The ophiolite of Oman and United Arab Emirates

Marine Geophysical Research -     

Long-term (105) or short-term (103) δ13C excursion near the Palaeocene-Eocene transition: evidence from the Tethys

Expanded sedimentary records from the Tethys reveal unique faunal and isotopic changes across the Palaeocene-Eocene (P-E) transition. Unlike in the open oceans, the Tethys exhibits a gradual decrease of 1.5% in δ¹³C values prior to the rapid δ¹³C excursion. Associated with the 6¹³C excursion is a decrease in calcite burial, increase in detrital content and appearance of a unique opportunistic planktic foraminifera1 assemblage (e.g. compressed acarininids). The existence of a prelude decrease in δ¹³C values in the Tethys suggests that the P-E δ¹³C excursion may have occurred in two steps and over a few hundred thousand years, rather than as one step over a few thousand years as previously suggested. This slower excursion rate is readily explained by changing organic carbon weathering or burial rates and avoids the need of invoking ad hoc scenarios.     

Experiments with Higdon's absorbing boundary conditions for a number of wave equations

Simulation of wave propagation for seismic purposes is usually restricted to a small portion of the earth. Artificial boundary conditions are required where the subsurface model is truncated. Absorbing boundaries should ensure that waves hitting the artificial boundaries are not reflected. The vast amount of literature on the subject suggests that “good” conditions have not been found, and only “reasonable” solutions exist. A cursory overview of existing and a few new ideas is presented that may guide the construction of suitable boundary conditions. Because the intended application of the boundary conditions was a high-order finite-difference code that runs on a parallel computer, we have restricted our attention to local boundary conditions. A fundamental problem in the design of accurate local boundary conditions is pointed out: accuracy is required to keep the amount of reflected energy small, but at the same time allows for growing low-frequency modes. We have settled for Higdon’s boundary conditions. Higdon proposes to include some damping to suppress the growing low-frequency modes. We show that third-order conditions provide acceptable results for the simple scalar wave equation and the acoustic equation. In the elastic case, an additional low-frequency growing mode may occur. This mode can be suppressed by using a dissipative boundary scheme and by increasing the amount of damping. The increase in damping results in an increase in the amount of reflected energy, which is larger than in the scalar case. Numerical experiments exhibit a reasonable performance, although some improvement would be useful, particularly in the anisotropic elastic case. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The landscape-unit approach applied to geology, on SPOT images, in temperate climate zones using a test-area in the Cévennes (Massif Central, France)

Classification image processing is based mainly upon spectral features but this information alone is inadequate for drawing comprehensive maps or reliably distinguishing lithological or structural targets, especially in vegetation-covered areas. It is therefore of interest to explore an approach in which subtle features of the image are matched with field data in a variety of parameters either measured or assessed qualitatively. This approach is necessarily multidisciplinary, the three basic aspects being geomorphological, botanical and geological.The Cévennes massif, in southern France, with its sedimentary margins was selected as a test area, having both varied geology, giving a variety of landscapes, and a range of climatic zones, from Mediterranean to sub-Alpine.The present work is distinguished by its use of the landscape unit, which is rarely considered in geology. Landscapes units are recognized and defined, and the spectral homogeneity of the units is then assessed. They are combined with satellite and other data in order to improve the digital processing for geological purposes.The parameters characterising each landscape unit define the various elements contributing to the landscape, the most important of which are morphology, vegetation and geology, and their interactions. Our results using these parameters show the interest of the management of both the satellite (SPOT in this case) and non-satellite (exogenous) data.     

Preparation and application of engineering and environmental geological maps in The Netherlands

The Netherlands has no nation-wide mapping programme for either engineering geology or environmental geology, but on request the Geological Survey of The Netherlands, together with other geoscientific institutes, prepares: (1) detailed (1:5,000) engineering geological maps of urban areas, specifically meant for urban planning and management as well as for feasibility studies for civil engineering works; and (2) small-scale (1:250,000 to 1:50,000) thematic environmental geological maps, meant for regional landuse planning. The preparation and application of these maps is discussed, and some examples are given.     

The Var turbidite system (Ligurian Sea, northwestern Mediterranean)—morphology, sediment supply, construction of turbidite levee and sediment waves: implications for hydrocarbon reservoirs

The Var turbidite system is a small sandy system located in the Ligurian Basin. It was deposited during the Pliocene-Quaternary in a flat-floored basin formed during the Messinian salinity crisis. The system was fed through time by the Var and Paillon canyons that connect directly to the Var and Paillon rivers. It is still active during the present sea-level highstand. Two main mechanisms are responsible for gravity-flow triggering in the Var turbidite system: (1) mass-wasting events affect mainly the upper part of the continental slope, in areas where volumes of fresh sediment delivered by rivers are highest, and result from the under-consolidation state of slope sediments and earthquakes, and (2) high-magnitude river floods resulting from melting of snow and convective rainfall during fall and spring seasons, and generating hyperpycnal turbidity currents at river mouths when the density of freshwater transporting suspended particles exceeds that of ambient seawater. Failure- and flood-induced gravity flows are involved through time in the construction of the Var Sedimentary Ridge, the prominent right-hand levee of the Var system, and sediment waves. Processes of construction of both the Var Ridge and sediment waves are closely connected. Sandy deposits are thick and abundant in the eastern (downchannel) part of the ridge. Their distribution is highly constrained by the strong difference of depositional processes across the sediment waves, potentially resulting through time in the individualization of large and interconnected sand bodies.     

Sea ice evolution over the 20th and 21st centuries as simulated by current AOGCMs

Outputs from simulations performed with current atmosphere-ocean general circulation models for the Fourth Assessment Report of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC AR4) are used to investigate the evolution of sea ice over the 20th and 21st centuries. We first use the results from the “Climate of the 20th Century Experiment” to assess the ability of these models to reproduce the observed sea ice cover changes over the periods 1981–2000 and 1951–2000. The projected sea ice changes over the 21st century in response to the IPCC Special Report on Emission Scenarios A1B are then examined. Overall, there is a large uncertainty in simulating the present-day sea ice coverage and thickness and in predicting sea ice changes in both hemispheres. Over the period 1981–2000, we find that the multimodel average sea ice extent agrees reasonably well with observations in both hemipsheres despite the wide differences between the models. The largest uncertainties appear in the Southern Hemisphere. The climate change projections over the 21st century reveal that the annual mean sea ice extent decreases at similar rates in both hemispheres, and that the reduction in annual mean sea ice volume is about twice that of sea ice extent reduction in the Northern Hemisphere, in agreement with earlier studies. We show that the amplitude of the seasonal cycle of sea ice extent increases in both hemispheres in a warming climate, with a larger magnitude in the Northern Hemisphere. Furthermore, it appears that the seasonal cycle of ice extent is more affected than the one of ice volume. By the end of the 21st century, half of the model population displays an ice-free Arctic Ocean in late summer.     

High resolution seafloor images in the Gulf of Cadiz, Iberian margin

In the Gulf of Cadiz, the hydrodynamic process acting on particle transport and deposition is a strong density-driven bottom current caused by the outflow of the saline deep Mediterranean water at the Strait of Gibraltar: the Mediterranean Outflow Water (MOW). New high resolution acoustic data including EM300 multibeam echo-sounder, deep-towed acoustic system SAR and very high resolution seismic, completed by piston cores collected during the CADISAR cruise allow to improve the understanding of the hydrodynamics of the MOW in the eastern part of the Gulf of Cadiz. Interpretation of data corrects the previous model established in this area and allows, for the first time, the accurate characterization of various bedforms and erosive structures along the MOW pathway and the precise identification of numerous gravity instabilities. The interaction between the MOW, the seafloor morphology and the Coriolis force is presently the driving force of the sedimentary distribution pattern observed on the Gulf of Cadiz continental slope.     

Closure of a hyperextended system in an orogenic lithospheric pop‐up,Western Pyrenees: The role of mantle buttressing and rift structural inheritance

The Early Cretaceous hyperextended Mauléon rift is localized in the north‐western Pyrenean orogen. We infer the Tertiary evolution of the Mauléon basin through the restoration of a 153‐km‐long crustal‐scale balanced cross‐section of the Pyrenean belt, which documents at least 67 km (31%) of orogenic shortening in the Western Pyrenees. Initial shortening, accommodated through inversion of inherited crustal structures, led to formation of a pop‐up structure, in which the opposite edges underwent similar shortening with different tectonic reactivation styles, localized versus. distributed. Underthrusting of the Iberian margin accommodated further convergence, forming the Axial Zone antiformal stack of crustal nappes within a lithospheric pop‐up. Thin‐skinned and thick‐skinned structures propagated outward from the heart of this pop‐up, a block of strong mantle acting as a buttress inhibiting complete inversion of the Mauléon rift basin.     

基于证据理论的聚类集成方法

单个聚类方法得到的结果会存在不稳定性等问题,为了克服这些问题,本文在证据理论（又称为信任函数理论）的基础上提出了一种新的聚类集成方法.多数情况下,聚类集成方法主要包含2个关键步骤：得到一组基划分,以及结合基划分得到最终聚类结果,本文的方法重点考虑第2步.在第1步得到基划分之后,将其转换成一种中间表示,可以称这种中间表示为关系表示.在证据理论中,我们认为得到的关系表示是不可靠的,可以用折扣过程对关系表示进行预处理,然后就可以用不同的结合法则融合关系表示.从融合后的关系表示中提取信任矩阵或似然矩阵,将其视为样本间的互相关矩阵.为了能够充分利用样本间的传递性,将得到的互相关矩阵视为一个模糊关系,对其做传递闭包处理,从而得到一个模糊等价关系.将模糊的等价关系视为新的相似性数据,用能够处理相似性数据的聚类方法得到最终的结果.通过实验,表明了该聚类集成方法的稳定性和有效性.