On the geologic structure of the Explora Escarpment (Weddell Sea,Antarctica) revealed by satellite and Shipboard data evaluation

Bathymetric, gravity, and magnetic data from Antarctic expeditions with RV POLARSTERN and satellite altimeter data from the Geosat Geodetic Mission are analysed using methods from geostatistics and geophysical inverse theory.The Explora Escarpment represents the edge between the Antarctic Continental Shelf and the Weddell Abyssal Plain. It is an important link in the reconstruction of Gondwana breakup, but a feature as large as the 2000 m deep Wegener Canyon was only discovered in 1984, when extensive bathymetric, gravimetric, and magnetic surveys with RV POLARSTERN began.Geostatistics, the theory of regionalized variables, is applied to integrate dense surveys of Wegener Canyon and sparse observations in adjacent areas into maps with full coverage of the 230 km by 330 km area at 10°–20° W/70°–72° S. The resultant highresolution bathymetric and gravity maps reveal detailed structures of the Explora Escarpment. Using geophysical inversion, the gravity terrain effect is calculated. Satellite data are used for their better coverage, but have much lower resolution. Nevertheless, the structures of Wegener Canyon and other more prominent features appear with surprisingly good correlation also in the Geosat altimeter data. While it was initially supposed that Wegener Canyon is purely an erosional structure, the magnetic map now provides evidence of the canyon's tectonic origin.     

A detailed magnetic study of the Reykjanes Ridge between 63°00′N and 63°40′N

Immediately southwest of Iceland, the Reykjanes Ridge consists of a series ofen échelon, elongate ridges superposed on an elevated, smooth plateau. We have interpreted a detailed magnetic study of the portion of the Reykjanes Ridge between 63°00N and 63°40N on the Icelandic insular shelf. Because the seafloor is very shallow in our survey area (100–500 m), the surface magnetic survey is equivalent to a high-sensitivity, nearbottom experiment using a deep-towed magnetometer. We have performed two-dimensional inversions of the magnetic data along profiles perpendicular to the volcanic ridges. The inversions, which yield the magnetization distribution responsible for the observed magnetic field, allow us to locate the zones of most recent volcanism and to measure spreading rates accurately. We estimate the average half spreading rate over the last 0.72 m.y. to have been 10 mm/yr within the survey area. The two-dimensional inversions allow us also to measure polarity transition widths, which provide an indirect measure of the width of the zone of crustal accretion. We find a mean transition width on the order of 4.5±1.6 km. The observed range of transition widths (2 to 8.4 km) and their mean value are characteristic of slow-spreading centers, where the locus of crustal accretion may be prone to lateral shifts depending on the availability of magmatic sources. These results suggest that, despite the unique volcanotectonic setting of the Reykjanes Ridge, the scale at which crustal accretion occurs along it may be similar to that at which it occurs along other slow-spreading centers. The polarity transition width measurements suggest a zone of crustal accretion 4–9 km wide. This value is consistent with the observed width of volcanic systems of the Reykjanes Peninsula. The magnetization amplitudes inferred from our inversions are in general agreement with NRM intensity values of dredge samples measured by De Boer (1975) and ourselves. Our thermomagnetic measurements do not support the hypothesis that the low amplitude of magnetic anomalies near Iceland is the result of a high oxidation state of the basalts. We suggest that the observed reduction in magnetic anomaly amplitude toward Iceland may be the result of an increase in the size of pillows and other igneous units.     

综合物探法在砂岩型铀矿中深部找矿中的实践与分析——以新疆昭苏盆地为例

为了探查新疆昭苏盆地砂岩型铀矿的异常信息,选择可控源音频大地电磁测量、高精度磁测和土壤氡气测量三种物探方法,并简要介绍各方法的工作原理。通过分析昭苏盆地的地质特征、物性特征和本区的找矿难点,对昭苏盆地综合物探数据所蕴含的信息进行地质-物探综合解译。实践证明:可控源音频大地电磁测量对低阻和高阻体均有良好的电性响应,可以划分地层、推断断裂构造;高精度磁测可以推断氧化还原界面,辅助解释断裂构造;土壤氡气测量可辅助解释断裂构造,对地下铀矿体有指示作用,三种方法的技术特性相互补充,提高了物探解释的准确性。突破了伊犁盆地以往600 m的找矿深度,并以电性稳定的中阻厚层、磁测异常、氡异常偏高晕和峰-谷状曲线作为预测标志,解决了深埋藏条件下赋矿地质体的圈定难点,在昭苏盆地砂岩型铀矿中、深部找矿工作中取得了良好的效果。     

A well‐established Early–Middle Pleistocene marine sequence on south‐east Zakynthos island,western Greece: Magneto‐biostratigraphic constraints and palaeoclimatic implications

The chronostratigraphy of a long, onshore Early–Middle Pleistocene marine sedimentary sequence on the south‐east part of Zakynthos island, Greece, is presented. Correlation of the succession with the isotope record of Ocean Drilling Program Site 963 reveals the combined influence of tectonics and eustacy in this area. The sequence is divided into three formations by two main unconformities that apparently relate to sea‐level lowstands associated with two major northern hemisphere glaciations, those of marine isotope stages (MIS) 22 and 12. The Zakynthos sequence in many ways is comparable with the Italian Valle di Manche section. Magnetostratigraphic and rock magnetic analyses, supported by biostratigraphy, document the position of the Matuyama/Brunhes Chron boundary (0.77 Ma), the top and base of the Jaramillo Subchron (0.99–1.07 Ma), the Cobb Mountain Subchron (1.173–1.185 Ma) and the top of the Olduvai Subchron (1.78 Ma). The underlying strata are constrained exclusively by detailed nannofossil biostratigraphy extending at least to the lowermost Pleistocene at around 2.54 Ma and therefore certainly incorporating the base of the Olduvai Subchron (1.95 Ma) and possibly the Gauss/Matuyama Chron boundary (2.58 Ma). In addition, a remarkable increase in sedimentation rate (from 3.2 and 28 cm ka^?1 to 167 cm ka^?1) and hence resolution above the Matuyama/Brunhes boundary (Middle Pleistocene) reveals one short‐lived magnetic excursion, possibly 17a (0.66 Ma), within the normal polarity Brunhes Chron. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On Some implications of the Poisson relation

The potentialities of the so-called 'Poisson relation', which holds for uniformly magnetized bodies of constant density, for showing the connections between the gravitational and the magnetic fields of such bodies are considered. In particular, it is seen that the same characteristic ratios occur among the components of the magnetic field intensity and the components of the gradient tensors of the two fields, both locally and non-locally. It is also shown that along the magnetization axis of the body the gradient tensor of the magnetic field displays a 'tidal' structure.     

Mineral magnetic analyses as a means of lithostratigraphic correlation and provenance indication of glacial diamicts: Intra- and interunit variation

Mineral magnetic analyses are applied to a series of diamict samples taken from the Quaternary sequence in the Isle of Man in order to assess the relative magnitude of the intra-and inter-unit variation of the magnetic properties. The results are analysed both qualitatively and quantitatively and show that the level of intra-unit variation is significantly less than the level of inter-unit variation. The intra-unit variation detected appears to show some relationship to the basic stratigraphy. Previous correlations based upon field evidence of diamict units exposed upon the east and west coasts of the Isle of Man are supported by their mineral magnetic properties. The statistically significant differences in the magnetic mineralogy of the stratigraphically lower Wyllin and Shellag Tills and the upper Orrisdale, Ballavarkish and Ballaquark Tills suggests distinct provenances for these two suites of sediments, allowing potential source areas to be suggested. These source areas are consistent with published data on ice flow directions in the Irish Sea Basin during the Devensian.     

Localization of temperature anomalies in the Upper Rhine Graben: insights from geophysics and neotectonic activity

The European Cenozoic Rift System hosts major temperature anomalies in Central Europe. In its central segment, the Upper Rhine Graben (URG), temperatures range from 75°C to nearly 150°C at a depth of 2000 m. Different hypotheses have been suggested to explain the localization of these anomalies. Our review and comprehensive interpretation of gravimetric and magnetic data, as well as neotectonic activity patterns, suggests that low-density, mostly magnetic and fractured granitic basement is systematically associated with major temperature anomalies. Further analyses provide insight into different heat transport processes contributing to the localization of these anomalies. Magnetic and gravity anomalies are known to represent lithological variations associated with the pre-Permian. We show their spatial relationship with positive temperature anomalies in the URG. Correlation between magnetics and temperature reveal a mean contribution of heat production to the temperature anomaly of about 10–15°C. A slightly higher mean value is obtained from correlation between gravity and temperature, which may be attributed to effects resulting from fracture porosity. The spatial relationship between temperature anomalies and neotectonic patterns indicates compressional shear and uplift regime for the major anomalies of the central segment of the URG. This is in agreement with different numerical models indicating free convection on fracture zones linked to faults. Our findings show that about 15–25% of the temperature anomaly can be attributed to variation in heat production. Hydrothermal circulation convection along faults, activated by the tectonic context, may explain the remaining 75–85% of the temperature anomalies.