ESTIMATION OF THE PRIMARY SEISMIC PULSE *

A seismic trace after application of suitable amplitude recovery may be treated as a stationary time-series. Such a trace, or a portion of it, is modelled by the expression where j represents trace number on the record, t is time, α_j is a time delay, α (t) is the seismic wavelet, s(t) is the reflection impulse response of the ground and n_j is uncorrelated noise. With the common assumption that s(t) is white, random, and stationary, estimates of the energy spectrum (or auto-correlation function) of the pulse α(t) are obtained by statistical analysis of the multitrace record. The time-domain pulse itself is then reconstituted under the assumption of minimum-phase. Three techniques for obtaining the phase spectrum have been evaluated: (A) use of the Hilbert transform, (B) Use of the z-transform, (C) a fast method based on inverting the least-squares inverse of the wavelets, i.e. inverting the normal time-domain deconvolution operator. Problems associated with these three methods are most acute when the z-transform of α(t) has zeroes on or near the unit circle. Such zeroes result from oversampling or from highly resonant wavelets. The behaviour of the three methods when the energy spectra are perturbed by measurement errors is studied. It is concluded that method (A) is the best of the three. Examples of reconstituted pulses are given which illustrate the variability from trace-to-trace, from shot-to-shot, and from one shot-point medium to another. There is reasonable agreement between the minimum-phase pulses obtained by this statistical analysis of operational records and those estimated from measurements close to the source. However, this comparison incorporates a “fudge-factor” since an allowance for absorption has to be made in order to attenuate the high frequencies present in the pulse measured close to the shot.     

Wolf Volcano, Galapagos Archipelago: Melting and Magmatic Evolution at the Margins of a Mantle Plume

Wolf volcano, an active shield volcano on northern Isabela Islandin the Galápagos Archipelago, has undergone two majorstages of caldera collapse, with a phase of partial calderarefilling between. Wolf is a typical Galápagos shieldvolcano, with circumferential vents on the steep upper carapaceand radial vents distributed in diffuse rift zones on the shallower-slopinglower flanks. The radial fissures continue into the submarineenvironment, where they form more tightly focused rift zones.Wolf's magmas are strikingly monotonous: estimated eruptivetemperatures of the majority of lavas span a total of only 22°C.This homogeneity is attributed to buffering of magmas as theyascend through a thick column of olivine gabbroic mush thathas been deposited from a thin, shallow (<2 km deep) subcalderasill that is in a thermochemical steady state. Wolf's lavashave the most depleted isotopic compositions of any historicallyactive intraplate ocean island volcano on the planet and haveisotopic compositions (except for ³He/⁴He) indistinguishablefrom mid-ocean ridge basalt erupted from the GalápagosSpreading Center (GSC) 250–410 km away from the peak ofinfluence of the Galápagos plume. Wolf's lavas are enrichedin incompatible trace elements and have systematic major elementdifferences relative to GSC lavas, however. Wolf's magmas resultfrom lower extents of melting, deeper melt extraction, and agreater influence of garnet compared with GSC magmas, but Wolfand the GSC share the same sources. These melt generation conditionsare attributed to melting in a thermal and mechanical boundarylayer of depleted asthenosphere at the margins of the Galápagosplume. The lower degrees of melting and extraction from deeperlevels result from a thicker lithospheric cap at Wolf than existsat the GSC. KEY WORDS: caldera; Galápagos; mush; partial melting; plume     

Petrology of the Vandfaldsdalen Macrodike, Skaergaard Region, East Greenland

The Vandfaldsdalen macrodike is a layered and differentiatedgabbroic dike approximately 3?5 km long and from 200 to 500m wide. It appears to cut the eastern margin of the Skaergaardintrusion and may have served as a feeder for the Basistoppensill. The macrodike can be divided into three series of rocks:a marginal series of differentiated gabbros adjacent to thewalls of the dike; a central series of differentiated and subhorizontallylayered gabbros and ferrodiorites in the interior of the dike;and an upper felsic series of granophyric rocks with abundantquartzo-feldspathic xenoliths. The mineral and bulk-rock compositionsthrough both the marginal series and central series show progressiveiron enrichment. The most Ca-rich plagioclase (An₆₉) and mostmagnesian pyroxene (Wo₄₂ En₄₆ Fs₁₂) occur in olivine-bearingrocks of the marginal series about 5 m from the contact withwall rocks. The most Na-rich plagioclase (An₃₉) and Fe-richpyroxene (Wo₃₈ En₂₄ Fs₃₈) are in olivine-free ferrodiorite ofthe central series, about 20 m below the contact with the felsicseries. Evidence from field observations, bulk-rock chemical compositions,and Sr and Nd isotopic data indicate the felsic series formedas a mixture of the initial macrodike magma and granitic countryrock. ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios of specimens from the felsic series rangebetween 0?7129 and 0?7294. ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd ratios vary between 0?51208and 0?51118. Both ratios vary serially with the SiO₂ contentsof the specimens. We suggest that the felsic series evolvedas a separate body of low density liquid which floated on thedenser gabbroic magma of the central series. Heat from crystallizationof the gabbroic magma must have diffused into the felsic layer,enabling extensive assimilation of the granitic xenoliths, butour data indicate there was very little exchange of chemicalcomponents between the two liquids.     

TWO METHODS FOR CONTINUOUS MONITORING OF HARMONIC DISTORTION IN VIBROSEIS SIGNALS1

The quality of Vibroseis survey data can be improved by continuously monitoring the vibrator's baseplate and reaction mass accelerations. Equipment failures can be detected as they occur, rather than relying on similarity trials at the beginning and end of the day's production. Equipment faults can then be corrected as they happen and thus would not have a detrimental effect on the quality of the survey data. Source efficiency can be optimized by monitoring the amount of harmonic distortion generated by the vibrator at different drive levels on the different surfaces which may be encountered during a survey. Phase problems introduced by poor coupling of the baseplate to the ground can also be identified and addressed in the field. Rapid analysis of vibrator signals is required if continuous monitoring is to be useful. Frequency-time (f-t) analyses of vibrator signals are often used in processing centres, but are slow and require a large storage capacity which makes the technique unsuitable for a field analysis system. The two methods proposed to analyse vibrator signals entail the use of hodograms and time-varying notch filters. Hodograms provide a qualitative analysis of harmonic distortion and vibrator performance. A fast, time-varying notch filter gives quantitative and qualitative information about the harmonic distortion present in the signal and can be used to identify problems with vibrator behaviour. Both the hodogram and fast, time-varying notch filter methods can analyse the vibrator's reaction mass and baseplate accelerations as it progresses through its sweep and can present automatically interpreted results to the operator before moving to the next vibrator point.     

LEAST-SQUARES FILTERS WITHOUT TRANSIENT ERRORS: AN EXAMINATION OF THE ERRORS IN LEAST-SQUARES FILTER DESIGN*

A new approach has been developed for the design of cross-equalization filters by the least-squares method. The filters estimated by this new exact method are subject to only two types of error: bias and random error. Cross-equalization filters estimated by a more conventional least-squares method are further subject to “transient error”. This type of error becomes important when designing filters from a data gate of a length comparable with the length of the filter, i.e., less than four times the length of the filter. The effect of altering various design parameters has been investigated for the new method. It has been found that the proportion of bias in the filter decreases as the effective filter length increases, whereas the random error in the filter decreases with increase in either the signal-to-noise ratio of the data or the ratio of the data duration to the filter length. The level of whitening applied to the auto-correlation matrix before inversion was not found to be a critical design parameter. Also, two techniques have been tested for reducing any anomalous d.c. component in the calculated filter.     

MEASUREMENTS OF EARTH ATTENUATION FROM DOWNHOLE AND SURFACE SEISMIC RECORDINGS*

Frequency-dependent attenuation of compressional waves within the earth has been estimated in the vicinity of wells from

• 1 spectral power ratios of the coherent events in separate time gates on the seismic section
• 2 matching a broadband synthetic trace with seismic data at the well, and
• 3 determining the operator that transforms one down(up) going pulse recorded in the well into another recorded at a deeper (shallower) level.

The accuracy of estimation of all three methods was insufficient to estimate attenuation over small depth intervals, and it was not possible to distinguish between the contribution due to internal multiples and that of genuine absorption with much confidence. Spectral ratios from (1) showed a smoother variation with frequency—and one more consistent with other estimates—when they were compensated for the spectra of the reflectivities over the time gates employed, but they did not provide more than a broad indication of attenuation over a substantial depth interval. Approach (2) was hampered by the restricted durations over which synthetic trace and seismic data can be reliably matched; approach (3) gave the best results. Here matching is a much more powerful tool than the spectral-ratio techniques that are commonly applied since it can yield the form of the attenuation operator, i.e., both its amplitude and phase response, together with properly defined measures of its accuracy, while at the same time it minimizes the influence of noise and local interference effects at each recording level. For seismic target depths where internal multiple activity was low the logarithms of the amplitude responses of the estimated attenuation operators decreased approximately linearly with frequency and the phase responses showed no significant dispersion. Application of approach (3) to downgoing and upgoing waves estimated from a vertical seismic profile revealed the importance of changes in frequency-dependent geophone coupling and their effect on values of Q determined from downgoing pulses only.     

Preservation of evidence for prograde metamorphism in ultrahigh-temperature, high-pressure kyanite-bearing granulites, South Harris, Scotland

Mineralogical and mineral chemical evidence for prograde metamorphism is rarely preserved in rocks that have reached ultrahigh‐temperature (UHT) conditions (>900 °C) because high diffusion and reaction rates erase evidence for earlier assemblages. The UHT, high‐pressure (HP) metasedimentary rocks of the Leverburgh belt of South Harris, Scotland, are unusual in that evidence for the prograde history is preserved, despite having reached temperatures of ～955 °C or more. Two lithologies from the belt are investigated here and quantitatively modelled in the system NaO–CaO–K₂O–FeO–MgO–Al₂O₃–SiO₂–H₂O: a garnet‐kyanite‐K‐feldspar‐quartz gneiss (X_Mg = 37, A/AFM = 0.41), and an orthopyroxene‐garnet‐kyanite‐K‐feldspar quartzite (X_Mg = 89 A/AFM = 0.68). The garnet‐kyanite gneiss contains garnet porphyroblasts that grew on the prograde path, and captured inclusion assemblages of biotite, sillimanite, plagioclase and quartz (<790 °C, <9.5 kbar). These porphyroblasts preserve spectacular calcium zonation features with an early growth pattern overgrown by high‐Ca rims formed during high‐P metamorphism in the kyanite stability field. In contrast, Fe‐Mg zonation in the same garnet porphyroblasts reflects retrograde re‐equilibration, as a result of the relatively faster diffusivity of these ions. Peak P–T are constrained by the occurrence of coexisting orthopyroxene and aluminosilicate in the quartzite. Orthopyroxene porphyroblasts [y(opx) = 0.17–0.22] contain sillimanite inclusions, indicative of maximum conditions of 955 ± 45 °C at 10.0 ± 1.5 kbar. Subsequently, orthopyroxene, kyanite, K‐feldspar and quartz developed in equilibrated textures, constraining the maximum pressure conditions to 12.5 ± 0.8 kbar at 905 ± 25 °C. P–T–X modelling reveals that the mineral assemblage orthopyroxene‐kyanite‐quartz is compositionally restricted to rocks of X_Mg > 84, consistent with its very rare occurrence in nature. The preservation of unusual high P–T mineral assemblages and chemical disequilibrium features in these UHT HP rocks is attributed to a rapid tectonometamorphic cycle involving arc subduction and terminating in exhumation.     

封闭型洼地的级别划分:天坑级别

机械的不稳定性和崩塌块石的溶蚀搬运以及二者之间的相互作用是喀斯特区大型塌陷构造的发育条件. 早期存在的空洞中的崩塌块石如果没有有效的搬运机制,空洞的向上发展就会中止.溶蚀的速率、原始空间的大小和上覆基岩的地形最终决定了地表地貌的规模.塌陷地形的规模从小落水洞到几百米宽如墨西哥Golondrinas崩塌坑不等.从整个级别序列上看,天坑可以说是此类崩塌地貌的终极地形.