Society of Economic Geologists

Abstract A next-generation hybrid flow meter was developed and field validated for real-time monitoring of drilling mud. This advanced flow meter is meant to measure the multiphase mud flow rate of the mud returning from a well. The sensor integrates differential pressure and thermal dispersion technologies within a compact and rugged architecture designed to provide high accuracy and responsiveness, overcoming the limitations of the industry-standard employed sensor, maintaining its performance during gas influx, rapid mud density variation, and drilling fluid homogeneity with all the most commonly used drilling fluids. During its first field deployment in a deep drilling operation in Kuwait confirmed the sensor confirmed its reliability and early detection capability, enabling the detection of flow variation up to three minutes earlier than conventional Coriolis meters. This feature is particularly relevant for safety improvement and non-productive time reduction since an early kick detection may lead to prompt kick mitigation. The system demonstrates stable performance under severe inhomogeneous flow conditions, supporting uninterrupted flow monitoring and improved decision-making. These results highlight the potential operational and economic benefits led by a highly reliable and responsive sensor for flow monitoring. The robustness of the presented sensor paves the way for integration of advanced flow monitoring into standard and autonomous well-control workflows.

Danish polymath Niels Stensen journeyed to the Dutch Republic (1660) to further his medical studies. While staying with Blasius in Amsterdam, he made an important discovery in the anatomy of the parotid duct: the ductus Stenonianus. Blasius later took credit, leading to a dispute won by Stensen. Realising he could learn little in Amsterdam, Stensen moved to Leiden University (July 1660). Here, he studied under renowned professors Sylvius and van Horne and became friends with talented fellow students Swammerdam, Ruysch, and de Graaf, who significantly contributed to anatomy and reproductive medicine. Stensen discovered various anatomical and physiological aspects, leading to his doctorate from Leiden. Here, he met Spinoza and maintained correspondence with him. Stensen left Leiden (1664), spending time in Paris, and moved to Florence (1666), joining the Accademia del Cimento. His interests expanded from anatomy to geology; he converted to Catholicism (1667), was ordained as a priest (1675) and became bishop. His ecclesiastical duties took him to Germany, where he lived a life of asceticism, dying in 1686. His remains were moved to Florence and buried in the Basilica of San Lorenzo. Stensen's journey reflects a commitment to knowledge and spirituality, making him a figure of intellectual and religious significance.

A half-century of investigations in deep-lake and littoral facies have produced a wealth of fossils, illuminating the trophic structure of the latest Triassic and Early Jurassic rift ecosystems in the Hartford and Deerfield Basins (Connecticut and Massachusetts, USA). Fossil assemblages include representatives of all fundamental levels of the food chain: bacteria, algae, plants, mollusks, crustaceans, insects, fishes, and tetrapods. The superabundance of large theropod dinosaur footprints in near-shore lake environments, as exemplified at Dinosaur State Park, Rocky Hill, Connecticut, and the rarity of herbivore tracks in the same facies suggest that the aquatic food web was critically important to apex dinosaurian carnivores. We clarify the stratigraphy and elucidate the monsoonal expansion and contraction of perennial lakes at Dinosaur State Park, highlighting the importance of microbial mats that blanketed trackway surfaces. At basin scale, we document the facies-dependent distribution of large carnivorous dinosaur tracks (Eubrontes) in lake-margin strata. In contrast, large herbivorous dinosaur tracks (Otozoum) primarily occur in fluvial facies, more proximal to upland environments. The rarity of herbivorous tetrapod footprints in lake-margin environments may indicate that herbivores lived in dry-land, upland habitats, spent most of their time foraging along streams and rivers, or intentionally avoided lake shores frequented by large carnivores. Large theropods were opportunistic apex predators in littoral habitats, with a diet of fishes and the smaller tetrapods that also frequented lake margins. Rather than tearing through coniferous forests displaying a fierce raptorial lifestyle, as typically portrayed, the large carnivores of the Triassic-Jurassic circum-Atlantic rift valleys likely spent most of their days at the beach, fishing.

Abstract The minerals zircon, monazite, xenotime and rutile commonly occur in metasedimentary rocks as detrital but also authigenic grains, which can result from different fluid-driven processes. In this study such processes are investigated on the basis of detailed petrographic observations, mineral-geochemical data, and results of in situ U-Pb dating and Nd isotope analyzes in a kaolinitized micaschist. The data provide evidence for the preservation of detrital grains of zircon, rutile and monazite crystallized between ~ 3100 and 1150 Ma, and for authigenic zircon, xenotime, rutile and monazite formed at ca. 530 Ma. The authigenic character is indicated by zircon outgrowths closely intergrown with xenotime and rutile crystals. The outgrowths occur where detrital zircon faces are intensely dissolved in contact with Fe-Mg-rich phengitic muscovite, suggesting the involvement of an aqueous fluid enriched in K-Mg-Fe-Al-Ti-P near the thermal peak at 510 °C and > 0.8 GPa. In contrast, authigenic monazite rims overgrowing rounded cores were formed during the retrograde evolution, as indicated by their occurrence in assemblage with kaolinite, and results of geothermobarometry (T = 280 °C, P < 0.3 GPa). The monazite rims show very low U contents (4–14 µg/g), extremely high Th/U (up to 1670), and nearly identical 143Nd/144Ndt (0.51184 ± 0.00006) values that markedly differ from those of the detrital cores (143Nd/144Ndt = 0.51000 ± 0.00050; U = 162–16418 µg/g; Th/U = 2.6–153). The high Th/U points to the involvement of an oxidizing fluid, in line with late goethite formation. Monazite microstructures, and Nd isotope characteristics require a chain of processes, from partial dissolution of detrital monazite, through REE transport and Nd isotope homogenization in an aqueous fluid, to new monazite growth.

The implications of a new tectonic evolution model that puts Oman at the eastern margin of the Mozambique Ocean during the Neoproterozoic are wide and regionally significant. This model helps understand the Neoproterozoic tectonics and palaeogeography of Gondwana, the closure of the Mozambique Ocean, the palaeogeography of the world-renowned Cryogenian and Ediacaran successions of Oman, and the petroleum systems of Oman and the rest of Arabia. The proposed evolution model implies that the basement of Oman formed at the margin of Neoproterozoic India, and that the Cryogenian–Ediacaran sedimentary succession, and its early tectonic evolution, were separate from those of the Arabian–Nubian Shield to the west (with reference to present-day coordinates through the paper), as they were on opposite sides of the Mozambique Ocean up to the early Cambrian. It also implies that the final Gondwanan suture lies somewhere along, or just west of, the Western Deformation Front, an early Cambrian orogenic belt found in the subsurface of Oman and in outcrops of north and south Oman. Its development is related to Malagasy–Angudan Orogeny, and it separates two realms: the juvenile Ediacaran basement and active margin sedimentary successions of the Arabian–Nubian Shield, and the Tonian igneous and metamorphic basement, Cryogenian rift deposits and Ediacaran passive margin deposits of Oman/Neoproterozoic India. The Precambrian hydrocarbon systems of Oman therefore do not extend to western Arabia, but could extend to India and Pakistan instead. Sediment provenance studies using zircon geochronology and facies maps of the Neoproterozoic successions help to understand the tectonic setting during deposition and the distribution of reservoir rocks in shallow-water settings in NE Oman, and source rocks in deep basinal settings in south and west Oman.

Η παρούσα μελέτη εξετάζει το φαινόμενο της λογοκρισίας στον κινηματογράφο, εστιάζοντας σε τρεις συγκεκριμένες ταινίες. Αρχικά, διερευνάται η πολιτική διάσταση του κινηματογράφου, ενώ παράλληλα παρουσιάζονται παραδείγματα λογοκρισίας τόσο στον παγκόσμιο όσο και στον ελληνικό κινηματογράφο. Στη συνέχεια, αναλύονται τρεις ταινίες που υπήρξαν αντικείμενο λογοκρισίας στην Ελλάδα. Οι ταινίες που εξετάζονται είναι η Κοινωνική Σαπίλα (1932) του Στέλιου Τατασοπούλου, οι Παράνομοι (1955) του Νίκου Κούνδουρου και το Πρόσωπο με Πρόσωπο (1966) του Ροβήρου Μανθούλη.

Quaternary groundwater is the unique source of fresh water in the desert fringes of the Nile Valley at Sohag, Egypt. This area contains many urban, industrial, and agricultural sustainable projects. These activities and the unconfined condition of the Quaternary aquifer have adversely impacted the groundwater quality. This study aims to demonstrate the chemical techniques to understand groundwater conditions and to identify potential hazards of solute dispersion that may exist in the study area, 24 groundwater samples were collected from the study area in August 2019 and analyzed physically and chemically. The results showed that the pH is slightly alkaline and the Total Dissolved Solids of the groundwater were about 1289 mg/l. Most of the studied samples aren’t acceptable for drinking owing to high TDS>1000mg/l and toxic heavy metals, especially As and Pb. The recorded high concentrations of the Total Dissolved Solids and ions can be attributed to sediment salt leaching, agriculture drainage, domestic wastewater, and the applied pesticides, and fertilizers in the study area. Salinity and sodium hazards adversely impact the suitability of most samples for irrigation, but all the studied heavy metals were within the permissible limit for irrigation. Finally, more attention and monitoring of the Quaternary aquifer in the Nile Valley must be considered for the protection of this important aquifer and human health.