ALBERT

Description: From 661 to 880 m beneath the seafloor at DSDP Sites 370 and 416 are Albian to Barremian claystone with some limestone, sandstone, and siltstone. Compressional-wave velocities ranged from 1.70 to 4.37 km/s, with an average in situ vertical velocity of 1.93 km/s. From 880 to 1430 m are Hauterivian to Valanginian turbidites of alternating graded calcareous and quartzose cycles from siltstone or fine sandstone to mudstone. Compressional-wave velocities range from 1.80 to 4.96 km/s with an average in situ velocity of 2.61 km/s. From 1430 to 1624 m are early Valanginian to Tithonian (Kimmeridgian?) turbidites, with alternating quartzose siltstone grading to mudstone cycles with hard micritic limestone and calcarenite (calciturbidites). Compressional-wave velocities range from 2.26 to 5.7 km/s, with an average in situ vertical velocity of 3.25 km/s. Acoustic anisotropy is 0 to 30% faster parallel to bedding in Cretaceous to Tithonian sandstone-siltstone turbidites in mudstone and minor limestone from 661 to 1624 m below the seafloor. Between 2.0(?) km/s and 4.2(?) km/s, anisotropy becomes particularly significant (below 1178 m), where the anisotropy is about + 0.4 km/s or greater. The mudstone, softer sandstone, and softer siltstone tend to have velocities around 2.0 to 2.5 km/s; the cemented sandstone and limestone cluster around 2.5 km/s to 4.2 km/s; thus the relative percentage anisotropy is greater for lower-velocity lithologies. Above 4.2(?) km/s, the well-cemented sandstone and limestone tend to have a smaller (less than + 0.4 km/s) absolute anisotropy, and many samples are nearly isotropic. These physical property data are separated into depth plots for (1) mudstone, (2) siltstone (3) sandstone, (4) marlstone, and (5) limestone. The mudstone's porosity and wet-bulk density curves versus depth are slightly higher and lower, respectively, than similar porosity and wet-bulk density curves summarized in Hamilton (1976). These differences could be some combination of (1) differences in laboratory methods; (2) age, lithologic, and cementation differences; or (3) overconsolidation created by a geological sequence which has been eroded away. If the average in situ vertical velocities calculated by Boyce (1980b) for Hole 416A are correct, then the 1.43-s (round-trip) reflector (blue) discussed by Lancelot and Winterer (1980) and Lancelot, Winterer et al. (1980b), would correlate to about 1500 m in Hole 416A, and not below 1624 m as suggested by Lancelot and Winterer. There appears to be a significant change in the acoustic character at or around that depth (1500 m) to a more lithified, calcareous, and cemented lithology. This does not prove Lancelot and Winterer (1980) and Lancelot, Winterer et al. (1980b) to be incorrect, but only suggests another possible interpretation.