太平洋中部富REY深海沉积物的地球化学特征及化学分类

赋存于深海沉积物中的稀土资源是一种潜在的稀土资源。对太平洋中部30个重力活塞柱状样中的1 275个深海沉积物样品的常量、稀土化学分析数据进行了系统研究。在涂片鉴定的基础上,采用Ca O和Al2O3含量把太平洋中部深海沉积物划分为钙质软泥类沉积物、硅质软泥类沉积物、深海黏土类沉积物三种成因类型;这三种类型沉积物的稀土分布模式相似,表现为明显的Ce负异常,一定程度的重稀土元素富集和Y正异常,深海黏土类沉积物的ΣREY明显偏高。采用主要元素(包括Ca O/P2O5比值)与REY的关系图可以有效地判别不同成因类型沉积物的混合状况。太平洋中部富P、富含沸石的深海黏土类沉积物是最有利的富REY的深海沉积物类型。太平洋中部深海沉积物REY富集的主要原因是由于深海沉积物中混入了过量的(鱼牙骨碎屑状)磷灰石组分,而钙质生物组分和硅质生物组分的加入对REY含量起了明显的稀释作用。     

深海沉积物分类与命名的关键技术和方案

对地质研究的对象进行科学合理的分类,是地学研究的重要内容之一.为建立科学合理、量化统一、操作简便的深海沉积物分类与命名方案,详细分析国内外深海沉积物分类与命名现状,深刻了解海洋沉积物组成与分布,深入研究深海沉积物的水深、平均粒径和粘土含量3项参数指标,通过分析涂片鉴定粘土、钙质生物、硅质生物这三者的含量、粒度和化学分析之间的差异,建立钙质生物、硅质生物与CaCO₃、生物SiO₂的量化关系,完成沉降法和激光法粒度分析资料的对比和校正,分析深海沉积物分类与命名的兼容性和可比性.在上述研究成果基础上,自主创新提出深海沉积物分类与命名方案及其关键技术.深海沉积物类型简分法把深海沉积物分为深海粘土、钙质软泥、硅质软泥、粘土-硅质-钙质软泥4类,它能满足一般性海洋地质调查要求,达到基本了解深海沉积物类型的目的,在兼容世界深海沉积物类型现状的同时,充分考虑到混合沉积物的存在.深海沉积物类型细分法在简分法基础上细分了16种沉积物,使分类与命名更加详细和全面,满足海洋地质详细调查研究的要求.深海沉积物分类与命名方案与浅海沉积物分类与命名比较,在图形、类型指标、种类数量、冠字冠名法、混合沉积物表示法、可操作性等方面具有可比性,使浅海到深海的沉积物分类与命名呈渐变和有机联系.      

海南高隆湾海滩生物碎屑分布及其对沉积物粒度特征的影响

在热带砂质海岸,生物碎屑是海滩沉积物的重要组成部分,其分布和变化影响海滩沉积物的粒度特征。采用添加过量盐酸和双氧水的方法对海南高隆湾海滩表层沉积物进行了去生物碎屑前后粒径分布的对比,并结合海滩高程测量分析,结果表明:（1）海滩剖面上沉积物中生物碎屑的含量主要受到海水动力的影响,且生物碎屑颗粒较粗、重量较大,在高潮时由波浪流推上海滩并滞留。（2）海滩沉积物中生物碎屑的分布主要受三方面影响:一是地形及常涌浪向;二是区域中养殖业产生的生物碎屑;三是岸外发育的珊瑚礁坪。（3）海滩沉积物中生物碎屑的含量随季节变化,冬季至春季由海水供给的生物碎屑减少、进一步分解,使得北部海滩生物碎屑含量减少;而珊瑚碎屑的稳定供给和春季较强的波浪动力条件又使研究区南部断面的生物碎屑含量增加。（4）海滩沉积物中粗颗粒所含生物碎屑多于细颗粒中的生物碎屑,生物碎屑粒径主要为-1~2,即粗砂至细砾。沉积物中生物碎屑含量愈大,对粒径参数的影响也愈大。     

ODP204航次天然气水合物的可能有利储层——浊积层

为了解岩性在天然气水合物分布中的作用, 利用岩矿鉴定、扫描电镜和能谱法对ODP204航次的 4个站位 10个钻孔共计 115个沉积物样品进行分析, 发现沉积物中矿物成分基本相近, 以粘土矿物为主, 含少量以石英为主的陆源碎屑。样品中含有丰富的硅藻和有孔虫等微体化石, 可形成硅藻粘土—硅藻土、有孔虫硅藻土或凝灰质硅质生物粘土。石英碎屑大多呈棱角状, 粒径小、含量少, 同时, 样品中可见透镜体、团块或旋涡状层状结构以及杂乱堆积的斑杂构造。上述特征表明沉积物为含有大量深海或半深海的浊流沉积物或其夹层。由于钻井岩心中有相当部分的天然气水合物样品分布在上述沉积物中, 推断这些浊流沉积物很可能是ODP204航次天然气水合物的有利储层。     

海洋沉积物陆源碎屑粒度分析预处理方法研究

如何有效去除海洋沉积物中的非陆源物质,同时又能完好保存陆源碎屑,是获得陆源碎屑粒度变化信息的先决条件。利用南海MD190航次的深海岩芯沉积物样品,进行了不同预处理条件下的生源物质去除效果和陆源碎屑粒度分析结果的对比研究。结合显微镜和扫描电镜观察,获得了海洋沉积物陆源碎屑粒度分析预处理方法的新认识。结果显示,对于海洋沉积物中的有机质、碳酸盐和生物硅3种生源组分,依次使用浓度为30%的H_2O_2水浴60℃震荡3 h,0.5%的HCl充分反应1 h,2 mol/L的Na_2CO_3水浴85℃震荡5 h,可以有效去除,并能兼顾去除效率以及相对完好地保存陆源碎屑。研究认为,针对不同类型的沉积物样品进行陆源碎屑粒度分析时,应考虑生源碎屑对粒度结果的实际影响,从而选择合适的预处理方案。即在确保陆源碎屑的粒度分析结果更接近真实分布的情况下,沉积物样品的预处理步骤越少越好,并非一定要去除所有的生源成分。如当生物硅含量低于2%时,其对陆源碎屑粒度分析结果的影响很小,可不用去除。另外,超声可导致部分陆源碎屑的破碎,在粒度分析预处理过程中全程不宜使用。     

南极布兰斯菲尔德海峡表层沉积物中元素的地球化学相关性与影响因素初探

通过对南极布兰斯菲尔德海峡26个站位表层沉积物的地球化学组成的因子分析和相关分析,探讨了影响表层沉积物地球化学特征的主要因素。揭示了控制沉积物特征的地球化学作用。结果表明,岛（陆）架－－岛坡区表层沉积物地球化学特征较复杂,受到多种因素的影响,最主要的是受沉积区离岸远近和水深大小等因素控制的钙质生物、硅质生物和陆源碎屑的沉积作用,其次为中酸性火山碎屑沉积作用与基性火山碎屑的沉积作用;海槽－－陆坡区有层沉积物地球化学特征主要由硅质碎屑沉积和粘土质陆源、火山碎屑在时空旧的交替沉积所控制,宇宙源沉积、自生沉积、碱性火山碎屑沉积、热液作用等的影响较小。     

南海中南部表层沉积物类型、分布与水动力条件

本文利用南海中南部8°-12-N,108°40’-114°E区域内获取的222个测站的海底沉积物样品的测试数据,并依据福克一沃德确定的沉积物分类方案,将该区沉积物划分为陆源碎屑沉积、生物碎屑．陆源碎屑沉积和生物碎屑沉积三大类,在此基础上研究了沉积物类型特征和分布范围,以及水动力条件等特征。南海中南部沉积物组分以陆源成分和生物成分为主,其分布具有一定的规律性。从陆架到陆坡直至深海盆,沉积物由粗变细,物质组成则由陆源碎屑沉积渐变为生物碎屑一陆源碎屑沉积、生物碎屑沉积。沉积物核心粒级为生物泥和生物粘土,其次为细砂、砂质泥等,其他粒级成分所占比例较小。水动力条件与水深和地形变化等因素相关,水动力强度具有不明显的自西而东逐渐减弱的趋势。     

南海海盆沉积物的研究

1.概况:在南海海盆取了26个表层样和2个柱状样。通过沉积物成分分析,得知南海深海盆沉积物主要有碎屑矿物(石英、长石、黑云母、白云母、风化矿物、角闪石、锆石、锐钛矿、石榴石、电气石等);生物碎屑(硅质生物、钙质生物、鱼牙、鱼骨、骨针、骨刺     

西菲律宾海盆表层沉积物中的轻碎屑分区及物质来源

海洋沉积物中轻碎屑(0125~0063mm)种类的特征和分布样式对于沉积物源区的判别具有重要的指示意义。取自西菲律宾海219个表层沉积物样品中的轻碎屑种类包括生物碎屑、石英、长石、褐色火山玻璃、无色火山玻璃、风化碎屑、火山渣,以及含量极低的一些矿物如磷酸盐（鱼牙）、片状矿物（黑云母和白云母）、硅灰石、黑曜石以及极少量的球粒状、椭球状宇源颗粒。分析结果表明,本区的轻碎屑分布可以分为三个区： (Ⅰ)菲律宾海沟以东区,轻碎屑主要源于钙质或硅质生物,邻近的岛弧也贡献了一定量的火山碎屑。(Ⅱ)中部区,石英、长石和无色火山玻璃可能源于中酸性熔岩海山或者是正在活动的中酸性岩浆事件的产物。(Ⅲ) 帛琉—九州海岭以西区,本区的物质来源相对比较复杂。长石、石英的含量较低,可能主要来源于中酸性熔岩海山或者是正在活动的中酸性岩浆事件的产物,火山渣主要是源于喷发在帛琉—九州海岭之上的火山。可以认为：① 研究区的生物碎屑含量与水深紧密相关,生物碎屑的数量主要受控于碳酸盐补偿深度(CCD)。② 来自菲律宾岛弧的火山碎屑对本区沉积作用贡献较小,可能通过海流或风等途径向深海盆进行短距离搬运。海底高原(如本哈姆高原)和邻近海岭(如帛琉—九州海岭)火山岩的风化产物对本研究区轻碎屑沉积作用有着重要贡献,其影响范围主要依赖于海底风化作用的强度。③ 来自中国大陆及菲律宾等邻近岛弧的陆源碎屑物质对本区的沉积作用影响很小。本区可能存在的中酸性熔岩海山是长英质轻碎屑物质的主要源区。     

南海北部深海盆地上中新统浊积砂体物源分析*

IODP367/368航次在南海北部深海盆地多个站位发现上中新统厚达数百米的大规模深海浊积岩。采用碎屑锆石U-Pb年龄谱系分析方法对U1500站上中新统浊积砂体进行源汇对比分析。研究结果表明U1500站上中新统浊积岩碎屑锆石年龄谱系与其西侧琼东南盆地和北侧珠江口盆地中新世沉积物特征类似。多维排列分析(MDS)结果也显示,该站位样品与珠江口盆地、琼东南盆地沉积物关系密切,表明南海北部深海盆地内厚达数百米的上中新统浊积砂体为南海北部物源和南海西部物源混合堆积形成。南海西部陆源输入物质以浊流搬运的方式,沿中央峡谷从西到东搬运至南海东部深海盆地;南海北部珠江物源以重力流的形式,经南海北部陆坡峡谷搬运至深海盆地中,两种来源的沉积物在深海盆地发生混合沉积,形成U1500站厚达数百米的浊积砂体。南海北部深海盆地厚层浊积砂体物质来源的准确识别,对深刻理解南海新生代盆地的构造演化、沉积物充填过程、物源演变以及古地理特征均具有重要意义。     

Basin-wide turbidites in a Miocene, over-supplied deep-sea plain: a geometrical analysis

Eighteen stratigraphic sections, 200 m thick on average, were logged in basin plain deposits of the Marnoso-arenacea Formation (Miocene, northern Apennines) over an area of 123 × 27 km. Turbidites form 80–90% of the facies association, hemipelagites the remainder. Thin and thick-bedded turbidites are separated by an approximate statistical boundary at 40 cm; most prominent beds (> 1 m thick) are qualified as megaturbidites. With reference to the main supply-dispersal system (NW to SE), the basin plain can be axially subdivided into proximal, intermediate and distal segments by means of the following parameters: bulk sand content, sand/shale ratio in turbidites, mean thickness of individual layers and component beds, and frequency of thick layers. Almost 40% of thick-bedded turbidites can be traced over the whole study area. These basin-wide deposits form the bulk of the basin fill. Geometrical reconstruction shows that some sandstone beds taper downcurrent from the proximal plain or the adjacent fan area while others thin upcurrent suggesting sand by pass of the fan. Mudstone beds in general thicken towards the end and the margins of the plain indicating that turbidite mud, besides bypassing the fan as a rule, was affected by ponding in the plain. Thin-bedded turbidites have a low sand/shale ratio or are completely muddy representing either tails of sandier turbidites of the outer fan (lobe and fringe deposits) or sheets extending to a great part of or to the whole plain. Sandstone lobes advanced from fans into the plain for 40–50 km gradually thinning and shaling out over a transitional zone of 10–20 km. Their internal geometry shows simple and complex growth patterns: end members are defined as progradational and aggradational. Estimates of original length, width and volume of individual turbidites strongly suggest that flows were usually confined and deflected by basin slopes regardless of source location. Basinal deposits are thus characterized by great thickness and volume, abundance of mud and fine sand, extremely low lateral gradients of thickness and grain size (but rapid wedging near the sides). The basin plain developed as a part of an elongated, oversupplied basin with a ‘highly efficient’, probably delta-fed, dispersal system.     

Control of paleoshorelines by trench forebulge uplift,Loyalty Islands

Unlike most tropical Pacific islands, which lie along island arcs or hotspot chains, the Loyalty Islands between New Caledonia and Vanuatu owe their existence and morphology to the uplift of pre-existing atolls on the flexural forebulge of the New Hebrides Trench. The configuration and topography of each island is a function of distance from the crest of the uplifted forebulge. Both Maré and Lifou are fully emergent paleoatolls upon which ancient barrier reefs form highstanding annular ridges that enclose interior plateaus representing paleolagoon floors, whereas the partially emergent Ouvea paleoatoll rim flanks a drowned remnant lagoon. Emergent paleoshoreline features exposed by island uplift include paleoreef flats constructed as ancient fringing reefs built to past low tide levels and emergent tidal notches incised at past high tide levels. Present paleoshoreline elevations record uplift rates of the islands since last-interglacial and mid-Holocene highstands in global and regional sea levels, respectively, and paleoreef stratigraphy reflects net Quaternary island emergence. The empirical uplift rates vary in harmony with theoretical uplift rates inferred from the different positions of the islands in transit across the trench forebulge at the trench subduction rate. The Loyalty Islands provide a case study of island environments controlled primarily by neotectonics.     

湖相重力流沉积特征及沉积模式

应用深水沉积学和地震沉积学的相关理论,通过岩心观察描述、钻测井资料分析及平面沉积相编图,对下刚果盆地A区块白垩系Pointe Indienne组深水重力流的类型、沉积特征、垂向沉积组合及沉积模式进行了探讨分析,指出该地区发育砂质碎屑流、泥质碎屑流、浊流及与重力流形成过程相关的滑动—滑塌沉积,并总结了该深水重力流的沉积模式。结果表明:砂质碎屑流沉积以块状层理细砂岩为主,含大型漂浮泥砾和泥岩撕裂屑;泥质碎屑流沉积以泥级碎屑为主,含有少量的暗色泥岩碎屑和砂质团块,见“泥包砾”结构;浊流沉积以发育完整或不完整的鲍马序列为特征;滑动—滑塌沉积具有明显的剪切滑移面,可见旋转火焰构造、砂岩扭曲杂乱分布及褶皱变形层;纵向上可识别出4种类型的重力流沉积垂向组合,以多期砂质碎屑流沉积叠置和砂质碎屑流沉积与浊流沉积叠置最为常见;研究区深水重力流沉积可分为上部扇、中部扇和外部扇3部分,上部扇以主水道沉积为主;中部扇以辫状水道和溢岸沉积为主,砂体厚度较大;外部扇以朵叶体沉积和薄层浊积岩为主,砂体厚度相对较薄。     

鄂尔多斯盆地南部三叠系延长组湖相重力流沉积细粒岩及其油气地质意义

随着页岩油气勘探开发和相关领域研究的不断深入,细粒沉积物的搬运和沉积已成为当前沉积学研究的热点问题之一,但中国中生代湖泊环境中的泥质重力流沉积尚未引起应有的关注。通过岩心观察、薄片鉴定等手段及综合研究,分析了鄂尔多斯盆地晚三叠世湖相泥质重力流沉积特征,探讨了其形成机制与成因分类。鄂尔多斯盆地三叠系延长组湖相泥页岩结构类型多样,发育泥质块体流沉积、泥质碎屑流沉积、泥质浊流沉积和泥质异重流沉积等多种重力流沉积类型。按照泥质含量将重力流划分为砂质重力流、泥质重力流和混合重力流3种亚类,并根据成因将重力流划分为滑塌体、碎屑流、浊流及异重流等4种亚类;结合成因和泥质含量,将重力流沉积共划分为12种类型。滑塌岩、碎屑岩分布于三角洲前缘斜坡脚附近;浊积岩、异重岩广泛分布于三角洲斜坡至沉积中心。认为泥质沉积物可以在强水动力条件下搬运-沉积;重力流沉积细粒物质在湖相沉积中占据很大的比例;泥质重力流对泥页岩中的碎屑物质、黏土矿物及有机质的搬运和沉积起到重要作用,因而对于页岩油气的生烃、储集性能和压裂工艺研究具有重要意义。     

Distinctive erosional and depositional structures formed at a canyon mouth: A lower Pleistocene deep‐water succession in the Kazusa forearc basin on the Boso Peninsula,Japan

The canyon mouth is an important component of submarine‐fan systems and is thought to play a significant role in the transformation of turbidity currents. However, the depositional and erosional structures that characterize canyon mouths have received less attention than other components of submarine‐fan systems. This study investigates the facies organization and geometry of turbidites that are interpreted to have developed at a canyon mouth in the early Pleistocene Kazusa forearc basin on the Boso Peninsula, Japan. The canyon‐mouth deposits have the following distinctive features: (i) The turbidite succession is thinner than both the canyon‐fill and submarine‐fan successions and is represented by amalgamation of sandstones and pebbly sandstones as a result of bypassing of turbidity currents. (ii) Sandstone beds and bedsets show an overall lenticular geometry and are commonly overlain by mud drapes, which are massive and contain fewer bioturbation structures than do the hemipelagic muddy deposits. (iii) The mud drapes have a microstructure characterized by aggregates of clay particles, which show features similar to those of fluid‐mud deposits, and are interpreted to represent deposition from fluid mud developed from turbidity current clouds. (iv) Large‐scale erosional surfaces are infilled with thick‐bedded to very thick‐bedded turbidites, which show lithofacies quite similar to those of the surrounding deposits, and are considered to be equivalent to scours. (v) Concave‐up erosional surfaces, some of which face in the upslope direction, are overlain by backset bedding, which is associated with many mud clasts. (vi) Tractional structures, some of which are equivalent to coarse‐grained sediment waves, were also developed, and were overlain locally by mud drapes, in association with mud drape‐filled scours, cut and fill structures and backset bedding. The combination of these outcrop‐scale erosional and depositional structures, together with the microstructure of the mud drapes, can be used to identify canyon‐mouth deposits in ancient deep‐water successions.     

Lobe construction and sand/mud segregation by turbidity currents and debris flows on the western Nile deep-sea fan (Eastern Mediterranean)

Based on an unusual data set comprises bathymetric data, backscatter imagery, seismic-reflection and Chirp profiles, and sediment cores, the Late Quaternary lobe at the mouth of the youngest turbidite channel off the western Nile deep-sea fan was investigated. The large-scale construction of the lobe through time and space is mainly controlled by 1) a pre-existing topography inherited from the downslope movement of Messinian evaporites, and 2) the type and nature of gravity flows delivered to the basin floor. The margins of the lobe are defined by high-backscatter acoustic facies that contrasts strongly with the low-backscatter facies from the surrounding abyssal-plain deposits. Within the lobe, low-backscatter facies characterise the main channel-levee systems and lobate bodies immediately beyond the end of the channels. Cores reveal that the high-backscatter facies corresponds to a series of extensive but thin debris-flow deposits with a fingered margin. These debrites comprise a muddy-sand matrix and dispersed clasts with diameter of 5 to 10 cm. The lower backscatter facies at channel mouths corresponds to alternations of thin sandy turbidites and muddy hemipelagites. Extensive thin debris flows therefore traversed surprisingly low gradients to reach the distal fringes of the lobe complex but are never found in the lobate bodies just beyond the channel mouths. Although the Nile deep-sea fan is considered as a silt/mud-rich accumulation, sand-prone deposits exist within the lobe. This sand/mud segregation results either from the presence of channelized features in the lobe and/or from the hydrodynamic process of particle transport by debris flows and turbulent flows.     

A Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic reconstruction of the Southwest Pacific region: Tectonics controlled by subduction and slab rollback processes

A Cenozoic tectonic reconstruction is presented for the Southwest Pacific region located east of Australia. The reconstruction is constrained by large geological and geophysical datasets and recalculated rotation parameters for Pacific–Australia and Lord Howe Rise–Pacific relative plate motion. The reconstruction is based on a conceptual tectonic model in which the large-scale structures of the region are manifestations of slab rollback and backarc extension processes. The current paradigm proclaims that the southwestern Pacific plate boundary was a west-dipping subduction boundary only since the Middle Eocene. The new reconstruction provides kinematic evidence that this configuration was already established in the Late Cretaceous and Early Paleogene. From ∼ 82 to ∼ 52 Ma, subduction was primarily accomplished by east and northeast-directed rollback of the Pacific slab, accommodating opening of the New Caledonia, South Loyalty, Coral Sea and Pocklington backarc basins and partly accommodating spreading in the Tasman Sea. The total amount of east-directed rollback of the Pacific slab that took place from ∼ 82 Ma to ∼ 52 Ma is estimated to be at least 1200 km. A large percentage of this rollback accommodated opening of the South Loyalty Basin, a north–south trending backarc basin. It is estimated from kinematic and geological constraints that the east–west width of the basin was at least ∼ 750 km. The South Loyalty and Pocklington backarc basins were subducted in the Eocene to earliest Miocene along the newly formed New Caledonia and Pocklington subduction zones. This culminated in southwestward and southward obduction of ophiolites in New Caledonia, Northland and New Guinea in the latest Eocene to earliest Miocene. It is suggested that the formation of these new subduction zones was triggered by a change in Pacific–Australia relative motion at ∼ 50 Ma. Two additional phases of eastward rollback of the Pacific slab followed, one during opening of the South Fiji Basin and Norfolk Basin in the Oligocene to Early Miocene (up to ∼ 650 km of rollback), and one during opening of the Lau Basin in the latest Miocene to Present (up to ∼ 400 km of rollback). Two new subduction zones formed in the Miocene, the south-dipping Trobriand subduction zone along which the Solomon Sea backarc Basin subducted and the north-dipping New Britain–San Cristobal–New Hebrides subduction zone, along which the Solomon Sea backarc Basin subducted in the west and the North Loyalty–South Fiji backarc Basin and remnants of the South Loyalty–Santa Cruz backarc Basin subducted in the east. Clockwise rollback of the New Hebrides section resulted in formation of the North Fiji Basin. The reconstruction provides explanations for the formation of new subduction zones and for the initiation and termination of opening of the marginal basins by either initiation of subduction of buoyant lithosphere, a change in plate kinematics or slab–mantle interaction.     

Turbidite depositional architecture across three interconnected deep-water basins on the north-west African margin

ABSTRACT The Moroccan Turbidite System (MTS) on the north‐west African margin extends 1500 km from the head of the Agadir Canyon to the Madeira Abyssal Plain, making it one of the longest turbidite systems in the world. The MTS consists of three interconnected deep‐water basins, the Seine Abyssal Plain (SAP), the Agadir Basin and the Madeira Abyssal Plain (MAP), connected by a network of distributary channels. Excellent core control has enabled individual turbidites to be correlated between all three basins, giving a detailed insight into the turbidite depositional architecture of a system with multiple source areas and complex morphology. Large‐volume (> 100 km³) turbidites, sourced from the Morocco Shelf, show a relatively simple architecture in the Madeira and Seine Abyssal Plains. Sandy bases form distinct lobes or wedges that thin rapidly away from the basin margin and are overlain by ponded basin‐wide muds. However, in the Agadir Basin, the turbidite fill is more complex owing to a combination of multiple source areas and large variations in turbidite volume. A single, very large turbidity current (200–300 km³ of sediment) deposited most of its sandy load within the Agadir Basin, but still had sufficient energy to carry most of the mud fraction 500 km further downslope to the MAP. Large turbidity currents (100–150 km³ of sediment) deposit most of their sand and mud fraction within the Agadir Basin, but also transport some of their load westwards to the MAP. Small turbidity currents (< 35 km³ of sediment) are wholly confined within the Agadir Basin, and their deposits pinch out on the basin floor. Turbidity currents flowing beyond the Agadir Basin pass through a large distributary channel system. Individual turbidites correlated across this channel system show major variations in the mineralogy of the sand fraction, whereas the geochemistry and micropalaeontology of the mud fraction remain very similar. This is interpreted as evidence for separation of the flow, with a sand‐rich, erosive, basal layer confined within the channel system, overlain by an unconfined layer of suspended mud. Large‐volume turbidites within the MTS were deposited at oxygen isotope stage boundaries, during periods of rapid sea‐level change and do not appear to be specifically connected to sea‐level lowstands or highstands. This contrasts with the classic fan model, which suggests that most turbidites are deposited during lowstands of sea level. In addition, the three largest turbidites on the MAP were deposited during the largest fluctuations in sea level, suggesting a link between the volume of sediment input and the magnitude of sea‐level change.     

Turbiditic and non-turbiditic mudstone of Cretaceous flysch sections of the East Alps and other basins

Recognition of the occurrence and extent of hemipelagic and pelagic deposits in turbidite sequences is of considerable importance for environmental analysis (palaeodepth, circulation, distance from land, hemipelagic or pelagic versus turbidite sedimentation rates) of ancient basins. Differentiation between the finegrained parts (E-division) of turbidites and the (hemi-) pelagic layers (F-division of turbidite-pelagite alternations) is facilitated in basins where carbonate turbidites were deposited below the carbonate compensation depth (CCD) such as the Flysch Zone of the East Alps but may be difficult in other basins where less compositional contrast is developed between the fine-grained turbidites and hemipelagites. This difficulty pertains particularly in Palaeozoic and older basins. For Late Mesozoic-Cenozoic oceans with a relatively deep calcite compensation level three other types of turbidite basins may be distinguished for which differentiation becomes increasingly more difficult in the sequence from (1) to (3): (1) terrigenous turbidite basins above the CCD; (2) carbonate turbidite basins above the CCD; (3) terrigenous turbidite basins below the CCD. Criteria and methods useful for the differentiation between turbiditic and hemipelagic mudstone in the Upper Cretaceous of the Flysch Zone of the East Alps include calcium carbonate content, colour, sequential analysis, distribution of bioturbation, and microfaunal content. In modern turbidite basins clay mineral content, organic matter content, plant fragments, and grain-size (graded bedding, maximum grain diameter) have reportedly also been used as criteria (see Table 3). Deposition of muddy sediment by turbidity currents on weakly sloping sea bottoms such as the distal parts of deep-sea fans or abyssal plains is not only feasible but may lead to the accumulation of thick layers. Contrary to earlier speculation it can be explained by the hydrodynamic theory of turbidity currents, if temperature differences between the turbidity current and the ambient deep water as well as relatively high current velocities for the deposition of turbiditic muds (an order of magnitude higher on mud surfaces than commonly assumed) are taken into consideration. The former add to the capacity of turbidity currents to carry muddy sediment without creating a driving force on a low slope.     

济阳坳陷牛庄洼陷沙三段三角洲前缘浊积岩特征

根据地质、测井、地震资料的综合分析,对济阳坳陷牛庄洼陷沙河街组三段三角洲前缘的浊积岩特征进行了研究。结果表明,该区存在砂质浊积岩体和细粒浊积岩体两种浊流沉积物。其中砂质浊积岩体粒度较细、结构成熟度和成分成熟度较低,结构和构造均反映了砂体具有滑塌再沉积的特点,可用Bouma序列来描述,常发育CDE,BCD,ABCD型浊流组合。砂质浊积岩体可进一步划为有根式和无根式两类。有根式砂体常呈扇形,可分为内扇槽道、中扇辫状水道、水道间、水道前缘和外扇无水道五种微相;无根式砂体常呈片状、舌状,可分为中心微相和边缘微相两个相带。细粒浊积岩属于低密度流的产物,不能用Bouma序列来解释,主要发育递变纹层泥岩和不均匀的块状泥岩两种细粒浊积岩。根据两类沉积物的沉积特征,建立了该区三角洲一浊积岩体综合沉积模式。论述了三角洲前缘浊积岩的成因及石油地质意义。