Bioturbating animals control the mobility of redox-sensitive trace elements in organic-rich mudstone

Bioturbating animals modify the original mineralogy, porosity, organic content, and fabric of mud, thus affecting the burial diagenetic pathways of potential hydrocarbon source, seal, and reservoir rocks. High-sensitivity, synchrotron rapid scanning X-ray fluorescence elemental mapping reveals that producers of phycosiphoniform burrows systematically partition redox-sensitive trace elements (i.e., Fe, V, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, and As) in fine-grained siliciclastic rocks. Systematic differences in organic carbon content (total organic carbon >1.5 wt%) and quality (D13Corg~0.6‰) are measured between the burrow core and host sediment. The relative enrichment of redox-sensitive elements in the burrow core does not correlate with significant neo-formation of early diagenetic pyrite (via trace metal pyritization), but is best explained by physical concentration of clay- and silt-sized components. A measured loss (~-15%) of the large-ionic-radius elements Sr and Ba from both burrow halo and core is most likely associated with the release of Sr and Ba to pore waters during biological (in vivo) weathering of silt- to clay-sized lithic components and feldspar. This newly documented effect has significant potential to inform the interpretation of geochemical proxy and rock property data, particularly from shales, where elemental analyses are commonly employed to predict reservoir quality and support paleoenvironmental analysis

Epidemiology, practice of ventilation and outcome for patients at increased risk of postoperative pulmonary complications

BACKGROUND Limited information exists about the epidemiology and outcome of surgical patients at increased risk of postoperative pulmonary complications (PPCs), and how intraoperative ventilation was managed in these patients. OBJECTIVES To determine the incidence of surgical patients at increased risk of PPCs, and to compare the intraoperative ventilation management and postoperative outcomes with patients at low risk of PPCs. DESIGN This was a prospective international 1-week observational study using the ‘Assess Respiratory Risk in Surgical Patients in Catalonia risk score’ (ARISCAT score) for PPC for risk stratification. PATIENTS AND SETTING Adult patients requiring intraoperative ventilation during general anaesthesia for surgery in 146 hospitals across 29 countries. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The primary outcome was the incidence of patients at increased risk of PPCs based on the ARISCAT score. Secondary outcomes included intraoperative ventilatory management and clinical outcomes. RESULTS A total of 9864 patients fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The incidence of patients at increased risk was 28.4%. The most frequently chosen tidal volume (VT) size was 500 ml, or 7 to 9 ml kg1 predicted body weight, slightly lower in patients at increased risk of PPCs. Levels of positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) were slightly higher in patients at increased risk of PPCs, with 14.3% receiving more than 5 cmH2O PEEP compared with 7.6% in patients at low risk of PPCs (P < 0.001). Patients with a predicted preoperative increased risk of PPCs developed PPCs more frequently: 19 versus 7%, relative risk (RR) 3.16 (95% confidence interval 2.76 to 3.61), P < 0.001) and had longer hospital stays. The only ventilatory factor associated with the occurrence of PPCs was the peak pressure. CONCLUSION The incidence of patients with a predicted increased risk of PPCs is high. A large proportion of patients receive high VT and low PEEP levels. PPCs occur frequently in patients at increased risk, with worse clinical outcome

Epidemiology, practice of ventilation and outcome for patients at increased risk of postoperative pulmonary complications: LAS VEGAS - An observational study in 29 countries

BACKGROUND Limited information exists about the epidemiology and outcome of surgical patients at increased risk of postoperative pulmonary complications (PPCs), and how intraoperative ventilation was managed in these patients. OBJECTIVES To determine the incidence of surgical patients at increased risk of PPCs, and to compare the intraoperative ventilation management and postoperative outcomes with patients at low risk of PPCs. DESIGN This was a prospective international 1-week observational study using the ‘Assess Respiratory Risk in Surgical Patients in Catalonia risk score’ (ARISCAT score) for PPC for risk stratification. PATIENTS AND SETTING Adult patients requiring intraoperative ventilation during general anaesthesia for surgery in 146 hospitals across 29 countries. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The primary outcome was the incidence of patients at increased risk of PPCs based on the ARISCAT score. Secondary outcomes included intraoperative ventilatory management and clinical outcomes. RESULTS A total of 9864 patients fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The incidence of patients at increased risk was 28.4%. The most frequently chosen tidal volume (V T) size was 500 ml, or 7 to 9 ml kg−1 predicted body weight, slightly lower in patients at increased risk of PPCs. Levels of positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) were slightly higher in patients at increased risk of PPCs, with 14.3% receiving more than 5 cmH2O PEEP compared with 7.6% in patients at low risk of PPCs (P ˂ 0.001). Patients with a predicted preoperative increased risk of PPCs developed PPCs more frequently: 19 versus 7%, relative risk (RR) 3.16 (95% confidence interval 2.76 to 3.61), P ˂ 0.001) and had longer hospital stays. The only ventilatory factor associated with the occurrence of PPCs was the peak pressure. CONCLUSION The incidence of patients with a predicted increased risk of PPCs is high. A large proportion of patients receive high V T and low PEEP levels. PPCs occur frequently in patients at increased risk, with worse clinical outcome.</p

High-energy seafloor processes and biological reworking as first-order controls on mudstone composition and geochemistry

This PhD research project aims to develop a better understanding of how physical seafloor reworking and macrofaunal bioturbation control the lithofacies variability of mudstones deposited under high-energy seafloor conditions. To address this aim, bioturbated and unbioturbated mudstones from two natural laboratories in Newfoundland, Canada and Baja California, Mexico were investigated. Sections of interest were logged at a cm-scale and organic and inorganic geochemical measurements were performed on bioturbated and unbioturbated mudstones within both successions. To improve the fidelity of paleoenvironmental reconstructions these geochemical measurements were combined with high-quality sedimentological and ichnological datasets at a range of length scales. Unbioturbated mudstones in the Early Ordovician Bell Island Group, Newfoundland, previously reported to have been deposited under anoxic conditions, instead, most likely originated as hyperpycnal flows and wave-enhanced sediment gravity flows. The proximity to a fluvial source and residence time of rock components in the near-surface zone are interpreted to be the primary control on the compositional heterogeneity of mudstones within this Ordovician mud-dominated shoreface paleoenvironment. Following this, high-energy seafloor conditions are a more realistic explanation for the high presence of unbioturbated mudstones in the heterolithic Bell Island Group. Additionally, the formation mechanism of shrinkage (‘synaeresis’) cracks, which are sedimentological prime indicators for salinity fluctuations in marginal-marine environments, has been re-evaluated. Sediment cracking is proposed to form as an exclusively intrastratal process, independent of fluctuations of pore water salinity. Spatial rheological inhomogeneities associated with microbial mat decay shortly after burial are proposed to produce intrastratal shrinkage cracks. The effect of bioturbation on the geochemical variability of mudstones has been investigated within mudstones and finegrained sandstones of the Rosario Formation, Mexico. The spatial distribution of organic carbon and redox-sensitive trace elements is controlled by the feeding activity of grainsize selective vermiform animals and associated in-vivo alteration of weatheringsusceptible minerals. The reactivity of organic carbon is proposed to be a critical variable controlling pathways of diagenesis in bioturbated mudstones. It is imperative that paleoenvironmental analyses consider the long-term effects of bioturbation and highenergy seafloor processes to fully understand the compositional variability of mudstones within a basin-wide context

The enigmatic ichnofossil Tisoa siphonalis and widespread authigenic seep carbonate formation during the Late Pliensbachian in southern France

Tubular carbonate concretions of up to 1 m in length and perpendicular to bedding, occur abundantly in the Upper Pliensbachian (upper Amaltheus margaritatus Zone, Gibbosus Subzone) in outcrops (Fontaneilles section) in the vicinity of Rivière-sûr-Tarn, southern France. Stable isotope analyses of these concretions show negative δ13C values that decrease from the rim to the center from −18.8‰ to −25.7‰ (V-PDB), but normal marine δ18O values (−1.8‰). Carbon isotope analyses of Late Pliensbachian bulk carbonate (matrix) samples from the Fontaneilles section show clearly decreasing C-isotope values across the A. margaritatus Zone, from +1‰ to −3‰ (V-PDB). Isotope analyses of coeval belemnite rostra do not document such a negative C-isotope trend with values remaining stable around +2‰ (V-PDB). Computer tomographic (CT) scanning of the tubular concretions show multiple canals that are lined or filled entirely with pyrite. Previously, the formation of these concretions with one, two, or more central tubes, has been ascribed to the activity of an enigmatic organism, possibly with annelid or arthropod affinities, known asTisoa siphonalis. Our results suggest tisoan structures are abiogenic. Based on our geochemical analyses and sedimentological observations we suggest that these concretions formed as a combination of the anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) and sulfate reduction within the sediment. Fluids rich in methane and/or hydrocarbons likely altered local bulk rock carbon isotope records, but did not affect the global carbon cycle. Interestingly, Tisoa siphonalis has been described from many locations in the Grands Causses Basin in southern France, and from northern France and Luxemburg, always occurring at the same stratigraphic level. Upper Pliensbachian authigenic carbonates thus possibly cover an area of many thousand square kilometers. Greatly reduced sedimentation rates are needed to explain the stabilization of the sulfate-methane transition zone in the sedimentary column in order for the tubular concretions to form. Late Pliensbachian cooling, reducing run-off, and/or the influx of colder water and more vigorous circulation could be responsible for a halt in sedimentation. At the same time (thermogenic) methane may have destabilized during a major phase of Late Pliensbachian sea level fall. As such Tisoa siphonalis is more than a geological curiosity, and its further study could prove pivotal in understanding Early Jurassic paleoenvironmental change