Paleoenvironmental analysis of the Hautawa Shellbed, Whanganui Basin

<p>The Hautawa Shellbed, Whanganui Basin is described in detail to uncover lateral variations in depositional paleoenvironment. This was achieved through the in situ documentation of the macrofaunal assemblage and its taphonomic attributes at three localities. The sites from west to east are: Ridge Road, Old Hautawa Road, and the type section on West Road. They are all exposures on farm tracks and cover a 20-km range across the central Whanganui Basin. The descriptions were collected at 15-cm intervals and analysed using k-means clustering and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to uncover trends within the data set. Combining the assemblage data with the taphonomic has allowed six major biofacies to be recognised. In turn, the arrangement of the biofacies in the sections suggest three subunits: A, B, and C. Subunits A and C are laterally continuous between all of the sections and always relate to the lowermost and upper-most portions of the Hautawa Shellbed. In contrast, subunit B is only observed to occur at West Road overlying subunit A. These subunits have can also be equated to sequence stratigraphic terminology. Subunits A and B form an onlap shellbed and subunit C a backlap shellbed. Hence, the Hautawa Shellbed represents deposition during the transgressive systems tract of a single cyclothem. This study is unique compared to other Whanganui Basin stratigraphic research in its statistically robust approach for comparing data gathered at various sites along outcrop strike to better understand the preserved paleoenvironment. To support the macro-faunal investigation, census counts of foraminifera were conducted for samples collected from the fine-grained sediments encompassing the Hautawa Shellbed at each of the three sites. Together, the macrofaunal and foraminiferal studies reveal temporal and spatial paleoenvironmental changes within the Hautawa Shellbed. The presence of biostratigraphically important fauna within the Hautawa Shellbed has been used to link the unit to other similar formations in both the Whanganui and East Coast Basins. This key assemblage which highlights the Nukumaruan-Mangapanian Stage boundary at 2.40 Ma includes: Zygochlamys delicatula, Crassostrea ingens, Phialopecten thomsoni, Phialopecten triphooki, and Mesopeplum convexum. The paleoenvironmental variations observed and presented here for the Hautawa Shellbed have been combined with published work on other parallel formations to produce a paleogeographic map of the Whanganui Basin for 2.40 Ma.</p>

Paleoenvironmental analysis of the Hautawa Shellbed, Whanganui Basin

<p>The Hautawa Shellbed, Whanganui Basin is described in detail to uncover lateral variations in depositional paleoenvironment. This was achieved through the in situ documentation of the macrofaunal assemblage and its taphonomic attributes at three localities. The sites from west to east are: Ridge Road, Old Hautawa Road, and the type section on West Road. They are all exposures on farm tracks and cover a 20-km range across the central Whanganui Basin. The descriptions were collected at 15-cm intervals and analysed using k-means clustering and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to uncover trends within the data set. Combining the assemblage data with the taphonomic has allowed six major biofacies to be recognised. In turn, the arrangement of the biofacies in the sections suggest three subunits: A, B, and C. Subunits A and C are laterally continuous between all of the sections and always relate to the lowermost and upper-most portions of the Hautawa Shellbed. In contrast, subunit B is only observed to occur at West Road overlying subunit A. These subunits have can also be equated to sequence stratigraphic terminology. Subunits A and B form an onlap shellbed and subunit C a backlap shellbed. Hence, the Hautawa Shellbed represents deposition during the transgressive systems tract of a single cyclothem. This study is unique compared to other Whanganui Basin stratigraphic research in its statistically robust approach for comparing data gathered at various sites along outcrop strike to better understand the preserved paleoenvironment. To support the macro-faunal investigation, census counts of foraminifera were conducted for samples collected from the fine-grained sediments encompassing the Hautawa Shellbed at each of the three sites. Together, the macrofaunal and foraminiferal studies reveal temporal and spatial paleoenvironmental changes within the Hautawa Shellbed. The presence of biostratigraphically important fauna within the Hautawa Shellbed has been used to link the unit to other similar formations in both the Whanganui and East Coast Basins. This key assemblage which highlights the Nukumaruan-Mangapanian Stage boundary at 2.40 Ma includes: Zygochlamys delicatula, Crassostrea ingens, Phialopecten thomsoni, Phialopecten triphooki, and Mesopeplum convexum. The paleoenvironmental variations observed and presented here for the Hautawa Shellbed have been combined with published work on other parallel formations to produce a paleogeographic map of the Whanganui Basin for 2.40 Ma.</p>

Taphofacies and Petrofacies Theoretical Marine Models Applied to the Coquina of the Amaral Formation (Lusitanian Basin, Portugal)

The Amaral Formation has a wide geographic distribution within the Lusitanian Basin, at the western Iberian Margin (Portugal). The different depositional contexts for this unit enabled the distinction of three sectors: lagoon, lagoon-barrier, and marine-distal. The integration of the evolutionary taphonomic analysis of its fossil assemblages with the analysis of multiscale properties through the CAMURES methodology (Multiscale Reservoir Characterization) allowed the application of a methodology for the classification of coquina which was previously developed for the Morro do Chaves Formation (Sergipe–Alagoas Basin, Brazil). Here, it was adapted according to the complexity of the Amaral Formation deposits. The classification of ten taphofacies, in association with four lithofacies, allowed the definition of 84 petrofacies, based on the nature of the sedimentary and taphonomic processes. The relationship between the structural context, the systems tracts, the diversity of the fossil record, the classification of taphofacies and petrofacies, and the understanding of vertical and lateral variations of the sediments’ deposition within the unit support the construction of geological and theoretical models for coquina deposits. These models will allow for prediction of the spatial distribution of facies in other coquina analogous hydrocarbon reservoirs, as well as specifying the delimitation of reservoir zones for 3D geocellular modeling and flow simulation of hydrocarbon-producing reservoirs, thus improving predictive analyses.

Search for Infrasound Signals in InSight Data Using Coupled Pressure/Ground Deformation Methods

ABSTRACT The unprecedented quality and sampling rate of seismometer and pressure sensors of the InSight Mars mission allow us to investigate infrasound through its pressure and ground deformation signals. This study focuses on compliance effects induced by acoustic waves propagating almost horizontally close to the surface. The compliance of acoustic waves is first estimated using the compliance estimates from pressure perturbations moving at wind speed. Then, a marker of compliance events is used to detect events of ground deformation induced by pressure variations, in three frequency bands from 0.4 to 3.2 Hz, from InSight sol 180 to 690. Additional selection criteria are imposed on the detected events to focus on acoustic waves and to remove various noise sources (e.g., wind effects or seismometer artifacts). After an automated selection, the visual inspection of the records allows us to validate two infrasound candidates that cannot be related to pressure perturbations moving at wind speed nor to known noise sources. For our highest quality infrasound candidate, the relation between this event and a convective vortex occuring 10 s later is tested. The azimuth of the vortex position at the time of infrasound detection is not consistent with the arrival azimuth of the suspected infrasound inferred from the polarization of seismometer records, thus the link between these two phenomena cannot be demonstrated. Further investigations would require a better understanding of wind-related noise impacting InSight sensors and of the effects of lateral variations of subsurface mechanical properties on the ground deformations induced by atmospheric pressure variations.

Cenozoic Marine Basin Evolution in the Western North Aegean Trough Margin: Seismic Stratigraphic Evidence

This study investigates the interplay of evolving tectonic and submarine sedimentation processes in the northwest Aegean Sea using marine multichannel seismic profiles. We identify an extensive basin developing in the Thermaikos Gulf inner shelf, outer shelf, and slope leading to the 1500 m deep West North Aegean Trough (NAT). We establish the unconformable extent of Eocene and Oligocene sequences on the upper shelf and trace their continuation in the deeper shelf and slope of Thermaikos Gulf. The start of the Miocene and Middle Miocene developed below the well-established Messinian bounding reflectors that are mostly erosional. Important lateral variations are observed within the Messinian sequence, which is up to 0.8 s thick. Messinian prograding clinoforms are identified on the Thermaikos Gulf shelf and southeast of Chalkidiki, and a zone of irregular reflectors is attributed to the Messinian salt layer. The transpressional deformation of the Messinian in the southwestern margin constrains the timing of westward progradation of the North Anatolian Fault during Messinian. The Pliocene-Quaternary sediments are 0.6–1.8 s thick, showing the overwhelming effect of tectonics on sedimentation plus the northwards Quaternary activation at the Thermaikos apron.

The effect of lateral variations in Earth structure on Last Interglacial sea level

It is generally agreed that the Last Interglacial (LIG; ~130-115ka) was a time when global average temperatures and global mean sea level were higher than they are today. However, the exact timing, magnitude, and spatial pattern of ice melt is much debated. One difficulty in extracting past global mean sea level from local observations is that their elevations need to be corrected for glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA), which requires knowledge of Earth’s internal viscoelastic structure. While this structure is generally assumed to be radially symmetric, evidence from seismology, geodynamics, and mineral physics indicates that large lateral variations in viscosity exist within the mantle. In this study, we construct a new model of Earth’s internal structure by converting shear wave speed into viscosity using parameterisations from mineral physics experiments and geodynamical constraints on Earth’s thermal structure. We use this 3D Earth structure, which includes both variations in lithospheric thickness and lateral variations in viscosity, to calculate the first 3D GIA prediction for LIG sea level. We find that the difference between predictions with and without lateral Earth structure can be meters to 10s of meters in the near field of former ice sheets, and up to a few meters in their far field. We demonstrate how forebulge dynamics and continental levering are affected by laterally varying Earth structure, with a particular focus on those sites with prominent LIG sea level records. Results from three 3D GIA calculations show that accounting for lateral structure acts to increase local sea level by up to ~1.5m at the Seychelles and minimally decrease it in Western Australia. We acknowledge that this result is only based on a few simulations, but if robust, this shift brings estimates of global mean sea level from these two sites into closer agreement with each other. We further demonstrate that simulations with a suitable radial viscosity profile can be used to locally approximate the 3D GIA result, but that these radial profiles cannot be found by simply averaging viscosity below the sea level indicator site.

Modelling of crustal composition and Moho depths and their Implications toward seismogenesis in the Kumaon–Garhwal Himalaya

We image the lateral variations in the Moho depths and average crustal composition across the Kumaon–Garhwal (KG) Himalaya, through the H–K stacking of 1400 radial PRFs from 42 three-component broadband stations. The modelled Moho depth, average crustal Vp/Vs, and Poisson’s ratio estimates vary from 28.3 to 52.9 km, 1.59 to 2.13 and 0.17 to 0.36, respectively, in the KG Himalaya. We map three NS to NNE trending transverse zones of significant thinning of mafic crust, which are interspaced by zones of thickening of felsic crust. These mapped transverse zones bend toward the north to form a NE dipping zone of maximum changes in Moho depths, below the region between Munsiari and Vaikrita thrusts. The 1991 Mw6.6 Uttarakashi and 1999 Mw6.4 Chamoli earthquakes have occurred on the main Himalayan thrust (MHT), lying just above the mapped zone of maximum changes in Moho depths. Modelled large values of average crustal Vp/Vs (> 1.85) could be attributed to the high fluid (metamorphic fluids) pressure associated with the mid-crustal MHT. Additionally, the serpentinization of the lowermost crust resulted from the continent–continent Himalayan collision process could also contribute to the increase of the average crustal Vp/Vs ratio in the region.

Sedimentology and reservoir architecture of a widespread siliciclastic intra-lava unit, Kangerlussuaq, East Greenland

ABSTRACT The Rosebank hydrocarbon discovery in 2004 proved that intra-lava sandstones form attractive reservoirs in the Faroe–Shetland Basin and the new volcanic play triggered the need for suitable analogues to describe and assess sedimentology, reservoir architecture, compartmentalization, and connectivity of intra-lava siliciclastic units. The onshore Kangerlussuaq Basin in East Greenland offers the opportunity to study Paleogene intra-lava siliciclastic sandstones and their interaction with lavas, on the scale of the Rosebank Field. The focus of this study is a siliciclastic-dominated intra-lava unit, 4–10 m thick, exposed in almost vertical cliff sections over distances of several kilometers. The unit reflects a short return to siliciclastic deposition following initiation of volcanic activity and extrusion of the first lava flows in the area. Deposition took place as shoreface and delta progradation in a marine-influenced, shallow embayment. Lateral variations in sedimentary facies distribution and geometry are prominent and were largely governed by an interplay of base-level variations and autocyclic processes, the surface roughness and type of substratum on which deposition took place, and differential block movements before and during deposition. Presence of local topographic barriers are of key importance and influenced the lava–sediment interaction and the resulting 3D-geometry of lava flows and sediment bodies. In addition, compartmentalization of the intra-lava sandstone unit is observed and is controlled by the offset across normal faults, intersecting dikes, and to a lesser extent by invasive and eroding lavas. A depositional model is suggested that incorporates the detailed sedimentological and 3D photogrammetric observations and presents a possible explanation for the contrasting architecture of the intra-lava unit observed in three areas located a few kilometers apart. The model embraces the complex interplay between siliciclastic and volcanic settings and reveals important aspects to consider when recoverable volumes of hydrocarbons are estimated in intra-volcanic subsurface reservoirs in volcanic rifted margins with poor seismic imaging of the relatively thin intra-lava reservoirs.