Deep Core Drilling Research Articles

Evolution of Depositional Environments in Response to the Holocene Sea-Level Change in the Lower Delta Plain of Nakdong River Delta, Korea

The Nakdong River delta, located in southeastern Korea, preserves thick and wide sediments, which are suitable for the high-resolution study of the evolution of depositional environments in the lower delta plain area. This study traces the Holocene evolution of the Nakdong River delta using deep drill core (ND-3; 46.60 m thick) sediments from the present delta plain. Sedimentary units of the sediments were classified based on grain size compositions and sedimentary structures: (A) alluvial zone, (B) estuarine zone, (C) shallow marine, (D) prodelta, (E) delta front, and (F) delta plain. The weathered sediment, paleosol, was observed at 43.16 m below the surface. There is an unconformity (43.10 m) to separate a Pleistocene sediment layer in the lowermost part differentiating from a Holocene sediment layer in the upper part of the core. The shallow marine sedimentary unit (32.20~23.50 m), in which grain size decreases upward is overlain by the prodelta unit (23.50~15.10 m), which consists of fine-grained sediments and relatively homogeneous sedimentary facies. The boundary between the delta front unit (15.10~8.00 m) and the delta plain unit (8.00~0.00 m) appears to lie at 8.0 m, and the variation in grain size is different; coarsening upward in the delta front unit and fining upward in the delta front unit, respectively. These sediments are characterized by a lot of sand–mud couplets and mica flakes aligned along with cross-stratification, which may be deposited in relatively high-energy environments. Until 13 cal ka BP, the sea level was 70 m below the present level and the drilling site might be located onshore. At 10 cal ka BP, the sea level was located 50 m below the present level and the drilling site might be moved to an estuarine environment. From 8 to 6 cal ka BP, a transgression phase occurred as a result of coastline invasion by the rapid rise of the sea level. Thus, the drilling site was drowned in a shallow marine environment. After 6 cal ka BP, the sea level reached the present level, and, since then, progradation might begin to form, primarily by more sediment input. After this period, the progradation phase continues as the sediments have advanced and the delta grows.

Seismic Soil Characterization to Estimate Site Effects Induced by Near-Fault Earthquakes: The Case Study of Pizzoli (Central Italy) during the Mw 6.7 2 February 1703, Earthquake

Many of the urban settlements in Central Italy are placed nearby active faults and, consequently, the ground motion evaluation and seismic site effects under near-fault earthquakes are noteworthy issues to be investigated. This paper presents the results of site investigations, the seismic site characterization, and the local seismic response for assessing the effects induced by the Mw 6.7 2 February 1703, near-fault earthquake at the Madonna delle Fornaci site (Pizzoli, Central Italy) in which notable ground failure phenomena were observed, as witnessed by several coeval sources. Even though recent papers described these phenomena, the geological characteristics of the site and the failure mechanism have never been assessed through in-situ investigations and numerical modeling. Within a project concerning the assessment of soil liquefaction potential and co-seismic ground failure, deep and shallow continuous core drilling, geophysical investigations and in-hole tests have been carried out. Subsequently, the geotechnical model has been defined and the numerical quantification of the different hypotheses of failure mechanisms has been evaluated. Analyses showed that liquefaction did not occur, and the excess pore water pressure induced by the shaking was not the source of the ground failure. Therefore, it was hypothesized that the sinkhole was likely caused by earthquake-induced gas eruption.

The structure of the sedimentary complex of the Middle and South Caspian depressions (Azerbaijan sector)

The high degree of knowledge of the upper horizons of the sedimentary cover of the Middle and South Caspian depressions, given an insufficient increase in hydrocarbon reserves, leads to the need for a detailed approach to the search for oil and gas deposits in deep-seated sediments (over 6 km). During the geological interpretation of new highly informative seismic data, as well as data of deep drilling and petrological core studies, there were revealed obvious shortcomings in the concepts of the origin and evolution of the Middle and South Caspian depressions. These ideas misinterpret evolution, especially the South Caspian Basin, which is characterized by a number of unique features: very thick sedimentary cover (up to 22 km), extremely high sedimentation rate, low heat flow and reservoir temperatures, abnormally high pore and reservoir pressures, high clay content of the section, etc. The main purpose of the study was to elucidate the regional structure and features of the dissection of the sedimentary cover of the Middle and South Caspian depressions, the conditions of occurrence and distribution of facies and thicknesses of individual complexes of deposits.
 The paper analyzes the results of some previous studies of the geological structure of the Middle and South Caspian depressions based on the data of deep seismic sounding, seismological and gravimetric observations. We consider the main conclusions of these studies, about the geological structure of the sedimentary complex of the region’s, very outdated and subject to revision.
 The results of seismic stratigraphic analysis of seismic data allowed the authors to identify new data about the tectonic structure and express a completely different point of view regarding the structure of the sedimentary cover in the region.
 The work also touches on the issue associated with the tectonics of the region and the alleged subduction zone here.

Assessment of organic carbon contamination in the unsaturated zone: a case of Yogyakarta City, Indonesia

In 1997, groundwater pollution was caused by a diesel leak at the Yogyakarta City Railway Station. People in the south of the railway station discovered the presence of diesel in dug wells in 2001. The existing diesel is still found in dug wells even though the pollutant source had been removed. The current source of pollution comes from diesel residues trapped in the unsaturated zone. Understanding the distribution and concentration of diesel in the unsaturated zone is the goal of this study. In this study, diesel concentration was measured based on Total Organic Carbon (TOC) levels. The research was conducted through shallow core and deep core drillings. Shallow core drilling was done at 14 points with a depth of 50 cm, and deep core drilling was done at nine drilling points with a depth of 15-17 m. 14 shallow core drilling samples were taken from a depth of 30 and 50 cm and nine deep core drilling samples were taken from a depth of 4-5 m and 10-11 m. The lithology logs in both drills were tested for diesel odour and TOC levels using the Soli TOC tool. Based on the test results, the smell of diesel was found at a depth of 10 to 15 m. TOC levels in the unsaturated zone ranged from 340 to 90,870 mg/L. TOC levels >30,000 mg/L were dominant at shallow depths even though they did not smell like diesel. At a location close to the source of the diesel tank leak at a depth of 4-5 m, the measured TOC level was 30,100 mg/L. The results showed that there were zones of high TOC levels associated with diesel odour layers. The zones existed because of the infiltration and percolation processes that had carried surface water and diesel pollutants and eventually moved horizontally following groundwater flow.

Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum lacustrine sediments in deep drill core SKD1 in the Jianghan Basin: A record of enhanced precipitation in central China

Global warming has a significant effect on global and regional hydrological cycles and is expected to exacerbate the uneven distribution of rainfall in various regions, thereby influencing water-related human activities (e.g., agriculture) and the development of human society, especially in densely populated East Asia. As an analog to predict the future impact of global warming on hydrological regimes, the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) at ~56 Ma is the most prominent and extensively studied Paleogene hyperthermal event, and it featured rapid and extreme global warming that caused intense environmental effects. However, the contradictory effects/mode of precipitation during the PETM has constrained our understanding of the hydrological response to global warming. Moreover, compared with marine records, continental sedimentary records of the PETM are very limited, and most are typically limited to weathered, often discontinuous, outcrop exposures, and relevant records of environmental perturbations in Asia are lacking. This study presents the first detailed record of the PETM in the Jianghan Basin, central China, and identifies the environmental and hydrological changes across the PETM. Based on high-resolution carbon and oxygen isotopes in the lacustrine carbonates (mainly calcite and dolomite) in the deep drill core SKD1, we identified the PETM event at the boundary of the Shashi and Xingouzui Formations. The carbon isotopic values of carbonate ( δ 13 C carb ) and calcite ( δ 13 C calcite ) show large negative excursions (~10.7‰ and 8.7‰, respectively) during the PETM. The oxygen isotopic values of carbonate ( δ 18 O carb ) and calcite ( δ 18 O calcite ) also show large negative excursions (7.9‰ and 6.1‰, respectively), indicating increased precipitation and a wetter climate across the PETM, as evidenced by the disappearance of evaporites and the dominance of calcite in the carbonates. Increased precipitation with elevated pCO 2 concentration might have caused the anomalous large negative excursion of the δ 13 C carb values in the SKD1 core and provided favorable living conditions for the oldest known primate, whose fossil was found in the Jianghan Basin. The δ 18 O carb and δ 18 O calcite values increase and show high-frequency and large-amplitude fluctuations above the PETM interval, indicating rapid shifts between wet and dry climatic conditions in an overall arid climate after the PETM. • The first detailed PETM record in the Jianghan Basin was found in deep drill core SKD1. • The carbonate carbon isotopes show large negative excursions (CIE, ~ − 10.7‰) during the PETM. • Precipitation in the Jianghan basin increased across the PETM. • Increased precipitation might have caused the anomalous large negative CIE in the carbonate.

Exploring the Past Biosphere of Chew Bahir/Southern Ethiopia: Cross-Species Hybridization Capture of Ancient Sedimentary DNA from a Deep Drill Core

Eastern Africa has been a prime target for scientific drilling because it is rich in key paleoanthropological sites as well as in paleolakes, containing valuable paleoclimatic information on evolutionary time scales. The Hominin Sites and Paleolakes Drilling Project (HSPDP) explores these paleolakes with the aim of reconstructing environmental conditions around critical episodes of hominin evolution. Identification of biological taxa based on their sedimentary ancient DNA (sedaDNA) traces can contribute to understand past ecological and climatological conditions of the living environment of our ancestors. However, sedaDNA recovery from tropical environments is challenging because high temperatures, UV irradiation, and desiccation result in highly degraded DNA. Consequently, most of the DNA fragments in tropical sediments are too short for PCR amplification. We analyzed sedaDNA in the upper 70 m of the composite sediment core of the HSPDP drill site at Chew Bahir for eukaryotic remnants. We first tested shotgun high throughput sequencing which leads to metagenomes dominated by bacterial DNA of the deep biosphere, while only a small fraction was derived from eukaryotic, and thus probably ancient, DNA. Subsequently, we performed cross-species hybridization capture of sedaDNA to enrich ancient DNA (aDNA) from eukaryotic remnants for paleoenvironmental analysis, using established barcoding genes (cox1 and rbcL for animals and plants, respectively) from 199 species that may have had relatives in the past biosphere at Chew Bahir. Metagenomes yielded after hybridization capture are richer in reads with similarity to cox1 and rbcL in comparison to metagenomes without prior hybridization capture. Taxonomic assignments of the reads from these hybridization capture metagenomes also yielded larger fractions of the eukaryotic domain. For reads assigned to cox1, inferred wet periods were associated with high inferred relative abundances of putative limnic organisms (gastropods, green algae), while inferred dry periods showed increased relative abundances for insects. These findings indicate that cross-species hybridization capture can be an effective approach to enhance the information content of sedaDNA in order to explore biosphere changes associated with past environmental conditions, enabling such analyses even under tropical conditions.

A Middle Devonian vernal pool ecosystem provides a snapshot of the earliest forests.

The dichotomy of the earliest ecosystems into deltaic and floodplain forests was a long-standing view in paleobotany. The morphological traits such as nonbranching rootlets, bifurcating rhizomes, and bulbous bases of the primitive trees such as Eospermatopteris and lycopsids were considered adaptations to the lowland deltaic environments. In contrast, the traits of Archaeopteris trees such as wood, hierarchical branching networks of roots, and true leaves are an adaptation to the upland floodplain environments. The discovery of the Town of Cairo Highway Department (TCHD) fossil site in Upstate New York, where all major clades occupied a floodplain environment casts doubt on the validity of the environmental partition by the earliest trees at the higher taxonomic levels. This study aims to test the hypothesis of the environmental partition at the local scale by reconstructing the fossilized forest-floor landscape, the changes in the landscape over time, and the distribution patterns of the trees along the local environmental gradient at the TCHD site. To reconstruct the fossilized forest floor and to determine the environmental variations at the local scale, seven parallel cross-sections were drawn from south to north at THCH. The outcrop at the quarry floor measured 300 m in the north-south, and varied around 100–150 m in east-west direction. Primary sedimentary structures, the thickness of the sedimentary deposits that formed the forest floor and the surrounding quarry walls, paleosol features, and mega-fossils were measured, recorded, described, and mapped. Up to 3 meters deep drill-cores were extracted from the forest floor. The data was used to correlate the sedimentary deposits, and reconstruct the preserved landscape. Three dominant landscape features including an abandoned channel, an old-grown forest, and a local depression were recognized. These landscape features influenced greatly the pattern of local drainage, slope-gradients, patterns and durations of seasonal water pooling, paleosol developments, fossil distribution, and depositional environments. There is no evidence of environmental partitioning by trees at higher taxonomic levels at the local scale. The size and morphology of the root systems didn’t determine the distribution of the trees along the local environmental gradient such as drainage patterns but played important roles in tree stabilization. Forests would go through self-thinning as they matured. Upon comparison, it was found that the forests in unstable environments showed greater resiliency compared to forests established in the stable environments.

Basement correlation across the southernmost Baltic Sea: Geochemical and geochronological evidence from onshore and offshore deep drill cores, northern Poland

New zircon U-Pb age measurements, whole rock major and trace element geochemistry, and Sr and Nd isotopic analyses of samples from fourteen deep drill holes that penetrated the hidden Precambrian basement of the southernmost Baltic Sea and the coastal area of northern Poland (Pomerania), make it possible to identify a two episodes of Proterozoic magmatism in that area. The basement consists of late Palaeoproterozoic deformed calc-alkaline, magnesian, I-type to A-type diorites to granites of volcanic arc affinity. U-Pb zircon geochronology documents their magmatic crystallization ages to be between 1791 ± 8 Ma and 1750 ± 5 Ma, with an episode of syn- to late-magmatic deformation recorded in thin overgrowths on zircons at about 1740 Ma. These rocks from Pomerania and its offshore area broadly correlate with the bedrock of Blekinge in southern Sweden, where most of the crust was formed at 1.77–1.75 Ga. They may thus be part of the same geological domain, extending on both sides of the present-day southern Baltic Sea, formed along a late Palaeoproterozoic active continental margin. A subordinate suite of undeformed, significantly younger A-type granites was emplaced at 1477 ± 6 Ma, 1449 ± 7 Ma and 1450 ± 9 Ma. This time interval is concurrent with emplacement of A-type granitoids on the Danish island of Bornholm as well as in Blekinge and other parts of southern Fennoscandia. However, their geochemical and isotopic data highlight a genetic diversity of these granites.

Empirical evidence for cosmogenic 3He production by muons

Cosmic ray muons penetrate deeply into rock where they interact with atoms to produce cosmogenic nuclides. Incorporation of the muon contribution to the production rates of cosmogenic nuclides increases the accuracy of exposure dates, burial ages, and erosion rates inferred from measured nuclide concentrations. In the absence of empirical evidence, it is generally assumed that muons do not produce 3He, a cosmogenic nuclide commonly used for exposure dating. Here we assess whether muons produce 3He by measuring He isotope concentrations in pyroxene and ilmenite from a ∼300 m deep drill core and other subsurface samples of the mid-Miocene Columbia River Basalt in Washington, USA. 3He concentrations in our samples exhibit an exponential decline with depth with an e-folding length of 32.4 m, which corresponds to an attenuation length for 3He production of 8780 g cm−2. The deeply penetrating exponential is diagnostic of 3He production by cosmic ray muons. Assuming no erosion, we constrain the minimum surface muonogenic production rate to be 0.23 atom g−1 pyroxene yr−1, whereas when incorporating erosion the production rate is 0.45 atom g−1 pyroxene yr−1. 3He concentrations in samples deeper than ∼100 meters are consistent with model-based estimates of depth-independent nucleogenic production from the capture by 6Li of neutrons produced by alpha particle reactions on light elements. Measurements in other subsurface samples indicate that muon-produced 3He is prevalent across the Columbia Plateau. The penetration depth of muonogenic 3He production is substantially deeper, and the ratio of muon- to spallation-produced 3He is substantially lower, than found for other cosmogenic nuclides. Our results provide the first definitive empirical evidence for 3He production by muons, which has several implications for quantifying the timing and rates of Earth surface change and interpreting He isotope ratios. Importantly, despite the low production rates, landforms in the Channeled Scablands, which were formed by incision of the Columbia River Basalt by the late-Pleistocene Missoula floods, have high concentrations of 3He inherited from post-Miocene muon exposure. Hence 3He production by muons must be considered, particularly when dating rapid erosional events in old bedrock. Our findings indicate samples with less than several tens of meters of shielding by overlying rock will contain cosmogenic 3He that elevates 3He/4He ratios. Hence caution should be used when using 3He/4He ratios from samples at shallower depths to infer mantle sources of basalt.

Chapter 6.1 Marine record of Antarctic volcanism from drill cores

Abstract We review here data and information on Antarctic volcanism resulting from recent tephrostratigraphic investigations on marine cores. Records include deep drill cores recovered during oceanographic expeditions: DSDP, ODP and IODP drill cores recovered during ice-based and land-based international cooperative drilling programmes DVDP 15, MSSTS-1, CIROS-1 and CIROS-2, DVDP 15, CRP-1, CRP-2/2A and CRP-3, ANDRILL-MIS and ANDRILL-SMS, and shallow gravity and piston cores recovered in the Antarctic and sub-Antarctic oceans. We report on the identification of visible volcaniclastic horizons and, in particular, of primary tephra within the marine sequences. Where available, the results of analyses carried out on these products are presented. The volcanic material identified differs in its nature, composition and emplacement mechanisms. It was derived from different sources on the Antarctic continent and was emplaced over a wide time span. Marine sediments contain a more complete record of the explosive activity from Antarctic volcanoes and are complementary to those obtained by land-based studies. This record provides important information for volcanological reconstructions including approximate intensities and magnitudes of eruptions, and their duration, age and recurrence, as well as their eruptive dynamics. In addition, characterized tephra layers represent an invaluable chronological tool essential in establishing correlations between different archives and in synchronizing climate records.

Insights into the Thermal History of North-Eastern Switzerland—Apatite Fission Track Dating of Deep Drill Core Samples from the Swiss Jura Mountains and the Swiss Molasse Basin

This work presents new apatite fission track LA–ICP–MS (Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry) data from Mid–Late Paleozoic rocks, which form the substratum of the Swiss Jura mountains (the Tabular Jura and the Jura fold-and-thrust belt) and the northern margin of the Swiss Molasse Basin. Samples were collected from cores of deep boreholes drilled in North Switzerland in the 1980s, which reached the crystalline basement. Our thermochronological data show that the region experienced a multi-cycle history of heating and cooling that we ascribe to burial and exhumation, respectively. Sedimentation in the Swiss Jura Mountains occurred continuously from Early Triassic to Early Cretaceous, leading to the deposition of maximum 2 km of sediments. Subsequently, less than 1 km of Lower Cretaceous and Upper Jurassic sediments were slowly eroded during the Late Cretaceous, plausibly as a consequence of the northward migration of the forebulge of the neo-forming North Alpine Foreland Basin. Following this event, the whole region remained relatively stable throughout the Paleogene. Our data show that the Tabular Jura region resumed exhumation at low rates in early–middle Miocene times (≈20–15 Ma), whereas exhumation in the Jura fold-and-thrust belt probably re-started later, in the late Miocene (≈10–5 Ma). Erosional exhumation likely continues to the present day. Despite sampling limitations, our thermochronological data record discrete periods of slow cooling (rates of about 1°C/My), which might preclude models of elevated cooling (due to intense erosion) in the Jura Mountains during the Miocene. The denudation (≈1 km) of the Tabular Jura region and the Jura fold-and-thrust belt (≈500 m) has provided sediments to the Swiss Molasse Basin since at least 20 Ma. The southward migration of deformation in the Jura mountains suggests that the molasse basin started to uplift and exhume only after 5 Ma, as suggested also by previous authors. The data presented here show that the deformation of the whole region is occurring in an out-of-sequence trend, which is more likely associated with the reactivation of thrust faults beneath the foreland basin. This deformation trend suggests that tectonics is the most determinant factor controlling denudation and exhumation of the region, whereas the recently proposed “climate-induced exhumation” mechanism might play a secondary role.

Deep ice core drilling to a depth of 3035.22 m at Dome Fuji, Antarctica in 2001–07

AbstractThe Japanese second deep ice coring project was carried out at Dome Fuji, Antarctica. Following the drilling of the pilot hole in 2001, deep ice core drilling led by the Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition (JARE) was conducted over four austral summer seasons, beginning with the 2003/04 season and reached a depth of 3035.22 m near the bedrock in January 2007. The new drill was designed and developed with the goals of (1) solving the problems encountered during the first JARE deep coring drill and (2) achieving more efficient drilling. In particular, the maximum core length that can be drilled at one time was increased from 2.30 m to 3.84 m and the chip storage efficiency was enhanced by a special pipe with many small holes. This paper gives an outline of the improved drilling system, the progress of drilling and various drilling data.

Ti–V magnetite stratigraphy of the Upper Zone of the Windimurra Igneous Complex, Western Australia

Layered mafic intrusions (LMI) are stratified igneous bodies, with many examples that are economically significant for a number of metals including chromium, platinum group elements, vanadium, titanium, and iron. The Windimurra Igneous Complex (WIC) of the central Murchison Domain, Western Australia, the largest layered mafic intrusion in Australia, comprises a giant (2500 km2) LMI, with an interpreted thickness of approximately 11 km. The Upper Zone is free of primary hydrous minerals and contains ore-grade Fe-enrichment discoveries up to 66.6 wt% FeOt. Elevated Ti, V and Cr in magnetite at the base of the Upper Zone, and high Cr in the Middle Zone, combined with structural observations in the field, are consistent with injection of two separate magmatic pulses. In this study, four deep diamond drill cores and 92 reverse circulation drill holes from the Upper Zone and uppermost Middle Zone of the WIC sample a near continuous section of 820 m in the Upper Zone, including numerous magnetite-rich horizons. An increase in the whole-rock TiO2/V2O5 upward in the Upper Zone, a decrease in the frequency of magnetite-rich horizons, and an increase upwards in P content, have been used in combination with airborne magnetic surveys, to develop a magnetic stratigraphy for the Upper Zone. The stratigraphy reflects the prospectivity for magnetite, vanadium and chromium, all of which are more abundant at or near the base of the Upper Zone. Such exploration vectors can be used to better target local iron, vanadium as well as chromium mineralization, much of which appear spatially associated with the Upper Zone’s basal contact.

Revised chronology of the ICDP Dead Sea deep drill core relates drier-wetter-drier climate cycles to insolation over the past 220 kyr

The Dead Sea Deep Drilling Project drilled 456 meters into the deepest floor of the Dead Sea and recovered a record of the past ∼220 kyr of the Levant hydroclimate history, that is, Marine Isotope Stages 1–7, including the last three interglacials and the last two glacials. We present an updated chronology of the core from DSDDP Hole 5017-1-A, from the Dead Sea’s deepest basin, that refines our previous chronology (Torfstein et al. 2015) based on new information. The updated chronology uses the following approaches: (1) radiocarbon ages of Kitagawa et al. (2017); (2) correlation of specific layers in the core with U–Th-dated sediments on the Dead Sea margin, particularly during the interval of glacial Lake Lisan (MIS 2,3,4); (3) tuning of the δ18O data of DSDDP core aragonite to the U–Th dated oxygen isotopes of regional cave speleothems; and (4) tuning of the DSDDP aragonite δ18O data to summer insolation curves when the cave δ18O chronology is less clear. The updated chronology reveals a strong relationship between the sedimentary facies comprising the core and Northern Hemisphere summer insolation variations. It shows that sequences of sediments marking drier/wetter/drier climate conditions in the lake’s watershed (e.g., salt/muds/salt, respectively) appear across the flank/peak/flank segments of several summer insolation peaks. In particular, the transition from drier to wetter sedimentary facies during mid-latitude insolation peaks coincides with the intervals of sapropel conditions in the Mediterranean, reflecting enhanced Nile flow due to intense African monsoonal conditions, and marking the impact of the tropical precession cycles on Eastern Mediterranean hydroclimate. This pattern was lost during MIS 2,3,4, when mostly sequences of primary aragonite are punctuated by gypsum precipitation during Heinrich events, marking the strong impact of the North Atlantic on the last glacial Levant hydroclimate.

Research status of distinct element method particle flow analysis method and its application in deep sea core drilling

Discrete element particle flow method (DEM) is a numerical simulation method aimed at the discontinuity, non-uniformity and non-linear mechanical properties of rock mass. It analyzes the damage and fracture mechanism of materials and structures from the perspective of micromechanics. It has been widely applied in different disciplines and engineering fields. This paper firstly introduces the basic principle of discrete element particle method and its calculation theory, the second review conducted extensive research, the method of this paper expounds in detail the progress at home and abroad, and analyses the application in the field of rock drilling medium, the final mechanical properties of the deep core drilling analysis apply to imagine thinking and research.

Effects of metamorphism and metasomatism on manganese mineralogy: Examples from the Transvaal Supergroup

AbstractManganese-bearing minerals in ancient strata provide a particularly informative record of the redox potentials of ancient Earth surface environments due to the high specificity of species that can oxidize Mn(II). However, little is known about how this sedimentary archive might have been altered by processes occurring long after lithification, including the effects of metamorphism, fluid mobilization, and metasomatism. We investigated Mn mineralization across known metamorphic gradients in the Kaapvaal craton, South Africa, in Archean and early Paleoproterozoic age carbonate-, shale-, and iron formation-bearing marine strata. We sampled contemporaneous strata that record the drowning of the Campbellrand-Malmani carbonate platform and a transition to iron formation deposition in a range of localities, from two metamorphosed (greenschist and above, affected by the intrusion of the Bushveld igneous complex) and four better-preserved (sub-greenschist) deep subsurface drill cores. To evaluate the geochemistry and mineralization tied directly to petrographic textures and cross-cutting relationships, we combined bulk geochemistry with light and electron microscopy and synchrotron microprobe X-ray absorption spectroscopy and imaging to produce Mn speciation maps at the requisite micrometer length scales for these textures. Samples with lesser degrees of post-depositional transformation contained minor amounts of Mn(II) in early diagenetic marine carbonate cements and detrital carbonate grains, while metamorphosed samples typically contained Mn concentrated into a combination of coarse-grained and vein-filling carbonate phases (ankerite, siderite, and rhodochrosite), garnet and amphibole. Chemical imaging analyses of these more metamorphosed samples show that Mn is held by phases and textures that mineralized post-deposition and lithification, demonstrating that Mn was mobilized – at least locally – by metasomatic fluids, although it is difficult to distinguish whether this Mn was original to these strata or was introduced secondarily. Our results confirm that Mn can be mobilized and therefore caution should be applied when interpreting Mn enrichments in sedimentary rocks, especially when Mn enrichment is not geographically extensive and coincides with metamorphic processes.

Upper Miocene-Quaternary magnetostratigraphy and magnetic susceptibility from the Bohai Bay Basin (eastern China) and implications for regional volcanic and basinal subsidence history

The thick Cenozoic sequence of alluvial, lacustrine, volcaniclastic, and marine sediments in the Bohai Bay Basin (BBB) of eastern China is an important sedimentary archive for studying the regional Late Cenozoic history of volcanism, tectonism, and paleoclimate changes, as well as the evolution of the East Asian monsoon system. However, well-dated deep drillcores are sparse in this region, which has prevented a comprehensive analysis of these issues. Here, we present the results of a detailed magnetostratigraphic and magnetic susceptibility study of two deep drillcores (G2 and G3) from the Huanghua Depression, with the aims of (1) refining the upper Miocene-to-Recent chronostratigraphic framework and subsidence history of the BBB, and (2) investigating its relationship to regional volcanic and tectonic events. The observed pattern of paleomagnetic polarity zones in Core G3 can be correlated well to the geomagnetic polarity time scale (GPTS). Quaternary-age peaks in the magnetic susceptibility profiles of Cores G2 and G3 may record large volcanic eruptions―they can be matched to similar peaks in other BBB drillcores, demonstrating their potential utility as regional marker horizons. Increased sedimentation rates in the study cores at ~8.0–6.4 Ma and 3.6–3.0 Ma reflect late Miocene uplift of the Taihang and Lvliang Mountains and late Pliocene BBB subsidence, respectively. Integrated into a regional framework for the upper Miocene to Recent, our magnetostratigraphic data show that subsidence of the Huanghua Depression increased from southwest to northeast.

Sedimentological and mineralogical records from drill core SKD1 in the Jianghan Basin, Central China, and their implications for late Cretaceous–early Eocene climate change

The Jianghan Basin, Central China, contains a thick, continuous sequence of early Cenozoic evaporite-bearing deposits that provide a wealth of information about early Cenozoic climate change and evaporites accumulation in East Asia. However, the paleoclimatic history of the basin and its effect on the evaporites are largely unknown. We obtained a deep drill core (SKD1, 2346.5 m long) from the late Cretaceous to early Eocene evaporite-bearing deposits in the Jianghan Basin. Detailed analyses of the lithofacies, mineralogy and geochemistry of the core indicate that salinization and deepening of the lake occurred (corresponding to the Yuyang Formation to the lower Xingouzui Formation), followed by desalting and shallowing (corresponding to the upper Xingouzui Formation). Reconstruction of the spatiotemporal evolution of the evaporites in the Jiangling depression suggests a transition from semi-arid conditions in the late Cretaceous to extremely arid conditions in the initial stage of the Eocene. The climate then became semi-humid during the deposition of the upper Xingouzui Formation, indicating a monsoon or monsoon-like climate in East Asia during the early Eocene. The southward migration of the depocenter of the Jiangling depression, coupled with a warm and extremely arid climate, resulted in the precipitation of evaporites during the accumulation of the upper Shashi Formation and the lower Xingouzui Formation. These results indicate great potential for identifying potash resources within the subsag in the southern Jiangling depression.

Resurge deposits associated with the shallow marine early Cambrian Vakkejokk impact, north Sweden

AbstractThe lower Cambrian Vakkejokk Breccia is a proximal ejecta layer from a shallow marine impact. It is exposed for ~7 km along a steep mountainside in Lapland, northernmost Sweden. In its central parts, the layer is up to ~27 m thick. Here the breccia shows a vertical differentiation into (1) a lower subunit consisting of strongly deformed target sediments mixed with up to decameter size, mainly crystalline basement clasts (i.e., lower polymict breccia [LPB]); (2) a middle subunit consisting of a polymict, blocky to gravelly breccia, commonly graded (i.e., graded polymict breccia [GPB]), that, in turn, is sporadically overlain by (3) a few dm thick, sandy bed (i.e., top sandstone [TS]). Previous work interpreted the graded beds as deposited by resurging water during early crater modification. We made three short (<1.35 m) core drillings through the graded beds. The line‐logging technique previously used on cores from other marine‐target craters was complemented by logging of equal‐sized cells in photos made along the cores. Granulometry and clast lithology determinations provide further evidence for the top beds of the breccia being resurge deposits. However, the magnitude of this resurge can only be assessed by future deep core drilling of the infill of the crater hidden below the mountain.

Very distant Sudbury impact dykes revealed by drilling the Temagami geophysical anomaly

The Temagami Anomaly is one of the largest unexplained magnetic features in North America. It is similar in size and shape to the geophysical anomaly that marks the 1.85 Ga Sudbury Igneous Complex (SIC) in its immediate vicinity but its geological cause and potential link to the Sudbury impact structure have remained elusive. Here we report on a 2200 m deep diamond drill core intersecting the area of maximum magnetic anomaly and provide evidence of diorite dykes therein being most likely related to the Sudbury impact event. The fine-grained, strongly altered biotite-amphibole diorite occurs below 2000 m, is intrusive into Archaean basement rocks and has the same major- and trace element geochemistry as the SIC, which approximates the bulk composition of the local continental crust that was hit by the impact. A crustal affinity analogous to SIC impact-melt rocks is further supported by whole-rock Nd and Pb isotopes. Low ɛNd0 between −27.6 and −18.7, as well as Nd model ages of 2.75 Ga are considered as inherited from the crustal precursor rocks that became largely homogenized in the course of impact melt formation. The 206Pb/204Pb ratios are between 15.77 and 19.38, 207Pb/204Pb between 15.22 and 15.59 (corresponding to initial 207Pb/204Pb at 1850 Ma between 15.14 and 15.22), yielding an “isochron age” of 1780 +320/−330 Ma, and the 208Pb/204Pb ranges from 35.47 to 41.15, all values that compare well with published data on SIC impact-related igneous rocks of mainly quartz dioritic composition, locally referred to as Offset Dykes, and that are distinctly different to those reported for other magmatic units in the wider region. Although several such dykes have been well known to occur both radially and concentrically around the SIC, none have been described so far from the area east of the SIC. The recognition of former intrusive impact melt at an even greater distance (50 km) from the SIC than has been known so far increases the extent of the impact structure but also the exploration potential of the area of the Temagami magnetic anomaly for Ni-Cu-PGE-sulfide deposits. The actual cause of the Temagami Anomaly remains open to debate.