Correlation of Upper Cretaceous strata from Lima Peaks area to Madison Range, southwestern Montana and southeastern Idaho, USA

An⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age of 85.81 Ma±0.22 my was obtained on sanidine from a volcanic procellanite bed near the top of the 2135+m-thick Upper Cretaceous Frontier Formation in the Lima Peaks area of southwestern Montana. This early Santonian age, combined with previously determined age data including a palynological age of Cenomanian for the lower Frontier at Lima Peaks, and a U-Pb isotopic date of about 95 Ma for the base of the Frontier Formation in the eastern Pioneer Mountains north of the Lima Peaks area, provides an age range for the nonmarine formation. In the Madison Range, farther east in southweastern Montana, this age range corresponds to marine strata of not only the Frontier Formation, but also the overlying Cody Shale and Telegraph Creek Formation, a sequence that totals less than 760 m thick.The Upper Cretaceous marine formations of the madison Range are closely zoned by molluscan faunas that are well constrained with radiometric dates. The⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age of 85.81 Ma±0.22 my at Lima Peaks is bracketed by radiometric dates for theScaphites depressus—Protexanites bourgeoisianusbiozone and the overlyingClioscaphites saxitonianus—Inoceramus undulatopilcatusbiozone of the Western Interior. Fossils of both of these biozones are present in the Cody Shale and the Telegraph Creek Formation in the Madison Range. The Telegraph Creek contains two units of volcanic ash that are approximate time equivalents of the volcanic procellanite of the Lima Peaks area. Clasts in the conglomerate of the upper part of the Frontier in the Lima Peaks area were shed during the initial stages of uplift of the Blacktail-Snowcrest Highlands which rose to the north. The dated porcellanite lies above the conglomerates and indicates that the uplift was initiated by middle or late Coniacian, 87–88 Ma.     

Land subsidence along the northeastern Texas Gulf coast: Effects of deep hydrocarbon production

The Texas Gulf of Mexico coast is experiencing high (5–11 mm/yr) rates of relative sea level (RSL) rise that are the sum of subsidence and eustatic sea level (ESL) rise. Even higher rates are associated with areas of groundwater pumping from confined aquifers. We investigate the possibility of deep petroleum production as a cause for the high regional rates of subsidence. The northeast Texas coast was chosen for the study because it has a high rate of RSL rise, very limited groundwater production, and a long history of petroleum production. We examine in detail the Big Hill and Fannett fields, for which adequate bottom hole pressure (BHP) and well log data are available. The hypothesis of deep petroleum production is tested in three ways. First, industry BHP tests show many of the fields are depressurized to far below hydrostatic pressures. Second, analysis of BHP data over time in the Big Hill and Fannett fields indicates that some Zones in these fields were below hydrostatic when production commenced. This indicates that depressurization from production in neighboring fields or zones within the same field is not limited to the production zone. Third, three models for subsidence (a general 1-D regional model, an intrareservoir model, and a reservoir bounding layer model), using reasonable hydrogeological parameters, predict subsidence within the inferred range of data. The latter two models use data from the Big Hill and Fannett fields. Additional verification of the hypothesis that deep petroleum production is causing or accelerating regional subsidence will require the collection and analysis of data on the subsurface hydrogeological parameters and detailed measurements of the spatial and temporal distribution of subsidence along the Texas Coast.     

Dispersed angiosperm cuticles: Their history, preparation, and application to the rise of angiosperms in Cretaceous and Paleocene coals, southern western interior of North America

Cuticle — the decay-resistant outer layer of leaves and young stems — provides a reliable means of identifying fossil plant remains and reflects the vegetative adaptations of plants to climate and other environmental parameters. The study of dispersed angiosperm cuticles originated prior to World War II and has focused on the origin and paleoecology of coal. Activity in dispersed cuticles reached a high point during the 1950s and 1960s with the study of Tertiary lignites in central Europe, then subsided in central Europe as workers from other regions expanded the technique to other time-periods and geographic regions. Data from dispersed cuticles augment data from palynomorphs because dispersed cuticles originate from a different generation of the vascular plant life cycle and have different taphonomic histories. Because the analysis of dispersed angiosperm cuticles is unfamiliar to many geologists, methods for the analysis and preparation of dispersed angiosperm cuticles are detailed in an appendix.Dispersed cuticle assemblages from coals in the upper Albian Longford Member of the Kiowa Formation and the Maastrichtian-Paleocene Raton Formation of the Southern Western Interior provide new constraints on the times that angiosperms entered coal swamps and rose to dominance. The Kiowa assemblages indicate that angiosperms first entered coal swamp environments by the late Albian, while the Raton assemblages indicate that angiosperms dominated primary productivity in some subtropical coal swamps by the late Maastrichtian. Angiosperms in Kiowa coals probably comprised pioneer species in conifer-dominated vegetation; the most common family of angiosperms was Chloranthaceae. Angiosperms in upper Maastrichtian Raton coals comprised the dominant seed plants to the exclusion of conifers; magnoliid dicots and monocots were the dominant taxa and comprised diverse genera and families. Evidence from palynology and types of preserved cuticle indicates that ferns were subordinate to seed plants in biomass in Raton coals, in contrast to some described assemblages from the Northern Western Interior. Paleocene coals from the Raton Basin show the loss of many Cretaceous angiosperm taxa as well as the appearance of new taxa, including conifers belonging to Taxodiaceae. However, these Taxodiaceae were evergreen and subordinate in abundance to angiosperms. Vegetational patterns shown by Cretaceous-Paleocene coals of the Southern Western Interior contrast with those of more northerly regions and indicate a poleward gradient in the timing of angiosperm dominance in coal swamps.     

Plasma gradient effects on double-probe measurements in the magnetosphere

The effects on double-probe electric field measurements induced by electron density and temperature gradients are investigated. We show that on some occasions such gradients may lead to marked spurious electric fields if the probes are assumed to lie at the same probe potential with respect to the plasma. The use of a proper bias current will decrease the magnitude of such an error. When the probes are near the plasma potential, the magnitude of these error signals, E, can vary as E\simT_e(n_e/n_e)+0.5T_e, where T_e is the electron temperature, n_e/n_e the relative electron density variation between the two sensors, and T_e the electron temperature difference between the two sensors. This not only implies that the error signals will increase linearly with the density variations but also that such signatures grow with T_e, i.e., such effects are 10 times larger in a 10-eV plasma than in a 1-eV plasma. This type of error is independent of the probe separation distance provided the gradient scale length is much larger than this distance. The largest errors occur when the probes are near to the plasma potential. At larger positive probe potentials with respect to the plasma potential, the error becomes smaller if the probes are biased, as is usually the case with spherical double-probe experiments in the tenuous magnetospheric plasmas. The crossing of a plasma boundary (like the plasmapause or magnetopause) yields an error signal of a single peak. During the crossing of a small structure (e.g., a double layer) the error signal appears as a bipolar signature. Our analysis shows that errors in double-probe measurements caused by plasma gradients are not significant at large scale (≫1 km) plasma boundaries, and may only be important in cases where small-scale (<1 km), internal gradient structures exist. Bias currents tailored for each plasma parameter regime (i.e., variable bias current) would o1q1improve the double-probe response to gradient effects considerably.     

Laboratory study of seismic free-field response of sand

This paper describes a new soil-structure interaction test box for use on a moderately large shaking table. The test box is designed to replicate, as nearly as possible, the free-field seismic response of a soil layer overlying a rigid base. Results from shaking table testing are presented which demonstrate the ability of the test box to serve as a large-scale shear device. The test box is unique in its ability to determine dynamic shear modulus for both high- and low-amplitude shear strain, and also to study the dynamic response of sand under low levels of confining stress. Dynamic shear modulus for standard Ottawa sand was measured over a wide range of shear strain amplitude and compared with data from the existing literature. Finally, based on results from the test box, a constitutive model is proposed which describes the free field response of a sand layer overlying bedrock and subjected to vertically propagating SH waves. The model is simple in form with a single parameter uniquely related to the friction angle of the sand.     

An investigation of engineering and environmental concerns relating to proposed highway construction in a karst terrane

The proposed realignment of a portion of US Highway 58 near Gibson Station, Lee County, Virginia, indicated significant potential impacts to Young-Fugate Cave, a listed Significant Cave. Field inspection of the site in November 1991, revealed fill for the northbound lane would extend in excess of 100 m into the Fugate blind valley and to within 40 m of the Fugate insurgence. Questions were raised about the risks involved in placing a soil fill across an active blind valley and the extent of the geotechnical investigation. The plans-contained no provisions to direct runoff of road salt or leaks and spills from accessing the Fugate insurgence and thereby endangering two species of troglobitic aquatic crustaceans and a unique troglobitic beetle known to inhabit the cave. Concerns about the distances between the roadbed and cave passages prompted a resurvey of the 1.63-km-long cave. Survey teams encountered groundwater pollution problems in the cave. While exiting the cave, two team members lagging behind another surveyor had to press against the cave walls to avoid a shower of raw sewage. Neither the lead surveyor or the team following, separated by minutes, witnessed the event. On the second field day, survey teams were driven from the cave by petroleum fumes at a second location. Subsequent surface investigations revealed a homeowner complaint of petroleum fumes in their basement and a leaking underground storage tank (LUST) site at an active service station. Tank replacement has resolved the gasoline fume complaint. The sewage inputs to the cave have yet to be located or resolved. Based on the available data at the time this paper was submitted for the Sinkhole Conference, there appeared to be on the order of 10 m between the ceiling of the stream passage and the proposed roadbed; however, unsurveyed cave passages were known to cross over the stream passage in the area where the proposed highway would cross the cave. The Virginia Cave Board is negotiating modifications to this construction proposal based on the engineering and environmental problems at this site.