Late Quaternary siliciclastic/carbonate sedimentation model for the Capricorn Channel,southern Great Barrier Reef province,Australia

A model is presented for hemipelagic siliciclastic and carbonate sedimentation during the last glacial–interglacial cycle in the Capricorn Channel, southern Great Barrier Reef (GBR). Stable isotope ratios, grainsize, carbonate content and mineralogy were analysed for seven cores in a depth transect from 166 to 2892 m below sea level (mbsl). Results show variations in the flux of terrigenous, neritic and pelagic sediments to the continental slope over the last sea level cycle.During the glacial lowstand terrigenous sediment influenced all the cores down to 2000 mbsl. The percentages of quartz and feldspar in the cores decreased with water depth, while the percentage of clay increased. X-ray diffraction analysis of the glacial lowstand clay mineralogy suggests that the siliciclastic sediment was primarily sourced from the Fitzroy River, which debouched directly into the northwest sector of the Capricorn Channel at this time. The cores also show a decrease in pelagic calcite and an increase in aragonite and high magnesium calcite (HMC) during the glacial. The influx of HMC and aragonite is most likely from reworking of coral reefs exposed on the continental shelf during the glacial, and also from HMC ooids precipitated at the head of the Capricorn Channel at this time. Mass accumulation rates (MARs) are high (13.5 g cm^? 3 kyr^? 1) during the glacial and peak at ~ 20 g cm^? 3 kyr^? 1 in the early transgression (16–14 ka BP). MARs then decline with further sea level rise as the Fitzroy River mouth retreats from the edge of the continental shelf after 13.5 ka BP. MARs remain low (4 cm^? 3 kyr^? 1) throughout the Holocene highstand.Data for the Holocene highstand indicate there is a reduction in siliciclastic influx to the Capricorn Channel with little quartz and feldspar below 350 mbsl. However, fine-grained fluvial sediments, presumably from the Fitzroy River, were still accumulating on the mid slope down to 2000 mbsl. The proportion of pelagic calcite in the core tops increases with water depth, while HMC decreases, and is present only in trace amounts in cores below 1500 mbsl. The difference in the percentage of HMC in the deeper cores between the glacial and Holocene may reflect differences in supply or deepening of the HMC lysocline during the glacial.Sediment accumulation rates also vary between cores in the Capricorn Channel and do not show the expected exponential decrease with depth. This may be due to intermediate or deep water currents reworking the sediments. It is also possible that present bathymetry data are too sparse to detect the potential role that submarine channels may play in the distribution and accumulation of sediments.Comparison of the Capricorn Channel MARs with those for other mixed carbonate/siliciclastic provinces from the northeast margin of Australia indicates that peak MARs in the early transgression in the Capricorn Channel precede those from the central GBR and south of Fraser Island. The difference in the timing of the carbonate and siliciclastic MAR peaks along the northeast margin is primarily related to differences in the physiography and climate of the provinces. The only common trend in the MARs from the northeast margin of Australia is the near synchronicity of the carbonate and siliciclastic MAR peaks in individual sediment cores, which supports a coeval sedimentation model.     

Seismic and sequence stratigraphy of the central western continental margin of India: late-Quaternary evolution

Seismic and sequence stratigraphic architecture of the central western continental margin of India (between Coondapur and south of Mangalore) has been investigated with shallow seismic data. Seismic stratigraphic analysis defined nine seismic units, that are configured in a major type-1 depositional sequence possibly related to fourth-order eustatic sea-level changes, comprising regressive, lowstand, transgressive and highstand systems tracts. The late-Quaternary evolution of the continental margin took place under the influence of an asymmetric relative fourth-order sea-level cycle punctuated by higher frequency cycles. These cycles of minor order were characterised by rapid sea-level rises and gradual sea-level falls that generated depositional sequences spanning different time scales. During the regressive periods, dipping strata were developed, while erosional surfaces and incised valleys were formed during the lowstands of sea level. Terraces, v-shaped depressions, lagoon-like structures observed on the outer continental shelf are the result of the transgressive period. In the study area we have recognised a complex erosional surface that records a long time span during the relative sea-level fall (regressive period) and the following sea-level lowstand and has been reworked during the last transgression. We also infer that sedimentation processes changed from siliciclastic sedimentation to carbonate sedimentation and again to siliciclastic sedimentation, marking an important phase in the late-Quaternary evolution of the western continental shelf of India. We attribute this to an abrupt climate change at the end of the oxygen isotope stage 2, between the Last Glacial Maximum and the Bølling-Allerod event (14?000 yr BP). This sensitive climate change (warming) favoured the formation of reefs at various depths on the shelf, besides the development of Fifty Fathom Flat, a carbonate platform on the outer shelf off Bombay developed prior to 8300 yr BP. The highstand systems tracts were deposited after the sea level reached its present position.     

厄瓜多尔Oriente盆地南部区块沉积特征

通过构造演化和地层发育特征分析,将厄瓜多尔Oriente盆地南部区块Napo组划分为4个层序。根据岩心中的潮汐层理、羽状交错层理、冲洗交错层理、具有大量贝壳等特征,识别研究区具有潮坪沉积环境。针对其沉积坡度缓,碎屑岩和碳酸盐岩互层沉积的特点,建立了缓坡混积陆棚边缘的沉积相模式,认为Oriente盆地南部区块Napo组发育有海岸平原、潮坪、局限台地和混积陆棚相。相序的垂向组合和平面迁移受海平面升降的控制,指出潮坪砂岩主要出现在各层序的陆架边缘体系域,水下浅滩砂岩出现在海侵体系域。从沉积角度看,潮汐水道砂体是最好的储层砂体。     

High-resolution sequence stratigraphy of clastic shelves VI: Mixed siliciclastic-carbonate systems

High-frequency sequences composed of mixed siliciclastic-carbonate deposits may exhibit either vertical or horizontal changes between siliciclastics and carbonates. Vertical facies shifts occur between systems tracts and define a ‘reciprocal sedimentation’ pattern, typically consisting of transgressive/highstand carbonates and forced regressive/lowstand siliciclastics, although variations from this rule are common. Mixed systems with lateral facies change, usually typifying transgressive and/or highstand systems tracts, may exhibit proximal siliciclastics and distal carbonates or vice-versa, although variations may also occur along depositional strike. The marked variability of mixed siliciclastic-carbonate sequences makes the definition of a universal sequence stratigraphic model impossible, as the composition and geometries of systems tracts may change considerably, and sequence stratigraphic surfaces and facies contacts may vary in terms of occurrence and physical expression. However, some resemblance exists between siliciclastic sequences and mixed sequences showing lateral facies changes between siliciclastics and carbonates. In particular, these mixed sequences display 1) a stratal architecture of the clastic part of the systems tracts that is comparable to that of siliciclastic deposits, 2) a dominant role of the inherited physiography and of erosional processes, rather than carbonate production, in shaping the shelf profile, and 3) a local lateral juxtaposition of siliciclastic sandstones and carbonate bioconstructions due to hydrodynamic processes. These observations are helpful in predicting the location of porous and potential sealing bodies and baffles to fluid flow at the intra-high-frequency sequence scale, and ultimately they are useful for both petroleum exploration and production.     

Stratigraphic framework of sediment-starved sand ridges on a mixed siliciclastic/carbonate inner shelf; west-central Florida

Seismic reflection profiles and vibracores have revealed that an inner shelf, sand-ridge field has developed over the past few thousand years situated on an elevated, broad bedrock terrace. This terrace extends seaward of a major headland associated with the modern barrier-island coastline of west-central Florida. The overall geologic setting is a low-energy, sediment-starved, mixed siliciclastic/carbonate inner continental shelf supporting a thin sedimentary veneer. This veneer is arranged in a series of subparallel, shore-oblique, and to a minor extent, shore-parallel sand ridges. Seven major facies are present beneath the ridges, including a basal Neogene limestone gravel facies and a blue-green clay facies indicative of dominantly authigenic sedimentation. A major sequence boundary separates these older units from Holocene age, organic-rich mud facies (marsh), which grades upward into a muddy sand facies (lagoon or shallow open shelf/seagrass meadows). Cores reveal that the muddy shelf facies is either in sharp contact or grades upward into a shelly sand facies (ravinement or sudden termination of seagrass meadows). The shelly sand facies grades upward to a mixed siliciclastic/carbonate facies, which forms the sand ridges themselves. This mixed siliciclastic/carbonate facies differs from the sediment on the beach and shoreface, suggesting insignificant sediment exchange between the offshore ridges and the modern coastline. Additionally, the lack of early Holocene, pre-ridge facies in the troughs between the ridges suggests that the ridges themselves do not migrate laterally extensively. Radiocarbon dating has indicated that these sand ridges can form relatively quickly (1.3 ka) on relatively low-energy inner shelves once open-marine conditions are available, and that frequent, high-energy, storm-dominated conditions are not necessarily required. We suggest that the two inner shelf depositional models presented (open-shelf vs. migrating barrier-island) may have co-existed spatially and/or temporally to explain the distribution of facies and vertical facies contacts.     

南海西北部晚第四纪典型地震相—沉积相特征

南海西北部地形变化大,水深由近岸几十米变化至深海盆区的3 500m,跨越了陆架、陆坡、深海盆、岛礁等地貌单元。南海西北部也是深水油气的重要勘探地区。利用高分辨率单道地震资料,采用地震相分析方法,对研究区晚第四纪典型地震相—沉积相分布特征开展深入分析。研究区内的主要地震相包括：①席状、亚平行、强振幅、低连续、中频地震相;②披盖状、波状、中振幅、中—低连续、中低频地震相;③披盖状、平行—亚平行、中—弱振幅、中连续、中—低频地震相;④披盖状、平行、强振幅、高连续、中—高频地震相;⑤席状、平行、中—弱振幅、高连续、中—低频地震相;⑥披盖状、波状、弱振幅、低连续、低频地震相;⑦前积相;⑧下切充填地震相;⑨杂乱地震相;⑩条带状、波状、中—弱振幅、中—低连续、低频地震相;瑏瑡披盖状、平行、强振幅、高频、高连续地震相共11种。对地震相—沉积相及其分布特征的分析结果认为,区内晚第四纪主要发育有三角洲相、河道相、滨浅海相、浅海相、半深海相、深海相、滑塌相、斜坡相、浊流相、生物礁相等沉积相,其分布主要受海底地形地貌、构造运动等多种因素所控制。     

海平面变化及其海岸响应

第四纪气温的大幅度冷暖变化，导致全球海平面的变化，引起陆架海侵扣海退。海岸上的各种地貌如海滩、沙坝、三角洲扣陆架沙脊等响应海平面升降而发生新的演化扣变异。东海陆架古岸线、围绕古岸线发育的陆架沙脊、陆架深切河谷扣河谷充填沉积以及冰后期海进型扣海退型沙坝的形成乖演化等沉积事件都是响应海平面升降的结果。近百年来特别是近30年全球海平面普遍上升，引起风暴潮的频度扣幅度的增大。近岸波能增强，越滩浪增多，导致海滩侵蚀，岸线后退。Bruun法则扣其他一些模型能够说明海滩随海平面上升而蚀退的规律，但在预测速率时仍存在很多问题。使用时应注意海平面变化的区域性、海滩发育的滞后性和海滩蚀退因素间的权重关系。     

Factors governing abundance of hydrolyzable amino acids in the sediments from the N.W. European Continental Margin (47–50°N)

Fifty-six samples representing 6 sediment cores taken along the N.W. European Continental Margin from the shelf, slope and abyssal plain of the Goban Spur and Meriadzek Terrace were quantitatively analysed for total hydrolyzable amino acids (THAA) and clay minerals. In descending order, the five most abundant amino acids making up more than 70% of the total were: aspartic acid, glycine, serine, alanine and glutamic acid. Clay mineral proportions were typical for the N.E. Atlantic, in order of descending abundance: illite, kaolinite, chlorite, smectite and mixed layers.The Meriadzek Terrace area is characterised by fine grain suspension sedimentation with a low pelagic carbonate input and the lowest content of THAA. In contrast, the Goban Spur transect is characterised by much higher carbonate inputs and more vigorous hydrodynamics as judged from granulometry and the high abundance of minerals of shelf and continental origin and a generally higher THAA content. The pelagic portion of THAA deposited at the sea floor is more readily mineralised during early diagenesis than the more ‘refractory', clay mineral-associated continental portion. Along this margin the average mineralization of THAA down to 25 cm in the sediment is about 54%. There is a significant affinity between chlorites and amino acids which we suggest may involve the formation of ionic bonds between the octahedral layers of the clay and the amino acids.     

The lost Devonian sequence - Sequence stratigraphy of the middle Bakken member,and the importance of clastic dykes in the lower Bakken member shale,North Dakota,USA

The Late Devonian to Early Mississippian Bakken Formation in the Williston basin of North Dakota, USA, shows a tri-partite subdivision: a middle mixed carbonate-siliciclastic member is sandwiched in-between two black siliciclastic mudstones, the lower and upper Bakken member shales. However, the transition from the lower shale member to the middle member does not represent a gradual coarsening but contains in places several millimeter - to centimeter-thick siliciclastic mudstones and carbonates that consist of three facies: (1) a glauconitic carbonate-rich siliciclastic mudstone, (2) a carbonate mud-to wackestone, and (3) an echinoderm wacke-to packstone with shell fragments. These three facies are present in many (all?) of the cores close and directly in the basin center in Mountrail County, North Dakota. At least one of these three facies is present in all 23 cores included in this study.This thin carbonate unit at the transition between the lower and the middle Bakken members is interpreted as representing the remnants of the transgressive systems tract. It is assumed that relative sea-level fell before deposition of the middle Bakken member establishing a proximal coarse-grained to distal fine-grained depositional transect that successively migrated into the basin. During the subsequent transgression, the siliciclastic input was low to absent, and the entire sedimentary system switched to depositing carbonates. The proximal to distal transect during this time showed coarse-grained packstones (and grainstones?) close to the shoreline, and a fining outwards towards the distal parts of the basin. This transgression also eroded what remained of the regressive and most of the subsequent transgressive sediments, leaving only the thin carbonate layer behind. Evidence for the regression, even though no sediment is directly preserved along the lower to middle Bakken member contact, comes from the fill of clastic dykes that cut through the lower Bakken member shale. The fill of the clastic dykes is partly siliciclastic and partly carbonate and not similar to any of the surrounding sediment. This indicates that these dykes must have originated before the middle Bakken member was deposited, yet the overlying sediment must have been carbonate at some point and siliciclastic another time. As it is not present anymore, this sediment must have been entirely removed by erosion.The here presented model suggests that the Bakken Formation reflects two entire sea-level oscillations. The first encompasses the lower Bakken member shale and the siliciclastic regressive portion of the lowstand only preserved as infill of the clastic dykes. The subsequent transgression deposited the carbonates now blanketing the lower to middle Bakken member transition, and the highstand and subsequent regression plus lowstand are represented by the middle Bakken member. The transgressive surface and therewith the onset of the topmost Bakken transgression is marked by the transition from the middle to the upper Bakken shale member.     

Core-based reconstruction of paleoenvironmental conditions in the southern Drake Passage (West Antarctica) over the last 150 ka

A deep-sea sediment core (GC98-06) from the southernmost Drake Passage, West Antarctica, shows late Quaternary depositional environments distinctly different from sedimentary drifts commonly found along the southwestern Pacific margin of the Drake Passage. The chronology of the core has been inferred using geochemical tracers of paleoproductivity and diatom biostratigraphy, and represents the paleoceanographic conditions in a continental rise setting during the last 150,000 years. Three dominant sediment types associated with distinct sedimentary processes have been identified using textural/compositional analyses: (1) hemipelagic mud (interglacial sediments) deposited from pelagic settling of bioclasts, meltwater plumes, and ice-rafted detritus; (2) terrigenous mud (glacial sediments) delivered by turbid meltwater plumes; and (3) massive muds marking the boundaries from interglacial to glacial periods. The succession of the sedimentary facies in core GC98-06 is interpreted to reflect temporal changes in environmental conditions prevailing on the continental rise of the southern Drake Passage in the course of successive climatic stages over the last 150 ka: from the bottom upward, these are glacial, interglacial, glaciation, glacial, and interglacial episodes. Variability in sediment flux and diatom abundance seem to have been related to changes in glacial advance, sea-ice extent, and specific sedimentary environments, collectively influenced by mid- to late Quaternary climatic changes.     

Climatic changes during the last deglaciation recorded in sediment cores from the northeastern Brazilian Continental Margin

Detailed ¹⁴C AMS data and isotope based stratigraphies from high-resolution paleoceanographic records for the last 22 ka of cores from the upper continental slope off NE Brazil reveal sedimentation rates of up to 100 cm per 1000 yr. Variations in the sediment composition relate to changes in the input of terrigenous material. The sedimentation is controlled by sea level and by the climatic regime of the hinterland. Short-term changes in the tropical wind field may act as a climatic trigger. The zonality of the SE trades was probably increased and the monsoonal activity over Africa reduced during the Younger Dryas period.     

A record of fluctuating bottom currents on the slopes west of the Porcupine Bank,offshore Ireland — implications for Late Quaternary climate forcing

Both local and regional controls on slope sedimentation west of Porcupine Bank are assessed using an array of 25 gravity cores, integrated with shallow seismic, TOBI side-scan and high-resolution bathymetry data. The cores were retrieved from an area of smooth, distally steepened slope (between 52° and 53°N) in water depths of 950 to 2750 m. The slope here is unmodified by gravity failures and is swept by bottom currents that flow from S to N along the margin. The cores reveal a coherent shallow stratigraphy that can be traced along and between transects at upper-, mid- and lower-slope levels. AMS ¹⁴C dating, oxygen-isotopes and carbonate profiles suggest the cored record could extend as far back as 500 ka in the longest cores, with most cores providing details of the slope response to the last interglacial, last glacial and Holocene forcing. The facies indicate deposition was dominated by a combination of bottom currents, ice-rafting and hemipelagic settling, with carbonate-prone deposits during interglacials, and siliciclastic deposits during glacials. Inferred contourites imply that strong currents operated during interglacials, with weaker current reworking during glacial conditions. A pair of erosion surfaces record significant mid- and upper-slope scouring during Marine Isotope Stage (MIS 3) and in the Early Holocene. The lateral facies distribution implies stronger currents at shallower levels on the slope, although there is evidence that the core of the current migrated up and down the slope, and that sand might locally have spilt down-slope. The bathymetry influenced both the wider geometry of the condensed contourite sheet and the local thickness and facies variation across the slope. A significant result of the study is the identification of a pair of thin sand–mud contourite couplets that record enhanced bottom-current reworking corresponding to periods of interstadial warming during MIS 3. The couplets can be correlated to the terrestrial records onshore Ireland and imply that the NE Atlantic margin oceanographic and onshore climate records are strongly coupled at interstadial level.     

Deglacial and Holocene evolution of the Vietnam shelf: stratigraphy,sediments and sea-level change

On the Vietnam Shelf more than 1000 miles of shallow high-resolution seismics were analyzed to unravel post-glacial evolution in a tropical, siliciclastic environment together with 25 sediment cores from water depths between 21 and 169 m to determine stratigraphy, distribution and style of sedimentation. Fourty-seven samples were dated with the AMS-¹⁴C technique.The shelf was grouped into three regions: a southern part, a central part, and a northern part. On the broad Southern Shelf, sedimentation is influenced by the Mekong River, which drains into the SCS in this area. Here, incised valley fills are abundant that were cut into the late Pleistocene land surface by the Paleo-Mekong River during times of sea level lowstand. Those valleys are filled with transgressive deposits. The Holocene sedimentation rate in this low gradient accommodation-dominated depositional system is in the range of 5–10 and 25–40 cm/ky at locations sheltered from currents. The Central Shelf is narrow and the sedimentary strata are conformable. Here, numerous small mountainous rivers reach the SCS and transport large amounts of detrital sediment onto the shelf. Therefore, the Holocene sedimentation rate is high with values of 50–100 cm/ky in this supply-dominated depositional system. The broad Northern Shelf in the vicinity of the Red River Delta shows, as on the Southern Shelf, incised valleys cut into the Pleistocene land surface by paleo river channels. In this accommodation-dominated shelf area, the sedimentation rate is low with values of 5–10 cm/ky. Where applicable, we assigned the sampled deposits to different paleo-facies. The latter are related to certain intervals of water depths at their time of deposition. Comparison with the sea-level curve of [Hanebuth, T.J.J., Stattegger, K., Grootes, P., 2000. Rapid flooding of the Sunda Shelf; a lateglacial sea-level record. Science, 288: 1033–1035.] indicates subsidence on the Central Shelf, which is in agreement with the high sedimentation rates in this area. In contrast, data from the Northern Shelf suggest tectonic uplift that might be related to recent tectonic movements along the Ailao Shan–Red River Fault zone. Data from the Southern Shelf are generally in agreement with the sea-level curve mentioned above.     

Late Cenozoic sea-level changes and the onset of glaciation: impact on continental slope progradation off eastern Canada

Late Cenozoic sedimentation from four varied sites on the continental slopes off southeastern Canada has been analysed using high-resolution airgun multichannel seismic profiles, supplemented with some single channel data. Biostratigraphic ties are available to exploratory wells at three of the sites. Uniform, slow accumulation of hemipelagic sediments was locally terminated by the late Miocene sea-level lowering, which is also reflected in changes in foraminiferan faunas on the continental shelf. Data are very limited for the early Pliocene but suggest a return to slow hemipelagic sedimentation. At the beginning of the late Pliocene, there was a change in sedimentation style marked by a several-fold increase in accumulation rates and cutting of slope valleys. This late Pliocene cutting of slope valleys corresponds to the onset of late Cenozoic growth of the Laurentian Fan and the initiation of turbidite sedimentation on the Sohm Abyssal Plain. Although it corresponds to a time of sea-level lowering, the contrast with the late Miocene lowstand indicates that there must also have been a change in sediment delivery to the coastline, perhaps as a result of increased rainfall or development of valley glaciers. High sedimentation rates continued into the early Pleistocene, but the extent of slope dissection by gullies increased. Gully-cutting episodes alternated with sediment-draping episodes. Throughout the southeastern Canadian continental margin, there was a change in sedimentation style in the middle Pleistocene that resulted from extensive ice sheets crossing the continental shelf and delivering coarse sediment directly to the continental slope.     

Sequence stratigraphy and cyclicity in the Middle Eocene of the Fayoum ranges,Western Desert,Egypt: Implications for regional sea level changes

The Middle Eocene deposits in the Fayoum Ranges are composed of complex alternative clastic (claystone and sandstone) and carbonate (limestone and dolostone) facies and dominated carbonate (limestone) facies. Facies are arranged mainly in regression and shallowing upward (emergence) cycles and sequences. Field stratigraphic and microfacies analysis of the study area permits recognition of four major sequences, reflecting 3rd-order cycles. Depositional sequences and cycles are bounded by subaerial erosive surfaces or caliche deposits, ferruginous crust, and by their correlative conformities. Sequence-1 consists of two shallowing-upward cycles (dominate carbonate facies), each of which starts with nummulitic wackestone, capped with nummulitic packstone including Globigerinatheka subconglobata subconglobata biozone. These cycles were deposited under tropical to subtropical conditions as evidenced by the carbonate nature of the rocks and the abundance of nummulites, which need warm conditions for their flourishing. Sequence-2 consists of four emergence cycles based with claystone and capped with wackestone including Morozovella lehneri biozone. The duration (Ma) of sequence-2 (Morozovella lehneri zone) is 3.05 Ma (44.25 Ma for the upper of TA3 3.3 to 41.2 Ma for the lower of TA3 3.5). Sequence-3 includes three rock units (includes Trucorotaloides rohri biozone). The lower unit involves lowstand systems tract, the middle unit contains transgressive systems tract and the upper rock unit includes highstand systems tract. The lowstand systems tract consists of emergence cycles of mixed clastic- carbonate facies, clays at the base and capped with wackestone and packstone facies. The transgressive systems tract consists of dominant carbonate facies, wackestone at the base and capped with packstone facies. Sequence 4 involves transgressive systems tract. The duration of both sequence-3 and sequence 4 has been estimated as 1.8 Ma.     

末次冰期以来南海东北部陆源有机碳埋藏通量演变:海平面和季风驱动

大陆边缘盆地是大陆风化剥蚀产物的主要沉积汇,其中有机碳的埋藏通量及其控制机制的研究对于理解全球碳循环具有重要科学意义。本研究基于南海东北部台西南盆地TWS-1岩芯的AMS14C测年、总有机碳、总氮含量和稳定碳同位素组成的分析,探讨了末次盛冰期23ka BP以来南海东北部陆源有机碳的来源、历史和影响机制。与潜在物源端元对比表明,台湾是研究站位沉积物陆源有机碳的主要物源,相对海源其贡献比例约为58%,陆源物质可能主要通过海底峡谷水道和低海平面时期陆架河流输入。重建的陆源有机碳通量在末次冰消期早期(19—13kaBP)和中全新世(7—4ka BP)期间有两个峰值,分别约0.16g/(cm2·ka)和0.09g/(cm2·ka)。综合分析表明,二者分别受控于冰期低海平面时期增强的陆架风化剥蚀和全新世季风强盛期降水驱动的古台湾岛剥蚀。我们的工作表明冰期-间冰期循环中海平面和季风分别驱动的大陆边缘有机碳埋藏可能对全球碳循环和大气CO2浓度演变有重要影响。     

Stratigraphy of Quaternary inner-shelf sediments in Tai O Bay, Hong Kong, based on ground-truthed seismic profiles

High-resolution boomer profiles from Tai O Bay, Hong Kong SAR, were ground-truthed using ten discontinuously sampled boreholes penetrating bedrock with a maximum length of 82.1 m. The relationship between depth below seabed and seismic profiles was established through the measurement of two borehole compressional-wave velocity profiles. In departure from previous interpretations, nine Quaternary seismic units were identified, which can be divided into eight systems tracts formed by cycles of fourth-order sea-level fluctuations dating back at least to marine isotope stage (MIS) 7 (ca. 190–245 ka). These consist of two lowstand systems tracts, two transgressive systems tracts, and four highstand systems tracts. Secondary unconformities within the highstand deposits are interpreted to document fifth-order sea-level fluctuations. Lowstand deposits are less common because, as soon as the sea level drops by a few metres, Tai O Bay becomes sub-aerially exposed, leading to widespread non-deposition or erosion. At the same time, extensive fluvial erosion and channel incision take place. Filling of the fluvial channels occurs during rising sea level. Lowstand sediments (if present) are generally landslide deposits laid down on a basal alluvial plain. Uncorrected accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dates of mollusc shells show that the depositional environment was marine since 6.2 ka, becoming gradually more brackish as a result of progradation of the Pearl River delta. The computed average sedimentation rate for the period 6.2–4.1 ka is 4.4 m/1,000 year, and approximately 1 m/1,000 year since 4.1 ka.     

Near-surface seismic facies at the Korea Strait shelf margin and trough region

High-resolution seismic profiles across the shelf margin and trough region of the Korea Strait reveal five shallow, near-surface facies units. These are relict coastal deposits, relict delta deposits, slumps and slides, and trough lag deposits. Most deposits represent a lowstand systems tract, formed during the last lowstand of sea level. Relict coastal deposits represent a linear sediment body along the present shelf margin at water depths of 120–150 m, whereas relict delta deposits occur on the gentle, southwestern slope of the trough at water depths of about 150–200 m. Slumps and slides are dominant at the base of slope in the central trough region. Sediments on the central trough floor were partly eroded and redistributed by strong currents, resulting in lag deposits.     

Seismic stratigraphy and geomorphology of a tide or wave dominated shelf-edge delta (NW Australia): Process-based classification from 3D seismic attributes and implications for the prediction of deep-water sands

Shelf-edge deltas (SEDs) forming during periods of relative sea level fall and lowstand are generally efficient in transferring sediments to the slope and basins, and their identification in subsurface data is often considered a good indication of coeval development of slope and basin-floor turbidite reservoirs. This study investigates the seismic stratigraphic evolution of a forced-regressive and normal regressive shelf-edge delta (Bonaparte SED) that accumulated on the edge of the NW Australian margin during the late Quaternary. High resolution 2D and 3D reflection seismic data allow reconstruction of the main episodes of delta progradation and understanding of the extrinsic and intrinsic controls on their deposition. The lack of a significant turbidite system forming off the shelf-edge delta throughout the Quaternary is a striking feature of the Bonaparte SED. Instead, slope sedimentation is dominated by the accumulation of plume-derived mud belts and their reworking through mass-transport processes. Seismic geomorphology permits interpretation of the process regime of the youngest shelf-edge depocentre by applying a new process-based shallow-marine classification scheme to the 3D seismic attribute data. Results suggest either a tide or wave dominated delta with fluvial processes being of tertiary significance. A tide or wave-dominated, fluvial-affected shelf-edge delta classification is consistent with the paleogeographical reconstruction of the margin during the last glacial maximum (ca. 25 ka BP). The comparison of this mixed-process shelf-edge delta and starved slope system with a fluvial-dominated counterpart with significant sandy slope deposits emphasizes the potential of assessing the process regime of shelf-edge deltas as a rapid, first approach for predicting the presence or absence of coeval slope and basin-floor reservoirs.     

Sand ridges off Sarasota, Florida: A complex facies boundary on a low-energy inner shelf environment

The innermost shelf off Sarasota, Florida was mapped using sidescan-sonar imagery, seismic-reflection profiles, surface sediment samples, and short cores to define the transition between an onshore siliciclastic sand province and an offshore carbonate province and to identify the processes controlling the distribution of these distinctive facies. The transition between these facies is abrupt and closely tied to the morphology of the inner shelf. A series of low-relief nearly shore-normal ridges characterize the inner shelf. Stratigraphically, the ridges are separated from the underlying Pleistocene and Tertiary carbonate strata by the Holocene ravinement surface. While surficial sediment is fine to very-fine siliciclastic sand on the southeastern sides of the ridges and shell hash covers their northwestern sides, the cores of these Holocene deposits are a mixture of both of these facies. Along the southeastern edges of the ridges the facies boundary coincides with the discontinuity that separates the ridge deposits from the underlying strata. The transition from siliciclastic to carbonate sediment on the northwestern sides of the ridges is equally abrupt, but it falls along the crests of the ridges rather than at their edges. Here the facies transition lies within the Holocene deposit, and appears to be the result of sediment reworking by modern processes. This facies distribution primarily appears to result from south-flowing currents generated during winter storms that winnow the fine siliciclastic sediment from the troughs and steeper northwestern sides of the ridges. A coarse shell lag is left armoring the steeper northwestern sides of the ridges, and the fine sediment is deposited on the gentler southeastern sides of the ridges. This pronounced partitioning of the surficial sediment appears to be the result of the siliciclastic sand being winnowed and transported by these currents while the carbonate shell hash falls below the threshold of sediment movement and is left as a lag. The resulting facies boundaries on this low-energy, sediment-starved inner continental shelf are of two origins which both are tied to the remarkably subtle ridge morphology. Along the southeastern sides of the ridges the facies boundary coincides with a stratigraphic discontinuity that separates Holocene from the older deposits while the transition along the northwestern sides of the ridges is within the Holocene deposit and is the result of sediment redistribution by modern processes.