The misrepresentation of the planktonic diatom assemblage in traps and sediments: southern Lake Malaŵi,Africa

Sediment trap collections near Cape Maclear, Lake Malai, were compared to phytoplankton and surface sediment diatoms to assess taphonomic variations. The sedimenting diatom community became progressively different from the diatom plankton with increasing depth: long Nitzschia species were strongly under-represented in the traps (annually, 53% among planktonic diatoms vs. 14% in the offshore 29 m trap; p0.005 by Kruskal-Wallis test), while Melosira was greatly over-represented in traps (32% vs. 57%; p<0.005). The abundances of the minor taxa (Rhopalodia, Fragilaria, Cymbella, and Surirella) were greatly enhanced in traps relative to the plankton, but they were still relatively uncommon (<3% of all diatoms each). Differences in grazing, dissolution, and sinking rates alone are insufficient to account for these distortions; a combination of these, plus perhaps unknown factors, strongly influence the deposited assemblage.These misrepresentations were also present at the sediment surface. The greatest discrepancy was noted for Melosira (32% of plankton vs. 53% of sediment surface diatoms; p<0.005) and for elongate Nitzschia species (53% of plankton vs. 0.8% in sediments; p<0.005). In Lake Malai, at least, paleolimnologists must not assume a straightforward correlation of modern and fossil assemblages.     

A time-series study of particulate matter export in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre based on Th : U disequilibrium

Depth profiles of total ²³⁴Th (dissolved+particulate) were collected at Station ALOHA (22°45N, 158°00W) in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre during 9 cruises from April 1999 to March 2000. Samples were collected and processed by a new 2 L technique that enables more detailed depth resolution then previous ²³⁴Th studies. Significant zones of particle export (²³⁴Th deficiency) and particle remineralization (²³⁴Th excess) were measured both temporally and with depth. ²³⁴Th derived particulate carbon (PC) and nitrogen (PN) fluxes were determined with steady-state and non-steady-state models and PC/²³⁴Th and PN/²³⁴Th ratios measured with both in situ pumps and free-drifting particle interceptor traps deployed at 150 m. ²³⁴Th based export estimates of 4.0±2.3 mmol C m⁻² d⁻¹ and 0.53±0.19 mmol N m⁻² d⁻¹, were approximately 60% higher than those measured in PIT style sediment traps from the same time period, 2.4±0.2 mmol C m⁻² d⁻¹ and 0.32±0.08 mmol N m⁻² d⁻¹. Most of this difference is attributable to two large export events that occurred during October and December 1999, when traps undercollected for ²³⁴Th by a factor of 2 to 4. ²³⁴Th export (ThE) ratios based on ²³⁴Th derived PC flux/¹⁴C based primary production ranged from 4% to 22% (average=8.8%). Our results confirm the recent estimates of C export by Emerson et al. (Nature 389 (1997) 951) and Sonnerup et al. (Deep-Sea Research I 46 (1999) 777) and indicate that C export from the oligotrophic ocean must be considered when discussing C sequestration in global climate change.     

西湖凹陷孔雀亭地区复合圈闭发育模式与油气富集差异控制因素

随着勘探程度不断加深,东海西湖凹陷保俶斜坡带全面进入了断层-岩性复合油气藏勘探阶段,位于保俶斜坡中北部的孔雀亭地区是复合油气藏有利发育区。通过对孔雀亭地区复合圈闭发育的构造沉积背景、断裂-古地貌的控砂作用以及分带、分层系油气成藏富集规律研究,明确了孔雀亭地区复合圈闭形成条件、发育模式及油气富集差异控制因素。认为孔雀亭地区西高东低的地貌背景、西部古隆起上发育的多条“U”型及“V”型沟谷,NE向断裂坡折及NW挠曲坡折共同控制了多条水系的平面发育特征及砂体展布,与NE向断层匹配形成了典型的断层-岩性复合圈闭,成为孔雀亭地区重要的勘探领域,取得了断层-岩性圈闭勘探突破。孔雀亭地区不同区带油气富集程度不同,圈闭与有效烃源岩距离、砂体规模、储层物性、断层封堵性等要素的匹配程度控制各带油气富集程度。中低带相对近源,断层未断至浅层,保存条件好,受断坡及挠曲坡折共控,为规模砂体卸载区,物性较好,油气相对最为富集,具有良好的勘探潜力。     

Distribution patterns of larval and juvenile fishes at offshore petroleum platforms in the north-central Gulf of Mexico

Vertical and horizontal distribution patterns of larval and juvenile fishes were described from five offshore petroleum platforms in the north-central Gulf of Mexico. Light traps and passively-fished plankton nets were used nocturnally between 1995–2000 to collect fishes in surface and deep (15–23 m depth) waters within the platform structure, and light traps were also used in surface waters directly down-current of the platforms. Light traps fished at the surface, as opposed to at-depth, collected greater CPUEs and greater diversity of larval and juvenile fishes. Of the dominant taxa collected by light traps, clupeids, engraulids, synodontids, and presettlement blenniids were most common in surface waters within the platform, while postflexion scombrids and settlement-size blenniids and pomacentrids were most common in surface waters down-current of the platforms. Deep plankton nets collected greater densities of non-clupeiform larval fishes, although surface plankton nets collected greater numbers of taxa. The vertical distribution patterns described for dominant larval fish collected by plankton nets were generally consistent with those from other studies, i.e. clupeid, carangid, sciaenid and scombrid larvae more abundant in surface waters at platforms, and synodontid, bregmacerotid, gobiid and bothid larvae more abundant in deeper waters. Oil and gas platforms likely impact larval and juvenile fish populations, particularly considering their proliferation in the Gulf (i.e., over 4000 platforms). The results from this study provide valuable baseline information for future research investigating how platforms impact the life history stages of fish populations.     

Sources of land-derived runoff to a coral reef-fringed embayment identified using geochemical tracers in nearshore sediment traps

Geochemical tracers, including Ba, Co, Th, ⁷Be, ¹³⁷Cs and ²¹⁰Pb, and magnetic properties were used to characterize terrestrial runoff collected in nearshore time-series sediment traps in Hanalei Bay, Kauai, during flood and dry conditions in summer 2006, and to fingerprint possible runoff sources in the lower watershed. In combination, the tracers indicate that runoff during a flood in August could have come from cultivated taro fields bordering the lower reach of the river. Land-based runoff associated with summer floods may have a greater impact on coral reef communities in Hanalei Bay than in winter because sediment persists for several months. During dry periods, sediment carried by the Hanalei River appears to have been mobilized primarily by undercutting of low ⁷Be, low ¹³⁷Cs riverbanks composed of soil weathered from tholeiitic basalt with low Ba and Co concentrations. Following a moderate rainfall event in September, high ⁷Be sediment carried by the Hanalei River was probably mobilized by overland flow in the upper watershed. Ba-desorption in low-salinity coastal water limited its use to a qualitative runoff tracer in nearshore sediment. ²¹⁰Pb had limited usefulness as a terrestrial tracer in the nearshore due to a large dissolved oceanic source and scavenging onto resuspended bottom sediment. ²¹⁰Pb-scavenging does, however, illustrate the role resuspension could play in the accumulation of particle-reactive contaminants in nearshore sediment. Co and ¹³⁷Cs were not affected by desorption or geochemical scavenging and showed the greatest potential as quantitative sediment provenance indicators in material collected in nearshore sediment traps.     

Particulate organic carbon–Th relationships in particles separated by settling velocity in the northwest Mediterranean Sea

In order to better understand the relationship between the natural radionuclide ²³⁴Th and particulate organic carbon (POC), marine particles were collected in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea (spring/summer, 2003 and 2005) by sediment traps that separated them according to their in situ settling velocities. Particles also were collected in time-series sediment traps. Particles settling at rates of >100 m d⁻¹ carried 50% and 60% of the POC and ²³⁴Th fluxes, respectively, in both sampling years. The POC flux decreased with depth for all particle settling velocity intervals, with the greatest decrease (factor of 2.3) in the slowly settling intervals (0.68–49 m d⁻¹) over trap depths of 524–1918 m, likely due to dissolution and decomposition of material. In contrast the flux of ²³⁴Th associated with the slowly settling particles remained constant with depth, while ²³⁴Th fluxes on the rapidly settling particles increased. Taking into account decay of ²³⁴Th on the settling particles, the patterns of ²³⁴Th flux with depth suggest that either both slow and fast settling particles scavenge additional ²³⁴Th during their descent or there is significant exchange between the particle classes. The observed changes in POC and ²³⁴Th flux produce a general decrease in POC/²³⁴Th of the settling particles with depth. There is no consistent trend in POC/²³⁴Th with settling velocity, such as might be expected from surface area and volume considerations. Good correlations are observed between ²³⁴Th and POC, lithogenic material and CaCO₃ for all settling velocity intervals. Pseudo-K_ds calculated for ²³⁴Th in the shallow traps (2005) are ranked as lithogenic material opal <calcium carbonate <organic carbon. Organic carbon contributes 33% to the bulk K_d, and for lithogenic material, opal and CaCO₃, the fraction is 22% each. Decreases in POC/²³⁴Th with depth are accompanied by increases in the ratio of ²³⁴Th to lithogenic material and opal. No change in the relationship between ²³⁴Th and CaCO₃ was evident with depth. These patterns are consistent with loss of POC through decomposition, opal through dissolution and additional scavenging of ²³⁴Th onto lithogenic material as the particles sink.     

浅水区(潮间带)滤食性贝类生物沉积的现场测定

2012年7月,在荣成天鹅湖用自行研制的沉积物捕集器现场测定底内动物菲律宾蛤仔(Ruditapes philippinarum)和底上动物长牡蛎(Crassostrea gigas)的生物沉积速率,以建立潮间带贝类生物沉积的现场测定方法,并评价两种贝类对潮间带生态环境的影响。结果表明:各组内沉积物重量差异不显著,处理组与对照组的沉积物重量差异显著(F=58.047,P=0.000),测得的生物沉积速率与文献具有可比性,因此可以推测新型生物沉积物捕集器适用于浅水区(潮间带),能够准确测定生物沉积速率。在平均水温18.8°C条件下,菲律宾蛤仔和长牡蛎都具有较高的生物沉积速率。壳长(25.0±1.5)mm、软体干重(0.12±0.03)g的菲律宾蛤仔生物沉积速率为(44.92±4.12)mg/(ind·d);壳长(29.8±1.3)mm、软体干重(0.23±0.05)g的菲律宾蛤仔生物沉积速率为(54.84±7.77)mg/(ind·d);壳长(98.8±14.1)mm、软体干重(3.94±0.66)g的长牡蛎生物沉积速率为(1069.01±212.24)mg/(ind·d)。作为天鹅湖海区两种典型贝类,据估算,每平方米面积内的蛤仔和长牡蛎每天分别将29.9g、15.0g的悬浮颗粒物通过滤食和排粪沉积到底层,增强了水层-底栖系统的耦合作用。     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987113000339

The Mottled Zone(MZ) or Hatrurim Formation,which occurs near the Levantine Transform in the South Levant,has been studied during the last 150 years but its origin remains debatable.Mottled Zone Complex/Complexes(MZC/MZCs) consist of brecciated carbonate and low-temperature calcium-hydro-silicate rocks,which include unusual high- and ultra-high-temperature low-pressure(HT-LP) meta-morphic mineral assemblages.The MZ has been regarded as a product of combustion of bituminous chalks of the Ghareb Fm.of Cretaceous(Maastrichtian) age.In this paper we present detailed geographic, geomorphologic,structural and geological data from the MZCs of the South Levant,which show that the MZCs cannot be stratigraphically correlated with the Ghareb Fm.,because MZC late Oligocene-late Pleistocene deposits occur within or unconformable i.e.,with stratigraphic hiatus,overlap both the late Cretaceous and,in places,Neogene stratigraphic units.We propose an alternative model for the formation of MZCs by tectonically induced mud volcanism during late Oligocene-late Pleistocene time. This model explains(i) the presence of dikes and tube-like bodies,which consist of brecciated exotic clastic material derived from stratigraphically and hypsometrically lower horizons;(ii) mineral assemblages of sanidinite facies metamorphism;(iii) multi-stage character of HT-LP pyrometamorphism;and (iv) multi-stage low-temperature hydrothermal alteration.High temperatures(up to 1500℃) mineral assemblages resulted from combustion of hydrocarbon gases of mud volcanoes.Mud volcanism was spatially and structurally related to neotectonic folds and deformation zones formed in response to opening of the Red Sea rift and propagation of the Levantine Transform Fault.Our model may significantly change the prospects for oil-and-gas deposits in the region.     

陆相盆地坡折带的隐蔽油气藏勘探战略

本文从陆相坡折带的定义和分类入手，阐述了构造坡折带、沉积坡折带和侵蚀坡折带的成因以及对层序，尤其对低水位体系域和隐蔽油气藏的控制和影响。指出陆相坡折带与海相坡折带的区别主要表现在：①坡度不同：陆相盆地受构造作用(包括断裂作用)和短源快速沉积的影响，坡度较陡，碎屑物差异沉积明显。②坡折带特点不同：海相坡折带一般单一稳定，而陆相坡折带具有多级坡折的特点。在此基础上，对渤海湾盆地东营凹陷进行了研究。应用钻、测井及地震等资料，建立了东营凹陷沙三段中部地层的层序地层格架，共分为4个层序，并且每个层序可分为低水位体系域、水进体系域和高水位体系域。建立了储油单元与层序单元(尤其低水位体系域)对应关系。阐述了陆相盆地斜坡带沉积体系域中储集砂体类型和油气成藏机制，从而指导隐蔽油气藏勘探。