2,318 research outputs found
Reprocessing of legacy seismic reflection profile data and its implications for plate flexure in the vicinity of the Hawaiian islands
During 1975â1988, an academic research ship, R/V Robert D. Conrad, acquired more than 150,000-line-km of multichannel seismic reflection profile data from each of the world's main ocean basins and their margins. This extensive legacy seismic data set, which involved both single ship and two-ship data acquisition, has been widely used by the marine geoscience community. We report on our experience in reprocessing seismic reflection profile data acquired during Conrad cruise RC2308 to the Hawaiian Islands region in August/September 1982. We show that the application of modern, industry standard processing techniques, including filtering, de-bubble, deconvolution, and migration, can significantly enhance 40+ year old legacy seismic reflection profile data. The reprocessed data reveals more precisely, and with much less scatter, the flexure of Cretaceous Pacific oceanic crust caused by the Pliocene-Recent volcanic loads that comprise the Hawaiian Islands. A comparison of observed picks of top oceanic crust which has been corrected for the Hawaiian swell and the Molokai Fracture Zone with the calculations of a simple 3-dimensional elastic plate (flexure) model reveals a best fit elastic plate thickness of the lithosphere, Te, of 26.7 km, an average infill density of 2,701 kg mâ3, and a Root Mean Square difference between observations and calculations of 305 m. Tests show these results depend weakly on the load density assumed and that the average infill density is close to what would be predicted from an arithmetic average of the flanking moat infill density and the infill density that immediately underlies the volcanic edifice
Seamounts
Definition: Seamounts are literally mountains rising from the seafloor. More specifically, they are âany geographically isolated topographic feature on the seafloor taller than 100 m, including ones whose summit regions may temporarily emerge above sea level, but not including features that are located on continental shelves or that are part of other major landmassesâ (Staudigel et al., 2010). The term âguyotâ can be used for seamounts having a truncated cone shape with a flat summit produced by erosion at sea level (Hess, 1946), development of carbonate reefs (e.g., Flood, 1999), or partial collapse due to caldera formation (e.g., Batiza et al., 1984). Seamounts <1,000 m tall are sometimes referred to as âknollsâ (e.g., Hirano et al., 2008). âPetit spotsâ are a newly discovered subset of sea knolls confined to the bulge of subducting oceanic plates of oceanic plates seaward of deep-sea trenches (Hirano et al., 2006)
Recommended from our members
Crustal and Mantle Deformation Inherited From Obduction of the Semail Ophiolite (Oman) and Continental Collision (Zagros)
Abstract: A common deviation from typical subduction models occurs when thrust sheets of oceanic crust and upperâmantle rocks are emplaced over more buoyant continental lithosphere. The archetypal example of ophiolite obduction is the Semail ophiolite in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)âOman orogenic belt, formed and obducted onto the Arabian continental margin during the Late Cretaceous. The Strait of Hormuz syntaxis, the northern extent of the UAEâOman mountains, marks the transition from oceanâcontinent convergence in the Gulf of Oman to continental collision along the Zagros Mountains. Based on new seismic data from a focused recording network, we infer continental crustal and mantle deformation in the northeastern corner of the Arabian plate (including the southern Zagros and the UAEâOman mountains), using observations from anisotropic tomography and shearâwave splitting (SWS) measurements. We recover a change of âŒ90° (from approximately WNW to nearly NS) in the axis of fastâanisotropic orientations in the crust from the Zagros to the UAEâOman mountain belt, consistent with the dominant strike of the orogenic belts. We also find evidence in our SWS parameters for localized fossil deformation in the lithospheric mantle underlying the UAEâOman mountain range, possibly related to stressâinduced tectonism triggered by northâeast oriented underthrusting of the protoâArabian continental margin beneath the overriding Semail ophiolite. Shearâwaveâsplitting anisotropy orientations along two transects across the northern Musandam peninsula, averaging 15° anticlockwise from the north, provide the first geophysical verification of previous geological evidence that suggests a NE polarity of the Late Cretaceous Oman subduction zone system
The Permian Cornubian granite batholith, SW England; Part 1: Field, structural, and petrological constraints
This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the Geological Society of America via the DOI in this recordThe Permian Cornubian granite batholith (295â275 Ma) in SW England includes seven major plutons and numerous smaller stocks extending for âŒ250 km from the Isles of Scilly in the WSW to Dartmoor in the ENE. The granites are peraluminous and classified as crustal melt S-type, predominantly two-mica granites, and biotite or tourmaline monzo- and syenogranites, with subordinate minor topaz granite and lithium mica granite. The granites and their host rocks are pervasively mineralized with tin (cassiterite), tungsten (wolframite, ferberite), copper (chalcopyrite, chalcocite, bornite), arsenic (arsenopyrite), and zinc (sphalerite) mineralized lodes. Quartz-muscovite selvedges (greisen-bordered) also contain enrichment of lithophile elements such as boron (tourmaline), fluorine (fluorite), and lithium (lithium-micas such as lepidolite and zinnwaldite). They are derived from both muscovite and biotite dehydration melting of pelitic-psammitic rocks and intruded from a common source along the length of the batholith. Pressure estimates from andalusite and cordierite-bearing hornfels in the contact metamorphic aureole (150 ± 100 MPa) show that the granites intruded to 3 km depth. Cupolas around the Landâs End and Tregonning granites show aplite-pegmatite dikes and tourmaline + quartz + muscovite veins (greisen) that are frequently mineralized. Synchronous intrusions of lamprophyre dikes suggest an additional heat source for crustal melting may have been from underplating of alkaline magmas. The lack of significant erosion means that the source region is not exposed. In an accompanying paper (Part 2; Watts et al., 2024), gravity modeling reveals possible solutions for the shape and depth of the granite and the structure of the lower crust. We present a new model for the Landâs End, Tregonning, and Carnmenellis granites showing a mid-crustal source composed of amphibolite facies migmatites bounded by prominent seismic reflectors, with upward expanding dikes feeding inter-connected granite laccoliths that show inflated cupolas with shallow contact metamorphism. The Cornubian granites intruded >90 m.y. after obduction of the Lizard ophiolite complex, and after Upper DevonianâCarboniferous Variscan compressional, and later extensional, deformation of the surrounding Devonian country rocks. Comparisons are made between the Cornubian batholith and the Patagonian batholith in Chile, the Himalayan leucogranites, and the Baltoro granite batholith along the Karakoram range in northern Pakistan
Recommended from our members
Geophysical imaging of ophiolite structure in the United Arab Emirates.
The Oman-United Arab Emirates ophiolite has been used extensively to document the geological processes that form oceanic crust. The geometry of the ophiolite, its extension into the Gulf of Oman, and the nature of the crust that underlies it are, however, unknown. Here, we show the ophiolite forms a high velocity, high density, >15âkm thick east-dipping body that during emplacement flexed down a previously rifted continental margin thereby contributing to subsidence of flanking sedimentary basins. The western limit of the ophiolite is defined onshore by the Semail thrust while the eastern limit extends several km offshore, where it is defined seismically by a ~40-45°, east-dipping, normal fault. The fault is interpreted as the southwestern margin of an incipient suture zone that separates the Arabian plate from in situ Gulf of Oman oceanic crust and mantle presently subducting northwards beneath the Eurasian plate along the Makran trench
Moduli space coordinates and excited state g-functions
We consider the space of boundary conditions of Virasoro minimal models
formed from the composition of a collection of flows generated by \phi_{1,3}.
These have recently been shown to fall naturally into a sequence, each term
having a coordinate on it in terms of a boundary parameter, but no global
parameter has been proposed. Here we investigate the idea that the overlaps of
particular bulk states with the boundary states give natural coordinates on the
moduli space of boundary conditions. We find formulae for these overlaps using
the known thermodynamic Bethe Ansatz descriptions of the ground and first
excited state on the cylinder and show that they give a global coordinate on
the space of boundary conditions, showing it is smooth and compact as expected.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure
Rapid mantle-driven uplift along the Angolan margin in the late Quaternary
Mantle flow can cause the Earthâs surface to uplift and subside, but the rates and durations of these motions are, in general, poorly resolved due to the difficulties in making measurements of relatively small vertical movements (hundreds of metres) over sufficiently large distances (about 1,000âkm). Here we examine the effect of mantle upwelling through a study of Quaternary uplift along the coast of Angola. Using both optically stimulated luminescence on sediment grains, and radiocarbon dating of fossil shells, we date a 25âm coastal terrace at about 45 thousand years old, when sea level was about 75âm lower than today, indicating a rapid uplift rate of 1.8â2.6âmmâyrâ1 that is an order of magnitude higher than previously obtained rates averaged over longer time periods. Automated extraction and correlation of coastal terrace remnants from digital topography uncovers a symmetrical uplift with diameter of more than 1,000âkm. The wavelength and relatively short timescale of the uplift suggest that it is associated with a mantle process, possibly convective upwelling, and that the topography may be modulated by rapid short-lived pulses of mantle-derived uplift. Our study shows that stable continental regions far from the effects of glacial rebound may experience rapid vertical displacements of several millimetres per year
Proteomics: in pursuit of effective traumatic brain injury therapeutics
Effective traumatic brain injury (TBI) therapeutics remain stubbornly elusive. Efforts in the field have been challenged by the heterogeneity of clinical TBI, with greater complexity among underlying molecular phenotypes than initially conceived. Future research must confront the multitude of factors comprising this heterogeneity, representing a big data challenge befitting the coming informatics age. Proteomics is poised to serve a central role in prescriptive therapeutic development, as it offers an efficient endpoint within which to assess post-TBI biochemistry. We examine rationale for multifactor TBI proteomic studies and the particular importance of temporal profiling in defining biochemical sequences and guiding therapeutic development. Lastly, we offer perspective on repurposing biofluid proteomics to develop theragnostic assays with which to prescribe, monitor and assess pharmaceutics for improved translation and outcome for TBI patients
Accreting Millisecond X-Ray Pulsars
Accreting Millisecond X-Ray Pulsars (AMXPs) are astrophysical laboratories
without parallel in the study of extreme physics. In this chapter we review the
past fifteen years of discoveries in the field. We summarize the observations
of the fifteen known AMXPs, with a particular emphasis on the multi-wavelength
observations that have been carried out since the discovery of the first AMXP
in 1998. We review accretion torque theory, the pulse formation process, and
how AMXP observations have changed our view on the interaction of plasma and
magnetic fields in strong gravity. We also explain how the AMXPs have deepened
our understanding of the thermonuclear burst process, in particular the
phenomenon of burst oscillations. We conclude with a discussion of the open
problems that remain to be addressed in the future.Comment: Review to appear in "Timing neutron stars: pulsations, oscillations
and explosions", T. Belloni, M. Mendez, C.M. Zhang Eds., ASSL, Springer;
[revision with literature updated, several typos removed, 1 new AMXP added
- âŠ