Origin of the northern Indus Fan and Murray Ridge, Northern Arabian Sea: interpretation from seismic and magnetic imaging

The nature and origin of the sediments and crust of the Murray Ridge System and northern Indus Fan are discussed. The uppermost unit consists of Middle Miocene to recent channel–levee complexes typical of submarine fans. This unit is underlain by a second unit composed of hemipelagic to pelagic sediments deposited during the drift phase after the break-up of India–Seychelles–Africa. A predrift sequence of assumed Mesozoic age occurring only as observed above basement ridges is composed of highly consolidated rocks. Different types of the acoustic basement were detected, which reflection seismic pattern, magnetic anomalies and gravity field modeling indicate to be of continental character. The continental crust is extremely thinned in the northern Indus Fan, lacking a typical block-faulted structure. The Indian continent–ocean transition is marked on single MCS profiles by sequences of seaward-dipping reflectors (SDR). In the northwestern Arabian Sea, the Indian plate margin is characterized by several phases of volcanism and deformation revealed from interpretation of multichannel seismic profiles and magnetic anomalies. From this study, thinned continental crust spreads between the northern Murray Ridge System and India underneath the northern Indus Fan.     

标定大陆科学钻探孔区地震反射体

在中国大陆科学钻探孔区 (江苏省东海县南部 )进行了系统的地球物理调查 ,包括二维地震测网和专门的地震剖面 ,大地电磁法和位场方法等 .地震调查表明 ,在超高压变质岩出露区上地壳充满了反射体 ,包括倾斜反射体与上拱的反射弧 .本文介绍大陆科学钻探先行研究中地震调查的成果 .根据大陆科学钻探预先导孔的岩芯和测井资料、井旁VSP和数值模拟结果证实 ,高波速的榴辉岩体、破碎断裂带和大型韧性剪切带都可引起倾斜的地震反射 ,而上拱的弧形反射体则是由近似直立的榴辉岩体和其中的破碎带的综合反映 .由于地壳深部广泛分布着经受变质的岩石 ,上述研究结果对标定地壳中的反射地震信号具有一定意义     

反射波法基桩完整性检测中的一种信号处理方法

以纵向瞬态激振条件下桩的振动响应和桩中应力波传播理论为基础，利用二次快速傅立叶变换，将桩顶实测速度响应时程曲线的速度谱变换回时间域，得到速度反射因子，用以确定与桩身阻抗变化相关的主要频率成份，从而达到对桩身完整性进行快速而准确诊断的目的。应用分析表明，该方法简便可靠，特别适用于多重缺陷桩的检测。     

Flat mantle reflectors in Eastern China: possible evidence of lithospheric thinning

Recent 24 s deep seismic reflection records revealed five flat reflectors in the lithospheric mantle in Eastern China. With increasing depth, they are named M1 to M5 and can be seen on both field single-shot and stacked records. Reflector M1 corresponds to the Moho discontinuity, whereas M5 may be the reflection from the bottom of the current lithosphere, which is about 78 km deep according to geothermal measurements. The other three reflectors seem peculiar and might result from interactions between the lithosphere and deeper mantle. Based on lithological and geochemical data, it is suggested that the lithosphere has been thinned from about 150 km to about 60 km in the Late Mesozoic, and then has been thickened to about 78 km during the Cenozoic. The thinning process produced a granulite layer in the old lower crust caused by magmatic underplating, whereas an eclogite layer formed beneath owing to the subduction of the Paleo-Tethys and Yangtze Craton during the Permian and Early Mesozoic. Reflector M2 at about 12 s two-way traveltime (TWT) might result from the Paleozoic Moho, which represents the boundary between the previous granulite and eclogite facies. Reflector M3 at about 14 s might correspond to the bottom of the eclogite layer, beneath which the old lithospheric mantle remained. The old and the newly developed mantle may have different compositions, resulting in reflector M4. The multi-layered mantle reflectors demonstrate a mantle structure that possibly correlates with the lithospheric thinning process that occurred in Eastern China during the Late Mesozoic. The discovery of multi-layered mantle reflectors in the studied areas indicates a high heterogeneity of the upper mantle. Reflection seismology with improved technology, together with velocity and resistivity imaging and rock-physics measurements, can provide more details of the heterogeneity and related dynamic processes that occurred in the lithospheric mantle.     

天然气水合物似海底反射层的全波形反演

建立了天然气水合物似海底反射层(BSR)研究的全波形反演方法. 这是一种将 水平层状弹性介质的反射共中心点道集转换为截距时间-水平慢度域的反演方法. 反演过程 中采用了全局搜索方法与非线性局部搜索方法. 分两步进行. 第一步是根据走时数据应用非 常快速模拟算法求得速度结构的长波长分量. 第二步，利用波形资料用共轭梯度法求得速度 的短波长扰动分量. 这样，最后反演得到的速度结构模型包含了长波长与短波长分量. 反演 中利用了多网格参数化技术. 日本东南海海槽双BSR的速度结构的反演表明，全波形反演是 天然气水合物BSR研究的重要手段之一.     

Delineation of the 85°E ridge and its structure in the Mahanadi Offshore Basin,Eastern Continental Margin of India (ECMI), from seismic reflection imaging

The passive Eastern Continental Margin of India (ECMI) evolved during the break up of India and East Antarctica in the Early Cretaceous. The 85°E ridge is a prominent linear aseismic feature extending from the Afanasy Nikitin Seamounts northward to the Mahanadi basin along the ECMI. Earlier workers have interpreted the ridge to be a prominent hot spot trail. In the absence of conclusive data, the extension of the ridge towards its northern extremity below the thick Bengal Fan sediments was a matter of postulation. In the present study, interpretation of high resolution 2-D reflection data from the Mahanadi Offshore Basin, located in the northern part of the ridge, unequivocally indicates continuation of the ridge across the continent–ocean boundary into the slope and shelf tracts of the ECMI. Its morphology and internal architecture suggest a volcanic plume related origin that can be correlated with the activity of the Kerguelen hot spot in the nascent Indian Ocean. In the continental region, the plume related volcanic activity appears to have obliterated all seismic features typical of continental crust. The deeper oceanic crust, over which the hot spot plume erupted, shows the presence of linear NS aligned basement highs, corresponding with the ridge, underlain by a depressed Moho discontinuity. In the deep oceanic basin, the ridge influences the sediment dispersal pattern from the Early Cretaceous (?)/early part of Late Cretaceous times till the end of Oligocene, which is an important aspect for understanding the hydrocarbon potential of the basin.     

A new technique for determining the surface level of salt marshes and other uncompacted sedimentary environments

The method described involves the use of an electro-optical distance measurer mounted on a theodolite. Observations are taken onto a series of acrylic reflectors, aligned at right angles to the line of sight, and slope distances and vertical and horizontal angles are recorded. From these data it is possible to obtain surface heights to an accuracy of ±0·5 cm at 200 m and to avoid any direct disturbance of the site under investigation.     

南海北部似海底反射层速度结构全波形反演

似海底反射层的速度异常是识别天然气水合物的重要标志,这里提出了一种针对天然气水合物似海底反射层的全波形反演方法。这种方法分为全局搜索与局部搜索二部份:首先使用遗传算法进行旅行时,反演得到背景速度模型;然后用其作为初始模型,使用共轭梯度算法进行全波形反演。通过对含噪数据的数值试验,算法表现出了较高的稳定性,并确定了进行全波形反演的遗传算子。将这种波形反演方法应用于我国南海北部海域的天然气水合物研究,反演得到了分辨率高于常规速度分析的似海底反射层速度结构,并识别出似海底反射层的速度异常。利用纵波速度反演的结果,计算出沉积物中游离气的含量,认为BSR下方的低速层可以解释为含至少1%游离气的薄层。并分析了研究区内甲烷气的来源,认为该区域游离气兼有生物气和热解气。     

Occurrence and exploration of gas hydrate in the marginal seas and continental margin of the Asia and Oceania region

Supplies of conventional natural gas and oil are declining fast worldwide, and therefore new, unconventional forms of energy resources are needed to meet the ever-increasing demand. Amongst the many different unconventional natural resources are gas hydrates, a solid, ice-like crystalline compound of methane and water formed under specific low temperature and high pressure conditions. Gas hydrates are believed to exist in large quantities worldwide in oceanic regions of continental margins, as well as associated with permafrost regions in the Arctic. Some studies to estimate the global abundance of gas hydrate suggest that the total volume of natural gas locked up in form of gas hydrates may exceed all known conventional natural gas reserves, although large uncertainties exist in these assessments. Gas hydrates have been intensively studied in the last two decades also due to connections between climate forcing (natural and/or anthropogenic) and the potential large volumes of methane trapped in gas hydrate accumulations. The presence of gas hydrate within unconsolidated sediments of the upper few hundred meters below seafloor may also pose a geo-hazard to conventional oil and gas production. Additionally, climate variability and associated changes in pressure-temperature regimes and thus shifts in the gas hydrate stability zone may cause the occurrence of submarine slope failures.Several large-scale national gas hydrate programs exist especially in countries such as Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China, India, and New Zealand, where large demands of energy cannot be met by domestic supplies from natural resources. The past five years have seen several dedicated deep drilling expeditions and other scientific studies conducted throughout Asia and Oceania to understand gas hydrates off India, China, and Korea. This thematic set of publications is dedicated to summarize the most recent findings and results of geo-scientific studies of gas hydrates in the marginal seas and continental margin of the Asia, and Oceania region.