中印度洋海岭Edmond热液区块状硫化物中自然金的发现及其意义

位于中印度洋中速扩张洋脊的Edmond热液区块状硫化物矿石样品主要分为以黄铁矿-黄铜矿为主的富Fe块状硫化物、热水沉积成因的富含硅质块状矿石和以硬石膏为主的硫酸盐矿石等3种不同类型.通过扫描电镜观察和X射线光电子能谱分析,在硫酸盐矿石和富Fe块状硫化物中首次发现了自然金,最大粒径可达20 μm左右,主要呈不规则粒状或板状与硬石膏、闪锌矿等硫化物颗粒紧密共生,少量以次显微金形式沉淀在自形黄铁矿晶体表面.电子探针分析结果显示,晚期形成于中低温条件下的贫Fe闪锌矿中Au富集程度普遍较高(平均含量约为6700×10-6);Ag主要以类质同象形式赋存于与闪锌矿、黄铜矿伴生的硫盐矿物中(5.0％～6.7％ Ag),这表明贵金属元素的富集成矿作用与海底热液活动晚期的中低温成矿阶段有关.推断Au在该研究区以高温、酸性和氯度较高为特征的热液流体中主要呈AuCl2-或AuHS0形式迁移.而海水与热液流体混合、喷口流体发生相分离以及传导冷却作用,被认为是导致Au有效沉淀的重要控制因素.     

美国MARS海底观测网络中国节点试验

MARS海底观测网络是国际深海海底观测网络组网设备的主要试验场所。2011年4月21日,由接驳盒子系统、海底化学环境监测子系统和海底动力环境监测子系统等海底观测网络组网设备组成的中国节点与美国MARS海底观测网络主节点成功接并,检测和考验了我国深海海底观测网络组网关键设备的主要性能,中国成为第三个在MARS网上进行大规...     

海底定向技术:原理、结构与应用

海底定向测量技术可为海底观测、原位探测和沉积物取样等海洋地质与地球物理调查提供高精度姿态方位信息,进而拓展海洋科学与工程研究领域.本文系统介绍了自主研发海底磁方位仪的工作原理、技术方法.系统误差分析表明,海底磁方位仪的定向精度与其安装环境中的软磁材料对测点位置地球磁场干扰的情况密切相关.本文针对性的提出一套可行的磁补偿试验方法,有效地消除安装环境中软磁材料对整机定向精度的影响.实际案例和典型应用的分析研究表明,在无电器设备的情况下,整机系统定向精度小于1°.而有电器的设备环境中,定向精度在3~5°范围左右,可满足目前海洋地学调查中对方位信息的测量需求.     

Centimeter-Level Positioning of Seafloor Acoustic Transponders from a Deeply-Towed Interrogator

An array of three seafloor transponders was acoustically surveyed to centimeter precision with a deeply-towed interrogator. Measurements of two-way acoustic travel time and hydrostatic pressure made as the interrogator was towed above the array were combined in a least-squares adjustment to estimate the interrogator and transponder positions in two surveys spanning two years. No transponder displacements were expected at this site in the interior of the Juan de Fuca Plate (48^?11′ N, 127^?12′ W) due to the lack of active faults. This was confirmed to a precision of ±2 cm by least-squares adjustment. Marginally detectable blunders in the observations were shown to affect the transponder position estimates by no more than 3 mm, demonstrating the geometric strength of the data set. The accumulation of many hundreds of observations resulted in a significant computational burden on the least-squares inversion procedure. The sparseness of the normal matrix was exploited to reduce by a factor of 1000 the number of calculations. The acoustic survey results suggested that the near-bottom sound speed fields during the two surveys were in better agreement than inferred from yearly single-profile conductivity, temperature, and pressure (CTD) measurements.     

Predicting Global Seafloor Topography Using Multi-Source Data

A new one-minute global seafloor topography model was derived from vertical gravity gradient anomalies (VGG), altimetric gravity anomalies, and ship soundings. Ship soundings are used to constrain seafloor topography at wavelengths longer than 200 km and to calibrate the topography to VGG (or gravity) ratios at short wavelengths area by area. VGG ratios are used to predict seafloor topography for wavelength bands of 100–200 km and to suppress the effect of crust isostasy. Gravity anomalies are used to recover seafloor topography at wavelengths shorter than 100 km. The data processing procedure is described in detail in this paper. The accuracy of the model is evaluated using ship soundings and existing models, including General Bathymetric Charts of the Oceans (GEBCO), DTU10, ETOPO1, and SIO V15.1. The results show that, in the discussed regions, the accuracy of the model is better than ETOPO1, GEBCO, and DTU10. Additionally, the model is comparable with V15.1, which is generally believed to have the highest accuracy. In the north-central Pacific Ocean, the accuracy of the model increased by approximately 29.5% compared with the V15.1 model. This indicates that a more accurate seafloor topography model can be formed by combining gravity anomalies, VGG, and ship soundings.     

Correction for effects of temperature and pressure on sound speed in shallow seafloor sediments

Abstract

Three types of sediments were selected to measure their sound speed under changing temperature and pressure conditions in laboratory. The effects of temperature and pressure on sound speed in sediments and their trends were analyzed. The results showed that, with increasing temperature and pressure, the sound speed exhibits an increasing trend in all selected sediments. For each sample, the ratio of the sound speed in sediments to that in seawater almost remained unchanged at different pressures and temperatures, with a maximum fluctuation of 1.09% for temperature dependence and 0.68% pressure dependence. Combining the analysis of experimental results and sound speed correction procedure given by Hamilton, specific correction formulas of sound speed for temperature and pressure were presented. The laboratory-measured sound speed in the experiment and the sound speed obtained in the South Yellow Sea were corrected to reduce the effects of temperature and pressure using the correction formulas. The results show that the correction formulas with constant sound speed ratio are effective for correcting the sound speed measurement errors caused by changes in temperature and pressure. As a further consideration, the effects of the fluctuation of sound speed ratio on sound speed correction were analyzed.     

Inversion of Scholte wave dispersion and waveform modeling for shallow structure of the Ninetyeast Ridge

The construction of S-wave velocity models of marine sediments down to hundreds of meters below the seafloor is important in a number of disciplines. One of the most significant trends in marine geophysics is to use interface waves to estimate shallow shear velocities which play an important role in determining the shallow crustal structure. In marine settings, the waves trapped near the fluid–solid interface are called Scholte waves, and this is the subject of the study. In 1998, there were experiments on the Ninetyeast Ridge (Central Indian Ocean) to study the shallow seismic structure at the drilled site. The data were acquired by both ocean bottom seismometer and ocean bottom hydrophone. A new type of seafloor implosion sources has been used in this experiment, which successfully excited fast and high frequency (>500 Hz) body waves and slow, intermediate frequency (<20 Hz) Scholte waves. The fundamental and first higher mode Scholte waves have both been excited by the implosion source. Here, the Scholte waves are investigated with a full waveform modeling and a group velocity inversion approach. Shear wave velocities for the uppermost layers of the region are inferred and results from the different methods are compared. We find that the full waveform modeling is important to understand the intrinsic attenuation of the Scholte waves between 1 and 20 Hz. The modeling shows that the S-wave velocity varies from 195 to 350 m/s in the first 16 m of the uppermost layer. Depths levels of high S-wave impedance contrasts compare well to the layer depth derived from a P-wave analysis as well as from drilling data. As expected, the P- to S-wave velocity ratio is very high in the uppermost 16 m of the seafloor and the Poisson ratio is nearly 0.5. Depth levels of high S-wave impedance contrasts are comparable to the layer depth derived from drilling data.     

冲绳海槽南段与中、北段构造活动性对比的热模拟研究

受新生代太平洋板块弧后扩张剧烈活动的地缘特性影响,冲绳海槽构造特征复杂,南、中、北段在热液活动、断裂性质、火成岩特性、扩张时代等方面存在显著不同,因此认识该区各段构造活动性对查清其复杂地质特征具有重要意义.本文依据前人通过磁异常反演得到的居里面深度资料,利用热模拟的方法,对冲绳海槽各段深、浅构造活动性进行了探讨.模拟结果表明,南段软流层构造活动强度约为中、北段的6倍,而岩石圈浅层构造活动却相对较弱.该结论与前人所得到的地质地球物理资料相符,主要表现为:相对于中、北段,南段在海槽总体演化历程上裂陷较深;海底火成岩岩浆源区较深,结晶分异程度较弱,同化混染程度较强;切穿沉积基底的大型断裂较为发育,而沉积层内部的小型断裂分布相对稀疏;沉积层岩浆侵入活动较弱,海底所呈现出的热液活动区数量较少;现代地震活动较多,震源深度较大.根据模拟结果与实际资料的对比分析我们可以推测:(1)冲绳海槽北段可能还有一些热液区没有被探测到,也可能在历史演化进程中失去活力,或者被第四系沉积物覆盖;(2)南段存在孕育更多热液活动区的潜力.     

High-resolution mapping of large gas emitting mud volcanoes on the Egyptian continental margin (Nile Deep Sea Fan) by AUV surveys

Two highly active mud volcanoes located in 990–1,265 m water depths were mapped on the northern Egyptian continental slope during the BIONIL expedition of R/V Meteor in October 2006. High-resolution swath bathymetry and backscatter imagery were acquired with an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV)-mounted multibeam echosounder, operating at a frequency of 200 kHz. Data allowed for the construction of ~1 m pixel bathymetry and backscatter maps. The newly produced maps provide details of the seabed morphology and texture, and insights into the formation of the two mud volcanoes. They also contain key indicators on the distribution of seepage and its tectonic control. The acquisition of high-resolution seafloor bathymetry and acoustic imagery maps with an AUV-mounted multibeam echosounder fills the gap in spatial scale between conventional multibeam data collected from a surface vessel and in situ video observations made from a manned submersible or a remotely operating vehicle.