on estimating crystal shape for crystal size distribution analysis abstract the accurate determination of three dimensional crystal habit long intermediate short axis is a requirement to enable correct stereological conversion of 2d crystal size measurements to true 3d crystal size distributions csds in this contribution we introduce a database and spreadsheet program which provides an objective estimate of true crystal habit from raw 2d measurements the database compares the sample s 2d measurements with 2d shape curves for random sections through 703 different habits the output gives the five best match curves and corresponding crystal habits based on a least squares fit between sample and database the minimum sample size required to give good shape estimates from 2d data is tested using random runs of sections through known shapes with different population densities at minimum 75 crystal sections are required to robustly determine crystal habit for csd measurements if crystals are tabular in shape with more acicular shapes requiring a minimum of 250 sections suggesting a sample size of 250 sections to be used for shape determination in natural examples where the true 3d shape is unknown the crystal habit of the best match shape can then be used to provide a more robust csd analysis which in turn can be used to investigate magmatic processes with more certainty

sandstone vs carbonate petroleum reservoirs a global perspective on porosity depth and porosity permeability relationships plots are presented comparing average porosity vs depth for 30 122 siliciclastic petroleum reservoirs and 10 481 carbonate petroleum reservoirs covering all petroleum producing countries except canada however separate plots cover 5534 siliciclastic and 2830 carbonate reservoirs of the alberta basin in canada average permeability vs average porosity is shown for the non canadian reservoirs key similarities and differences between sandstones and carbonates are noted and implications are discussed regarding the dominant factors controlling reservoir quality in each lithology trends of steadily decreasing median and maximum porosity with increasing depth reflect burial diagenetic porosity loss in response to increasing thermal exposure with depth these trends seem inconsistent with the suggestions that both sandstones and carbonates commonly increase in porosity by dissolution during deeper burial carbonate reservoirs have lower values of median and maximum porosity for a given burial depth probably because of greater chemical reactivity of carbonate minerals relative to quartz and the resulting lower resistance to chemical compaction and associated cementation relative paucity of low porosity 0 8 siliciclastic reservoirs at all depths compared with carbonates may reflect the more common occurrence of fractures in carbonates and the effectiveness of these fractures for facilitating economic flow rates in low porosity rock overall carbonate reservoirs do not have lower permeability for a given porosity compared with sandstones but do have strikingly lower proportions of both high porosity and high permeability values the data presented can serve as a general guide for the distribution of reservoir quality that can reasonably be expected in exploration wells drilled to any given depth in the absence of detailed geologic information such as burial and thermal history

classification of dolomite rock textures abstract dolomite rock textures can be classified according to crystal size distribution and crystal boundary shape the classification scheme presented here is largely descriptive but carries genetic implications because size distribution is controlled by both nucleation and growth kinetics and crystal boundary shape is controlled by growth kinetics size distributions are classified as unimodal or polymodal crystal boundary shapes are classified as planar or nonplanar if the evidence permits a complete classification includes a description of recognizable allochems matrix and void filling allochems and preexisting cements may be unreplaced partially replaced replaced mimically or replaced nonmimically allochems may be dissolved leaving molds matrix can be unreplace partially replaced or replaced by a unimodal or polymodal size dolomite unimodal size distributions generally indicated a single nucleation event on a unimodal substrate polymodal sizes can be formed by multiple nucleation events on a unimodal or polymodal substrate or differential nucleation on an originally polymodal substrate planar crystal boundaries develop when crystals undergo faceted growth and nonplanar boundaries develop when crystals undergo nonfaceted growth nonplanar boundaries are characteristic of growth at elevated temperature 50 c and or high supersaturation both planar and nonplanar dolomite can form as a cement replacement of caco3 or neomorphism of a precursor dolomite

a transform continental margin rich in hydrocarbons gulf of california conventional and near bottom geophysical surveys mapped shallow deformational structures and sediment accumulation patterns along part of the actively shearing continental margin of sonora including the intersection with a guaymas basin spreading center the principal strike slip faults occupy a zone 1 2 km 0 6 1 2 mi wide along the lower slope with a ridge of tightly folded sediments raised by uplift of sheared basement at the abrupt boundary between continental and oceanic crust this transform ridge and a continental rise on its seaward slope grows as the fault zone ages away from the spreading center intersection shoaling at a net rate of 500 m m y 1 600 ft m y despite erosion of its crest a clathrate horizon in the upper 80 m 260 ft of sediment is inferre from bottom simulating reflectors in the rise and lower slope hydrocarbon seeps occur at 1 600 m 1 mi below sea level along the crest of the transform ridge and patchy gas accumulation and seepage are recognized on a young marginal plateau

waveform analysis of scholte modes in ocean sediment layers summary in an effort to determine the characteristics of seismic noise on the ocean bottom and its relationship to the structure of the sea floor we have adapted the method of nonlinear waveform fitting to accommodate multidimensional models shear velocity j and shear damping qs and have applied it to invert several records of interface waves scholte 1958 from the thumper experiment off southern california waveform fitting is a very powerful tool to determine the s velocity in the top few metres of the sediment starting from 30 m s l at the top clay layer the s velocity increases with a gradient of 2 8 m sk1 m over the first 150 m of sediment a theoretical estimation of the source strength gives coherent estimates of qs as a function of depth for distances between 400 and 1070m from the source the qs models are characterized by very low values 10 20 in the top three metres but by values in excess of 100 below that level the results confirm the identification of the noise as harmonics of interface waves in the area of this experiment the largest noise amplitudes belong to the fundamental mode and penetrate to a depth of about 20 m into the sediment the overtone energy can be appreciable too and is noticeable to about 80m depth the qs structure confirms the strong influence that the sea floor structure has on the noise spectrum the high attenuation at frequencies above 3 4 hz suppresses noise propagation and produces low noise at higher frequencies similarly high attenuation in the asthenosphere suppresses noise propagation below 0 1 hz

the source and evolution of paleofluids responsible for secondary minerals in low permeability ordovician limestones of the michigan basin abstract in this study we report on the source and evolution of fluids associated with secondary vein and replacement minerals in low permeability carbonate units in the michigan basin this petrogenetic information was collected using thermometric data from fluid inclusions combined with c o and sr isotope data and focuses on mm or cm wide vein and vug minerals from ordovician limestones of the trenton and black river groups and cambrian sandstones in sw ontario canada primary fluid inclusions in dolomite represent fluid stage i and have the highest trapping temperatures ttrap in the sedimentary succession between 88 and 128 c primary inclusions in calcite stage ii and celestine and anhydrite stage iii represent the final stages of secondary mineral formation and have ttrap values of 54 78 c all three stages of vein minerals formed from brines with salinities of 31 37 wt cacl2 nacl eq that were saturated in halite and methane gas at the time of mineral growth three subsequent stages of secondary fluid inclusions were observed in the samples stages iv vi however no secondary vein minerals formed during these stages and they are interpreted as re mobilization and or minor fluid ingress along grain boundaries and micro fractures notably stage iv secondary inclusions are gas undersaturated with salinities of 32 34 wt cacl2 nacl eq and minimum ttrap values of 57 106 c and are interpreted to have formed during a late devonian mississippian regional heating event secondary minerals from the cambrian units and the shadow lake formation have 13c values of 6 1 to 2 5 vpdb 18o values of 14 6 to 24 2 vsmow and 87sr 86sr of 0 70975 0 71043 relative shifts of approximately 2 to 3 in 13c 4 in 18o and 0 002 in 87sr 86sr are observed upward across the boundary between the cambrian shadow lake units and the overlying gull river formation samples from the gull river and coboconk formations and the trenton group kirkfield sherman fall and cobourg formations have 13c values of 1 0 to 1 9 18o values of 18 9 to 28 1 and 87sr 86sr values of 0 70790 0 70990 the combined microthermometric and isotopic data for secondary minerals in the cambrian shadow lake units suggest they formed from hydrothermal brine with a geochemical signature obtained by interaction with the underlying precambrian shield or shield derived minerals in the cambrian sandstones previous u pb dating of vein calcite and rb sr dating of secondary k feldspar from the region suggests that brine ingress occurred during the late ordovician silurian the o and sr isotope variability in vein samples from the gull river and coboconk formations is interpreted as localized mixing of 18o enriched connate fluids with hydrothermal brine in comparison isotopic data for the trenton group indicate secondary mineral formation from connate fluids sourced from 18o enriched evolved seawater and or modified hydrothermal brine that experienced fluid rock interaction during transit through the underlying stratigraphy

dolomite reservoirs porosity evolution and reservoir characteristics systematic analyses of the published record of dolomite reservoirs worldwide reveal that the majority of hydrocarbon producing dolomite reservoirs occurs in 1 peritidal dominated carbonate 2 subtidal carbonate associated with evaporitic tidal flat lagoon 3 subtidal carbonate associated with basinal evaporite and 4 nonevaporitic carbonate sequence associated with topographic high unconformity platform margin buildup or fault fracture reservoir characteristics vary greatly from one dolomite type to another depending upon the original sediment fabric the mechanism by which dolomite was formed and the extent to which early formed dolomite was modified by postdolomitization diagenetic processes e g karstification fracturing and burial corrosion this paper discusses the origin of dolomite porosity and demonstrates the porosity evolution and reservoir characteristics of different dolomite types

structurally controlled hydrothermal dolomite reservoir facies an overview structurally controlled hydrothermal dolomite htd reservoir facies and associated productive leached limestones are major hydrocarbon producers in north america and are receiving increased exploration attention globally they include multiple trends in the ordovician locally silurian and devonian of the michigan appalachian and other basins of eastern canada and the united states and in the devonian and mississippian of the western canada sedimentary basin they also occur in jurassic hosts along rifted atlantic margins in the jurassic cretaceous of the arabian gulf region and elsewhere hydrothermal dolomitization is defined as dolomitization occurring under burial conditions commonly at shallow depths by fluids typically very saline with temperature and pressure t and p higher than the ambient t and p of the host formation the latter commonly is limestone proof of a hydrothermal origin for htd reservoir facies requires integration of burial thermal history plots fluid inclusion temperature data and constraints on timing of emplacement hydrothermal dolomite reservoir facies are part of a spectrum of hydrothermal mineral deposits that include sedimentary exhalative lead zinc ore bodies and htd hosted mississippi valley type sulfide deposits all three hydrothermal deposits show a strong structural control by extensional and or strike slip wrench faults with fluid flow typically focused at transtensional and dilational structural sites and in the hanging wall transtensional sags above negative flower structures on wrench faults are favored drilling sites for htd reservoir facies saddle dolomite in both replacive and void filling modes is characteristic of htd facies for many reservoirs matrix replacive dolomite and saddle dolomite appear to have formed near contemporaneously and from the same fluid and temperature conditions the original host facies exerts a major influence on the lateral extent of dolomitization resultant textures pore type and pore volume breccias zebra fabrics shear microfractures and other rock characteristics record short term shear stress and pore fluid pressure transients particularly proximal to active faults high temperature hydrothermal pulses may alter kerogen in host limestones a process designated forced maturation basement highs underlying sandstone and or carbonate aquifers probably overpressured and overlying and internal shale seals and aquitards also may constrain or influence htd emplacement although many questions and uncertainties remain particularly in terms of mg and brine source and mass balance recognition and active exploration of the htd play continues to expand increasing use of three dimensional seismic imagery and seismic anomaly mapping combined with horizontal drilling oblique to linear trends defined by structural sags helps to reduce risk

estimating the diminution of shear wave amplitude with distance application to the los angeles california urban area the rate of decay with distance of shear wave amplitude computed from 20 sec s wave spectra is determined from terrascope records of small earthquakes in the greater los angeles area piecewise log linear interpolation functions and traditional diminution functions are used to fit spectral decay to a maximum distance of 150 km simultaneously isotropic source and receiver terms are determined separate branches of the spectral decay function are found for two categories of source depth greater than 10 km and less than 10 km in the hypocentral distance range of 20 to 150 km and in the frequency range of 0 5 to 8 0 hz an important result of the investigation is that the horizontal component decay rate associated with deeper crustal sources is generally greater than that associated with shallower sources and is greater than that which is estimated using more traditional models of spectral decay with distance the same behavior generally holds for vertical component spectra the variation in apparent attenuation rate with source depth should affect seismic hazard estimates associated with the rupture of blind thrust faults in the los angeles basin and vicinity the results of the inversions suggest that interpolation function representations of spectral decay are sensitive to perturbations of s wave amplitude due to crustal reflectors such as post critical s wave arrivals from mid crustal to deep crustal velocity interfaces

early development and late preservation of porosity linked to presence of hydrocarbons in precambrian microbialite gas reservoirs within the sichuan basin southern china abstract the ancient ediacaran dengying formation consists of microbialites with unusually high porosity that represent a large proportion of the weiyuan anyue gas reservoirs in southwestern china s sichuan basin however a clear model for the development and preservation of these microbialite reservoirs has yet not been determined we used samples from outcrops and borehole cores to characterize these microbialites and propose a model for early development and subsequent reservation of their porosity primary porosity in the microbialite framework was mainly represented by fenestrate vugs and elongated cavities between microbial layers that were formed during initial sedimentation as well as secondary karst vugs and caves formed by meteoric karst resulting from subsequent tectonic uplift these features represent the early development of the microbialite reservoirs subsequent filling of vugs by early stage radial dolomite rd and late stage saddle dolomite sd occurred during the deep burial stage with 18o and homogenization temperature patterns suggesting continuous cementation however most vugs were not cemented due to combination of 1 a rigid dolomitized framework 2 a closed burial system restricting the flow of mineralized fluid 3 the presence of petroleum or pyrobitumen and 4 acidic fluid conditions related to high concentrations of h2s and co2 the third and fourth factors were linked to presence of hydrocarbons and had made big contribution to porosity retention during deep burial diagenetic stage

distribution of porosity and permeability in platform dolomites insight from the permian of west texas saller and henderson 1998 presented an article concerning porosity and permeability variations in two west texas oil fields north riley and south cowden fields these fields occur within dolomitized permian platform carbonates near the basinward shelf edge of the central basin platform a paleogeographic element that influenced permian deposition in west texas their carefully documented study outlines several anomalous aspects concerning porosity distribution they noted in particular that porosity distribution is not strictly facies dependent but that porosity tends to increase in a basinward direction they suggested that porosity developed largely during dolomitization by the action of hypersaline evaporative fluids that flowed downdip in a basinward direction during the permian these brines were generated in restricted shelf interior lagoons and moved downdip parallel with bedding in a shallow reflux type of hydrologic system driven by subsurface fluid density differences in the permian clear fork and grayburg formations as shown here in figure 1 see figure 18 in saller and henderson 1998 figure 1 part a shows the scenario proposed by saller and henderson 1998 for porosity creation dolomitization and dolomite cementation of the permian clear fork and grayburg formations of west texas they suggested that macrodissolution of calcium carbonate occurred contemporaneously with dolomitization and dolomite cementation this process of brine backreaction however would cause a net increase of porosity in the shelf interior the opposite of what is observed part b shows a two stage scenario proposed here to circumvent the problem of limestone macrodissolution by shelf interior brines that must have been initially in approximate bulk equilibrium with calcium carbonate the first stage records dolomitization by replacement of limestone with little macrodissolution in stage two evaporative shelf interior brines may have evolved in equilibrium with dolomite only and became undersaturated with calcite and aragonite reflux migration of these brines downdip may

oceanic ridge subduction vs slab break off plate tectonic evolution along the baja california sur continental margin since 15 ma the interaction of the pacific farallon spreading centers with the north american convergent margin off baja california mexico supposedly ceased at 12 ma when plate convergence and seafloor spreading stopped we propose a new geodynamic evolution based on full bathymetry coverage and magnetic profiles from 23 n to 27 n famex cruise of the r v l9atalante april 2002 the data unveil a major clockwise rotation of the pacific farallon spreading direction starting ca 14 ma that formed a series of short spreading centers that became extinct ca 8 7 ma we suggest that the transcurrent motion between the pacific and north america along baja california was accommodated by seafloor spreading and oblique convergence along the trench this change in spreading direction was followed by a concomitant progressive demise of both pacific farallon seafloor spreading and farallon north america subduction that are attributed to the break off of the farallon slab this also resulted in the opening of a trench parallel slab window beneath baja california

saddle dolomite as a by product of chemical compaction and thermochemical sulfate reduction petrographic stable and radiogenic isotope trace element and fluid inclusion data from the devonian nisku reef trend in the subsurface of alberta canada suggest that saddle dolomite was a by product of chemical compaction and thermochemical sulfate reduction in subsiding dolomitized rocks furthermore thermochemical sulfate reduction may be representative of other processes that increase the amount of saddle dolomite via an increase in carbonate alkalinity the data also confirm that saddle dolomite is most likely to form at elevated temperatures from hypersaline brines

pressure solution features in a shallow buried limestone abstract three distinct types of pressure solution features are found in the alpena limestone devonian michigan stylolites solution seams and fitted fabric texture the style of pressure solution is different in grainstones packstones and wackestones the difference is interpreted to be the result of preferential cementation of the grainstones well cemented grainstones typically have stylolites whereas solution seams and fitted fabric texture are more common in poorly cemented grainstones packstones and wackestones pressure solution occurs at e80 percent of the lithologic transitions this is probably due to competency contrasts between adjacent units that material dissolved at pressure solution surfaces is not locally reprecipitated is indicated by porous allochems which abut against stylolites and units of abundant intergranular pressure solution fitted fabric texture which lack cement the style of pressure solution in the alpena limestone and its relationship to cementation is also observed in the tuscarora quartz arenite silurian appalachian basin

do microplates in subduction zones leave a geological record active microplate boundaries in ocean continent subduction zones may induce deformation of the overlying plate and spatial or geochemical variations in the volcanic arc we discuss two modern cases the first is the south gorda juan de fuca plate boundary in the cascadia subduction zone where there is little or no effect on the overriding plate and the oceanic plate takes up much of the deformation the second case is the cocos rivera plate boundary in the middle america trench where the overlying colima graben contains substantial deformation in a zone extending from the trench to the volcanic arc and the sub duction related volcanism is spatially and geochemically complex we apply these observations to boundaries of the arguello monterey guadalupe and magdalena microplates which existed in the subduction zone west of baja california at various times from 20 to 12 5 ma the past positions of these boundaries relative to baja california are constrained by global plate reconstructions closure of the gulf of california and an estimate of extension in the mexican basin and range province existing regional mapping and our additional reconnaissance mapping show that paleocene to eocene fluvial and marine sedimentary rocks south of ensenada along the western baja california peninsula and eastward to the mid miocene volcanic arc are undeformed limited available data reveal no major spatial or geochemical variations in the mid miocene volcanic arc that might correlate with the past positions of the microplate boundaries thus these microplate boundaries had little to no effect on the overriding continental plate the nature of guadalupe and magdalena interactions with north america may have been closer to the south gorda juan de fuca example with possible internal deformation of the microplates the monterey and arguello microplates may have behaved like the modern explorer plate with largely strike slip motion relative to north america during their last stages of existence tectonic patterns similar to these examples may be expected from other plate boundaries where a plate is fragmenting as it enters a subduction zone e g the aluk plate in the trench beneath west antarctica in early tertiary time whether these microplates subsequently become attached to the overriding continental plate or to a larger oceanic plate and whether this causes deformation in the region of the former subduction zone may depend on the velocities of the nearby major plates and the relative orientations of the microplate boundaries

effects of progressive burial on matrix porosity and permeability of dolostones in the foreland basin of the alpine orogen switzerland abstract the changes in rock matrix porosity and permeability that carbonate reservoirs undergo with increasing burial depth are poorly understood this lack of understanding raises the risks involved in exploring and engineering deep reservoirs for geo energy applications to provide more insight into compaction processes the present study examines the effects of progressive burial on two dolomitized mudstone units belonging to the middle triassic muschelkalk within the swiss molasse basin situated in the foreland of the alpine orogen based on investigations of wireline logs and drill cores retrieved from up to 5000 m depth we report the burial modification of crystal textures pore sizes pore geometries and their impact on matrix porosity and permeability within the first 1500 m below surface porosity is found to drop from 40 2 to 18 1 vol and permeability drops from 105 15 to 1 md at depths 3000 m porosity and permeability maintain nearly constant values of 6 2 vol and 1900 m mechanical compaction is inactive and pressure solution at crystal contacts and along stylolites both diagenetic and tectonic without any associated cementation accounts for porosity loss at depths 3000 m collapse of pores by pressure solution is compounded by pore clogging by hydrothermal dolomite introduced by external fluids throughout the entire depth range stylolitization incrementally thins the formations however the dissolved material is not locally reprecipitated

the convection electric field in auroral substorms dynamics explorer 2 de 2 electric field and ion drift data are used in a statistical study of the ionospheric convection electric field in bulge type auroral substorms thirty one individual de 2 substorm crossings were carefully selected and organized by the use of global auroral images obtained by de 1 the selected passes which occurred during substorm expansion phase maximum or early recovery phase cover the entire nighttime substorm the organization of the data used the method developed by fujii et al 1994 which divided the data into six local time sectors covering the nighttime substorm region following the procedures employed in the paper by gjerloev and hoffman 2000b the latitudinal width and location of each auroral oval crossing was then adjusted to fit the sector average in addition to the detailed study of the characteristics of the field within each sector this database enabled us to compile a model of the ionospheric convection electric field the characteristics of the premidnight convection reversal show a pronounced local time dependency far west of the surge it is a fairly well defined point reversal or convection shear approaching the surge and within the surge it is a region of weak electric fields increasing in width toward midnight that separates regions of equatorward and poleward electric fields therefore we adopt the term harang region rather than the harang discontinuity for the premidnight convection reversal a relatively narrow convection channel is coincident with the highest conductances located just poleward of the harang region this channel drives the substorm current wedge component of the westward electrojet in the surge and middle surge sectors it is present in all premidnight passes and consequently is an integral part of the three dimensional substorm current wedge system

dolomitization by hypersaline reflux into dense groundwaters as revealed by vertical trends in strontium and oxygen isotopes upper muschelkalk switzerland the trigonodus dolomit is the dolomitized portion of the homoclinal ramp sediments of the middle triassic upper muschelkalk in the se central european basin various dolomitizing mechanisms followed by recrystallization have been previously invoked to explain the low 18o high 87sr 86sr extensive spatial distribution and early nature of the replacive matrix dolomites this study re evaluates the origin timing and characteristics of the dolomitizing fluids by examining petrographic and isotopic trends in the trigonodus dolomit at 11 boreholes in northern switzerland in each borehole the ca 30 m thick unit displays the same vertical trends with increasing depth crystal size increase change from anhedral to euhedral textures uv fluorescence decrease 18ovpdb decrease from 1 at the top to 6 7 at the base and an 87sr 86sr increase from 0 7080 at the top to 0 7117 at the base thus dolomites at the top of the unit record isotopic values similar to middle triassic sea water 18ovsmow 0 87sr 86sr 0 70775 while dolomites at the base record values similar to meteoric groundwaters from the nearby vindelician high 18ovsmow 4 87sr 86sr 0 712 according to water rock interaction modelling a single dolomitizing or recrystallizing fluid cannot have produced the observed isotopic trends instead the combined isotopic geochemical and petrographic data can be explained by dolomitization via seepage reflux of hypersaline brines into dense horizontally advecting groundwaters that already had negative 18o and high 87sr 86sr values evidence for the early groundwaters is found in meteoric calcite cements that preceded dolomitization and in fully recrystallized dolomites with isotopic characteristics identical to the groundwaters following matrix dolomitization this study demonstrates that early groundwaters can play a decisive role in the formation and recrystallization of massive dolomites and that the isotopic and textural signatures of pre existing groundwaters can be preserved during seepage reflux dolomitization in low angle carbonate ramps

seismic evidence of a ridge parallel strike slip fault off the transform system in the gulf of california 1 a left lateral strike slip fault perpendicular to the major transform fault that occurred at the extended continental crust in the middle of the gulf of california produced a remarkably active main shock and aftershock seismic sequence that began on 1 september 2007 in contrast to observations from oceanic transform fault systems this event induced unusually active seismicity by means of an inversion procedure we obtained the moment tensor solutions of all the events greater than mw 4 4 and we observed multiple types of faulting some very similar to the main event and others that included a tensional cracking mechanism with a significant nondouble couple component static stress change for optimally oriented left lateral faults predicts the seismic activity this event has implications for the californian peninsular geology especially for the late miocene fault systems that were optimally reoriented to promote active faulting

pervasive subsurface dolomitization of the nisku formation in central alberta abstract the nisku formation in the subsurface of central alberta canada contains pervasive dolomites that occur mainly as a replacement of reefal limestones the degree of pervasive dolomitization increases downdip along a structural homocline from about 25 to 100 vol and associated replacive anhydrites increase from about 5 to 20 vol pervasive dolomites occur as two types one type consists of almost non porous and impermeable mosaics of cloudy crystals that have diameters of 5 300 microns the other type has significant intercrystalline porosity and permeability and consists of cloudy and clear crystals ranging in size from 100 500 microns cathodoluminescence zonation is rare but modulated structures observed with tem are common both types of dolomite have strong xrd ordering refl ctions and are nearly stoichiometric sr concentrations 25 125 ppm increase and mn concentrations 20 400 ppm decrease upwards in several cores the boron contents of both dolomite types 20 50 ppm are enriched relative to other diagenetic phases 18 ppm the sr isotope ratios vary from 0 7089 0 7107 and are enriched relative to devonian and younger seawater oxygen and carbon isotope ratios cluster around 5 8 permil pdb and 2 0 permil pdb respectively and are similar to those of remnant calcites from the combination of stratigraphic petrographic petrophysical and geochemical data it is inferred that both types of matrix dolomite formed contemporaneously from the same fluids in a flow regime with predominantly upward fluid movement at temperatures between about 40 50 c and at burial depths of about 300 1 000 m most anhydrites formed originally as gypsum during the advanced stages and after matrix dolomitization and later recrystallized to the anhydrites now present based on all accumulated data and on mass balance calculations at least two types of subsurface flow could have caused pervasive dolomitization and gypsification anhydritization 1 expulsion of burial compaction water i e chemically modified seawater with or without additional contributions of m bearing formation waters from deeper parts of the basin e g middle devonian brines and 2 thermal convection of formation fluids originally underlying and or overlying the nisku

early diagenesis driven by widespread meteoric infiltration of a central european carbonate ramp a reinterpretation of the upper muschelkalk abstract meteoric diagenesis of carbonate ramps is often difficult to interpret and can commonly be confused with other coinciding diagenetic processes the middle triassic upper muschelkalk of switzerland provides an insightful case in which the effects of several overprinting diagenetic environments including matrix dolomitization can be clearly unravelled previous studies suggested that diagenesis took place in connate marine waters with later meteoric waters being invoked to explain recrystallization of dolomite in this study diagenetic analyses c o stable isotope ratios thin section point counting cathodoluminescence and uv fluorescence microscopy of calcitic bioclastic samples have revealed that early diagenesis pre stylolitization and the accompanying porosity evolution did not occur exclusively in the presence of marine fluids five sequential stages of diagenesis have been identified marine shallow burial mixing zone meteoric and dolomitization marine diagenesis induced precipitation of bladed and inclusion rich syntaxial cements that fluoresce strongly under uv light both cements account for a mean 7 5 vol reduction in the porosity of bioclastic beds shallow burial diagenesis likely induced mouldic porosity and associated fluorescent dog tooth cementation based on light oxygen isotope and elevated strontium isotope ratios matrix aragonite calcite neomorphism is interpreted to have occurred in a mixture of marine and meteoric fluids the combination of shallow burial and mixing zone processes reduced porosity on average by 4 8 vol evidence for subsequent meteoric diagenesis is found in abundant dog tooth and blocky calcite cements that have mean 18 o vpdb of 9 36 and no signs of recrystallization these meteoric cements reduced porosity by a further 13 4 vol percolation of meteoric water through the ramp was driven by hydraulic gradients on an adjacent basement high which was exposed by a cycle of early ladinian regressions following meteoric diagenesis the upper muschelkalk was dolomitized by refluxing brines this complex history of diagenesis resulted in moderate porosities in dolomitized rocks up to 20 and low porosities

porosity permeability relationships in interlayered limestone dolostone reservoirs porosity and permeability data from five carbonate platform successions of different settings ages and burial depths are examined to identify overall similarities and differences in the reservoir quality of interlayered limestones and dolostones each succession consists mainly of limestone and dolostone with subordinate proportions of intermediate partly dolomitized compositions in the three deeply buried platforms the key features are that limestones have much lower average porosity than associated dolostones and that limestones and dolostones show little difference in average permeability for given porosity in contrast the shallowly buried platforms show little difference in average porosity between limestones and dolostones and also display higher average permeability for given porosity in dolostones than limestones these data suggest the following general guidelines for depositional and diagenetic controls on reservoir architecture in carbonates consisting of interlayered limestone and dolostone 1 reservoir compartmentalization by the formation of tight limestone barriers is largely a burial diagenetic process involving calcite cementation locally produced by chemical compaction 2 both the pattern of early dolomitization and the distribution of clay minerals because they influence the localization of chemical compaction are key factors that determine the distribution of tight limestone barriers separating flow units thus the pattern of eventual burial compartmentalization follows a template that is hardwired into the stratigraphic architecture by depositional mineralogy and early diagenesis 3 after burial 2 3 km 1 2 1 8 mi dolostones should not be expected to have higher permeability for given porosity than associated limestones these rules assume dolomitization to occur early relative to chemical compaction which will commonly be the case because of combined hydrologic and mass balance constraints dolomitization and concentration of clay appear linked to cycle and sequence architecture in the present examples and thus may have a useful degree of predictability at least in terms of statistical parameters such as net gross and probability of flow unit thickness distribution

epigenetic dolomitization and the origin of xenotopic dolomite texture abstract xenotopic texture which is commonly observed in pre cenozoic rocks is defined here as a mosaic of anhedral crystals with irregular or curved intercrystalline boundaries and usually undulatory extinction xenotopic dolomite texture is similar in appearance to neomorphic limestone textures idiotopic dolomite texture euhedral to subhedral crystals with straight intercrystalline boundaries contrasts with xenotopic texture and is commonly observed in both cenozoic and more ancient dolomites texture may be controlled by the temperature at which crystals grow crystal growth theory predicts that at low temperature a smooth crystal surface is energetically favored and atoms are added to crystal faces layer by layer with dislocations acting as nucleation sites this results in faceted crystals and euhedral to subhedral crystal mosaics above a critical roughening temperature crt a rough surface is energetically favored surface nucleation does not require dislocations and atoms are randomly added to the crystal surface resulting in nonfaceted growth and an anhedral crystal mosaic it is hypothesized that a critical roughening temperature exists for dolomite above 50 c xenotopic dolomites are produced by dolomitization of limestone and or neomorphic recrystallization of dolomite at elevated temperature above the crt after burial idiotopic dolomites are produced below the crt by near surface processes and are occasionally produced above crt if growth inhibiting effects of the solution or impurities stabilize crystal faces calcite has a crt below 25 c and therefore develops anhedral crystal mosaics characteristic of neomorphic texture both at near surface and at elevated temperatures synthetic xenotopic dolomite was produced in the laboratory at 250 c and 300 c by dolomitization of aragonite and calcite skeletal fragments and by recrystallization neomorphism of nonstoichiometric cenozoic dolomites xenotopic dolomite resulted from the metamorphic recrystallization of the idiotopic hueco dolomite permian texas near the marble canyon intrusion at temperatures between 350 c and 600 c hydrothermal dolomitization of periclase calcite marble near the intrusion also resulted in a xenotopic texture xenotopic dolomite in the galena group ordovician wisconsin was produced by neomorphism of a preexisting dolomite during the emplacement of lead zinc sulfides at temperatures between 80 c and 227 c in the trenton limestone ordovician michig n xenotopic dolomite replaced limestone during the migration of hot 50 c fluids along fracture systems xenotopic dolomite was not observed in cenozoic dolomites that were subjected to temperatures near surface values only

seismic wave attenuation and source excitation in la paz los cabos baja california sur mexico we present results from a regional study of seismic wave attenuation and source excitation from small magnitude earthquakes recorded at distances from 6 to 180 km in the la paz los cabos region at the south end of the baja california peninsula data were recorded using 32 strong motion seismic stations from the la paz network lap a least squares regression separating the excitation site and propagation effects was carried out we performed the analyses in the time and frequency domains and we compared these results with results from a coda normalization method the propagation term was parameterized to represent a geometrical spreading function and a frequency dependent q f at a reference distance of 40 km we estimated the regional attenuation by measuring the maximum amplitude of the s or lg waves as a function of frequency defining a continuous piecewise propagation term d r f after separating the excitation and site terms our results show that the attenuation is lower than that of central or northern mexico recorded data were of remarkably good quality despite the fact that the strong motion network recorded only small earthquakes our best model is that of a quality factor of q f 380 f 0 10 with a complex geometrical spreading function

pre pliocene extension around the gulf of california and the transfer of baja california to the pacific plate late miocene 12 5 ma extension around the edges of the gulf of california has been alternatively attributed to basin and range extension back arc extension or development of the pacific north america plate boundary this extension was ene directed and similar in structural style to extension in the basin and range province timing constraints permit nearly synchronous onset of this deformation in a belt extending sse from northernmost baja california to the mouth of the gulf where this extensional faulting continued through pliocene time to the present synchronous with motion on the modern transform plate boundary in the gulf of california no change in direction of extension can be resolved revised constraints on pacific north america plate motion support the development of this late miocene extension as a component of pacific north america displacement that could not be accommodated by strike slip displacement along the existing plate boundary west of the baja california peninsula this scenario implies that transfer of baja california from the north america plate to the pacific plate was a gradual process beginning about 12 10 ma when motion of the pacific plate relative to north america was partitioned into separate regimes of strike slip and dip slip displacement on opposite sides of baja california

a comparison between p wave and s wave propagation characteristics in the southern part of the gulf of california mexico abstract we performed a regional study of p seismic wave attenuation and source excitation from moderate size earthquakes recorded at distances ranging from 23 to 120 km off the coast of la paz baja california sur from a remarkably productive earthquake sequence that occurred in 2007 data were recorded from four strong motion seismic stations using the la paz seismic network and two broadband stations located close to the bay of la paz we compared our results with a previously reported study in the same region with virtually the same method from peninsular earthquakes using s lg seismic waves the regional attenuation was carried out by measuring the maximum amplitude of the p waves after separating the excitation and site terms from the propagation term d r f our best model of the p quality factor is q p f 53 f 0 32 in addition offshore s and scholte modes in ocean sediment layers are discussed in this article

characterization and impact on reservoir quality of fractures in the cretaceous qamchuqa formation zagros folded belt abstract reservoir quality in tight fractured carbonate rocks is controlled by the fracture properties the tectonic origin of fractures the relationship of fractures to other sedimentary features within the rockmass and diagenesis in this study fracture analysis porosity and permeability of the qamchuqa formation in the miran west block of the zagros folded belt in kurdistan has been studied this was undertaken using core analysis micro resistivity image logs drill stem tests dst mud logging data repeat formation test rft drilled cutting samples and wireline log data the integrated analysis shows that the qamchuqa formation is characterized by heterogeneous sedimentary and tectonic features the sedimentary features include burial stylolites dissolution seams and some fractures which formed at early stages of burial and diagenesis phase 1 open fractures partially open mineralized fractures veins and tectonic stylolites were formed by later tectonic activity phase 2 the finding of this study highlight that the fracture properties including aperture length frequency and origin play an important role in controlling the reservoir s quality the open fractures and partially open mineralized fractures enhance permeability providing an inter connected fracture network leading to a high fracture permeability that controls fluid flow in this tight carbonate reservoir rock the fracture network had little impact on the volume of hydrocarbon storage which is controlled by the pore matrix in contrast structures including stylolites dissolution seams and veins generally have a negative impact on the reservoir quality by blocking the fluid flow this work emphasizes the importance of understanding the regional geological history and the role of sedimentary and tectonic features when investigating in tight carbonate reservoirs