seismic and geologic characteristics of drowning events on carbonate platforms carbonate platform drowning events are recorded in upper jurassic lower cretaceous carbonates of the baltimore canyon area offshore united states east coast and lower miocene carbonates of the pearl river mouth basin offshore people s republic of china cursory examination of seismic data from both areas would indicate that the platforms fit the classic definition of a drowning unconformity however detailed lithologic and paleontologic data indicate that the depositional erosional hiatuses vary widely in each area from 0 25 m y in the baltimore canyon area to a condensed section with no hiatus in the pearl river mouth basin the sedimentary sequence produced during drowning the drowning sequence in both areas is gradational with underlying shallow platform carbo ates and in some places overlying deeper marine limestones and shales the generalized facies models proposed for drowning events suggest that they may appear as instantaneous or gradual changes in geologic and seismic data however high resolution seismic data across the baltimore canyon and pearl river mouth basins show that some drowning sequences may be masked on conventionally processed seismic sections because of this resolution problem a distinction should be made between seismically and geologically defined unconformity surfaces the geologic characteristics of drowning events on carbonate platforms include a gradational lower and sometimes upper contact chemical sedimentation glauconite phosphate open marine shelf sediments and a variable hiatus at the upper boundary late growth shelf margin reefs also can be a diagnostic feature of drowned platforms seismic characteristics include horizontal to sub horizontal basinal marine onlap basin parallel reflector continuity above the carbonate sequence boundary and downlap of later highstand units evidence from platforms adjacent to continental margins baltimore canyon indicates that drowning occurs in a step wise fashion advancing more or less symmetrically across the platform from shelf to nearshore environments data from isolated open ocean atolls pearl river mouth basin indicate that they respond differently to drowning showing an asymmetric decrease in shallow platform environments as drowning occurs proper recognition by a geoscientist of the seismic and geologic characteristics of drowning events can lead to better reservoir and seal estimates and the correct reconstruction of the depositional tectonic and eustatic histories of an area

an alternative model for positive shifts in shallow marine carbonate 13c and 18o positive shifts in global seawater d 13 cdic are related to changes in the ratio of organic relative to inorganic carbon burial in oceanic basins whereas factors such as climatic cooling and the accumulation of polar ice are known to cause positive shifts in d 18 o here an alternative model is proposed for the formation of local positive isotope shifts in shallow marine settings the model involves geochemically altered platform top water masses and the effects of early meteoric diagenesis on carbonate isotopic composition both mechanisms are active on modern sub tropical carbonate platforms and result in low carbonate d 13 ca ndd 18 o relative to typical oceanic values during high amplitude transgressive events the impact of isotopically light meteoric fluids on the carbonate geochemistry is much reduced and 13 c depleted platform top water mixes with open oceanic water masses having higher isotope values both factors are recorded as a transient increase in carbonate 13 c and 18 o relative to low background values these processes must be taken into consideration when interpreting the geochemical record of ancient epeiric seas

carbonate platforms of passive extensional continental margins types characteristics and evolution abstract carbonate platforms of extensional margins may be grouped into several major categories homoclinal ramps have gentle slopes into deep water may have skeletal or ooid pellet sand shoal complexes that grade without break in slope into deep ramp nodular limestone and then into pelagic hemipelagic basin facies they generally lack significant slump and sediment gravity flow deposits in the deeper water facies distally steepened ramps differ from the above in having a marked increase in slope at the seaward edge of the deep ramp and abundant slumps slope breccias and turbidites however clasts of shallow platform margin facies are generally absent from breccias rimmed shelves have linear trends of shelf edge lime sands and reefs a marked increase in slope into deep water and foreslope and slope sands breccias with clasts of platform margin rocks and turbidites grading seaward into basin hemipelagic pelagic muds they may be divided into accretionary bypass and erosional margins isolated platforms are broad flat topped shallow platforms surrounded by deeper water few hundred meters to 4 km deep many are bypass margins but accretionary and erosional margins also occur finally incipiently to completely drowned or open platforms may develop by rapid submergence of ramps shelves or isolated platforms shallow platform margin facies are shifted landward and the earlier shallow water platform is covered with transgressive lags and deeper water blankets of hemipelagic or pelagic facies or open marine whole fossil wackestone the carbonate prisms commonly develop above a basal clastic phase ramps develop early and evolve into rimmed shelves however with drowning rimmed shelves may evolve up into ramps rimmed shelves may also develop into ramps where miogeoclinal faces prograde into filling marginal basins carbonate miogeocline deposition terminates when the shelf becomes a prograding clastic shelf or where it becomes part of a collisional orogen the various platform types may be recognized from continental margin sequences ranging from proterozoic to holocene in age

direct reservoir parameter estimation using joint inversion of marine seismic ava and csem data a new joint inversion algorithm to directly estimate reservoir parameters is described this algorithm combines seismic amplitude versus angle ava and marine controlled source electromagnetic csem data the rock properties model needed to link the geophysical parameters to the reservoir parameters is described errors in the rock properties model parameters measured in percent introduce errors of comparable size in the joint inversion reservoir parameter estimates tests of the concept on synthetic one dimensional models demonstrate improved fluid saturation and porosity estimates for joint ava csem data inversion compared to ava or csem inversion alone comparing inversions of ava csem and joint ava csem data over the north sea troll field at a location with well control shows that the joint inversion produces estimated gas saturation oil saturation and porosity that is closest as measured by the rms difference l1 norm of the difference and net over the interval to the logged values whereas csem inversion provides the closest estimates of water saturation

mapping of elastic properties of gas hydrates in the carolina trough by waveform inversion gas hydrates are frozen methane gas that forms at appropriate pressure and temperature conditions they are found in the marine sediments along continental margins worldwide they have the economic potential of being tapped as a fuel source and also have the potential as a greenhouse agent after being freed into the atmosphere in seismic sections the occurrence of the base of gas hydrates in some areas is often marked by a bright amplitude reflection such reflections follow the sea floor topography and are called bottom simulating reflectors bsr the bsrs have negative polarity with respect to the sea floor reflection and in a common shot or a cdp gather the amplitude increases with offset the negative impedance contrast causing bsrs may be due to negative velocity contrast between hydrated sediments and normal sediment below or due to the presence of free gas at the base of the hydrates in this paper we carry out a prestack seismic waveform inversion of multichannel seismic data collected in

facies associations and evolution of pelagic carbonate platform basin systems examples from the italian jurassic abstract during the structural and sedimentological evolution of rifted continental margins in carbonate dominated settings a characteristic stage is commonly reached when pelagic carbonate sedimentation occurs in association with complex fault block systems an integrated study of the ammonite biostratigraphy and sedimentology of jurassic pelagic rocks in the umbria marche apennines central italy and in the sila mountains north east calabria southern italy has revealed three distinctive facies associations which can be related to specific structural and depositional settings the condensed pelagic facies association is the constituent of condensed usually discontinuous sequences with numerous hiatal surfaces the normal and resedimented pelagic facies association is typical of thicker sequences comprising gravity flow and rockfall deposits the composite pelagic facies association is one in which rockfall deposits are found associated with condensed sequences containing minor or no gravity flow deposits palaeotopographical highs are dominated by the condensed pelagic facies association and constitute the pelagic carbonate platform pcp structurally the pcp can be coincident with the top of a horst or central high block or the crestal area of a tilted block in the latter case the sediment surface of the pcp slopes gently maximum of 1 3 in this the shallowest area of a pelagic carbonate ramp pcps can have erosional bypass rare and depositional margins stepped margins also exist as subparallel rows of erosional and bypass margins trends from erosional to depositional margins are usually seen as a response to basin filling and burial of submarine tectonic escarpments by pelagic deposits in late synrift or early post rift times this is apparent from progradation of pcp facies deposits beyond the structural boundaries of the pcp palaeoenvironmental analysis in pelagic carbonate platform deposits of the umbria marche apennines suggests that drowning of ancestral peritidal carbonate platforms in pliensbachian time was followed first by a moderate deepening and then by shallowing in the tithonian

chemostratigraphy of the jurassic system applications limitations and implications for palaeoceanography current chemostratigraphical studies of the jurassic system primarily involve the use of one sedimentary component marine organic carbon one divalent transition metal substituted in carbonate manganese and two isotopic tracers strontium isotope ratios 87 sr 86 sr and carbon isotope ratios 13 c carb and 13 c org in carbonate and in organic matter other parameters such as mg ca and sr ca ratios in calcite oxygen isotope ratios 18 o in carbonate sulphur isotope ratios 34 s in carbonate hosted sulphate nitrogen isotope ratios 15 n org in organic matter osmium isotope ratios 187 os 188 os in black shales and neodymium isotope ratios 143 nd 144 nd in various mineral phases are also useful but at present give poor resolution because the database is incomplete or compromised by various factors stratigraphical patterns in total organic carbon toc can be of either local or regional significance depending on the lateral extent of the former nutrient rich and productive water mass divalent manganese follows a similar pattern being concentrated most probably as a very early diagenetic phase only in oxygen depleted waters that typically underlie zones of elevated organic productivity shifts in mg ca and sr ca ratios on the time scale of ammonite subzones seem largely to reflect temperature changes strontium isotope ratios from pristine skeletal calcite provide a global signal 13 c values from carbonates with minimal diagenetic overprint potentially do the same although small spatial differences in palaeo water mass composition may have been locally significant oxygen isotope determinations on carbonate rocks and fossils generally yield values that are too scattered to be stratigraphically useful because they reflect palaeotemperature the evaporation precipitation balance in sea water and the impact of any diagenesis involving an aqueous phase nitrogen isotope ratios in organic matter reflect the chemistry of ancient water masses as affected by nitrate utilization and denitrification and the stratigraphical pattern of this parameter is more likely to correlate only on a regional basis neodymium isotope ratios in sea water are also water mass dependent and greatly affected by regional sources and oceanic current systems preliminary data on sulphur isotope ratios in carbonates and osmium isotope ratios in organic rich shales both potentially offering global correlation indicate that these tracers may be valuable although the records at present are not sufficiently well established to allow high resolution regional correlation in all cases biostratigraphically well dated reference sections against which the relevant geochemical data have been calibrated are required in the first instance to date studies on the stratigraphical distribution of organic carbon have been principally carried out in both northern boreal and southern tethyan europe carbon isotope stratigraphy has been undertaken primarily but not exclusively on bulk pelagic sediments from the alpine mediterranean or tethyan domain and strontium isotope stratigraphy has been undertaken largely on calcitic skeletal material belemnites and oysters from northern and southern europe in many sections including those containing ammonites multi parameter chemostratigraphy can give resolution that exceeds that attainable by classic biostratigraphical means strontium isotope ratios in skeletal calcite are a particularly powerful tool for illustrating changes in sedimentary rate and revealing gaps in the stratigraphical record

distribution of mineral deposits in accreted terranes and cratonal rocks of western united states the western margin of the conterminous united states covering roughly 300 000 mi2 777 000 km2 is an agglomeration of tectonostratigraphic terranes accreted to the north american craton mainly during mesozoic time the terranes represent a number of fundamental crustal types oceanic crust island arc crust melange various combinations of the preceding three batholithic miogeoclinal and platform the distribution patterns of types of mineral deposits show that miogeoclinal terranes of the craton are characterized by replacement and vein type lead zinc silver skarn tungsten deposits molybdenum and tin whereas accreted terranes contain all the known volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits all chromite and chert associated manganese and all the large gold quartz vein deposits except goldfield nevada carlin type disseminated fine grained gold deposits occur mostly in windows of paleozoic miogeoclinal rocks in nevada but the only known fine grained gold deposit in california is in very youthful

carbonate systems along nutrient and temperature gradients some sedimentological and geochemical constraints research over the past several decades has clearly demonstrated that changes in the ocean environment have had major impacts on carbonate systems changes in climate ocean circulation and seafloor spreading rates have influenced temperature and seawater chemistry including carbonate saturation state and nutrient availability and thereby have determined boundary conditions for the biota that form carbonate platforms in turn the biota determine accumulation rates and facies zonations thus controlling platform geometry and facies dynamics in the first section of this paper we examine how nutrient availability influences carbonate facies associations we first discuss the role of temperature and nutrient gradients in the modern ocean and their influence on biotic associations then we discuss how carbonate sedimentation can be characterized along nutrient gradients in the second section we review proxies currently used to reconstruct paleoproductivity in open ocean environments and discuss their applicability to neritic carbonate systems we highlight the variety of existing proxies and their limitations and suggest that multiple lines of evidence are needed for valid interpretations our short review discusses sedimentological biogenic and geochemical proxies that can be used to reconstruct past nutrient fluxes and to constrain paleoceanographic controls over the distribution of carbonate associations however it also reveals that more data and case studies are needed that integrate shallow and deep water carbonate sequences and elucidate the links between temperature vs nutrient supplies changes and facies in ancient carbonate sequences

incipiently drowned facies within a cyclic peritidal ramp sequence early ordovician chepultepec interval virginia appalachians the chepultepec interval 145 to 260 m thick in virginia although dominated by peritidal carbonates contains thick subtidal sequences that formed during repeated incipient drowning of the early ordovician ramp cyclic peritidal sequences make up the lower member up to 150 m thick and upper member up to 85 m thick subtidal limestone and bioherms make up the middle member up to 110 m thick and pass landward into cyclic peritidal facies average long term subsidence rates were up to 4 cm 1 000 yr mature passive margin rates and ramp gradients commonly were extremely low 2 cm km computer modeling helped define mechanisms involved in formation of the stratigraphic sequence the peritidal sequences are upward shallowing cycles average period 140 000 to 200 000 yr of pellet and skeletal limestone pellet grainstone thrombolites intraclast grainstone and laminite caps these resulted from periodic sea level oscillations of several metres amplitude and possible slow long teim third order sea level fall superimposed on long term subsidence tidal flats were shifted far westward after each sea level rise but had sufficient time to prograde back across the ramp during sea level fall the middle number contains repeated sequences of subtidal skeletal limestone and pellet limestone with storm beds and burrowed units formed below fair weather wave base local rippled pellet limestone and thrombolite bioherms subwave base to wave agitated shoals that may have erosional tops overlain by thin grainstone sheets tidal flat facies are absent these sequences formed by periodic sea level rise more than 12 to 17 m amplitude which caused incipient drowning of the platform and migration of tidal flats several hundred kilometres back onto the platform these flats were unable to prograde onto the outer ramp during regression because of insufficient time and because seaward retreat of the shoreline outpaced progradation of tidal flats this left them abandoned on the inner ramp similar sequences reflecting incipient drowning are widespread in the geological record

platforms of the nicaraguan rise examples of the sensitivity of carbonate sedimentation to excess trophic resources the nicaraguan rise is an active tectonic structure in the western caribbean carbonate accumulation on its platforms has not kept pace with relative holocene sea level rise despite a tropical location remote from terrigenous sedimentation trophic resources apparently exceed levels favoring coral reef development because sponge algal communities dominate the drowning western platforms in contrast to mixed coral algal benthos on pedro bank and well developed coral reefs along the north coast of jamaica concentrations of biotic pigments in sea surface waters show a corresponding west east gradient oceanic waters flowing over the western banks carry nearly twice as much biotic pigment as oceanic waters north of jamaica sources enriching the western caribbean are terrestrial runoff upwelling off northern south america and topographic upwelling over the nicaraguan rise that relatively modest levels of trophic resources can suppress coral reef development holds important implications for understanding carbonate platform drownings in the geologic record

avo inversion of a gulf of mexico bright spot a case study an iterative and linearized inversion algorithm carried out in the x t domain has been applied to a prestack seismic data set from the central gulf of mexico offshore louisiana sonic and density curves from a well located close to the seismic line are used to generate the initial starting models for the inversion we tested the geologically realistic hypothesis that the starting models have an accurate impedance structure outside of the potential pay zone and that the prospective pay zone will have mechanical properties consistent with the presence or absence of hydrocarbons the inversion performed with starting models with pay zones with a poisson s ratio appropriate for 100 brine saturation or with a poisson s ratio intermediate between expected values for full brine and hydrocarbon saturation does not converge to the real seismic gather however with a starting model having a poisson s ratio appropriate for hydrocarbon saturation in the target zone there is convergence from the initial to the r

understanding the geological record of carbonate platform drowning across rifted tethyan margins examples from the lower jurassic of the apennines and sicily italy abstract in the geological record a drowning process is documented by various types of shallow water to pelagic or shallow water to mixed benthic pelagic carbonate transitions drowning unconformities are paraconformities to disconformities to angular unconformities and their drowning surfaces range from planar to highly irregular morphologies drowning successions display a mix of products of both the benthic and pelagic carbonate factories these successions can be also bounded by unconformities drowning unconformities and drowning successions are contrasted through a description and discussion of examples of escarpment bounded platforms from the jurassic of the northern apennines and subordinately from sicily and other tethyan sectors the areal distribution of drowning unconformities and successions is discussed with reference to a complex depositional system whose architecture was the product of the rift induced fragmentation of a regional hettangian carbonate megabank the examples in this study show drowning unconformities to be exclusive to intrabasinal highs while drowning successions are found both on highs and in hangingwall basins drowning unconformities with their long associated hiatuses and drowning successions are often seen to merge laterally into one another over very short distances on the same intrabasinal high the deposits of the drowning succession are sometimes missing on the top of the platform while they are found forming clinoforms along its flanks evidence that sediment could be permanently swept from the highs in these depositional systems at this stage

the frasnian famennian boundary interval in the south polish moravian shelf basins integrated event stratigraphical approach abstract the late devonian mass extinction event near the frasnian famennian f f boundary has been analysed using conodont biostratigraphy and biofacies sedimentology magnetic susceptibility and geochemistry in reference sections of the south polish moravian shelf holy cross mountains cracow and brno areas high resolution biostratigraphic study revealed difficulties in the precise recognition of this natural stage boundary but confirmed the occurrence of a major third order sequence boundary in the f f transition in an active synsedimentary tectonic setting marked by erosional discontinuities hardgrounds and brecciation or omission surfaces conclusive evidence of an extraterrestrial impact has not been found among earth bound factors the main devastating role in the shelf habitats is ascribed to fluctuating anoxia and or nutrient dynamics in a disturbed greenhouse climatic setting the long term facies changes were determined by a conspicuous break in carbonate production accompanied by replacement of mature stromatoporoid coral reefs by pioneer shelly crinoid banks microbial mounds and localised oolitic bars the key f f passage interval was marked by intermittent but generally accelerated periplatform ooze debris input and severe storm events as well as by probably highly fluctuating oxygenation and biological overproduction best manifested in radiolarian silicisponge and cephalopod acmes eutrophication phenomena at least partly stimulated by various hydrothermal and volcanic processes were one of the major biogeochemical processes during this climax of the late devonian biotic crisis however significant oceanographic perturbations were also linked with the onset of the transgressive hypoxic upper kellwasser event still within the latest frasnian linguiformis zone i e well before the f f conodont collapse implied variations in the redox state of seawater through the kellwasser timespan probably in regionally highly variable temporal scales are in agreement with recent palaeoecological and biogeochemical inferences in particular suggesting recovering oxygenation just prior to the f f boundary in the other laurussian intrashelf basins all the data support a long time multicausal earth bound crisis instead a worldwide cosmic catastrophe

avo inversion of troll field data a stratigraphic elastic inversion scheme has been applied to a data set from the troll east field offshore norway the objective of the present work is to obtain estimates of the p and s wave velocities and densities of the subsurface the inversion is carried out on tau minus p transformed common depth point cmp gathers the forward modeling is performed by convolving a wavelet with the reflectivity that includes water bottom multiples transmission effects and absorption and array effects a damped gauss newton algorithm is used to minimize a least squares misfit function inversion results show good correlation between the estimated v sub p v sub s ratios and the lithologies in the wells the v sub p v sub s ratio is estimated to 2 1 3 0 for shale and 1 6 2 0 for sandstones in the reservoir the v sub p v sub s ratio is estimated to 1 55 in the gas sand and to 1 62 below the fluid contact

phosphogenesis carbon isotope stratigraphy and carbonate platform evolution along the lower cretaceous northern tethyan margin we distinguish three different stages in the evolution of the tithonian late jurassic to aptian early cretaceous northern tethyan carbonate platform 1 carbonate production in the coral oolite mode late tithonian to early valanginian early barremian to early aptian 2 carbonate production in the crinoid bryozoan mode early valanginian haute rivian late aptian and 3 platform retrogradation and destruction condensation and phosphogenesis that is platform drowning early valanginian to early hauterivian middle hauterivian late hauterivian to early barremian early to early late aptian and latest aptian to earliest albian transitions from the coral oolite mode to the crinoid bryozoan mode and consequently to platform drowning may have been driven by increases in nutrient levels on the shelf phases of relative sea level rise in times of carbonate production in the coral oolite mode are named constructive because of the observed platform regeneration following phases of widespread emersion during late sea level highstands in contrast phases of relative sea level rise in times of platform drowning are termed destructive the 13 c stratigraphies obtained from valanginian hauterivian and aptian albian hemipelagic successions beyond the platform correlate well with the early cretaceous pelagic 13 c record positive excursions in the pelagic 13 c record correspond in time to episodes of platform drowning this suggests the existence of a coupling mechanism between changes in the global carbon cycle and platform drowning in our view the early cretaceous crises in carbonate platform growth were the consequence of reinforced greenhouse conditions which may have been triggered by episodes of extensive flood basalt volcanism strong greenhouse conditions may have induced the following chain of feedback mechanisms enabling the biosphere to return to normal conditions climate warming sea level rise accelerated water cycle intensified weathering nutrient mobilization platform destruction increased productivity increased phosphogenesis and carbon burial weakened greenhouse conditions

clinoform composition and margin geometries of a lower cretaceous carbonate platform vercors se france the concept of sequence stratigraphy uses the stratal geometries at the margins of carbonate platforms to define depositional sequences and systems tracts the aim of this study was to research if prograding purely aggrading and retrograding phases of a cretaceous carbonate platform showed differences in the composition and facies type of the slope sediments the vercors plateau in se france provides excellent outcrops to study this relationship continuous exposure of the platform to basin transition allowed direct examination of the margin geometries five successions were measured and sampled in great detail samples were thin sectioned and point counted using point count groups characterizing palaeoenvironments along the platform to basin transect the composition logs as well as the numerical analysis of the point count data both show a clear relationship between grain composition and stratal geometry the prograding and purely aggrading intervals are similar in composition as they are both relatively coarse grained and enriched in platform biota and limeclasts retreating units are relatively fine grained and rich in basinal grains small benthic foraminifers sponge spicules non carbonate grains and embedding material these observations suggest that the retreating intervals represent incipient drownings of the platform however rather than distinctly separated groups the different phases of platform development form a continuous range of variation between high platform input and high basinal input compared to the prograding units the purely aggrading intervals are relatively rich in peloids which may be suggestive of relatively low energy conditions on the platform during aggradation the compositional analysis also revealed significant variation in the frequency of ooids but these variations showed no relationship with the progradation aggradation or retreat of the platform

simultaneous inversion for model geometry and elastic parameters both traveltimes and amplitudes in reflection seismology are used jointly in an inversion to simultaneously invert for the interface geometry and the elastic parameters at the reflectors the inverse problem has different physical dimensions in both data and model spaces practical approaches are proposed to tackle the dimensional difficulties in using the joint inversion which may properly take care of the structural effect one potentially improves the estimates of the subsurface elastic parameters in the traditional analysis of amplitude variation with offset avo analysis of the elastic parameters estimated using the ratio of s wave to p wave velocity contrasts and the deviation of this parameter from a normal background trend promises to have application in avo analysis the inversion method is demonstrated by application to real data from the north sea

platform collapse and pelagic seamount facies jurassic development of central tunisia abstract in central tunisia the lower liassic facies consists of peritidal carbonates deposited on a wide platform which has been broken into irregular tilted blocks in the early pliensbachian black shale was deposited in some of the down faulted blocks during the early toarcian oceanic anoxic event the bajocian bathonian deposits are represented by ironstones and hemipelagic ammonite and zoophycos rich marl limestones the upper jurassic is composed by pelagic limestones and debris flow deposits the middle jurassic deep marine sedimentation was frequently associated with condensed sections submarine erosion leading to stratigraphic hiatuses the latter results from the interaction between global sea level fluctuations and regional tectonic activity generating an uplifted block in central tunisia in relation with early mesozoic rifting and associated distensional drifting of the north african tethyan margin this horst block has acted as a starved pelagic shoal on which sedimentation has been recorded especially during retrogradational and the aggradational phases

mineral deposits in the archean slave structural province lithological and tectonic setting abstract the slave structural province an archean granite greenstone terrane covering 190 000 km 2 in the northwest territories of canada has an extensive history that goes back to earth s oldest preserved rocks it has been subjected to archean and proterozoic orogenies the former built the craton the latter destroyed or reworked large areas reducing the slave to its present size a mounting body of data suggests that primitive sialic crust had a major influence on the evolution of most slave rock types supracrustals of the slave province comprise abundant greywacke mudstone 80 and subordinate volcanics 15 that form two distinct types of volcanic belt yellowknife type dominated by tholeiitic basalts and hackett river type dominated by felsic intermediate calc alkaline pyroclastics slave volcanogenic massive sulphides have high silver lead zinc contents rare element pegmatites are associated with highly evolved granitoids in four widespread parts of the province and gold deposit types define zones trending northeasterly across the craton conglomerates quartz sandstones and quartz arenites formed in a shelf environment define a northerly trending zone locally coincident with a long lived fault and a major lead isotope boundary which together demarcate a western part of the slave containing old basement tectonic models for the slave comprise two types those that attempt to explain its formation in plate tectonic terms and those that suggest formation by rifting of primitive sialic crust with volcanics and granitoids derived largely by melting of that crust many features of the slave seem more easily explained by a rift related model rather than by plate tectonics

orbitally induced limestone marlstone rhythms in the albian cenomanian cismon section venetian region northern italy sedimentology calcareous and siliceous plankton distribution elemental and isotope geochemistry abstract a multidisciplinary study of the upper albian cenomanian portion of the cismon section venetian region northern italy was undertaken in order to characterize the cyclic alternations of carbonate rich and carbonate poor layers and to investigate their possible origin and cyclic patterns limestone semicouplets are characterized by abundant radiolarians and micarbs micron sized calcitic fragments common planktonic foraminifera strong bioturbation good oxygenation as expressed by the mn and v v ni parameters high si al ratio low k al in the absence of pyrite and organic matter the marlstone semicouplets are on the contrary frequently laminated rich in pyrite and organic matter with common fish remains in the absence of radiolarians the mn and v v ni parameters indicate that the marlstone deposition occurred in dysoxic to anoxic conditions which allowed the preservation of organic matter the low si al ratio and high k al ratio the latter related to abundant feldspars indicate that marlstones received a substantial contribution from a terrigenous source the abundance of biogenic silica suggests that during limestone deposition surface waters were rather fertile due to an efficient recycling of nutrients from deeper waters the enhanced fertility was coupled with an efficient current system at the welloxygenated sea floor which prevented the organic matter from accumulating during marlstone deposition surface waters were less fertile than in the limestone semicouplets but still within the mesotrophic spectrum as indicated by the presence of fertility index species among calcareous nannofossils whereas the bottom waters were oxygen depleted to accommodate fertility at the surface with stagnation at the bottom the scenario implies an enhanced stratification caused by an increase in freshwater runoff monitored by 18o depleted values in the meantime the water discharge supplied the nutrients to the surface waters necessary for the calcareous nannofossils to proliferate the cyclic organization of limestone marlstone couplets as revealed by power spectral analysis seems to represent climatic cycles the alternating conditions are 1 efficient mixing highly fertile surface and near surface waters and a well oxygenated seafloor to 2 enhanced water runoff or decreased evaporation or both and oxygen depleted bottom waters we suggest that this deterministic sedimentary cyclicity could be explained by periodic orbital climatic cycles in tune with the milankovitch cycles within this scenario the latest cenomanian bonarelli level is an exceptional event marked by a large positive 13c spike it is characterized by high to very high fertility conditions in surface waters caused by increased upwelling that engendered high nutrient levels in near surface waters the enhanced production of organic matter was in excess for the oxygen available at the bottom floor thus allowing the organic matter to accumulate in the sediments

primary and diagenetic isotopic signals in fossils and hemipelagic carbonates the lower jurassic of northern spain stable isotope and trace element analyses of 230 jurassic pliensbachian toarcian samples from northern spain have been performed to test the use of geochemical variations in fossils belemnites and brachiopods and whole rock hemipelagic carbonates as palaeoceanographic indicators although the succession analysed reinosa area westernmost basque cantabrian basin has been subject to severe thermal alteration during burial diagenesis the samples appear to be well preserved the degree of diagenetic alteration of the samples has been assessed through the application of integrated petrographic chemical and cathodoluminescence analyses it is demonstrated that brachiopods and whole rock carbonates although widely used for palaeoceanic studies do not retain their primary marine geochemical composition after burial diagenesis in contrast there is strong evidence that belemnite rostra preserve original isotopic values despite pervasive diagenesis of the host rock well preserved belemnite shells non luminescent to slightly luminescent typically show stable isotope values of 4ae3 to 0ae7 d 13 c 0ae7 to 3ae2 d 18 o and trace element contents of 950 l gg 1 sr and sr mn ratios 80 this study suggests that the degree to which diagenesis has affected the preservation of an original isotopic composition may differ for different low mg calcite fossil shells and hemipelagic bulk carbonates behaviour that should be considered when marine isotopic signatures from other ancient carbonate rocks are investigated multiple non luminescent contemporaneous belemnite samples passed the petrographic and geochemical tests to be considered as palaeoceanic recorders yet their d 13 c and d 18 o values exhibited moderate scatter such variability is likely to be related to the palaeoecological behaviour of belemnites and or highfrequency secular variations in sea water chemistry superimposed on the longterm isotopic trend a pronounced positive carbon isotope excursion up to 4ae3 is documented in the early toarcian serpentinus biozone which correlates with the toarcian d 13 c maximum reported in other european and tethyan regions

pelagic carbonate platforms in the geologic record their classification and sedimentary and paleotectonic evolution drastic differences in thickness and abrupt lateral facies changes in synrift and postrift pelagic sequences usually indicate structural control over deposition although the highs and the basins in pelagic carbonate systems have long been recognized in ancient rifted continental margins relatively little detailed information has been available on facies transitions between the two and on the geometries of pelagic sediment bodies outcrops in the umbria marche apennines central italy provide new constraints for jurassic paleogeographic reconstructions allowing for the development of models for these depositional systems pelagic carbonate platforms pcps are submarine highs that are drowned fragments of an ancestor regional peritidal carbonate platform pcps can be horsts or crests of rotated blocks the extensional regime and drowning history exert a major control over the pcp type and over the composition of sediment which fills inter pcp basins given the very low rates of pelagic sedimentation a few mm 1000 yr the effects of faulting on submarine topography are drastic block tilting is of great importance creating pelagic carbonate ramps that are the source area of most of the gravity flow deposits in half grabens excessively rapid tilts cause nondeposition in horst and graben settings on the other hand basins are sediment starved and there are comparatively only minor gravity flows ma s transport there is mostly in the form of collapse of platform margins the margins of pcps are erosional during most of pcp history becoming depositional when adjacent basins are filled stepped margins develop through fault induced reduction of the pcp area back stepping

carbonate turbidite sequences deposited in rift basins of the jurassic tethys ocean eastern alps switzerland syn rift sediments in basins formed along the future southern continental margin of the jurassic tethys ocean comprise in the eastern alps of switzerland up to 500 m thick carbonate turbidite sequences interbedded with bioturbated marls and limestones in the fault bounded troughs no submarine fans developed in contrast the fault scarps acted as a line source and the asymmetric geometry as well as the evolution of the basin determined the distribution of redeposited carbonates the most abundant redeposits are bio and lithoclastic grainstones and packstones with sedimentary structures indicating a wide range of transport mechanisms from grain flow to high and low density turbidity currents huge chaotic megabreccias record catastrophic depositional events their main detrital components are upper triassic shallow water carbonates and skeletal debris from nearby submarine highs after an event of extensional tectonism sedimentary prisms accumulated in the basins along the faults each prism is wedge shaped with a horizontal upper boundary and consists of a thinning and fining upward megacycle within each megacycle six facies associations are distinguished at the base of the fault scarp an association of breccias was first deposited by submarine rockfall and rockfall avalanches a narrow approximately 4000 m wide depression along the fault was subsequently filled by the megabreccia association in which huge megabreccias interfinger with thin bedded turbidites and hemipelagic limestones the thick bedded turbidite association covered the megabreccias or formed farther basinward the base of the sedimentary column within the thick bedded turbidites thinning and fining upward cycles are common the overlying thin bedded turbidite association shows nearly no cyclicity and the monotonous sequence of fine grained calciturbidites covers most of the basin area with continuous filling and diminishing sediment supply a basin plain association developed comprising fine grained and thin bedded turbidites intercalated with bioturbated marls and limestones on the gentle slopes opposite the fault escarpment redeposited beds are scarce and marl limestone alternations as well as weakly nodular limestones prevail

the impact of common offset migration on porosity estimation by avo inversion the impact of prestack time migration on porosity estimation has been tested on a 2 d seismic line from the valhall hod area in the north sea porosity is estimated in the cretaceous chalk section in a two step procedure first p wave and s wave velocity and density are estimated by amplitude variation with offset avo inversion these parameters are then linked to porosity through a petrophysical rock data base based on core plug analysis the porosity is estimated both from unmigrated and prestack migrated seismic data for the migrated data set a standard prestack kirchhoff time migration is used followed by simple angle and amplitude corrections compared to modern high cost true amplitude migration methods this approach is faster and more practical the test line is structurally fairly simple with a maximum dip of 5 but the results differ significantly depending on whether migration is applied prior to the inversion the maximum difference in estimated porosity is of the order of 10 about

benthic carbonate factories of the phanerozoic marine carbonate precipitation occurs in three basic modes abiotic or quasi abiotic biotically induced and biotically controlled on a geologic scale these precipitation modes combine to form three carbonate production systems or factories in the benthic environment 1 tropical shallow water factory dominated by biotically controlled mainly photo autotrophic and abiotic precipitates 2 cool water factory dominated by biotically controlled mainly heterotrophic precipitates and 3 mud mound factory dominated by biotically induced mainly microbial and abiotic precipitates sediment accumulations of the factories differ in composition geometry and facies patterns and some of these differences appear prominently in seismic data thus facilitating subsurface prediction the characteristic accumulation of the tropical factory is the flat topped often reef rimmed platform in cool water systems reefs in high energy settings are scarce and hydrodynamic influence dominates producing seaward sloping shelves and deep water sediment drifts often armored by skeletal framework the typical accumulation of the mud mound factory is groups of mounds in deeper water where the mud mound factory expands into shallow water it forms rimmed platforms similar to the tropical factory the tropical factory is most productive the mud mound factory reaches 80 90 and the cool water factory 20 30 of the tropical growth rate the three factories represent end members connected by transitions in space transitions in time are linked to biotic evolution

depositional bias and environmental change important factors in sequence stratigraphy abstract differences among depositional systems here called depositional bias strongly influence sequence patterns siliciclastics and shallow water carbonates for instance shed most of their sediment during opposite phases of a sea level cycle lowstand shedding and highstand shedding respectively furthermore the two systems generate their own system specific relief on the sea floor disperse their sediment load along different avenues and differ in the way they are deactivated reefs and carbonate platforms can be drowned whereas siliciclastic deposition can be shut off and renewed at any depth as a consequence of these differences pronounced unconformities drowning unconformities develop where carbonate platforms are terminated and buried by siliciclastics the siliciclastic to carbonate transition tends to be more gradual drowned platforms and drowning unconformities appeared world wide in great abundance in the miocene cretaceous valanginian turonian jurassic toarcian and devonian frasnian famennian examples of drowning unconformities interpreted as sequence boundaries include those of the early cretaceous platforms off new jersey and off morocco the mid cretaceous unconformity in the gulf of mexico and miocene unconformities on top of reefs in the far east the eustatic cycles postulated from sequence stratigraphy are a very unlikely cause for the mass drownings of reefs and platforms either the rates of rise are an order of magnitude lower than the growth potential of platforms or cycle amplitudes are too small or the cycles are too short and subsidence too slow to remove platforms permanently from the photic zone the critical element in the mass drowning seems to be environmental stress that reduces the growth potential of carbonate systems thus drowning unconformities demonstrate the importance of environmental change as a control on sequence development other examples of dominantly environment controlled sequences include slope deposits shaped by shifting currents e g florida and blake plateau and basin fills that were controlled by changes in sediment input related to tectonic alteration of the drainage in the hinterland e g gulf of mexico environmental change must be considered as a third independent factor that competes with eustatic and tectonically driven regional changes of sea level for control of sequences the definition of sequences and sequence boundaries should be broad enough to include the possibility of non sea level controls

carbonates and relative changes in sea level abstract in the geologic record some of the most accurate gauges of changes in sea level are the sediment type geometry and diagenesis of carbonate shelves and platforms this is because carbonates frequently occur at or very near sea level and are usually less compacted than siliciclastics world wide changes in relative sea level the sum of eustatic sea level changes sedimentation and crustal movements have occurred repeatedly and cyclicly through geologic time producing characteristic responses in carbonates 1 1 relative rises in sea level usually caused by the cumulative effect of tectonic subsidence and eustatic rise may result in the following 1 1 a drowned carbonate reefs or platforms here carbonate growth potential is exceeded by relative sea level rise and is characterized by shallow water sediments overlain by hardgrounds and or deep water sediments some of which may be condensed sequences 1 2 b platforms where only the fast growing rim and patches of the interior are able to match sea level rise while the remainder of the platform is drowned temporarily 1 3 c platforms which keep up and maintain a flat top at sea level and contain shallow water sediments whose thickness at the least matches the height of the sea level rise if terrigenous supply is limited prograding sheets of shelf carbonate occur frequently capped by supratidal evaporites with prograding shelf margin carbonate clinoforms and turbidites if terrigenous supply is high the shelf carbonates encroach on deltaics 2 2 relative drops in sea level caused by crustal uplift or by subsidence being outpaced by a eustatic drop in sea level cause karst and soil development over shelves and platforms deposition of deep water evaporites in adjacent semi enclosed basins and in open marine basins the deposition of deltaic and aeolian clastics that bypassed the shelf falls are accompanied by platform wide fresh water diagenesis during relative sea level rises marine diagenesis is common in the subtidal portions of the shoaling upward carbonates and fresh water diagenesis and dolomitization and sulphate deposition is common in their intertidal and supratidal portions the stratigraphic significance of these reponses to relative sea level change is that many are tied to eustatic events and so are predictable within a basin of deposition

joint avo inversion wavelet estimation and noise level estimation using a spatially coupled hierarchical bayesian model the main objective of the avo inversion is to obtain posterior distributions for p wave velocity s wave velocity and density from specified prior distributions seismic data and well log data the inversion problem also involves estimation of a seismic wavelet and the seismic noise level the noise model is represented by a zero mean gaussian distribution specified by a covariance matrix a method for joint avo inversion wavelet estimation and estimation of the noise level is developed in a bayesian framework the stochastic model includes uncertainty of both the elastic parameters the wavelet and the seismic and well log data the posterior distribution is explored by markov chain monte carlo simulation using the gibbs sampler algorithm the inversion algorithm has been tested on a seismic line from the heidrun field with two wells located on the line the use of a coloured seismic noise model resulted in about 10 lower uncertainties for the p wave velocity s wave velocity and density compared with a white noise model the uncertainty of the estimated wavelet is low in the heidrun example the effect of including uncertainty of the wavelet and the noise level was marginal with respect to the avo inversion results

impact of cretaceous sea level rise and anoxic events on the mesozoic carbonate platform of yugoslavia the adriatic dinaric carbonate platform of yugoslavia was influenced by rapid sea level rise and an oceanic anoxic event during the cenomanian turonian open marine biota such as planktonic foraminifera radiolarians and locally even ammonites associated with and bracketed by successions of typical shallow water carbonates indicate partial drowning of substantial areas of the platform during this time suggestive furthermore that the rate of increase of water depth was locally great enough to outpace carbonate production the presence of carbon rich and fish bearing platy limestones commonly cherty as an associated coeval facies indicates the development of anoxic or euxinic environments and the stromatolitic laminations in such rocks are attributed to the action of bacterial mats it is suggested that an extensive column of deoxygenated water developed in the neighboring marche umbrian adriatic deep water basin and was carried on to the carbonate platform during the cenomanian turonian transgression

late jurassic climate and its impact on carbon cycling abstract the climate of the late jurassic has been characterized by high atmospheric co2 levels and by a monsoonal rainfall pattern in this study we traced the evolution of the global carbon cycle through the late jurassic with the help of carbonate carbon isotope stratigraphy the oxfordian tithonian 13c curve is marked by one major positive carbon isotope excursion with an amplitude 13 c 1 0 middle to late oxfordian and a second minor positive excursion with an amplitude 13 c late kimmeridgian the early kimmeridgian and early tithonian 13c values fluctuate around 13 c 2 0 3 and contrast with the less positive 13c values of early oxfordian and late tithonian age 13 c 1 0 5 a comparison of the late jurassic carbonate carbon isotope curve with the occurrence of organic rich sediments suggests that not only fluctuations in organic carbon burial but also in carbonate carbon burial had an impact on the c isotope record the oxfordian c isotope excursion appears to correspond to a time of overall increased organic carbon burial triggered by increased nutrient transfer from continents to oceans during a time of rising global sea level however episodes of enhanced organic carbon burial during the kimmeridgian and early tithonian are not reflected by prominent spikes in the c isotope record favourable conditions for carbonate platform growth at a time of high global sealevel may have resulted in the stabilisation of the c org c carb burial ratio and hence maintained the 13c record at steady but relatively positive values the middle and late tithonian c isotope values drop below 13 c 1 5 a similar shift to less positive c isotope values was recognized in other c isotope records from the tethys and atlantic oceans and reflects a decrease in the c org c carb burial ratio possibly related to a reorganisation of the global climate system globally widespread marine black shale mature quartzose sandstone assemblages suggest that the relative efficiency of the late jurassic carbon pumps was controlled by weathering erosion and runoff causing widespread marine eutrophication eutrophication favoured the organic carbon pump but it diminished the carbonate platform growth potential the monsoonal rainfall distribution pattern may explain why late jurassic carbonate platforms experienced less severe growth crises than early cretaceous carbonate platforms

metallogeny and tectonic development of the tasman fold belt system in new south wales abstract the northwestern corner of new south wales consists of the paratectonic late proterozoic to early cambrian adelaide fold belt and older rocks which represent basement inliers in this fold belt the rest of the state is built by the composite late proterozoic to triassic tasman fold belt system or tasmanides in new south wales the tasman fold belt system includes three fold belts 1 the late proterozoic to early palaeozoic kanmantoo fold belt 2 the early to middle palaeozoic lachlan fold belt and 3 the early palaeozoic to triassic new england fold belt the late palaeozoic to triassic sydney bowen basin represents the foredeep of the new england fold belt the tasmanides developed in an active plate margin setting through the interaction of east gondwanaland with the ur precambrian and palaeo pacific plates the tasmanides are characterized by a polyphase terrane accretion history during the late proterozoic to triassic the tasmanides experienced three major episodes of terrane dispersal late proterozoic cambrian silurian devonian and late carboniferous permian and six terrane accretionary events cambrian ordovician late ordovician early silurian middle devonian carboniferous middle late permian and triassic the individual fold belts resulted from one or more accretionary events the kanmantoo fold belt has a very restricted range of mineralization and is characterized by stratabound copper deposits whereas the lachlan and new england fold belts have a great variety of metallogenic environments associated with both accretionary and dispersive tectonic episodes the earliest deposits in the lachlan fold belt are stratabound cu and mn deposits of cambro ordovician age in the ordovician cu deposits were formed in a volcanic are in the silurian porphyry cu au deposits were formed during the late stages of development of the same volcanic are post accretionary porphyry cu au deposits were emplaced in the early devonian on the sites of the accreted volcanic arc in the middle to late silurian and early devonian a large number of base metal deposits originated as a result of rifting and felsic volcanism in the silurian and early devonian numerous sn w mo and base metal au granitoid related deposits were formed a younger group of mo w and sn deposits resulted from early middle carboniferous granitic plutonism in the eastern part of the lachlan fold belt in the middle devonian epithermal au was associated with rifting and bimodal volcanism in the extreme eastern part of the lachlan fold belt in the new england fold belt pre accretionary deposits comprise stratabound cu and mn deposits pre early devonian stratabound cu and mn and exhalite au deposits late devonian to early carboniferous and stratabound cu exhalite au and quartz magnetite late carboniferous s type magmatism in the late carboniferous early permian was responsible for vein sn and possibly au as ag sb deposits volcanogenic base metals when compared with the lachlan fold belt are only poorly represented and were formed in the early permian the metallogenesis of the new england fold belt is dominated by granitoid related mineralization of middle permian to triassic age including sn w mo w and au ag as sb deposits also in the middle permian epithermal au ag mineralization was developed during the above period of post orogenic magmatism sizeable metahydrothermal sb au w and au deposits were emplaced in major fracture and shear zones in central and eastern new england the occurrence of antimony provides an additional distinguishing factor between the new england and lachlan fold belts in the new england fold belt antimony deposits are abundant whereas they are rare in the lachlan fold belt this may suggest fundamental crustal differences

crustal affinities of metallogenesis in the american southwest the source of metals in many lands of ores and ore deposit styles remains uncertain notwithstanding more than a century of field studies scientific advances in concepts and enhancement of analytical capability however numerous geologic research efforts that have addressed many relevant themes in southern arizona have resulted in different kinds of data supporting and consistent with the interpretation of significant association of some ore metals of this region with cratonic crust these themes range in scale from studies of regional geology geophysical interpretations and precious metal production through petrology to trace element and isotope geochemistry the notion of a crustal source for metals contrasts with many long standing ideas of direct mantle sources for this metal province or more recently direct derivation of metals from subducted materials a hundred years of recorded silver and gold production reveal a two fold separation of mining districts in arizona and new mexico on the basis of ranges of produced ag au ratio that correspond in turn with a separation of two distinct geologic domains of the southern cordilleran metal province the produced ag au ratio in districts of different ages ore styles tectonic setting and metal habit are not affected by deposit style or ore control or igneous rock type or vertical zoning and weathering studies of the isotopes and trace element chemistry of related igneous rocks reveal that ore related intrusions have a significant crustal progenitor studies of pb and os isotopes have discovered strong signals of crustal parentage in ore minerals the regional geology metallization history production and chemical and isotopic data strongly support a hypothesis of crustal sources of some of the metal in this large and complex province

the depth of pelagic deposits in the tethyan jurassic and the use of corals an example from the apennines abstract assessing the palaeobathymery of pelagic deposits is rather speculative as proof through lithology or fossils significant for depth estimates is sparse this is unfortunate as the bathymetric history of pelagic successions allows to conceive the evolution of continental margins and oceanic basins discoveries in coral biology bring an unexpected impact on basin analysis evidence strongly suggests that pennular corals fossil and modern constitute a zooxanthellate group with an outstanding specialization in colonizing deeper parts of the marine photic zone this adaptation includes light amplification by autofluorescent pigmented cells and particular feeding witnessed by peculiar gastric ducts and skeletal features such corals occur in the umbria marche and sabina apennines on top of late jurassic submarine highs and at basin margins values of palaeodepth relative to pelagic deposits are provided by corals and other environmental data because depth reconstruction involves classical tethyan facies such as ammonitico rosso aptychus limestone and radiolarian cherts we must note that these results do not meet with actualistic models relying on carbonate dissolution for estimating depth deposits viewed as bathyal to abyssal could also have accumulated within or just below the photic zone thus a new insight opens on mesozoic bathymetries regarding vast areas middle east to caribbean and on subjects ranging from platform drowning to regional extension styles

black shales and carbon isotopes in pelagic sediments from the tethyan lower jurassic detailed sampling and analysis of jurassic pelagic limestones and marls from italy hungary and switzerland have enabled construction of an isotope stratigraphy across the pliensbachian toarcian boundary with resolution to the zonal level the oxygen isotope record is unremarkable the carbon isotopes however show two positive excursions one relatively minor during the pliensbachian margaritatus zone subnodosus subzone the other more major during the toarcian early falciferum zone where a maximum 13c value of 4 52 pdb is attained these intervals are known to be favoured periods of organic rich sedimentation in diverse parts of the globe and the isotopic excursions are interpreted as a response to abnormally high rates of storage of organic carbon in the sedimentary record a comparable phenomenon has been documented from the cenomanian turonian boundary in the cretaceous where it has been referred to the influence of an oceanic anoxic event some italian sections spanning this lower jurassic interval contain organic rich shales in the falciferum zone the isotopic signatures from their included locally manganiferous carbonate betray a considerable diagenetic overprint and they cannot therefore be incorporated in a composite isotopic curve carbon isotopes from the organic carbon itself are extremely negative falling to 33 pdb and in one section examined in detail correlate with the calcium carbonate content of the shales they may reflect a partial change to a non calcified planktonic biota during deposition of this lime poor interval possibly responding to upwelling and increased fertility of near surface waters the onset of upwelling may have been as early as spinatum tenuicostatum zone time that is at the pliensbachian toarcian boundary