Petrology of a suite of sedimentary rocks associated with some cole-bearing basins in northwestern Thailand

A number of basins in northwestern Thailand contain thick sequences of Cenozoic sedimentary rocks. Oil shales and coals are prominent lithologies within these sequences and occur together in some basins. Most of the sequences are, however, dominated by either oil shales or coals. The major oil shale deposit is in the Mae Sot Basin but oil shales also occur in the Ban Huay Dua, Mae Moh, Ban Pa Ka Li, Mae Teep, Ban Na Hong and Jae Hom Basins.Drilling and detailed mapping, in the Mae Sot Basin indicate thick sequences of oil shales and organic petrological studies show that they contain abundant lamalginite. Trace amounts of telalginite, liptodetrinite, bitumen/resinite and huminite/inertinite are also present in some of the rocks. The parts of the sequences rich in authigenic minerals are, in general, petrographically similar to Green River Formation lamosites. Where clay/silt-sized epiclastics are more abundant, similarities exist to Australian Tertiary lamosites. Vitrinite reflectance date from the oil shales and associated coals indicate a low level of maturity.Oil shales from the other basins are, petrographically similar to the Mae Sot lamosites, however some differences do exist. The Mae Sot and other lamosites were deposited in lacustrine environments that probably had highly variable water depths.     

Odd zonal harmonics in the geopotential, from analysis of 28 satellite orbits

Summary. The geopotential is usually expressed as an infinite series of spherical harmonics, and the odd zonal harmonics are the terms independent of longitude and antisymmetric about the equator: they define the 'pear-shape' effect. The coefficients J ₃, J ₅, J ₇, … of these harmonics have been evaluated by analysing the variations in eccentricity of 28 satellite orbits from near-equatorial to polar. Most of the orbits from our previous determination in 1974 are used again, but three new orbits are added, including two at inclinations between 62° and 63°, which have been specially observed for more than five years by the Hewitt cameras. With the help of the new orbits and revised theory, we have obtained sets of J -coefficients with standard deviations about 40 per cent lower than before. A 9-coefficient set is chosen as representative, and is as follows (all × 10⁹): J ₃=– 2530 ± 4, J ₅=–245 ± 5, J ₇=–336 ± 6, J ₉=–90 ± 7, J ₁₁= 159 ± 9, J ₁₃=–158 ± 15, J ₁₅=– 20 ± 15, J ₁₇=– 236 ± 14, J ₁₉=– 27 ± 19. With this set of values, the pear-shape asymmetry of the geoid (north polar minus south polar radius) amounts to 45.1 m instead of the previous 44.7 m. The accuracy of the longitude-averaged geoid profile is estimated as 50 cm, except at latitudes above 86°. The geoid profile and predicted amplitude of the oscillation in eccentricity are compared with those from other sources.     

Paleolimnology of McNearney lake: an acidic lake in northern Michigan

McNearney Lake is an acidic (pH=4.4) lake in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan with low acid neutralizing capacity (ANC=-38 eq L^-1) and high SO _inf4 ^sup2- and aluminium concentrations. Oligotrophy is indicated by high Secchi transparency and by low chlorophyll a, total phosphorus, and total nitrogen concentrations. The lake water is currently acidic because base cations are supplied to the lake water at a low rate and because SO _inf4 ^sup2- from atmospheric deposition was not appreciably retained by the lake sediments or watershed and was present in the water column.This interdisciplinary paleolimnological study indicates that McNearney Lake is naturally acidic and has been so since at least 4000 years B.P., as determined from inferred-pH techniques based on contemporary diatom-pH relationships. Predicted pH values ranged from 4.7 to 5.0 over the 4000-year stratigraphy. Considerable shifts in species composition and abundance were observed in diatom stratigraphy, but present-day distributions indicate that all abundant taxa most frequently occur under acidic conditions, suggesting that factors other than pH are responsible for the shifts. The diatom-inferred pH technique as applied to McNearney Lake has too large an uncertainly and is not sensitive enough to determine the subtle recent changes in lakewater pH expected from changes in atmospheric deposition because: (1) McNearney Lake has the lowest pH in the contemporary diatom data set in the region and confidence intervals for pH predictions increase at the extremes of regressions; (2) other factors in addition to pH may be responsible for the diatom species distribution in the lake and in the entire northern Great Lakes region; (3) McNearney Lake has a well-buffered pH as a consequence of its low pH and high aluminium concentrations and is not expected to exhibit a large pH change as a result of changes in atmospheric deposition; and (4) atmospheric deposition in the region is modest and would not cause a pH shift large enough to be discernable in McNearney Lake.Elevated atmospheric deposition is indicated in recent sediments by Pb, V, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon accumulation rates and to a lesser extent by those of Cu and Zn; however, these accumulation rates are substantially lower than those observed for acidified lakes in the northeastern United States. Although atmospheric loadings of materials associated with fossil fuel combustion have recently increased to McNearney Lake and apparently are continuing, the present study of the diatom subfossil record does not indicate a distinct, recent acidification (pH decrease).Order of the first two authors is alphabetical     

Effect of mining and related activities on the sediment trace element geochemistry of lake coeur D'Alene,idaho, USA. Part I: Surface sediments

During the summer of 1989 surface sediment samples were collected in Lake Coeur d'Alene, the Coeur d'Alene River and the St Joe River, Idaho, at a density of approximately one sample per square kilometre. Additional samples were collected from the banks of the South Fork of the Coeur d'Alene and the Coeur d'Alene Rivers in 1991. All the samples were collected to determine trace element concentrations, partitioning and distribution patterns, and to relate them to mining, mining related and discharge operations that have occurred in the Coeur d'Alene district since the 1880s, some of which are ongoing. Most of the surface sediments in Lake Coeur d'Alene north of Conkling Point and Carey Bay are substantially enriched in Ag, As, Cu, Cd, Hg, Pb, Sb and Zn relative to unaffected sediments in the southern portion of the lake near the St Joe River. All the trace element enriched sediments are extremely fine grained (mean grain sizes « 63 μm). Most of the enriched trace elements, based on both the chemical analyses of separated heavy and light mineral fractions and a two step sequential extraction procedure, are associated with an operationally defined Fe oxide phase; much smaller percentages are associated either with operationally defined organics/sulphides or refractory phases. The presence, concentration and distribution of the Fe oxides and heavy minerals indicates that a substantial portion of the enriched trace elements are probably coming from the Coeur d'Alene River, which is serving as a point source. Within the lake, this relatively simple point source pattern is complicated by a combination of (1) the formation of trace element rich authigenic Fe oxides that appear to have reprecipitated from material solubilized from anoxic bed sediments and (2) physical remobilization by currents and wind driven waves. The processes that have caused the trace element enrichment in the surface sediments of Lake Coeur d'Alene are likely to continue for the foreseeable future.     

Burial-exhumation history of the central Apennines (Italy), from the foreland to the chain building: thermochronological and geological data

A clear correlation between regional unconformities and related exhumation events was documented by thermochronological and geological data in the central Apennines. This approach allowed: (i) two major exhumation episodes to be identified, corresponding to turning points in the long-term burial history, from rifting to convergent margin development, and (ii) a quantification of the amount of section removed during the two exhumation events. The first exhumation event was connected with the foreland buckling process associated with the coupling between the Alpine–Apennines system, the Dinarides chain and their common foreland. During the Neogene a thrust-system development, the superposition of an allochthonous unit is envisaged to explain the second palaeoheating event. The dismantling of this additional load in central Apennines has been related to the formation of the Middle Pliocene Unconformity, during the development of the Pliocene–Quaternary frontal thrust of the Apennine Chain.     

Trend-surface analysis of structure and thickness of Bulli Seam, Sydney Basin, New South Wales

Methods are presented which permit the analysis of structural and thickness variations of a stratigraphic interval into a number of components and testing of the components for relationship between structure and thickness. The methods are tested first in the axial region of the South Bulli Syncline area where the Bulli Seam is known to be thicker. Maps of the residual values from the structural and thickness first-degree trends are similar and there is a significant inverse relationship between the residuals. Data from the area where the Bulli Seam occurs also give seam structural and thickness residuals which have a significant inverse relationship. Local exceptions to this relationship are present but in most instances are due to laccolithic doming or changes in lithology of the Bulli Seam. A number of the trend components of structural and thickness variation also show an inverse relationship. It is postulated that most of the present structures defined at the Bulli Seam horizon were active during deposition of the Bulli Seam, and within the limit of the conditions suitable for peat accumulation, controlled thickness of the Bulli Seam. Thickness changes in overlying units suggest that a major part of the warping of the Bulli Seam horizon had occurred by the end of the Triassic Period.