selection criteria land use and groundwater level clearly influenced the order of magnitude of N₂O concentrations in the surface groundwater. Under arable land, high NO₃ concentrations resulted in high N₂O concentrations. The surface groundwater under forest and pasture was almost NO₃-free and had also very small N₂O concentrations. Plots where the distance from the soil surface to the groundwater surface was large (>1 m up to 3.4 m) showed higher N₂O concentrations in the surface groundwater than plots where the distance was small (<1 m). A larger distance from the soil surface to the groundwater leads to a longer residence time and more decomposition of DOC in the soil. Consequently the less bioavailable DOC could inhibit the efficiency of the heterotrophic denitrification in the groundwater, yielding more N₂O. Elevated organic carbon levels in plots with historic land use conversion (pasture to arable) were very stable and did not influence N₂O concentrations. The high within plot variability showed that an upscaling of N₂O from the plot-scale to the catchment-scale is possible as long as the groundwater level regime and the land use do not change.     

Volatile emissions and gas geochemistry of Hot Spring Basin,Yellowstone National Park,USA

We characterize and quantify volatile emissions at Hot Spring Basin (HSB), a large acid-sulfate region that lies just outside the northeastern edge of the 640 ka Yellowstone Caldera. Relative to other thermal areas in Yellowstone, HSB gases are rich in He and H₂, and mildly enriched in CH₄ and H₂S. Gas compositions are consistent with boiling directly off a deep geothermal liquid at depth as it migrates toward the surface. This fluid, and the gases evolved from it, carries geochemical signatures of magmatic volatiles and water–rock reactions with multiple crustal sources, including limestones or quartz-rich sediments with low K/U (or ^40?Ar/^4?He). Variations in gas chemistry across the region reflect reservoir heterogeneity and variable degrees of boiling. Gas-geothermometer temperatures approach 300 °C and suggest that the reservoir feeding HSB is one of the hottest at Yellowstone. Diffuse CO₂ flux in the western basin of HSB, as measured by accumulation-chamber methods, is similar in magnitude to other acid-sulfate areas of Yellowstone and is well correlated to shallow soil temperatures. The extrapolation of diffuse CO₂ fluxes across all the thermal/altered area suggests that 410 ± 140 t d^− 1 CO₂ are emitted at HSB (vent emissions not included). Diffuse fluxes of H₂S were measured in Yellowstone for the first time and likely exceed 2.4 t d^− 1 at HSB. Comparing estimates of the total estimated diffuse H₂S emission to the amount of sulfur as SO₄²⁻ in streams indicates ~ 50% of the original H₂S in the gas emission is lost into shallow groundwater, precipitated as native sulfur, or vented through fumaroles. We estimate the heat output of HSB as ~ 140–370 MW using CO₂ as a tracer for steam condensate, but not including the contribution from fumaroles and hydrothermal vents. Overall, the diffuse heat and volatile fluxes of HSB are as great as some active volcanoes, but they are a small fraction (1–3% for CO₂, 2–8% for heat) of that estimated for the entire Yellowstone system.     

Estimating suspended sediment concentrations from turbidity measurements and the calibration problem

In situ turbidity meters are being increasingly used to generate continuous records of suspended sediment concentration in rivers. However, the usefulness of the information obtained depends heavily on the existence of a close relationship between fluctuations in suspended sediment concentration and turbidity and the calibration procedure that relates suspended sediment concentration to the turbidity meter's signal. This study assesses the relationship between suspended sediment concentration and turbidity for a small (1·19 km²) rural catchment in southern Brazil and evaluates two calibration methods by comparing the estimates of suspended sediment concentration obtained from the calibrated turbidity readings with direct measurements obtained using a USDH 48 suspended sediment sampler. With the first calibration method, the calibration relationship is derived by relating the turbidity readings to simultaneous measurements of concentration obtained from suspended sediment samples collected from the vicinity of the turbidity probe during flood events. With the second method, the calibration is based on the readings obtained from the turbidity meter when the probe immersed in samples of known concentration prepared using soils collected from the catchment. Overall, there was a close link between fluctuations in suspended sediment concentration and turbidity in the stream at the outlet of the catchment, and the estimates of sediment concentration obtained using the first calibration method corresponded closely with the conventionally measured sediment concentrations. However, use of the second calibration method introduced appreciable errors. When the estimated sediment concentrations were compared with the measured values, the mean errors were ± 122 mg l^?1 and + 601 mg l^?1 for the first and second calibration procedures respectively. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Thermal regime of the continental lithosphere

Thermally, the lithosphere may be defined as that outer portion of the earth in which heat is transferred primarily by conduction. It generally includes the crust and part of the mantle. The thermal regime of continental lithosphere is determined by many factors including heat flow from the asthenosphere, the vertical and lateral variation of both thermal conductivity and radiogenic heat production, tectonic history, and such superficial processes as climatic history and the shallow hydrothermal regime. From studies of the global heat flow data set, two generalizations regarding continental lithosphere have arisen, namely that: 1) there is a negative correlation between heat flow and tectonic age of continental lithosphere; and 2) the thermal evolution of continental lithosphere is similar to that of ocean basins with the result that the “stable geotherm” is similar in both environments. When continental heat-flow data are studied from a regional rather than a global point of view, considerable doubt arises as to the general applicability of either statement. R. U. M. Rao and his associates have demonstrated that while Precambrian terranes do have demonstrably lower heat flows than, say, Tertiary terranes, the data are not normally distributed and it is not possible to establish a negative correlation between heat flow and age in any rigorous statistical way. The scatter in the relation may be explained in terms of the variations in the duration, intensity and even the sign of continental thermotectonic events in contrast to the simple situation (creation of new oceanic lithosphere at mid-ocean ridges) which prevails in the oceans. The scatter also is partially attributable to the large and laterally variable radiogenic component of heat flow on continents. For a province for which a heat flow-heat production relation has been established, much of the scatter in surface heat flow due to crustal radiogenic heat production versus age is eliminated by determining reduced heat flow (surface heat flow minus radiogenic component) as a function of tectonic age, but much scatter remains, and it is still not possible to establish a heat flux-age relation in a rigorous way. Primarily because of the spatial variability in radiogenic heat production, no single geotherm can be used to characterize the thermal regime of a stable continental terrane. Thus, while some sites on stable continental blocks may have a geotherm fortuitously similar to that for old ocean basins, there is no reason to expect that this will be true generally, and many stable continental terranes will be characterized by geotherms markedly different from the geotherm for old ocean basins.     

Lead isotopic evidence for evolutionary changes in magma-crust interaction,Central Andes,southern Peru

Lead isotopic measurements were made on Andean igneous rocks of Jurassic to Recent age in Moquegua and Tacna Departments, southernmost Peru, to clarify the petrogenesis of the rocks and, in particular, to investigate the effect of crustal thickness on rock composition. This location in the Cordillera Occidental is ideal for such a study because the ca. 2 Ga Precambrian basement rocks (Arequipa massif) have a distinct Pb isotopic signature which is an excellent tracer of crustal interaction, and because geomorphological research has shown that the continental crust was here thickened drastically in the later Tertiary.Seven samples of quartz diorites and granodiorites from the Ilo and Toquepala intrusive complexes, and seven samples of Toquepala Group subaerial volcanics were analyzed for Pb isotopic compositions. The plutonic rocks range in age from Jurassic to Eocene; the volcanic rocks are all Late Cretaceous to Eocene. With one exception, the Pb isotopic ratios are in the ranges ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb= 18.52–18.75, ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb= 15.58–15.65, and ²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb= 38.53–38.74. The data reflect very little or no interaction with old continental material of the Arequipa massif type.Lead from four Miocene Huaylillas Formation ash-flow tuffs, two Pliocene Capillune Formation andesites and five Quaternary Barroso Group andesites has lower ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb than that in the pre-Miocene rocks, but relatively high ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb and ²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb (²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb= 18.16–18.30, ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb= 15.55–15.63, ²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb= 38.45–38.90). Tilton and Barreiro [9] have shown that contamination by Arequipa massif granulites can explain the isotopic composition of the Barosso Group lavas, and the new data demonstrate that this effect is evident, to varying degrees, in all the analysed Neogene volcanic rocks. The initial incorporation of such basement material into the magma coincided with the Early Miocene uplift of this segment of the Cordillera Occidental [32], and thus with the creation of a thick crustal root. The data strongly imply a relationship between crustal thickness and degree of crustal contamination of magmas in this area, but a rigorous relationship is not yet established.     

Introduction

We have recently measured the concentrations of W and Mo in a large number of terrestrial samples using a new neutron activation analysis method and from these data we have estimated the abundance of these elements in the mantle. The new Mo mantle abundance of 59 ppb is much lower, the W mantle abundance of 10 ppb is somewhat lower than previous estimates. The concentrations of W in some ocean floor basalts are much lower than previously reported. The good correlation of W with U confirms the highly incompatible behavior of W and the good correlation of Mo with Nd indicates a moderately incompatible nature for Mo.The new data on W and Mo provide important constraints regarding the possible mechanisms of core formation and accretion because W and Mo are refractory elements under reducing conditions which would have accreted in the Earth in chondritic proportions, unaffected by volatility. The Mo/W ratio of 5.9 in the mantle is less than a factor of two lower than the chondritic ratio of 9.8. The ratio of Mo to W is a sensitive indicator for metal or sulfide fractionation, because Mo is more siderophile and more chalcophile than W. This tightly limits the amount of metal or sulfide segregation from the mantle to less than 0.1% since the end of accretion. The data for the moderately siderophile elements Mo, W, Co and Ni suggest that core formation in the Earth was essentially complete after 85–95% of the Earth had accreted.     

阿斯南地震的余震发震构造及构造应力场分析

1980年10月10日阿尔及利亚的阿斯南（El ASnam）发生了Ms=7.2级地震。震后法-阿联合考察队布设了临时地震台网。其中有法国斯特拉斯堡地球物理研究所地震研究室,为作近场研究而布设的由8个地震站组成的遥测地震台网,取得了良好的记录,较精确地确定了各项地震参数。我们试用了J.A.Mendiguren所提出的“用综合节面解寻找不同震源机制分布区域的方法”,利用上述台网所取得的部分余震资料,对该区余震的发震构造及构造应力场进行了研究。