recognizing and dating prehistoric liquefaction features lessons learned in the new madrid seismic zone central united states the new madrid seismic zone nmsz which experienced severe liquefaction during the great new madrid missouri earthquakes of 1811 and 1812 as well as during several prehistoric earthquakes is a superb laboratory for the study of world class earthquake induced liquefaction features and their use in paleoseismology in seismically active regions like the nmsz frequent large earthquakes can produce a complex record of liquefaction events that is difficult to interpret lessons learned studying liquefaction features in the nmsz may help to unravel the paleoseismic record in other seismically active regions soil characteristics of liquefaction features as well as their structural and stratigraphic relations to native american occupation horizons and other cultural features can help to distinguish prehistoric liquefaction features from historic features in addition analyses of artifact assemblages and botanical content of cultural horizons can help to narrow the age ranges of liquefaction features future research should focus on methods for defining source areas and estimating magnitudes of prehistoric earthquakes from liquefaction features also new methods for dating liquefaction features are needed

elongated depressions associated with pockmarks in the western slope of the norwegian trench abstract terraces or elongated depressions have been surveyed in the western slope of the norwegian trench in origin the depressions seem to be closely related to the formation of pockmarks in the norwegian trench a study area d has been selected in the western slope for the description of the elongated depressions and their associated features an area of similar size e has also been selected in the norwegian trench in order to compare the recent geology of the two areas it is found that the elongated depressions probably are caused by a combination of shallow gas seepage the geometry of subsurface bedding and the action of bottom currents furthermore examples of faulting within soft silty unconsolidated clay is documented by use of deep towed boomer data the existence of such faults could explain how gas migrates through the upper layers

characteristic features of pockmarks on the north sea floor and scotian shelf this paper presents the results of a comparative study of pockmarks and associated features appearing on both sides of the north atlantic on the scotian shelf off nova scotia and in the northern north sea pockmarks are formed in seabed material consisting of soft silty clay the seismic sonar and lithologic characteristics of the sediments on the scotian shelf are remarkably similar to those found in the northern north sea sediment clouds suspended in the water column immediately over the seabed have previously been observed on side scan records associated with gas charged sediments on corresponding shallow seismic records these and similar observations strongly suggest that most pockmarks are caused by gas efflux through the seafloor however the detailed mechanism of formation and the origin of the gas in the sediments is still unknown

mud volcanism in the gulf of cadiz results from the ttr 10 cruise a new deep water mud volcano field between 2000 and 3500 m water depth was discovered in the deep south portuguese margin as well as several new mud volcanoes in the south spanish and western moroccan margins of the gulf of cadiz during the ttr 10 training through research unesco ioc cruise in july august 2000 this work followed the discovery of a large mud volcano field in the gulf of cadiz first investigated during the ttr 9 cruise gardner 2001 geophys res lett 28 339 342 kenyon et al 2000 ioc technical series no 56 the discoveries were made based on a seamap side scan sonar mosaic and multibeam bathymetry seabeam collected in the area by the naval research laboratory nrl washington dc usa in 1992 kindly released for this purpose single channel seismics long range side scan sonar okean tv controlled grab hull mounted 3 5 khz profiler and coring were used to investigate several seafloor features observed on the side scan sonar imagery in the south iberia spanish and moroccan margins of the gulf of cadiz which were confirmed to be mud volcanoes the typical structures related to fluid venting in the gulf of cadiz are essentially represented by conical mud volcanoes with diameters ranging from several tens of meters to 4 km and heights that can reach 200 m some of these structures appear to be aligned along major conjugate ne sw and nw se trending faults that can be identified on the side scan sonar imagery the new field discovered in the south portuguese margin is the deepest in the gulf of cadiz area and includes three new mud volcanoes bonjardim olenin and carlos ribeiro which seem to be quite active with near surface gas hydrate occurrence and a high saturation in h2s and hydrocarbon gases mainly methane in the mud breccia and overlying pelagic sediments gas hydrates were recovered from the bonjardim mud volcano an intensely gassified mud breccia with one fragment of semi consolidated claystone with a thin bituminous veneer at the surface was recovered from the carlos ribeiro mud volcano the fauna recovered consists mainly of pogonophoran worms belonging to several species and undetermined species of foraminifera three new mud volcanoes were also discovered in the nw moroccan margin rabat student and jesus baraza these show a richer fauna that includes several species of molluscs polychaetes pogonophoran worms crustaceans echinoderms and some fragments of dead coral madrepora and lophelia carbonate crusts were recovered from the student mud volcano the ginsburg mud volcano discovered during the previous ttr 9 cruise was revisited and gas hydrates recovered once again a new mud volcano was also discovered in the spanish margin tasyo where evidence was found of coral build ups on the hard substratum of the mud volcanic edifice

liquefaction resistance of soils from shear wave velocity a simplified procedure using shear wave velocity measurements for evaluating the liquefaction resistance of soils is presented the procedure was developed in cooperation with industry researchers and practitioners and evolved from workshops in 1996 and 1998 it follows the general format of the seed idriss simplified procedure based on standard penetration test blow count and was developed using case history data from 26 earthquakes and 70 measurement sites in soils ranging from fine sand to sandy gravel with cobbles to profiles including silty clay layers liquefaction resistance curves were established by applying a modified relationship between the shear wave velocity and cyclic stress ratio for the constant average cyclic shear strain suggested by r dobry these curves correctly predicted moderate to high liquefaction potential for 95 of the liquefaction case histories and are shown to be consistent with the standard penetration test based curves in sandy soils a case study is provided to illustrate application of the procedure additional data are needed particularly from denser soil deposits shaken by stronger ground motions to further validate the simplified procedure

the nature and hydrogeologic significance of mud diapirs and diatremes for accretionary systems in accretionary wedges often morphologically similar sedimentary intrusions when observed by remote geophysical means may have one of two quite different driving mechanisms and a highly variable significance for the regional hydrogeologic picture for example mud diapirs are driven by buoyancy forces that arise from bulk density contrasts in them mud and pore fluid upwell en masse and fluid migration is a related sometimes important but generally subsidiary process in contrast diatremes contain sediments fluidized during rapid fluid advection and are forcibly and directly driven by the hydrogeologic system the nature of fluid input from local and exotic source regions can therefore strongly affect sedimentary intrusive processes and vice versa this complicates the process of defining the main features of the hydrogeological systems operating in accretionary wedges focused vertical advection through steep sided piercement mud diapirs requires conduit systems otherwise flow will be diffuse and directed more horizontally out of the low permeability mud mass however where the permeability of the overburden is less than that of the diapir the whole diapir may act as a conduit apart from this special case conduits will be associated with highly anisotropic scaly fabrics that can sometimes develop in the marginal shear zone of diapirs scaly fabrics form during deformation and compaction of a mud matrix under conditions of constant or increasing effective stress however the effective stress path can be complex as it is both controlled by the relative rates of upward intrusion and burial by sedimentation and or structural thickening and the hydrogeologic system due to this it appears likely that even in a geographically related group of diapirs effective stress histories will vary widely between intrusions so that some can form advective pathways for fluids and some cannot mixed systems of behavior may also be present with local diatremes developing within diapirs above the terminations of conduit systems and rapidly expanding methane gas pockets the potentially heterogeneous near surface behavior may be why the surface manifestations of sedimentary intrusions are so variable when observed in the field diatremes can also form separately as large primary features above any structural or stratigraphic conduit that rapidly expels water or gas into the base of an unlithified sediment column when active large diatremes require enormous quantities of fluid water or gas to drive them particularly if they are long lived features and hence are a direct indication of at least an episodically vigorous hydrogeologic system

lithology and shear wave velocity in memphis tennessee we have derived a new three dimensional model of the lithologic struc ture beneath the city of memphis tennessee and examined its correlation with measured shear wave velocity profiles the correlation is sufficiently high that the better constrained lithologic model may be used as a proxy for shear wave velocities which are required to calculate site amplification for new seismic hazard maps for memphis the lithologic model and its uncertainties are derived from over 1200 newly compiled well and boring logs some sampling to 500 m depth and a moving least squares algorithm seventy six new shear wave velocity profiles have been measured and used for this study most sampling to 30 m depth or less all log and velocity observations are publicly available via new web sites

the geometry and emplacement of conical sandstone intrusions conical sandstone intrusions with a geometry comparable with that of many igneous sills have been identified using 3d seismic data from large areas of the north sea and faeroe shetland basins these intrusions are of reservoir scale ranging from 100 to 2000 m or so in diameter 50 300 m in height and 1 80 m in thickness aperture they are concentrated in specific stratigraphic intervals in the cenozoic fills of both basins two geometrical end members are recognised and defined here apical cones and flat based bowls the former consist of inward dipping conical inclined sheets meeting at a prominent apex and the latter of similarly dipping discordant margins climbing from the edges of a concordant sheet both end members are associated with domal folds that are interpreted as resulting from the hydraulic elevation of the overburden during intrusion and which are analogous to similar structures associated with bowl shaped igneous sills measurements of aperture versus distance exhibit systematic relationships with the structural relief of these folds offering a potentially predictive method for estimation of sandstone intrusion aperture and reservoir volume prior to drilling a growth model for these end member geometries is presented drawing on existing theory for igneous sill emplacement aperture versus distance plots x are used to illustrate two contrasting models for aperture inflation during propagation but these require much further data before any specific growth model can be adopted

sea bed pockmarks related to fluid migration from mesozoic bedrock strata in the skagerrak offshore norway abstract in the deepest part of the skagerrak the sea floor morphology and the subsurface geology have been mapped from multibeam echo sounder data seismic data and bedrock cores an area of high pockmark density occurs along the shallowest part of a gentle ridge in the central norwegian trench where a middle jurassic sandstone unit subcrops below 30 40 m of late weichselian sediments in contrast few pockmarks occur at the seabed where lower and upper jurassic shales and clayey siltstones subcrop the concentration of pockmarks above the middle jurassic sandstone unit is thus attributed to seepage of gas or liquids migrating up dip from deeper parts of the sedimentary basin in the skagerrak more than 90 of the observed pockmarks occur above mesozoic sedimentary rocks while less than 10 occur in areas of palaeozoic metasediments or crystalline rocks a linear concentration of pockmarks is observed above a fault that terminates at the base of the quaternary succession and this is therefore attributed to seepage of gas or liquids along the fault plane the density of pockmarks is low in areas with thick successions of quaternary sediments indicating that the pockmarks are not related to seepage of biogenic gas from these deposits pockmarks in the skagerrak are thus caused by seepage of thermogenic gas and or other pore fluids from deeper sources and their distribution may help to improve our understanding of the fluid system and migration regime of this part of the north sea

an integrated view of the methane system in the pockmarks at vestnesa ridge 79 n accepted manuscript version published version available at https doi org 10 1016 j margeo 2017 06 006 accepted manuscript version licensed cc by nc nd 4 0

imaging shallow crustal structure in the upper mississippi embayment using local earthquake waveform data a 1d normal moveout nmo corrected and stacked pseudoprofiling method was applied to analyze the characteristic features shown on primary p and s wave coda and on sp waveforms from local microearthquakes in an attempt to image prominent reflectors and to resolve shallow crustal velocity structure 5 km in the upper mississippi embayment acoustic well log data were used to constrain the p wave velocity in the upper 5 km events at close distances and with clear p and s arrivals were selected to ensure reliable nmo correction for reflections and transmissions the observed reflections and transmissions are important controlling factors on modeling waveforms we analyzed local earthquake data recorded at all broadband and one short period station of the cooperative new madrid seismic network despite polarity differences among p s and sp waveforms consistent reflectors in the sedimentary section can be imaged across the three wave types correlation with a basement penetrating well indicates that reflectors at the base of the upper cretaceous holocene mississippi embayment supergroup the base of the cambrian ordovician knox group and the high velocity lower upper cambrian bonneterre formation are shown in pseudoprofiles among stations in the upper mississippi embayment our study finds that a one layer homogeneous velocity model of sediments in the ranges of 1 95 2 42 km s for v p and 0 60 0 73 km s for v s overlying a half space of paleozoic rocks with velocities in the ranges of 6 0 6 2 km s for v p and 3 26 3 6 km s for v s can represent shallow crustal structure in the upper mississippi embayment differential times of p ppphp and s ssshs appear linearly proportional to sediment thicknesses which best fits a one layer sediment structure with average v p 2 042 0 041 km s and v s 0 709 0 051 km s in the least squares sense predicted by the wave propagation effects online material figures illustrating seismograms process procedure imaged reflectors and resolved velocity structure for six broadband stations and one short period station

structure of mud volcano systems and pockmarks in the region of the ceuta contourite depositional system western alboran sea abstract new high resolution seismic and swath bathymetry data reveal the detailed structure of nine mud volcanoes and two large fields of pockmarks at water depths of 400 1100 m in the western alboran sea these features are related to episodes of focused fluid flow through pliocene quaternary contourite deposits of the ceuta drift we describe nine mud volcano systems composed of two key structural elements i extrusive edifices comprising cones bicones and low dip mudflows interfingering with adjacent drift sediments and ii intrusive feeder complexes comprising pipes and unstratified downward tapering cones underlying the extrusive edifices the mud volcano systems are grouped into four types i complex edifices ii stacked single edifices iii single edifices fed by buried bicones and iv single edifices all except the last record episodic extrusive activity since the pliocene the timing of which is constrained by correlation between the main mud extrusion episodes and dated unconformities within the ceuta drift complex mud volcanoes composed of twin to multiple seabed cones are the longest lived systems with at least six extrusive episodes since the mid pliocene most of the mud volcanoes appear to have been reactivated in the mid pleistocene 0 9 ma mpr discontinuity and all at mis12 0 4 ma while the onset of focused fluid flow was triggered by mid pliocene tectonically driven diapirism of lower miocene shales that form the rooting zone of the mud volcanoes we suggest that some of the pleistocene phases of mud extrusion might be related to erosion of the contourite drift during major sea level falls in addition to vertical focused fluid flow we propose that leakages from the mud volcano feeder complexes into high permeability contourite sediments may cause lateral fluid migration and form gas accumulations lateral fluid flow in the near surface sediments could be responsible of forming subsurface reservoirs and consequently random pockmarks by fluidification and or liquefaction of the non consolidated shallow sediments stacked buried paleo pockmarks indicate that this mechanism has been persistent along recent times at least after the mid pleistocene

seabed morphology and hydrocarbon seepage in the gulf of cadiz mud volcano area acoustic imagery multibeam and ultra high resolution seismic data abstract extensive mud volcanism mud diapirism and carbonate chimneys related to hydrocarbon rich fluid venting are observed throughout the spanish portuguese margin of the gulf of cadiz all the mud volcanoes and diapirs addressed in this paper lie in the region of olistostrome accretionary complex units which were emplaced in the late miocene in response to nw directed convergence between the african and eurasian plates the study area was investigated by multibeam echo sounder high and ultra high resolution seismic profiling dredging and coring the structures observed on multibeam bathymetry at water depths between 500 and 1300 m are dominated by elongate mud ridges mud cones mud volcanoes and crater like collapse structures ranging in relief from 50 to 300 m and size from 0 8 to 2 km in diameter the main morphotectonic features named the guadalquivir diapiric ridge gdr and the cadiz diapiric ridge cdr are longitudinally shaped diapirs which trend ne sw and consist of lower middle miocene plastic marly clays the gdr field and the tasyo field which consist of mud volcanoes and extensive fluid venting related to diapiric ridge development are described in this paper the gdr field is characterised by numerous single sub circular mud volcanoes and mud cones the single mud volcanoes are cone shaped features with relatively gentle slopes of 3 6 consisting of several generations of mud breccia deposition with indications of gas saturation degassing structures and the presence of h2s the mud cones have asymmetric profiles with steep slopes of up to 25 and contain large surficial deposits of hydrocarbon derived carbonate chimneys and slabs the tasyo field is characterised by an extensive concentration of small sub circular depressions oval and multi cone mud volcanoes and large sediment slides mud volcanoes in this area are characterised by moderate slopes 8 12 have bathymetric relief ranging from 100 to 190 m and consist of sulphide rich mud breccia calcite chimneys carbonate crusts and chemosynthetic fauna pogonophora tube worms we propose that all these hydrocarbon seepage structures are related to lateral compressional stress generated at the front of the olistostromic accretionary wedge this stress results in the uplifting and squeezing plastic marly clay deposits additionally the compressional stress at the toe of the olistostrome forms overpressurised compartments which provide avenues for hydrocarbon enriched fluids to migrate

mud volcanism by repeated roof collapse 3d architecture and evolution of a mud volcano cluster offshore nigeria abstract using 3d seismic data we document the subsurface architecture of a cluster of 3 mud volcanoes located on the upper continental slope offshore nigeria in a background of gently dipping stratified sediments the subsurface of the cluster contains 8 seismic sequences made of one subcircular syncline 1 3 km in diameter and adjoining unstratified units synclines flatten out upward through intercalation of unstratified concave up lenses between stratified units and are eventually filled by a convex up unstratified lens onlapped by background sediments the lower boundary of each sequence is a 0 5 1 5 km deep bowl shaped unconformity across which high dip strata rest above truncated low dip series we interpret each seismic sequence as a mud volcano system mvs sourced from a connected region and evolving through episodes of roof collapse three are associated with the surface mud volcanoes and another 4 to fossil ones mud volcano systems are dynamic features that record the evolution of 1 the material extruded from one single connected source region depletion zone as it grows downwards and stepwise becomes depleted 2 the basal unconformity which joins strata originally separated by material evacuated in the remobilization process by analogy with salt tectonics we propose to call it a mud weld 3 the conduits and 4 the successive collapsed roofs of the depletion zone the evolution of each mud volcano system in this interpretation records progressive growth of the depletion zone by downbuilding punctuated by episodes of roof collapse and extrusion the geometry and evolution of this type of mvs can be interpreted in the light of analogue models of magmatic caldera development in early stages the thin roof experiences downsagging while remobilized material is extruded through an axial pipe like conduit in later stages the thickened roof undergoes piston like subsidence and mud extrusion occurs along the peripheral fault

liquefaction susceptibility mapping in the city of memphis and shelby county tennessee abstract earthquake induced sand dikes have been identified in cut banks of the wolf and loosahatchie rivers in the city of memphis and shelby county tennessee most of the dikes are near the mouths of these rivers within the city limits of memphis but one dike occurs 36 km upstream in the bank of the wolf river in collierville the dikes range in width from 1 to 50 cm and at some localities can be traced vertically as much as 4 m from their source bed to within 50 cm of the flood plain surface the age of the dikes is unknown but they are interpreted to be from the great 1811 1812 new madrid earthquakes because they are locally buried by historical sediments containing bricks the larger number of dikes and upstream extent of liquefaction along the wolf river suggests that liquefaction susceptibility is greater in the wolf river flood plain than in other flood plains in shelby county this greater liquefaction susceptibility of the wolf river flood plain appears to be due to the sand in its basal point bar sequence and a relatively thin overbank silt clay cap geologic and geologically based liquefaction susceptibility maps 1 24 000 were made of the memphis northwest and collierville 7 5 quadrangles of shelby county the liquefaction susceptibility maps show very high susceptibility for mississippi wolf and loosahatchie river flood plains high susceptibility in areas of artificial fill on these three flood plains moderate susceptibility along other flood plains and terraces in these quadrangles and low susceptibilities in the interfluve areas

local earthquake wave propagation through mississippi embayment sediments part i body wave phases and local site responses p and s body waves from microearthquakes in the new madrid seismic zone nmsz are investigated at selected sites in an effort to understand wave propagation from future large earthquakes earthquake body waveforms display distinctive features that constrain the nature of p and s wave local site responses and wave propagation within the unconsolidated mississippi embayment sediments modeling of the waveforms demonstrates that a near surface low velocity zone is characteristic of structure within the upper 60 m of the sedimentary column and produces large p and s wave resonance effects that can be used to infer near site conditions site resonance effects change because of velocity heterogeneity between individual receivers but imply that embayment sediments will substantially amplify ground motions at high frequencies site resonance affects p and s wave amplitude spectra and can bias estimates of source and anelastic attenuation parameters travel times of observed body wave phases such as p ppphp the first p wave reverberation within the entire sedimentary column ps sp s and ssphp can be used to estimate the average wave slownesses and poisson s ratio within the embayment sediments an average poisson s ratio of 0 44 is obtained for the central nmsz under station pebm detailed s wave velocities are derived for a nafe drake sediment model using acoustic well logs and the travel time constraints of observed seismic phases v p v s ratios vary from 5 5 near the surface to approximately 2 4 at the base of the sediments use of the well log data in wave calculations also explains much of the nature of p and s wave coda within the waveforms and shows that 1d heterogeneity is a first order influence on seismic wave propagation within the mississippi embayment manuscript received 11 march 2003

complex pockmarks with carbonate ridges off mid norway products of sediment degassing abstract a new type of pockmark has been discovered off mid norway they contain up to 10 m high ridges of methane derived authigenic carbonate mdac rock the pockmarks were investigated using rovs remotely operated vehicles in 2003 and 2004 the complex pockmarks are located well within the gas hydrate pressure temperature stability field and are associated with a regional bsr bottom simulating reflector our high resolution seismic data demonstrate that the near surface sedimentary bedding dips into vertical pipe structures underlying the pockmarks and that the pipes are deeply rooted the pockmarks are circular in plan view and contain up to 190 m long and 40 m wide ridges formed by up to 4 m wide carbonate rocks piled on top of each other in irregular piles other key features of the complex pockmarks include 1 a distinct fauna with local bacterial mats small tubeworms stalked crinoids and pycnogonids sea spiders and 2 the presence of light hydrocarbon gases c 1 c 5 in clay rich sediments the methane 13 c values range from 54 to 69 pdb suggesting the presence of both bacterial and thermogenic gases during our two day observation periods only micro seepage occurred without ebullition or other visual fluid flow petrography and geochemistry of carbonate blocks from the pockmarks suggest precipitation of methane derived aragonite within the sediments 13 c 52 to 58 pdb we suggest that the complex pockmarks formed by sudden catastrophic fluid flow and that the large carbonate ridges represent dislodged mdacs originally formed subsurface prior to the event subsequent micro seepage is still active and may indicate that the pipes represent fluid flow conduits which transport both bacterial and thermogenic hydrocarbons to the water column our data do not suggest pressure buildup and do not predict future eruptions from the complex pockmarks thus our data rather suggest that the catastrophic formation of the complex pockmarks may be a one time event

geotechnical site characterization in the greater memphis area using cone penetration tests abstract the determination of seismic ground hazards in memphis and shelby county tennessee is facilitated by the use of electronic cone penetration tests that can provide up to four independent readings with depth from a single sounding one series of soundings is being performed for site specific mapping to determine the presence and extent of potentially liquefiable sediments in situ soil resistance to liquefaction and initial soil stiffness for ground motion amplification studies another series of soundings is being conducted in conjunction with field paleoliquefaction mapping in the new madrid seismic zone to better define the intensity magnitude and geographic extent of ground failures caused by large past earthquake events as well as information about the source sands in this paper an overview is given on the types of multi channeled penetrometer data that are being collected including vertical profiles of cone tip stress qt sleeve friction fs penetration porewater pressure u1 or u2 downhole shear wave velocity vs and or electrical conductivity ke representative soundings are presented from select sites to illustrate repeatability data post processing methods and that derived downhole vs profiles are generally in good agreement with non invasive surface techniques at two memphis test sites cyclic stress based procedures for liquefaction are discussed with relation to data from a paleoliquefaction site in germantown tennessee and estimates of the minimum magnitude of the historic event are discussed while estimates of the earthquake magnitude are preliminary pending additional study on attenuation relationships and site response in the deep soils of the mississippi embayment it is inferred from evaluation of in situ test data using cyclic stress based techniques that the december 1811 new madrid earthquake was likely larger than a mw 7 5 event

multichannel analysis of surface waves masw for offshore geotechnical investigations abstract multichannel analysis of surface wave masw surveys are commonly used onshore to produce shear wave velocity vs profiles this paper describes its use in offshore geotechnical investigations underwater masw umasw where the focus was on the upper 15 m of the sediment profile to aid the design of structures such as marine pipelines cable routes and shallow anchor systems umasw was shown to provide reliable data in irish offshore conditions in water depths of up to 50 m the receiver spacing and array length rather than the characteristics of the air gun seismic energy source were the primary control on signal penetration and resolution of individual sediment layers good resolution of the properties of the upper 5 m of sediment was found by reducing the receiver spacing to as low as 0 3 m a test site with a broad intertidal zone allowed coincident land marine and direct measurements to be compared and vs profiles obtained from umasw onshore masw and by seismic cone testing scptu were in good agreement vs profiles estimated from published correlations with cptu data in sandy sediments agreed well with the measured values inversion of data using different software packages showed only a minor variation in results

mitigation of liquefaction and associated ground deformations by stone columns soil liquefaction and associated ground failures have been a major source of damage during the past earthquakes the risk of liquefaction and associated ground deformation can be reduced by various ground improvement methods including the stone column gravel drain technique this paper presents the current state of the stone column technologies as a liquefaction countermeasure a comprehensive review is provided aiming to a identify key considerations for the general use of stone columns as a liquefaction countermeasure b provide insights for design and construction c compile the latest research developments and d identify sources of useful information case histories of field applications and observed field performance are cited to portray different stone column applications and observed effectiveness the paper identifies areas where more research is needed and includes recommendations for future research and development

mud volcanoes the most important pathway for degassing deeply buried sediments abstract this paper discusses the nature of the phenomenon of mud volcanism with respect to degassing of deeply buried sediments mud volcanoes are defined as geological structures and their main elements are described based on the nature of activity mud volcanoes are grouped in to three main types and the relationship between each type and corresponding morphological expression is discussed the presented up to date data of the world geographical distribution of mud volcanoes show that they approximate to 1800 individuals a detail overview of geological environments in which they occur helps to deduce some necessary conditions for mud volcano formation the basic mechanisms of mud volcano formation are discussed specifically the fluid pressure hypothesis and some triggering events are identified the most common investigation approach and some criteria for recognizing of a submarine mud volcano on side scan sonar records and seismic sections are given mud volcanism in the mediterranean ridge an accretionary complex and black sea abyssal plane a back ark basin with tectonic regime of extension are described as case studies to show variety in morphology and common factors in development of mud volcanoes the manifestation of continuous gas migration through mud volcanoes is clarified and the attempt made to quantify the gas release shows that mud volcanoes are one of the significant natural sources of atmospheric methane emitting a total amount of about 10 3 to 12 6 tg annually

marginal basin evolution the southern south china sea abstract the southern south china sea is divided into contrasting morphology by the west baram line to the west is the sundaland extinct passive margin in which rifting began in the eocene 46 ma and ceased at 19 21 ma anomaly 6 where sea floor spreading began much later than along the shelf of china the break up hiatus lasted 3 5 ma marked by the mid miocene unconformity also preserved on land sarawak the post rift strata date from 16 ma and drape over the rifted topography to the east is a convergent margin that became a collision zone in the middle miocene the sunda shelf is of uniform 30 km thickness except in localised deep basins and extends to a water depth of 200 m the continental slope is narrow the continental rise dangerous grounds is covered by water ranging from 500 m to 3 5 km depth at the continent ocean transition its width ranges from 170 to 330 km the rajang delta extends over the shelf and continental slope its post rift sediments drape over the rifted proximal topography of the dangerous grounds to the east the drape is thinner and has not completely buried the rifted topography the cuestas appear to have supported the carbonate build up infrastructures of the spratly islands whose slopes rise abruptly from a sea floor of 2 3 km depth the sabah and brunei margin is a collision zone that was formerly convergent the on land geology indicates a mesozoic ophiolitic basement the main collision feature is the western cordillera constructed mainly of sandy eocene to lower miocene turbidites predominantly oligocene to lower miocene in the west crocker 32 18 ma uplifted episodically throughout the upper miocene and pliocene 14 8 ma the 2 km deep northwest borneo trough may be a relict of the convergence phase but could also be a collisional foredeep the oil prolific baram delta resulting from uplift and erosion of the western cordillera has built out as far as the northwest borneo trough it is suggested that the passive margin continental rise dangerous grounds has been underthrust beneath sabah to cause uplift of the western cordillera the west baram line accordingly abruptly separates the collision zone from the western extinct passive margin and is a now extinct major right lateral transform fault

tectonics and mud volcano development in the gulf of cadiz many structures associated with fluid escape including mud volcanoes mud carbonate mounds pockmarks and slides have been identified and characterized in the gulf of cadiz most of the mud volcanoes following ne sw and nw se main trends are found at 350 2000 m depth in the eastern domain of the gulf of cadiz which corresponds to the betic rifean margin scattered mud volcanoes have also been recognized on the lower slope at 2300 3900 m depth the major tectonic structures are thrust faults extensional faults strikeslip faults and diapirs all these tectonic structures have provided escape pathways for overpressured material and fluids or have favoured upward fluid movement along the sedimentary column and eventually the build up of mud volcanoes in this work we present images of the mud volcano plumbing systems and the relationship between regional tectonics and mud volcano development seismic profiles acquired during the tasyo 2000 and mvseis ttr 15 cruises are used to image and interpret the link between the mud volcano edifices and the subsurface tectonic structures

significance of mud volcanism 1 mud volcanism and diapirism have puzzled geoscientists for 2 centuries they have been described onshore and offshore in many places on earth and although they occur in various tectonic settings the majority of the features known to date are located in compressional tectonic scenarios this paper summarizes the main thrusts in mud volcano research as well as the various regions in which mud volcanism has been described mud volcanoes show variable geometry up to tens of kilometers in diameter and several hundred meters in height and a great diversity regarding the origin of the fluid and solid phases gas predominantly methane water and mud may be mobilized at subbottom depth of only a few meters but in places can originate from several kilometers depth with minor crustal or mantle input the possible contribution of mud extrusion to global budgets both from quiescent fluid emission and from the extrusive processes themselves is important in regions where mud volcanoes are abundant such as the collision zones between africa and eurasia fluid flux through mud extrusion exceeds the compaction driven pore fluid expulsion of the accretionary wedge also quiescent degassing of mud volcanoes may contribute significantly to volatile budgets and hence to greenhouse climate

shear wave velocity as function of cone penetration test measurements in sand and silt mixtures abstract a database of research quality piezocone test cptu results and shear wave velocity v s measurements assembled in the context of an ambitious research project carried out at the treporti test site venice italy has been interpreted in order to study the seismic response of the predominantly silty sediments forming the venetian lagoon basin as well as to explore potential correlations for such intermediate soils the experience gained so far with the treporti database and other field data collected in the lagoon area has shown that the mechanical behavior of venetian soils cannot be easily interpreted using the existing and well established cptu based approaches hence the interest in examining whether or not the seismic response of these sediments expressed in terms of shear wave velocity follows the framework published for other soils the applicability to the available data of a number of existing correlations originally developed either for sands or fine sediments has been first investigated and updated relationships have been then suggested furthermore the small strain stiffness calculated from v s measurements has been compared with the field stiffness derived from the observed performance of a full scale test embankment built in the treporti site so as to verify common design assumptions the verification and calibration of existing approaches are likely to constitute a useful contribution to the practice of geotechnics not only in the venetian lagoon area but also in the silty deposits usually present in the surrounding alluvial plain and other similar depositional environments allowing rapid estimates of seismic soil classification as well as small strain stiffness properties for preliminary design or at sites where only cone penetration data are available

reflection and transmission imaging of the upper crust using local earthquake seismograms we utilize the characteristic features of primary p and sh wave coda and sp waveforms from local microearthquake data and perform prestacking 1d migration in an attempt to image prominent reflectors in the upper crust of the new madrid seismic zone nmsz this methodology applies to data from broadband stations parm and penm of the cooperative new madrid seismic network cnmsn nearby exploration well log acoustic data of the wilson 2 14 and dow chemical wilson number 1 wells are used to constrain the upper 4 km of p wave velocity model despite polarity differences among p sh and sp waveforms this technique demonstrates that consistent reflectors in the deep sedimentary section can be imaged commonly among the three wave types there are excellent correlations associated with the base of the upper cretaceous holocene mississippi embayment supergroup and the base of knox group which were also reported in a study of nearby seismic reflection profiles by hamilton and zoback 1982 the bonne terre formation seems to be a prominent seismic stratigraphic marker associated with an interface displayed in the profiling we find that earthquake event s p times must be 3 sec or more to resolve reflectors at about 4 km depth possible basement at about 4 0 to 4 5 km appears on the reflected p wave image for parm and sh wave image for penm we conclude that the velocity structure of the upper 4 km crust beneath parm can be represented by a constant velocity of graphic 1 and graphic 2 for the unconsolidated sediments and graphic 3 and graphic 4 for the paleozoic sedimentary rocks a constant velocity of graphic 5 and graphic 6 for the unconsolidated sediments and graphic 7 and graphic 8 for the paleozoic sedimentary rocks can represent structure beneath penm 1 embed inline graphic 1 gif 2 embed inline graphic 2 gif 3 embed inline graphic 3 gif 4 embed inline graphic 4 gif 5 embed inline graphic 5 gif 6 embed inline graphic 6 gif 7 embed inline graphic 7 gif 8 embed inline graphic 8 gif

mud volcanoes in deepwater nigeria abstract detailed study of 3d seismic data from deepwater nigeria has revealed the presence of features interpreted to be mud volcanoes they occur in an upper slope environment seen as 1 2 km circular features at the seabed seabed cores from the mud volcanoes contain oil gas and sand shale clast content richer than the seabed background pliocene fossils have been identified in the cores demonstrating transport of material from depth the features show a high seabed seismic amplitude above a chimney of chaotic seismic reflections and data wipe out the mud volcanoes in the study area shows two distinct clusters located over deeper structural culminations four active mud volcanoes area 1 are located above a rollover anticline in the central part of the area cuspate listric faults reach the seabed on the up slope side of these mud volcanoes four abandoned mud volcanoes have also been identified with progressively older ages towards the crest of the underlying structure these abandoned features are associated with an extremely chaotic seismic signature a combination of over pressured carrier beds and low integrity top seals are believed to be responsible for the formation of these mud volcanoes it is further believed that gas expansion subsequent to seal failure was the main driving force for what must have been violent eruptions the long lived mud volcano activity over the deep structural closure suggests a plumbing system that focuses on escaping compaction water and hydrocarbons through time in the south west of the study area another cluster of five mud volcanoes is located above a shale diapir the seabed expression of the members of this cluster is more varied some show a positive relief at the seabed while others show circular depressions the largest feature represents an assemblage of many smaller mud volcanoes with a common root system their seismic expression is also different from that of area 1 with a well defined sediment wedge at surface and a shallower root system these features are believed to represent a less violent type of mud volcano characterised by ductile flow tectonic stress due to growth of the underlying diapir is thought to have played an important role during eruption in addition to focused methane escape and the low mechanical strength of the overburden

morphologies classification and genesis of pockmarks mud volcanoes and associated fluid escape features in the northern zhongjiannan basin south china sea abstract based on new high resolution multi beam bathymetry and multichannel seismic reflection data two new groups of numerous pockmarks and mud volcanoes were discovered in the northern zhongjiannan basin at water depths between 600 and 1400 m individual pockmarks are circular elliptical crescent shaped or elongated with diameters ranging from several hundreds to thousands of meters and tens or hundreds of meters in depth and they often form groups or strings crescent pockmarks approximately 500 1500 m wide in cross section and 50 150 m deep occur widely in the southern study area both as individual features and in groups or curvilinear chains and they are more widespread and unique in this area than anywhere else in the world conical mud volcanoes mostly with kilometer wide diameters and ca 100 m high mainly develop in the northern study area as individual features or in groups seismic data show that the observed pockmarks are associated with different kinds of fluid escape structures and conduits such as gas chimneys diapirs zones of acoustic blanking acoustic turbidity and enhanced reflections inclined faults small fractures and polygonal faults the mapped mud volcanoes appear to be fed from deep diapirs along two main conduit types the conventional conduits with downward tapering cones and another other conduit type with a narrow conduit in the lower half and emanative leakage passages in the upper half various types of pockmarks are found and a comprehensive pockmark classification scheme is proposed according to a their shape in plan view which includes circular elliptical crescent comet shape elongated and irregular b their magnitude which includes small normal giant and mega pockmarks and c their composite pattern which includes composite pockmarks pockmark strings and pockmark groups for the genesis of the crescent pockmark strings a 5 stage speculative formation model is proposed implying possible controlling factors of gravity sliding slumping fluid escape activity and sandbodies intrusion seismic data suggest that the mud volcanoes have likely undergone two episodes of evolution which include a widespread drastic formation of mud volcanoes with dome like structures a wide range of seepage occurrences and the formation of complex sediments in the first stage and the appearance of pockmarks conical mud volcanoes groups and the formation of deformed filled or broken buried complex sediments by continuous fluid flow processes during stage 2 in the pliocene and the quaternary pockmark gullies are extensively found along the slope due to the interaction of slope failure and fluid escape processes the cenozoic sedimentary cover is thin in the northern zhongjiannan basin which evolved from a late cretaceous or palaeogene oligocene rift to the neogene quaternary post rift thermal subsidence and therefore intense deep thermogenic fluid flow can easily affect the soft cenozoic sediments produce complex sediment deformation and form numerous fluid flow structures at the seafloor in particular pockmarks and mud volcanoes that dominantly emerged during the period of post rift thermal subsidence and neotectonic movement since ca 5 5 ma

sedimentary sources of the mud breccia and mud volcanic activity in the western alboran basin during the ttr 17 leg 1 cruise in the west alboran basin gravity cores were acquired from three mud volcanoes mvs dhaka carmen and the recently discovered maya this paper presents micropaleontological and radiocarbon dating results from the three mud volcanoes using cores containing mud breccias overlain by and interbedded with hemipelagic sediments at dhaka mv the mud breccia matrix contains very rare holocene planktonic foraminifera associated with abundant reworked specimens of mixed late cretaceous to mio pliocene age at carmen mv the reworked assemblage is dominated by miocene to pliocene foraminifera occurring together with rare late cretaceous species while at maya mv the mud breccia matrix is characterized by the dominance of santonian maastrichtian forms with subordinate tertiary species shallow water benthic foraminifera such as ammonia spp and elphidium spp are generally rare and randomly distributed but present at all studied sites based on these results we suggest that the main sediment source of the mud breccia extruded at dhaka carmen and maya mvs is possibly the lowermost overpressured olistostromic unit vi aquitanian burdigalian differences in the micropaleontological composition of the mud breccia matrix at different sites are most likely due to differences in the main source layer and in the plumbing systems underneath the mvs radiocarbon dating of hemipelagic sediments associated to the mud breccia allowed to define the age of the latest extrusion activities 0 27 ka to 15 6 ka bp which seem to be episodic short lived and recurrent over thousands of years

growth and demise of cold water coral ecosystems on mud volcanoes in the west alboran sea the messages from the planktonic and benthic foraminifera the dhaka and maya mud volcanoes mvs located in the mud diapir province in the western alboran basin along the moroccan coasts were cored during the ttr 17 leg 1 cruise cores were taken on the top of the volcanoes at a water depth of 370 m on the dhaka mv core ttr17 ms411g and at 410 m water depth on the maya mv core ttr17 ms419g respectively on both mud volcanoes the extruded mud breccia provides the nucleation point for the colonization and development of cold water corals and associated ecosystems two phases of cold water coral growth are observed 1 between slightly older than 4175 62 years bp and around 2230 59 years bp at dhaka and 2 between slightly older than 15583 185 years bp and around 7613 38 years bp at maya mv on the top of the maya mv only a small patch reef and or isolated corals proliferated whereas a more extended patch reef colonized the top of the dhaka mv at both sites the cold water coral developmentwas triggered by the availability of a suitable substrate for initial coral settling provided either as a firm ground or as single clasts subsequently coral growth was supported by enhanced nutrient flux possibly related to upwelling and or strong currents during the intervals of coral growth planktonic foraminiferal assemblages were dominated by neogloboquadrina incompta the decline of coral ecosystems on the mud volcanoes is accompanied at surface by a shift fromthe n incompta dominated assemblage to a globorotalia inflata dominated assemblage possibly reflecting more oligotrophic conditions this shift is coeval to the passage from wet to arid conditions at the end of the african humid period at mayamv it is interpreted as an effect of an early human impact on a fragile environment which was already stressed by desiccation at the time of the development of complex human society along the mediterranean coasts at dhaka mv

a tectonic model for the tertiary evolution of strike slip faults and rift basins in se asia abstract models for the tertiary evolution of se asia fall into two main types a pure escape tectonics model with no proto south china sea and subduction of proto south china sea oceanic crust beneath borneo a related problem is which if any of the main strike slip faults mae ping three pagodas and aliao shan red river asrr cross sundaland to the nw borneo margin to facilitate continental extrusion recent results investigating strike slip faults rift basins and metamorphic core complexes are reviewed and a revised tectonic model for se asia proposed key points of the new model include 1 the asrr shear zone was mainly active in the eocene oligocene in order to link with extension in the south china sea the asrr was less active during the miocene tens of kilometres of sinistral displacement with minor amounts of south china sea spreading centre extension transferred to the asrr shear zone 2 at least three important regions of metamorphic core complex development affected indochina from the oligocene miocene mogok gneiss belt doi inthanon and doi suthep around the asrr shear zone hence paleogene crustal thickening buoyancy driven crustal collapse and lower crustal flow are important elements of the tertiary evolution of indochina 3 subduction of a proto south china sea oceanic crust during the eocene early miocene is necessary to explain the geological evolution of nw borneo and must be built into any model for the region 4 the eocene oligocene collision of ne india with burma activated extrusion tectonics along the three pagodas mae ping ranong and klong marui faults and right lateral motion along the sumatran subduction zone 5 the only strike slip fault link to the nw borneo margin occurred along the trend of the asrr fault system which passes along strike into a right lateral transform system including the baram line

upper mississippi embayment shallow seismic velocities measured in situ abstract vertical seismic compressional and shear wave p and s wave profiles were collected from three shallow boreholes in sediment of the upper mississippi embayment the site of the 60 m hole at shelby forest tennessee is on bluffs forming the eastern edge of the mississippi alluvial plain the bluffs are composed of pleistocene loess pliocene pleistocene alluvial clay and sand deposits and tertiary deltaic marine sediment the 36 m hole at marked tree arkansas and the 27 m hole at risco missouri are in holocene mississippi river floodplain sand silt and gravel deposits at each site impulsive p and s waves were generated by man made sources at the surface while a three component geophone was locked downhole at 0 91 m intervals consistent with their very similar geology the two floodplain locations have nearly identical s wave velocity vs profiles the lowest vs values are about 130 m s 1 and the highest values are about 300 m s 1 at these sites the shear wave velocity profile at shelby forest is very similar within the pleistocene loess 12 m thick in deeper older material vs exceeds 400 m s 1 at marked tree and at risco the compressional wave velocity vp values above the water table are as low as about 230 m s 1 and rise to about 1 9 km s 1 below the water table at shelby forest vp values in the unsaturated loess are as low as 302 m s 1 vp values below the water table are about 1 8 km s 1 for the two floodplain sites the vp vs ratio increases rapidly across the water table depth for the shelby forest site the largest increase in the vp vs ratio occurs at 20 m depth the boundary between the pliocene pleistocene clay and sand deposits and the eocene shallow marine clay and silt deposits until recently seismic velocity data for the embayment basin came from eartquake studies crustal scale seismic refraction and reflection profiles sonic logs and from analysis of dispersed earthquake surface waves since 1991 seismic data for shallow sediment obtained from reflection refraction crosshole and downhole techniques have been obtained for sites at the northern end of the embayment basin the present borehole data however are measured from sites representative of large areas in the mississippi embayment therefore they fill a gap in information needed for modeling the response of the embayment to destructive seismic shaking

gas induced erosion features in the north sea pockmarks are prominent features on the seafloor at two main regions of the north sea the south fladen area and the norwegian trench the pockmarks vary in size from 5 m across to about 150 m and in depth from 1 m to about 20 m some of the features consist of several very small unit pockmarks these are probably gas induced erosion features and found only in soft finegrained marine and glaciomarine sediments they are probably caused by shallow or deep seated gas or fluid release through the seabed whereby the finest particles are thrown into suspension and redistributed by nearbottom currents on the north sea plateau a small pockmarked area has recently been found a close relationship exists here between mobile gas in the upper sediments faulting in the soft sediments and the morphology of the seabed other morphological features in the north sea such as coast parallel depressions and elongated depressions or terraces are also interpreted here as gas induced erosion products this applies yet again to the mottled seabed features which appear as patches of high reflectivity on side scan sonar records from the north sea plateau they correspond to shallow seabed depressions on the deep towed boomer records judging from reported observations from several shallow seas world wide volatile transport through the seabed is probably quite common and several morphological features are undoubtably induced by this process several erosion features of similar origin are probably common also in deep ocean basins

increased fluid flow activity in shallow sediments at the 3 km long hugin fracture in the central north sea the north sea hosts a wide variety of seafloor seeps that may be important for transfer of chemical species such as methane from the earth s interior to its exterior here we provide geochemical and geophysical evidence for fluid flow within shallow sediments at the recently discovered 3 km long hugin fracture in the central north sea although venting of gas bubbles was not observed concentrations of dissolved methane were significantly elevated up to six times background values in the water column at various locations above the fracture and microbial mats that form in the presence of methane were observed at the seafloor seismic amplitude anomalies revealed a bright spot at a fault bend that may be the source of the water column methane sediment porewaters recovered in close proximity to the hugin fracture indicate the presence of fluids from two different shallow 500m sources i a reduced fluid characterized by elevated methane concentrations and or high levels of dissolved sulfide up to 6 mmol l 1 and ii a low chlorinity fluid cl 305 mmol l 1 that has low levels of dissolved methane and or sulfide the area of the seafloor affected by the presence of methane enriched fluids is similar to the footprint of seepage from other morphological features in the north sea

large scale conical sandstone intrusions and polygonal fault systems in tranche 6 faroe shetland basin abstract kilometre scale sandstone intrusions are important components of many deep water clastic systems they result from the remobilisation and injection of sand during early stages of burial and are commonly found in fine grained mudrocks containing a pervasive polygonal fault network this paper uses three dimensional seismic data from the faroe shetland basin on the uk atlantic margin calibrated to nearby wells to examine the relationship between an extensive system of large downward tapering conical sandstone intrusions to the pervasive polygonal fault network present within the surrounding encasing host mudstones the intrusions were injected upwards during the late miocene through eocene oligocene claystones with a pre existing polygonal fault network to form conical bodies up to 300 m high within the 700 m thick claystone sequence this study shows that polygonal faults and the discordant limbs of conical sandstone intrusions form two distinct dip populations with little overlap that have average dips of 58 and 26 respectively polygonal faults display decreasing dip with increasing depth however conical sandstone intrusion dip is uniform throughout the eocene oligocene succession these observations lead us to conclude that the geometry of conical sandstone intrusions is not greatly affected by the presence of a pre existing polygonal fault network nor is it affected by increased overburden pressure with depth therefore the 10 50 dip range displayed by the limbs of conical sandstone intrusions observed within the study area is a fundamental property of conical sandstone intrusions the presence of a widespread region of conical sandstone intrusions in the faroe shetland basin has important implications for vertical fluid migration in the region the eocene oligocene claystones in the region have very low permeability but the presence of large scale conical sandstone intrusions and any possible feeder systems is likely to provide high permeability fluid conduits through this sequence in effect the otherwise good regional caprock provided by the eocene oligocene claystone sequence is breached by a network of sandstone intrusions possibly resulting in reduced hydrocarbon trapping potential beneath the seal

elongate depressions on the southern slope of the norwegian trench skagerrak morphology and evolution abstract multibeam echosounder surveys conducted on the southern slope of the norwegian trench between norway and denmark show that elongate depressions interpreted as current modified pockmarks are widespread in water depths of 100 500 m in the holocene recent succession the long axes of the depressions are oriented at an angle of about 15 downslope relative to the depth contours the long axes appear to almost exactly parallel the effective bottom currents in this part of the skagerrak the present current directions were probably established about 4000 years ago following a major shift in the oceanographic circulation pattern the most characteristic feature of the depressions is their large size with maximum depths of 45 m widths of 400 m and lengths of 2 km strong bottom currents continuously transport particles thrown into suspension by the seepage process away from the pockmarks and prevent further deposition continuous seepage of shallow gas at fixed pockmark sites over long time periods combined with generally high sedimentation rates are thought to be responsible for the exceptional size of many depressions the shallow gas probably has a mixed biogenic thermogenic origin however the thermogenic component is considered to be most important for the formation of pockmarks seepage from permeable layers in the jurassic cretaceous bedrock is evidenced by linear rows of depressions above these horizons while pockmarks above sub surface faults indicate gas seeps also from there in shallow water areas the shape and size of pockmarks are locally dependent on their location with respect to giant sand waves which trend sub parallel to the depth contours and are interpreted to be of late weichselian to early holocene age in deeper water areas the pockmarks have been further modified by gravity slides caused by collapse of steep pockmark walls

pockmarks and the recent geology of the central section of the norwegian trench a small area of 3 1 km2 in the norwegian trench has been selected for a detailed analysis of possible relationships between the recent geology and the formation of pockmarks two sets of side scan sonar and deep towed boomer dts data were used for the analysis the most recent deposit is unit 1 consisting of finely layered soft silty clays unit 1 has been divided into three seismic subunits 1a 1b and 1c based upon the boomer records the underlying unit 2 is seismically homogeneous consisting of stiff silty sandy clay with fragments of chalk most of the irregularities in the surface of unit 2 are found to be furrows traversing the study area in a n s general direction the seabed is heavily pockmarked mean density 30 km2 and some of the pockmarks are asymmetric with steep ese walls the maximum pockmark depth within the study area is 5 8 m and the maximum wall angle is about 12 in addition to describing the recent geology and surface pockmarks the following features are described and their relationship with pockmark formation discussed 1 sloping reflectors found below some of the pockmarks 2 columnar disturbances seen under many of the buried pockmarks and 3 masked reflectors intermittent strong reflectors found within subunit 1a which are probably caused by a raised gas concentration in porous layers pockmarks and associated features are assumed to be caused by gas escaping through the seabed a possible gas migration mechanism through the interface between units 1 and 2 and through unit 1 is also discussed

determination of shallow shear wave velocity at mississippi embayment sites using vertical seismic profiling data we used vertical seismic profiling vsp data collected in shallow bore holes about 40 60 m deep to determine the shear wave velocity at four sites in the mississippi embayment in southwestern tennessee the source was an air powered hammer that produces repeatable sh waves which were recorded by source monitor geophones deployed on the surface very close to the source three approaches were used to determine interval velocities an approximate zero offset method a layer stripping method and a waveform matching method the first two methods use arrival time picks whereas the latter is based on the fit of synthetic vsp data to the first half cycle approximately of each trace the advantage of this method over the other two is that it uses a segment of the data rather than a single data point there fore the velocities determined using the waveform matching method are better con strained and are not affected by picking errors which may translate into significant spurious velocity variations the source wavelets recorded by one of the monitor geophones and the velocity model computed with the layer stripping method were used to generate synthetic vertical seismic profiling data for comparison with the actual data then the model velocities were modified interactively one layer at a time until a satisfactory match was achieved this required including attenuation in the computation of the synthetic data the four sites investigated in this study can be divided into two groups low velocity sites shelby farms and covington and high velocity sites brownsville and jackson these last two sites are at larger dis tances from the embayment axis than the other two which means that the difference in velocities probably corresponds to the presence of different geologic units good agreements between the lithology in the boreholes and the velocity profiles were obtained for all the four sites

geological development of the central and south vietnamese margin implications for the establishment of the south china sea indochinese escape tectonics and cenozoic volcanism abstract the vietnamese margin forms a key region to the understanding of escape tectonics and the development of the south china sea scs the existing geological reconstructions of the region are restricted to studies of single basins are based on limited amounts of geophysical data or analysis of onshore geological features these models are critically assessed on the basis of interpretation of the most comprehensive 2 d digital seismic database published to date within the area combined with a thorough analysis of existing literature and a new model is presented the vietnamese margin is underlain by a series of paleogene rift basins established through southeastward extrusion of indochina the east vietnam boundary fault evbf forms the almost 1000 km long seaward continuation of the left lateral ailao shan red river shear zone asrrsz toward the southern half of the phu khanh basin the evbf breaks up into discrete segments and splays into the se directed tua hoa fault zone paleogene faults splayed from the evbf and the mae ping shear zone and accommodated the coeval motion of these two major left lateral structural lineaments during the late oligocene basin inversions offshore occurred contemporaneously with initial right lateral inversion along the mae ping shear zone and the onset of major uplift of the metamorphic core complexes along the asrrsz it is suggested that a dramatic change of the regional stress pattern occurred in response to the northward movement of india and the effective coupling of the west burma block and india the later resulting in broadening of the indenting continental mass after the mid oligocene left lateral movements across the offshore evbf decreased and eventually ceased later onshore sinistral movements were accommodated by internal shortening and local clockwise block rotations within the shan thai terrain renewed rifting offshore south vietnam resulted from the jump of the scs spreading axis and subsequent neogene southwestward propagation of continental break up the neogene opening of the scs is viewed as a consequence of a slab pull associated with subduction of the proto scs underneath borneo as offshore neogene escape tectonism had virtually ceased during this phase of rifting right lateral transtension is inferred along n to nw oriented fault zones in the phu khanh and the nam con son basins rifting and by inference seafloor spreading continued until the end of middle miocene time although at significantly reduced rates during the final 5 10 ma termination of seafloor spreading is marked by a distinct latest middle miocene unconformity in the nam con son and the southern phu khanh basins neogene volcanism resulted in the build up of several magmatic structures across the central and south vietnamese margin and induced reactivation of older faults in the phu khanh basin the offshore magmatism heralded widespread volcanism onshore southern indochina associated with a latest neogene uplift and denudation event the uplift led to significantly increased siliciclastic accumulation rates offshore which repressed widespread carbonate deposition

the morphologies and genesis of mega pockmarks near the xisha uplift south china sea pockmarks are normally regarded to be manifestations of fluids escape through the seabed kilometer wide depressions here called mega pockmarks occur as widespread features near the xisha uplift northern south china sea most of the pockmarks observed in this area are multi kilometers and much larger than normal pockmarks reported worldwide the maximum diameter observed is 3210 m and the maximum depth observed is 165 2 m based on multibeam data and 2d seismic data the pockmarks are circular elliptical and crescentic in plan view seismic profiles show that the genesis of pockmarks is related to fluid gas and or pore water escape according to the fluids pathways the pockmarks fall into four types 1 gas chimney related 2 depositional boundary related 3 gas chimney and inclined structure fault related 4 inclined structure related bottom currents are strong and complex in the study area the multibeam data and seismic profiles indicate that they may play an important role on extension maintenance and shaping of pockmarks the research of the study area is in its initial stage and the identification of these features as indicators of fluid flow is probably useful for hydrocarbon exploration c 2011 elsevier ltd all rights reserved

high resolution 3d seismic data indicate focussed fluid migration pathways above polygonal fault systems of the mid norwegian margin seismic attribute analysis and interpretation of high resolution 3d and 2d seismic data reveal focussed fluid flow processes through the gas hydrate stability zone ghsz at the northern flank of the giant storegga slide diffusive fluid migration predominantly starts from a widespread polygonal fault system in fine grained sediments of the miocene kai formation the overlying 600 700 m thick plio pleistocene naust formation shows spatially related soft sediment deformation and overlying fluid conduits a low relief antiform structure connects to an overlying 250 m high 300 m wide and 3 km elongated columnar zone where seismic signatures suggest self enhanced permeability i e natural hydraulic fracturing push down effects create an elongated depression caused by increased gas accumulations where a cluster of vertical cylindrical acoustic pipe structures originates these pipe clusters pierce the ghsz and indicate focussed fluid flow pathways originating from potentially overpressured sediments high seismic reflection amplitudes at the seafloor above the pipe structures may indicate pockmarks with authigenic carbonates and or gas hydrates the observed objects and seismic features presented are not stand alone indicators for fluid flow but a joint perspective illustrates that they are vertically tied together providing new insights to the effects of focussed fluid flow

electrical resistivity used to measure liquefaction of sand laboratory data is presented to show that liquefaction of cohesionless soils can be evaluated by electrical resistivity techniques in addition this same material can be monitored by electrical resistivity techniques during energy input and subsequent stabilization the instrumentation used in this study can be adapted to field measurements the results resistivity measurements in this investigation are repeatable and increase with increasing energy input applications of this work include soil improvement techniques such as deep dynamic compaction

carbonate hosted shallow submarine and burial hydrothermal mineralization in the upper mississippian big cove formation port au port peninsula western newfoundland strata bound sulfide zn pb fe and sulfate ba sr mineralization occurs in upper mississippian arundian holkerian limestone primarily bryozoan microbial mounds of the big cove formation on the port au port peninsula western newfoundland stages of host rock petrogenesis and mineralization are compared by integrating structure stratigraphy petrography and geochemistry fluid inclusions and c o s sr and pb isotopes strata bound mineralization is linked to fault controlled fluid flow through ordovician basement carbonate and into porous mississippian host rock with subsequent fluid migration bounded by stratigraphic permeability barriers mineralization is preferentially juxtaposed to deposits of mississippian gypsum the most likely source of sulfate the 87 s 86 sr ratios in calcite associated with mineralization suggest that fluids were most likely generated from or had undergone isotopic exchange with lower paleozoic strata including potentially metalliferous shale the integrated database underscores a potentially rapid mineralizing system of late mississippian 343 330 ma age evidence for isotopic exchange brings a permo pennsylvanian 250 300 ma age derived from lead isotope modeling into question minor syndepositional mineralization is characterized by fe oxide stained omission surfaces within well oxidized hyposaline lithofacies possibly documenting incipient hydrothermal activity and subsequent marcasite mineralization related to introduction of hydrothermal 60 degrees 120 degrees c brines into a very restricted hyposaline or lacustrine setting during faulting prominent zn pb sulfides sphalerite galena and subsequent ba sr sulfates barite celestite with intergrown marcasite and calcite have a shallow burial 30 m origin fluids were variably hot 110 degrees 190 degrees c mg poor brines 20 25 wt nacl equiv pyrite gossans mark a last stage of mineralization the delta 34 s values increase with the general successon of sulfide 4 to 12ppm sulfate 20 32ppm and then pyrite 32ppm mineralization similar to a rayleigh distillation process in a closed mineralizing system mineralization on the port au port peninsula is similar to mississippian hosted irish zn pb deposits there is an association with normal faults prominent epigenetic mineralization and a similar age this commonality may reflect late mississippian tectonic instability within the paleohemispheric fault system that linked eastern canada and ireland

geological evolution regional perspectives and hydrocarbon potential of the northwest phu khanh basin offshore central vietnam abstract seismic stratigraphic and structural analyses of the northwest phu khanh basin offshore central vietnam based on 2 d seismic data indicate that the initial rifting began during the latest cretaceous or palaeogene controlled by left lateral transtension along the east vietnam boundary fault zone evbfz and northwest southeast directed extension east of the evbfz rifting stopped due to transpression during middle oligocene times but resumed by left lateral transtension during the late oligocene thick sequences of lacustrine and alluvial sediments were deposited during the palaeogene rift periods the late oligocene rifting ended due to inversion triggered by right lateral wrenching near the palaeogene neogene boundary following the onset of this inversion regional uplift and volcanism took place in the southern half of the study area and contemporaneous subsidence and transgression took place farther north leading to widespread carbonate deposition as the right lateral wrenching decreased during the early neogene thermal subsidence and siliciclastic sedimentation became dominant resulting in the buildup and southward propagation of the shelf slope sediment accumulation and subsidence rates increased after the middle miocene times due to eastward tilting of central vietnam and the adjacent offshore area potential direct hydrocarbon indicators dhis in the phu khanh basin include common amplitude anomalies gas chimney like features and seafloor gas seeps in addition oil seeps are found at dam thi nai immediately landward of the basin geochemical analyses of the oil seeps indicate the existence of at least two early to peak mature source rocks maturation modelling combined with the seismic analysis suggests the likely presence of oil kitchens 40 50 km downdip in the basin and a fairly simple oil migration route the basin is probably charged from lacustrine syn rift mudstones humic coals and fore reef marls potential reservoirs are turbidite lowstand delta shelf and coastal sandstones as well as platform and reef carbonates and fractured basement various structural and stratigraphic traps formed during the palaeogene and early neogene prior to the main stage of petroleum generation

seismic ground motions from a bolide shock wave 1 an intensely brilliant bolide accompanied by an audible sonic boom occurred on the night of 3 november 2003 2150 lt or 4 november 2003 0350 ut in northeastern arkansas the sonic boom was well recorded by 22 three component stations of the center for earthquake research and information cooperative seismic network arrival times and wave polarizations were used to reconstruct the acoustic wave front propagating across the network and to estimate trajectory parameters of the bolide a grid search location technique constrains the trajectory and gives a reference height of 50 100 km above the southern edge of the network an azimuth of propagation of 270 290 toward the northwest and a plunge of 38 48 downward the trajectory and date of the bolide event are consistent with a taurid shower meteor transient ground motions from the sonic boom were studied using plane wave cagniard dehoop and propagator matrix theory for an incident pressure pulse impinging on a layered elastic earth model general characteristics of the vertical and radial polarization and wave frequency content require acoustic coupling within a thin 10 m near surface layer with low p wave 0 25 km s and s wave 0 125 km s velocities ground motions are generally confined to this near surface layer are not sensitive to deeper earth structure within the mississippi embayment unconsolidated sediments and display both leaky mode pl a type of dispersed p type seismic wave and locked mode rayleigh wave propagation acoustic wave ground motion coupling studies may be a useful way to analyze near surface site responses to determine velocity structure in earthquake shaking hazard studies