Thesis (Ph.D.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2001. / Bibliography: leaves 232-244.

The Coral Sea has been the host to a variety of large carbonate platforms over the geologic past and presently hosts the world's largest system of coral reefs, the Great Barrier Reef, stretching more then 2,300 km along Australia's northeast coast. The Marion Plateau, which today is the site of 400 m deep hemipelagic sediment drifts, once supported two large carbonate platforms that were precursors to reef growth on the central and southern Great Barrier Reef. Previous work examining the growth phases, drownings and rejuvenation of these platforms is extensive. The purpose of this research is to examine the factors controlling the earliest sedimentation on the margin and how it influenced early development of the carbonate platforms. One hundred and eighty-three samples were taken from the base of Hole 1195 B, that was drilled during the Ocean Drilling Program's Leg 194. Analyses were performed using x-ray diffraction on the bulk powder and decalcified less than 2um size fraction smear slides. Four distinct sedimentary facies were defined on the basis of mineralogy and constituent grains. The initial marine transgression of the Marion Plateau was not a straightforward one where a shallow-water margin gradually transitioned into a deep-water margin. Instead, sediments record a complex history of unconformities, hardgrounds, and discrete sedimentary units. The initial flooding was complex as a result of its initially shallow depth at a time characterized by several glacio-eustatic sea-level changes. The data indicate that eustasy has been the strongest control on sediment deposition and clay mineral patterns on the Plateau. Falling sea level resulted in periods of increased detrital input and limited soil formation. Also, a decreasing kaolinite trend in the early Miocene, during a rising sea level, indicates that clays forming on land as a result of climate were not transported out onto the plateau.

High rates of Neogene sediment influx to the offshore Canterbury Basin resulted in preservation of a high-resolution record of seismically resolvable sequences (~0.1-0.54 my periods). Subsequent sequence development was strongly influenced by submarine currents. This study focuses on correlating seismically interpreted sequence boundaries and sediment drifts architectures beneath the modern shelf and slope with sediment facies observed in cores from shelf Site U1351 and slope Site U1352 drilled by Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Expedition 317. A traveltime-depth conversion was created using sonic and density logs and is compared with two previous traveltime-depth conversions for the sites. Eleven large elongate drifts were interpreted prior to drilling. Two new small-scale plastered slope drifts in the vicinity of the IODP sites, together with sediment waves drilled at Site U1352, have been interpreted as part of this study. Lithologic discontinuity surfaces and transitions together with associated sediment packages form the basis of identifying sequences and sequence boundaries in the cores. Contacts and facies were characterized using shipboard core descriptions, emphasizing grain-size contrasts and the natures of the lower and upper contacts of sediment packages. Lithologic surfaces in cores from sites U1351- (surfaces S1-S8) and U1352- (surfaces S1-S6) correlate with early Pleistocene to recent seismic sequence boundaries U12-U19 and U14-U19, respectively. The limited depths achieved by downhole logging, in particular sonic and density logs, together with poor recovery in the deeper section did not allow correlation of older lithologic surfaces. Slope Site U1352 experienced a complex interplay of along-strike and downslope depositional processes and cores provide information about the principal facies forming sediment waves. The general facies are fine-grained mud rich sediment interbedded decimeter-centimeter thick sand and sandy mud. Core evidence for current activity is reinforced at larger scale by seismic interpretations of sediment waves and drifts. / text

No description available.

I resolved the sedimentary architecture of a shallow water (< 500 m), hemipelagic sediment drift located on the Marion Plateau, seaward and downstream of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). The drift responded increasingly to sea-level fluctuations during the Pleistocene. In the early Pleistocene, local climatic variations introduce a precessional rhythm to drift architecture that is out of phase with sea level-forced cyclicity. Beginning in the mid Pleistocene, sea level variations dominate drift architecture, with the highest carbonate and terrigenous fluxes likely occurring during highstand and transgression, respectively. At the sea-level transgression of MIS 15 and subsequent isotope stages, the phasing of maximum terrigenous flux corresponds to sea-level transgression, indicating siliciclastic sediment accumulated on the continental shelf behind an exposed barrier reef during the lowstand of MIS 16 and was remobilized by rising sea-level. These sedimentological data indicate GBR initiation occurred during MIS 17. The normal polarity exhibited by the central GBR and thick section of underlying sediments rules out initiation during MIS 19. MIS 17 was the first of the asymmetric glacial cycles characteristic of the Late Pleistocene. If the Florida Keys and Belize barrier reef initiations were indeed simultaneous with that of the GBR, then the changing nature of cyclicity in global sea level and climatic fluctuations likely influenced the initiation of the world's major, modern barrier reefs.

My dissertation research consists of two themes: (a) the analysis of Middle Jurassic - Early Cretaceous marine magnetic anomalies (M-anomalies) in order to construct a comprehensive geomagnetic polarity timescale and (b) the investigation of the upper oceanic crustal architecture using downhole geophysical logs. These themes were chosen to better understand how remotely-sensed geophysical signals elucidate the formation and evolution of oceanic crust. This revised Pacific-wide MGPTS model shows significant improvement in its reliability, exhibits global applicability, and highlights changes in the paleo-Pacific spreading regime. By integrating Atlantic Manomaly analyses with the new MGPTS model and reviewing previous seismic studies, we shed new light on the causes of a ubiquitously distributed ?Atlantic anomaly smooth zone? where little coherency among M5-M15 anomaly sequence is observed. For the second theme, I analyzed the architecture of 15 m.y. old superfast spreading East Pacific Rise crust drilled at Ocean Drilling Program Hole 1256D in the eastern Pacific. An intact upper oceanic crustal section was penetrated at this site to a depth of 1507 mbsf. In situ crustal architecture was mapped from resistivity imagery (electrofacies by Formation MicroScanner) combined with recovered cores and other logs. Highlights of this research are: (1) most of the extrusive section consists of massive flows and fragmented formations including breccias, which has important implications for the magnetic source layer and pathways of hydrothermal alteration; (2) the dike complex is composed of sheeted-dikes dipping away from the paleo-spreading axis consistent with submersible observations at other sites in the eastern Pacific; (3) the crustal construction processess from ridge axis to abyssal plain during 0-50 kyr time are consistent with previous seismic reflection studies based on the integration of our stratigraphy model with lava flow observations from the southern East Pacific Rise.

Ce travail a pour but l'étude de la stabilité des minéraux sulfatés et carbonatés dans les sédiments marins au cours de la diagenèse précoce (températures inférieures à 70°C et enfouissement maximal de 2 kilomètres). La première partie présente l'étude pétrographique et géochimique de concrétions dolomitiques contenant de la calcite et des sulfates (célestine et barytine), dans le delta éocène du Sobrarbe (Espagne). Nous déterminons l'ordre d'apparition des minéraux ainsi que leurs conditions de formation dans un contexte tectonique actif. Dans la deuxième partie, l'état de saturation des eaux interstitielles des sédiments marins par rapport aux carbonates et sulfates est calculé en utilisant l'intégralité de la base de données ODP/IODP (14000 échantillons). Pour les sulfates (célestine, gypse), la saturation est fréquente et caractérisée par l'équilibre chimique. Ce travail montre comment la modélisation des interactions eau/roche peu expliquer la présence de minéraux diagénétiques

Les techniques de diagraphies sont un moyen privilégié pour étudier les formations géologiques profondes, inaccessibles à l'observation directe. Elles mesurent en continu et in situ de nombreux paramètres pétrophysiques, ainsi que les concentrations en 7 éléments majeurs (Si, Ca, Fe, Al, S, K, Ti) et 3 éléments traces (U, Th et Gd). Une connaissance préalable des différents modes de fonctionnement des outils et de leur calibration permet d'évaluer la précision de la mesure. Celle-ci est surtout fonction des conditions de mesure (diamètre et rugosité du puits, vitesse de mesure). Lorsque les données sont de bonne qualité, les méthodes de classification multivariée, comme la méthode des nuées dynamiques ou le k-means, sont employées comme premier outil de visualisation des grandeurs mesurées par diagraphie. En parallèle ou en complément, à l'aide de méthodes d'inversion linéaire ou non-linéaire, il est possible de calculer une minéralogie en continu avec une précision suffisante pour être utilisée dans des modèles pétrophysiques et géologiques. Les zones de convergence de plaques lithosphériques sont des environnements géologiques instables, dans lesquels les techniques de diagraphie par cable, classiquement utilisée dans les forages scientifiques océaniques ou continentaux, ne permettent pas d'obtenir des données de bonne qualité. La nouvelle méthode de Logging-While-Drilling, ne laisse pas à l'environnement de mesure le temps de se déteriorer et donne une mesure utilisable. L'interprétation géologique, minéralogique et faciologique des données de diagraphies apportent des indications précieuses sur la dynamique sédimentaire, ainsi que sur les éventuelles transformations minéralogiques. Le caractère in situ de la mesure rend possible la modélisation de la dynamique des fluides ou de la variation et de l'orientation des champs de contrainte, dont les environnements étudiés sont souvent le siège.

In the late spring of 2008, the Chevron-led Gulf of Mexico Gas Hydrate Joint Industry Project (JIP) expects to conduct an exploratory drilling and logging campaign to better understand gas hydrate-bearing sands in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. The JIP Site Selection team selected three areas to test alternative geological models and geophysical interpretations supporting the existence of potential high gas hydrate saturations in reservoir-quality sands. The three sites are near existing drill holes which provide geological and geophysical constraints in Alaminos Canyon (AC) lease block 818, Green Canyon (GC) 955, and Walker Ridge (WR) 313. At the AC818 site, gas hydrate is interpreted to occur within the Oligocene Frio volcaniclastic sand at the crest of a fold that is shallow enough to be in the hydrate stability zone. Drilling at GC955 will sample a faulted, buried Pleistocene channel-levee system in an area characterized by seafloor fluid expulsion features, structural closure associated with uplifted salt, and abundant seismic evidence for upward migration of fluids and gas into the sand-rich parts of the sedimentary section. Drilling at WR313 targets ponded sheet sands and associated channel/levee deposits within a minibasin, making this a non-structural play. The potential for gas hydrate occurrence at WR313 is supported by shingled phase reversals consistent with the transition from gas-charged sand to overlying gas-hydrate saturated sand. Drilling locations have been selected at each site to 1) test geological methods and models used to infer the occurrence of gas hydrate in sand reservoirs in different settings in the northern Gulf of Mexico; 2) calibrate geophysical models used to detect gas hydrate sands, map reservoir thicknesses, and estimate the degree of gas hydrate saturation; and 3) delineate potential locations for subsequent JIP drilling and coring operations that will collect samples for comprehensive physical property, geochemical and other analyses

The Late Cretaceous–early Paleogene is the most recent period of Earth history with a dynamic carbon cycle that experienced sustained global greenhouse warmth and can offer a valuable insight into our anthropogenically-warmer future world. Yet, knowledge of ambient climate conditions and evolution of the carbon cycle at this time, along with their relation to forcing mechanisms, are still poorly constrained. In this thesis, I examine marine sediments recovered from the South Atlantic Walvis Ridge (ODP Site 1262) and Indian Ocean Ninetyeast Ridge (IODP Site U1443 and ODP Site 758), to shed new light on the evolution of the climate and carbon cycle from the Late Maastrichtian through to the Early Eocene (~67.10–52.35 Ma). The overarching aims of this thesis are: 1) to identify the long-term trends and principle forcing mechanisms driving the climate and carbon cycle during this time period, through construction of 14.75 million-year-long, orbital-resolution (~1.5–4 kyr), stratigraphically complete, benthic stable carbon (δ13Cbenthic) and oxygen (δ18Obenthic) isotope records; 2) to investigate in more detail the climatic and carbon-cycle perturbations of the Early–Middle Paleocene (e.g., the Dan-C2 event, Latest Danian Event and the Danian/Selandian Transition Event) and place these in their proper (orbital) temporal context; 3) to investigate the Late Maastrichtian warming event and its relationship to the eruption of the Deccan Traps Large Igneous Province, as well as its role (if any) in the subsequent Cretaceous/Paleogene (K/Pg) mass extinction; 4) to provide the first orbital-resolution estimates of temperature and carbonate chemistry variability from the low latitude Indian Ocean spanning the Late Paleocene–Early Eocene, through analysis of trace element and stable isotope data from multiple foraminiferal species. Taken together, the results presented in this thesis provide a critical new insight into the dynamic evolution of the climate and carbon cycle during the greenhouse world of the early Paleogene, and shed light on the potential forcing mechanisms driving the climate and carbon cycle during this time.