Occurrence of Nummulitic coralline limestone from offshore Palar Basin,Bay of Bengal,India

Abstract

Palar basin is located between Pennar and Cauvery sedimentary basins of East coast of India in Bay of Bengal, northeast Indian Ocean. Sea floor drill (Wire-line Autonomous Coring System – WACS) with operational capability of up to 3000?m water depth was developed to collect long cores from deep sea floor for geotechnical and ocean resource assessment studies. During the drilling operation it encountered Nummulitic coralline limestone of Lower Eocene age at 18 meters below the seafloor (mbsf) at 850?m water depth indicating carbonated platform presence for the first time at the study region. Bathymetry contour from Naval Hydrography Chart and General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans (GEBCO) has revealed the presence of shallow mounds from 50 to 200?m depth closure contour near the sampling site at 850?m water depth which might be a submerged carbonated structure. Since, Nummulites are shallow water dwelling fauna (<20?m depth) but its occurrence at 18 mbsf in 850?m water depth is recorded because of the advancement in technology tool for long core sampling by means of sea floor drill.     

Methane-dominated thermochemical sulphate reduction in the Triassic Feixianguan Formation East Sichuan Basin, China: towards prediction of fatal H2S concentrations

New sour pools have recently found in the Lower Triassic Feixianguan Fm carbonate reservoirs in the East Sichuan Basin in China with H₂S up to 17.4% by volume. A recent blowout from a well drilled into this formation killed hundreds of people as a result of the percentage concentrations of H₂S. In order to assess the origin of fatal H₂S as well as the cause of petroleum alteration, H₂S concentrations and the isotopes, δ³⁴S and δ¹³C have been collected and measured in gas samples from reservoirs. Anhydrite, pyrite and elemental sulphur δ³⁴S values have been measured for comparison. The high concentrations of H₂S gas are found to occur at depths >3000 m (temperature now at 100 °C) in evaporated platform facies oolitic dolomite or limestone that contains anhydrite nodule occurrence within the reservoirs. Where H₂S concentrations are greater than 10% its δ³⁴S values lie between +12.0 and +13.2‰ CDT. This is within the range of anhydrite δ³⁴S values found within the Feixianguan Fm (+11.0 to +21.7‰; average 15.5±3.5‰ CDT). Thus H₂S must have been generated by thermochemical sulphate reduction (TSR) locally within the reservoirs. Burial history analysis and fluid inclusion data reveal that the temperature at which TSR occurred was greater than about 130–140 °C, suggesting that the present depth-temperature minimum is an artifact of post-TSR uplift. Both methane and ethane were actively involved in TSR since the petroleum became almost totally dry (no alkanes except methane) and methane δ¹³C values become significantly heavier as TSR proceeded. Methane δ¹³C difference thus reflects the extent of TSR. While it is tempting to use a present-day depth control (>3000 m) to predict the distribution of H₂S in the Feixianguan Fm, this is an invalid approach since TSR occurred when the formation was buried some 1000–2000 m deeper than it is at present. The likelihood of differential uplift across the basin means that it is important to develop a basinal understanding of the thermal history of the Feixianguan Fm so that it is possible to determine which parts of the basin have been hotter than 130–140 °C.     

Wind-driven interannual variability over the northeast Pacific Ocean

Interannual variability of the sea surface height (SSH) over the northeast Pacific Ocean is hindcast with a reduced-gravity, quasi-geostrophic model that includes linear damping. The model is forced with monthly Ekman pumping fields derived from the NCEP reanalysis wind stresses. The numerical solution is compared with SSH observations derived from satellite altimeter data and gridded at a lateral resolution of 1 degree. Provided that the reduced gravity parameter is chosen appropriately, the results demonstrate that the model has significant hindcast skill over interior regions of the basin, away from continental boundaries. A damping time scale of 2 to 3 years is close to optimal, although the hindcast skill is not strongly dependent on this parameter.A simplification of the quasi-geostrophic model is considered in which Rossby waves are eliminated, yielding a Markov model driven by local Ekman pumping. The results approximately reproduce the hindcast skill of the more complete quasi-geostrophic model and indicate that the interannual SSH variability is dominated by the local response to wind forcing. There is a close correspondence the two leading empirical orthogonal modes of the local model and those of the observed SSH anomalies. The latter account for over half of the variance of the interannual signal over the region.     

Random dynamic analysis of multi-body offshore structures

A general method for the dynamic analysis of multi-body offshore structures is presented, being based on a constraint matrix approach. A method of deriving the constraint matrix for a general structure is given, and this is then used to derive the equations of motion of a whole system from those of it's component parts. The response of the system to both first and second order random wave forces is found and then used to calculate the forces and moments in the connecting mechanisms. The structure is assumed to have rigid component parts and a linearised frequency domain analysis method is used, although other methods are discussed. To illustrate it's use, the method is applied to both the SBS and Yoke-CALM design of offshore mooring terminal.     

Threshold condition of sand particles under codirectional combined wave and current flow

Flume experiments were carried out to determine the threshold of movement of sand on rippled surface and flat beds under the codirectional combined flows due to waves and currents. The results indicate that Shields's curve can be used to determine the threshold condition under combined flows, provided that the maximum bed shear stress is used.     

Offshore permafrost and gas hydrate stability zone on the shelf of East Siberian Seas

Dynamics of the submarine permafrost regime, including distribution, thickness, and temporal evolution, was modeled for the Laptev and East Siberian Sea shelf zones. This work included simulation of the permafrost-related gas hydrate stability zone (GHSZ). Simulations were compared with field observations. Model sensitivity runs were performed using different boundary conditions, including a variety of geological conditions as well as two distinct geothermal heat flows (45 and 70 mW/m²). The heat flows used are typical for the coastal lowlands of the Laptev Sea and East Siberian Sea. Use of two different geological deposits, that is, unconsolidated Cainozoic strata and solid bedrock, resulted in the significantly different magnitudes of permafrost thickness, a result of their different physical and thermal properties. Both parameters, the thickness of the submarine permafrost on the shelf and the related development of the GHSZ, were simulated for the last four glacial-eustatic cycles (400,000 years). The results show that the most recently formed permafrost is continuous to the 60-m isobath; at the greater depths of the outer part of the shelf it changes to discontinuous and patchy permafrost. However, model results suggest that the entire Arctic shelf is underlain by relic permafrost in a state stable enough for gas hydrates. Permafrost, as well as the GHSZ, is currently storing probable significant greenhouse gas sources, especially methane that has formed by the decomposition of gas hydrates at greater depth. During climate cooling and associated marine regression, permafrost aggradation takes place due to the low temperatures and the direct exposure of the shelf to the atmosphere. Permafrost degradation takes place during climate warming and marine transgression. However, the temperature of transgressing seawater in contact with the former terrestrial permafrost landscape remains below zero, ranging from –0.5 to –1.8°C, meaning permafrost degradation does not immediately occur. The submerged permafrost degrades slowly, undergoing a transformation in form from ice bonded terrestrial permafrost to ice bearing submarine permafrost that does not possess a temperature gradient. Finally the thickness of ice bearing permafrost decreases from its lower boundary due to the geothermal heat flow. The modeling indicated several other features. There exists a time lag between extreme states in climatic forcing and associated extreme states of permafrost thickness. For example, permafrost continued to degrade for up to 10,000 years following a temperature decline had begun after a climate optimum. Another result showed that the dynamic of permafrost thickness and the variation of the GHSZ are similar but not identical. For example, it can be shown that in recent time permafrost degradation has taken place at the outer part of the shelf whereas the GHSZ is stable or even thickening.     

Variations of antioxidant efficiency and presence of endosymbiotic diatoms in the Antarctic porifera Haliclona dancoi

The role of endosymbiotic diatoms as pro-oxidant stressors in porifera has been investigated in the Antarctic sponge Haliclona dancoi in which the presence of diatoms is influenced by marked seasonal variations during the austral summer. Both chlorophaeopigments and frustules were absent in sponge tissues sampled in early November at the beginning of the summer and increased from the mid of December with slightly shifted temporal trends. The efficiency of antioxidant defenses in the sponge showed a marked response to symbionts with clearly enhanced values corresponding to the peak of diatoms.     

Meanders in the Antarctic Polar Frontal Zone and their impact on phytoplankton

The Antarctic Polar Front is a complex set of meandering jets, which appear to support enhanced primary productivity. The US Joint Global Ocean Flux Study conducted a series of survey and process studies in part to study the processes regulating primary productivity in this high nutrient, low chlorophyll region. We deployed a set of surface velocity drifters, some of which were equipped with bio-optical sensors, to study the temporal and spatial scales of biological and physical processes in the Antarctic Polar Frontal Zone. There were two primary sets of deployments: November 1997 before the spring bloom and January 1998 after the spring bloom. The November deployment revealed a strong spring bloom that lasted about 10 days. In late spring, when incoming solar radiation began to increase, the vertical motions associated with the meanders strongly affected the accumulation of phytoplankton biomass, primarily through their impact on light availability. Weaker meandering was observed in the January deployment, and chlorophyll values remained relatively constant. As the bloom began to decay, it appears that nutrient availability became more important in regulating phytoplankton photosynthesis. Some of the drifters in the November deployment were deployed in coherent clusters, thus allowing us to calculate vertical velocities associated with the meanders. Estimates of fluorescence/chlorophyll suggest that areas of upwelling and downwelling alternately decrease and increase photosynthetic stress, perhaps as a result of changes in the availability of iron or light during the formation of the bloom.