ALBERT

Notes: Three series of density-current experiments were performed in a 5.76 m flume. In the first series, the flume was horizontal, and in the second and third, it was inclined with a positive slope and negative slope, respectively. Energy relations during successive stages of density-current movement were computed from observed data, which showed an appreciable frictional energy dissipation. The computed friction factors of our experimental density-flows were compared to the friction factors for pipe flows (Moody diagram), and while the calculated friction factor increases with increasing Reynold's number within the range of our experiments (Re 2 × 103−2 × 104), it is concluded that with increasing Reynold's number above about 5 × 104 the friction factor decreases. For natural turbidity currents, the Moody diagram gives a reasonable estimate of the friction factor between the current and sediment bed. The value of the friction factor for the interface between the current and overlying water was found to be about 0.2 times the friction factor for the current and flume. However, due to errors inherent in measuring the depth of the current, a value of 0.4 would be more reasonable for density-currents in our range of Reynold's number. Friction tends to decrease the value of the dimensionless coefficient in Keulegan's law of saline front and to decrease the thickness of the flow. In contrast, the presence of a slope in the direction of flow tends to compensate the effect of friction. The angle θc that provides the potential energy to exactly offset the energy losses incurred during movement by the density-currents in our experiments has a calculated value of 31′. An empirical formula φ= 0.935θ—0·57 relating friction, in terms of the hydraulic gradient φ, to the slope angle θ was obtained. Since the thickness of the current can be computed from the relationship between φ and θ, we estimated the thickness of naturally occurring density-currents in Swiss lakes. The results suggest the applicability of our experimental results to small turbidity currents in nature. Our analysis further indicates that large turbidity currents have a small φ and can be expected to flow very long distances on a flat abyssal plain.

Notes: La sédimentologie est une des disciplines des sciences de la terre dont le développement est extrêmement rapide. Elle est par définition la connaissance des sédiments mais cette formule trop laconique demande un développement.Les sédiments sont aussi bien ceux qui se forment actuellement que ceux qui constituent les dépôts fossiles, du milieu terrestre, lacustre, fluviatile, marin ou océanique.Les méthodes d'investigation sont celles du terrain et du laboratoire, qu'il s'agisse de la mécanique, de la physique (géophysique), de la chimie (géochimie), de l'analyse au microscope ou aux rayons X. L'expérimentation est limitée.L'analyse des sédiments emprunte des méthodes à d'autres sciences de la terre: stratigraphie, tectonique et sédimentation actuelle.II y a donc un aspect limitatif et descriptif de la sédimentologie. Ce n'est pas le seul. Les congrès de sédimentologie ont montré que cette science opère des synthèses, remonte aux origines des sédiments, de leurs facteurs génétiques et par là-même apporte une information complémentaire à la géologie générale.

Notes: The automated rapid sediment analyser (ARSA) is a pressure-transducer grain-size analysis system. This basic Woods Hole-type fall tube was automated by the addition of a digital voltmeter, Hewlett-Packard 9810A calculator, and an x-y plotter. Eight min after sample introduction, the system automatically produces size distribution data in 0·25-φ intervals, distribution statistics, and a plotted frequency histogram.

Notes: Sediment ripples are caused by systematically-spaced transverse roller vortex systems in a moving fluid undergoing shear. With greater shear, these transverse rollers change over into longitudinal (helicoidal) vortices. This is the basic cause for the change from so-called ‘lower flow regime’ conditions to ‘upper flow regime’ conditions. All characteristics of these two regimes (sediment transport rate, bed form, sedimentary structures) are logically explained by attributing them to change in type of vortex system. For currents depositing sediments, there are three orders of magnitude of vortices, each order beginning with transverse rollers, passing through festoon to longitudinal rollers. A chaos zone (antidunes) ensues, followed by resumption of transverse rollers that are five to ten times as large as those in the previous order. Features of river sediments, marine sands, turbidites, desert sand dunes, sky, and stars are satisfactorily explained by this model.

Notes: During the period from 1967 through 1972, a sampling programme was completed to determine the economic potential of heavy metals in the beach and river sands of the southern California coastal zone. These samples were employed to test the hypothesis that sand composition in a given beach cell is dominantly controlled by the provenance draining into that cell and is not strongly influenced by longshore leakage from upcurrent cells. Sample sets obtained before and after the exceptional flood of 1969 made it possible to compare the sediment supplied by normal river flow with that supplied by a major flood. Multivariate statistical analysis of the heavy mineral distribution of southern California beaches and rivers indicate that the sand composition of the two northern cells is controlled by the dominantly sedimentary Transverse Range provenance, whereas the composition of the three southern cells is controlled by the dioritic Peninsular Ranges. Some leakage occurs between the two northern cells around the Point Dume-Hueneme-Mugu Canyon Zone, whereas no important southward mixing occurs between cells around the Palos Verdes-Redondo Canyon Zone. Even though the Santa Clara River flows mostly through sedimentary terrains, samples from this river strongly reflect the granodioritic source present in its headlands. Although the basic sand composition within each cell persists during major flooding, leakage between cells may increase following flooding and the compositional packages present may show evidence of greater mixing.

Notes: Laminations control the fissility of a sequence of shales and mudstones from the Upper Carboniferous Coal Measures in Britain. This was established by measuring the thickness of pairs of laminations in unweathered borehole material and comparing with the thickness of shale fragments at the outcrop of the same sequence. The parallel orientation of the clay minerals is not responsible for the fissility and it could be that its importance has been overestimated. The processes responsible for the formation and preservation of the laminations will also produce a well orientated clay fabric and hence fissility and clay orientation may be indirectly related.

Notes: In the nearshore area of northwestern Lake Victoria a thin strip of quartzarenite sand occurs which grades lakeward into silty clay consisting of quartz with subordinate amounts of K-feldspar, plagioclase, kaolinite, illite, vermiculite and organic matter.Varimax matrix determinations of the element concentrations in the lake-bottom sediments extractable by aqua regia indicate that: (1) there is a strong association of Cr, Cu, Zn and Ni; (2) there is a strong association of Fe, Mn and Co; (3) Cu and Ni show moderate to slight associations with organic matter; (4) Ca is relatively independent of the other elements.The general decrease in the pH values of the surface and bottom waters outward from the lake shore, with consistently higher values for the surface water relative to the bottom waters, results from decreasing levels of photosynthetic activity.

Notes: Scanning electron micrographs show that the youngest and apparently least altered of the Coorong dolomite is in the form of spherular bodies about 0.2–1.0 μm in size which themselves are composed of spherules about 100 nm in diameter. Older and more lithified sediments show sharply defined dolomite crystals suggesting an origin as primary dolomite spherules followed by aggregation and diagenetic alteration to well crystallized dolomites.

Notes: Barrier islands developed on the southeastern flanks of a volcanic terrain during the Lower Silurian transgression of southwest Wales. The barriers are preserved in transgressive sequences overlying basalts and comprising from base upwards: lagoon→barrier island→offshore marine sediments. The thickness of the barrier island sediments varies from 5 m to 28 m. Comparison with modern barriers suggests that the thin sequences result from narrow (〈2 km), steadily transgressing barrier islands, whereas the thicker sequences represent broad (2–4 km), slowly transgressing forms. In one case the barrier became narrower as the rate of migration accelerated in response to decreased fluviatile sediment supply caused by rising sea-level. Despite the high preservation potential of inlet fill deposits, the latter are generally absent in these Silurian barriers because inlet migration was slow compared with the rate of barrier retreat. Possibly much shell material was dissolved during early diagenesis.

Notes: A computer program is described for the display of grain size distributions by log-probability plots. These plots are useful to recognize and interpret log-normal subpopulations. Because log-probability plots of the cumulative curves often show two or more straight line segments we suggest a method of ‘log-normal’interpolation for use in computing statistical parameters. The method combines advantages of graphical methods with those of mathematical moments. Finally, the frequency curve is derived by approximating the log-probability plot of the cumulative curve with spline functions.

Notes: Engelund's (1974a, b) theoretical bed topography model for curved channels is modified and shown to fit natural channels when using values for the dynamic bed load friction coefficient of about 0·4–0·5. The dependence of this coefficient on grain size for flow in the lower flow regime is discussed. Using the bed topography model simultaneously, Allen's (1970a, b) theory for grain size variation over point bar profiles is shown to be broadly applicable. The interaction between sediment, flow and bed topography in bends is therefore adequately described.

Notes: Sand volcanoes are small volcano-like features. They range in diameter from a few centimetres to several metres. Five volcanoes with a maximum diameter of 2 m were observed during the construction of a dike on the coast of Northwestern Germany. The cones reached heights of about 15 cm with craters in the middle.The rise of the volcanoes is explained by de-watering of sediment.

Notes: The discharge of taconite tailings into Lake Superior at Silver Bay, Minnesota, produces turbidity current flow. The silty fine-sand tailings fraction transported to the deepest part of the lake has formed a small fan with valleys similar in gross morphology to a submarine fan. Current meters anchored 5 m above the lake floor over the wall and over the levee of a distributary valley on the fan recorded intermittent turbidity current flows during 30 weeks in 1972–73. At least twenty-five discrete periods of observation of turbidity current flow were obtained; single episodes lasted 4−328+ h. Only flows thick enough to overflow the eastern levee of the valley could be observed, and this accounts for the intermittent nature of our observations, as flow within the valleys is expected to be continuous as long as tailings are discharged. Flow velocities were higher near the valley axis where the flow is thicker. Velocities measured over the valley wall averaged 10.8 cm/s for eleven episodes; velocities measured over the levee, more than 1/2 km from the valley axis, only 3.3 cm/s. The maximum velocity during 1300 h of observation did not exceed 31 cm/s. This agrees reasonably well with velocities calculated from channel properties, as commonly done for turbidity currents on deep-sea fans. Current meters tethered above the bottom meters indicate that lake currents normally parallel the shore throughout the water column. With the onset of a turbidity current, currents higher in the water column remain unchanged but velocities near the bottom go to zero, currents then change azimuth by 90° to parallel the downslope (down-valley) direction of the fan, then increase in velocity. During a turbidity current episode, the direction of bottom flow stays relatively constant (± 20° of the down-valley trend) but the velocity oscillates (commonly with 10 cm/s amplitude), periods being of 1/2 h or less to several hours. Turbidity currents generated on Reserve Mining Company's delta are effective in carrying essentially all tailings discharged into the lake into deeper water, where they are deposited.

Notes: Various workers have suggested that the Upper Miocene (Messinian) evaporites of the Sicilian Basin formed in a topographic basin of considerable relief, filled with hypersaline water. Our studies indicate that this basin contained shallow water, at least during the deposition of the carbonate rocks intercalated between the gypsum beds. We recognize four basic kinds of limestone: (1) pelletal and pisolitic limestone; (2) skeletal limestone; (3) oöitic limestone, and (4) laminated lime-stone-dolostone. Modern analogs suggest that three of these four kinds of carbonate must have formed close to or above sea level. The evidence supporting this contention includes pellets with algal coatings, pisolites, quiet-water oöids, and algal laminates. Therefore we suggest that the evaporites associated with these carbonates may likewise have formed in relatively shallow water. An alternative conclusion would be that the level of the sea, and the salinity, underwent irregular patterns of profound change.

Notes: The widespread Late Ordovician to Early Silurian glaciations are represented in South Africa by glaciogenic sediments of the Pakhuis Formation. Previously unrecorded clastic dykes within the basal tillite of this formation on Table Mountain, Cape Town, are interpreted as casts of frost-fissures filled directly with clastics (sand-wedges or ground-wedges) rather than filled subsequent to the melting of ice-wedges (ice-wedge casts). This suggests sub-aerial deposition for the tillite of the Sneeukop Member and the presence of a cold, dry climate with steep temperature gradients following deposition of that tillite in the Table Mountain area. A peculiar three-dimensional joint-pattern shown by the Pakhuis Formation tillites is interpreted as a relict of a reticulate ice-vein network that formed in sandy till in permafrost. Such networks have been documented from the modern environment, but so far their relicts have not been recorded in ancient sediments.

Notes: Bed conditions (micro-relief, textural associations and packing structural arrangements) in the gravel-bed channel of Seale's Brook are shown to be closely interrelated; various categories are identified and related to mode of bed material transport and deposition.Entrainment of bed material, commonly treated as a simple function of particle weight and channel hydraulics, is also shown to be strongly affected by varying and variable bed conditions. In particular, the classic concept of competence appears to be of restricted utility in such channels; resistance of bed material to fluid drag and to particle impact is augmented, over large parts of the channel bed, by its interlocking structure, made possible by the wide range in particle calibre, and by the characteristic disc and blade shapes of the slate debris.Particle mobility, as indicated by distance of travel of labelled bed material, is only partly a function of particle weight; indeed, although particle mobility decreases from small pebbles to large cobbles, it also decreases for the finest bed material (very small pebbles). This appears to be explicable, partly in terms of the ease of entrainment (and duration of travel), and, partly in relation to the ease of transport of material over an uneven channel bed surface. Particle mobility is greatest for material in open and infilled structures and smallest for sediment in tight structural arrangements. Local bed slope also exerts an influence on the probability of particle entrainment and on particle mobility.The findings emphasize the need for combining sedimentological and engineering approaches to bed material transport in coarse-bedded channels, and, at the same time, illustrate some of the reasons for the existence of indeterminacy in the modelling of bed-material transporting processes.

Notes: The 87Sr/86Sr ratios of evaporitic carbonates and sulphates from Miocene sediment cored in the Mediterranean Sea show a depletion of 87Sr when compared to the isotopic composition of the Miocene contemporaneous marine strontium: 0.70803 versus 0.70936. The arrival into the evaporitic environment of strontium brought by continental waters can explain this difference.The variation of the 87Sr/86Sr ratios is, nevertheless, noticeable only when the influence of the continental waters is already well marked. This is proved when one compares the results obtained with strontium, to the results of isotopic analysis made on oxygen, carbon, sulphur and hydrogen taken from the same samples.

Notes: A computer program is described for a Hewlett-Packard desk-top Calculator (Model 9820A)-Plotter (Model 9862A) which plots a histogram, frequency polygon and/or cumulative curve, as well as standard statistical parameters and percentages of gravel, sand, silt, and clay from raw weight data from a sediment grain-size analysis. The program utilizes the graphic method for calculating statistical parameters in contrast to other commonly used computer programs derived for the method of moments.This program is advantageous because (1) it is rapid, (2) it allows direct comparison with grain-size data in the literature which have been computed by the graphic method, (3) either a complete presentation of a distribution can be obtained on one sheet of paper or a series of cumulative curves or frequency polygons can be prepared on a single graph which is ready for publication photocopying, (4) automatic extrapolation of data points from a cumulative curve eliminates inconsistencies arising from manual extrapolation, and (5) the desk-top calculator is more convenient to use, eliminates punching of data cards, and can be operated by someone without a knowledge of computers and programming. Disadvantages of the program are: (1) some authors feel critical percentiles are more accurately read off cumulative curves plotted on a probability ordinate than on an arithmetic ordinate, (2) the cumulative curve is a series of straight-line segments, (3) the frequency polygon is not as accurate a representation of grain-size distribution as a frequency curve and (4) size class intervals for the histogram and frequency polygon are standardized at 0.5φ, even though gravel and mud fractions are analysed at whole φ intervals. For most studies, the advantages of the program outweigh the disadvantages.

Notes: Beginning in February of 1974 and continuing to and through the start-up of the first generating unit at the Jim Bridger Power Plant on August 8, 1974, the authors were drilling monitoring holes, collecting water samples and evaluating water quality and ground-water levels at the project. During the course of this evaluation, considerable data was developed. Some unique and unusual problems were encountered and some of the results are interesting.As of this writing, there are over 25 water quality stations being monitored. Most of these stations are monitoring wells drilled into Tertiary or Cretaceous sedimentary rocks although some monitoring wells are drilled into recent stream alluvium. Also, there are surface-water monitoring sites on two major streams, the freshwater surge pond and the evaporation ponds that receive the blow-down water from the power plants' cooling towers.These waters were analyzed for at least 21 minerals and/or ions as well as pH, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, temperature and such exotics as phenols, hydrazine and ammonia.The indigenous water quality of the area is poor with total dissolved solids ranging to 15,000 mg/l and pH values from 7.3 to 12.3. pH values were found to vary as much as four points between two monitoring stations fifteen feet apart. This water quality is expected to be improved by the importation of relatively high-quality water from the Green River via a 41-mile pipeline.Graphs have been prepared showing some of the concentrations of the more important minerals and their relationship to human, cattle, sheep, crop and boiler tolerances. A water suitability chart also shows how the water quality in the various geologic units as well as the surface water relates to various limitations of water use.Seven of the nine toxic substances cited by the Public Health Service standards were analyzed. Of these, silver, arsenic, cadmium, hexavalent chromium and cyanide were not present in objectionable quantities. Lead, however, was excessive during some months at all well sites and two surface sites on a stream that parallels an interstate highway for more than 6 miles.The water quality was found to have a definite relationship to the geology. Similarly, the geologic conditions are expected to be the governing factor in the rate and direction of flow of subsurface water. This factor will be of major significance when the blow-down water in design concentrations of 30,500 mg/l TDS is discharged into the evaporation pond during the projected thirty-five-year life of the project.

Notes: The abundance and relative purity of ground water guarantees its increase in usage. In some localities, the content of iron and manganese in ground water is so high that these metals must be removed before the water can be used for drinking or industrial purposes.Iron occurs in two states of oxidation in nature–the divalent (ferrous) and trivalent (ferric) forms. The Vyredox method developed in Finland and used now also in Sweden and some other countries oxidizes the ferrous ion, which is soluble in water, to the ferric ion, which is insoluble, before the water enters the well.The Vyredox method achieves a high degree of oxidation in the strata around the well. The method makes use of iron-oxidizing bacteria and aeration wells. A number of aeration wells are placed in a ring around the supply well. Water is forced down the aeration wells but first it is degassed and then enriched with oxygen. The oxygen-rich water provides a suitable habitat for the iron-oxidizing bacteria which assist in the oxidation of ferrous iron. The process must be repeated at specific time intervals to avoid further increases of iron content.The process of precipitating iron in the aquifer has only a slight effect on aquifer permeability. Cloggage of the aquifer surrounding the well should not occur for a period many times longer than the life span of a typical well.

Notes: Data obtained from observation–well programs are used to determine (1) the effect of withdrawals on recharge and natural discharge conditions, (2) the hydraulic characteristics of ground–water systems, and (3) the extent and degree of confinement of aquifers. Wells in these programs can usefully be divided into three networks: (1) a hydrologic network which includes wells needed to determine the extent of aquifers and changes in storage, (2) a water–management network which includes wells needed to determine the effect of withdrawals and hydraulic characteristics, and (3) a baseline network which includes wells needed to determine the response of ground–water systems to natural changes such as those related to climate.

Notes: The drainage basin of Barbadoes Pond, Madbury and Dover, southeastern New Hampshire, was studied by seismic refraction and magnetic measurements as part of an interdisciplinary investigation. The purpose of the geophysical measurements was to provide boundary conditions (bedrock and water–table elevations) for a mathematical model of ground–water flow. The basin is intensively used for recreation, municipal water supply, and sand and gravel mining.Barbadoes Pond is a kettle lake lying in the middle of a broad, flat–topped sand and gravel hill (a “kame plain”). The plain is surrounded by marine clay at a lower elevation.A broad, deep, northwest–southwest trending trough underlies the plain according to seismic refraction measurements (45 lines) and water wells. The present form and location of the trough are attributed to glacial enlargement of a stream valley eroded along a bedrock shear zone. The bedrock topography and seismic velocity are directly related to erosion resistance of the vertically dipping metasedimentary bedrock. Magnetic anomalies are consistent with the seismic results.Water–table elevation correlates with bedrock elevation, not surface elevation. This is a consequence of highly permeable sand and gravel, the principal surfical materials. Apparently the pond is not hydraulically independent of nearby wells and a large reservoir.The results invite speculation that kame plains occur over bedrock troughs. Such a relationship, if generally true, would speed search for good well sites in this region of rapid population growth and industrial development.

Notes: Quantitative geophysical calculations which take into consideration the isostatic loading of sediment overburden, the overlying water cover, and the thermal cooling history of the continental edge, and its adjacent oceanic lithosphere, demonstrate the foundering of the margins of the western Mediterranean had already commenced in the Aquitanian stage of the early Miocene. The calculations are based on magnitudes and rates of sediment accumulation observed along a profile of three commercial boreholes into the subsurface of the continental shelf of southern France. By the time of the late Miocene (Messinian) salinity crisis, the depth of the seafloor within the Balearic basin exceeded 2.5 km.Sea-level fluctuations induced by evaporitic draw-down permitted the exposure of large tracts of the former submerged continental margins to subaerial processes. The measured magnitude of sediment removal by erosion and channel incision near the outer shelf of the modern Gulf of Lion surpasses 1 km.The subsidence history of this shelf platform south of France provides new evidence that the continental lithosphere behaves as if it is rigidly coupled to its oceanic counterpart commencing with the initial phase of the pull-apart. No major vertical fault displacements have subsequently offset their overlying crustal layers.The sedimentary shaping and construction of the margin seaward of the Rhône delta resulted in a pronounced shelf edge migration and slope progradation during the pre-salinity crisis Miocene. It has taken 5 million years of predominant upbuilding to establish a new equilibrium profile similar in cross-section to the precrisis depositional surfaces created by outbuilding.

Notes: Bulk sample analysis of Late- and Postglacial sediments from the Randers fjord area, Eastern Jutland, seem to indicate a relationship between palaeosalinity and B, Li and Rb contents determined on weak acid extracts of the sediment. Investigations of different size fractions, grain size distribution, and of clay minerals show, however, that variations in palaeosalinity as determined by palaeontological methods in this case have no direct influence on the chemistry.The variation of Li and Rb is related to variation in grain size, while the B variation seems to be related to the content of montmorillonite in the clay fraction.

Notes: Book Reviewd in this article: Marine Geology and Oceanography of the Arctic Seas. Yvonne Herman An Introduction to Sedimentology. By R. C. Selley.

Notes: In Sicily, Messinian evaporitic sedimentary deposits are developed under a wide variety of hypersaline conditions and in environments ranging from continental margin (subaerial), to basin-margin supratidal, to intertidal, to subtidal and out into the hypersaline basin proper. The actual water depth at the time of deposition is indeterminate; however, relative terms such as ‘wave base’ and ‘photic zone’ are utilized. The inter-fingering relationships of specific evaporitic facies having clear and recognizable physical characteristics are presented. These include sub-aerial deposits of nodular calcium sulphate formed displacively within clastic sediments; gypsiferous rudites, arenites and arenitic marls, all of which are reworked sediments and are mixed in varying degrees with other clastic materials (subaerial, supratidal, and intertidal to deep basinal deposits). Laminated calcium sulphate alternating with very thin carbonate interlaminae and having two different aspects; one being even and continuous and the other of a wavy, irregular appearance (subtidal, intertidal, and supratidal deposits). Nodular calcium sulphate beds, usually associated with wavy, irregular laminated beds (supratidal, sabkha deposits); very coarsely crystalline gypsum beds (selenite), associated with more even, laminated beds (subaqueous, intertidal to subtidal deposits); wavy anastomozing gypsum beds, composed of very fine, often broken crystals (subaqueous, current-swept deposits); halite having hopper and chevron structures (supratidal to intertidal); and halite, potash salts, etc. having continuous laminated structure (subaqueous, possibly basinal).Evidence for diagenetic changes is observed in the calcium sulphate deposits which apparently formed by tectonic stress and also by migrating hypersaline waters. These observations suggest that the common, massive form of alabastrine gypsum (or anhydrite, in the subsurface) may not always be ascribed to original depositional features, to syndiagenesis or to early diagenesis but may be the result of late diagenesis.

Notes: Three silicified limestone horizons of D1 age from the Visean of the Isle of Man contain calcitic concretions with peripheral silica crusts, occasionally surrounded by a further calcitic layer. Components of the original sediment include carbonate skeletons, carbonaceous grains, sponge spicules and muscovite. Diagenetic products include calcite, dolomite, pyrite, sphalerite, clays, feldspar and quartz.The concretions are composed of neomorphic calcite. The time of recrystallization and the identity of the neomorphic precurosor are both unknown. Displacive, fibrous calcite is chemically similar to neomorphic calcite and both are of early diagenetic age. Granular and rhombic ferroan calcites are of late diagenetic age and were precipitated from pore-waters with Sr/Ca, Mg/Ca and Fe/Ca ratios unlike those of seawater.The difference between early silicification which produced silica crusts and later diffuse silicification of the host sediment is related to a change in sediment transmissivity between the two silicification periods.A four-fold scheme of concretionary growth is proposed. The supply of silica is from sponge spicules and that of carbonate from seawater via porewater. The distribution of organic matter, either as sporadic large carcasses or as small carcasses concentrated in particular horizons, is believed to be vital for carbonate precipitation and controls the distribution of concretions.Awareness of the multiplicity of diagenetic changes is essential in interpretation of early porewater systems and in the origin of products which are often metastable and destined to subsequent changes. No single model is an explanation for all types of concretionary growth.

Notes: Sixteen penecontemporaneously deposited mudrock-sandstone pairs ranging in age from Devonian to Cretaceous were treated chemically to isolate the quartz and chert fraction from the other constituents of the rocks. The amount of crystalline silica was determined from the chemical treatments; its size distribution was determined using a combination of normal and Micro Mesh sieving and settling tube analysis; the crystalline silica coarser than 10 μu was examined petrographically to determine the amount of chert.Percentages of crystalline silica in the mudrocks range from 6·7 to 46·7 % and average 27·6 (σ= 10·7). Mean grain size ranges from 4·4 φ to 7·3 φ and averages 6·1 φ. The crystalline silica fraction is a poorly sorted medium to fine silt consisting of one-eighth sand, six-eighths silt, and one-eighth clay size sediment. Percentage of crystalline silica and mean size of crystalline silica in the thirty-two mudrocks and sandstones are positively correlated; r= 0·685, which is significant at the 99 % level. The best fit linear regression line is: Y= 102·7–11·3X.Extrapolation of the regression line indicates that, on the average, crystalline silica is lacking in mudrocks in grain sizes finer than 9·1 φ (1·μm), a result consistent with observations by clay mineralogists.The crystalline silica fraction of both the mudrocks and associated sandstones averages 4% chert in the 〉10 μm portion. There is no correlation between the mean grain size of the crystalline silica and the percentage of chert in it.

Notes: Largescale ripples in the meandering lower Wabash River of Illinois and Indiana, U.S.A., include scroll bars and three dunelike bed forms (dunes, sand waves, and transverse bars). Scroll bars are lobate crested, asymmetrical in stream-wise vertical profile, usually solitary, and oriented approximately normal to local channel strike. They form by passive flow expansion downchannel from locally emergent topographic highs, face and lie near inner banks of meander bends, enjoy a high preservation potential as leveelike ridges of ridge-and-swale topography, and migrate only during relatively low stream discharges, when water depth over bar crests is less than 0·5 m.Dunes correspond to dunes of the flow-regime classification and rarely are solitary or superimposed. Sand waves may be symmetrical or asymmetrical, are always superimposed by dunes, occur in depths greater than 4 m and in bed material coarser than 1 mm mean size, and develop at bankfull and flood flows. Transverse bars migrate in depths less than 5 m in straight reaches and near inner banks of bends, display crestal dunes, and correspond to the bars of Costello (1974) and to the sand waves of Boothroyd (1969). Hydrodynamic regimes of scroll bars and transverse bars differ from that of dunes. The omnipresence of dunes upon stoss-sides of sand waves confirms the existence of an equilibrium superimposition of dunelike largescale ripples.Depth-velocity-size diagrams appear to be a valid representation of empirical stability fields of dunelike largescale ripples in deep unsteady nonuniform aqueous flows. Stability fields of dunes and sand waves overlap greatly. Velocity profiles demonstrate an absence of leeside flow separation over dunes and an appearance (rare) over transverse bars only when the ratio of trough depth to crest depth exceeds two.Dune stratification displays (1) largescale trough cross-strata, (2) thinning of sets as bed-material size increases, and (3) an orientation within 20° of local channel strike. Transverse bars show avalanche sets up to 2 m thick, with reactivation surfaces. Scroll bars display thick avalanche sets separated by reactivation structures consisting of erratically oriented smallscale trough cross-strata. Avalanche sets of scroll bars and of transverse bars are oriented 50–150° from and within 50° of, respectively, local channel strike.

Notes: Previous attempts to quantify beach processes with techniques involving direct measurement have met with varying degrees of success. Problems encountered can be attributed to three main areas of difficulty: (1) the rapidity of change in both process operation and the subsequent production and development of bed forms; (2) the inclement nature of the weather conditions during which the most rapid beach changes take place; (3) interference with the flows being measured, by the equipment. A photographic method is described here, which to a great extent overcomes these problems, and can be operated cheaply by a solitary field investigator.

Notes: The Ranns of Kutch are flat salt-covered desert areas (sabkhas) which are just above the normal tidal range and may be regarded as supratidal flats. They are flooded annually by the storm tides of the Southwest Monsoon. As the waters recede and evaporate they leave behind a crust of halite, and gypsum crystals grow within the clays and sands. The increase in salinity of the interstitial waters as they are traced inland is reflected in the higher boron content of the clays. The Mg2+/Ca2+ ratio of these waters increases from 3 on the coast, to 240 in the evaporite environment of the shoreline of Pachham Island.Much of the sediment of the Ranns was probably once derived from the Indus and Nara rivers which used to flow into the western end of the Great Rann. Clay is now probably carried in by the monsoon storm tides after being transported along shore from the Indus, and also from the rivers of Kutch and Kathiawar. Coarser siliciclastic sediment is carried into the eastern inland portion of the area by the Luni and other intermittently flowing rivers and streams. Some sand and silt is blown into the Ranns from the surrounding hilly areas. Foraminifera are found concentrated in the sandier fractions of the sediments, having been transported there primarily by tidal currents and also by the wind. One species of Ammonia is almost the only fauna found in the sediments of the very saline environment around Pachham Island.

Notes: Sediments deposited in a lake at the front of a glacier in the Svartisen area, Norway, have been studied between 1957 and 1974. Until 1959, they were almost completely covered by an outwash plain (sandur), but subsequent erosion has exposed glacial lake sediments more than 70 m deep within a rock basin about 2·5 km long and 1 km wide. The basin was filled by sand and silt carried from beneath the glacier Austerdalsisen by two rivers, each of which deposited a delta in the lake. As the deltas advanced, laminated pro-delta silt was covered by crossbeds of fine sand and silt, and by near-horizontal sheets of fine sediments laid down between the delta-fronts and the distal end of the rock basin. Although both slumping and loading caused minor disturbance of sediments at the lake floor, deformation was of local significance only. Movement of a mass of sediment across the floor, probably triggered by a ‘seismic event’ related to movement of the glacier or to calving at the floating tongue, created a recumbent fold in laminated sand and silt, but transfer of sediment over the lake bed was rare once it had been deposited. Varves are not common at Austerdalsisen, indicating that water temperature, lake chemistry or variations of water and sediment discharge from the glacier were unfavourable for their formation; rhythmic deposition from density flows of sediments carried from beneath the glacier rarely occurred within the Austerdalsisen basin.

Notes: Several size fractions of natural loess from Long Island, New York including sand and ventifacts were studied with the scanning electron microscope to determine if distinguishing surface features could be found. Long Island loess compares very closely to descriptions of a number of European loess deposits except for the inclusion of carbonate not found on Long Island. Ventifact and sand grain surfaces were experimentally prepared using natural loess as an abrasive agent, and compared well with those surfaces found in the natural materials. Given favourable circumstances, it is possible via scanning electron microscopy to distinguish surface features created by aeolian action in loess deposits and associated materials.

Notes: The lower Danian bryozoan mounds exposed in the cliff at Karlby are described. Analyses of some sixty samples taken from a single mound reveal that the limestone is composed of about 30% of bryozoan fragments in a fine grained matrix. The texture and the grain-size distribution show that two distinct sedimentary facies can be recognized: (1) the northwestern flank and the basins with fine bryozoan fragments, a relatively small amount of matrix, and grain-supported texture; (2) the southeastern flank and the summit with coarse bryozoans, a larger amount of matrix and partly mud-supported texture.It is shown that the differences in the size of the bryozoan fragments are due to adaptations to changes in the water-movement rather than a result of significant transport. Thus, currents were roughly from the southeast producing more agitated water on the southeast flank and the summit and more gentle water on the northwest flank and in the basins. The unusual relationship between the velocity of the water-movement and the sedimentary facies is caused by an influence of the bryozoans on the depositional environment. On the southeast flank the higher current velocity favoured the growth of bryozoans, resulting in a relatively dense cover that was able to trap and bind the matrix. On the northwest flank the currents were slower and less favourable for growth, and the ability of the bryozoans to bind the sediment was correspondingly smaller.

Notes: Book Reviewd in this article: Statistical Methods for the Earth Scientists. An Introduction. By Roger Till.

Notes: The Cretaceous (Albian-Turonian) Talme Yafe Formation is a huge prismshaped accumulation (more than 3000 m thick, about 20 km wide, and at least 150 km long) of calcareous detritus at the northwest continental margin of the Arabian Craton (Israel). Its sources of clastic material are biochemical carbonates and skeletal fragments derived from rudistid reefs deposited on the wide epicontinental platform located east of the accumulation site. Transport of the material from the shelf platform over the edge onto the slope was probably done by storms and by tidal and seasonal currents. Downslope movement was by nepheloid layers and by gravity-induced currents (turbidity currents?) whereas contour currents are considered the main dispersing and shaping agent active on the slope proper. No clear-cut evidence indicating turbidites was perceived; however, they would be expected to be found west of the study area, on the abyssal plain where they are usually ponded.

Notes: A study of directional variability has been carried out on five vertical profiles containing a total of approximately 195 superimposed planar crossbed sets. The latter are interpreted as the deposits of braid bars. Detailed measurements on one set revealed within-set variance of 93. Within river tract, between-bar variance was obtained by calculating a ten-point moving average for each profile, and subtracting the actual azimuth at each point from the moving average value. Variance at this level is 980, which compares closely with data obtained from modern braided streams. Variability in the moving average azimuth is interpreted as the result of meander migration in the entire channel system. Sinuosity can be estimated from this variability, using a geometrical approximation. It ranges from 1.03 to 1.13.Changes in stream competency with time are indicated by vertical changes in directional variance and set thickness. When accompanied by changes in mean azimuth, as in one of the present five profiles, the data suggest successive deposition by two distinct stream systems.A Markov chain analysis of the data sequence indicates a weak memory effect. Short sequences of bar deposits were formed by streams which varied little in orientation, and these are separated from one another by sequences showing random directional fluctuation.The hydrology of the Isachsen rivers was investigated using Schumm's (1968a, b, 1969, 1972) empirical relationships for modern rivers. Owing to inherent uncertainties in these relationships and a wide margin of error in the input data (principally associated with estimates of depth and width of the Isachsen streams), the results have a validity only at the order-of-magnitude level. Individual Isachsen rivers are estimated to have had drainage areas of between 5000 and 30,000 km2; this information is of use in reconstructions of palaeogeography and tectonic history.

Notes: Dissolution experiments of Mn and Fe under natural conditions from fresh basalt, weathered basalt and Mn laterite by different organic acids show that Mn is highly enriched over Fe in solutions from the weathered rocks but that more Fe than Mn is dissolved from the fresh basalt. The enrichment of Mn is caused by sparingly soluble Fe-oxides and hydroxides and more soluble Mn-oxides. In addition from the weathered rocks the Mn concentration dissolved by the organic acids is up to 1000 times higher than in inorganic solutions. Mn enrichment is caused by acid attack, organic reduction of Mn4+ to Mn2+ and complexing by the organic acids. The complexed Mn is not attacked as easily by oxidation as free Mn ions. Higher concentrations of manganese in the organic dissolved stage can therefore be transported by rivers over greater distances.Organic complexed Mn, derived from lateritic weathered rocks may therefore contribute to the formation of low iron marine sedimentary Mn deposits.

Notes: The Rio Dell Formation (Pleistocene and Pliocene), exposed south of Eureka, California, is a prograded sequence of basinal turbidites overlain by basin slope and shelf deposits. The slope deposits studied in the Centerville Beach section accumulated in a steadily shallowing environment delineated by analysis of palaeobathymetrically significant benthonic foraminiferal biofacies in turn suggesting deposition at depths of 1000–100 m. Lower slope deposits interfinger with basinal turbidites derived from the Eel River delta to the north. Slumped blocks of silty mudstone, and associated silt and mud beds, are common. The middle slope deposits are mudstones; coarser sediments bypassed this zone. Mudstones and muddy siltstones alternate on the upper slope. Shallow depressions, probably slump scars, that have been rapidly filled by upper slope sediment are common. The transition to shelf deposits is marked by an increase in sediment grain size, in the degree of oxidation, and in the abundance of megafossils. High percentages of benthonic foraminifera displaced from shelf depths indicate that resedimentation processes are most important on the upper slope.

Notes: Twice-daily observations over a fixed range were made covering three consecutive sets of spring tides. Some dune population dimensions (e.g. mean wavelength) show a long-lasting (at least weeks) alteration during the most vigorous springs, but a short-lived (tides or days only) change over the weaker ones. Other properties (e.g. mean height) experience merely short-lived alterations. The changes seem to be linked to the creation during spring tides of new dunes of an initially small size (minor dunes), which introduces new matured dunes into the populations if there is sufficient subsequent sediment transport, and to the limited ability of individual dunes to respond to changing hydraulic conditions during their life-spans. The dunes are active during only a very small proportion of each spring-neap cycle, but the bank is permanently covered by them, and cross-stratification caused by dune movement is the only internal structure. Without a knowledge of the history and dynamics of the dune populations, the quality of the environment at Lifeboat Station Bank cannot be satisfactorily assessed from the sedimentary products.

Notes: Eight rare-earth elements (REE) have been determined in Cambro-Silurian sediments and volcanics from nine stratigraphic units in the Trondheim Region and ten stratigraphic units in the Oslo Region by neutron-activation analyses.In the eugeosynclinal sediments from the Trondheim Region the REE variations are related to variations in source material, which mainly are volcanic debris of local origin. In the foreland sediments from the Oslo Region significant development of clays has occurred and therefore the REE variations reflect the deposition environment.

Notes: Speed and direction of bottom currents induced by density underflow of two sediment-laden rivers were measured by oceanographic current meters in the Walensee (= Lake of Walenstadt), Switzerland. The apparently shooting flow of currents (up to 30 cm/s in this study) is suggested as an explanation for laminations in turbidite sequences. The current speed apparently stabilizes on slopes around 2°; this angle seems to correspond to the critical slope where the flow of the measured currents becomes steady. Current direction is controlled by bottom topography and direction of river inflow. Reversal of current direction observed at two sites is probably due to the underflow-induced backward motion of the overlying lake water. Underflow activity in Walensee is correlative with density peaks of the river water input. The currents are compared to Lake Mead (Southwestern U.S.) underflows and sporadic currents in some submarine canyons.

Notes: Single beds of up to 41 m thick are exposed for 16 km along the strike in an Eocene flysch, Spanish Pyrenees. These mega-beds consist of a lower calcarenite (up to 25 m) and an upper marlstone (up to 16 m). Their volume is minimally of the order of 1 km3. The mega-beds are underlain by slump sheets which in places exceed 100 m in thickness.The calcarenites show erosional sole markings, no internal amalgamation, a graded texture expressed by matrix percent, coarsest quartz grains, and coarsest foram tests. The marlstones are burrowed from their top, they are graded as expressed by matrix percent, coarsest quartz grains, and carbonate percent. Their grading continues the upward size decline in the underlying calcarenites, and their thickness and carbonate percent vary with those of the underlying calcarenites.Single calcarenite-marlstone beds are interpreted as deposited by turbidity currents. The great thickness and other uncommon features (e.g. consistent association with an underlying slump sheet, distal thickening, locally repetitive grading, compositional inhomogeneity) can be accounted for by (1) widespread slumping initiating voluminous turbidity currents, (2) concurrence of tributary turbidity currents to deposit a single mega-bed, and (3) ponding of the turbidity currents behind what may have been a local, palaeobasin floor high. Slumping and simultaneous turbidity currents were probably triggered by earthquakes of great magnitude. The basin floor high may have formed by basement faulting.The mega-beds do not occupy a particular niche in a facies sequence and their great thickness does not reflect a particular environment of deposition. Instead, they more likely reflect the seismic regime (periodic earthquakes of great magnitude) and tectonic style (block faulting) of the flysch basin.

Notes: Ten data sets have been collected from stratigraphical intervals in the Upper Carboniferous of Central Scotland. They represent six structural units and both distal and proximal deltaic environments, plus a meandering river environment. All show a definite tendency towards a linear relationship between the number of deltaic or fluvial cycles and the total thickness of strata in the interval. This relationship is, however, much stronger in sequences laid down in actively subsiding depositional basins than in areas where subsidence is thought to have been controlled by block faulting in the basement or in areas where there is no clearly defined pattern or subsidence. With respect to facies, the relationship is less close in successions that were frequently affected by widespread marine transgressions.The slopes of linear regression lines fitted to the data sets vary much more than had hitherto been supposed. Thus they are no longer thought to provide possible evidence of some ubiquitous underlying process, such as ductile flow in the upper mantle, which affected all the structural units equally. The line which represents proximal deltaic deposits of Westphalian A age in the Kincardine Basin slopes twice as steeply as any of the eight lines representing other dominantly deltaic successions and considerably more steeply than the line representing a succession of Namurian fluvial cycles.Second- and third-degree polynomial regression lines were also fitted to each data set but these generally satisfy little more of the total variation than do the corresponding linear regression lines, and F-test results indicate that the gains are not statistically significant. Eight of the second-degree lines however share a common shape that suggests a general tendency for both deltaic and fluvial cycles to be somewhat thicker in the areas of greatest net subsidence.

Notes: The Jura Quartzite, a formation of probably late Precambrian metasediments over 5 km thick from the Caledonian belt in Southwest Scotland, has been divided into a coarse and three fine facies. The former comprises cross-bedded sands with some laminated sands and silt horizons, interpreted as the deposits of shallow marine tidal dunes and other bedforms together with some beach units. Deposition from suspension of silt and sand formed climbing dunes while largescale erosion produced flat or channelled surfaces. The fine facies comprise laterally persistent, parallel and cross-laminated sand units from millimetres to decimetres thick, interbedded with muds. The coarse and fine facies can be finely interbedded, the former sometimes filling decimetre deep, straight channels, cut in the latter. The fine facies exhibit structures indicative of deposition from decelerating currents and are interpreted as shallow marine storm deposits.The facies are compared with a model developed from published observations on modern shelf areas. Zones of erosion, large and small dunes, flat bedded sand and mud are considered to be the end product of a wide spectrum of tidal and storm conditions. During severe storms the fair weather tidal dunes may be modified or washed out, new dunes may be initiated downcurrent of the normal dune field while storm-sand layers are deposited in the distal zones. Hence, the nature of the preserved sediment blanket reflects the rare severe storm event rather than normal tidal conditions.The Jura Quartzite was deposited in a tidal gulf intimately connected with an ocean basin. The north-northeast directed palaeocurrent modes are probably roughly parallel to the coastline.

Notes: Intertidal mudflat channels (gullies) in the Solway Firth, Scotland possess width/depth ratios similar to meandering rivers. Most channels deeper than 1 m show cut-bank slides, but narrow, deep channels also have rotational slides on the point-bar slopes. The channels display two types of point-bar. The first, associated with gently curved meanders, is sigmoidal in profile. The second, associated with tight meander bends, possesses a pronounced lower platform. The onset of flow separation in meander bends, a phenomenon which enhances cut-bank erosion and point-bar deposition, is a direct function of meander-bend tightness and Froude number. The effects of flow separation are greatest on tight meander bends at times of high velocity during late spring ebb and also during rainfall run-off at low tide. These events appear to be responsible for the growth of the point-bar platforms. A model, predicting the type of point-bar development to be expected in different channel meanders, is used to reconstruct the sedimentary history of active and fossil point-bars.

Notes: An unusual association of authigenic pyrite and authigenic gypsum has been found in silty clays recovered from the South West African continental slope. Nannofossil content suggests that the sediments are Upper Miocene-Lower Pliocene in age.Pyrite occurs as (1) granular masses, (2) ‘worm’tubes, (3) foraminiferal infillings, and (4) framboids. Gypsum occurs as euhedral single or twinned crystals of selenite. ‘Worm’tubes and foraminiferal infillings of pyrite are partially or completely enclosed in some gypsum crystals. Electron microprobe analyses show a relatively high concentration of manganese in both the granular masses and tubes.Present-day waters off this coast are dominated by the upwelling of cold, nutrient-enriched waters (the Benguela Current). These rich waters support an enormous population of plankton. Death and decomposition of these plankton consume oxygen, thereby creating a belt of anaerobic sediments close to shore. An Upper Miocene-Lower Pliocene regression (Dingle & Scrutton, 1974) lowered sea level and shifted an older analogue of this upwelling zone seaward, eventually establishing an anaerobic environment in places on the present continental slope.Anaerobic bacteria thrived in these conditions. They reduced SO4 dissolved in sea water, initiating the formation of H2S. The H2S reacted with iron minerals present in the sediment to form FeS. Addition of elemental sulphur produced pyrite. This strongly reducing, low pH, environment became saturated with calcium obtained by the dissolution of planktonic calcareous organisms. Gypsum was precipitated once the product of the concentrations of dissolved calcium and SO4 exceeded the gypsum solubility product.

Notes: A clear distinction must be made between liquefied and fluidized systems. In liquefied beds and flows, the solids settle downward through the fluid, displacing it upward, whereas, in fluidized beds, the fluid moves upward through the solids, which are temporarily suspended without net downward movement. Many recent references to fluidized sediment gravity flows refer, in fact, to flows of liquefied debris.Most uniformly liquefied beds of well-sorted sand- or gravel-sized sediment will resediment as simple two-layer systems. Liquefied flows can originate either by liquefaction followed by failure, as in many retrogressive flow slides, or by failure followed by liquefaction, as in the case of some slumps. Empirical and theoretical estimates of flow velocity, thickness, and travel distance suggest that natural laminar liquefied flows of fine-grained sand will generally resediment after moving a kilometre or less. Laminar flows of coarse-grained sand will resediment after moving only a few metres. Grain dispersive pressure is thought to be of little significance in the development or maintenance of liquefied flows.Many surficial submarine sand beds are apparently susceptible to liquefaction, including submarine canyon and continental rise deposits. Within submarine canyons and narrow fjords, steep slopes and channels promote the evolution of liquefied flows from slumps by liquefaction after failure and of high density turbidity currents from liquefied flows by the development of turbulence. Upon moving into the lower parts of submarine canyons or into proximal fan channels, liquefied flows will resediment and high density turbidity currents will tend to decline to flows transitional between liquefied flows and turbidity currents. The liquefied, coarser detritus within such transitional flows will be deposited while finer-grained debris will remain in suspension and continue downslope as dilute turbidity currents. Resedimentation of the liquefied portions of such flows may be responsible for the deposition of the A-subdivision of many turbidites and many thick, structureless ‘proximal turbidites’ or ‘fluxoturbidites’. Similar units can originate by liquefaction of the traction deposits of normal turbidity currents.Fluidized flows are probably uncommon, thin, and, where formed, originate through fluidization of the fine-grained tops of liquefied graded beds.

Notes: The attached foraminifera, Miniacina miniacea, is a major sedimentary component on the outer shelf off central and southern Morocco, particularly in water depths between 95 and 115 m, where concentrations generally exceed 40% of the carbonate fraction. Predominance of this species may be largely a function of the relatively great water depths which preclude optimal growth of other encrusting organisms.

Notes: Ignimbrite flow units commonly show reverse grading of large pumice clasts and normal grading of large lithic clasts. Ignimbrites show coarse-tail grading, in which particles beneath a critical diameter, ranging from 64 to 2 mm, are ungraded. Above this size the larger the clast diameter the more pronounced the segregation. The grading is consistent with the theoretical settling rates of particles in a dispersion with a high particle concentration. Ignimbrite flow units show a reversely graded, fine grained basal layer which is attributed to the action of boundary forces during flow. Ignimbrites are commonly associated with cross-stratified pyroclastic surge deposits and fine ash fall deposits formed in the same eruption. The fine ash fall deposit is depleted in crystals and is thought to be the deposit of the fine turbulent cloud observed making up the upper parts of nuées ardentes.Pyroclastic flows are postulated to be dense, poorly expanded partly fluidized debris flows. Only its fine grained components can be fluidized by gas. Pyroclastic flows are believed to behave as a dispersion of larger clasts in a medium of fluidized fines, which acts as a lubricant similar to water in mud-flows. Poor sorting in ignimbrites is attributed to high particle concentrations not turbulence. Many pyroclastic flows may be laminar in their movement with apparent viscosities, deduced from the lateral grading of large lithic clasts, in the range 101−103 poise.

Notes: Observations of many debris-flow deposits on gently-sloping alluvial fans have disclosed that debris commonly is heavily loaded with coarse clastic material and contains large isolated blocks. The paper describes how debris charged with coarse granular material can transport large blocks, yet flow on gentle slopes.Experimental results of mixing sand-sized particles with a slurry of clay plus water indicate that 45–55 vol. % of a single size, and up to 64% of two selected sizes, can be added before interlocking occurs. Theoretical analysis of multi-size classes suggest that 89 to more than 95 vol. % debris can be clastic materials without significant particle interlocking.The clay fraction, even if minor, plays a critical role in determining strength properties of debris. The mixture of clay plus water provides a cohesive slurry that supports fine-grained particles within the debris, as well as reduces the effective normal stresses between the particles. The increased unit weight of the clay plus water plus fine-grained particles allows the support of coarser grained particles. The pyramiding upon the clay-water slurry continues until the entire debris mass is supported in a virtually frictionless position because of the reduced effective normal stress and the lack of particle interlocking.Thus, the ability of debris flows to support large blocks can be understood in terms of the high unit weight of the displaced debris plus the strength of the fluid phase; that is, the blocks float in the debris as a result of a small density difference between the blocks and the debris, plus the cohesive strength of the clay-water slurry.Also, the ability of coarse clastic debris to flow on gentle slopes probably is a result of poor sorting of debris-flow materials which contain minor amounts of clay. The poor sorting allows the debris to have a high density yet have essentially no interlocking of clasts. The high density of the debris reduces effective normal stresses between clasts, thereby reducing apparent friction of the mixture.

Notes: The relative roles of waves and tidal currents in transporting bottom sediment on the continental shelf off Lands End, southwest England, are evaluated by study of (a) sediment grain size in relation to boundary layer measurements in tidal currents, (b) regional variation in sediment parameters in relation to peak tidal and wave-induced currents, and (c) visual observation of bedforms.(a) The sediments are mainly zoogenic sands. The average hydraulic equivalent median diameter is Mdφ=1.40φ (medium grade sand), and two-thirds of the median grain sizes fall between 0.97φ and 1.83φ. The linear bottom current which will just move this range of sizes is exceeded only slightly by the highest tidal drag velocities Ū* measured in the area. Thus, sediment movement by tidal currents alone is restricted to areas of high bed roughness and strong peak tidal flows. In contrast, wave-induced oscillatory currents at 100 m depth (typical of the area) attain sufficient speed to disturb the same particle sizes over 3% of the time. This includes storm periods when much greater velocities occur.(b) The average Mdφ of the sediment decreases southwest and northeast from south of the Lizard. This correlates well with the pattern of maximum tidal current speeds, suggesting that tidal currents control the areal distribution of sediment median grain size.Most sediments are well sorted (mean σi=0.48φ). Sorting improves at shallower depths but does not improve in areas of faster tidal currents, suggesting that wave-induced currents exert the major control on sorting.Silt and clay proportions increase west of the Scilly Isles and are influenced by both wave and tidal currents.(c) Photographs and television pictures show that symmetrical bedforms due to wave action are dominant north and west of the western Channel. Asymmetric bedforms are more common in the western Channel itself, where tidal currents and bed roughness are both high.Results are used to construct a sediment transport model for the study area. Since medium grade well sorted sands occur in depths of over 100 m, many ancient, extensive, well sorted sand sheets may have been deposited at depths greater than previously suspected.

Notes: Phytoclasts and coal particles, present in small quantities in a clay sediment, can be used as source rock indicators. The measurement of their reflectivities revealed characteristic low values typical for British Carboniferous coals, outcropping in Northern England, which may be a source area of the sediment. This technique may be a valuable complementary method to traditional mineralogical provenance studies.

Notes: The lamination found in recent stromatolites, an intrinsic feature of many of them, comprises a number of sediment-rich and organic-rich couplets. The significance of this lamination has figured in at least two avenues of research. In one is its possible influential role upon geochemical and diagenetic trends, in the other its possible calendar role. Algal growth follows a diurnal pattern but sedimentation, which is largely marine, is far less regular or predictable. The monitoring of modern algal mat surfaces has yielded much useful and accurate information concerning rates of mat accretion. Millimetre-scale lamination may be produced on a number of interacting processes but as yet no one has been able to determine with any great assurance whether it represents a daily, monthly, annual or some other regular periodic growth. The evidence from the Trucial Coast tends to show, rather, that burial, subsequent compaction, distortion and, in the case of sabkha-type sections, destruction owing to evaporite mineral growth, all tend to obliterate or at best mask any regular patterns of growth. In conclusion, one is forced to acknowledge that any computations concerning the calendar role of stromatolites are to be regarded with the utmost suspicion.

Notes: The shape of a particle is commonly characterized by its sphericity. In geology, sphericity is determined by comparing a grain's length, width and breadth diameters. This type of measurement does not indicate how close the particle is to a true spherical shape, and cubes, tetrahedrons, and true spheres all have the same degree of sphericity.Because the term sphericity is misleading, implying that its determination takes roundness into account, a different term should be used. I propose that whenever the shape of a grain is determined by measuring or estimating the lengths of its main axes, we regard this as determining its degree of equantcy.

Notes: In the eastern Paris Basin, on the boundary of two French ‘départements’, Marne and Meuse, the Cretaceous deposits begin with Wealden facies assigned to the Valanginian. This is overlain by marine Hauterivian and Lower Barremian.Several techniques have been used for studying these deposits: light-microscope, scanning electron microscope, grain-size analysis, chemical and mineralogical analysis.Environmental interpretations of the various facies are based on sedimentological, geochemical and pedological criteria (fossil soils are present). Clay minerals are dominantly illite and kaolinite. In the soil horizons kaolinite is dominant. A mixed-layer illite-smectite appears at the base of the transgression. Under marine influence a more stable illite dominant suite is formed.The Wealden sediments appear to have been deposited in a very mature flood-plain. Part of the sequence was subjected to weathering in situ by soil processes under a warm climate with repeated wetting and drying. Paraconformably above, the marine Hauterivian is the product of a shallow sea that tended to form lagoons. A true marine environment was established in the Lower Barremian, when mixing homogenized the sediments.

Notes: Laboratory studies of Bunter Sandstone specimens from Northwest Lancashire, Shropshire, West Cumberland, and the Vale of Clwyd have indicated that the parameters effective porosity, intergranular permeability, compressional wave velocity, formation resistivity factor, and effective matrix resistivity have significantly different distributions in each of these four regions. Regression analyses have shown that bivariate and trivariate expressions for the prediction of the two hydrological parameters from petrophysical data vary from region to region. It is concluded that, in quantitative geophysical investigations of these formations, each area must be investigated independently.For all four aquifers, and for both horizontally and vertically oriented specimens, effective porosity can be most reliably and readily estimated through a bivariate relationship involving formation resistivity factor. On the other hand, the best estimate of intergranular permeability from geophysical data is obtained through a trivariate expression involving both formation resistivity factor and effective matrix resistivity. The use of hydrogeophysical relationships to estimate hydrological parameters in situ is illustrated by reference to field examples.

Notes: A theoretical model is developed for predicting three important parameters of the pressure pulse radiated by an air-gun, namely the rise time, the amplitude of the initial pulse, and the period of the bubble pulse. A knowledge of these three parameters is essential for the efficient design of air-guns arrays.The prediction of the amplitude of the initial pulse is based on the assumption that the initial pulse is radiated by a spherical source with surface area equal to that of the air-gun ports and not by a spherical source with initial volume equal to that of the air-gun chamber, as has been assumed previously.A simple equation is obtained for predicting the period of the bubble pulsation, taking into account the effect of the air-gun body, boundaries such as the sea-surface and seabed and the presence of a number of identical air-guns placed at the same depth and fired simultaneously.

Notes: Dip selective migration velocity determination calculates coherency of energy migrating into an output trace or ‘MVD-axis’ as a function of the three variables time, velocity, and dip. In doing so, it provides additional information, the dip information, relative to standard MVD.

Notes: A graphical interpretation method is presented by which separately the depth and the product of conductivity and thickness of a vertical plate-shaped conducting orebody can be determined. The method is based on the result of model experiments.

Notes: A complicated geological structure may make it difficult to recognize seismic horizons. This may be the case when blind zones are present, when horizons have to be identified on both sides of a fault, or when lithological facies exhibit a lateral variation.A method for the recognition of seismic reflections is described. The process takes the dynamic range of seismic information into account as well as the extensive logical possibilities of modern computers. The method implements a factorial discriminant analysis of seismic traces by means of a stepwise iterative process. The reliability of results is studied by examining the a posteriori discrimination between different horizons. If the classification is good, a percentage of well classified reflections is given for each horizon.

Notes: The difficulty to use master curves as well as classical techniques for the determination of layer distribution (ei, ρi) from a resistivity sounding arises when the presumed number of layers exceeds five or six.The principle of the method proposed here is based on the identification of the resistivity transform. This principle was recently underlined by many authors. The resistivity transform can be easily derived from the experimental data by the application of Ghosh's linear filter, and another method for deriving the filter coefficientes is suggested.For a given theoretical resistivity transform corresponding to a given distribution of layers (thicknesses and resistivities) various criteria that measure the difference between this theoretical resistivity transform and an experimental one derived by the application of Ghosh's filter are given. A discussion of these criteria from a physical as well as a mathematical point of view follows.The proposed method is then exposed; it is based on a gradient method. The type of gradient method used is defined and justified physically as well as with numerical examples of identified master curves. The practical use for the method and experimental confrontation of identified field curves with drill holes are given. The cost as well as memory occupation and time of execution of the program on CDC 7600 computer is estimated.

Notes: Results of a gravity survey conducted over Raniganj coalfield, one of the Gondwana basins of Damodar Valley in north-eastern part of India, are presented. The gravity field was separated into regional and residual components. The residual Bouguer anomaly map shows that the coalfield is characterized by a gravity low of about—32 mGal associated with Gondwana sediments. The deepest part of basin is found to be located near Asansole (23° 40’N, 86° 55’E), where the maximum thickness of sediments is estimated to be about 1.3 miles (2.08 km). The faults along the northern as well as the southern boundaries are found to be normal. The Gondwana sediments appear to continue eastward beneath alluvium and laterite of Bengal basin as far as 87° 25’E.

Notes: The system of normal equations associated with the discrete Wiener filter is sometimes ill-conditioned. The purpose of this paper is to show that in such cases the solutions obtained vary drastically with the particular choice of an algorithm and of the computer used for its implementation.A review of the basic mathematical theory behind an ill-conditioned matrix is first presented. Numerical examples are then given to illustrate that the solutions of the normal equations are sensitive to the word length of a given computer. Finally, two possible remedies are described: (1) The well-known method of prewhitening and (2) the use of the conjugate-gradient algorithm for solving the normal equations.

Notes: This paper is an experimental extension of the theoretical investigations by Roy (1975) on the relative performances of the Laterolog 7, normal and some other sondes in logging of resistive formations. Only infinitely resistive formations have been simulated and placed in a tank containing tap water (true resistivity 27 Ωm) as electrolyte—representing both the mud column and the adjacent formations.Two sets of laboratory results (Doll 1951, NN 1958, 1969), have been repeated and we find that, for both these sets, the performance of the normal device is by far the superior of the two. In addition, we have studied the effect of varying the spacings A1A2, O1O2 and AM of Laterolog 7, normal, and two new sondes—Laterolog 4 and modified unipole—for two bore hole diameters in each case. For formation thicknesses less than A1A2 or AM, the Laterolog 7 is unsuitable because its response is flat and close to the base-line value. The normal device is more diagnostic, although, in such a case, it registers a trough or a resistivity low even against a resistive formation.For bed thicknesses clearly greater than A1A2 or AM, the normal sonde is decidedly superior to Laterolog 7, since its anomalies are sharper and larger. When the formation thickness is equal to or only slightly larger than A1A2 or AM, Laterolog 7 is somewhat better as it records a readable positive deflection while the normal does not. However, one must remember that a single run of the conventional resistivity log includes two normals and a lateral at different spacings. Laterolog 4 and modified unipole can in many instances produce better logs than normal, other considerations apart.The results are consistent with our own theoretical predictions and experience in surface resistivity profiling. They do not, however, agree with the prevalent concepts on Laterolog 7 vis-a-vis normal sonde.

Notes: None of the processes of estimation currently available is fully acceptable to the geophysicist. Firstly, they all assume that the variable, be it seismic reflection time, rms velocities, Bouguer anomaly, etc.… is random, amenable to pure statistical considerations, and the processes all disregard the relationships which link the values of the variable in the different points of the domain under investigation. Secondly, they do not provide the geophysicist with any guideline for smoothing his data, as smoothing and estimation are considered two separate operations. Thirdly, they fail to offer a valid criterion of estimation and a measure of the estimation error.The krigeage process overcomes the above mentioned difficulties. It synthesizes the structural or “geostatistical’ characteristics of the variable by using a function called the variogram (variances of the increases of the variable with respect to distance and direction). It smoothes the variable, when necessary, as a function of the “nugget effect’ (value at the origin of the experimental variogram). It yields an optimum estimation of the variable by minimizing the estimation error, and it computes a measure of the reliability of the estimation, the variance of krigeage.The process is demonstrated herein with three examples of variograms on seismic and gravity data and an example of contouring of velocities, reflection times and depths of a productive layer in an oil field, with detection and correction of irregular data, smoothing of velocities, migration of depth points, and display of estimation error.

Notes: It is well known that interval velocities can be determined from common-reflection-point moveout times. However, the mathematics becomes complicated in the general case of n homogeneous layers with curved interfaces dipping in three dimensions.In this paper the problem is solved by mathematical induction using the second power terms only of the Taylor series which represents the moveout time as a function of the coordinate differences between shot and geophone points. Moreover, the zero-offset reflection times of the nth interface in a certain area surrounding the point of interest have to be known. The n—I upper interfaces and interval velocities are known too on account of the mathematical induction method applied. Thus, the zero-offset reflection raypath of the nth interface can be supposed to be known down to the intersection with the (n—1)th interface.The method applied consists mainly in transforming the second power terms of the moveout time from one interface to the next one. This is accomplished by matrix algebra.Some special cases are discussed as e.g. uniform strike and small curvatures.

Notes: A new scheme for continuing aeromagnetic data along a profile with constantly changing elevation to a horizontal level is presented in this paper. It only requires some modifications of the conventional methods which are designed to continue potential field data from one horizontal level to another level.The new scheme procedes in the following steps: (1) digitization of anomaly along flight level, thus giving distance and elevation to the desired horizontal level at each station. (2) upward continuation at each digitized point from the corresponding elevation to a desired horizontal level. The validity and usefulness of the scheme is shown with theoretical and real data.

Notes: The solution for the potential distribution about a point source of current placed at the surface of a continuous half-space is obtained for two cases: (1) the resistivity increases linearly with depth; (2) the conductivity increases linearly with depth. In each case, an expression for the apparent resistivity is established and master curves are presented for both the Wenner and the Schlumberger configurations. The results can be used in the interpretation of electrical sounding data in specified geologic situations. Furthermore, they may be used as a first step in the development of solutions for the more complex electric sounding problems.

Notes: An approximate method of interpretation of resistivity sounding is presented, which may be described as a very crude manner of application of the exact direct interpretation method. The accuracy of this method is fairly low, the errors being in the order of 25%. The method is very fast in application and well suited for application to multilayer cases. The main advantage of the method is that it is in close and clear relation to the exact theory.

Notes: A satisfactory approximation to the travel time of a reflected wave is achieved by finding a ray, which originates in the source and emerges close enough to the receiver. The reason for this is, that the actual travel time function can be approximated in every emergence point of the wave by a time function which is entirely defined by seismic parameters along the ray connecting the source with the point of emergence.