Chronology of Murrumbidgee River palaeochannels on the Riverine Plain,southeastern Australia

Four major periods of palaeochannel activity have been identified on the Murrumbidgee sector of the Riverine Plain of southeastern Australia. On the basis of stratigraphic information the channels reveal a picture of changing flow conditions during the last full glacial cycle. The ages of the periods were determined from nearly 40 thermoluminescence dates on surficial fluvial and aeolian sediments. These are named the Coleambally phase, which occurred from 105 to 80 ka (the mid- to latter part of Oxygen Isotope Stage 5), the Kerarbury phase from 55 to 35 ka (Stage 3), the Gum Creek phase from 35 to 25 ka (late Stage 3 to early Stage 2) and the Yanco phase from 20 to 13 ka (late Stage 2). The present flow regime was established by about 12 ka (Stage 1). The first two phases correlate with episodes of enhanced fluvial activity in northern and central Australia and with reduced dust activity globally. The phases in Stage 2 appear to be associated with seasonal snow melt and increased peak flows in periods flanking the Last Glacial Maximum. Source-bordering aeolian dunes associated with the Coleambally, Kerarbury and Yanco phases were found, however, the TL dates show that some have undergone aeolian reworking. Thermoluminescence dating and fluvial stratigraphy have revealed a detailed picture of Late Quaternary climate and flow regime changes that has the potential to extend to identified deposits stratigraphically older than those described here.     

Fluvial styles,palaeohydrology and modern analogues of an exhumed,Cretaceous fluvial system: Cerro Barcino Formation,Cañadón Asfalto Basin,Argentina

Superb surface exposures of a fluvial palaeochannel-belt 2–5 km wide and 13 km long occur in Cretaceous sedimentary rocks of the Cerro Barcino Formation (Las Plumas Member), Chubut Group, Cañadón Asfalto Basin, Argentina. The exceptional plan-view exposures of fluvial sandbodies allowed identification of a large number of WNW–ESE sinuous ridges that represent high-sinuosity, braided and low-sinuosity fluvial palaeochannels, crevasse and chute palaeochannels, and crevasse-splay deposits. Predominance of low-sinuosity palaeochannels and low values of the width/thickness ratio of most them suggest high stability of their margins, probably controlled by the cohesiveness of tuffaceous floodplain deposits. Morphological and sedimentological observations provide evidence of abrupt lithofacies changes in palaeochannel fills, fine-grained intercalations in multi-storey palaeochannels and occurrence of different fluvial styles, implying temporal/spatial variations in palaeodischarge and/or slope conditions. Comparison of the near-identical plan view morphology of the Cretaceous palaeochannel belt with the nearby Chubut River, plus the comparison of palaeohydrological data of the exhumed palaeochannels with hydrological data from this modern analogue, gives evidence of a very similar fluvial behaviour. This provides an integrative tool to be employed in the study of other ancient fluvial successions, including the reconstruction of palaeofluvial hydrological parameters in planetary geology.     

Depositional model of a macrotidal estuary and floodplain, South Alligator River, Northern Australia

The South Alligator River, Northern Territory of Australia, has a macrotidal estuary. Tidal influence (spring tidal range 5–6 m at the mouth) extends 105 km up the channel. It is dominated by freshwater in the wet season (December-April) with a salt wedge near the mouth, but is well mixed and becomes saline throughout the dry season. The tidal channel can be divided into four different channel types: an estuarine funnel, a sinuous meandering segment, a cuspate meandering segment (in which the inside of bends are pointed) and an upstream tidal channel. The distribution of morphologically defined land classes and morphological units within each land class on the floodplain flanking the estuary differs from one channel type to another. Several stratigraphic and morphostratigraphic units have been recognized from drill holes on the coastal and deltaic-estuarine plains, and a model of development is proposed on the basis of extensive radiocarbon chronology and palynology. The coastal plain has prograded with most rapid sedimentation between 5000 and 3000 yr BP. A similar pattern of progradation is identified in the estuarine funnel. In the sinuous segment of the estuary the channel has migrated laterally across the floodplain. Previous channel positions are indicated by palaeochannels and the meander tract is occupied by laminated channel sediments. Within the cuspate segment there are numerous sinuous palaeochannels on the plains. In the upstream segment, the channel and palaeochannels have long straight reaches with irregular bends and discontinuous levées, and channel avulsion is indicated. Mangrove mud is a widespread stratigraphic unit throughout the plains. The initial phase of development is a transgressive phase. 8000–6800 yr BP, when mangrove forests extended landwards into a pre-existing valley as sea-level rose. As sea-level stabilized, the transgressive phase was followed by a widespread mangrove phase, termed the ‘big swamp’ 6800–5300 yr BP. The mangrove forests disappeared from most of the plains as vertical accretion continued, and were replaced by grass and sedge-covered floodplains. During the sinuous phase, about 5300–2500 yr BP, the channel migrated laterally and eroded the deltaicestuarine plain and deposited lateral accretion deposits (laminated channel sediments). Part of the channel of the South Alligator River has then progressed from sinuous to cuspate in form, and erosion of river banks has occurred. Transgressive and big swamp phases occurred under rising and stabilizing sea-level, respectively. Later morphodynamic channel adjustments occurred under conditions of stable sea-level. The depositional model has direct application to other estuaries in northern Australia, and may be applied to other areas where sea-level change has been similar.     

Aeolian–fluvial interaction and climate change: source-bordering dune development over the past ∼100 ka on Cooper Creek,central Australia

This study provides an interpretation of interrelated Quaternary fluvial and aeolian activity related to climate change on Cooper Creek in the Lake Eyre Basin in southwestern Queensland, central Australia. The extensive muddy floodplain is characterised by buried sandy palaeochannels now almost entirely invisible but stratigraphically connected to source-bordering dunes that emerge as distinctive sandy islands through the floodplain surface. Luminescence dating has identified pronounced periods of fluvial activity represented by abundant sandy alluvium from Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 8–3. While all these sandy fluvial episodes on Cooper Creek were much more powerful than anything subsequent, they appear to be ranked in order of declining activity. MIS 8–6 saw reworking of almost the entire floodplain whereas subsequent phases of reworking were far less extensive. Source-bordering dunes were derived from active sandy channels in late MIS 5 (∼85–80 ka) and mid MIS 3 (50–40 ka). After ∼40 ka sand-channel activity largely ceased and the floodplains and channels were inundated with mud, isolating the dunes as emergent features. Although aeolian reworking of the upper parts of some dunes has continued to the present, they show remarkable resilience, having survived without appreciable migration for at least 40 ka. Whilst the channels once determined the location of source-bordering dunes, in an interesting role reversal the remnant dunes now determine the position of many contemporary flood-channels and waterholes by deflection and confinement of overbank flows.     

High‐resolution stratigraphic architecture and lithological heterogeneity within marginal aeolian reservoir analogues

Marginal aeolian successions contain different lithological units with variable geometries, dimensions and spatial distributions. Such variations may result in considerable heterogeneity within hydrocarbon reservoirs developed in successions of this type, which poses a high risk to their efficient development. Here, such heterogeneity is described and characterized at inter‐well (<1 km) scales using two well‐exposed outcrop analogues of ‘end member’ marginal aeolian deposits from the Permian Cedar Mesa Sandstone and Jurassic Page Sandstone of south‐central Utah, USA. The sedimentology and stratigraphic architecture of the Cedar Mesa Sandstone was studied in a 1·2 km² area in the Indian Creek region of southern Utah, where the interval consists of interbedded fluvial and aeolian deposits representative of a fluvial‐dominated erg margin. The Page Sandstone was studied in a 4·3 km² area near Escalante, close to the Utah‐Arizona border, where it consists of interbedded sabkha and aeolian deposits representative of a transitional‐marine erg margin. The three‐dimensional stratigraphic architectures of both reservoir analogues have been characterized, in order to establish the dimensions, geometries and connectivity of high‐permeability aeolian sandstones. Facies architecture of the aeolian‐sabkha deposits is characterized by laterally continuous aeolian sandstone layers of relatively uniform thickness that alternate with layers of heterolithic sabkha deposits. Aeolian sandstones are thus likely to form vertically unconnected but laterally widespread flow units in analogous reservoirs. Facies architecture in the aeolian‐fluvial deposits is more complex, because it contains alternating intervals of aeolian sandstone and fluvial heterolithic strata, both of which may be laterally discontinuous at the studied length‐scales. Aeolian sandstones encased by fluvial heterolithic strata may form small, isolated flow units in analogous reservoirs, although the limited continuity of fluvial heterolithic strata results in vertical connectivity between successive aeolian sandstones in other locations. These architectural templates may be used to condition zonation schemes in models of marginal aeolian reservoirs.     

Braided rivers within an arid alluvial plain (example from the Lower Triassic,western German Basin): recognition criteria and expression of stratigraphic cycles

Based on a detailed sedimentological analysis of Lower Triassic continental deposits in the western Germanic sag Basin (i.e. the eastern part of the present‐day Paris Basin: the ‘Conglomérat basal’, ‘Grès vosgien’ and ‘Conglomérat principal’ Formations), three main depositional environments were identified: (i) braided rivers in an arid alluvial plain with some preserved aeolian dunes and very few floodplain deposits; (ii) marginal erg (i.e. braided rivers, aeolian dunes and aeolian sand‐sheets); and (iii) playa lake (an ephemeral lake environment with fluvial and aeolian sediments). Most of the time, aeolian deposits in arid environments that are dominated by fluvial systems are poorly preserved and particular attention should be paid to any sedimentological marker of aridity, such as wind‐worn pebbles (ventifacts), sand‐drift surfaces and aeolian sand‐sheets. In such arid continental environments, stratigraphic surfaces of allocyclic origin correspond to bounding surfaces of regional extension. Elementary stratigraphic cycles, i.e. the genetic units, have been identified for the three main continental environments: the fluvial type, fluvial–aeolian type and fluvial/playa lake type. At the time scale of tens to hundreds of thousands of years, these high‐frequency cycles of climatic origin are controlled either by the groundwater level in the basin or by the fluvial siliciclastic sediment input supplied from the highland. Lower Triassic deposits from the Germanic Basin are preserved mostly in endoreic basins. The central part of the basin is arid but the rivers are supplied with water by precipitation falling on the remnants of the Hercynian (Variscan)–Appalachian Mountains. Consequently, a detailed study of alluvial plain facies provides indications of local climatic conditions in the place of deposition, whereas fluvial systems only reflect climatic conditions of the upstream erosional catchments.     

The action of wind and water in a mid‐Cretaceous subtropical erg‐margin system close to the Variscan Iberian Massif,Spain

Aeolian processes and ephemeral water influx from the Variscan Iberian Massif to the mid‐Cretaceous outer back‐erg margin system in eastern Iberia led to deposition and erosion of aeolian dunes and the formation of desert pavements. Remains of aeolian dunes encased in ephemeral fluvial deposits (aeolian pods) demonstrate intense erosion of windblown deposits by sudden water fluxes. The alternating activity of wind and water led to a variety of facies associations such as deflation lags, desert pavements, aeolian dunes, pebbles scattered throughout dune strata, aeolian sandsheets, aeolian deposits with bimodal grain‐size distributions, mud playa, ephemeral floodplain, pebble‐sand and cobble‐sand bedload stream, pebble–cobble‐sand sheet flood, sand bedload stream, debris flow and hyperconcentrated flow deposits. Sediment in this desert system underwent transport by wind and water and reworking in a variety of sub‐environments. The nearby Variscan Iberian Massif supplied quartzite pebbles as part of mass flows. Pebbles and cobbles were concentrated in deflation lags, eroded and polished by wind‐driven sands (facets and ventifacts) and incorporated by rolling into the toesets of aeolian dunes. The back‐erg depositional system comprises an outer back‐erg close to the Variscan highlands, and an inner back‐erg close to the central‐erg area. The inner back‐erg developed on a structural high and is characterized by mud playa deposits interbedded with aeolian and ephemeral channel deposits. In the inner back‐erg area ephemeral wadis, desiccated after occasional floods, were mud cracked and overrun episodically by aeolian dunes. Subsequent floods eroded the aeolian dunes and mud‐cracked surfaces, resulting in largely structureless sandstones with boulder‐size mudstone intraclasts. Floods spread over the margins of ephemeral channels and eroded surrounding aeolian dunes. The remaining dunes were colonized occasionally by plants and their roots penetrated into the flooded aeolian sands. Upon desiccation, deflation resulted in lags of coarser‐grained sediments. A renewed windblown supply led to aeolian sandsheet accumulation in topographic wadi depressions. Synsedimentary tectonics caused the outer back‐erg system to experience enhanced generation of accommodation space allowing the accumulation of aeolian dune sands. Ephemeral water flow to the outer back‐erg area supplied pebbles, eroded aeolian dunes, and produced hyperconcentrated flow deposits. Fluidization and liquefaction generated gravel pockets and recumbent folds. Dune damming after sporadic rains (the case of the Namib Desert), monsoonal water discharge (Thar Desert) and meltwater fluxes from glaciated mountains (Taklamakan Desert) are three potential, non‐exclusive analogues for the ephemeral water influx and the generation of hyperconcentrated flows in the Cretaceous desert margin system. An increase in relief driven by the Aptian anti‐clockwise rotation of Iberia, led to an altitude sufficient for the development of orographic rains and snowfall which fed (melt)water fluxes to the desert margin system. Quartzite conglomerates and sands, dominantly consisting of quartz and well‐preserved feldspar grains which are also observed in older Cretaceous strata, indicate an arid climate and the mechanical weathering of Precambrian and Palaeozoic metamorphic sediments and felsic igneous rocks. Unroofing of much of the cover of sedimentary rocks in the Variscan Iberian Massif must therefore have taken place in pre‐Cretaceous times.     

Preservation of meandering river channels in uniformly aggrading channel belts

Channel belt deposits from meandering river systems commonly display an internal architecture of stacked depositional features with scoured basal contacts due to channel and bedform migration across a range of scales. Recognition and correct interpretation of these bounding surfaces is essential to reconstruction of palaeochannel dimensions and to flow modelling for hydrocarbon exploration. It is therefore crucial to understand the suite of processes that form and transfer these surfaces into the fluvial sedimentary record. Here, the numerical model ‘NAYS2D’ is used to simulate a highly sinuous meandering river with synthetic stratigraphic architectures that can be compared directly to the sedimentary record. Model results highlight the importance of spatial and temporal variations in channel depth and migration rate to the generation of channel and bar deposits. Addition of net uniform bed aggradation (due to excess sediment input) allows quantification of the preservation of meander morphology for a wide range of depositional conditions. The authors find that the effect of vertical variation in scouring due to channel migration is generally orders of magnitude larger than the effect of bed aggradation, which explains the limited impact bed aggradation has on preservation of meander morphology. Moreover, lateral differences in stratigraphy within the meander belt are much larger than the stratigraphic imprint of bed aggradation. Repeatedly produced alternations of point bar growth followed by cut‐off result in a vertical trend in channel and scour feature stacking. Importantly, this vertical stacking trend differs laterally within the meander belt. In the centre of the meander belt, the high reworking intensity results in many bounding surfaces and disturbed deposits. Closer to the margins, reworking is infrequent and thick deposits with a limited number of bounding surfaces are preserved. These marginal areas therefore have the highest preservation potential for complete channel deposits and are thus best suited for palaeochannel reconstruction.     

Interaction between aeolian, fluvial and playa environments in the Permian Upper Rotliegend Group, UK southern North Sea

The Permian Upper Rotliegend Group in offshore UK Quadrants 42, 43, 47 and 48 comprises a sequence of mixed aeolian/fluvial/playa deposits. These deposits are up to 300 m thick and contain a record of the interaction between desert fluvial systems and adjacent aeolian and playa environments. The relative dominance of water vs. wind transport and deposition in this stratigraphic package was a function of fluctuations in the discharge of ephemeral fluvial systems and changes in water table/playa level driven by a combination of climatic change and syndepositional tectonics. The Rotliegend sedimentary record is punctuated by numerous surfaces recording erosion by wind and water. The origin of these surfaces is mostly climatic, with periods of increased runoff resulting in fluvial incision, especially near active faults. During periods of reduced runoff, wind erosion of fluvial deposits occurred, with fluvially derived sand being reworked into expanding aeolian dune fields. Wind erosion also occurred as a rising water table isolated dunes from their sediment supply, resulting in deflation of dunes down to the water table. These surfaces formed in a basin that was subsiding. Thus, even in a background of overall increasing accommodation space, climatically driven falls in the water table allowed for periods of erosion. The occurrence of significant erosion, especially near syndepositional fault zones, resulted in a sedimentary record that shows pronounced lateral as well as vertical facies variations.     

Karst subsidence as a control on the accumulation and preservation of aeolian deposits: A Pleistocene example from a proglacial outwash setting,Ebro Basin,Spain

Meltwater flows emanating from the Pyrenees during the Pleistocene constructed a braided outwash plain in the Ebro Basin and led to the karstification of the Neogene gypsum bedrock. Synsedimentary evaporite dissolution locally increased subsidence rates and generated dolines and collapses that enabled the accumulation and preservation of outwash gravels and associated windblown deposits that were protected from erosion by later meltwater flows. In these localized depocentres, maximum rates of wind deceleration resulted from airflow expansion, enabling the accumulation of cross‐stratified sets of aeolian strata climbing at steep angles and thereby preserving up to 5 m thick sets. The outwash plain was characterized by longitudinal and transverse fluvial gravel bars, channels and windblown facies organized into aeolian sand sheets, transverse and complex aeolian dunes, and loess accumulations. Flat‐lying aeolian deposits merge laterally to partly deformed aeolian deposits encased in dolines and collapses. Synsedimentary evaporite dissolution caused gravels and aeolian sand deposits to subside, such that formerly near‐horizontal strata became inclined and generated multiple internal angular unconformities. During episodes when the wind was undersaturated with respect to its potential sand transporting capacity, deflation occurred over the outwash plain and coarse‐grained lags with ventifacts developed. Subsequent high‐energy flows episodically reached the aeolian dune field, leading to dune destruction and the generation of hyperconcentrated flow deposits composed in part of reworked aeolian sands. Lacustrine deposits in the distal part of the outwash plain preserve rhythmically laminated lutites and associated Gilbert‐type gravel deltas, which developed when fluvial streams reached proglacial lakes. This study documents the first evidence of an extensive Pleistocene proglacial aeolian dune field located in the Ebro Basin (41˙50° N), south of what has hitherto been considered to be the southern boundary of Pleistocene aeolian deposits in Europe. A non‐conventional mechanism (evaporite karst‐related subsidence) for the preservation of aeolian sands in the stratigraphic record is proposed.     

Periodic accumulation and destruction of aeolian erg sequences in the Permian Cedar Mesa Sandstone, White Canyon, southern Utah, USA

The Permian Cedar Mesa Sandstone represents the product of at least 12 separate aeolian erg sequences, each bounded by regionally extensive deflationary supersurfaces. Facies analysis of strata in the White Canyon area of southern Utah indicates that the preserved sequences represent erg‐centre accumulations of mostly dry, though occasionally water table‐influenced aeolian systems. Each sequence records a systematic sedimentary evolution, enabling phases of aeolian sand sea construction, accumulation, deflation and destruction to be discerned and related to a series of underlying controls. Sand sea construction is signalled by a transition from damp sandsheet, ephemeral lake and palaeosol deposition, through a phase of dry sandsheet deposition, to the development of thin, chaotically arranged aeolian dune sets. The onset of the main phase of sand sea accumulation is reflected by an upward transition to larger‐scale, ordered sets which represent the preserved product of climbing trains of sinuous‐crested transverse dunes with original downwind wavelengths of 300–400 m. Regularly spaced reactivation surfaces indicate periodic shifts in wind direction, which probably occurred seasonally. Compound co‐sets of cross strata record the oblique migration of superimposed slipfaced dunes over larger, slipfaceless draa. Each aeolian sequence is capped by a regionally extensive supersurface characterized by abundant calcified rhizoliths and bioturbation and which represents the end product of a widespread deflation episode whereby the accumulation surface was lowered close to the level of the water table as the sand sea was progressively cannibalized by winds that were undersaturated with respect to their potential carrying capacity. Aeolian sequence generation is considered to be directly attributable to cyclical changes in climate and related changes in sea level of probable glacio‐eustatic origin that characterize many Permo‐Carboniferous age successions. Sand sea construction and accumulation occurred during phases of increased aridity and lowered sea level, the main sand supply being former shallow marine shelf sediments that lay to the north‐west. Sand sea deflation and destruction would have commenced at, or shortly after, the time of maximum aridity as the available sand supply became exhausted. Restricted episodes of non‐aeolian accumulation would have occurred during humid (interglacial) phases, accumulation and preservation being enabled by slow rises in the relative water table. Subsidence analysis within the Paradox Basin, together with comparisons to other similar age successions suggests that the climatic cycles responsible for generating the Cedar Mesa erg sequences could be the product of 413 000 years so‐called long eccentricity cycles. By contrast, annual advance cycles within the aeolian dune sets indicate that the sequences themselves could have accumulated in just a few hundred years and therefore imply that the vast majority of time represented by the Cedar Mesa succession was reserved for supersurface development.     

Fluvial-aeolian interactions: Part I, modern systems

Two modern fluvial-aeolian depositional systems (Great Sand Dunes National Monument, Colorado and the Mojave River Wash, California) are remarkably similar in spite of different climates, sizes, fluvial sediment textures, and relative directions of aeolian and fluvial transport. Dune growth and migration, and deflation of blowouts create 8–10 m of local relief in unflooded aeolian landscapes. There are six prominent fluvial-aeolian interactions. (1) Fluvial flow extends into the aeolian system until it is dammed by aeolian landforms; (2) interdune areas (overbank-interdunes) upstream of aeolian dams, and alongside channels are flooded; (3) water erodes dunes alongside channels and interdunes; (4) flood waters deposit sediment in interdune areas; (5) fluvially derived groundwater floods interdunes (interdune-playas); (6) wind erodes fluvial sediment and redeposits it in the aeolian system. Unique and characteristic sediments are deposited in overbank-interdunes and in interdune-playas, reflecting alternate fluvial and aeolian processes and rapidly changing flow and salinity conditions. These fluvial-aeolian interdune deposits are characterized by irregular, concave-up bases and flat upper surfaces containing mudcracks or evaporite cement. Characteristic low-relief surfaces form in aeolian systems as an effect of flooding. Fluvial deposits are resistant to aeolian deflation. Aeolian sand is preserved when flood sediments are deposited around the bases of the dunes. Thus repetitive fluvial and aeolian aggradation tends to be ‘stepwise’ as interdune floors are suddenly raised during floods. The effects of flooding should be easy to recognize in ancient aeolianites, even beyond the area covered with overbank muds.     

Holocene aeolian development in Central Spain; chronology,regional correlations and causal processes

Extensive areas in the southern part of the Duero Tertiary Basin (Central Spain) are covered by aeolian sands. Presently, the aeolian system is relict but in its origin and development it can be described as a “wet aeolian system”. Climatic and environmental changes during the Holocene are typified by alternating humid and arid periods. These are recorded in the sedimentary record as either organic-rich sandy palaeosols or clean aeolian sand, respectively. Palaeosol dating (12 radiocarbon dated samples) and stratigraphical and sedimentological analysis of several dunefields in quarries and boreholes allow the distinction of four periods of palaeosol development since the Allerød.Aeolian sediments commonly rest on fluvial deposits, which were themselves the major source area for aeolian sands. These fluvial deposits have an age of about 14,000 cal yr BP. The first phase of aeolian activity postdates these fluvial sediments and has an upper age of about 12,000–11,700 cal yr BP, probably corresponding to the last cold oscillation of the Lateglacial (Younger Dryas). The second phase ranges from about 11,500 to 9500 cal yr BP, during which period the majority of dunes in the Tierra de Pinares area formed. This is also a major phase of aeolian activity in other areas of the Iberian Peninsula. A third and probably discontinuous phase of aeolian activity took place between 6800 and about 3000 cal yr BP. The age for this phase is supported by the presence of Visigothic burial sites covered by aeolian sands. The presence of charred material and degraded slipfaces clearly indicate stabilisation by vegetation and the final degradation of the aeolian system at the end of the fourth aeolian phase (990–540 cal yr BP). Minor aeolian activity has also occurred subsequently in this area, since aeolian sand movement was even reported in the 20th century.The aeolian phases can be tentatively correlated with aeolian phases in Europe. Aeolian activity tends to occur regionally during specific time-intervals, especially in dunefields with little human disturbance. This argues for a broad climatic forcing in Holocene aeolian accumulation, such has been previously suggested for the little ice age. The precise timing of these phases, however, is not strictly coincident, probably due to the delayed responses of aeolian environments to climatic and subsequent vegetation change.     

Stratigraphic evolution and preservation of aeolian dune and damp/wet interdune strata: an example from the Triassic Helsby Sandstone Formation, Cheshire Basin, UK

Abstract New and previously published models of wet aeolian system evolution form a spectrum of types that may be explained in terms of aeolian dune dynamics, rate of water table rise and/or periodicity of interdune flooding. This is illustrated with an example from the Mid‐Triassic (Anisian) Helsby Sandstone Formation, Cheshire, UK. Lenses of damp and wet interdune strata exhibit an intertonguing, transitional relationship with the toe‐sets of overlying aeolian dune units. This signifies dune migration that was contemporaneous with water table‐controlled accumulation in adjacent interdunes. Downwind changes in the geometry and facies of the interdune units indicate periodic expansion and contraction of the interdunes in response to changes in the elevation of the groundwater table and episodic flooding, during which accumulation of dune strata continued relatively uninterrupted. This contrasts with other models for accumulation in wet aeolian systems where interdune flooding is associated with a cessation in aeolian bedform climbing and the formation of a bypass or erosional supersurface. Architectural panels document the detailed stratigraphy in orientations both parallel and perpendicular to aeolian transport direction, enabling a quantitative three‐dimensional reconstruction of genetically related aeolian dune and interdune elements. Sets of aeolian dune strata are composed of grainflow and translatent wind‐ripple strata and are divided by a hierarchy of bounding surfaces originating from oblique migration of superimposed dunes over slipfaceless, sinuous‐crested parent bedforms, together with lee‐slope reactivation under non‐equilibrium flow conditions. Silty‐mudstone and sandstone interdune units are characterized by wind ripple‐, wavy‐ and subaqueous wave ripple‐laminae, desiccation cracks, mud flakes, raindrop imprints, load casts, flutes, intraformational rip‐up clasts and vertebrate and invertebrate footprint impressions and trackways. These units result from accumulation on a substrate that varied from dry‐ through damp‐ to wet‐surface conditions. Interdune ponds were flooded by either fluvial incursions or rises in groundwater table and were periodically subject to gradual desiccation and reflooding. Red silty‐mudstone beds of subaqueous origin pass laterally into horizontally laminated wind‐ripple beds indicating a progressive transition from wet‐ through damp‐ to dry‐surface conditions within a single interdune.     

Sedimentology of an ancient erg margin: the Lower Jurassic Aztec Sandstone, southern Nevada and southern California

The Lower Jurassic Aztec Sandstone is an aeolian-deposited quartzose sandstone that represents the western margin of the southerly-migrating Navajo-Nugget sand sea (or erg). Vertical and lateral facies relations suggest that the erg margin encroached upon volcanic highlands, alluvial fan, wadi and sabkha environments. In southern Nevada, 700 m thick facies successions record the arrival of the Aztec sand sea. Initial erg sedimentation in the Valley of Fire consists of lenticular or tongue-shaped aeolian sand bodies interstratified with fluvially-deposited coarse sandstone and mudstone. Above, evaporite-rich fine sandstone and mudstone are overlain by thick, cross-stratified aeolian sandstone that shows an upsection increase in set thickness. The lithofacies succession represents aeolian sand sheets and small dunes that migrated over a siliciclastic sabkha traversed by ephemeral wadis. These deposits were ultimately buried by large dunes and draas of the erg. In the Spring Mountains, a similar facies succession also contains thin, lenticular volcaniclastic conglomerate and sandstone. These sediments represent the distal margin of an alluvial fan complex sourced from the west. Thin aeolian sequences are interbedded with volcanic flow rocks, ash-flow tuffs, debris flows, and fluvial deposits in the Mojave Desert of southern California. These aeolian strata represent erg migration up the eastern flanks of a magmatic arc. The westward diminution of aeolian-deposited units may reflect incomplete erg migration, thin accumulation of aeolian sediment succeptible to erosion, and stratigraphic dilution by arc-derived sediment. A two-part division of the Aztec erg is suggested by lithofacies associations, the size and geometry of aeolian cross-strata, and sediment dispersal data. The leading or downwind margin of the erg, here termed the fore-erg, is represented by a 10–100 m thick succession of isolated pods, lenses, and tongues of aeolian-deposited sediment encased in fluvial and sabkha deposits. Continued sand-sea migration brought large dunes and draas of the erg interior into the study area; these 150–500 m thick central-erg sediments buried the fore-erg deposits. The trailing, upwind margin of the erg is represented by back-erg deposits in northern Utah and Wyoming.     

Architecture and morphodynamics of a 1·6 Ga fluvial sandstone: Ellice Formation of Elu Basin,Arctic Canada

Precambrian fluvial deposits have been traditionally described as architecturally simple, forming shallow and wide braidplains with sheet‐like geometry. The varied architecture and morphodynamics of the 1·6 Ga Ellice Formation of Elu Basin, Nunavut, Canada, are examined from detailed studies of section and planform exposures along coastal platforms and stepped cliffs. The Ellice Formation overlies older Proterozoic sandstones and Archean crystalline rocks, recording sedimentation in fluvial, aeolian, coastal and nearshore‐marine environments. The fluvial deposits display palaeoflow towards the west/north‐west, while overlying shallow‐marine deposits record transgression towards the east/south‐east. The Ellice Formation displays dispersed palaeoflow at its base, and also at higher stratigraphic levels, where fluvial and aeolian deposits are associated. Elsewhere, mainly unimodal palaeoflow points to extensive low‐sinuosity fluvial deposition. Within the terrestrial deposits, fluvial, fluvial–aeolian and coastal architectural elements are recognized. Fluvial elements comprise cross‐bedded sandstone and minor conglomerate, exhibiting an overall fining‐upward trend with associated decrease in preservation, dimension and amalgamation of channel bodies. These motifs are interpreted to portray a shift in depositional environment from proximal trunk rivers to distal alluvial plains. Low‐sinuosity fluvial elements are the most common, and include major channel bodies, elongate side bars and mid‐channel bars with well‐developed scroll topography. High‐sinuosity channel‐bar complexes exhibit upbar‐flow rotation and yield evidence of bar expansion coupled with rotation and translation. Fluvial–aeolian elements are composed of aeolian dunes juxtaposed with isolated channel bodies and bank‐attached bars. Minor mixed fluvial–aeolian sheets record local deposition in unconfined settings (possibly floodbasins) or inter‐distributary highlands. Finally, coastal elements comprise small deltaic complexes composed of sand‐rich distributary‐channel bodies feeding heterolithic mouth bars. Overall, the sedimentary record of the Ellice Formation demonstrates an example from the Precambrian where alluvium was locally characterized by a higher geomorphic variability than previously recognized.     

青海共和盆地多石在沟河道沙丘现代风水交互过程

选择青海共和盆地多石在沟河道中6道新月形沙丘链作为研究对象,采用Trimble4700DGPS与常规测量手段,结合野外风沙观测与自动气象站数据,初步观测分析了2006年多石在沟河道沙丘在不同季节的形态变化过程,计算出2006年风季前比雨季后多石在沟河道沙丘体积减小了548.3m³,风积量为2351m³,流水的蚀平量为2899m³,2006年风水两相营力对河道沙丘的侵蚀贡献率约为45%∶55%,流水的搬运作用强于风力的堆积作用。但从较长的时间尺度来看,研究区的风力侵蚀作用强于流水侵蚀作用,河道沙丘不断增大。多石在沟河道沙丘是一个典型的风水交互作用系统,河道成为风力与流水交互作用的"中转站",在风水的交替作用下,沉积物由风积环境进入流水环境中。     

Why deposits of longitudinal dunes are rarely recognized in the geologic record

Dunes that are morphologically of linear type, many of which are probably of longitudinal type in a morphodynamic sense, are common in modern deserts, but their deposits are rarely identified in aeolian sandstones. One reason for non-recognition of such dunes is that they can migrate laterally when they are not exactly parallel to the long-term sand-transport direction, thereby depositing cross-strata that have unimodal cross-bed dip directions and consequently resemble deposits of transverse dunes. Dune-parallel components of sand transport can be recognized in ancient aeolian sands by examining compound cross-bedding formed by small dunes that migrated across the lee slopes of large dunes and documenting that the small dunes migrated with a component in a preferred along-crest direction over the large dunes.     

裂谷作用对层序地层充填样式的控制——以西非裂谷系Termit盆地下白垩统为例

Termit盆地位于尼日尔东南部,属于西非裂谷系的北延部分,是发育于前寒武系—侏罗系基底之上的中、新生代裂谷盆地。该盆地早白垩世—古近纪经历了"裂谷—坳陷—裂谷"的构造演化过程及"陆相—海相—陆相"的沉积演化过程,表现为晚白垩世大规模海侵、早白垩世和古近纪两期裂谷叠置的特点。基于构造作用影响裂谷盆地层序发育的观点,分析了Termit盆地下白垩统裂谷阶段内的层序地层充填样式。根据裂谷作用的强弱,将早白垩世裂谷阶段划分为裂谷初始期、裂谷深陷期及裂谷萎缩期3个阶段。裂谷初始期层序断裂活动弱,构造沉降小,长轴物源体系较为发育,陡坡带为加积至退积型河流或三角洲沉积,缓坡带发育加积型河流或三角洲体系。裂谷深陷期层序断裂活动强烈,构造沉降大,陡坡带形成退积型水下扇或滑塌扇沉积,缓坡带发育退积型三角洲体系,盆地中心为泥岩充填。裂谷萎缩期层序断裂活动减弱并趋于停止,陡坡带为进积型扇三角洲沉积,缓坡带发育进积型三角洲体系。研究表明:裂谷作用对层序地层充填样式具有明显的控制作用,以构造作用为主线的裂谷盆地层序地层分析方法,能有效预测沉积体系和储层分布。