Investigation of electrical anisotropy in the deep borehole KTB

Information about electrical anisotropy in and around the deep borehole of the German Continental Deep Drilling Program (KTB) has been acquired using three different methods: (1) Under surface temperature and pressure conditions, the azimuthal dependence of resistivity has been measured in horizontal planes perpendicular to the axes of drill cores. (2) Simulated in-situ conditions (high temperature and pressure) have been applied to mini cores drilled at different orientations to structural features such as foliation. The resistivity was then measured in the direction of the mini cores' long axes. (3) Under quasi-in-situ (downhole) conditions, the azimuthal dependence of resistivity has been measured in horizontal planes using the Azimuthal Resistivity Imager (ARI), a down hole logging tool.These investigations have shown that electrical anisotropy is strongly related to structural features. The anisotropy of gneisses is the highest due to the strong foliation (averaged anisotropy factor 2.8). Lamprophyres are most isotropic (factor 1.2). Most rocks from KTB are amphibolites with intermediate anisotropies (factor 1.3). The anisotropies measured under surface temperature and pressure conditions and quasi-in-situ conditions on amphibolites are approximately the same, whereas anisotropies under simulated in-situ conditions are partially higher.Furthermore, the anisotropies measured on the cm to m scale using the various methods outlined above shall be compared with large scale anisotropies of the km scale measured around KTB using Magneto Tellurics.     

Stress Sensitivity of Seismic and Electric Rock Properties of the Upper Continental Crust at the KTB

We test the hypothesis that the general trend of P-wave and S-wave sonic log velocities and resistivity with depth in the pilot hole of the KTB site Germany, can be explained by the progressive closure of the compliant porosity with increasingly effective pressure. We introduce a quantity θ_c characterizing the stress sensitivity of the mentioned properties. An analysis of the downhole measurements showed that estimates of the quantitiy θ_c for seismic velocities and electrical formation factor of the in situ formation coincide. Moreover, this quantity is 3.5 to 4.5 times larger than the averaged stress sensitivity obtained from core samples. We conclude that the hypothesis mentioned above is consistent with both data sets. Moreover, since θ_c corresponds approximately to the inverse of the effective crack aspect ratio, larger in situ estimates of θ_c might reflect the influence of fractures and faults on the stress sensitivity of the crystalline formation in contrast to the stress sensitivity of the nearly intact core samples. Finally, because the stress sensitivity is directly related to the elastic nonlinearity we conclude that the elastic nonlinearity (i.e., deviation from linear stress-strain relationship i.e., Hooke's law) of the KTB rocks is significantly larger in situ than in the laboratory.     

Nd-Sr isotopic and trace element study of rocks and fluids from the continental deep drilling Project (KTB), Germany

Geochemical analyses were interpreted on the dominant lithological units and on a deep crustal fluid from the Continental Deep Drilling Project (KTB) Pilot Hole, situated at the western margin of the Variscan Bohemian Massif. The biotite gneiss (from 384 m depth) shows a rare earth element pattern very similar to the European shale composite with Nd model ages of 940 Ma (CHUR) and 1.4 Ga (DM). The lamprophyre dike in the upper profile (1549 m), a nepheline and olivine normative basalt, is geochemically and isotopically similar to rocks from the Tertiary Central European Volcanic Province. The lower metabasite sequence (3575–4000 m), with an intrusion age of approximately 500 Ma, is made up primarily of highly metamorphosed subalkalic olivine basalts. The geochemical characteristics of the metabasites are a (La/Yb)_N of 5–10, an La concentration of 20–50 times chondrite as well as (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr)_i of 0.7035–0.7038 and _Nd(T) of 4–6. These values suggest a depleted mantle source for the igneous precursors, evolving by assimilation-fractional crystallization processes with up to 25% of upper crust into the ultramafic, basaltic, and intermediate rock types of the metabasite sequence. The strong geochemical and chronological similarities between the KTB metabasites and rocks from the Münchberg Massif suggest that these units belong to the same lithological complex. The high salinity as well as the radiogenic ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio of 0.709413 in the KTB fluid from 4000 m depth might be the result of migrating fluids reacting with the regional Permo-Mesozoic evaporite deposits, followed by extensive Sr isotopic exchange with the upper crust.     

德国地球CT在近期的某些进展

作者应德国汉堡大学杜达教授的邀请,并获得马克斯-普朗克基金会的资助,于2002年6-8月,在德国访问了五个地球科学机构,就所见所闻并结合与地球CT的文献和网站的资料,初步综述如下,今后本刊将分专题进行补充报道.     

Magma Intrusions and Earthquake Swarm Occurrence in the Western Part of the Bohemian Massif

We are proposing a hypothesis that earthquake swarms in the West Bohemia/Vogtland seismoactive region are generated by magmatic activity currently transported to the upper crustal layers. We assume that the injection of magma and/or related fluids and gases causes hydraulic fracturing which is manifested as an earthquake swarm at the surface. Our statements are supported by three spheres of evidence coming from the western part of the Bohemian Massif: characteristic manifestations of recent geodynamic activity, the information from the neighbouring KTB deep drilling project and from the 9HR seismic reflection profile, and the detailed analysis of local seismological data. (1) Recent manifestations of geodynamic activity include Quaternary volcanism, rich CO ₂ emissions, anomalies of mantle-derived ³ He, mineral springs, moffets, etc. (2) The fluid injection experiment in the neighbouring KTB deep borehole at a depth of 9 km induced hundreds of micro-earthquakes. This indicates that the Earth's crust is near frictional failure in the western part of the Bohemian Massif and an addition of a small amount of energy to the tectonic stress is enough to induce an earthquake. Some pronounced reflections in the closely passing 9HR seismic reflection profile are interpreted as being caused by recent magmatic sills in the crust. (3) The local broadband seismological network WEBNET provides high quality data that enable precise localization of seismic events. The events of the January 1997 earthquake swarm are confined to an extremely narrow volume at depths of about 9 km. Their seismograms display pronounced reflections of P- and S-waves in the upper crust. The analysis of the process of faulting has disclosed a considerable variability of the source mechanism during the swarm. We conclude that the mechanism of intraplate earthquake swarms generated by magma intrusions is similar to that of induced seismicity. As the recent tectonic processes and manifestations of geodynamic activity are similar in European areas with repeated earthquake swarm occurrence (Bohemian Massif, French Massif Central, Rhine Graben), we assume that magma intrusions and related fluid and gas release at depths of about 10 km are the universal cause of intraplate earthquake swarm generation     

Spherules from the Late Cretaceous Phosphorite of the Fatehgarh Formation, Barmer Basin, India

A first report of discovery of spherules, glassy balls, highly magnetic fine dust and microbracciated matrix in the Fatehgarh Formation of Barmer Basin, Rajasthan, India is being presented in this paper. The Fatehgarh Formation is a mixed siliciclastic, carbonate and phosphorite formation of Cretaceous age in the Barmer Basin that comprises sediments of Middle Jurassic to Lower Eocene age. The phosphorite zone in the Fatehgarh Formation is 8 metre-thick zone that comprises phosphatic sandstone, bone bed, bedded phosphorite and phosphatic and non phosphatic gastropod beds. The spherules occur in a thin phosphatic-clay mud and silt band of bone bed, which also yielded a very rich and diverse microvertebrate assemblage with a dominant Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) form of Igdabatis along with forms comprising of Semionodontid, Lapisosteum and Enchodontid. The end Cretaceous is marked for a mass extinction of numerous species including dinosaurs. An extraterrestrial impact is interpreted as the reason for this mass extinction. Whether these spherules are related to the volcanic source or K/T Boundary impact ejecta found at Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico region needs detailed chemical and age characterization for which study is in progress.     

Multipathing and spectral modulation of the downgoing wavefield in a complex crust: an example from the KTB (Germany) borehole

VSP data collected in the KTB (Germany) borehole to a depth of 8.5 km in 1999 show a surprising spectral modulation of the downgoing wavefield. After filtering the data with the singular value decomposition technique it was found that below about 6.2 km there are two depth intervals where the modulation can be explained in terms of a basic wavelet plus two weighted and delayed copies of that wavelet, with the delay for each wavelet remaining almost constant in each interval. The boundary between the two intervals is at about 7.25 km depth and above and below this depth the delay for the second wavelet is almost the same, while the delay for the third wavelet is significantly different. Neither the modulation nor its depth variation are source related and cannot be explained in terms of multiple reflections in a subhorizontal low-velocity layer. On the other hand, finite difference synthetic data show that subvertical layering (which is prevalent in the borehole area) provides a mechanism that can explain the observations. This mechanism has analogies with the generation of the standard refracted (i.e. head) waves. When a plane wave front propagates perpendicular to the boundaries of a vertical low-velocity layer surrounded by two vertical high-velocity layers, refracted wave fronts are generated in the low-velocity layer, which in turn generate secondary wave fronts in the high-velocity layers. These wave fronts trail the primary wave fronts by a constant delay whose magnitude has a simple dependence on the thickness of the low-velocity layer and the velocities involved. This process creates multipath arrivals that in geological settings with steeply inclined and faulted layers may appear and disappear rather abruptly, which may contribute to a scattered appearance of the wavefield.     

Permeability of the rocks from the Kola superdeep borehole at high temperature and pressure: implication to fluid dynamics in the continental crust

Permeability of the samples collected from the surface and from the depths of 8–11 km in the Kola SG-3 and from the depth of 3.8 in the KTB boreholes was studied at temperatures up to 600 °C and pressures up to 150 MPa. These PT correspond to in situ conditions of the deep parts of the superdeep boreholes and to the conditions of progressive and regressive metamorphism of the Kola series rocks. The experiments were carried out with fluid filtration parallel and normal to rock foliation and parallel to core axis. The temperature–permeability trend behavior depends on effective pressure and depth of sample collection. At low effective pressure, a temperature increase leads first to a permeability decrease and then to its increase. At higher effective pressure, inversions appear on all the temperature trends of the samples collected from great depths. In contrast, permeability of the samples selected at shallow depth (3.8 km) and on the surface decreases within the entire temperature range. As a rule, with flow parallel to foliation, the values of permeability are higher than with flow normal to foliation. The results of microstructure studies allow to conclude that microcrack initiation and closure, due to a competitive influence of temperature and pressure cause such permeability behavior. In the samples, there are two families of microcracks: with low aspect ratio and those with high aspect ratio. Their effect on rock permeability changes with temperature. On sample heating, the low aspect ratio microcracks close and, on the contrary, high aspect ratio ones open. The total effect is expressed by minima in the temperature–permeability trends. Permeability anisotropy increases with temperature, reaches a maximum at 200 °C and then decreases. Sample permeability decreases with different gradients at simultaneous increase of temperature and pressure, simulating in situ depth increase. Hence, the deep seat rocks can vary greatly in permeability and against the common background of permeability decrease with depth, local deep aquifers may occur. At PT of progressive metamorphism the permeability values were high enough to permit the fluid flow to penetrate the whole volume of rock massif. At PT of regressive metamorphism, the permeability values were a few decimal orders lower, so fluid flow could be concentrated in large disjunctive zones only.