Constraints on the early metamorphic evolution of Broken Hill, Australia, from in situ U-Pb dating and REE geochemistry of monazite

The Broken Hill Pb-Zn deposit, New South Wales Australia, is hosted in granulite facies gneisses of the Southern Curnamona Province (SCP) that have long been known to record a polydeformational and polymetamorphic history. The details of this potentially prolonged tectonothermal history have remained poorly understood because of a historical emphasis on conventional (i.e. grain mount) U-Pb zircon geochronology to reveal details of the sedimentary, magmatic and metamorphic history of the rock that crops out in the vicinity of the city of Broken Hill. An alternative approach to unravelling the metamorphic history of the granulite facies gneisses in and around Broken Hill is to date accessory minerals, such as monazite, that participate in sub-solidus metamorphic reactions. We have taken advantage of the high spatial resolution and high sensitivity afforded by SHRIMP monazite geochronology to reconstruct the early history of the metamorphic rocks at Broken Hill. In contrast to previous studies, in situ analysis of monazite grains preserved in their original textural context in polished thin sections is used. Guided by electron microprobe X-ray maps, SHRIMP U-Pb dates for three distinct monazite compositional domains record pulses of monazite growth at c. 1657 Ma, c. 1630 Ma and c. 1602 Ma. It is demonstrated that these ages correspond to monazite growth during lower amphibolite facies, upper amphibolite facies and granulite facies metamorphism, respectively. It is speculated that this progressive heating of the SCP crust may have been driven by inversion of the upper crust during the Olarian Orogeny that was pre-heated by magmatic underplating at c. 1657 Ma.     

Water-Tank Studies of Separating Flow Over Rough Hills

The present work investigates the lower boundary condition for flows over a steep, rough hill. Simple asymptotic arguments together with the mixing-length hypothesis are used to derive a local analytical solution that is tested against three different flow conditions. In all, 36 velocity profiles are compared with the proposed expression. The experiments were carried out in a water channel and velocity measurements were made through laser Doppler anemometry. The extent of separated flow was made to vary as a function of the roughness and the Reynolds number. The analysis includes regions of attached as well as separated flow. In particular, the solution of Stratford is studied at the points of separation and re-attachment and found to apply equally well in rough walls.     

On the periodically evolving orbits in the singly averaged Hill problem

We continue to analyze the periodic solutions of the singly averaged Hill problem. We have numerically constructed the families of solutions that correspond to periodically evolving satellite orbits for arbitrary initial values of their eccentricities and inclinations to the plane of motion of the perturbing body. The solutions obtained are compared with the numerical solutions of the rigorous (nonaveraged) equations of the restricted circular three-body problem. In particular, we have constructed a periodically evolving orbit for which the well-known Lidov-Kozai mechanism manifests itself, just as in the doubly averaged problem.     

叠前深度偏移技术在QMQ地区成像中的应用

位于东部QMQ地区的地震资料,其地表地质条件较好,但因勘探目的层是奥陶系复杂的古潜山,因此,适合应用叠前深度偏移技术进行潜山顶及其内幕的成像。通过Kirchhoff叠前深度偏移技术中精细的数据准备、速度-深度模型的建立与优化、偏移孔径的试验与选择和偏移成像4个关键环节的应用研究,完成了QMQ地区地震资料的Kirchhoff叠前深度偏移。通过与叠前时间偏移剖面对比,叠前深度成像改善了QMQ地区地震数据的信噪比和分辨率,同时提高了奥陶系潜山及其内幕的成像精度,为后续的深度域地质解释和构造成图提供了可靠的偏移数据,研究成果对深层煤勘探所面临的底板奥灰水的研究具有借鉴意义。     

Organic geochemistry and source rock potential assessment of Late Paleocene Patala Formation in Margalla Hill Range,North Pakistan

Black shales of the Paleocene Patala Formation are proven source rocks for conventional hydrocarbons in southern Potwar Basin of Pakistan and are assumed to be effective source rocks towards north in the Margalla Hill Range of Pakistan. In this regard, the current study focuses on source rock geochemistry of the Paleocene Patala Formation to assess its source rock potential, organic matter types and thermal maturity levels in the Mar-galla Hill Range of North Pakistan. Source rock generative potential, kerogen types and thermal maturation of the analysed rock samples were unraveled by using Rock-Eval pyrolysis Tmax, TOC (total organic carbon) and vitrinite reflectance ( R0 ) analyses. TOC analysis coupled with S2 yield revealed poor to fair source rock quality encountered within the formation. The pyrolysis Tmax vs Hydrogen Index ( HI) , showed mostly Type Ⅲ kerogen dominated by thermally immature to mature organic matter. The HI and genetic potential is low and revealed poor hydrocarbon generation potential of the formation. The S1 vs TOC plots confirm the indigenous nature of the hydrocarbons hosted by Patala Formation. The vitrinite reflectance outcomes indicated immature to mature source rock beds lying in dry gas zone. The HI and OI signatures and abundance of Type Ⅲ kerogen are indica-ting dominance of terrestrial organic matter within the formation. Overall, the investigated Patala Formation ex-posed at the studied section of Margalla Hill Range, Pakistan acts as a poor source rock unit for liquid hydrocar-bon generation but holds prospects for dry gas generation in the study area.     

THE HILL PROBLEM WITH OBLATE SECONDARY: NUMERICAL EXPLORATION

We introduce a three-dimensional version of Hill’s problem with oblate secondary, determine its equilibrium points and their stability and explore numerically its network of families of simple periodic orbits in the plane, paying special attention to the evolution of this network for increasing oblateness of the secondary. We obtain some interesting results that differentiate this from the classical problem. Among these is the eventual disappearance of the basic family g′ of the classical Hill problem and the existence of out-of-plane equilibrium points and a family of simple-periodic plane orbits non-symmetric with respect to the x-axis.     

Particular solutions of the singly averaged Hill problem

We consider the case of averaging the perturbing function of the Hill problem over the fastest variable, the mean anomaly of the satellite. In integrable special cases, we found solutions to the evolutionary system of equations in elements.     

The Photogravitational Hill Problem: Numerical Exploration

We consider the recently introduced version of the classical Lunar Hill problem, the photogravitational Hill problem, and study it's equilibrium points and zero-velocity curves. The full network of families of periodic orbits is numerically explored, their stability is computed and critical orbits are determined. Non-periodic orbits are also computed as points on a surface of section, providing an outlook of the stability regions, chaotic motions and escape.     

U–Pb SHRIMP ages of volcanic zircons from the Merrions and Turondale Formations,New South Wales,and the Early Devonian time‐scale: A biostratigraphic and sedimentological assessment

U–Pb ages for volcanic zircons from the Lower Devonian Turondale and Merrions Formations initially dated by Jagodzinski and Black (1999) have been recalculated by Compston (2000, 2001). The Turondale, Waterbeach and Merrions Formations are, in ascending stratigraphic order, three of the Lower Devonian deep‐water formations of the Hill End Trough. The recent discovery of a Lochkovian conodont fauna of the delta zone in derived limestone blocks from the uppermost beds of the Turondale Formation has established a maximum age for that horizon. The principal lithological assemblages of the formations are volcanic (megaturbidite and lavas), epiclastic turbidites and essentially hemipelagic lithologies. The mean zircon ages suggest a long duration for the Merrions Formation, 615 m thick and 91% volcanic, and a very much shorter interval for the upper two‐thirds of the Turondale Formation, 360 m thick and 34% volcanic, plus the intervening non‐volcanic Waterbeach Formation, 512 m thick. A sedimentological model based on scaled depositional rates for the facies has been used to estimate the relative accumulation rates and durations of the succession from the base of the Turondale Formation to the top of the Merrions Formation. The model indicates that the Merrions Formation accumulated in a much shorter time than the interval from the top of the lower Turondale Formation to the base of the Merrions Formation. The analytical uncertainties of the Jagodzinski and Black (1999) zircon ages are large enough to be compatible with the sedimentological model, but the smaller analytical uncertainties calculated by Compston (2000, 2001) fall far from the scaled sedimentological model. Grouping together of the lower Merrions Formation and lower Turondale Formation zircon dates in Compston (2000) for a single mid‐Lochkovian age is in conflict with the biostratigraphic and sedimentological evidence available and the derived time‐scale for the Early Devonian is highly questionable. Given the incompatibility of the recalculated zircon ages with the depositional history and the uncertainty of biostratigraphic dating of the formations, neither of the quite different sets of ages quoted in Compston (2000, 2001) are useful for the definition of a numerical time‐scale.     

Tertiary stratigraphy of Western Australia

This paper is a summary of the present knowledge of the Tertiary stratigraphy of Western Australia. Also included is new information on the Cainozoic of the Carnarvon Basin, a result of petroleum exploration in the area.

Tertiary rocks formed during more than one cycle of deposition in three basins (Eucla, Perth, and Carnarvon), and also as thin units deposited in a single transgression along the south coast. The Tertiary stratigraphy of the Bonaparte Gulf Basin is not well known.

Drilling in the Eucla Basin has encountered up to 400 m of Tertiary in the south central part, with uniform thinning towards the margins. The section begins with a middle‐upper Eocene carbonate unit which represents the dominant event in the Tertiary sedimentation in this basin. More carbonates were deposited in the late Oligocene‐early Miocene and middle Miocene.

Along the south coast, the so‐called Bremer Basin, the Plantagenet Group (up to 100 m) of siltstone, sandstone, spongolite, and minor limestone, was deposited during the late Eocene.

The Perth Basin contains up to 700 m of Tertiary sediment, formed during at least two phases of sedimentation. The upper Paleocene‐lower Eocene Kings Park Formation consists of marine shale, sandstone, and minor limestone, with a thickness of up to 450 m. The Stark Bay Formation (200 m) includes limestone, dolomite, and chert formed during the early and middle Miocene. Events after deposition of the Stark Bay Formation are not well known.

The northern Carnarvon Basin and Northwest Shelf contain by far the most voluminous Tertiary sediment known from Western Australia: 3500 m is known from BOCAL's Scott Reef No. 1. A more usual maximum thickness is 2500 m. Most sediments were laid down in four episodes, separated by unconformities: late Paleocene‐early Eocene; middle‐late Eocene; late Oligocene‐middle Miocene; and late Miocene to Recent.

The Paleocene‐early Eocene cycle consists of about 100–200 m (up to 450 m in the north) of carbonate, shale, and marl of the Cardabia Group containing rich faunas of planktonic foraminifera.

The middle‐late Eocene sediments include diverse rock types. Marine and nonmarine sandstone formed in the Merlinleigh Trough. At the same time, the Giralia Calcarenite (fauna dominated by the large foraminifer Discocyclina) and unnamed, deeper water shale, marl, and carbonate (with rich planktonic foraminiferal faunas) formed in the ocean outside the embayment. Thickness is usually of the order of 100–200 m.

The main cycle of sedimentation is the late Oligocene‐middle Miocene, during which time the Cape Range Group of carbonates formed. This contains dominantly large foraminiferal faunas, of a wide variety of shallow‐water microfacies, but recent oil exploration farther offshore has recovered outer continental shelf facies with abundant planktonic foraminifera. A minor disconformity representing N7 and perhaps parts of N6 and N8 is now thought to be widespread within the Cape Range Group. The last part of this cycle resulted in sedimentation mainly of coarse calcareous marine sandstone (unnamed), and, in the Cape Range area, of the sandstone and calcareous conglomerate of the Pilgramunna Formation. Maximum thickness encountered in WAPET wells is 900 m.

After an unconformity representing almost all the late Miocene, sedimentation began again, forming an upper Miocene‐Recent carbonate unit which includes some excellent planktonic faunas. Thickness is up to 1100 m.

Thin marine sediments of the White Mountain Formation outcrop in the Bonaparte Gulf Basin. They contain some foraminifera and a Miocene age has been suggested.