Stratal geometries, facies and sea-floor erosion in Upper Cretaceous Chalk, Normandy, France

Unusual lenticular stratal geometries and facies of the Upper Cretaceous Chalk of coastal Haute Normandie, France, are described and interpreted. Thirteen facies within these chalks are described and illustrated on the basis of field, thin-section and SEM investigations: nannofossil mudstones, nannofossil hardgrounds, echinoderm wackestones and packstones, echinoderm hardgrounds, bryozoan mudstones and wackestones, bryozoan hardgrounds, bryozoan packstones and wackestones, inoceramid wackestones, inoceramid hardgrounds, sponge hardgrounds, marly chalks, conglomeratic chalks and debris flow chalks. These facies occur within lenticular bedded structures with both concave-up and concave-down geometries which have been previously interpreted as megaripples, mud mounds or tectonic structures. Detailed examination of the structures and the associated facies indicates that the concave-up geometries were formed from submarine erosion, and redeposition in NW-SE longitudinal channels. The concave-down geometries developed between adjacent channels. Assessment of the regional and temporal setting indicates that the erosion occurred in the Armorican-Cornubian straits of the Anglo-Paris Basin during sea-level lowstands. Within these straits channelling is preferentially developed on the positive, south-western block to the Lillebonne-Fécamp-Cotentin Fault.     

The transport of heat and matter by fluids during metamorphism

Non-dimensional solutions to the equations for the combined advective and diffusive one-dimensional transport of heat and solute in a layer are derived for fixed temperature/concentration on the boundaries and initial conditions of a linear gradient across the layer or a step function at the lower boundary. The solutions allow distinction of regimes in which advective or diffusive transport of either heat or solute predominate as a function of fluid flux, time and a length scale. The much lower diffusive coefficients for solute than heat results in a significant range of length scales and fluid flux rates characterised by advection of matter and diffusion of heat. The advective velocity of a component is a function of its fluid:rock partition coefficient. The most rapidly transported tracers which partition largely into the fluid phase, such as He, will travel orders of magnitude faster than heat or compatible solutes such as oxygen. Geochemical profiles in boundary layer regions where both advective and diffusive transport are significant are shown to be particularly informative as to properties of the rocks related to fluid flow such as porosity, permeability, time scales and fluid flux rates. The importance of advection can be directly estimated from the asymmetry of the geochemical profiles across individual layers.     

The Holocene paleohydrology and climatic history of the northern great sandy desert - fitzroy trough: With special reference to the history of the northwest Australian monsoon

The Holocene history of the northwest Australian monsoon is considered in the light of new stratigraphic findings from the southern margin of the monsoon regime. A discussion of the present-day climatology of northwestern Australia and synoptic controls on precipitation in the areas at the southern margin of the monsoon regime is given as background information for the interpretation of stratigraphic findings from swamp and alluvial sequences. The stratigraphic findings point to little change in the intensity of the northwest Australian monsoon since ca. 6.5 ka. A more tentative inference drawn from the field evidence is that the monsoon activity may well have been reduced in this region during the Early Holocene; during this time insolation levels were also reduced. The possible relationship of the northwest Australian monsoon to insolation levels is explored. It is clear that monsoon behavior cannot be accounted for as a simple linear response of monsoon intensity to variations in insolation. Possible controls are discussed with particular emphasis on the plausibility of changes in the damping of convective motions providing the mechanism. Gill's model of heat-induced circulation is used to provide some evidence in favour of this conjecture.     

Spectral development of a solar X-ray burst observed on OSO-7

The UCSD solar X-ray instrument on the OSO-7 satellite observes X-ray bursts in the 2–300 keV range with 10.24 s time resolution. Spectra obtained from the proportional counter and scintillation counter are analyzed for the event of November 16, 1971, at 0519 UT in terms of thermal (exponential spectrum) and non-thermal (power law) components. The energy content of the approximately 20 × 10⁶K thermal plasma increased with the 60 s duration hard X-ray burst which entirely preceded the 5 keV soft X-ray maximum. If the hard X-rays arise by thick target bremsstrahlung, the nonthermal electrons above 10 keV have sufficient energy to heat the thermally emitting plasma. In the thin target case the collisional energy transfer from non-thermal electrons suffices if the power law electron spectrum is extrapolated below 10 keV, or if the ambient plasma density exceeds 4 × 10¹⁰ cm^–3.Formerly at UCSD.     

Observations of 1000 km s −1 Doppler shifts in 107 K solar flare supra-arcade

An X1.5 flare on the west limb of the Sun on 21 April 2002 developed a large supra-arcade about 30 min after flare onset. The growth of the supra-arcade can be followed in both TRACE 195 Å images and SUMER spectra. Its growth seems to be associated with dark (in TRACE images), sunward moving channels that descend onto the arcade from above. SUMER recorded Doppler shifts of 800–1000 km s^–1 in Fexxi 1354 Å from positions where this sunward flow interacts with the arcade tops. We describe the observations, focusing on the relationship of the high Fexxi line shifts to the sunward moving dark flows.     

Some remarks on the development of sedimentary basins

A simple model for the development and evolution of sedimentary basins is proposed. The first event consists of a rapid stretching of continental lithosphere, which produces thinning and passive upwelling of hot asthenosphere. This stage is associated with block faulting and subsidence. The lithosphere then thickens by heat conduction to the surface, and further slow subsidence occurs which is not associated with faulting. The slow subsidence and the heat flow depend only on the amount of stretching, which can be estimated from these quantities and from the change in thickness of the continental crust caused by the extension. The model is therefore easily tested. Preliminary investigations of the Great Basin, the Aegean, the North Sea and the Michigan Basin suggest that the model can account for the major events in their evolution.     

The variation of temperature with time and hydrocarbon maturation in sedimentary basins formed by extension

When a sedimentary basin is formed by extension both the subsidence history and the temperature gradient can be calculated. Hence the time-temperature history of any stratum can be obtained. Three types of behaviour occur. The temperature of material which never reaches depths greater than about 4 km increases at all times. The time-temperature history of material which finally sinks to greater depths reaches a maximum during the subsidence history. The time at which this maximum occurs decreases as the depth increases. At greater depths the maximum temperature occurs at the time the basin is formed. The time-temperature history is then used to calculate Lopatin's maturation index for each stratum as a function of time, and the index plotted as a function of depth and time for different amounts of extension. The maximum temperature at a given depth, and hence Lopatin's index, is almost independent of the amount of extension when the age of the basin is greater than about 150 Ma. Similar calculations taking account of sediment compaction show the same behaviour, though the maturity of the material at a given depth is increased. Because both Lopatin's index and its calibration are empirical it is important to develop new maturation indices based on individual molecular reactions whose activation energies can be determined in the laboratory.     

Magmatic andalusite from the South Mountain batholith,Nova Scotia

Accessory andalusite has been found in some late-stage granitic differentiates of the South Mountain batholith. The andalusite is petrographically distinct from the andalusite of the thermal aureole, and it occurs in regions of the batholith which show little evidence of contamination by the country rocks. Analyses of biotites from andalusite-bearing and andalusite-free phases suggest that those coexisting with andalusite actually grew in equilibrium with the andalusite. It is concluded that magmatic andalusite must be confined mainly to water-saturated, peraluminous, epizonal granites, and some possible P-T paths for the crystallization of magmatic andalusite are considered.