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B.V. Marshall

Publications and source records attributed to B.V. Marshall.

4 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2019

SUSTAIN drilling at Surtsey volcano, Iceland, tracks hydrothermal and microbiological interactions in basalt 50 years after eruption

The 2017 Surtsey Underwater volcanic System for Thermophiles, Alteration processes and INnovative concretes (SUSTAIN) drilling project at Surtsey volcano, sponsored in part by the International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP), provides precise observations of the hydrothermal, geochemical, geomagnetic, and microbiological changes that have occurred in basaltic tephra and minor intrusions since explosive and effusive eruptions produced the oceanic island in 1963–1967. Two vertically cored boreholes, to 152 and 192 m below the surface, were drilled using filtered, UV-sterilized seawater circulating fluid to minimize microbial contamination. These cores parallel a 181 m core drilled in 1979. Introductory investigations indicate changes in material properties and whole-rock compositions over the past 38 years. A Surtsey subsurface observatory installed to 181 m in one vertical borehole holds incubation experiments that monitor in situ mineralogical and microbial alteration processes at 25–124 ∘C. A third cored borehole, inclined 55∘ in a 264∘ azimuthal direction to 354 m measured depth, provides further insights into eruption processes, including the presence of a diatreme that extends at least 100 m into the seafloor beneath the Surtur crater. The SUSTAIN project provides the first time-lapse drilling record into a very young oceanic basaltic volcano over a range of temperatures, 25–141 ∘C from 1979 to 2017, and subaerial and submarine hydrothermal fluid compositions. Rigorous procedures undertaken during the drilling operation protected the sensitive environment of the Surtsey Natural Preserve.

Scientific Drilling↗
USGS1982

Thermal regime of permafrost at Prudhoe Bay, Alaska

Temperature measurements through permafrost in the oil field at Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, combined with laboratory measurements of the thermal conductivity of drill cuttings permit an evaluation of in situ thermal properties and an understanding of the general factors that control the geothermal regime. A sharp contrast in temperature gradient at ~600 m represents a contrast in thermal conductivity caused by the downward change from interstitial ice to interstitial water at the base of permafrost under near steady-state conditions. Interpretation of the gradient contrast in terms of a simple model for the conductivity of an aggregate yields the mean ice content and thermal conductivities for the frozen and thawed sections (8.1 and 4.7 mcal/cm sec ?C, respectively). These results yield a heat flow of ~1.3 HFU which is similar to other values on the Alaskan Arctic Coast; the anomalously deep permafrost is a result of the anomalously high conductivity of the siliceous ice-rich sediments. Curvature in the upper 160 m of the temperature profiles represents a warming of ~1.8?C of the mean surface temperature, and a net accumulation of 5-6 kcal/cm 2 by the solid earth surface during the last 100 years or so. Rising sea level and thawing sea cliffs probably caused the shoreline to advance tens of kilometers in the last 20,000 years, inundating a portion of the continental shelf that is presently the target of intensive oil exploration. A simple conduction model suggests that this recently inundated region is underlain by near-melting ice-rich permafrost to depths of 300-500 m; its presence is important to seismic interpretations in oil exploration and to engineering considerations in oil production. With confirmation of the permafrost configuration by offshore drilling, heat-conduction models can yield reliable new information on the chronology of arctic shorelines.

Open-File Report↗