Low post-Cenomanian denudation depths across the Brazilian Northeast: Implications for long-term landscape evolution at a transform continental margin     

Jean-Pierre Peulvast  Vanda Claudino Sales  Franois Btard  Yanni Gunnell 《Global and Planetary Change》2008,62(1-2):39-60

The Brazilian Northeast affords good opportunities for obtaining reliable timings and rates of landscape evolution based on stratigraphic correlations across a vast region. The landscape formed in the context of an episodically fluctuating but continuously falling base level since the Cenomanian. After formation of the transform passive margin in Aptian times, landscape development was further driven by a swell-like uplift with its crest situated  300 km from the coastline. The seaward flank of this swell or broad monocline between the interior Araripe and coastal Potiguar basins was eroded, and currently forms a deeply embayed plain bordered by a semi-circular, north-facing erosional escarpment. The post-Cenomanian uplift caused an inversion of the Cretaceous basins and generated a landscape in which the most elevated landforms correspond either to resistant Mesozoic sedimentary caprock, or to eroded stumps of syn-rift Cretaceous footwall uplands. Denudation in the last 90 My never exceeded mean rates of 10 m·My^− 1 and exhumed a number of Cretaceous stratigraphic unconformities. As a result, some topographic surfaces at low elevations are effectively Mesozoic land surfaces that became re-exposed in Cenozoic times. The Neogene Barreiras Formation forms a continuous and mostly clastic apron near the coast. It testifies to the last peak of erosion in the hinterland and coincided with the onset of more arid climates at  13 Ma or earlier. The semi-circular escarpment is not directly related to the initial breakup rift flanks, which had been mostly eroded before the end of the Mesozoic, but the cause and exact timing of post-Cenomanian crustal upwarping are poorly constrained. It could perhaps have been a flexural response of the low-rigidity lithosphere to sediment loads on the margin, and thus a slowly ongoing process since the late Cretaceous. Uplift could instead be the consequence of a more discrete dynamic event related either to Oligocene magmatism in the region, or to continental-scale far-field stresses determined by Andean convergence.  相似文献   

Assessment of troposphere mapping functions using three-dimensional ray-tracing     

Landon Urquhart  Felipe G. Nievinski  Marcelo C. Santos 《GPS Solutions》2014,18(3):345-354

The troposphere delay is an important source of error for precise GNSS positioning due to its high correlation with the station height parameter. It has been demonstrated that errors in mapping functions can cause sub-annual biases as well as affect the repeatability of GNSS solutions, which is a particular concern for geophysical studies. Three-dimensional ray-tracing through numerical weather models (NWM) is an excellent approach for capturing the directional and daily variation of the tropospheric delay. Due to computational complexity, its use for positioning purposes is limited, but it is an excellent tool for evaluating current state-of-the-art mapping functions used for geodetic positioning. Many mapping functions have been recommended in the past such as the Niell Mapping Function (NMF), Vienna Mapping Function 1 (VMF1), and the Global Mapping Function (GMF), which have been adopted by most IGS analysis centers. A new Global Pressure Temperature model (GPT2) has also been developed, which has been shown to improve upon the original atmospheric model used for the GMF. Although the mapping functions mentioned above use the same functional formulation, they vary in terms of their atmospheric source and calibration approach. A homogeneous data set of three-dimensional ray-traced delays is used to evaluate all components of the mapping functions, including their underlying functional formulation, calibration, and compression method. Additionally, an alternative representation of the VMF1 is generated using the same atmospheric source as the truth data set to evaluate the differences in ray-tracing methods and their effect on the end mapping function. The results of this investigation continue to support the use of the VMF1 as the mapping function of choice when geodetic parameters are of interest. Further support for the GPT2 and GMF as reliable back-ups when the VMF1 is not available was found due to their high consistency with the NWM-derived mapping function. Additionally, a small latitude-dependent bias in station height was found in the current mapping functions. This bias was identified to be due to the assumption of a constant radius of the earth and was largest at the poles and at the equator. Finally, an alternative version of the VMF1 is introduced, namely the UNB-VMF1 which provides users with an independent NWM-derived mapping function to support geodetic positioning.  相似文献   

The Contribution of Groundwater Discharge to Nutrient Exports from a Coastal Catchment: Post-Flood Seepage Increases Estuarine N/P Ratios     

Isaac R. Santos  Jason de Weys  Douglas R. Tait  Bradley D. Eyre 《Estuaries and Coasts》2013,36(1):56-73

Four months of daily nutrient and radon (a natural groundwater tracer) observations at the outlet of a heavily drained coastal wetland illustrated how episodic floods and diffuse groundwater seepage influence the biogeochemistry of a sub-tropical estuary (Richmond River, New South Wales, Australia). Our observations downstream of the Tuckean Swamp (an acid sulphate soil floodplain) covered a dry stage, a flood triggered by a 213-mm rain event and a post-flood stage when surface water chemistry was dominated by groundwater discharge. Significant correlations were found between radon and ammonium and N/P ratios and between radon and dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) during the post-flood stage. While the flood lasted for 14?% of the time of the surface water time series, it accounted for 18?% of NH₄, 32?% of NO _x , 66?% of DON, 58?% of PO₄ and 55?% of dissolved organic phosphorus (DOP) catchment exports. Over the 4-month study period, groundwater fluxes of 35.0, 3.6, 36.3, 0.5 and 0.7?mmol?m^?2?day^?1 for NH₄, NO _x , DON, PO₄ and DOP, respectively, were estimated. The groundwater contribution to the total surface water catchment exports was nearly 100?% for ammonium, and <20?% for the other nutrients. Post-flood groundwater seepage shifted the system from a DON to a dissolved inorganic N-dominated system and doubled N/P ratios in surface waters. We hypothesise that the Richmond River Estuary N/P ratios may reflect a widespread trend of tidal rivers and estuaries becoming more groundwater-dominated and phosphorus-limited as coastal wetlands are drained for agriculture, grazing and development.  相似文献   

Isotope geochemistry of Paleoproterozoic metacarbonates from Itatuba,Borborema Province,Northeastern Brazil: Evidence of marble melting within a collisional suture     

Roberto Ventura Santos  Edilton J. dos Santos  João Adauto de Souza Neto  Luis Christian Montreuil Carmona  Alcides Nóbrega Sial  Luis Henrique Mancini  Lauro Cézar Montefalco de Lira Santos  Gilzênia Henrique do Nascimento  Lucas UpaDafubigin Santos Mendes  Emerson Marcello Ferreira Anastácio 《Gondwana Research》2013,23(1):380-389

Strongly-deformed marbles may be easily confused with linear and elongated carbonatite intrusions. Both rocks may present similar texture and foliation to the host rock, or even cross cutting field relationships, which could be interpreted either as igneous or high-grade metamorphosed marble. Diagnostic criteria are even more complex when there is evidence of melting of the metasedimentary carbonate rock, such as has been described in the Himalayas and in the Eastern Ghats, India.In the Alto Moxotó Terrane, a high-grade gneissic domain of the Borborema Province, Northeastern Brazil, there are metacarbonates associated with banded gneisses and different metaplutonic rocks. Field evidence indicates the absence of other metasedimentary rocks associated with these marbles, thus suggesting that these carbonates were separated from other siliciclastic metasedimentary rocks. The presence of marble also suggests that it may represent the initial stage of a crustal carbon recycling into the mantle. These marbles present many field similarities to carbonatites (e.g., fluid-flow structure) and, together with metagranites and metamafic intrusions, may represent a major collisional tectonic suture.A detailed study of the carbon, oxygen and strontium isotopic composition of these marbles is presented. This study aims to identify the origin of the different isotopic components. It is argued that these rocks were subjected to temperature and pressure conditions that were sufficiently high to have melted them. The isotopic data presented here support this interpretation and indicate the mixing of two components: (i) one characterized by radiogenic Sr isotopes and mantle-like carbon isotopes, which is associated with the gneissic and mafic rocks, and (ii) another characterized by low ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios and highly positive δ¹³C values. Available geochemical data for the upper Paleoproterozoic indicate that the ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio of ocean water, varying between 0.7050 (2.25 ± 0.25 Ga) and 0.7047 (1.91 Ga), falls within the lower range of the samples from Itatuba and thus reinforces the interpretation that these marbles are sedimentary-derived and were partially contaminated by interaction with the host gneissic and mafic rocks.  相似文献   

Reionization and the Cosmic Dawn with the Square Kilometre Array     

Garrelt Mellema  Léon V. E. Koopmans  Filipe A. Abdalla  Gianni Bernardi  Benedetta Ciardi  Soobash Daiboo  A. G. de Bruyn  Kanan K. Datta  Heino Falcke  Andrea Ferrara  Ilian T. Iliev  Fabio Iocco  Vibor Jelić  Hannes Jensen  Ronniy Joseph  Panos Labroupoulos  Avery Meiksin  Andrei Mesinger  André R. Offringa  V. N. Pandey  Jonathan R. Pritchard  Mario G. Santos  Dominik J. Schwarz  Benoit Semelin  Harish Vedantham  Sarod Yatawatta  Saleem Zaroubi 《Experimental Astronomy》2013,36(1-2):235-318

The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) will have a low frequency component (SKA-low) which has as one of its main science goals the study of the redshifted 21 cm line from the earliest phases of star and galaxy formation in the Universe. This 21 cm signal provides a new and unique window both on the time of the formation of the first stars and accreting black holes and the subsequent period of substantial ionization of the intergalactic medium. The signal will teach us fundamental new things about the earliest phases of structure formation, cosmology and even has the potential to lead to the discovery of new physical phenomena. Here we present a white paper with an overview of the science questions that SKA-low can address, how we plan to tackle these questions and what this implies for the basic design of the telescope.  相似文献   

Varre-Sai: The Recent Brazilian Fall     

M. E. Zucolotto  L. L. Antonello  M. E. Varela  R. B. Scorzelli  P. Munayco  E. dos Santos  Isabel P. Ludka 《Earth, Moon, and Planets》2012,109(1-4):43-53

Varre-Sai, the most recent Brazilian meteorite fall, on June 19th, 2010 at Varre-Sai, in Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil (20°51??41??S; 41°44??.80??W). At least eight masses (total ~3.5?kg) were recovered. Most are totally covered by fusion crust. The exposed interior is of light-grey colour with a few dark shock veins. Five thin polished and etched sections were prepared from a slice weighing 35?g on deposit at the National Museum/UFRJ. It consists mostly of chondrules ranging in size from 0.35 to ~2.2?mm, and chondrule fragments enclosed in a crystalline matrix. The matrix consists of tiny isolated subhedral and anhedral crystals and opaque minerals that are intergrown with broken chondrules. The chondritic texture is poorly defined with chondrule textures that vary from non-porphyritic to porphyritic ones. The essential minerals are olivine (Fa_25±0.2) and low-Ca pyroxene (Fa_21.66±0.2Wo_1.4). Accessory minerals are plagioclase, apatite, Fe?CNi metal phases, troilite, chromite and magnetite. M?ssbauer spectroscopy analysis confirms that the mineral phases are olivine, pyroxene, troilite and kamacite/taenite. Chemical data indicate that Varre-Sai is a member of the low iron L chondrite group. The observed texture and mineral phases led us to classify Varre-Sai as an equilibrated petrologic type 5. The shock features of the minerals (undulatory extinction, planar structure and numerous cracks), as well as plagioclase partial or totally transformed to maskelynite, suggest a shock stage S4. Also, some post-impact metamorphic processes could be inferred from the meta-sulfide conjoint grains that show complex mixtures of kamacite?Ctaenite?Ctetrataenite and troilite. The occurrence of veins crosscutting the studied sections indicates that Varre-Sai was affected by a late fracturing event. Sealing of these fractures must have been a fast process, as shown by troilite globule textures pointing towards rapid solidification. The meteorite name was approved by the Nomenclature Committee of the Meteoritical Society (Meteoritic Bulletin, no 99).  相似文献   

A new analysis of the GJ581 extrasolar planetary system     

M. Tadeu dos Santos  G. G. Silva  S. Ferraz-Mello  T. A. Michtchenko 《Celestial Mechanics and Dynamical Astronomy》2012,113(1):49-62

We have done a new analysis of the available observations of the GJ581 exoplanetary system. Today this system is controversial due to choices that can be done in the orbital determination. The main ones are the occurrence of aliases and the additional bodies??the planets f and g??announced in Vogt et?al. (Astrophys J 723:954?C965, 2010). Any dynamical study of exoplanets requires the good knowledge of the orbital elements and the investigations involving the planet g are particularly interesting, since this body would lie in the habitable zone (HZ) of the star GJ581. This region, for this system, is very attractive of the dynamical point of view due to several resonances of two and three bodies present there. In this work, we investigate the conditions under which the planet g may exist. We stress the fact that the planet g is intimately related with the orbital elements of the planet d; more precisely, we conclude that it is not possible to disconnect its existence from the determination of the eccentricity of the planet d. Concerning the planet f, we have found one solution with period ??450?days, but we are judicious about any affirmation concerning this body because its signal is in the threshold of detection and the high period is in a spectral region where the occurrence of aliases is very common. Besides, we outline some dynamical features of the HZ with the dynamical map and point out the role played by some resonances laying there.  相似文献   

Isolation,biodegradation ability and molecular detection of hydrocarbon degrading bacteria in petroleum samples from a Brazilian offshore basin     

Suzan Pantaroto de Vasconcellos  Elaine Crespim  Georgiana Feitosa da Cruz  Diego Barbosa Senatore  Karen Christina Marques Simioni  Eugênio Vaz dos Santos Neto  Anita Jocelyne Marsaioli  Valéria Maia de Oliveira 《Organic Geochemistry》2009,40(5):574-588

The detection of microorganisms with potential for biodeterioration and biodegradation in petroleum fields is of great relevance, since these organisms may be related to a decrease in petroleum quality in the reservoirs or damage in the production facilities. In this sense, petroleum formation water and oil samples were collected from the Campos Basin, Brazil, with the aim of isolating microorganisms and evaluating their ability to degrade distinct classes of hydrocarbon biomarkers (9,10-dihydrophenanthrene, phytane, nonadecanoic acid and 5α-cholestane). Twenty eight bacterial isolates were recovered and identified by sequencing their 16S rRNA genes. Biodegradation assays revealed that bacterial metabolism of hydrocarbons occurred through reactions based on oxidation, carbon–carbon bond cleavage and generation of new bonds or by the physical incorporation of hydrocarbons into microbial cell walls. Based on the biodegradation results, selective PCR-based systems were developed for direct detection in petroleum samples of bacterial groups of interest, namely Bacillus spp., Micrococcus spp., Achromobacter xylosoxidans, Dietzia spp. and Bacillus pumilus. Primer sets targeting 16S rRNA genes were designed and their specificity was confirmed in silico (i.e. computational analysis) and in PCR reactions using DNA from reference strains as positive and negative controls. Total DNA from oil was purified and the amplification tests revealed the presence of the target bacteria in the samples, unraveling a significant potential for petroleum deterioration in the reservoirs sampled, once proper conditions are present for hydrocarbon degradation. The application of molecular methods for rapid detection of specific microorganisms in environmental samples would be valuable as a supporting tool for the evaluation of oil quality in production reservoirs.  相似文献   

Preface to the special issue “Complexity in the Oil Industry 2007”     

Vera Pancaldi  Peter King  Liacir Dos Santos Lucena 《Computational Geosciences》2009,13(2):151-154

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Combining TEM/resistivity joint inversion and magnetic data for groundwater exploration: application to the northeastern part of Greater Cairo,Egypt     

Sultan Awad Sultan  Fernando Monteiro Santos 《Environmental Geology》2009,58(3):521-529

This paper presents the combination of two complementary methods, magnetic and joint inversion of resistivity/TEM data, as an effective approach to characterize groundwater reservoirs. Twenty stations of transient electromagnetic (TEM) and vertical electrical soundings (VES) were measured and interpreted using a joint inversion technique to evaluate the subsurface low resistivity zones connected to the groundwater reservoir. A complementary survey including 871 land magnetic stations was carried out at the same area to detect the upper surface of the basaltic sheet, which represents the bottom of the Miocene aquifer in the study area. The geological log from one borehole drilled in the zone was used to partially calibrate the calculated models. The results revealed that the study area consists of five different geological units with ages ranging from Paleogene (Oligocene) to Quaternary. The methodology provides good results at a very low cost when compared with drilling boreholes.  相似文献