Experimental Study of Sand Bed Configurations in Front of a Vertical Wall Under Wave Action

—When a 2-D progressive wave train normally or obliquely approaches a vertical wall and thenis normally or obliquely reflected from it,the combination of the approaching and reflected waves may re-sult in a standing wave or a short-crested wave in front of the wall.This paper presents the experimentalobservations of sand bed configurations under the action of these water waves in front of the wall.The ge-ometry of sand ripples under these water waves in front of the vertical wall is presented as a function offlow parameters,such as the water particle semi-excursion and the mobility number.     

Links between bulk sediment particle size and magnetic grain‐size: general observations and implications for Chinese loess studies

Using a combination of particle size analysis, magnetic measurements, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy imaging, this study shows that in a wide range of depositional environments, there is a strong link between particle size classes and magnetic response, especially below the upper limit of stable single domain magnetic behaviour. Ferrimagnetic grain assemblages dominated by stable single domain magnetosomes regularly have peak susceptibility and remanence values in coarser grades than do those containing finer‐grained, viscous and superparamagnetic secondary magnetic minerals formed during pedogenesis. This effect is despite the fact that there is a one to two orders of magnitude size difference between the particle size boundaries (at 1 or 2 μm) and key domain state transitions (mostly below 0·05 μm). The implications of these results are explored using samples spanning 22 Myr of loess accumulation on the Chinese Loess Plateau. The results from the loess sections, complemented by data from low‐temperature magnetic experiments, show that there are subtle distinctions in mean ferrimagnetic grain‐size between the Pleistocene and Miocene parts of the record, thus allowing more refined rock magnetic interpretations of the fine‐grained ferrimagnetic mineral assemblages arising from the effects of weathering, pedogenesis and possibly diagenesis in the sections studied.     

A Melt Inclusion Record of Volatiles, Trace Elements and Li-B Isotope Variations in a Single Magma System from the Plat Pays Volcanic Complex, Dominica, Lesser Antilles

Glass inclusions in plagioclase and orthopyroxene from daciticpumice of the Cabrits Dome, Plat Pays Volcanic Complex in southernDominica reveal a complexity of element behavior and Li–Bisotope variations in a single volcanic center that would gounnoticed in a whole-rock study. Inclusions and matrix glassesare high-silica rhyolite with compositions consistent with about50% fractional crystallization of the observed phenocrysts.Estimated crystallization conditions are 760–880°C,200 MPa and oxygen fugacity of FMQ + 1 to +2 log units (whereFMQ is the fayalite–magnetite–quartz buffer). Manyinclusion glasses are volatile-rich (up to 6 wt % H₂O and 2900ppm Cl), but contents range down to 1 wt % H₂O and 2000 ppmCl as a result of shallow-level degassing. Sulfur contents arelow throughout, with <350 ppm S. The trace element compositionof inclusion glasses shows enrichment in light rare earth elements(LREE; (La/Sm)_n = 2·5–6·6) and elevatedBa, Th and K contents compared with whole rocks and similaror lower Nb and heavy REE (HREE; (Gd/Yb)_n = 0·5–1·0).Lithium and boron concentrations and isotope ratios in meltinclusions are highly variable (20–60 ppm Li with ⁷Li= +4 to +15 ± 2; 60–100 ppm B with ¹¹B = +6 to+13 ± 2) and imply trapping of isotopically heterogeneous,hybrid melts. Multiple sources and processes are required toexplain these features. The mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB)-likeHREE, Nb and Y signature reflects the parental magma(s) derivedfrom the mantle wedge. Positive Ba/Nb, B/Nb and Th/Nb correlationsin inclusion glasses indicate coupled enrichment in stronglyfluid-mobile (Ba, B) and less-mobile (Th, Nb) trace elements,which can be explained by fractional crystallization of plagioclase,orthopyroxene and Fe–Ti oxides. The ⁷Li and ¹¹B valuesare at the high end of known ranges for other island arc magmas.We attribute the high values to a ¹¹B and ⁷Li-enriched slabcomponent derived from sea-floor-altered oceanic crust and possiblyfurther enriched in heavy isotopes by dehydration fractionation.The heterogeneity of isotope ratios in the evolved, trappedmelts is attributed to shallow-level assimilation of older volcanicrocks of the Plat Pays Volcanic Complex. KEY WORDS: subduction; volcanic arcs; igneous processes; melt inclusions; SIMS; trace elements; lithium and boron isotopes; diffusion     

Palaeomagnetic records from two varved clay sequences in the Middle Swedish ice marginal zone

Two varved clay sequences, at Rystad and Tottnäs, situated in the Middle Swedish ice marginal zone were analysed palaeomagnetically. Two parallel profiles were sampled and analysed at each site. The varved clay at Rystad was dated by floating varve chronology. The varves at Tottnäs can be linked to Swedish time scale, expressed in calendar years B.P. Due to the distance between the sites they cannot be correlated by means of varve diagrams. Palaemagnetic methods were used as an alternative. Based an AF demanetization of pilot samples, the palaeomanetic to be too low, in the order of15, compared to the site latitude. At Tottnäs the inclination records are very close to the expected inclination with respect to the site latitude. Because of a systematic inclination error in the Rystad profiles the correlation was based on the declination records. Statistical comparisons of these records between the two sites indicate that the sediment successions are partly synchronous. It is concluded that the deglaciation at Tottnäs started c. 130 years earlier than at Rystad. This mean that the Swedish ice marginal zone east of Rystad will have a more northeasterly extension than previously thought.     

Potassic Magmatism in Western Sichuan and Yunnan Provinces, SE Tibet, China: Petrological and Geochemical Constraints on Petrogenesis

Potassic volcanism in the western Sichuan and Yunnan Provinces,SE Tibet, forms part of an extensive magmatic province in theeastern Indo-Asian collision zone during the Paleogene (40–24Ma). The dominant rock types are phlogopite-, clinopyroxene-and olivine-phyric calc-alkaline (shoshonitic) lamprophyres.They are relatively depleted in Na₂O, Fe₂O₃, and Al₂O₃ comparedwith the late Permian–early Triassic Emeishan continentalflood basalts in the western part of the Yangtze craton, andhave very high and variable abundances of incompatible traceelements. Primitive mantle-normalized incompatible element patternshave marked negative Nb, Ta and Ti anomalies similar to thoseof K-rich subduction-related magmas, although the geodynamicsetting is clearly post-collisional. Spatially, some incompatibletrace element abundances, together with inferred depths of meltsegregation based on the Mg-15 normalized compositions of thesamples, display progressive zonation trends from SW to NE withincreasing distance from the western boundary of the Yangtzecraton. Systematic variations in major and trace element abundancesand Sr–Nd–Pb isotope compositions appear to havepetrogenetic significance. The systematic increases in incompatibletrace element abundances from the western margin to the interiorof the Yangtze craton can be explained by progressively decreasingextents of partial melting, whereas steady changes in some incompatibletrace element ratios can be attributed to changes in the amountof subduction-derived fluid added to the lithospheric mantleof the Yangtze craton. The mantle source region of the lamprophyresis considered to be a relatively refractory phlogopite-bearingspinel peridotite, heterogeneously enriched by fluids derivedfrom earlier phases of late Proterozoic and Palaeozoic subductionbeneath the western part of the Yangtze craton. Calculationsbased on a non-modal batch melting model show that the degreeof partial melting ranges from 0·6% to 15% and the proportionof subduction-derived fluid added from0·1% to 0·7%(higher-Ba fluid) or from 5% to 25% (lower-Ba fluid) from theinterior to the western margin of the Yangtze craton. Some pre-existinglithospheric faults might have been reactivated in the areaneighbouring the Ailao Shan–Red River (ASRR) strike-slipbelt, accompanying collision-induced extrusion of the Indo-Chinablock and left-lateral strike-slip along the ASRR shear zone.This, in turn, could have triggered decompression melting ofthe previously enriched mantle lithosphere, resulting in calc-alkalinelamprophyric magmatism in the western part of the Yangtze craton. KEY WORDS: Tibet; potassic magmatism; lithospheric mantle; metasomatism     

Velocity and Structural Modeling of Mesozoic Chiltan Limestone and Goru Formation for Hydrocarbon Evaluation in the Bitrisim Area, Lower Indus Basin, Pakistan

The present study focuses on building a workflow for structural interpretation and velocity modeling and implementing to Jurassic-Cretaceous succession (Chiltan Limestone and Massive sand of the Lower Goru Formation). 2D-Migrated seismic sections of the area are used as data set and in order to confirm the presence of hydrocarbons in the study area, P and S-wave seismic velocities are estimated from single-component seismic data. Some specific issues in the use of seismic data for modeling and hydrocarbon evaluation need to deal with including distinguishing the reservoir and cap rocks, and the effects of faults, folds and presence of hydrocarbons on these rocks. This study has carried out the structural interpretation and modeling of the seismic data for the identification of traps. The results demonstrate existence of appropriate structural traps in the form of horst and grabens in the area. 2D and 3D velocity modeling of the horizons indicates the presence of high velocity zones in the eastern half of the study while relatively low velocity zones are encountered in the western half of the area. Two wells were drilled in the study area (i.e. Fateh-01 and Ichhri-01) and both are dry. Immature hydrocarbons migration is considered as a failure reason for Fateh-01 and Ichhri-01 well.