Coarse-grained submarine fan and slope apron deposits in a Cretaceous back-arc basin, Antarctica

The Cretaceous of west James Ross Island, Antarctica represents the proximal fill of a late Mesozoic back-arc basin that was probably initiated by oblique extension during the early development of the Weddell Sea. The succession records sedimentation in two contrasting depositional systems: a laterally persistent slope apron flanking the faulted basin margin interrupted both spatially and temporally by coarse-grained submarine fans. Slope apron deposits are dominated by thinly interbedded turbiditic sandstones and mudstones (mudstone association), interspersed with non-channelized chaotic boulder beds, intraformational slump sheets and isolated exotic blocks representing a spectrum of mass-flow processes from debris flow to submarine gliding. Localized sand-rich sequences (sandstone-breccia association) represent sandy debris lobes at the mouths of active slope chutes. The submarine fan sediments (conglomerate association) are typified by coarse conglomerates and pebbly sandstones, interpreted as the deposits of high-density turbidity currents and non-cohesive debris flows. Three assemblages are recognized and are suggested to represent components of the inner channelled zone of coarse-grained submarine fans, from major fan channels through ephemeral, marginal channels or terraces to levee or interchannel environments. The occurrence of both slope apron and submarine fan depositional systems during the Early and Mid-Cretaceous is attributed to localized input of coarse arc-derived sediment along a tectonically active basin margin. Periods of extensive fan development were probably linked to regional tectonic uplift and rejuvenation of the arc source region; cyclicity within individual fan sequences is attributed to migration or switching of fan channels or canyons. Slope apron sedimentation was controlled largely by intrabasinal tectonics. Local unconformities and packets of amalgamated slide sheets and debris flow deposits probably reflect episodic movement on basin margin faults. Differential subsidence across the basin margin anchored the basin slope for at least 20 Myr and precluded basinward progradation of shallow marine environments.     

冲积扇沉积构型研究进展*

冲积扇是发育于盆地边缘的一种重要的沉积相类型。近20年来,在冲积扇分布的控制作用、内部构型及储集层特征研究等方面取得了很大的进展:(1)深化了断层活动、物源岩性条件及不同级次基准面旋回对冲积扇沉积构型的控制作用机理;(2)建立了碎屑流主控、碎屑流与河流主控、河流主控的冲积扇以及末端扇的沉积构型模式;(3)分析了冲积扇沉积机制及沉积构型对储集层质量的控制作用。今后有必要充分应用水槽模拟实验、沉积数值模拟和探地雷达等先进技术,对冲积扇沉积过程、内部构型及储集层非均质性进行更为深入的研究。     

Sedimentology and tectonic implications of Cretaceous fan-delta conglomerates, Queen Charlotte Islands, Canada

The Honna Formation, of Coniacian age, consists of several hundred metres of polymictic clast-supported conglomerate associated with sandstone and mudstone. Five conglomerate facies are recognized: ungraded beds; inverse graded beds; normal graded beds; inverse-to-normal graded beds; and parallel-stratified beds. These facies are interpreted as the deposits of subaqueous cohesionless debris flows and/or high-density turbidity currents. The depositional environment was a deep-water, gravelly fan that draped a fault-controlled, basin-margin slope. The fan is inferred to have passed upslope directly into an alluvial fan (unpreserved); hence, the name fan delta can be applied to the overall depositional system. This type of fan delta, of which the Brae oilfield in the North Sea is an example, is defined here as a deep-water fan delta. The lack of a shelf is in marked contrast to other types of fan delta. Three facies associations are recognized in the Honna Formation: subaqueous proximal-fan conglomerates, distal-fan turbiditic sandstones, and pro-fan/interfan mudstones with thin sandy turbidites. The proximal fan is envisaged as an unchannelled gravel belt with a downslope length of at least 20 km; such a long subaqueous gravel belt lacks a known modern analogue. The distal fan was an unchannelled sandy extension of the proximal gravel belt. It is postulated that the Honna Formation accumulated in a foreland basin which migrated westwards from the Coast Mountains where the Wrangellia-Alexander terrane was colliding with North America. In this model, the Honna fan delta was sourced by a (west-verging) thrust sheet whose sole-thrust was the Sandspit Fault immediately to the east. Deep-water fan deltas appear to develop preferentially when eustatic sea-level is relatively high, so that the‘feeder’ alluvial fan is small, and gravelly throughout. In petroleum exploration and field development, care should be taken to distinguish deep-water fan deltas from base-of-slope (canyon-fed) submarine fans, because the two systems differ significantly in terms of coarse-sediment distribution.     

Source-controlled carbonates in a small Eocene half-graben lake basin (Shulu Sag) in central Hebei Province, North China

Carbonate deposits, which unconformably overlie the Palaeozoic bedrocks, extensively occur in the base of the Tertiary lake succession in the half‐graben Shulu Sag, central Hebei Province, North China. This study focuses on the basal carbonate successions on the hinged western slope. Based on seismic, borehole and core data, nine facies are identified in the carbonate successions, and are further grouped into five facies associations: mid‐proximal alluvial fan, distal alluvial fan, fan fringe, moderately deep lake and deep lake. The first two facies associations constitute alluvial fans formed by debrisflows at the edge of lake and are dominated by mounded‐ to lobate‐shaped, matrix‐ to clast‐supported carbonate rudstones with minor calcretes in the lowermost rudstone units and basinward increase in interfingering with lacustrine carbonate facies. The fan fringe, moderately deep lake and deep lake associations are dominated by pebbly carbonate arenites (or rare carbonate arenites), calcisiltite‐calcilutites, and varve‐like calcilutites, calcareous shales and oil shales, respectively. Widespread occurrences of fine‐grained limestone packages containing varve‐like organic‐rich laminations, minor authigenic glauconite and pyrite, and planktonic and plant fossils suggest a meromictic, anoxic deep lake under a semi‐humid to humid climate, probably with a connection to marine basins. Similarities in lithology and fossil assemblages (e.g. trilobites) of lithoclasts with those of the Mid‐Upper Cambro‐Ordovician bedrock carbonates suggest that the clastic and dissolved carbonate loads were sourced from this Lower Palaeozoic catchment, and shed off the surrounding highlands into the basin. These carbonate facies associations represent the lake lowstand and transgressive deposits of the basal third‐order sequence (Ia) in which the highstand deposits are composed of lacustrine siliciclastics. During the lake lowstand stage (or initiation of basin‐filling) under an intermediate climate, carbonate alluvial fans occurred mostly subaerially at the bottom of the hinged slope with a narrow, shallow lake zone basinwards, and locally were perched within the palaeovalley on the mid‐upper slope. During the transgressive (deepening) stage under a semi‐humid to humid climate, carbonate alluvial fans became smaller in size and episodically stepped backwards upon the slope, with greatly expanded and deepened lake. Nevertheless, the carbonate system was switched to an exclusively siliciclastic system during the highstand stage. The exhumation and erosion of the Mid‐Lower Cambrian bedrock dominated by siliciclastics was probably the cause due to further uplift of the drainage basin. All these facts indicate that the carbonate deposition in the Shulu Sag was mostly controlled by the interactions of tectonics, climate and provenance.     

Stream-dominated alluvial fan and lacustrine depositional systems in Cenozoic strike-slip basins, Denali fault system, Yukon Territory, Canada

Ancient stream-dominated (‘wet’) alluvial fan deposits have received far less attention in the literature than their arid/semi-arid counterparts. The Cenozoic basin fills along the Denali fault system of the northwestern Canadian Cordillera provide excellent examples of stream-dominated alluvial fan deposits because they developed during the Eocene-Oligocene temperate climatic regime in an active strike-slip orogen. The Amphitheatre Formation filled several strike-slip basins in Yukon Territory and consists of up to 1200 m of coarse siliciclastic rocks and coal. Detailed facies analysis, conglomerate: sandstone percentages (C:S), maximum particle size (MPS) distribution, and palaeocurrent analysis of the Amphitheatre Formation in two of these strike-slip basins document the transition from proximal, to middle, to distal and fringing environments within ancient stream-dominated alluvial-fan systems. Proximal fan deposits in the Bates Lake Basin are characterized by disorganized, clast-supported, boulder conglomerate and minor matrix(mud)-supported conglomerate. Proximal facies are located along the faulted basin margins in areas where C:S = 80 to 100 and where the average MPS ranges from 30 to 60 cm. Proximal fan deposits grade into middle fan, channelized, well organized cobble conglomerates that form upward fining sequences, with an average thickness of 7 m. Middle fan deposits grade basinward into well-sorted, laterally continuous beds of normally graded sandstone interbedded with trough cross-stratified sandstone. These distal fan deposits are characteristic of areas where C:S = 20 to 40 and where the average MPS ranges from 5 to 15 cm. Fan fringe deposits consist of lacustrine and axial fluvial facies. Palaeogeographic reconstruction of the Bates Lake Basin indicates that alluvial-fan sedimentation was concentrated in three parts of the basin. The largest alluvial-fan system abutted the strike-slip Duke River fault, and prograded westward across the axis of the basin. Two smaller, coarser grained fans prograded syntaxially northward from the normal-faulted southern basin margin. Facies analysis of the Burwash Basin indicates a similar transition from proximal to distal, stream-dominated alluvial fan environments, but with several key differences. Middle-fan deposits in the Burwash Basin define upward coarsening sequences 50 to 60 m thick composed of fine-grained lithofacies and coal in the lower part, trough cross-stratified sandstone in the middle, and conglomerate in the upper part of the sequence. Upward-coarsening sequences, 90–140 m thick, also are common in the fan fringe lacustrine deposits. These sequences coarsen upward from mudstone, through fine grained, ripple-laminated sandstone, to coarse grained trough cross-stratified sandstone. The upward-coarsening sequences are basinwide, facies independent, and probably represent progradation of stream-dominated alluvial-fan depositional systems. Coal distribution in the Amphitheatre Formation is closely coupled with predominant depositional processes on stream-dominated alluvial fans. The thickest coal seams occur in the most proximal part of the basin fill and in marginal lacustrine deposits. Coal development in the intervening middle and distal fan areas was suppressed by the high frequency of unconfined flow events and lateral channel mobility.     

Alluvial fan and lacustrine sediments from the Stephanian A and B (La Magdalena, Ciñera—Matallana and Sabero) coalfields, northern Spain

Vertical sequence analysis within 1500-2500 m thick coarse-grained coalfield successions allows six sedimentary associations to be distinguished. These are interpreted in terms of depositional environments on, or related to alluvial fans which fringed a fault bounded source region. (i) Topographic valley and fanhead canyon fills: occurring at the bases of the coalfield successions and comprising sporadically reddened, scree, conglomeratic thinning and fining upward sequences, and fine-grained coal-bearing sediments. (ii) Alluvial fan channels: conglomerate and sandstone filled. (iii) Mid-fan conglomeratic and sandstone lobes: laterally extensive, thickly bedded (1-25 m) and varying from structureless coarse conglomerates and pebbly sandstones, to stratified fine conglomerates and cross-bedded sandstones. (iv) Interlobe and interchannel: siltstones, fine-grained sheet sandstones, abundant floras, thin coals and upright trees. (v) Distal fan: 10 cm-1.5 m thick sheet sandstones which preserve numerous upright trees, separated by silt-stones and mudstones with abundant floras, and coal seams. The sheet sandstones and normally arranged in sequences of beds which become thicker and coarser or thinner and finer upwards. These trends also occur in combination. (vi) Lacustrine: coals, limestones, and fine-grained, low-energy, regressive, coarsening upward sequences. Proximal fan sediments are only preserved in certain basal deposits of these coalfields. The majority of the successions comprise mid and distal alluvial fan and lacustrine sediments. Mid-fan depositional processes consisted of debris flows and turbulent streamflows, whilst sheetfloods dominated active distal areas. A tropical and seasonal climate allowed vegetation to colonize abandoned fan surfaces and perhaps resulted in localized diagenetic reddening. Worked coals, from 10s cm-20 m thick, occur in the distal fan and lacustrine environments. These alluvial fan deposits infill‘California-like’basins developed and preserved along major structural zones. In many of their characteristics, in particular the occurrence of thinning and fining, and thickening and coarsening upward sequences and megasequences, these sediments have similarities to documented ancient submarine fan deposits.     

Submarine fan and slope-apron deposition in a Cretaceous Forearc Basin: The Gürsökü Formation (Kavak–Samsun, N. Turkey)

The Late Cretaceous Gürsökü Formation represents the proximal fill of the Sinop–Samsun Forearc Basin that was probably initiated by extension during the Early Cretaceous. The succession records sedimentation in two contrasting depositional systems: a slope-apron flanking a faulted basin margin and coarse-grained submarine fans. The slope-apron deposits consist of thinly bedded turbiditic sandstones and mudstones, interbedded with non-channelized chaotic boulder beds and intraformational slump sheets representing a spectrum of processes ranging from debris flow to submarine slides. The submarine fan sediments are represented by conglomerates and sandstones interpreted as deposited from high density turbidity currents and non-cohesive debris flows. The occurrence of both slope apron and submarine fan depositional systems in the Gürsökü Formation may indicates that the region was a tectonically active basin margin during the Late Cretaceous.     

江西象山地质公园丹霞地貌成景地层沉积环境分析

随着旅游地学的兴起和地学科普的需求,红层与丹霞地貌正在吸引着越来越多的关注。赣东北贵溪市象山地质公园发育以赤壁丹崖为特色的丹霞地貌景观,成景地层为上白垩统圭峰群河口组以砾岩为主的红色碎屑岩,冲刷侵蚀界面、粒序层理和交错层理等沉积构造发育,这为沉积环境分析提供了良好的判断标志。对该套成景地层进行厘米级实测,另外选择2处砾岩露头进行砾石统计以获取碎屑颗粒粒径、岩性、磨圆度和风化程度等信息。在实测厚度为40余米的地层柱状图上,识别出7种岩相类型,即正粒序砾岩、逆粒序砾岩、无沉积构造砾岩、平行层理砾岩、交错层理砾岩、聚集状砾岩、砂岩。砾石以中砾(2~5 cm)为主,磨圆度低,风化程度中等,成分以凝灰岩为主(58%~665%),其次为石英、花岗岩、砂岩。砾石成分和砾向分析结果说明,盆地南部早白垩世凝灰岩提供了主要的碎屑物质。根据野外实测红层剖面和砾石统计分析,认为成景地层为冲积扇沉积体系的产物。河口组红层沉积时期,盆地边缘断层活跃,间歇性强降雨事件导致冲积扇朵叶上洪泛河流搬运的沉积物供应充足,最终在剖面上形成砾岩和砂岩频繁互层及其厚度横向不稳定的现象。在中国东南地区晚白垩世总体干燥的古气候背景下,河口组中河流作用主导的冲积扇沉积体系可能指示了古气候向湿润转变,降水增加,相对丰富的水系将粗碎屑搬运到盆地区发生沉积。     

Pre-vegetation alluvial fan facies and processes: an example from the Cambro-Ordovician Rozel Conglomerate Formation, Jersey, Channel Islands

Prior to the Silurian a lack of land vegetation is expected to have influenced the processes of sedimentation on alluvial fans, principally by causing increased rates of run-off and erosion in the fan catchments. In the Cambro-Ordovician Rozel Conglomerate Formation, this effect was central to the generation of alluvial fan deposits that are unusually deficient in sand and clay, despite being sourced from a catchment dominated by sandstone and mudstone. Seven facies are identified, interpreted as representing the deposits of: (i) shallow stream and sheetfloods, (ii) channelized, non-cohesive debrisflows, (iii) sub-aerial mud-rich debrisflows, (iv) sub-aqueous mud-rich debrisflows, (v) low energy streams that reworked abandoned fan sectors, (vi) a sandflat-playa lake system and (vii) talus slopes. The first two facies are both clast-supported conglomerate, comprise 98% of the deposit, and represent deposition on active depositional lobes and in the fan head trench. The remaining facies are the products of infrequent sedimentary processes, fan abandonment processes and marginal sub-environments. The facies assemblage in many ways mimics that of a modern-day, water-lain, arid region fan. However, the palaeolatitude of these fans was high and the climate is inferred to have been cool and wet. The near absence of sandstone and mudstone beds with few mudflows is ascribed to rapid hinterland uplift and high rates of erosion resulting in minimal chemical breakdown of source rocks in the catchments. Such high rates of erosion are in turn ascribed to a combination of frequent rainstorms and an absence of vegetation cover.     

An allostratigraphic approach to a non-marine basin: the north-western part of Cretaceous Kyongsang Basin, SE Korea

The north-western part of the Cretaceous Kyongsang Basin, south-east Korea, comprises alluvial deposits of conglomerate, gravelly sandstone, sandstone and mudstone which can be grouped into four allomembers bounded by stratigraphic discontinuities. The discontinuities trend NW–SE and are marked by distinct facies transitions, abrupt emplacement of conglomerate and thin but persistent mudstone beds. Sedimentary facies and architectural analyses reveal that each allomember formed a depositional system of fluvial channel networks draining toward the south-east with alluvial fans on the northern margin. Each allomember can be characterized by distinctive architecture of channel-fills, clast composition of conglomerate and sandstone/mudstone ratio. Successive units show an eastward shift in the locus of deposition, suggesting basinward relocations of alluvial systems. Such variations with time and space are interpreted to reflect changes in accommodation space and sediment supply during basin evolution, probably caused by fault movements. This study shows that detailed mapping, combined with architectural analysis, and the establishment of alluvial allostratigraphy can help assess changes in alluvial systems and structural development of the basin.     

Stratigraphic architecture and depositional setting of the coarse‐grained Upper Cambrian Owen Conglomerate,West Coast Range,western Tasmania

The Upper Cambrian Owen Conglomerate of the West Coast Range, western Tasmania, comprises two upward‐fining successions of coarse‐grained siliciclastic rocks that exhibit a characteristic wedge‐shaped fill controlled by the basin‐margin fault system. Stratigraphy is defined by the informally named basal lower conglomerate member, middle sandstone member, middle conglomerate member and upper sandstone member. The lower conglomerate member has a gradational basal contact with underlying volcaniclastics of the Tyndall Group,while the upper sandstone member is largely conformable with overlying Gordon Group marine clastics and carbonates. The lower conglomerate member predominantly comprises high flow regime, coarse‐grained, alluvial‐slope channel successions, with prolonged channel bedload transport exhibited by the association of channel‐scour structures with upward‐fining packages of pebble, cobble and boulder conglomerate and sandstone, with abundant large‐scale cross‐beds derived from accretion in low‐sinuosity, multiply active braided‐channel complexes. While the dipslope of the basin is predominantly drained by west‐directed palaeoflow, intrabasinal faulting in the southern region of the basin led to stream capture and the subsequent development of axial through drainage patterns in the lower conglomerate member. The middle sandstone member is characterised by continued sandy alluvial slope deposition in the southern half of the basin, with pronounced west‐directed and local axial through drainage palaeoflow networks operating at the time. The middle sandstone member basin deepens considerably towards the north, where coarse‐grained alluvial‐slope deposits are replaced by coarse‐grained turbidites of thick submarine‐fan complexes. The middle conglomerate member comprises thickly bedded, coarse‐grained pebble and cobble conglomerate, deposited by a high flow regime fluvial system that focused deposition into a northern basin depocentre. An influx of volcanic detritus entered the middle conglomerate member basin via spatially restricted footwall‐derived fans on the western basin margin. Fluvial systems continued to operate during deposition of the upper sandstone member in the north of the basin, facilitated by multiply active, high flow regime channels, comprising thick, vertically stacked and upward‐fining, coarse‐grained conglomerate and sandstone deposits. The upper sandstone member in the south of the basin is characterised by extensive braid‐delta and fine‐grained nearshore deposits, with abundant bioturbation and pronounced bimodal palaeocurrent trends associated with tidal and nearshore reworking. An increase in base‐level in the Middle Ordovician culminated in marine transgression and subsequent deposition of Gordon Group clastics and carbonates.     

Early Pleistocene glacial outwash deposits in the eastern San Joaquin Valley, California: a model for humid-region alluvial fans

ABSTRACT The early Pleistocene Laguna and Turlock Lake Formations and China Hat and Arroyo Seco Gravels along the east side of the San Joaquin Valley, California, were deposited in alluvial fans and marginal lakes. Upward-coarsening sequences of silt-sand-gravel record westward progradation of glacial outwash fans from the Sierra Nevada into proglacial lakes in the San Joaquin Valley. Distinctive sedimentary features delineate lacustrine, prodelta, and delta-front facies within fan-margin deposits and lower, middle, and upper-fan facies within alluvial-fan deposits. The lacustrine facies consists of a few metres of thinly and evenly bedded, rhythmically laminated claystone and clayey siltstone in varved couplets. Draped lamination, sinusoidal lamination, and load and pillar structures occur in some beds. Siltstone and claystone grade upward to slightly thicker wavy beds of siltstone and very fine-grained unconsolidated sand deposited in a prodelta setting. Convolute laminae within deformed steeply dipping foreset beds suggest slumping on the prodelta slope. The prodelta facies grades up to the delta-front facies, which consists of burrowed and bioturbated cross-bedded fine sand. Deltaic deposits are 5–6 m thick. The lower-fan facies forms the base of the fan sequence and consists of several metres of irregularly bedded, laminated, oxidized siltstone and fine sand. The middle-fan facies consists of cross-bedded, medium-grained to gravelly sand-filled channels cut into the lower-fan facies. Interbedded lens-shaped siltstone beds 2 m thick and several metres across were deposited in abandoned channels. The upper-fan facies consists of moderately to strongly weathered clayey gravel and sand containing pebble imbrication and crude stratification. Argillization during post-depositional soil formation has blurred the distinction between mud-supported debris-flow deposits and clast-supported channel deposits, but both are present in this facies. The deposits described here demonstrate the need for additional fan models in order to incorporate the variety of deposits developed in alluvial fan sequences deposited in humid climates. In previous models based on arctic fans, debris flows, abandoned channels, or widespread siltstone beds are not present in fan sequences, nor are marginal lacustrine and deltaic deposits well represented.     

The Maesan fan delta, Miocene Pohang Basin, SE Korea: architecture and depositional processes of a high-gradient fan-delta-fed slope system

The Maesan fan-delta-fed slope system in the Miocene Pohang Basin occurs between two Gilbert-type fan deltas. Detailed analysis of sedimentary facies and bed geometry reveals that the sequence is represented by 13 sedimentary facies. These facies can be organized into three facies associations, representing distinct depositional environments: alluvial fan (facies association I), steep-faced slope (facies association II), and basin plain (facies association III). Subaerial debris flows and dense, inertia-dominated currents were transformed into subaqueous sediment gravity flows in steep-faced slope environments. Further downslope, these flows were channelized and formed lobate conglomerate and sandstone bodies at the terminal edge of the channels (or chutes). Interchannel and interlobe areas were dominated by homogeneous mudstone and muddy sandstone, deposited by suspension settling of fine-grained materials. Part of the steep-faced slope deposits experienced large-scale slides and slumps. The chutes/channels, lobes and splays on the steep-faced slope of the Maesan system are similar to those in modern subaqueous coarse-grained fan-delta systems.     

Submarine fan facies of the Upper Cretaceous Great Valley sequence,northern and central California

The Upper Cretaceous part of the Great Valley Sequence provides a unique opportunity to study deep-marine sedimentation within an arc-trench gap. Facies analysis delineates submarine fan facies similar to those described from other ancient basins. Fan models and facies of Mutti and Ricci-Lucchi allow reconstruction of the following depositional environments: basin plain, outer fan, midfan, inner fan, and slope. Basin plain deposits are characterized by hemipelagic mudstone with randomly interbedded thin sandstone beds exhibiting distal turbidite characteristics. Outer fan deposits are characterized by regularly interbedded sandstone and mudstone, and commonly exhibit thickening-upward (negative) cycles that constitute depositional lobes. The sandstone occurs as proximal to distal turbidites without channeling. Midfan deposits are characterized by the predominance of coarse-grained, thick, channelized sandstone beds that commonly are amalgamated. Thinning-upward (positive) cycles and braided channelization also are common. Inner fan deposits are characterized by major channel-fill complexes (conglomerate, pebbly sandstone, and pebbly mudstone) enclosed in mudstone and siltstone. Positive cycles occur within these channel-fill complexes. Much of the fine-grained material consists of levee (overbank) deposits that are characterized by rhythmically interbedded thin mudstone and irregular sandstone beds with climbing and starved ripples. Slope deposits are characterized by mudstone with little interbedded sandstone; slumping and contortion of bedding is common. Progressions of fan facies associations can be described as retrogradational and progradational suites that correspond, respectively, to onlapping and offlapping relations in the basin. The paleoenvironments, fan facies associations, and tectonic setting of the Late Cretaceous fore-arc basin are similar to those of modern arc—trench systems.     

江西龙虎山地区红层沉积相分析及与丹霞地貌发育关系研究——以仙人城景区为例

江西龙虎山地区以发育老年期丹霞地貌为特色,其成景地层为晚白垩世河口组红层,目前对这套红层的沉积相认识程度还比较低。龙虎山仙人城景区河口组出露厚度达百余米,沉积构造发育,且人工开凿的台阶可以直达山顶,这为沉积相分析提供了便利条件。根据野外露头岩性组成、沉积构造等特点,识别出6种岩相单元:无沉积构造砾岩、正粒序层理砾岩、逆粒序层理砾岩、平行层理砾岩、含砾砂岩、古土壤。砾石统计结果表明,砾石粒径范围主要为3~4 cm,最大可达12.5 cm,成分以紫红色凝灰岩为主,砂岩、花岗岩和石英次之、变质岩（主要是片岩）较少,磨圆度主要为次棱角状,其次为棱角状。在显微镜下,砂岩碎屑颗粒主要呈棱角-次棱角状,分选性较差,粒径为0.05~2.00 mm,主要由石英、长石和岩屑组成,总体具有结构和成分成熟度中等偏低的特点。野外露头宏观和室内显微分析结果表明,仙人城丹霞地貌的成景地层为河流主导的冲积扇沉积体系的产物。在龙虎山地区,丹霞地貌的空间分布与盆地冲积扇沉积相的平面展布具有较好的一致性,盆地边缘冲积扇成因的厚层砾岩为后期丹霞地貌的形成和演化提供了物质基础。      

库车坳陷新近系库车组冲积扇沉积特征及相模式

通过野外露头考察和测井分析,并结合地震和三维电法资料,对库车坳陷新近系库车组冲积扇的沉积特征和分布规律进行研究,建立了冲积扇沉积模式。库车坳陷新近系库车组冲积扇岩性主要为黄色、黄红色砾岩、砂砾岩及含砾砂岩。砾石层中可见底冲刷-充填构造、交错层理和平行层理。测井曲线整体表现出GR低和电阻率高的特征,曲线呈箱形、漏斗形和钟形;地震相以杂乱反射和前积特征为主。为了提高了研究的精度,在钻井分布稀少和地震相特征不明显的地区,将三维电法资料用于冲积扇分布的研究。通过综合研究,认为冲积扇在西部的Bz1井地区和Db1井地区规模最大,在东部地区发育规模小。构造运动是冲积扇发育的主要控制因素,库车期构造运动活动强烈,南天山快速隆升,为冲积扇提供大量的物源,Bz1井地区持续隆升,遭受剥蚀,物源充足,冲积扇规模不断增大;Db1井地区由于受构造断裂的影响,局部隆升,为冲积扇提供了局部物源。通过分析,认为库车坳陷新近系库车组冲积扇主要有长期稳定的继承性单物源冲积扇模式和受局部构造控制的多物源冲积扇模式。     

Facies and depositional model of alluvial fan dominated by episodic flood events in arid conditions: An example from the Quaternary Poplar Fan,north-western China

Alluvial fans are usually constructed through episodic flood events. Despite the significance of these ephemeral floods on the morphodynamics of alluvial fans, depositional responses to the variations in flood conditions are still poorly documented. This greatly limits the ability to interpret ancient sedimentary successions of fans and the associated flood hydrodynamics. The Quaternary Poplar Fan from endorheic Heshituoluogai Basin provides an optimal case for addressing this issue. Based on the variations in facies associations and flood conditions, three depositional stages – namely; lobe building stage, channel building stage and the abandonment stage – are identified. During the lobe building stage the Poplar Fan is predominately constructed through incised channel flood, sheetflood and unconfined streamflood, with coeval development of distal surficial ephemeral ponds. The channel building stage is characterized by the development of gravelly braided rivers. However, only scour pool fill deposits are preferentially preserved in the Poplar Fan. During the abandonment stage, erosional lags and aeolian sands randomly occur throughout the fan, while gully deposits can only be found in the distal fan. The distinctive facies architecture of the Poplar Fan is likely to be the result of periodicity of climate fluctuations between wetter and drier conditions during the Late Pleistocene to Holocene. The ephemeral floods formed under wetter conditions usually show high discharge and sediment concentrations which facilitate the lobe building processes. During the drier periods, only gravelly braided rivers can be developed through ephemeral floods as the intensity and frequency in precipitation, discharge and sediment concentrations of the flood flows significantly decrease. The abandonment stage of the fan may occur between recurring flood episodes or during the driest periods. Furthermore, the long-term (10⁵ to 10⁶ year) geomorphic evolution of the Poplar Fan shows the influence of tectonic activities. The ongoing thrust uplift tectonic activities have caused destruction of the fan but can also facilitate the fan-head trench/incision of the fan, which in turn facilitate the progradation of the fan. This study proposes a new depositional model for alluvial fans constructed through episodic flood events, which shows the character of both sheet-flood dominated and stream-flow dominated end members of alluvial fans. These findings supplement the understanding of the variability of the alluvial fans and provide means to characterize rock record of alluvial fans and their associated flood and climate conditions.     

粤北丹霞盆地晚白垩世丹霞组沉积相及古气候意义

粤北丹霞山作为世界自然遗产"中国丹霞"的典型代表,在地貌方面已经积累了丰富的研究成果,但是对丹霞地貌成景地层(晚白垩世红层)的沉积环境和古气候的研究较少。通过对巴寨剖面丹霞组的野外观测、砾石统计、室内砂岩样品薄片鉴定及粒度分析,进行详细的沉积相研究。巴寨剖面丹霞组出露巴寨段和锦石岩段,前者以砾岩为主,发育粒序层理及平行层理、底侵蚀面、叠瓦状构造等,而后者以发育大型交错层理的风成砂岩夹古土壤为特征。在盆地其他位置,可见丹霞组白寨顶段砾岩地层。研究结果表明,在巴寨剖面的晚白垩世丹霞组红层中,可以识别出正粒序层理砾岩、逆粒序层理砾岩、平行层理砾岩、无沉积构造砾岩、大型交错层理风成砂岩、中—薄层砂岩、古土壤7种岩相。巴寨段砾石大小主要为0.5～9.5 cm,成分以脉石英、石英砂岩及砖红色砂岩为主。锦石岩段砂岩粒径为0.03～0.5 mm,分选性好,以跳跃组分为主,指示风成环境。丹霞组从巴寨段到锦石岩段沉积物粒度变细、沉积速率由快变慢,指示了由河流主导的冲积扇沉积体系向沙漠沉积体系的转变,反映了古气候向干热变化,锦石岩段的风成砂岩可能与东亚中纬度地区晚白垩世Campanian期古气候广泛的干旱化有关。丹霞组沉积末期(白寨顶段),古气候条件再次变湿,降水增加,河流将粗粒碎屑物再次搬运到盆地发生沉积,新的冲积扇叠覆在锦石岩段风成砂岩—古土壤序列之上。     

珠江口盆地荔湾3-1气田珠江组深水扇沉积相分析

根据已钻井取芯段岩相分析,从荔湾3-1气田珠江组深水扇沉积体系中划分出巨厚层和厚层块状砂岩相、厚层正粒序砂岩相、厚层逆粒序砂岩相、平行—板状斜层理砂岩相、滑塌变形砂岩相、薄层砂岩夹层相、薄层（粉）砂岩与泥岩互层相、厚层粉砂岩相、厚层泥岩相和层状深水灰岩相等10种岩相类型和识别出砂岩相组合、泥岩相组合、（粉）砂岩与泥岩互...     

库车坳陷古近系库姆格列木组高精度层序地层分析及其油气勘探意义

库车坳陷古近系库姆格列木组是盆地内重要的含油气层段。本文应用高精度层序地层学的理论和方法，在库车坳陷古近系库姆格列木组地层中划分出3个三级层序、14个四级层序和数十个五级层序(准层序)。四级层序中发育有冲积扇、辫状河、曲流河、辫状河三角洲和滨浅湖等沉积体系，局部地区发育下切水道、干旱盐湖、泻湖—海湾、半深湖、浊流—重力流等沉积。该组下部四级层序：Psk1、Psk5和中上部四级层序Psk7、Psk12等的砂质沉积形成区内的主力储层，主要分布在盆地北—西北缘和东—东南缘，与其上覆的泥岩、膏泥岩形成有利的储盖组合。