Sedimentary fluids/fault interaction during syn-rift burial of the Lodève Permian Basin (Hérault,France): An example of seismic-valve mechanism in active extensional faults

During basin burial, interstitial fluids initially trapped within the sedimentary pile easily move under thermal and pressure gradients. As the main mechanism is linked to fluid overpressure, such fluids play a significant role on frictional mechanics for fault reactivation and sediment deformation.The Lodève Permian Basin (Hérault, France) is an exhumed half-graben with exceptional outcrop conditions providing access to barite-sulfide mineralized systems and hydrocarbon trapped into syn-rift roll-over faults. Architectural studies show a cyclic infilling of fault zone and associated bedding-parallel veins according to three main fluid events during dextral/normal faulting. Contrasting fluid entrapment conditions are deduced from textural analysis, fluid inclusion microthermometry and sulfur isotope geothermometer. We conclude that a polyphase history of trapping occurred during Permian syn-rift formation of the basin.The first stage is characterized by an implosion breccia cemented by silicifications and barite during an abrupt pressure drop within fault zone. This mechanism is linked to the dextral strike-slip motion on faults and leads to a first sealing of the fault zone by basinal fluid mineralization.The second stage consists of a succession of barite ribbons precipitated under overpressure fluctuations, derived from fault-valve action. This corresponds to periodic reactivations of fault planes and bedding-controlled opening localized at sulphide-rich micro-shearing structures showing a normal movement. This process formed the main mineralized ore bodies by the single action of fluid overpressure fluctuations undergoing changes in local stress distribution.The last stage is associated with the formation of dextral strike-slip pull-apart infilled by large barite and contemporaneous hydrocarbons under suprahydrostatic pressure values. This final tectonic activation of fault is linked to late basinal fluids and hydrocarbon migration during which shear stress restoration on the fault plane is faster than fluid pressure build-up.This integrated study shows the interplay action between tectonic stress and fluid overpressure in fault reactivation during basin burial that clearly impact potential economic reservoirs.     

金山三岛滩涂水下地形演变浅析

文章采用GPS-RTK技术进行2016年金山三岛滩涂水下地形测量,绘制金山三岛滩涂水下地形云图,并与2014年和2015年滩涂水下地形测量结果进行对比,得出以下结论:金山三岛连线左右1km之内的地形起伏变化大,小金山岛南北侧各有一条深坑,大小金山岛之间有一条贯穿东西向的深槽,它的形成与涨落潮流不一致以及人为活动有关,大金山岛与浮山岛之间有一类似山脊样的地形,浮山岛南侧也有一深坑存在。近3年金山三岛滩涂水下地形变化不大,局部小范围内有淤积和冲刷。定期对三岛滩涂水下地形进行测量可以掌握其变化规律,为管理部门提供管理基础资料。     

Reply to Narkiewicz (2017) comment on “Thermal evolution of Paleozoic successions of the Holy Cross Mountains (Poland)”

In this paper we reply to the criticisms advanced by Narkiewicz (2017) on the paper by Schito et al. (2017). We clarify the issues related to the stratigraphic and thermal maturity constraints used for reconstructing burial and thermal models of the two blocks of the Holy Cross Mountains.We also show how geological evidences brought by Narkiewicz (2017) as a proof of elevated Variscan heat flow are not conclusive or at least suggest the occurence of a localized thermal anomaly only along the area of the Holy Cross Fault.In the end, we performed new burial and thermal models in the Kielce region demonstrating that stratigraphic thickness variations between Schito et al. (2017) and Narkiewicz et al. (2010) produce only negligible differences in levels of thermal maturity of Paleozoic rocks. In addition, we outline that levels of thermal maturity for Silurian rocks can be matched only by using constant heat flow values through the Paleozoic and point to a decisive role for the absence of regional high Variscan heat flow in the area.     

On the long-term variability of Jupiter’s winds and brightness as observed from Hubble

Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 imaging data of Jupiter were combined with wind profiles from Voyager and Cassini data to study long-term variability in Jupiter’s winds and cloud brightness. Searches for evidence of wind velocity periodicity yielded a few latitudes with potential variability; the most significant periods were found nearly symmetrically about the equator at 0°, 10-12°N, and 14-18°S planetographic latitude. The low to mid-latitude signals have components consistent with the measured stratospheric temperature Quasi-Quadrennial Oscillation (QQO) period of 4-5 years, while the equatorial signal is approximately seasonal and could be tied to mesoscale wave formation. Robustness tests indicate that a constant or continuously varying periodic signal near 4.5 years would appear with high significance in the data periodograms as long as uncertainties or noise in the data are not of greater magnitude. However, the lack of a consistent signal over many latitudes makes it difficult to interpret as a QQO-related change. In addition, further analyses of calibrated 410-nm and 953-nm brightness scans found few corresponding changes in troposphere haze and cloud structure on QQO timescales. However, stratospheric haze reflectance at 255-nm did appear to vary on seasonal timescales, though the data do not have enough temporal coverage or photometric accuracy to be conclusive. Sufficient temporal coverage and spacing, as well as data quality, are critical to this type of search.     

Aeronomical evidence for higher CO2 levels during Earth’s Hadean epoch

According to recent simulations of the Earth’s thermosphere, the exospheric temperature is not expected to rise above 7000-8000 K even under extreme solar EUV conditions anticipated for the early Earth. Rather, when the solar EUV flux exceeds some critical value, the escaping flow of the bulk upper thermosphere starts cooling it due to adiabatic expansion, which results in a decrease of the exobase temperature. Under these extreme conditions, the exobase might have expanded above the magnetopause and the magnetosphere had not been able to protect the upper atmosphere against strong non-thermal erosion by the solar wind.This study shows that a nitrogen-rich terrestrial atmosphere with a present-day composition would have been removed within a few million years during the extreme EUV and solar wind conditions that are expected to have prevailed before the late heavy bombardment period ∼3.8 Ga ago. Our results suggest that a CO₂ amount in the early nitrogen-rich terrestrial atmosphere of at least two orders of magnitude higher than the present-time level was needed to confine the upper atmosphere after the onset of the geodynamo within the shielding magnetosphere and thus might have protected it from complete destruction.     

库车盆地古近纪—新近纪蒸发岩沉积演化特征及其资源效应初步探讨

库车盆地古近纪—新近纪时期具有巨厚的蒸发岩沉积,古近纪时期岩盐沉积的最大厚度达1 447.5 m,新近纪时期岩盐沉积的厚度有所减小,岩盐层最大厚度402 m。库车盆地在古近纪—新近纪时期沉积沉降中心也有所改变,从盆地西部的拜城凹陷转移到东部的康村—阳霞地区。库车盆地东西部蒸发岩岩体特征的差异,对此地区油气藏规模造成一定影响。初步判断库车盆地西部蒸发岩有可能比东部蒸发岩盐下形成的油气藏量较大。盆地中蒸发岩沉积中心的迁移对钾盐沉积也有重要影响。     

Sedimentology and depositional environments of the Maastrichtian Patti Formation, southeastern Bida Basin, Nigeria

The Maastrichtian Patti Formation, which consists of shale - claystone and sandstone members, constitutes one of the three Upper Cretaceous lithostratigraphic units of the intracratonic southeastern Bida Basin, in central Nigeria. Well exposed outcrops of this formation were investigated at various locations around the confluence of the Niger and Benue Rivers. The lithostratigraphic sections were measured and their peculiar sedimentological features such as textures, physical and biogenic sedimentary structures, facies variations and associations were documented and used to interpret the depositional environments and develop a paleogeographic model. Some selected representative samples of the sedimentary depositional facies were also subjected to grain size analysis.Three shoreline sedimentary depositional facies composed of shoreface, tidal channel, and tidal marsh to coastal swamp facies were recognized in the study area. Continental sedimentary depositional facies such as fluvial channel, swamp, and overbank were also documented. The sandstones of the shoreface and tidal channel facies are medium- to coarse-grained, moderately sorted (standard deviation ranges from 0.45–1.28 averaging 0.72), and quartzarenitic. The fluvial channel sandstone facies are coarse- to very coarse-grained, mostly poorly sorted (standard deviation ranges from 0.6–1.56 averaging 1.17), and subarkosic. Typical sedimentary structures displayed by the shoreface and tidal channel facies include burrows, clay drapes, hummocky and herringbone cross stratifications, whereas the fluvial channel sandstone facies are dominated by massive and planar cross beddings. The tidal marsh to coastal swamp shales and ferruginised siltstone facies are fossiliferous and bioturbated, whereas the nonmarine swamp siltstones contain vegetal imprints and lignite interbeds. The overbank claystone facies are massive and kaolinitic.In the study area, a regressive to transgressive model is proposed for the Patti Formation. This model correlates with stratigraphically equivalent sediments of the Ajali and Mamu Formations in the adjacent Anambra Basin to a great extent.     

莺歌海盆地沉积格架和充填演化分析

位于南海西北部海域的莺歌海盆地,由于其大地构造位置的特殊性,沉积格架和充填演化也具有非常独特的特点。盆地古近纪和新近纪上下两部分沉积特征完全不同,古近系显示出走滑盆地对称沉积的特征,受断裂控制较明显,沉积活动范围局限;新近纪基本上脱离断裂活动的控制,其沉积活动到新近纪中晚期逐渐显示出形似被动大陆边缘的沉积特征。盆地沉积中心的变迁独树一帜,主要经历了3个阶段,由西北-东南、东南-西北、西北-东南方向有规律地变化。沉积充填过程历经了由陆相到海相、多次大规模海进和海退沉积序列,形成了多套厚度较大的互层砂泥岩组合,具有良好油气远景。