Sedimentology of the continental end‐Permian extinction event in the Sydney Basin,eastern Australia

Upper Permian to Lower Triassic coastal plain successions of the Sydney Basin in eastern Australia have been investigated in outcrop and continuous drillcores. The purpose of the investigation is to provide an assessment of palaeoenvironmental change at high southern palaeolatitudes in a continental margin context for the late Permian (Lopingian), across the end‐Permian Extinction interval, and into the Early Triassic. These basins were affected by explosive volcanic eruptions during the late Permian and, to a much lesser extent, during the Early Triassic, allowing high‐resolution age determination on the numerous tuff horizons. Palaeobotanical and radiogenic isotope data indicate that the end‐Permian Extinction occurs at the top of the uppermost coal bed, and the Permo‐Triassic boundary either within an immediately overlying mudrock succession or within a succeeding channel sandstone body, depending on locality due to lateral variation. Late Permian depositional environments were initially (during the Wuchiapingian) shallow marine and deltaic, but coastal plain fluvial environments with extensive coal‐forming mires became progressively established during the early late Permian, reflected in numerous preserved coal seams. The fluvial style of coastal plain channel deposits varies geographically. However, apart from the loss of peat‐forming mires, no significant long‐term change in depositional style (grain size, sediment‐body architecture, or sediment dispersal direction) was noted across the end‐Permian Extinction (pinpointed by turnover of the palaeoflora). There is no evidence for immediate aridification across the boundary despite a loss of coal from these successions. Rather, the end‐Permian Extinction marks the base of a long‐term, progressive trend towards better‐drained alluvial conditions into the Early Triassic. Indeed, the floral turnover was immediately followed by a flooding event in basinal depocentres, following which fluvial systems similar to those active prior to the end‐Permian Extinction were re‐established. The age of the floral extinction is constrained to 252.54 ± 0.08 to 252.10 ± 0.06 Ma by a suite of new Chemical Abrasion Isotope Dilution Thermal Ionization Mass Spectrometry U‐Pb ages on zircon grains. Another new age indicates that the return to fluvial sedimentation similar to that before the end‐Permian Extinction occurred in the basal Triassic (prior to 251.51 ± 0.14 Ma). The character of the surface separating coal‐bearing pre‐end‐Permian Extinction from coal‐barren post‐end‐Permian Extinction strata varies across the basins. In basin‐central locations, the contact varies from disconformable, where a fluvial channel body has cut down to the level of the top coal, to conformable where the top coal is overlain by mudrocks and interbedded sandstone–siltstone facies. In basin‐marginal locations, however, the contact is a pronounced erosional disconformity with coarse‐grained alluvial facies overlying older Permian rocks. There is no evidence that the contact is everywhere a disconformity or unconformity.     

Precession‐scale cyclicity in the fluvial lower Eocene Willwood Formation of the Bighorn Basin,Wyoming (USA)

Little is known about controls on river avulsion at geological time scales longer than 10⁴ years, primarily because it is difficult to link observed changes in alluvial architecture to well‐defined allogenic mechanisms and to disentangle allogenic from autogenic processes. Recognition of Milankovitch‐sale orbital forcing in alluvial stratigraphy would provide unprecedented age control in terrestrial deposits, and also exploit models of allogenic forcing enabling more rigorous testing of allocyclic and autocyclic controls. The Willwood Formation of the Bighorn Basin is a lower Eocene fluvial unit distinctive for its thick sequence of laterally extensive lithological cycles on a scale of 4 to 10 m. Intervals of red palaeosols that formed on overbank mudstones are related to periods of relative channel stability when gradients between channel belts and floodplains were low. The intervening drab, heterolithic intervals with weak palaeosol development are attributed to episodes of channel avulsion that occurred when channels became super‐elevated above the floodplain. In the Deer Creek Amphitheater section in the McCullough Peaks area, these overbank and avulsion deposits alternate with a dominant cycle thickness of ca 7·1 m. Using integrated stratigraphic age constraints, this cyclicity has an estimated period of ca 21·6 kyr, which is in the range of the period of precession climate cycles in the early Eocene. Previous analyses of three older and younger sections in the Bighorn Basin showed a similar 7 to 8 m spacing of red palaeosol clusters with an estimated duration close to the precession period. Intervals of floodplain stability alternating with episodes of large‐scale reorganization of the fluvial system could be entirely autogenic; however, the remarkable regularity and the match in time scales documented here indicate that these alternations were probably paced by allogenic, astronomically forced climate change.     

Recognizing products of palaeoclimate fluctuation in the fluvial stratigraphic record: An example from the Pennsylvanian to Lower Permian of Cape Breton Island,Nova Scotia

Tectonics and climate are the major extrinsic upstream controls on both the external and internal architectures of fluvial channels. While the role of tectonics has been well‐documented, the role of climate has received less attention. Because both tectonics and climate can produce similar stratigraphic architectures, the ability to recognize and differentiate these has major ramifications for the interpretation of fluvial stratigraphy. The Pennsylvanian to Permian succession of the Maritimes Basin complex on Cape Breton Island is ca 5 km thick, and is composed of predominantly non‐marine strata deposited within a series of depocentres characterized by different subsidence regimes. Basins in the west are transtensional depocentres characterized by episodic fault movement. In contrast, basins in the east were formed during prolonged periods of passive thermal subsidence. The stratigraphy is composed of four second‐order sequences (A to D), each 5 to 10 Myr in duration. These sequences are composed of amalgamated fluvial channel deposits that fine upwards into extensive mud‐dominated floodplain deposits with isolated fluvial channel bodies. A spectrum of fluvial styles is recorded within the study area including perennial, perennial/intermittent and ephemeral. Four stratigraphic intervals (E1 to E4) are recognized in which the deposits of strongly seasonal perennial/intermittent fluvial deposits are predominant. These intervals, 2 to 6 Myr in duration, are correlated across the study area between basins with differing tectonic regimes and do not correlate with a particular position in second‐order sequences. This suggests that climate exerted the dominant influence on the formation of these intervals and can be differentiated from tectonic imprints. While the tectonic regime of a particular basin exerted a fundamental control on the external architecture, a coherent record of climate change is recognized in the internal architecture of fluvial units. This study demonstrates that tectonic and climatic controls can be recognized and differentiated in vertical successions by evaluating the changes in fluvial architecture.     

Autogenic dynamics of alluvial fans in endorheic basins: Outcrop examples and stratigraphic significance

Alluvial fans are relatively simple depositional systems, due to the direct coupling of sediment sources and adjacent accumulation areas. Nonetheless, general models of alluvial‐fan evolution and stratigraphy remain elusive, due to the great sensitivity of such systems to allogenic controls and their strongly case‐specific responses. Autogenic processes intrinsic to alluvial‐fan dynamics can complicate stratigraphic architectures, with effects not easily distinguishable from those of allogenic forcing. A distinction is made here between lateral autogenic dynamics, tied to spatial sediment distribution over fan surfaces, and vertical autogenic dynamics, related to independent incision‐aggradation cycles. Autogenic mechanisms have been highlighted recently by modelling studies, but remain poorly constrained in field‐based studies. Examples are presented here from the margins of the Cenozoic Teruel and Ebro basins (Spain), where alluvial fans accumulated thick successions during phases of basin topographic closure and endorheic drainage which promoted forced aggradation. Fan successions consist of conformable architectures of stacked clastic sheets, laterally continuous and with no evidence of internal unconformities, inset architectures, fan segmentation or preserved incised channels. Continuous aggradation in these closed basins strongly inhibited ‘vertical’ autogenic dynamics in the form of fan head and through fan incision, due to the forced rise in geomorphic base level and the creation of positive accommodation. Furthermore, the lack of incised channels favoured widespread sediment transport and aggradation over broad fan sectors in relatively short time spans, in contrast to the typical occurrence of active lobes and abandoned fan surfaces caused by ‘lateral’ autogenic dynamics. Stratigraphic records of alluvial fans developed in endorheic basins are essentially complete and largely unaffected by autogenic processes. The latter characteristic implies that they can be more unambiguously interpreted in terms of allogenic forcing, because stratigraphic signatures are not complicated by the effects of complex fan autodynamics.     

Facies model of a fine‐grained,tide‐dominated delta: Lower Dir Abu Lifa Member (Eocene), Western Desert,Egypt

Existing facies models of tide‐dominated deltas largely omit fine‐grained, mud‐rich successions. Sedimentary facies and sequence stratigraphic analysis of the exceptionally well‐preserved Late Eocene Dir Abu Lifa Member (Western Desert, Egypt) aims to bridge this gap. The succession was deposited in a structurally controlled, shallow, macrotidal embayment and deposition was supplemented by fluvial processes but lacked wave influence. The succession contains two stacked, progradational parasequence sets bounded by regionally extensive flooding surfaces. Within this succession two main genetic elements are identified: non‐channelized tidal bars and tidal channels. Non‐channelized tidal bars comprise coarsening‐upward sandbodies, including large, downcurrent‐dipping accretion surfaces, sometimes capped by palaeosols indicating emergence. Tidal channels are preserved as single‐storey and multilateral bodies filled by: (i) laterally migrating, elongate tidal bars (inclined heterolithic strata, 5 to 25 m thick); (ii) forward‐facing lobate bars (sigmoidal heterolithic strata, up to 10 m thick); (iii) side bars displaying oblique to vertical accretion (4 to 7 m thick); or (iv) vertically‐accreting mud (1 to 4 m thick). Palaeocurrent data show that channels were swept by bidirectional tidal currents and typically were mutually evasive. Along‐strike variability defines a similar large‐scale architecture in both parasequence sets: a deeply scoured channel belt characterized by widespread inclined heterolithic strata is eroded from the parasequence‐set top, and flanked by stacked, non‐channelized tidal bars and smaller channelized bodies. The tide‐dominated delta is characterized by: (i) the regressive stratigraphic context; (ii) net‐progradational stratigraphic architecture within the succession; (iii) the absence of upward deepening trends and tidal ravinement surfaces; and (iv) architectural relations that demonstrate contemporaneous tidal distributary channel infill and tidal bar accretion at the delta front. The detailed facies analysis of this fine‐grained, tide‐dominated deltaic succession expands the range of depositional models available for the evaluation of ancient tidal successions, which are currently biased towards transgressive, valley‐confined estuarine and coarser grained deltaic depositional systems.     

Controls on large‐scale patterns of fluvial sandbody distribution in alluvial to coastal plain strata: Upper Cretaceous Blackhawk Formation,Wasatch Plateau,Central Utah,USA

Current models of alluvial to coastal plain stratigraphy are concept‐driven and focus on relative sea‐level as an allogenic control. These models are tested herein using data from a large (ca 100 km long and 300 m thick), continuous outcrop belt (Upper Cretaceous Blackhawk Formation, central Utah, USA). Many channelized fluvial sandbodies in the Blackhawk Formation have a multilateral and multistorey internal character, and they generally increase in size and abundance (from ca 10% to ca 30% of the strata) from base to top of the formation. These regional, low‐resolution trends exhibit much local variation, but are interpreted to reflect progressively decreasing tectonic subsidence in the upper Blackhawk Formation and overlying Castlegate Sandstone. The trend may also incorporate progressively more frequent channel avulsion during deposition of the lower Blackhawk Formation. Laterally extensive coal zones formed on the coastal plain during shallow‐marine transgressions, and define the high‐resolution stratigraphic framework of the lower Blackhawk Formation. Large (up to 25 m thick and 1 to 6 km wide), multistorey, multilateral, fluvial channel‐complex sandbodies that overlie composite erosion surfaces occur at distinct stratigraphic levels, and are interpreted as fluvial incised valley fills. Low amplitude (<30 m) relative sea‐level variations are interpreted as the dominant control on stratigraphic architecture in the lower Blackhawk Formation, which was deposited up to 50 km inland from the coeval shoreline. In contrast, the high‐resolution stratigraphy of the upper Blackhawk Formation is poorly defined, and channelized fluvial sandbodies are poorly organized. Vertical and laterally offset stacking of a small proportion (<10%) of sandbodies produced ‘clusters’ that are not confined by ‘master’ erosion surfaces. Avulsion is interpreted to dominate the stratigraphic architecture of the upper Blackhawk Formation. This data‐driven analysis indicates that alluvial to coastal plain stratigraphic architecture reflects a combination of various allogenic controls and autogenic behaviours. The relative sea‐level control emphasized in sequence stratigraphic models is only rarely dominant.     

Long-eccentricity regulated climate control on fluvial incision and aggradation in the Palaeocene of north-eastern Montana (USA)

Aggradation and fluvial incision controlled by downstream base-level changes at timescales of 10 to 500 kyr is incorporated in classic sequence stratigraphic models. However, upstream climate control on sediment supply and discharge variability causes fluvial incision and aggradation as well. Orbital forcing often regulates climate change at 10 to 500 kyr timescales while tectonic processes such as flexural (un)loading exert a dominant control at timescales longer than 500 kyr. It remains challenging to attribute fluvial incision and aggradation to upstream or downstream processes or disentangle allogenic from autogenic forcing, because time control is mostly limited in fluvial successions. The Palaeocene outcrops of the fluvial Lebo Shale Member in north-eastern Montana (Williston Basin, USA) constitute an exception. This study uses a distinctive tephra layer and two geomagnetic polarity reversals to create a 15 km long chronostratigraphic framework based on the correlation of twelve sections. Three aggradation–incision sequences are identified with durations of approximately 400 kyr, suggesting a relation with long-eccentricity. This age control further reveals that incision occurred during the approach of – or during – a 405 kyr long-eccentricity minimum. A long-term relaxation of the hydrological cycle related to such an orbital phasing potentially exerts an upstream climate control on river incision. Upstream, an expanding vegetation cover is expected because of an increasingly constant moisture supply to source areas. Entrapping by vegetation led to a significantly reduced sediment supply relative to discharge, especially at times of low evapotranspiration. Hence, high discharges resulted in incision. This study assesses the long-eccentricity regulated climate control on fluvial aggradation and incision in a new aggradation–incision sequence model.     

From river to shelf,anatomy of a high‐frequency depositional sequence: The Late Pleistocene to Holocene Tiber depositional sequence

The Late Pleistocene/Holocene Tiber delta succession represents the most recent and one of the best preserved, high‐frequency/low‐rank depositional sequences developed along the Latium continental margin of the Italian peninsula. Several previous studies have established a robust data set from which it has been possible to describe the stratigraphic architecture of the entire Tiber depositional sequence from the landward to seaward sectors and over a distance of 60 km. The Tiber depositional sequence shows many characteristics found in other Late Pleistocene to Holocene deltaic and coastal successions of the Mediterranean area. The stratigraphic architecture of the Tiber depositional sequence is controlled mainly by glacioeustasy, although factors such as tectonic uplift, volcanism and subsidence, exert an influence at a local scale. The resulting depositional model allowed discussion of some important points such as: (1) the genesis of the Tiber mixed bedrock‐alluvial valley, extending from the coastal plain to the innermost portion of the shelf, recording (i) multiple episodes of incision during relative sea‐level fall, and (ii) a downstream increase of depth and width of the valley during the base‐level fall and the subsequent base‐level rise; (2) the different physical expression of the Tiber depositional sequence boundary from landward to seaward, and its diachronous and composite character; (3) the maximum depth reached by the Tiber early lowstand delta at the end of the sea‐level fall is estimated at ca 90 m below the present sea‐level and not at 120 m as suggested by previous works; (4) the backward position of the Tiber late lowstand delta relative to the deposit of early lowstand; (5) the change of the channel pattern and of the stacking pattern of fluvial deposits within the Lowstand Systems Tract, Transgressive Systems Tract and Highstand Systems Tract. All of these features indicate that the Late Pleistocene/Holocene Tiber delta succession, even if deposited in a short period of time from a geological point of view, represents the result of the close interaction among many autogenic and allogenic factors. However, global eustatic variations and sediment supply under the control of climatic changes can be considered the main factors responsible for the stratigraphic architecture of this sedimentary succession, which has been heavily modified by human activity only in the last 3000 years.     

Factors controlling the vegetation distribution and coal‐forming environments in a strike‐slip basin. The Pennsylvanian Peñarroya‐Belmez‐Espiel Basin,southern Spain

Coal‐forming environments require humid to perhumid conditions. Tectonics governs the size, location and availability of coal seams developed in such environments. While large Pennsylvanian paralic basins generated thick and continuous coal seams, many other small coeval basins, which were tectonically active, developed a puzzling succession, with carbonaceous deposits that varied in size, thickness and the nature of the coal‐forming flora. This study, conducted in the Peñarroya‐Belmez‐Espiel coalfield, a Variscan strike‐slip basin in the south of Spain, provides insights into this subject. The coal seams analysed, generated in different depositional environments, have quantitatively different palynological assemblages. Lacustrine coals are dominated by lycopsids; distal alluvial plain/marginal lacustrine coals are dominated by sphenophytes and tree ferns, and middle alluvial fan coals are dominated by sphenophytes, tree ferns and lycopsids. This means that when conditions were favourable for peat accumulation, peat accumulated regardless of the nature of the available flora.     

Orbitally forced sedimentary rhythms in the stratigraphic record: is there room for tidal forcing?

The imprint of orbital cycles, which result from the varying eccentricity of the Earth’s orbit and changes in the orientation of its axis, have been recognised throughout the Phanerozoic rock record. Variations in insolation and their effect on climate are generally considered to be the sole transfer mechanism between the orbital variables and cyclic sedimentary successions. Common oceanographic principles, however, show that the ocean tide also responds to variations in the orbital parameters. The ocean tide has not yet been considered to be a valid, additional transfer mechanism for the orbital variations. In geological studies of Milankovitch cycles in sedimentary successions the insolation paradigm offers satisfying explanations, and the role of long‐term variations of the ocean tide has not yet been appreciated. Variations in the ocean tide, related to changing eccentricity (at present 0·0165, theoretical maximum 0·0728), affect a variety of oceanographic and sedimentary processes. In addition to the widely accepted paradigm of orbitally forced insolation changes, the tidal transfer of orbital signals may explain certain less well‐understood aspects of orbitally induced cycles in the stratigraphic record related to ocean mixing, organic productivity, and tidal processes in shallow seas and deep water. Variations of the ocean tide in relation to the 18·6 year lunar nodal cycle, which has no insolation counterpart by which they may be obscured, indeed show that these relatively small variations can produce significant effects in sedimentary environments that are sensitive to variations in the strength of the ocean tide. In analogy with the 18·6 year lunar nodal cycle, orbital variations of the tide on Milankovitch time scales are likely to have affected sedimentary systems in the past.     

Three‐dimensional to two‐dimensional cross‐strata transition in the lower Pleistocene Catanzaro tidal strait transgressive succession (southern Italy)

Sandstone tidal cross‐strata are the predominant sedimentary feature of strait‐fill stratigraphic successions. However, although widely described in numerous studies, tidal strait‐fill two‐dimensional and three‐dimensional cross‐strata have rarely been reported to occur in discrete intervals which are laterally adjacent or vertically stacked, and the meaning of this stratigraphic architecture has not yet been fully investigated. Understanding of the processes responsible for changes in the internal features of modern and ancient tidal bedforms is essential in order to predict lateral and vertical heterogeneities in analogous reservoir strata. This facies‐based study aims to interpret the three‐dimensional to two‐dimensional cross‐strata transition observed in the lower Pleistocene mixed siliciclastic/bioclastic sandstone filling the Catanzaro Strait, in southern Italy, during a continuous phase of tectonically driven marine transgression. Tidal cross‐strata disappear in the uppermost interval of the studied succession, where mudstone strata prevail. This stratigraphic trend is interpreted as the evidence of an important change in the tidal strait hydrodynamics due to a phase of relative sea‐level rise. At the beginning of the transgression, three‐dimensional tidal dunes migrated throughout the ca 3 to 4 km wide and ca 30 km long, WNW–ESE‐oriented Catanzaro Strait, due to strong tidal currents amplified through the seaway and flowing in semi‐diurnal phase opposition. As the intermediate phase of transgression enlarged the seaway width, the tidal current strength decreased as tidal water exchange occurred over a larger cross‐sectional area. The progressive reduction of the bed shear stress modified three‐dimensional tidal dunes into an extensive two‐dimensional bedform field. At the end of the transgression, the further widening of the Catanzaro Strait into a ca 10 to 12 km wide marine passageway changed the tidally dominated strait into a non‐tidal open shelf. The results of this research suggest the presence of a ‘critical cross‐sectional area’ in the narrowest strait‐centre zone which controls the activation and deactivation of tidal current amplification along a marine seaway.     

How a Sphagnum fuscum‐dominated bog changed into a calcareous fen: the unique Holocene history of a Slovak spring‐fed mire

In general, mires develop by autogenic succession from more groundwater‐fed to more rainwater‐fed. This study from a calcareous mire in the West Carpathians (Slovakia) describes a similar development in the Early Holocene, followed by a reverse development in the Middle and Late Holocene. Pollen, macrofossil and testate amoeba analyses show that the site started as a minerotrophic open fen woodland. After 10 700 cal a BP autogenic succession led to the accumulation of at least 1 m of Sphagnum fuscum peat. Around 9000 cal a BP, as climate could no longer sustain a stable water regime, the bog desiccated and a fire broke out. The fire removed part of the peat layer and as a consequence relative water levels rose, leading to the establishment of a wet minerotrophic swamp carr with Thelypteris palustris, Equisetum sp. and Alnus sp. with extremely slow peat accumulation. After 600 cal a BP, rapid peat accumulation with calcareous tufa formation resumed as a result of anthropogenic deforestation and hydrological changes in the catchment and resulting increased groundwater discharge. At present the mire still hosts a wealth of relict and endangered plant and animal species typical of calcareous fens and fen meadows. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sea‐level changes,river activity,soil development and glaciation around the western margins of the southern North Sea Basin during the Early and early Middle Pleistocene: evidence from Pakefield,Suffolk, UK

This paper outlines evidence from Pakefield (northern Suffolk), eastern England, for sea‐level changes, river activity, soil development and glaciation during the late Early and early Middle Pleistocene (MIS 20–12) within the western margins of the southern North Sea Basin. During this time period, the area consisted of a low‐lying coastal plain and a shallow offshore shelf. The area was drained by major river systems including the Thames and Bytham. Changes in sea‐level caused several major transgressive–regressive cycles across this low‐relief region, and these changes are identified by the stratigraphic relationship between shallow marine (Wroxham Crag Formation), fluvial (Cromer Forest‐bed and Bytham formations) and glacial (Happisburgh and Lowestoft formations) sediments. Two separate glaciations are recognised—the Happisburgh (MIS 16) and Anglian (MIS 12) glaciations, and these are separated by a high sea level represented by a new member of the Wroxham Crag Formation, and several phases of river aggradation and incision. The principal driving mechanism behind sea‐level changes and river terrace development within the region during this time period is solar insolation operating over 100‐kyr eccentricity cycles. This effect is achieved by the impact of cold climate processes upon coastal, river and glacial systems and these climatically forced processes obscure the neotectonic drivers that operated over this period of time. © British Geological Survey/Natural Environment Research Council copyright 2005. Reproduced with the permission of BGS/NERC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Precambrian snapshots: Morphodynamics of Torridonian fluvial braid bars revealed by three‐dimensional photogrammetry and outcrop sedimentology

Pre‐vegetation fluvial channels have long been considered predominantly sheet‐like in geometry, owing to hydraulic sections that rapidly widened rather than incise during floods. This motif has been paralleled to that of modern dryland rivers subject to sharp discharge fluctuations during ephemeral floods. However, a number of Precambrian fluvial successions have been recently appraised as the product of deep‐channelled systems characterized by relatively stable – probably perennial – discharge regimes. One such example is the ca 1·0 Ga Applecross Formation, part of the well‐studied Torridon Group of Scotland. To contribute to this debate and to provide refined morphodynamic models for the Applecross Formation, this article presents an integration of three‐dimensional photogrammetry and outcrop sedimentology applied to key exposures at Stoer Peninsula, north‐western Scottish Highlands. Analysis of selected sandbodies reveals that high‐relief fluvial sand bars, both mid‐channel and bank‐attached, evolved within deep, braided‐channel belts. These bars grew through complex mechanisms of accretion and reactivation related to different flood stages: upstream and downstream accretion probably occurred during waning‐flood stages characterized by high hydrograph levels and abundant sediment availability; lateral accretion took place during later waning‐flood stages, and it was associated in some cases with helical recirculation and increase in bend sinuosity. Overall, the depicted morphodynamics are consistent with prolonged flood events that cannot be reconciled with sharply fluctuating discharge regimes. Critical comparisons between the internal geometry of the studied bars and modern counterparts corroborate the findings herein. Thus, this study recommends stricter comparisons between the products of modern braided channels and Precambrian fluvial rock records featuring thick and well‐developed bar forms.     

Controls on accumulation of anomalously thick coals: Implications for sequence stratigraphic analysis

Coal seams preserve high-resolution records of ancient terrestrial water table (base level) fluctuations in ancient peat accumulations, but little is known about base level change in anomalously thick coal seams. Using the Early Cretaceous 91 m anomalously thick No. 6 coal (lignite) seam in the Erlian Basin (north-east China) as a case study, the origin and evolution of peat accumulation in a continental faulted basin is revealed by sedimentological, sequence stratigraphic and coal petrological analyses. The lignite is dominated by huminite, indicating oxygen-deficient and waterlogged conditions in the precursor mire. Four types of key sequence stratigraphic surfaces are recognized, including paludification, terrestrialization, accommodation-reversal and give-up transgressive surfaces. Vertically, the No. 6 coal seam consists of fourteen superimposed wetting-up and drying-up cycles separated by key sequence stratigraphic surfaces, with each of these cycles having a mean duration of about 156 to 173 kyr. In a high accommodation peat swamp system, the wetting-up cycles are generally characterized by an upward increase in mineral matter and inertodetrinite and an upward decrease in huminite with the paludification surface as their base and the give-up transgressive surface or accommodation-reversal surface as their top, representing a trend of upward-increasing accommodation. In contrast, the drying-up cycles are generally characterized by an upward decrease in mineral matter and inertodetrinite and an upward increase in huminite, with the terrestrialization surface as their base and the accommodation-reversal surface as their top, representing a trend of upward-decreasing accommodation. A multi-phase mire stacking model for accumulation of the coal seam is proposed based on high-frequency accommodation cycles and the stratigraphic relationships between coal and clastic sediments. High-frequency accommodation cycles in the coal are closely related to water table fluctuations in the precursor mires and are driven by high-frequency climate via changes in the intensity and seasonality of precipitation in a relatively stable subsidence regime. Recognition that the No. 6 coal seam is composed of multiple stacked mires has implications for studies addressing palaeoclimatic inferences and genesis of anomalously thick coals seams.     

Fluvial response to rapid high‐amplitude lake‐level changes during the Late Weichselian and early Holocene,Ain River valley,Jura, France

In the present paper the effects of rapid, high‐amplitude base‐level changes during the last glacial‐interglacial transition were studied for the Ain River in eastern France. During the Würm glacial maximum (MIS 2) rapid aggradation by deep‐water Gilbert‐type deltas and shallow‐water fan deltas occurred at the margins of a 20 to 50 m deep proglacial lake. A temporal high‐amplitude lake‐level fall of 60 m resulted in gravel deposition by forced‐regressive deltas, followed by rapid lake‐level rise and fine‐grained glaciolacustrine deposition. During the final deglaciation, a rapid base‐level fall of 40 m resulted in a complex fluvial response. Knickpoint formation and headward incision of the highstand deltas and concomitant deposition of gravel sheets by forced‐regressive deltas and braided systems occurred in several depocentres on the former glacial lake floor. Preservation of highstand and falling‐stage deposits and terrace formation in the incised valley depended on vertical incision and lateral channel migration. Terraces are well developed in the former lake‐floor depressions, whereas vertical incision was dominant in the higher lake‐floor areas. The Ain terrace staircase was likely formed by autogenic processes during a single allogenic base‐level fall. This case study possibly offers an analogue for the preservation of interglacial highstand coastal deltas during sea‐level fall at warm‐to‐cold climate transitions, although the rates of base‐level fall are different.     

Palaeoenvironmental control on coal formation, distribution and quality in the Permian Vryheid Formation, East Witbank Coalfield, South Africa

The No. 1 and No. 2 coal seams from the Permian Vryheid Formation in the east Witbank Coalfield, South Africa are described with respect to their distribution, thickness and quality. These two coal seams accumulated in a postglacial climatic environment and peat accumulation was closely associated with and influenced by deposition in a braided river system. The fluvial channels that were syndepositional with peat accumulation have resulted in thinning of coal below and above channel axes and pinch-out of coal adjacent to channel margins. Low-ash coal originated from peat which accumulated in areas away from the influence of clastic sedimentation. In contrast, higher-ash coals are situated adjacent and parallel to channel margins where interbedded channel sand and silt contaminated the peat.The lower No. 1 seam peat originated under near-optimum conditions in a lacustrine swamp which blanketed an underlying platform of glaciofluvial braided river sediment. This peat swamp was not subjected to syndepositional clastic contamination and as a result is of superior quality (lower ash/higher calorific value and volatile matter) than the overlying No. 2 coal seam. The No. 2 seam is split by a clastic parting produced by a braided fluvial channel which transected the swamp midway through peat accumulation. This fluvial clastic parting deleteriously affected coal thickness and quality.A comparison of the Gondwanan Permian peat-forming conditions with those from Carboniferous northern hemisphere counterparts suggests that the differences in coal characteristics between these two regions are probably related to different palaeoclimatic conditions and basin tectonics. Cool-temperate climatic conditions which prevailed over the Permian peat swamps resulted in less species diversification of vegetation at these high-latitude settings than the diverse floral assemblages of the Carboniferous swamps. A stable intracronic basin platform caused lateral dispersion of sedimentary facies rather than the stacking of vertical facies which occurred in rapidly subsiding depositories. Partial exposure of the Permian peat swamps during peat accumulation may account for the relatively higher inertinite content of the coals.     

Recognition and significance of sharp‐based mouth‐bar deposits in the Eocene Green River Formation,Uinta Basin,Utah

Sandstone bodies in the Sunnyside Delta Interval of the Eocene Green River Formation, Uinta Basin, previously considered as point bars formed in meandering rivers and other types of fluvial bars, are herein interpreted as delta mouth‐bar deposits. The sandstone bodies have been examined in a 2300 m long cliff section along the Argyle and Nine Mile Canyons at the southern margin of the Uinta lake basin. The sandstone bodies occur in three stratigraphic intervals, separated by lacustrine mudstone and limestone. Together these stratigraphic intervals form a regressive‐transgressive sequence. Individual sandstone bodies are texturally sharp‐based towards mudstone substratum. In proximal parts, the mouth‐bar deposits only contain sandstone, whereas in frontal and lateral positions mudstone drapes separate mouth‐bar clinothems. The clinothems pass gradually into greenish‐grey lacustrine mudstone at their toes. Horizontally bedded or laminated lacustrine mudstone onlaps the convex‐upward sandstone bars. The mouth‐bar deposits are connected to terminal distributary channel deposits. Together, these mouth‐bar/channel sandstone bodies accumulated from unidirectional jet flow during three stages of delta advance, separated by lacustrine flooding intervals. Key criteria to distinguish the mouth‐bar deposits from fluvial point bar deposits are: (i) geometry; (ii) bounding contacts; (iii) internal structure; (iv) palaeocurrent orientations; and (v) the genetic association of the deposits with lacustrine mudstone and limestone.     

Evolution and architecture of a West Mediterranean Upper Pleistocene to Holocene coastal apron‐fan system

The Quaternary deposits of tectonically stable areas are a powerful tool to investigate high‐frequency climate variations (<10 ka) and to distinguish allogenic and autogenic factors controlling deposition. Therefore, an Upper Pleistocene–Holocene coastal apron‐fan system in north–western Sardinia (Porto Palmas, Italy) was studied to investigate the relations between climate changes, sea‐level fluctuations and sediment source‐supply that controlled its development. The sedimentary sequence records the strong influence of local (wet/dry) and worldwide (sea‐level) environmental variations in the sedimentation and preservation of the deposits. A multi‐disciplinary approach allowed subdivision of the succession into four major, unconformity‐bounded stratigraphic units: U1 U2, U3 and U4. Unit U1, tentatively dated to the warm and humid Marine Isotopic Stage (MIS) 5, consists of sandy, gravelly coastal/beach deposits developed during high sea‐level in low‐lying areas. Unit U2 consists of debris‐flow dominated fan‐deposits (ca 74 ka; MIS 4), preserved as partial fills of small valleys and coves. Unit U2 is mainly composed of reddish silty conglomerate to pebbly siltstones sourced from the Palaeozoic metamorphic inland hills (bedrock), superficially disintegrated during the preceding warm, vegetation‐rich MIS 5. The cold and semi‐arid climate strongly reduced vegetation cover along the valley flanks. Therefore, sediment gravity‐flow processes, possibly activated by rainstorms, led to deposition of debris‐flow dominated fans. Unit U3 consists of water‐flow dominated alluvial‐fan deposits (ca 47 to 23 ka; MIS 3), developed on a slightly inclined coastal plain. Unit U3 is composed of sandstone and sandy conglomerate fed from two main sediment sources: metamorphic inland bedrock and Quaternary bioclastic‐rich shelf‐derived sands. During this cold phase, sea‐level dropped sufficiently to expose bioclastic sands accumulated on the shelf. Frequent climate fluctuations favoured inland aeolian transport of sand during dry phases, followed by reworking of the aeolian bodies by flash floods during wet phases. Bedrock‐derived fragments mixed with water‐reworked, wind‐blown sands led to the development of water‐flow dominated fans. The Dansgaard–Oeschger events possibly associated with sand landward deflation and main fan formations are Dansgaard–Oeschger 13 (ca 47 ka), Dansgaard–Oeschger 8 (ca 39 ka) and Dansgaard–Oeschger 2 (ca 23 ka). No record of sedimentation during MIS 2 was observed. Finally, bioclastic‐rich aeolianites (Unit U4, ca 10 to 5 ka; MIS 1), preserved on a coastal slope, were developed during the Holocene transgression (ca 10 to 5 ka; MIS 1). The studied sequence shows strong similarities with those of other Mediterranean sites; it is, however, one of the few where the main MIS 4 and MIS 3 climatic fluctuations are registered in the sedimentary record.     

Plan‐form evolution of ancient meandering rivers reconstructed from longitudinal outcrop sections

The mode of channel‐bend transformation (i.e. expansion, translation, rotation or a combination thereof) has a direct bearing on the dimensions, shape, bedding architecture and connectivity of point‐bar sandstone bodies within a fluvial meander belt, but is generally difficult to recognize in vertical outcrops. This study demonstrates how the bend transformation mode and relative rate of channel‐floor aggradation can be deciphered from longitudinal outcrop sections aligned parallel to the meander‐belt axis, as a crucial methodological aid to the reconstruction of ancient fluvial systems and the development of outcrop analogue models for fluvial petroleum reservoirs. The study focuses on single‐storey and multi‐storey fluvial meander‐belt sandstone bodies in the Palaeogene piggyback Boyabat Basin of north‐central Turkey. The sandstone bodies are several hundred metres wide, 5 to 40 m thick and encased in muddy floodplain deposits. The individual channel‐belt storeys are 5 to 9 m thick and their transverse sections show lateral‐accretion bed packages representing point bars. Point bars in longitudinal sections are recognizable as broad mounds whose parts with downstream‐inclined, subhorizontal and upstream‐inclined bedding represent, respectively, the bar downstream, central and upstream parts. The inter‐bar channel thalweg is recognizable as the transition zone between adjacent point‐bar bedsets with opposing dip directions into or out of the outcrop section. The diverging or converging adjacent thalweg trajectories, or a trajectory migrating in up‐valley direction, indicate point‐bar broadening and hence channel‐bend expansion. A concurrent down‐valley migration of adjacent trajectories indicates channel‐bend translation. Bend rotation is recognizable from the replacement of a depositional riffle by an erosional pool zone or vice versa along the thalweg trajectory. The steepness of the thalweg trajectory reflects the relative rate of channel‐floor aggradation. This study discusses further how the late‐stage foreland tectonics, with its alternating pulses of uplift and subsidence and a progressive narrowing of the basin, has forced aggradation of fluvial channels and caused vertical stacking of meander belts.