Mid-tertiary igneous activity in east Greenland — The Kialineq complex

The igneous rocks of the Kialineq area on the East Greenland coast at 67 ° N comprise, gabbro, acid-basic breccia and net-vein complexes, syenite and granite and minor volcanics. Rb-Sr whole-rock and mineral isochrons for the epizonal syenites, granites and acid-basic complexes indicate a consanguineous mantle origin at 35±2 m.y. B.P. in agreement with the age obtained by K-Ar dating of biotites and hornblendes. This igneous activity may be associated with major reorganisation of plate geometry in the North Atlantic and Arctic oceans at this time.     

Metal provinces and metal finding in the western United States

The metal provinces are believed to outline a primitive or precrustal heterogeneity of metal distribution in the upper mantle, and the well established space and time relationship between ores and intrusive bodies is a structural rather than a genetic control. The distribution of the metal deposits of the western United States in space and time is governed by some as yet unknown deep-seated source of heat; it cannot, however, be related to current theories of ‘the new global tectonics’. Although we lack a full understanding of the processes of ore deposition, we can use the assembled data in an empirical way to guide exploration. This is outlined for the porphyry copper deposits of the southern Arizona Copper Quadrilateral. Most of the deposits are of Laramide age; one is Jurassic. Post-Laramide deformations, mainly Basin and Range orogeny, removed part of the deposits and buried the others; these are now being found where they are emerging at the eroding edges of the basins as the basin fill is being removed by erosion.     

A simple method of magnetic declination fluctuation correction for long single-streamer positioning in a seismic survey

In single‐streamer acquisition, the use of acoustic transducers to constrain the receiver positions is not possible, thus implying the use of compass birds to gather information on the streamer location. The compasses are, however, sensitive to the declination of the local magnetic field of the earth, and local fluctuations not accounted for can degrade the accuracy of reconstructed positions. In order to correct these small‐scale fluctuations, we propose a simple deterministic method to calculate a spatial correction to apply to the compasses that enhances the positioning accuracy. The local compass declination is calculated after a first reconstruction on the whole survey area. This method was applied with success to navigation data from a 3D survey offshore Japan, and the positioning accuracy was improved to the level of the DGPS accuracy.     

Metallogenic provinces of the Cordillera of western North and South America

It is now possible to use newly available information to extend the study of metallogenic provinces throughout the Cordillera of western North and South America, encompassing approximately one-half of the circle of fire surrounding the Pacific Ocean. This study confirms the concept that a theory of metallogenesis requires a primitive sub-crustal heterogeneity of metals. The study further indicates that, in this area, a subduction process related to a plate tectonic hypothesis is incompatible with observed relationships of tectonism, magmatism, and metallogenesis. Attempts to maintain this hypothesis undoubtedly hinder the development of metallogenic theory.     

Cobalt, manganese, and iron near the Hawaiian Islands: A potential concentrating mechanism for cobalt within a cyclonic eddy and implications for the hybrid-type trace metals

The vertical distributions of cobalt, iron, and manganese in the water column were studied during the E-Flux Program (E-Flux II and III), which focused on the biogeochemistry of cold-core cyclonic eddies that form in the lee of the Hawaiian Islands. During E-Flux II (January 2005) and E-Flux III (March 2005), 17 stations were sampled for cobalt (n=147), all of which demonstrated nutrient-like depletion in surface waters. During E-Flux III, two depth profiles collected from within a mesoscale cold-core eddy, Cyclone Opal, revealed small distinct maxima in cobalt at 100 m depth and a larger inventory of cobalt within the eddy. We hypothesize that this was due to a cobalt concentrating effect within the eddy, where upwelled cobalt was subsequently associated with sinking particulate organic carbon (POC) via biological activity and was released at a depth coincident with nearly complete POC remineralization [Benitez-Nelson, C., Bidigare, R.R., Dickey, T.D., Landry, M.R., Leonard, C.L., Brown, S.L., Nencioli, F., Rii, Y.M., Maiti, K., Becker, J.W., Bibby, T.S., Black, W., Cai, W.J., Carlson, C.A., Chen, F., Kuwahara, V.S., Mahaffey, C., McAndrew, P.M., Quay, P.D., Rappe, M.S., Selph, K.E., Simmons, M.P., Yang, E.J., 2007. Mesoscale eddies drive increased silica export in the subtropical Pacific Ocean. Science 316, 1017–1020]. There is also evidence for the formation of a correlation between cobalt and soluble reactive phosphorus during E-Flux III relative to the E-Flux II cruise that we suggest is due to increased productivity, implying a minimum threshold of primary production below which cobalt–phosphate coupling does not occur. Dissolved iron was measured in E-Flux II and found in somewhat elevated concentrations (0.5 nM) in surface waters relative to the iron depleted waters of the surrounding Pacific [Fitzwater, S.E., Coale, K.H., Gordon, M.R., Johnson, K.S., Ondrusek, M.E., 1996. Iron deficiency and phytoplankton growth in the equatorial Pacific. Deep-Sea Research II 43 (4–6), 995–1015], possibly due to island effects associated with the iron-rich volcanic soil from the Hawaiian Islands and/or anthropogenic inputs. Distinct depth maxima in total dissolved cobalt were observed at 400–600 m depth, suggestive of the release of metals from the shelf area of comparable depth that surrounds these islands.     

Very high resolution 3D marine seismic data processing for geotechnical applications

The processing of a small-scale, very high resolution (VHR) shallow marine 3D data volume is described. The data were acquired over a small clay diapir, on the river Schelde, in 1990. Using an array of 12 dual-channel microstreamers towed from a catamaran, a network of 1 m × 1 m bins could be produced over an area of 50 m × 180 m (< 100 m penetration). Positioning was performed with an auto-tracking laser ranging system, assuring an absolute accuracy of a few decimetres.
Preliminary processing steps included tidal correction and multiple removal. An important step concerned the application of 3D prestack Kirchhoff depth migration. Indeed this processing allows easy handling of the exact positions of both source and receivers as the latter were not set out on a conventional regular grid due to navigation difficulties. Because of the restricted data volume and the more-or-less stratified medium, a 1D velocity model could be used. This allowed a considerable simplification of the migration algorithm, based on summation. Traveltimes were calculated only once, using a 2D time grid with 0.1 m intervals.
This migration method proved very efficient, greatly improving the seismic image, and involved only limited CPU time on a small computer (Sparc 10 workstation). It clearly demonstrates that advanced seismic processing can form a valuable and economically feasible tool for VHR shallow subsurface 3D seismics, as long as the velocity field is not too complex. This method should therefore no longer be restricted to large computers and hydrocarbon exploration, but should also become a routine for VHR 3D shallow seismic work.     

Towards large-scale stochastic refraction tomography: a comparison of three evolutionary algorithms

The main goal of this study is to assess the potential of evolutionary algorithms to solve highly non-linear and multi-modal tomography problems (such as first arrival traveltime tomography) and their abilities to estimate reliable uncertainties. Classical tomography methods apply derivative-based optimization algorithms that require the user to determine the value of several parameters (such as regularization level and initial model) prior to the inversion as they strongly affect the final inverted model. In addition, derivative-based methods only perform a local search dependent on the chosen starting model. Global optimization methods based on Markov chain Monte Carlo that thoroughly sample the model parameter space are theoretically insensitive to the initial model but turn out to be computationally expensive. Evolutionary algorithms are population-based global optimization methods and are thus intrinsically parallel, allowing these algorithms to fully handle available computer resources. We apply three evolutionary algorithms to solve a refraction traveltime tomography problem, namely the differential evolution, the competitive particle swarm optimization and the covariance matrix adaptation–evolution strategy. We apply these methodologies on a smoothed version of the Marmousi velocity model and compare their performances in terms of optimization and estimates of uncertainty. By performing scalability and statistical analysis over the results obtained with several runs, we assess the benefits and shortcomings of each algorithm.     

Regional exploration for channel and playa uranium deposits in Western Australia using groundwater

Shallow calcrete aquifers in the central north of the Yilgarn Craton in Western Australia are the host to numerous secondary carnotite U deposits. Sampling and analysis of approximately 1400 shallow aquifer groundwaters were conducted to test if U mineralisation of this type may be found using a >5 km sample spacing. Results show this can be achieved. All the economic deposits and most of the minor deposits and occurrences are associated with groundwater that has carnotite (KUO₂VO₄) approaching or exceeding saturated conditions. Soluble U concentrations alone identified the largest deposit (Yeelirrie) and several smaller deposits, but this parameter was not as successful as the mineral saturation indices. Palaeodrainage distribution and thickness of cover combined with surface drainage and catchment boundaries provided background information of U primary sources and for areas with the highest exploration potential for channel and playa U deposits. Granites in the SE of the study area are less prospective with regard to secondary U deposits. Groundwater geochemistry in conjunction with palaeodrainage mapping may greatly improve exploration through cover where radiometric geophysics is not effective. The study of regional, shallow groundwater for U shows multiple benefits for mineral exploration, the economy and potable water quality.     

Identification of some diterpenoid hydrocarbons in petroleum

19-Norisopimarane and isopimarane have been synthesized from isopimara-9(11), 15-diene-3β, 19-diol. Analysis of the alkane fractions of an Australian crude oil by GC-MS showed the presence of nine diterpenoid hydrocarbons (diterpanes), of which one was bicyclic two were tricyclic and six were tetracyclic.19-Norisopimarane and isopimarane were identified by comparison of their mass spectra and GC retention times with those of the synthetic standards. ent-Beyerane, 16a(H)-phyllocladane, 16)β(H)-phyllocladane, ent-16α(H)-kaurane and labdane were also identified by comparison with authentic reference compounds. The remaining two compounds were tentatively identified as rimuane and as a 17-nortetracyclic diterpane on the basis of mass spectral evidence. The diterpanes are probably derived from conifer resins.