A subtidal bar model for the eze-aku sandstones,Nigeria

“Coarsening upward” successions typical of subtidal sand bars have been recognised in the NE-trending linear sandstone bodies which occur within marine shale in the Eze-Aku Formation (Upper Cretaceous) of southeastern Nigeria.The ideal succession, 15–20 m thick, consists of the following units from bottom to top: (1) bioturbated grey siltstone (offshore mud); (2) wave-ripple-laminated, fine-grained well-sorted sandstone (offshore sands); (3) trough and tabular, cross-bedded medium-grained sandstone with channelled base (subtidal channel complex); (4) trough cross-bedded, medium-grained sandstone with bimodal-bipolar paleocurrent pattern (subtidal bar); (5) coarse, pebbly trough cross-bedded sandstone with wave-rippled top, rare burrows and a bimodal-bipolar paleocurrent pattern (subtidal bar). A sixth facies, not a part of the normal sequence, consists of coarse, carbonate-cemented pebbly sandstone grading into pure shell-limestone (bar margin).The sand bars seem to have grown on a shallow mud-bottomed, wave-worked inland sea inhabited by burrowers. A model for the stages of the vertical growth of the bar is presented.     

A preliminary magnetic study of soil samples from west-central Minnesota

Various rock magnetic techniques were applied to characterize magnetically the samples of a soil profile taken from west-central Minnesota. There is a marked change in magnetic properties as a function of depth in the core. X-ray analysis and Curie temperature measurements carried out on the magnetic fractions indicate that magnetite is the dominant iron oxide in both the top soil and the subsoil. The intensity of anhysteretic remanent magnetization (ARM) decreases sharply as the depth increases. In contrast, the stability of ARM was found to be higher for the subsoil. The surface soil sample was capable of acquiring a significant amount of viscous remanent magnetization (VRM). The VRM acquisition coefficient (S_a) of the subsoil (S_{a= 3.18 × 10^?6emu g^?1, 3.18 × 10^?6A m² kg^?1}) was about ten times weaker than that of the top soil sample (S_a = 3.868 × 10^{?7emu g?1, 3.868 × 10?7A m2 kg?1}). The magnetic domain state indicator, the ratio of coercivity of remanence to coercive force, H_cr/H_c, was 1.5 and 3.85 for the top soil and subsoil, respectively. It appears that the observed variations in magnetic properties down the present soil core is due only to a difference in grain size. We conclude that the magnetic grains in surface soil samples were more single-domain (SD) like whereas the magnetite grains in the subsoil samples were more likely in pseudo-single-domain (PSD) or small multidomain (MD) range. The observed lower stability for the surface soil samples is attributed to the presence of superparamagnetic grains whose presence was confirmed by transmission electron micrographs.     

Dynamic analysis of piles and pile groups embedded in non-homogeneous soils

A hybrid boundary element formulation for the steady state analysis of piles and pile groups embedded in a soil stratum in which the modulus increases linearly with depth is presented. The piles are represented by compressible columns or flexible beams and the soil as a hysteretic, layered medium. The explicit Green's function corresponding to dynamic loads in the interior of a layered stratum, developed earlier by Kausel is used in the study. The governing differential equations for the pile domain are solved for a distributed periodic loading intensity and those for the soil domain by a system of boundary elements at the pile-soil interface. These are then assembled into a system of algebraic equations by satisfying interface equilibrium and compatibility. The results of the analysis have been compared against those from alternative formulations, e.g. finite elements, and confirm the accuracy of the proposed formulation. Representative results for single piles and pile groups are presented.     

Geodynamic implications of chrome-poor enstatitite bodies in the Sukinda-Boula-Nausahi ultramafic suites of Orissa

Within the Brahmani valley granulite terrane (Eastern Ghats) of Dhenkanal district, Orissa the sporadically outcropping pods of chromite-rich serpentinite are devoid of chrome-poor enstatitite which occurs abundantly in the northern Gorumahisani greenstone terrane as well defined units within the chromite-rich suites at Katpal, Sukinda and Boula-Nausahi, Cuttack and Keonjhar districts. Available field evidence is compatible with a model of emplacement of these ultramafic bodies along the contact between the two terranes in a number of stages involving soft and hard collision, subduction of Gorumahisani Group oceanic lithosphere below the Eastern Ghats granulites followed by delamination and asthenospheric upwelling. Falsifiability tests for the model have been indicated.     

The magnetic layer of the ocean crust—How thick is it?

Special features of linear marine magnetic anomalies and the magnetic measurements made on samples of the ocean crust require that the thickness of the marine magnetic source layer be thicker than the 0.5 km thick pillow lava layer (seismic layer 2A) alone. It is proposed here that the magnetic properties of the samples studied to date indicate a two-layered source to be the most likely: an upper 0.5 km thick pillow lava layer with a natural remanent magnetization of 5 A/m and a lower 3.5 km thick dike and upper gabbro layer with a magnetization of 0.5 A/m.     

Chuaria circularis from the early Mesoproterozoic Suket Shale, Vindhyan Supergroup, India: Insights from light and electron microscopy and pyrolysis-gas chromatography

Chuaria circularis (Walcott 1899) from the Suket Shale of the Vindhyan Supergroup (central India) has been reinvestigated for its morphology and chemical composition using biostatistics, electron microscopy and pyrolysis-gas chromatography. Morphology and microscopic investigations provide little clues on the specific biological affinity ofChuaria as numerous preservational artifacts seem to be incorporated. On the contrary, the predominance of η aliphatic pyrolysates of presently studiedChuaria from India rather supports an algal affinity. Moreover, the reflectance ofC circularis can be used to obtain a comparative maturity parameter of the Precambrian sediments. The review of the age and geographical distribution ofC circularis constrains that this species cannot be considered as an index fossil for the Proterozoic time.     

Carbon and oxygen isotope compositions of the carbonate facies in the Vindhyan Supergroup, central India

The Vindhyan sedimentary succession in central India spans a wide time bracket from the Paleoproterozoic to the Neoproterozoic period. Chronostratigraphic significance of stable carbon and oxygen isotope ratios of the carbonate phase in Vindhyan sediments has been discussed in some recent studies. However, the subtle controls of facies variation, depositional setting and post-depositional diagenesis on stable isotope compositions are not yet clearly understood. The Vindhyan Supergroup hosts four carbonate units, exhibiting a wide variability in depositional processes and paleogeography. A detailed facies-specific carbon and oxygen isotope study of the carbonate units was undertaken by us to investigate the effect of these processes and to identify the least altered isotope values. It is seen that both carbon and oxygen isotope compositions have been affected by early meteoric water diagenesis. The effect of diagenetic alteration is, however, more pronounced in case of oxygen isotopes than carbon isotopes. Stable isotope compositions remained insensitive to facies only when sediments accumulated in a shallow shelf setting without being exposed. Major alteration of original isotope ratios was observed in case of shallow marine carbonates, which became exposed to meteoric fluids during early diagenetic stage. Duration of exposure possibly determined the magnitude of alteration and shift from the original values. Moreover, dolomitization is found to be accompanied by appreciable alteration of isotope compositions in some of the carbonates. The present study suggests that variations in sediment depositional settings, in particular the possibility of subaerial exposure, need to be considered while extracting chronostratigraphic significance from δ¹³C data.