Carbon isotope geochemistry of Paleozoic oils from Big Horn Basin

Twenty crude oils from Paleozoic reservoirs in the Big Horn Basin. Wyoming were fractionated into light hydrocarbons, saturates, monoaromatics. diaromatics, polyaromatics-and-polars. and asphaltenes. Amounts and isotopic composition of each fraction were found to be internally consistent with the degree of maturation of the oil. confirming the established single source origin for these oils. A variation of approximately three per mil in the carbon isotopic composition of the whole oil and individual fraction was explained as being caused by maturation. The isotope-type-curves for these oils, the variations in isotopic composition as a function of compound group-type, were not found to be as simple as commonly believed. Other alteration processes, such as migration and deasphalting, might have influenced the pattern of the isotope distributions among fractions. The conservative nature of mass balance and subsequent isotope flows among various fractions of crude oil showed that the maturation of crude oil consists of consecutive processes leading from larger and more polar components into smaller and less polar components culminating in natural gas. Calculations were made to project the amount of condensates associated with the crude oils, and the amount of natural gas which had been generated from crude oils of a given maturity.     

Field measurements of shear strength of an underconsolidated marine clay

This paper presents the observations of cone penetration testing (CPT), in situ vane shear testing and undrained triaxial testing of underconsolidated marine clay in the Craney Island Dredged Material Management Area (CIDMMA), Norfolk, VA. Comparison of vane shear measurements, taken during 1981–1983, to CPT measurements, taken during 1993, indicates a change in undrained shear strength. Both the vane shear and cone penetration resistances are lowest at the mid-heights of the clay layers and the excess pore water pressures are highest at the mid-height of the clay layers, indicating that the clay layer is underconsolidated.     

Delineation of Sandstone Reservoir Flow Zones in the Central Bredasdorp Basin,South Africa,Using Core Samples

Natural Resources Research - This study aims to introduce a conceptual petrophysical flow zonation scheme for Valanginian age gas-bearing reservoirs in the Bredasdorp Basin, offshore of South...     

A Novel Hybrid Technique of Integrating Gradient-Boosted Machine and Clustering Algorithms for Lithology Classification

Natural Resources Research - The significant body of research on lithology identification in recent years has laid emphasis on the improvement of classification performance using hybrid machine...     

High-resolution Imaging of the Upper Solar Chromosphere: First Light Performance of the Very-high-Resolution Advanced ULtraviolet Telescope

The Very-high-resolution Advanced ULtraviolet Telescope (VAULT) experiment was successfully launched on 7 May 1999 on a Black Brant sounding rocket vehicle from White Sands Missile Range. The instrument consists of a 30 cm UV diffraction limited telescope followed by a two-grating, zero-dispersion spectroheliograph tuned to isolate the solar L emission line. During the flight, the instrument successfully obtained a series of images of the upper chromosphere with a limiting resolution of 0.33 arc sec. The resulting observations are the highest-resolution images of the solar atmosphere obtained from space to date. The flight demonstrated that sub-arc second ultraviolet images of the solar atmosphere are achievable with a high-quality, moderate-aperture space telescope and associated optics. Herein, we describe the payload and its in-flight performance.     

The correspondence between x-ray bright points and evolving magnetic features in the quiet sun

Coronal bright points, first identified as X-ray Bright Points (XBPs), are compact, short-lived and associated with small-scale, opposite polarity magnetic flux features. Previous studies have yielded contradictory results suggesting that XBPs are either primarily a signature of emerging flux in the quiet Sun, or of the disappearance of pre-existing flux. With the goal of improving our understanding of the evolution of the quiet Sun magnetic field, we present results of a study of more recent data on XBPs and small-scale evolving magnetic structures. The coordinated data set consists of X-ray images obtained during rocket flights on 15 August and 11 December, 1987, full-disk magnetograms obtained at the National Solar Observatory - Kitt Peak, and time-lapse magnetograms of multiple fields obtained at Big Bear Solar Observatory. We find that XBPs were more frequently associated with pre-existing magnetic features of opposite polarity which appeared to be cancelling than with emerging or new flux regions. Most young, emerging regions were not associated with XBPs. However, some XBPs were associated with older ephemeral regions, some of which were cancelling with existing network or intranetwork poles. Nearly all of the XBPs corresponded to opposite polarity magnetic features which wereconverging towards each other; some of these had not yet begun cancelling. We suggest that most XBPs form when converging flow brings oppositely directed field lines together, leading to reconnection and heating of the newly-formed loops in the low corona.     

Weighted characteristic analysis of spatially dependent mineral deposit data

There are four concepts involved with the methodology used in this analysis: classical second derivative surfaces, boolean representation of the surfaces, determination of weighted model characteristics, and multiple variable regional appraisal.This paper was presented at the International Geological Correlation Program (IGCP) Project 98 entitled Standards for Computer Applications in Resource Studies held at Loen, Norway, September 27–October 1, 1976.     

Mapping of the Culann-Tohil region of Io from Galileo imaging data

We have used Galileo spacecraft data to produce a geomorphologic map of the Culann-Tohil region of Io's antijovian hemisphere. This region includes a newly discovered shield volcano, Ts?i Goab Tholus and a neighboring bright flow field, Ts?i Goab Fluctus, the active Culann Patera and the enigmatic Tohil Mons-Radegast Patera-Tohil Patera complex. Analysis of Voyager global color and Galileo Solid-State Imaging (SSI) high-resolution, regional (50-330 m/pixel), and global color (1.4 km/pixel) images, along with available Galileo Near-Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (NIMS) data, suggests that 16 distinct geologic units can be defined and characterized in this region, including 5 types of diffuse deposits. Ts?i Goab Fluctus is the center of a low-temperature hotspot detected by NIMS late during the Galileo mission, and could represent the best case for active effusive sulfur volcanism detected by Galileo. The Culann volcanic center has produced a range of explosive and effusive deposits, including an outer yellowish ring of enhanced sulfur dioxide (SO₂), an inner red ring of SO₂ with short-chain sulfur (S₃-S₄) contaminants, and two irregular green diffuse deposits (one in Tohil Patera) apparently produced by the interaction of dark, silicate lava flows with sulfurous contaminants ballistically-emplaced from Culann's eruption plume(s). Fresh and red-mantled dark lava flows west of the Culann vent can be contrasted with unusual red-brown flows east of the vent. These red-brown flows have a distinct color that is suggestive of a compositional difference, although whether this is due to surface alteration or distinct lava compositions cannot be determined. The main massif of Tohil Mons is covered with ridges and grooves, defining a unit of tectonically disrupted crustal materials. Tohil Mons also contains a younger unit of mottled crustal materials that were displaced by mass wasting processes. Neighboring Radegast Patera contains a NIMS hotspot and a young lava lake of dark silicate flows, whereas the southwest portion of Tohil Patera contains white flow-like units, perhaps consisting of ‘ponds’ of effusively emplaced SO₂. From 0°-15° S the hummocky bright plains unit away from volcanic centers contains scarps, grooves, pits, graben, and channel-like features, some of which have been modified by erosion. Although the most active volcanic centers appear to be found in structural lows (as indicated by mapping of scarps), DEMs derived from stereo images show that, with the exception of Tohil Mons, there is less than 1 km of relief in the Culann-Tohil region. There is no discernable correlation between centers of active volcanism and topography.     

First Imaging of Coronal Mass Ejections in the Heliosphere Viewed from Outside the Sun – Earth Line

We show for the first time images of solar coronal mass ejections (CMEs) viewed using the Heliospheric Imager (HI) instrument aboard the NASA STEREO spacecraft. The HI instruments are wide-angle imaging systems designed to detect CMEs in the heliosphere, in particular, for the first time, observing the propagation of such events along the Sun – Earth line, that is, those directed towards Earth. At the time of writing the STEREO spacecraft are still close to the Earth and the full advantage of the HI dual-imaging has yet to be realised. However, even these early results show that despite severe technical challenges in their design and implementation, the HI instruments can successfully detect CMEs in the heliosphere, and this is an extremely important milestone for CME research. For the principal event being analysed here we demonstrate an ability to track a CME from the corona to over 40 degrees. The time – altitude history shows a constant speed of ascent over at least the first 50 solar radii and some evidence for deceleration at distances of over 20 degrees. Comparisons of associated coronagraph data and the HI images show that the basic structure of the CME remains clearly intact as it propagates from the corona into the heliosphere. Extracting the CME signal requires a consideration of the F-coronal intensity distribution, which can be identified from the HI data. Thus we present the preliminary results on this measured F-coronal intensity and compare these to the modelled F-corona of Koutchmy and Lamy (IAU Colloq. 85, 63, 1985). This analysis demonstrates that CME material some two orders of magnitude weaker than the F-corona can be detected; a specific example at 40 solar radii revealed CME intensities as low as 1.7×10⁻¹⁴ of the solar brightness. These observations herald a new era in CME research as we extend our capability for tracking, in particular, Earth-directed CMEs into the heliosphere.     

Towards an improved understanding of erosion rates and tidal notch development on limestone coasts in the Tropics: 10 years of micro‐erosion meter measurements,Phang Nga Bay,Thailand

Knowledge and understanding of shore platform erosion and tidal notch development in the tropics and subtropics relies mainly on short‐term studies conducted on recently deposited carbonate rocks, predominantly Holocene and Quaternary reef limestones and aeolianites. This paper presents erosion rates, measured over a 10 year period on notches and platforms developed on the Permian, Ratburi limestone at Phang Nga Bay, Thailand. In so doing it contributes to informing a particular knowledge gap in our understanding of the erosion dynamics of shore platform and tidal notch development in the tropics and subtropics – notch erosion rates on relatively hard, ancient limestones measured directly on the rock surface using a micro‐erosion meter (MEM) over time periods of a decade or more. The average intertidal erosion rate of 0.231 mm/yr is lower than erosion rates measured over 2–3 years on recent, weaker carbonate rocks. Average erosion rates at Phang Nga vary according to location and site and are, in rank order from highest to lowest: Mid‐platform (0.324 mm/yr) > Notch floor (0.289 mm/yr) > Rear notch wall (0.228 mm/yr) > Lower platform (0.140 mm/yr) > Notch roof (0.107 mm/yr) and Supratidal (0.095 mm/yr). The micro‐relief of the eroding rock surfaces in each of these positions exhibits marked differences that are seemingly associated with differences in dominant physical and bio‐erosion processes. The results begin to help inform knowledge of longer term shore platform erosion dynamics, models of marine notch development and have implications for the use of marine notches as indicators of changes in sea level and the duration of past sea levels. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.