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This project presents an integrated study of the lithostratigraphy and sedimentology of the Haute Normandie chalks (Upper Cenomanian to Santonian), northern France. To enable a detailed lateral correlation across the region a local lithostratigraphic framework is proposed in which the succession is divided up into five basic Formations. Members and marker horizons are also identified. Comprehensive field studies and sedimentary analyses shows the existence of twelve facies. Facies are defined on sediment textures, biogenic composition, resedimented textures, terrigenous content and degree of early cementation. Analysis of spectacular discordant bedding structures, previously interpreted as accretionary "banks", indicates that they are formed from erosion and infill of channels and scours on the sea-floor. Channel and scour structures usually have concave-up basal truncation surfaces with a sedimentary infill of complex fining-upward facies sequences. These structures are compared with erosional furrows, scours and channels of modern continental shelves. The development of channels and scours in the Haute Normandie chalks is attributed to the convergence of oceanic and tidal currents flowing from the proto Atlantic into the epicontinental sea of northwest Europe. A re-examination of shallow seismic refection profiles indicates that the distribution pattern of channels and scours is related to the local influence of tectonic highs within the shallowing chalk sea. Evidence from gravity-flow deposits and turbidites infilling some channel structures may reflect contemporaneous tectonic activity. Dolomitized and dedolomitized chalks occur in the basal horizons of channel and scour structures. Detailed petrographic analysis supplemented with isotope data suggests that dolomitization took place early in the burial history, resulting from a hydrological regime of mixed meteoric and marine ground waters. Late diagenetic dedolomitization is also evident, resulting from the recrystallization of original dolomite crystals within a near surface weathering environment.

<p> The Hueco and Mesilla Bolsons are part of the intramountain basins of the Rio Grande Rift system. These bolsons are the primary source of groundwater for the El Paso-Ciudad Juarez metropolitan area and contain faults that show evidence of repeated earthquakes during the Quaternary. The region is also associated with has low-level (M&lt;4) seismicity. The collection and analysis of precision gravity data, coupled with information from water wells, multichannel analysis of surface waves (MASW) studies and previously published seismic reflection lines, have been used to examine the structure and faulting within these bolson. This study reveals that the Hueco and Mesilla Bolsons are very different structurally. The southern Mesilla Bolson contains about 500 m of sediment. Faults are difficult to trace and have less than 50-100 m of displacement across them. The southernmost bolson contains numerous Tertiary intrusions and the thickness of Cretaceous bedrock appears to decrease from south to north, possibly delineating the edge of Laramide age deformation within the bolson. The northern Hueco Bolson contains 1800 to 2500 m of basin fill. Displacement along the East Franklin Mountains fault (EFMF), a fault with evidence for repeated earthquakes within the past 64,000 years, is about 1500 m, and displacement on intrabasin faults is 200-300 m. Several intrabasin faults appear to control the saline to freshwater contact within the bolson. The EFMF may extend over 30 km south of the end of its mapped trace at the end of the Franklin Mountains and a number of intrabasin faults also extend south into the urbanized regions of the study area. The EFMF and other basin structures appear to be offset or disrupted at the speculated edge of Laramide deformation that lies beneath the bolson. Horizontal Gradient Methods (HGM) were applied to the gravity data and were successful for tracing faults and older Laramide features within the Hueco Bolson beneath the urbanized regions of the cities. HGM were not as successful at tracing faults within the Mesilla Bolson, however they were helpful for tracing the subsurface extent of igneous intrusions including the Mt. Cristo Rey, River, Three Sisters, and the Westerner outcrops. Some of these features appear linked at depth by a series of dikes and faults. MASW data were used to determine the average shear wave velocity in the upper 30m (Vs 30) at &sim;70 sites within the Hueco Bolson. These observations were combined with similar data collected previously in Juarez to produce regional velocity and site classification maps. The results show low velocities are found close to the river within fluvial deposits with higher velocities close to the Franklin Mountains where bedrock is close to the surface and higher velocities in upland regions of northeast El Paso were soils appear to be more highly cemented. These data will be used in conjunction with information on bolson geometries to model the expected effects of strong ground motion from earthquakes in the El Paso-Ciudad Juarez region.</p>

<p> Much scientific knowledge already exists on the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K/Pg) Boundary Deposit from outcrop and shallow core near to outcrop. The significance of this study is to learn from the only deep-well core on land, from the northern Gulf of Mexico (GoM) known to preserve this deposit. This core was chosen because of its pristine (unweathered) condition. The aim was to characterize the portion of this core which was influenced by the Chicxulub Impact event 65.5 Ma to enhance the scientific knowledge of the K/Pg boundary. I hypothesized that this core represents three lithofacies: 1) pre-impact chalk, 2) mass wasting deposit and fall back material, 3) Midway Shale; and that the mass wasting deposit and fall back material were deposited as a direct result of the impact event. I tested these hypotheses by employing: 1) Macroscopic descriptions, 2) Scanning Electron Microscopy-Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) of selected portions, 3) 10% HCl treatment and microscopic descriptions of the resulting insoluble portions. The findings show that the core can be divided into three main sections in ascending order: 1) a lighter carbonate, 2) a darker carbonate, and 3) a black shale. From optical and SEM analysis, I find that the microfossils and ubiquitous coccoliths found throughout the carbonate sections of this core do not exist in the core above section 2. Section 2 is mostly a Chicxulub Impact induced mass wasting deposit. In order to investigate better the non-carbonate components of the core, representative portions were treated with 10% HCl, an investigative technique not commonly applied to cores of the K/Pg boundary. Under an optical microscope ,10% HCl insoluble portions from the K/Pg boundary reveal no regularly shaped impact spherules. I find no Si-rich spherules and posit that the spherules in this core are almost entirely, Ca-rich.</p><p>

<p> This work investigates the lithospheric structure beneath the Mesozoic (~140 &ndash; ~110 Ma) Chilwa Alkaline Province (CAP) in southern Malawi and northeastern Mozambique using aeromagnetic and satellite gravity data (the World Gravity Model 2012 (WGM 2012). The CAP is a granite, syenite, nepheline syenite, and basanite province with minor intrusions of carbonatite bodies. It intrudes the Precambrian terranes of the Southern Irumide belt and the Unango complex. It is located on the northeastern margin of the Mesozoic Shire graben and on the southeastern edge of the Cenozoic Malawi rift, which is considered the southernmost segment of the Western Branch of the East African Rift System (EARS). Some of the CAP&rsquo;s intrusive bodies are clearly offset by the border normal faults of the Malawi rift. Previous petrographic, geochemical and isotopic studies have suggested that the CAP is underlain by a thinned sub-continental lithospheric mantle (SCLM) possibly due to the Mesozoic Karoo rifting event. Hence, mantle magmatic source has been favored as an origin for the CAP. However, melting of a thickened continental crust cannot be ruled out for the origin of the CAP as has been suggested for several other alkaline intrusions. In this study: (1) Edge enhancement of the aeromagnetic data showed the CAP to be defined by circular and overlapping magnetic anomalies typical of hypabyssal nested igneous ring complexes. (2) Three-dimensional (3D) Voxi modeling and magnetic susceptibility analysis of the aeromagnetic data covering selected CAP&rsquo;s intrusive bodies showed that these were emplaced at an average depth of ~ 4 km. (3) Upward continuation of the WGM 2012 Bouguer gravity anomalies suggested that the CAP was sourced from possibly deeper magma chambers now preserved as broad batholiths at ~4 km to~6 km depth. (4) Two-dimensional (2D) radially-averaged power spectral analysis of the WGM 2012 Bouguer gravity anomalies showed that the CAP is underlain by a thick crust (possibly due to mafic magmatic under-platting) where the Moho can be as deep as ~45 km. It also showed that the CAP is underlain by a relatively thin SCLM (possibly due to Mesozoic Karoo rift-related lithospheric stretching) where the asthenosphere-lithosphere boundary (LAB) can be as shallow as ~110 km. This work suggests that thinning of the SCLM might have allowed for the ascendance and decompression melting of the asthenosphere but also provided heat source (through mafic magmatic under-platting) to partially melt the lower crust to form the CAP from a mixed magma source and through caldera collapse mechanism. This model can be tested by additional geochemical and isotopic studies. This work highlights the importance of potential field data for imaging complex continental lithospheric structure. Understanding the lithospheric structure beneath the CAP is helpful in guiding future mineral exploration efforts because igneous ring complexes are important sites for the formation of economic mineralization zones.</p><p>

Sedimentary organic matter contains many compounds that have no obvious biogenic precursors, so their formation and occurrence are of geochemical interest. The first part of this thesis (chapters 2-5) discusses the results obtained from studying hydrocarbon racemates. Some of the compounds identified are also suggested as intermediates in the formation of alkylnaphthalenes identified in chapters 6-7. The second part of this thesis (chapters 6-11) covers the identification of a range of alkylnaphthalenes and alkylphenanthrenes in sedimentary organic matter. Possible pathways for the formation of these hydrocarbons are outlined and their application as probes into the processes of petroleum formation are described.In chapter 2 the use of permethylated cyclodextrin capillary gas chromatography columns to separate hydrocarbon racemates are reported. Chapter 3 reports the synthesis of 1,2,2,5-tetramethyltetralin and 1,2,2,5,6-pentamethyltetralin and identifies them as racemates in crude oil. They are proposed as intermediates in the formation of sedimentary alkylnaphthalenes (identified in chapters 6 and 7).The identification of isodihydro-ar-curcumene in sedimentary organic matter is described in chapters 4 and 5. It co-occurs in crude oil with dihydro-ar-curcumene and is suggested to originate from this compound via a sedimentary rearrangement process. Chiral GC-MS techniques have been used to show the presence of both enantiomers of these compounds in crude oils. The elution order of the enantiomers has been established using reference compounds of known configuration. The effects of maturity and biodegradation on dihydro-ar-curcumene and isodihydro-ar-curcumene enantiomers is reported. Optically pure dihydro-ar-curcumene from natural products undergoes rapid racemisation in the subsurface, yielding a racemic mixture before the onset of significant oil formation. ++ / 1,2-Alkyl shifts on the aromatic ring also begin at an early stage to yield isodihydro-ar-curcumene and these processes continue with increasing maturity. Laboratory experiments using proton and clay catalysts (Lewis acid catalyst) show that the alkyl shift reaction is catalysed by both proton and Lewis acids, and racemisation is only catalysed by Lewis acids. A moderately biodegraded crude oil has been shown to be depleted in the R enantiomer of dihydro-ar-curcumene and an extensively degraded oil has dihydro-ar-curcumene depleted relative to isodihydro-ar-curcumene.The identification of a number alkylnaphthalenes and their possible origins in sedimentary organic matter is described in chapters 6 and 7. In chapter 6 a previously unreported tetramethylnaphthalene (TeMN) was identified in petroleum. This compound is structurally similar to bicyclic compounds of microbial origin and these are suggested as a likely source, via a tetralin intermediate identified in chapter 3. In chapter 7 isomeric pentamethylnaphthalenes previously unreported in sedimentary organic matter are reported. These isomeric pentamethylnaphthalenes (PMNs) were identified in a number of crude oils and sediments, ranging in age from Proterozoic to Tertiary. 1,2,3,5,6-PMN is suggested to form predominantly from the aromatisation of drimanoid precursors via 1,2,2,5,6-pentamethyltetralin identified in chapter 3. In laboratory experiments, the other pentamethylnaphthalenes were generated from 1,2,3,5,6-PMN in proportions that reflect the relative stability of the isomers. By analogy, the other PMNs in sediments are suggested to arise via acid catalysed isomerisation or transalkylation processes. A maturity parameter was developed based on laboratory experiments in conjunction with observed distributions of pentamethylnaphthalenes.The formation of alkylnaphthalenes and alkylphenanthrenes through a ++ / methylation process is discussed in chapters 8-10. Several crude oils and shales which contain anomalously high concentrations of 1,6-dimethylnaphthalene, 1,2,5-trimethylnaphthalene, 1,2,7-trimethylnaphthalene, 1,2,3,5-tetramethylnaphthalene, 1,2,3,5,6-pentamethylnaphthalene, 2-methyl-6-isopropyl-1(4-methylpentyl)naphthalene, phenanthrene, 1-methylphenanthrene, 1,7-dimethylphenanthrene and retene have been shown to contain relatively high concentrations of their corresponding methylated counterparts. In laboratory experiments carried out under mild conditions, each of the alkylnaphthalenes and alkylphenanthrenes have been shown to be methylated in specific positions when heated with a methyl donor in the presence of a clay catalyst. These observations have been interpreted as evidence for a sedimentary methylation process.The effect of biodegradation on alkylnaphthalenes and alkylphenanthrenes formed from sedimentary methylation is described in chapter 11. Land-plant-derived aromatic hydrocarbons with a range of susceptibilities to reservoir biodegradation have been identified in crude oils. These compounds are the result of reactions of natural products involving aromatisation, rearrangement and methylation in the sediments (chapters 9 and 10). They are therefore suggested as markers for land-plants in severely biodegraded oils in which most of the other biologically derived compounds cannot be recognised. The order of biodegradability of these compounds has been assessed relative to their non-methylated counterparts namely 6-isopropyl-2-methyl-1-(4-methylpentyl)naphthalene and retene. The order of degradation of the four compounds is : retene < 9-methylretene ~ 6-isopropyl-2-methyl-1-(4-methylpentyl)naphthalene > 6-isopropyl-2,4-dimethyl-1-(4-methylpentyl)naphthalene. These results have been used to assess that a crude oil is a mixture of severely biodegraded and ++ / less biodegraded crude oil.

The aims of this study are to extend the established high-resolution sequence stratigraphic framework of the Madison Formation of Wyoming and southern central Montana to the correlative and genetically-related Mississippian carbonate ramp, ramp margin, and basin strata of the central Montana trough and Antler foreland basin in order to examine and discriminate the controls on depositional processes and the resulting stratigraphic architecture through space and time in tectonically-active settings. An outcrop-based, high-resolution sequence stratigraphic study of two ramp-to-basin transects, one in central Montana and the other in southwestern Montana and east-central Idaho, is conducted in order to examine these deposits across two coeval margins with differing subsidence, hydrodynamic, and physiographic configurations and histories. Independent measurements of system response to global and local forcings allows disentanglement of primary controls on deposition and allows us to gain understanding of the roles and interplay of these controls, in particular eustasy and tectonics, on the system's architectural development. Conversely, insight into the geodynamic evolution of western North America, glacioeustatic changes, and variations in global climate and oceanographic systems during the greenhouse-to-icehouse transition is gained. A series of high-resolution sequence stratigraphic cross-sections and time-slices are produced incorporating outcrop measured sections and measured sections previously collected by members of the Comparative Sedimentology Laboratory in a series of transects across the Madison ramp system. A new chronostratigraphic framework for Madison carbonates is developed by using Lower Carboniferous delta C-13 isotope excursions as isochronous tie points between ramp-top, margin, and basinal sections. These delta C-13 excursion events have been documented to be time-invariant globally due to global changes in ocean chemistry. The results of the study include resolution and discrimination of sequential foreland basin subsidence, carbonate sediment production and progradation, subsidence and uplift of foreland basin structures along a carbonate shelf edge, diachronous subsidence of discrete depocenters, and eustasy.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Lehigh University, 2001. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 175-193).

Thesis--Copenhagen. / "Reprinted from 'Danmarks geologiske undersøgelse', II. raekke no. 61." "Résumé" (in Danish): p. [151]-168. Bibliography: p. [169]-171.

<p> A 6012-foot Monterey Formation succession at Chico Martinez Creek, San Joaquin basin, is characterized at high spatial resolution by spectral gamma-ray data in 2- foot increments, 5-foot lithologic descriptions, and qualitative XRD and FTIR analysis. Based on these data, the 4 Monterey members&ndash;the Gould, Devilwater, McDonald and Antelope shales&ndash;are subdivided into 7 distinctive lithofacies. New paleomagnetic data, combined with industry-provided biostratigraphy establishes a chronostratigraphic framework and allows determination of linear sediment accumulation rates. Condensed sedimentation at the onset of McDonald deposition (~14 Ma) is also observed in correlative members in the Pismo, Santa Maria and Santa Barbara basins. This regional event is associated with eustatic regression from the Mid-Miocene highstand related to formation of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet and ongoing thermotectonic basin subsidence. A surge in linear sediment accumulation rates in the siliceous upper McDonald and Antelope (~10.4 Ma) is attributed to a regional increase in diatom productivity. </p>