Triact spicules in proterozoic rocks of the Northern Territory of Australia

Triact fragments, probably of sponge spicules, occur in a siliceous rock found in the Proterozoic succession along the coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria in the Northern Territory of Australia.     

Triassic–Jurassic granites on the Lord Howe Rise,northern Zealandia

We present U–Pb zircon ages from a phosphate-cemented pebbly sandstone dredged from the central Lord Howe Rise and a 97 Ma rhyolite drilled on the southern Lord Howe Rise. Four granitoid pebbles from the sandstone give U–Pb ages in the range 216–183 Ma. Most detrital zircons in the bulk sandstone are also Late Triassic–Early Jurassic, but subordinate populations of Late Cretaceous and Precambrian zircons are present. The pebbly sandstone's highly restricted Late Triassic–Early Jurassic zircon population indicates the nearby occurrence of underlying basement plutons that are the same age as parts of the I-type Darran Suite, Median Batholith of New Zealand and supports a continuation of the Early Mesozoic magmatic arc northwest from New Zealand. Zircon cores from the southern Lord Howe Rise rhyolite do not yield ages older than 97 Ma and thus provide no information about older basement.     

Morphology and magnetic survey of the Rivera-Cocos plate boundary of Colima,Mexico

The propagation of the Pacific-Cocos Segment of the East Pacific Rise (EPR-PCS) has significantly altered the plate configuration at the north end of the Middle America Trench. This ridge propagation, the collision of the EPR-PCS with the Middle America Trench, the separation of the Rivera and Cocos plates and the formation of the Rivera Transform have produced a complex arrangement of morphotectonic elements in the area of Rivera-Cocos plate boundary, atypical of an oceanic transform boundary. Existing marine magnetic and bathymetric data has proved inadequate to unravel this complexity, thus, a dense grid of total field magnetic data were collected during campaigns MARTIC-04 and MARTIC-05 of the B/O EL PUMA in 2004 and 2006. These data have greatly clarified the magnetic lineation pattern adjacent to the Middle America trench, and have revealed an interesting en echelon, NE-SW oriented magnetic high offshore of the Manzanillo Graben. We interpret these new data to indicate that the EPR-PCS ridge segment reached the latitude (~18.3°N) of the present day Rivera Transform at about Chron 2A₃ (~3.5Ma) and propagated further northward, intersecting the Middle America Trench at about 1.7 Ma (Chron 2). At 1.5 Ma spreading ceased along the EPR north of 18.3°N and the EPR-PCS has since retreated southward in association with a southward propagation of the Moctezuma Spreading Segment. North of 18.3°N the seafloor near the trench has been broken into small, uplifted blocks, perhaps due to the subduction of the young lithosphere generated by the EPR-PCS.     

大巴山区寒武系的研究

扬子区北缘大巴山地区的寒武系在米仓山小区和城口—巫溪小区广泛发育。由于司上—万源隆起的分隔,两小区寒武系发育特点有明显差异。米仓山小区的下塞武统自下而上发育有宽川铺段、郭家坝组、仙女洞组、阎王碥组和孔明洞组;中统仅发育在该区的东南部,有陡坡寺组;上统普遍缺失。城口—巫溪小区寒武系发育较全,自下而上为下统的火烧店组、水井沱组、石牌组、天河板组和石龙洞组;中统的石溪河群和上统的三游洞群。米仓山小区的寒武系因沧浪铺期后汉南古陆不断扩大,沉积盆地自西向东缩小致使西部地层缺失比东部要多。     

鲁西地区奥陶系碳酸盐岩储集特征及主控因素

应用薄片、铸体和阴极发光等室内分析技术,对鲁西隆起奥陶系碳酸盐岩及济阳坳陷潜山奥陶系钻井岩心样品进行了成岩作用及储集特征详细研究。奥陶系碳酸盐岩原生孔隙消失殆尽,次生成因的孔、洞和缝是主要储集空间。其中裂缝储集层在各层段均有发育,但白云岩段优于其它岩性段;构造缝主要分布在构造轴部和断裂带附近,溶蚀缝在不整合面附近较为发育。孔洞型储集层主要发育在白云岩层段,以晶间孔、晶间溶孔和晶内溶孔为主要储集空间;有少量有效孔隙分布在灰岩段,以铸模孔、粒内溶孔和粒内孔为主。马家沟组八陡段顶部发育溶蚀角砾岩、纹层状结晶灰岩,砾间缝、晶间缝和溶洞为主要储集空间。白云岩段是奥陶系碳酸盐岩主要储集层段,构造因素、岩性和成岩作用(尤其是胶结作用和溶蚀作用)是造成奥陶系碳酸盐岩储集层剖面分布差异性的主要控制因素。     

煤矿构造应力、地温变化与瓦斯异常的关系

构造应力是促进煤炭物理和化学变化的主要压力因素,造成地温局部升高,改变煤的结构。地温升高改变瓦斯动力机制,互相叠加后造成瓦斯含量、动力大幅度提高,给煤矿开采带来难度。     

The effect of flow at Maud Rise on the sea-ice cover – numerical experiments

 The role of seamounts in the formation and evolution of sea ice is investigated in a series of numerical experiments with a coupled sea ice–ocean model. Bottom topography, stratification and forcing are configured for the Maud Rise region in the Weddell Sea. The specific flow regime that develops at the seamount as the combined response to steady and tidal forcing consists of free and trapped waves and a vortex cap, which is caused by mean flow and tidal flow rectification. The enhanced variability through tidal motion in particular modifies the mixed layer above the seamount enough to delay and reduce sea-ice formation throughout the winter. The induced sea-ice anomaly spreads and moves westward and affects an area of several 100 000 km². Process studies reveal the complex interaction between wind, steady and periodic ocean currents: all three are required in the process of generation of the sea ice and mixed layer anomalies (mainly through tidal flow), their detachment from the topography (caused by steady oceanic flow) and the westward translation of the sea-ice anomaly (driven by the time-mean wind).     

Amino acids and hexosamines in the Hess Rise core during the past 220,000 years

Core sediment samples collected from the Hess Rise, North Pacific, were analyzed for 20 common amino acids (AA) and two hexosamines (HA) to understand the relation between glacial–interglacial variations and deposition/preservation of sedimentary organic matter (OM). The sediments are predominantly carbonaceous (carbonates 35–80%). AA-based parameters—aspartic acid/glycine ratio and serine+threonine relative mole content—suggest that calcareous plankton was the major source of OM in these sediments. This inference is supported by the similarity in distribution patterns of AA and HA contents with that of organic carbon. Low values of AA/HA and glucosamine/galactosamine ratios (average 4.4 and 1.1, respectively) imply that much of the planktonic OM was replaced by microbial OM. The relative molar concentration of two nonprotein AA (β-alanine and γ-aminobutyric acid) varied with age of sediments; i.e., they were less abundant in recent sediments and more abundant in the oldest sediments. This trend is an indicator of extremely slow but continuous enzymatic degradation of proteinaceous OM within the sediments. So far, bulk OM has been believed to be one of the best proxies for estimation of primary productivity. However, it may be an underestimate, even for the late Quaternary sediments. Comparison of AA and HA content variations with SPECMAP stack revealed their enhanced deposition and preservation during glacial periods relative to interglacial periods. This, in turn, affected not only the planktonic production in surface waters but also the benthic community, including bacteria on the seafloor.     

Tasmante cruise: Swath-mapping and underway geophysics south and west of Tasmania

The 1994 Tasmante swath-mapping and reflection seismic cruise covered 200 000 km² of sea floor south and west of Tasmania. The survey provided a wealth of morphological, structural and sedimentological information, in an area of critical importance in reconstructing the break-up of East Gondwana.The west Tasmanian margin consists of a non-depositional continental shelf less than 50 km wide and a sedimented continental slope about 100 km wide. The adjacent 20 km of abyssal plain to the west is heavily sedimented, and beyond that is lightly sedimented Eocene oceanic crust formed as Australia and Antarctica separated. The swath data revealed systems of 100 m-deep downslope canyons and large lower-slope fault-blocks, striking 320° and dipping landward. These continental blocks lie adjacent to the continent ocean boundary (COB) and are up to 2500 m high and have 15°–20° scarps.The South Tasman Rise (STR) is bounded to the west by the Tasman Fracture Zone extending south to Antarctica. Adjacent to the STR, the fracture zone is represented by a scarp up to 2000 m high with slopes of 15–20°. The scarp consists of continental faultblocks dipping landward. Beyond the scarp to the west is a string of sheared parallel highs, and beyond that is lightly sedimented Oligocene oceanic crust 4200–4600 m deep with distinct E-W spreading fabric. The eastern margin of the bathymetric STR trends about 320° and is structurally controlled. The depression between it and the continental East Tasman Plateau (ETP) is heavily sedimented; its western part is underlain by thinned continental crust and its central part by oceanic crust of Late Cretaceous to Early Tertiary age. The southern margin of the STR is formed by N-S transform faults and south-dipping normal faults.The STR is cut into two major terrains by a N-S fracture zone at 146°15E. The western terrain is characterised by rotated basement blocks and intervening basins mostly trending 270°–290°. The eastern terrain is characterised by basement blocks and intervening strike-slip basins trending 300°–340°. Recent dredging of basement rocks suggests that the western terrain has Antarctic affinities, whereas the eastern terrain has Tasmanian affinities.Stretching and slow spreading between Australia and Antarctica was in a NW direction from 130–45 Ma, and fast spreading was in a N-S direction thereafter. The western STR terrain was attached to Antarctica during the early movement, and moved down the west coast of Tasmania along a 320° shear zone, forming the landward-dipping continental blocks along the present COB. The eastern terrain either moved with the western terrain, or was welded to it along the 146°15 E fracture zone in the Early Tertiary. At 45 Ma, fast spreading started in a N-S direction, and after some probable movement along the 146°15E fracture zone, the west and east STR terrains were welded together and became part of Australia.