Vertical Sound Velocity Transition in the Coral Reef Core and Its Significance of Indicating Facies

On the basis of the sound velocity measurements of the coral reef core from Nanyong No.1 well of Yongshu Reef in the Nansha Islands,the paper studies the relations between the vertical sound velocity transition features in the coral reef core and the corresponding stratigraphic depositional facies change as well as stratigraphic gap of erosion,analyses the cause of the sound velocity transition,expounds the concrete process of the sea level change resulting in the stratigraphic gap of erosion and facies change in the coral reef and explains the relations between the vertical sound velocity transition in the coral reef core and the corresponding stratigraphic paleoclimate and the sea level change.This study is of important practical value and theoretical significance to the island and reef engineering construction and the acoustic logging for oil exploration in the reef limestone area as well as the paleoceanographic study of the marginal sea in the westerm Pacific Ocean.     

罗源湾南岸上元—坑园牡蛎礁与海平面变化

上元-坑园牡蛎礁位于高潮位以下3m,主要成分为长牡蛎和近江牡蛎,其~(14)C年龄为3043±82a,B.P.。据此推算出罗源湾一带海岸处于缓慢上升状态,速率为1.15mm/a。根据上元-坑园牡蛎礁的上述特征,并结合断块差异升降运动的表现,作者认为这一地区中、晚全新世以来以“陆动型”海平面变化占主导地位。     

Impact of the tsunami and earthquake of 26th December 2004 on the vital coastal ecosystems of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands assessed using RESOURCESAT AWiFS data

Tsunami waves struck the Indian coast on 26th December 2004 affecting the Andaman and Nicobar group of islands. A quick assessment of the status of the vital coastal ecosystems has been made using pre- and post-tsunami Advance Wide Field Sensor (AWiFS) data of Indian satellite RESOURCESAT with an accuracy of 87–90% and the Kappa ranging from 0.8696 to 0.9053. Among the coastal ecosystems the coral reefs have suffered the maximum with the Nicobar reefs (69% eroded and 29% degraded) bearing the brunt more than the Andaman reefs (54% eroded and 22% degraded). Significant improvement to the condition of the reef damaged due to backwash has been noted. About 41% of the Sentinel reef area has undergone significant improvement. The continuance of the erosion of the southwestern Andaman reefs is due to the impact of recurring earthquakes. The impact on mangroves of both the groups of islands has been due to uprooting as well as inundation of seawater and resulting stagnation. Changes are expected in community structure of mangroves as a result of tsunami.     

塔里木盆地巴楚地区中奥陶统一间房组露头礁滩复合体储层地质建模及其对塔中地区油气勘探的启示

通过1：5万礁滩复合体地质填图,在巴楚地区共发现大小不等的礁滩复合体90余个,层位为中奥陶统一间房组二段．台缘为礁滩复合体密集发育区,礁滩体规模大,台内为礁滩复合体零星发育区,礁滩体规模小。通过对6个典型礁滩复合体的解剖,研究了礁滩复合体的微相类型、组合和各微相的岩石特征、生物群落,并对其生长发育阶段进行了分析。根据6个典型礁滩复合体及礁间的大量铸体薄片鉴定和物性资料,分析了储层的特征、成因和非均质性,建立了台缘礁及礁间、台内礁及礁间2种背景条件下的储层地质模型。巴楚地区露头礁滩复合体储层地质模型对塔中地区上奥陶统良里塔格组礁滩复合体的勘探具有重要的指导意义,并为勘探实践所证实。     

Possible refugia for reefs in times of environmental stress

This paper investigates the refuge potential of (1) upwelling areas, (2) coral areas at medium depth, and (3) offshore bank and island reefs in a scenario of increased global warming, and thus increased sea surface temperature (SST) and increased solar UV radiation. (1) Observations on coral health and water temperature in the subtropical Atlantic (Eleuthera and Cat Island, Bahamas) and Indian Ocean (Sodwana Bay, South Africa) suggest a link between cool water delivered by upwelling and coral health. After the 1998 bleaching event, caused by strong SST anomalies, coral health and recovery from the previous year's bleaching was significantly better on the narrow southern Cat Island shelf (70% of corals healthy) where the presence of cold water was observed, which was attributed to small-scale upwelling, than on the wide northern Eleuthera shelf (44% of corals healthy), where downwelling of hot bank waters was believed to have damaged corals. In South Africa, regular, short-term upwelling events in five summers reduced SST to well below bleaching level. (2) In the northern Red Sea (Safaga Bay) and in South Africa (Sodwana Bay), wide areas with either coral frameworks or non-framework communities exist. Calculations show that if the top 10 m (20 m) of the ocean became inhospitable to corals, still 50.4% (17.5%) of the coral area would remain intact in the Red Sea and 99% (40%) in South Africa. (3) Offshore bank and island reefs investigated in the Turks, Caicos, and Mouchoir Banks and Grand and Little Cayman showed high rates of mortality and coral diseases. The most remote sites (Mouchoir Bank) were not the healthiest. Refuge areas appear to exist in (1) and (2), but in (3) only if vigorous water-circulation is encountered.     

Are catch-up reefs an artefact of coring?

Drill cores through modern coral reefs commonly show a time lag in reef initiation followed by a phase of rapid accretion to sea level from submerged foundations – the so-called ‘catch-up response’. But because of the difficulty of drilling in these environments, core distribution is usually restricted to accessible areas that may not fully represent reef history, especially if the reef initiated in patches or developed with a prograde or retrograde geometry. As a consequence, core data have the potential to give a misleading impression of reef development, particularly with respect to the timing of initiation and response to sea-level rise. Here, we use computer models to simulate keep-up reef development and, from them, quantify variations in the timing of reef initiation and accretion rate using mock cores taken through the completed simulations. The results demonstrate that cores consistently underestimate the timing of reef initiation and overestimate the reef accretion rate so that, statistically, a core through a keep-up reef will most likely produce a catch-up pattern – an initiation lag followed by a phase of rapid accretion to sea level. This implies that catch-up signatures may be an artefact of coring and that keep-up reefs are significantly more common than previous core studies claim.     

Famennian microbial reef facies, Napier and Oscar Ranges, Canning Basin, western Australia

Following the Frasnian–Famennian mass extinction, which eliminated most skeletal reef-building fauna, the early Famennian reefs of the Canning Basin were constructed primarily by reef-framework microbial communities. In the Napier and Oscar Ranges, the Famennian reef complexes had high-energy, reef-flat depositional environments on a reef-rimmed platform that transitioned into low-energy, deep-water reefs growing in excess of 50 m below sea level. High-energy, reef-flat depositional environments contain doming fenestral stromatolites that grade into porous thrombolites and are associated with coarse-grained sandstones and grainstones. The reef-margin subfacies contains mounds of microdigitate thrombolites, which are more delicate than the reef-flat thrombolites and locally contain abundant red algae, Girvanella, renalcids and sediment-filled tubes. Within the thrombolites, the red algae are in upright growth positions, suggesting that the thrombolites are largely composed of carbonate that precipitated in situ. Reefal-slope environments are dominated by Wetheredella and Rothpletzella with locally abundant Girvanella, renalcids and Uralinella. In reefal-slope strata, delicate fans and microdigitate stromatolites of Wetheredella and Rothpletzella are often oriented horizontal or diagonal to bedding and are interpreted as syndepositionally toppled over. Most mesoscale microbial community structures contain several species of microbial fossils, and no single microbial species appears to have controlled the morphology of the community structure. Therefore, the depositional environment must have determined the distribution and morphology of the stromatolites, thrombolites and other microbial community structures. The adaptability of microbial communities to various reef environments allowed them to fill ecological niches opportunistically after the Frasnian–Famennian mass extinction.     

Dissolved carbon in pore waters from the carbonate barrier reef of Tahiti (French Polynesia) and its basalt basement

This paper deals with dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and organic carbon (DOC) in pore waters from a 150 m deep hole drilled through the carbonate barrier reef of Tahiti and its underlying basalt basement. Alkalinity-pH measurements were used to calculate the DIC species concentration, and DOC was analysed according to the high temperature catalytic oxidation technique. Salinity was used as a conservative tracer to help identify water origin and mixing within the hole. Water mixing, calcium carbonate dissolution and mineralization of organic carbon combined to form three distinct groups of pore water. In the deeper basalt layers, pore water with alkalinity of 1.4 meq kg^–1 pH of 7.6 and p(CO₂) of 1.2 mAtm was undersaturated with respect to both aragonite and calcite. In the intermediate carbonate layer, pore water with alkalinity of more than 2.0 meq kg^–1, pH of 7.70 and p(CO₂) of 1.4 mAtm was supersaturated with respect to both aragonite and calcite. The transition zone between those two groups extended between 80 and 100 m depth. The shift from aragonite undersaturation to supersaturation was mainly attributed to the mixing of undersaturated pore waters from the basalt basement with supersaturated pore waters from the overlaying limestone. In the top of the reef, inputs from a brackish water lens further increased p(CO₂) up to 5.6 times the atmospheric P(CO₂).     

湖南慈利晚二叠世海绵礁与珊瑚礁的古生态研究

中国南方晚二叠世生物礁分布广泛，但绝大多数属于海绵礁，湖南慈利晚二叠世除发育有海绵礁外，还有至今为止发现的世界上发育最好的古代珊瑚礁，而且海绵礁与珊瑚礁在同一条带上连续分布；因此是研究海绵礁与珊瑚礁古生态关系十分理想的场所，通过对慈利晚二叠世海绵礁及珊瑚礁内部造礁生物群落、沉积相特征，礁化演化序列及成岩作用特征等的分析和对比来研究它们之间的生态关系，发现其中的海绵礁为台地边缘礁，而珊瑚礁则应属于岸