The lavas and pyroclastics of Ascension Island contain a suite of coarse grained igneous blocks which range in composition from olivine-gabbro to peralkaline-granite paralleling, but extending beyond the compositional range of the volcanics. The lavas range from alkali-basalt through hawaiite, trachybasalt, trachyandesite and trachyte to comendite. True basalt is relatively rare and there is a scarcity of analyses with 57 < Si02 < 63 wt %. No high pressure mineral assemblages and hence no possible mantle fragments have been found. Petrographic and isotopic data suggest that a suite of gabbros from Dark Slope Crater crystallised from a magma derived from a MORB-like source. The remaining blocks and all the lavas evolved from magmas derived from a less depleted source. The chemical variation seen in the lavas and blocks is best explained by crystal fractionation mechanisms in a relatively shallow magma chamber. The gabbroic blocks exhibit cumulus textures suggesting that they formed by accumulation of settling crystals. The intermediate to acid blocks compare much more closely in composition with the evolved lavas and are probably their slowly cooled equivalents. There is petrographic evidence that partial melting of intermediate coarse grained material gave rise to melts of granitic composition but these are not chemically equivalent to the acid lavas and blocks. A pegmatoid body crystallised in situ and closed system crystal fractionation alone resulted in a very similar sequence of mineral assemblages to the blocks and lavas and a peralkaline final liquid. High 87 S4/ 86 Sr ratios in the evolved lavas and blocks are attributable to contamination by a small quantity of highly radiogenic oceanic sediment. Comparison with other oceanic volcanoes suggests that these differentiation processes are much less important in determining the evolutionary path of the magma than its apparent starting composition.

Identification of effects that climate teleconnections, such as El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), and North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), have on wildfires is difficult because of short and incomplete records in many areas of the world. We developed the first multicentury wildfire chronologies for northeast China from fire-scarred trees. Regional wildfires occurred every 7years from the 1700s to 1947, after which fire suppression policies were implemented. Regional wildfires occurred predominately during drought years and were associated with positive phases of ENSO and PDO and negative NAO. Twentieth century meteorological records show that this contingent combination of +ENSO/+PDO/-NAO is linked to low humidity, low precipitation, and high temperature during or before late spring fire seasons. Climate and wildfires in northeast China may be predictable based on teleconnection phases, although future wildfires may be more severe due to effects of climate change and the legacy of fire suppression.

Continental passive margins exhibit high elevation topography in many localities across the globe. The source and age of much of this topography remains a subject of great debate within the wider community, with numerous theories being presented, including significant post-rift uplift and isostatically preserved rift anks. Establishing the mechanisms that generate topography and the onshore evolution across passive margins is vital in understanding regional geological histories and their wider development. The passive margins of the NW Atlantic realm exhibit high elevation topography topped with low relief summits. The origin of this topography is debated, with both 3 km of uplift in the post-rift stage and the isostatic preservation of Cretaceous rift anks being suggested within the literature. The work of this thesis aims to resolve this debate by establishing the timing and source of uplift across the region and determining the onshore evolution prior to, during and after rifting with the application of apatite low temperature thermochronology. Contemporary analytical and modelling techniques are utilised to generate thermal histories from across both central West Greenland and SE Baffin Island, helping to de ne how the modern landscape has formed. Results from this work outline an onshore history dominated by uplift in the Cretaceous and exhumation throughout the Cenozoic. Basement samples from SW Greenland exhibit protracted cooling throughout the Mesozoic and Cenozoic, implying low rates of exhumation have been apparent throughout. Within the Nuussuaq Basin, centralWest Greenland, thermal histories display reheating i through the Late Cretaceous/Palaeogene and cooling to present, consistent with events outlined in the basin's stratigraphy and implying uplift of the topography is likely the result of extrusive volcanism and an isostatic response to the unroo ng of the lithosphere. Spatial trends in data and thermal histories across SE Ba n Island imply much of the landscape is shaped by rift ank uplift along its SE coastline, driving exhumation of the region throughout the Cenozoic. Collectively these results suggest the elevated topography of the NW Atlantic realm is the result of rift related uplift in the Cretaceous, magmatism and widespread exhumation throughout the Cenozoic, preserved by isostatic exure. This interpretation of the region's onshore history contributes greatly to our understanding of the NW Atlantic's geological evolution. The results highlight the role of extensional tectonism, exhumation and isostasy in shaping both margin's landscapes and helps to determine the principal characteristics of the wider extensional system and the evolution of the o shore domain. Moreover, these conclusions have a wider relevance to the evolution of passive margins across the North Atlantic, improving our understanding of how topography across other margins, such as of East Greenland, Norway and the UK, has formed.

No description available.

>Magister Scientiae - MSc / The reservoir quality of the Orange Basin, offshore South Africa is known to be immensely impaired by the presence of authigenic minerals. The collective effects of burial, bioturbation, compaction and chemical reactions between rocks, fluid and organic matter conclusively determined the quality of reservoirs within the Orange basin. The aim of this study was to provide information on the quality of reservoirs within the Orange Basin. Data used to conduct this study include wireline logs (LAS format), well completion reports and core samples from potential reservoir zones of wells K-A2, K-A3 and K-E1. To accomplish the aim, petrophysical parameters were calculated, such as porosity, permeability and water saturation. Besides, depositional environments were identified using gamma ray log and core logging techniques. Thirdly, petrographic studies were supporting techniques in understanding how various minerals and diagenetic processes play a role in reservoir characterisation. Geophysical wireline logs (Gamma ray, Resistivity, Bulk density and Caliper) allowed for the estimation of the three main reservoir properties; namely: porosity, water saturation and permeability. The porosity calculations revealed a range of 3-18% for well K-A2, 2%-13% for well K-A3 and 3%-16% for well K-E1. The permeability’s ranged from 0.08-0.1 mD and 0.001-1.30 mD for K-A3 and K-E1, respectively. Thus, the findings of the petrophysical evaluation of the wells in Interactive Petrophysics indicated that the reservoir intervals of wells K-A2, K-A3 and K-E1 are of poor to good quality. Based on the core analyses, the depositional environment is mostly shallow marine, specifically tide dominated for well K-A2, sandstone channel for well K-A3 and intertidal environment for well K-E1. These environments were confirmed by XRD, revealing glauconite as the prominent mineral.

Organismos de mar profundo encontram limitações na disponibilidade de alimentos e exploram enriquecimentos orgânicos esporádicos que chegam ao assoalho oceânico. O objetivo deste trabalho foi descrever a diversidade das comunidades bacterianas associadas a parcelas sintéticas e orgânicas (vértebras de baleia e blocos de madeira) no Espírito Santo, Rio de Janeiro e São Paulo a 3.300 m de profundidade, avaliando a influência dos substratos e da localização geográfica sobre essas comunidades. Foi realizada a extração de DNA e amplificação do gene RNAr 16S para sequenciamento por Illumina Miseq e análises estatísticas pelo Qiime. Os Gêneros dominantes nos substratos sintéticos, madeira e vértebras foram Psychroserpens (Flavobacteriia), Phaeobacter, (Alphaproteobacteria), Desulfobacter, (Deltaproteobacteria), respectivamente. Com base nos resultados obtidos, afirma-se que o tipo de substrato teve maior influência do que a localização geográfica sobre a estrutura das comunidades bacterianas. / Deep sea organisms found limitations in the availability of food and exploit sporadic organic enrichments that reach the ocean floor. The aim of this study was to describe the diversity of bacterial communities associated with synthetic and organic substrate (whale bone and wood blocks) in Espírito Santo, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo to 3,300 m deep, assessing the influence of substrates and location geographical about these communities. 16S rRNA sequencing was performed by Illumina Miseq and statistical analysis by Qiime. The dominant genera in synthetic substrates, wood and vertebrae were Psychroserpens (Flavobacteriia), Phaeobacter (Alphaproteobacteria) and Desulfobacter, (Deltaproteobacteria), respectively. Based on these results, it is stated that the substrate type had greater influence than geographic location on the structure of bacterial communities.

No description available.

A simple linear reduced-gravity ocean model is developed to simulate the North Water polynya located in northern Baffin Bay. The model is an extension of Pease (1987) latent-heat model for a coastal polynya. Both northerly surface wind forcing and coastal upwelling processes are taken into account in modelling the steady state and time-dependent water velocities, upper layer depth, and polynya width measured southward from its northern boundary. Also, both uniform and variable wind forcing are considered. In most of this thesis a semi-infinite domain model is used in which upwelling occurs along the eastern boundary (the Greenland coast). It is found that the steady state polynya width is a strong function of the air temperature, but a weak function of the wind speed. The model results show that in the upwelling region near the Greenland coast, the polynya width is larger than further offshore (distance $>$ 2 Rossby radii), where it is a constant (the limiting Pease width). For a variable wind forcing, the southern ice edge of the North Water has a form that is similar to that of the wind forcing. In a channel, upwelling occurs in the eastern part and downwelling in the western part. Thus the polynya is much wider near Greenland and narrower near the Canadian Islands.

No description available.

Graduation date: 1987