ALBERT

Beschreibung: Der Einfluß lateralen Stresses auf die mechanische Diagenese von marinen Sedimenten kann mithilfe sedimentphysikalischer Daten quantifiziert werden. Beispielhaft wurde dies anhand von Daten aus dem Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) und Ocean Drilling Project (ODP) für den Akkretionskeil des Barbados Ridge Complex durchgeführt. Die Untersuchung erfolgte in drei Schritten. (1) In einer statistischen Untersuchung der umfangreichen sedimentologischen und sedimentphysikalischen Datenbank des DSDP wurden tief enabhängige Funktionen der mechanischen Diagenese für eine Reihe von lithologischen Standardtypen definiert. Diese, als Referenzgröße zur Quantifizierung der tektonischen KonsoHdation in einem rezenten Akkretionskeil benötigten Funktionen, wurden in erster Linie für pelitische und psammitische Sedimente mit geringen Karbonatgehalten entwickelt. Zwei verschiedene Verfahren zur Auswahl von entsprechenden Datensätzen werden beschrieben und die Ergebnisse der statistischen Untersuchung mit den in der Literatur beschriebenen Funktionen verglichen. (2) Die entwickelten Typfunktionen wurden bei der Durchführung eines palinspastischen Rekonstruktionsverfahrens benutzt, mit dem die Entwicklung sedimentphysikalischer Parameter während der initialen Deformationsphase in rezenten Akkretionssystemen modelliert werden konnte. Diese Untersuchung basierte im wesentlichen auf sedimentphysikalischen Daten der DSDP- und ODP-Legs 78A und J 10 (Barbados Ridge Komplex, Kleine Antillen). Durch palinspastische Entzerrung der imbrikierten Schuppung und stratigraphische Rekonstruktion akkretierter "thrust slices" im untersuchten Bereich, entsprechender Relozierung der zugehörigen sedimentphysikalischen Daten und dekompaktive Anpassung an die rekonstruierte Position konnte ein synthetisches prä-akkretionäres Profil der ursprünglichen Porosität rechnerisch modelliert werden. (3) Der Vergleich dieses synthetischen Porositäts-Tiefen-Profils mit charakteristischen Referenzprofilen aus undeformierten Sequenzen unmittelbar vor der Deformationsf ront zeigt eine systematische, lithologisch bestimmte Divergenz. Durch Überarbeitung des Rekonstruktionsverfahrens mithilfe von Stress-PorositätsBeziehungen konnte der relative und absolute Einfluß der lateralen Stresskomponente auf die Konsolidation hemipelagischer Sedimente in diesem Teil des konvergenten Plattenrandes quantifiziert werden.

Beschreibung: Logs collected while drilling measured density in situ, through the accretionary prism and decollement zone of the northern Barbados Ridge. Consolidation tests relate void ratio (derived from density) to effective stress and predict a fluid pressure profile, assuming that the upper 100 m of the prism is at a hydrostatic pressure gradient. The calculated fluid pressure curve rises to 〉90% of lithostatic below thrusts in the prism, presumably due to the increase in overburden and lateral tectonic loading. Thin (0.5–2.0 m) intervals of anomalously low density and resistivity in the logs through the basal decollement zone suggest dilation and perhaps hydrofracturing. A peak in hydraulic head in the upper half of the decollement zone requires lateral influx of fluid, a conclusion consistent with previous geochemical studies. Although the calculated fluid-pressure profile is model dependent, its inherent character ties to major structural features.

Beschreibung: The interrelation between deformation styles and behavior of fluids in accretionary prisms is under debate, particularly the possibility that overpressuring within the basal decollement may enable mechanical decoupling of the prism from the subducting material. Anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) data from sediments spanning the basal decollement of the Barbados accretionary prism show a striking progression across this structure that strongly supports the hypothesis that it is markedly overpressured. In the accretionary prism, above the decollement, the minimum AMS axes are subhorizontal and oriented nearly east-west, whereas the maximum AMS axes are oriented nearly north-south and shallowly inclined. At the top of the decollement, the minimum AMS axes orientations abruptly change to nearly vertical; this orientation is maintained throughout the decollement and in the underthrust sediments below. The AMS orientations in the prism sediments above the decollement are consistent with lateral shortening due to regional tectonic stress, as the minimum axes generally parallel the convergence vector of the subducting South American plate and the maximum axes are trench-parallel. Because the orientations of the AMS axes in deformed sediments usually parallel the orientations of the principal strains, the AMS results indicate that the incremental strain state in the Barbados prism is one dominated by subhorizontal shortening. In contrast, the AMS axes within and below the decollement are consistent with a strain state dominated by vertical shortening (compaction). This abrupt change in AMS orientations at the top of the decollement at Site 948 is a direct manifestation of mechanical decoupling of the off-scraped prism sediments from the underthrust sediments. The decoupling horizon occurs at the top of the decollement zone, coinciding with the location of flowing, high-pressure fluids.

Beschreibung: Borehole logs from the northern Barbados accretionary prism show that the plate-boundary decollement initiates in a low-density radiolarian claystone. With continued thrusting, the decollement zone consolidates, but in a patchy manner. The logs calibrate a three-dimensional seismic reflection image of the decollement zone and indicate which portions are of low density and enriched in fluid, and which portions have consolidated. The seismic image demonstrates that an underconsolidated patch of the decollement zone connects to a fluid-rich conduit extending down the decollement surface. Fluid migration up this conduit probably supports the open pore structure in the underconsolidated patch.

Beschreibung: Groundwater discharge into the sea occurs along many coastlines around the world in different geological settings and constitutes an important component of global water and matter budget. Estimates of how much water flows into the sea worldwide vary widely and are largely based on onshore studies and hydrological or hydrogeological modeling. In this study, we propose an approach to quantify a deep submarine groundwater outflow from the seafloor by using autonomously measured ocean surface data, i.e., 222Rn as groundwater tracer, in combination with numerical modeling of plume transport. The model and field data suggest that groundwater outflows from a water depth of ∼100 m can reach the sea surface implying that several cubic meters per second of freshwater are discharged into the sea. We postulate an extreme rainfall event 6 months earlier as the likely trigger for the groundwater discharge. This study shows that measurements at the sea surface, which are much easier to conduct than discharge measurements at the seafloor, can be used not only to localize submarine groundwater discharges but, in combination with plume modeling, also to estimate the magnitude of the release flow rate.