Micropaleontological Assemblages on December-2004 Tsunamigenic Sediments Record of Climate Variation Between Cuddalore and Nagapattinam, East Coast of India

Ninety-nine benthic foraminiferal species belonging to 41 genera, 26 families, 17 superfamilies and 5 suborders have been identified from 84 samples which were collected from beach (23 nos), offshore (24 nos), estuaries (8 nos), inland (23 nos) and one pit sample (6 nos), between Cuddalore and Nagapattinam in the tsunami affected coastal environment. Out of 99 species, only 20 species are living ones. The following species are appreciably distributed in different stations, namely Ammonia beccarii, Elphidiumcrispum, Rosalina globularis, Asterorotaliatrispinosa and Pararotalianipponica. The total distribution of foraminifera is higher at Cuddalore and Nagapattinam whereas at Pudupettai and Samadanpettai it is noticed in the lower order. Organic matter and living species show positive relation. No relationship is observed between dead species and the organic matter, which suggests that the dead species recorded in the sediment, must have been primarily drifted/transported as empty calcareous shells. From the sand/silt/clay ratios, it is inferred that the sediments are normally sandy in nature but silty sand dominates at deeper depths. Carbonate content establishes a positive correlation with all parameters. A fluctuation of salinity values in offshore regions indicates the influx of fresh water from Colleroon river. From the overall studies of foraminiferal distribution in this region, it may be inferred that the species distribution in the offshore region is mainly derived from the inner shelf region. To observe the earlier changes in climactic condition in marine environment mainly based on information from marine sediments. The collected samples from our study area marine sediments contain a variety of foraminifera, which archive climactic information from both planktonic and benthic assemblages and in their sedimentological compositions.

Pain Perception Associated with Mini-Implants and Interventions for Pain Management: A Cross-Sectional Questionnaire-Based Survey

Background. Orthodontists use mini-implants temporarily as an effective mode of skeletal anchorage devices. The placement of mini-implants can cause pain and discomfort to the patients. Patients often develop swelling, and the pain could interfere with their daily activities. Practitioners tend to prescribe antibiotics and pain medication for management. Objectives. The main objectives of this study are to evaluate the pain perception and discomfort due to mini-implant placement experienced by the patient and evaluate the interventions for pain management commonly practiced among orthodontists. Materials and Methods. The study was designed as a questionnaire-based cross-sectional study. A total of 271 patients were assessed, for whom 625 mini-implants (ranging from 1.2 to 2 mm diameter and length 8-14 mm) were placed. Pain scores were assessed using the VAS and the “Faces” pain rating scale to collect data about discomfort in daily activity and function. Data was collected from 244 patients. A total of 155 orthodontists were questioned regarding the prescription of medications and the interventions for managing pain and adverse effects. Results. Average pain score among female subjects was 16.71 and among men was 13.5. The highest pain scores were recorded for palatal mini-implants with an average score of 36.29 and the least for interradicular mini-implants with an average score of 9.02. Among the subjects, 47.9% of them took analgesics, and the most commonly prescribed analgesics were paracetamol (39%). Swelling at the site is where the mini-implants were placed, and ulceration due to implants were commonly dealt with the excision of the surrounding soft tissue, composite placement, and palliative care with oral analgesic gels. Conclusion. Female subjects had more mini-implants placed, and female subjects had also given more pain scores than their male counterparts. Palatal mini-implants caused the highest pain, followed by mini-implants placed at the infrazygomatic crest and the buccal shelf region. Palatal mini-implants caused maximum discomfort during speech and eating, followed by the mini-implant in the buccal shelf and the infrazygomatic crest region that also caused difficulty in yawning and laughing. Infiltration anesthesia was commonly given for the placement of interradicular implants and extra-alveolar mini-implants. Paracetamol was the most prescribed by the orthodontists, and more than half the doctors did not regularly prescribe antibiotics.

A meta-collection of nitrogen stable isotope data measured in Arctic marine organisms from the Canadian Beaufort Sea, 1983–2013

Objectives Existing information on Arctic marine food web structure is fragmented. Integrating data across research programs is an important strategy for building a baseline understanding of food web structure and function in many Arctic regions. Naturally-occurring stable isotope ratios of nitrogen (δ15N) and carbon (δ13C) measured directly in the tissues of organisms are a commonly-employed method for estimating food web structure. The objective of the current dataset was to synthesize disparate δ15N, and secondarily δ13C, data in the Canadian Beaufort continental shelf region relevant to trophic and ecological studies at the local and pan-Arctic scales. Data description The dataset presented here contains nitrogen and carbon stable isotope ratios (δ15N, δ13C) measured in marine organisms from the Canadian Beaufort continental shelf region between 1983 and 2013, gathered from 27 published and unpublished sources with associated sampling metadata. A total of 1077 entries were collected, summarizing 8859 individual organisms/samples representing 333 taxa across the Arctic food web, from top marine mammal predators to primary producers.

Early Production Life of Wheatstone Project Offshore Australia Yields Key Lessons

This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights of paper SPE 202246, “Wheatstone: What We Have Learned in Early Production Life,” by John Pescod, SPE, Paul Connell, SPE, and Zhi Xia, Chevron, et al., prepared for the 2020 SPE Asia Pacific Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition, originally scheduled to be held in Perth, Australia, 20–22 October. The paper has not been peer reviewed. Wheatstone and Iago gas fields, part of the larger Wheatstone project, commenced production in June 2017. The foundation subsea system includes nine Wheatstone and Iago development wells tied back to a central Wheatstone platform (WP) for processing. Hydrocarbons then flow through an export pipeline to an onshore processing facility that includes two liquefied-natural-gas (LNG) trains and a domestic gas facility. The complete paper highlights some of the key learnings in well and reservoir surveillance analysis and optimization (SA&O) developed using data from early production. Asset Overview Chevron Australia’s Wheatstone project is in the North West Shelf region offshore Australia (Fig. 1). Two gas fields, Wheatstone and Iago (along with a field operated by a different company), currently tie into the WP in the Northern Carnarvon Basin. These two gas fields are in water depths between 150 and 400 m. The platform processes gas and condensate through dehydration and compression facilities before export by a 220-km, 44-in., trunkline to two 4.45-million-tonnes/year LNG trains and a 200 tera-joule/day domestic gas plant. A Wheatstone/Iago subsea system consisting of two main corridors delivers production from north and south of the Wheatstone and Iago fields to the WP. Currently, the subsea system consists of nine subsea foundation development wells, three subsea production manifolds, two subsea 24-in. production flowlines, and two subsea 14-in. utility lines. The nine foundation development wells feed the subsea manifolds at rates of up to 250 MMscf/D. These wells have openhole gravel-pack completions for active sand control and permanent downhole gauges situated approximately 1000-m true vertical depth above the top porosity of multi-Darcy reservoir intervals for pressure and temperature monitoring. All wells deviate between 45 and 60° through the reservoir with stepout lengths of up to 2.5 km. The two subsea 24-in. production flowlines carry production fluids from the subsea manifolds to two separation trains on the WP. Each platform inlet production separator can handle up to 800 MMscf/D. The two 14-in. utility flowlines installed to the subsea manifolds allow routing of a single well to the platform multiuse header, which can direct flow into the multiuse separator (MUS) or other production separators at a rate of 250 MMscf/D.

Effect of Summer Typhoon Linfa on the Chlorophyll-a Concentration in the Continental Shelf Region of Northern South China Sea

Based on both physical and biological data collected from multi-source satellite during summer typhoon Linfa, we found that the typhoon triggered two phytoplankton declines and three phytoplankton blooms in the northern South China Sea (SCS), where the waters were influenced by coastal upwelling and the input of terrigenous materials from the Pearl River estuary (PRE). One phytoplankton decline (about a 3-fold reduction) in the continental shelf region can probably be attribute to the limited nutrient supply induced by the decayed coastal northeastern current and onshore Ekman transport (OET) and Kuroshio intrusion water, as well as the uplifted subsurface’s low chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) concentration driven by vertical mixing and upwelling. Another phytoplankton decline (about a 3.5-fold reduction) in the eastern Leizhou Peninsula-coastal upwelling region is probably caused by OET and a decayed coastal northern current. Conversely, the decayed coastal current, OET, and the vertical mixing and upwelling could lead to the transport of nutrient-rich water from the PRE to the nearshore region of the southwestern PRE mouth, and from the subsurface layer to the surface, respectively, thereby stimulating the growth of phytoplankton in the nearshore region (increased by about 4-fold) and the open ocean (increased by about 2.3-fold). In the Shantou (the coastal upwelling region), the phytoplankton responses to nutrient supply were feeble when phytoplankton was already growing in nutrient replete conditions. In addition, the OET and the high turbidity barely resulted in moderate phytoplankton bloom (increased by 38%). In summary, the physical driving forces associated with typhoons that modulates phytoplankton dynamics are the nutrient and phytoplankton transportation in the northern SCS during the wet season.

OBSERVATIONS OF CONTINUOUS INSTABILITY FOR SCAR INLET ICE SHELF, ANTARCTIC PENINSULA

Observation of the evolving instability of ice shelves plays a very important role in global change research. Following the suddenly large-scale collapse of the Larsen B Ice Shelf in the Antarctic Peninsula in 2002, the evolving instability for its remnant, the Scar Inlet Ice Shelf, began to be increasingly studied to provide a deeper understanding of the disintegration of the Larsen B Ice Shelf in 2002 and also provide a chance for studying the response of ice shelves to the large-scale collapse events. In this study, based on sequential Landsat images spanning 2005–2020, we produced detailed maps of the ice velocity fields for the Scar Inlet Ice Shelf. The results indicate that the ice velocities for the Scar Inlet Ice Shelf region have substantially increased since 2005, the maximum ice velocity reached more than 900 m/y in the ice shelf front. Surface rifts have also substantially increased in both length and width and are moving seawards. The ice front position of the Scar Inlet Ice Shelf is relatively stable in 2008–2010 and then steadily advancing after 2010. The acceleration of ice velocities, the dynamic change of the ice front, the increase of major surface rifts and the newly added rifts in the central part of the ice shelf, and the heavily enhanced surface crevasses are all revealing the evolving instability of the Scar Inlet Ice Shelf.

A new species of deep-water triplefin (Pisces: Tripterygiidae) in the genus Ruanoho from coastal New Zealand waters

A new endemic species of triplefin Ruanoho scurra is described from deep water (108–216 m) on the shelf region around coastal New Zealand (Northland to Stewart Island). It is differentiated from its congeners by the combination of fresh colour (bright yellow spots on the head and anterior body, oblique lines on the dorsal and anal fins, and sub-vertical lines on the caudal) as well as some proportional measurements. Comments are made on the relationship with its congeners, and evolutionary history of the family in New Zealand waters, along with observations on the habitat in which this new species is found. This paper formally describes the species first mentioned in Stewart & Clements 2015:1523 as the polkadot triplefin.