A hierarchy of interpreted eustatic cyclicity in siliciclastic sedimentary rocks has a pattern of superposed cycles with frequencies in the ranges of 9–10 m.y., 1–2 m.y., 0.1–0.2 m.y., and 0.01–0.02 m.y. (second- through fifth-order cyclicity, respectively). Stratigraphic units displaying this cyclicity include composite sequences, sequences, and parasequences. On the Exxon global cycle chart, fundamental third-order cycles (1–2 m.y. average duration) stack into related groups (second-order cycles: 9–10 m.y. duration). A much larger pattern (about 200 m.y.) is interpreted as tectonically controlled eustasy probably related to sea-floor spreading rates.
One and probably two higher orders of cyclicity (fourth-order: 0.1–0.2 m.y.; and fifth-order: 0.01–0.02 m.y.) are now observed in work with well logs, cores, and outcrops in areas of very rapid deposition. These frequencies are in the range of Milankovitch cycles, and may represent part of the Milankovitch hierarchy which has been widely interpreted for cyclical units in carbonate rocks.
High-frequency (fourth-order) sequences, which form at a 0.1–0.2 m.y. cyclicity, have all the stratal attributes of conventional sequences, including constituent parasequences and systems tracts, and play a dominant role controling reservoir, source, and sealing rock distribution. A consistent hierarchy of stratigraphy is observed. Parasequences (probable fifth-order cyclicity) stack into sets to form systems tracts in fourth-order sequences. Groups (sets) of fourth-order sequences are deposited between major third-order boundaries within third-order composite sequences. Sequences in these sets stack in prograding and backstepping patterns to form third-order lowstand, transgressive, and highstand sequence sets.
Third-order sequence boundaries are marked by greater basinward shifts in facies, by larger more widespread incised valleys, and by more extensive onlap than are fourth-order sequence boundaries. Third-order condensed sections commonly are widespread, faunally rich, and widely correlated biozone and mapping markers. Fourth-order sequence analysis helps to understand reservoir, source, and seal distribution at the play and prospect scale. An example from the Gulf of Mexico is discussed. 相似文献
Jason, the successor to the TOPEX/POSEIDON (T/P) mission, has been designed to continue seamlessly the decade-long altimetric sea level record initiated by T/P. Intersatellite calibration has determined the relative bias to an accuracy of 1.6 mm rms. Tide gauge calibration of the T/P record during its original mission shows a drift of -0.1 ± 0.4 mm/year. The tide gauge calibration of 20 months of nominal Jason data indicates a drift of -5.7 ± 1.0 mm/year, which may be attributable to errors in the orbit ephemeris and the Jason Microwave Radiometer. The analysis of T/P and Jason altimeter data over the past decade has resulted in a determination of global mean sea level change of +2.8 ± 0.4 mm/year. 相似文献
Several major improvements to an existing method for calibrating satellite altimeters using tide gauge data are described. The calibration is in the sense of monitoring and correcting temporal drift in the altimetric time series, which is essential in efforts to use the altimetric data for especially demanding applications. Examples include the determination of the rate of change of global mean sea level and the study of the relatively subtle, but climatically important, decadal variations in basin scale sea levels. The improvements are to the method described by Mitchum (1998a), and the modifications are of two basic types. First, since the method depends on the cancellation of true ocean signals by differencing the altimetric data from the tide gauge sea level time series, improvements are made that produce a more complete removal of the ocean signals that comprise the noise for the altimetric drift estimation problem. Second, a major error source in the tide gauge data, namely land motion, is explicitly addressed and corrections are developed that incorporate space-based geodetic data (continuous GPS and DORIS measurements). The long-term solution, having such geodetic measurements available at all the tide gauges, is not yet a reality, so an interim solution is developed. The improved method is applied to the TOPEX altimetric data. The Side A data (August 1992?February 1999) are found to have a linear drift component of 0.55 + / 0.39 mm/yr, but there is also a significant quadratic component to the drift that is presently unexplained. The TOPEX Side B altimeter is estimated to be biased by 7.0 + / 0.7 mm relative to the Side A altimeter based on an analysis of the first 350 days of Side B data. 相似文献
Several major improvements to an existing method for calibrating satellite altimeters using tide gauge data are described. The calibration is in the sense of monitoring and correcting temporal drift in the altimetric time series, which is essential in efforts to use the altimetric data for especially demanding applications. Examples include the determination of the rate of change of global mean sea level and the study of the relatively subtle, but climatically important, decadal variations in basin scale sea levels. The improvements are to the method described by Mitchum (1998a), and the modifications are of two basic types. First, since the method depends on the cancellation of true ocean signals by differencing the altimetric data from the tide gauge sea level time series, improvements are made that produce a more complete removal of the ocean signals that comprise the noise for the altimetric drift estimation problem. Second, a major error source in the tide gauge data, namely land motion, is explicitly addressed and corrections are developed that incorporate space-based geodetic data (continuous GPS and DORIS measurements). The long-term solution, having such geodetic measurements available at all the tide gauges, is not yet a reality, so an interim solution is developed. The improved method is applied to the TOPEX altimetric data. The Side A data (August 1992?February 1999) are found to have a linear drift component of 0.55 + / 0.39 mm/yr, but there is also a significant quadratic component to the drift that is presently unexplained. The TOPEX Side B altimeter is estimated to be biased by 7.0 + / 0.7 mm relative to the Side A altimeter based on an analysis of the first 350 days of Side B data. 相似文献
The sea-surface height signatures of internal tides in the deep ocean, amounting to a few centimeters or less, are studied using two complementary measurement types: satellite altimetry and island tide gauges. Altimetry can detect internal tides that maintain coherence with the astronomical forcing; island gauges can monitor temporal variability which, in some circumstances, is due to internal tides varying in response to changes in the oceanic medium. This latter mechanism is at work at Hilo and other stations on the northern coasts of the Hawaiian Islands. By detecting spatially coherent low-frequency internal-tide modulations, the tide gauges, along with inverted echo sounders at sea, suggest that the mean internal tide is also spatially coherent; satellite altimetry confirms this. At Hawaii and in many other places, Topex/Poseidon altimetry detects mean surface waves, spatially coherent and propagating great distances (> 1000 km) before decaying below background noise. When temporal variability is small, the altimetry (plus information on ocean density) sets useful constraints on energy fluxes into internal tides. At the Hawaiian Ridge, 15 GW of tidal power is being converted from barotropic to first-mode baroclinic motion. Examples elsewhere warn that a simplistic interpretation of the altimetry, without regard to variability, noise, or in situ information, may be highly misleading. With such uncertainties, extension of the Hawaiian results into a usefully realistic estimate of the global internal-tide energy balance appears premature at this time. 相似文献