Life cycle(s) of sediment physical properties, Ceara Rise

Abstract

Sediments recovered during Leg 154 exhibit an unusually wide variation of interbedded lithologies down to the deepest layers recovered (900-m burial depth). We report here on relations of properties as a function of lithology and burial depth. Lithologies have been characterized by a large number of carbonate determinations on samples used for discrete physical properties measurements. Carbonate determinations have been supplemented by quartz determinations using infrared spectroscopy, and by shipboard determinations of biogenic opal content. Physical properties show coherent patterns with carbonate content over discrete zones that average several hundred meters of thickness. The relation between seismic velocities and carbonate content is strong enough to detect a velocity calibration problem for an interval of Site 925 shipboard measurements.The shallowest Ceara Rise sediments show a weak positive dependency of bulk density and a more pronounced positive relationship of seismic velocities on carbonate content. The difference between bulk-density and carbonate relations on Ceara Rise and well-known relations established in siliceous settings can be explained by the high quartz contents (15% -16% on a carbonate-free basis) of the Pleistocene section.For each type of physical property, inversions are encountered, where the sense of the correlation between property and lithology changes. For example, both bulk densities and seismic velocities become negatively correlated to carbonate content at depths of 100 -250 meters below seaßoor on the Ceara Rise, but then become positively correlated on further burial. These inversions are interpreted to result from the competition between mechanical and chemical compaction in pelagic sediments. Bulk density, in particular, shows a complex evolution with depth that often results in a parabolic relation of density to carbonate content in more deeply buried Ceara Rise sediments. Nevertheless, the relations between physical properties and carbonate content on Ceara Rise are sufÞciently systematic that predictive models can be generated to relate lithology to signals sensed by borehole logging tools and by seismic imaging.

A Preliminary Assessment of Physical Properties of Sediment at Sembrong Reservoir

“…The effect during the rainy season, the area will be more susceptible to flooding. Measurements of sediment physical properties describe in various ways the density of sediment particles, their packing relations, and connections between particles [2]. While, according to Waddel [3], the interactions between the sediments and overlying water significantly affect the chemical and physical characteristics of lakes and reservoirs, also the processes governing those interactions are complex.…”