Architecture of vertically stacked fluvial deposits,Atane Formation,Cretaceous, Nuussuaq,central West Greenland

Excellent exposures of thick, multistorey, fluvial deposits from the deltaic Atane Formation on south‐east Nuussuaq, central West Greenland, show the architecture of up to 100 m thick continuously aggrading fluvial depositional complexes. The succession comprises vertically stacked channel belt sandstones separated by thin floodplain deposits, with little to no incision between storeys. Architectural elements and palaeocurrent patterns of channel deposits indicate deposition in large, relatively stable, low‐sinuosity rivers, probably located within an incised valley. Gradual transitions from channel to floodplain deposits accompanied by a gradual change from floodplain to spillover sand suggest avulsion on the floodplain as a possible mechanism for the vertically alternating channel and floodplain deposits. Despite its relative proximity to contemporaneous sea‐level (ca 35 km upstream from the palaeo‐shoreline) the depositional complex is entirely non‐marine. The aggrading nature of the deposits suggests a continuously rising base level coupled with a high and steady sediment supply. Vertical alternations between floodplain and channel deposits may be forced by subtle interruptions in this balance or autocyclic mechanisms on the floodplain. This study provides an example of aggrading lowstand/non‐marine transgressive systems tract deposits.     

Development of an incised valley‐fill at an evolving rift margin: Pleistocene eustasy and tectonics on the southern side of the Gulf of Corinth,Greece

This study from the southern margin of the Gulf of Corinth documents a Late Pleistocene incised valley‐fill succession that differs from the existing facies models, because it comprises gravelly shoal‐water and Gilbert‐type deltaic deposits, shows strong wave influence and lacks evidence of tidal activity. The valley‐fill is at least 140 m thick, formed in 50 to 100 ka between the interglacials Marine Isotope Stage 9a and Marine Isotope Stage 7c. The relative sea‐level rise left its record both inside and outside the incised valley, and the age of the valley‐fill is estimated from a U/Th date of coral‐bearing deposits directly outside the palaeovalley outlet. Tectonic up‐warping due to formation of a valley‐parallel structural relay ramp contributed to the valley segmentation and limited the landward extent of marine invasions. The valley segment upstream of the ramp crest was filled with a gravelly alluvium, whereas the downstream segment accumulated fluvio‐deltaic deposits. The consecutive deltaic systems nucleated in the ramp‐crest zone, forming a bathymetric gradient that promoted the ultimate growth of thick Gilbert‐type delta. The case study contributes to the spectrum of conceptual models for incised valley‐fill architecture. Four key models are discussed with reference to the rates of sediment supply and accommodation development, and it is pointed out that not only similarity, but also all departures of particular field cases from these end‐member models may provide valuable information on the system formative conditions. The Akrata incised valley‐fill represents conditions of high sediment supply and a rapid, but stepwise development of accommodation that resulted from the spatiotemporal evolution of normal faulting at the rift margin and overprinted glacioeustatic signals. This study adds to an understanding of valley‐fill architecture and provides new insights into the Pleistocene tectonics and palaeogeography of the Corinth Rift margin.     

Inherited basement canyons: Impact on sediment distribution in the North Atlantic

Studies of basement‐bounded canyons in West Greenland show that these were long‐lasting features that extended inland for several hundreds of kilometres, acting as prominent sediment conduits sourcing the Albian–Palaeocene Nuussuaq Basin during several phases of basin evolution. The Ilulissat Icefjord canyon was the major conduit for sediment into the basin and provenance data indicate that it had a huge catchment area that extended to East Greenland. The Uparuaqqusuitsut canyon was also an important conduit for sediment in the northern part of the basin. It is suggested that the initial canyon formation occurred during uplift events in the Late Triassic and Late Jurassic when the deeply weathered basement surface formed during Early–Middle Triassic time was eroded. The recognition of these canyons as long‐lasting sediment conduits have huge implications for understanding the sediment distribution, source‐to‐sink studies and the palaeogeography of the North Atlantic basins.     

Relationships between high‐magnitude relative sea‐level changes and filling of a coarse‐grained submarine canyon (Pleistocene,Ionian Calabria,Southern Italy)

A middle Pleistocene coarse‐grained canyon fill succession (the Serra Mulara Formation) crops out in the northern sector of the Crotone Basin, a forearc basin located on the Ionian side of the Calabrian Arc and active from the Serravallian to middle Pleistocene. This succession is an example of coarse‐grained submarine canyon fill, which consists of a north‐west to south‐east elongated body (4·25 km long and up to 1·5 km wide) laterally confined by a deep‐water clayey and silty succession and located behind the modern Neto delta (north of Crotone). The thickness of the unit reaches 178 m. The lower part of the canyon fill is dominated by gravelly to sandy density‐flow deposits containing abundant bivalve and gastropod fragments, passing upward into a succession composed of metre‐scale to decimetre‐scale density‐flow deposits forming sandstone–mudstone couplets. Sandstone deposits are mostly structureless and planar‐laminated, whereas the clayey layers record hemipelagic deposition during quieter phases. This succession is overlain by another composed of thicker structureless sandstones alternating with layers of interlaminated mudstones and sandstones, which contain leaf remnants and fresh water ostracods, and are linked directly to river floods. The canyon fill is overlain by gravelly to sandy continental deposits recording a later stage of emergence. Facies analysis, together with micropalaeontological data from the hemipelagic units, suggests that the studied canyon fill records, firstly, a progressive gravel material cut‐off during deposition due to an overall relative sea‐level rise, leading to a progressive increase in the entrapment of sediment in fluvial to shallow‐marine systems, and secondly, a generalized relative sea‐level lowering. This trend probably reflects high‐magnitude glacio‐eustatic changes combined with the regional uplift of the region, ultimately leading to emergence.     

A geomorphological approach to determining the Neogene to Recent tectonic deformation in the Coastal Cordillera of northern Chile (Atacama)

The large (≈10000 km²) and local-scale (<400 km²) geomorphologic, geomorphometric and field evidence indicates that, from the mid-Miocene onwards, the Atacama Fault System (AFS) accommodated the relative uplift of the western side of the Chilean Coastal Cordillera of the Chañaral region (southern Atacama Desert). The mean regional altitude systematically decreases eastwards crossing the AFS, independent of the lithological characteristics of the substratum cut by this system of faults. Topographic analysis reveals a more incised landscape west of the AFS that, at the local scale, is reported by the distribution of the altitudes (hypsometric curves and integrals) of tributary basins and by the presence of terraces. In the Middle and Upper Miocene, a thick (>300 m) sedimentary succession was deposited east of the AFS. The succession fills previously deep paleovalleys. And it consists of gravel, so-called “Atacama Gravels”, which passes laterally into fine-grained playa related deposits near the AFS. We interpret the deposition of this succession as a result of a blocking closure of the valley flowing from the Precordillera due to the activity on AFS. A pedimentation episode followed sediment deposition and is locally strongly re-incised by the main modern-day river valleys draining the Precordillera. Incision may result from either regional uplift of the forearc, and/or from more localized activity on the AFS. Furthermore, Recent (Quaternary?) tectonic activity on the AFS has been observed which is consistent with a localized relative uplift of the crustal block west of the AFS.     

Allogenic and autogenic controls on facies and stratigraphic architecture of the Lower Jurassic Mashabba Formation,Gebel Al-Maghara,North Sinai,Egypt

The Lower Jurassic Mashabba Formation crops out in the core of the doubly plunging Al-Maghara anticline, North Sinai, Egypt. It represents a marine to terrestrial succession deposited within a rift basin associated with the opening of the Neotethys. Despite being one of the best and the only exposed Lower Jurassic strata in Egypt, its sedimentological and sequence stratigraphic framework has not been addressed yet. The formation is subdivided informally into a lower and upper member with different depositional settings and sequence stratigraphic framework. The sedimentary facies of the lower member include shallow-marine, fluvial, tidal flat and incised valley fill deposits. In contrast, the upper member consists of strata with limited lateral extension including fossiliferous lagoonal limestones alternating with burrowed deltaic sandstones. The lower member contains three incomplete sequences (SQ1-SQ3). The depositional framework shows transgressive middle shoreface to offshore transition deposits sharply overlain by forced regressive upper shoreface sandstones (SQ1), lowstand fluvial to transgressive tidal flat and shallow subtidal sandy limestones (SQ2), and lowstand to transgressive incised valley fills and shallow subtidal sandy limestones (SQ3). In contrast, the upper member consists of eight coarsening-up depositional cycles bounded by marine flooding surfaces. The cycles are classified as carbonate-dominated, siliciclastic-dominated, and mixed siliciclastic-carbonate. The strata record rapid changes in accommodation space. The unpredictable facies stacking pattern, the remarkable rapid facies changes, and chaotic stratigraphic architecture suggest an interplay between allogenic and autogenic processes. Particularly syndepositional tectonic pulses and occasional eustatic sea-level changes controlled the rate and trends of accommodation space, the shoreline morphology, the amount and direction of siliciclastic sediment input and rapid switching and abandonment of delta systems.     

Stratigraphic organization and predictability of mixed coarse‐grained and fine‐grained successions in an upper slope Pleistocene turbidite system of the Peri‐Adriatic basin

The early Pleistocene clastic succession of the Peri‐Adriatic basin, eastern central Italy, records the filling of a series of piggyback sub‐basins that formed in response to the development of the eastward‐verging Apennine fold‐thrust belt. During the Gelasian (2·588 to 1·806 Ma), large volumes of Apennine‐derived sediments were routed to these basins through a number of slope turbidite systems. Using a comprehensive outcrop‐based dataset, the current study documents the depositional processes, stratigraphic organization, foraminiferal age and palaeodepth, and stratigraphic evolution of one of these systems exposed in the surroundings of the Castignano village. Analysis of foraminiferal assemblages consistently indicates Gelasian deposition in upper bathyal water depths. Sediments exposed in the study area can be broken into seven main lithofacies, reflecting specific gravity‐induced depositional elements and slope background deposition: (i) clast‐supported conglomerates (conglomerate channel‐fill); (ii) amalgamated sandstones (late stage sandstone channel‐fill); (iii) medium to thick‐bedded tabular sandstones (frontal splay sandstones); (iv) thin to thick‐bedded channelized sandstones (sandy channel‐fill); (v) medium to very thin‐bedded sandstones and mudstones (levée‐overbank deposits); (vi) pebbly mudstones and chaotic beds (mudstone‐rich mass‐transport deposits); and (vii) massive mudstones (hemipelagic deposits). Individual lithofacies combine vertically and laterally to form decametre‐scale, disconformably bounded, fining‐upward lithofacies successions that, in turn, stack to form slope valley fills bounded by deeply incised erosion surfaces. A hierarchical approach to the physical stratigraphy of the slope system indicates that it has evolved through multiple cycles of waxing then waning flow energy at multiple scales and that its packaging can be described in terms of a six‐fold hierarchy of architectural elements and bounding surfaces. In this scheme, the whole system (sixth‐order element) is comprised of three distinct fifth‐order stratigraphic cycles (valley fills), which define sixth‐order initiation, growth and retreat phases of slope deposition, respectively; they are separated by discrete periods of entrenchment that generated erosional valleys interpreted to record fifth‐order initiation phases. Backfilling of individual valleys progressed through deposition of two vertically stacked lithofacies successions (fourth‐order elements), which record fifth‐order growth and retreat phases. Fourth‐order initiation phases are represented by erosional surfaces bounding lithofacies successions. The component lithofacies (third‐order element) record fourth‐order growth and retreat phases. Map trends of erosional valleys and palaeocurrent indicators converge to indicate that the sea floor bathymetric expression of a developing thrust‐related anticline markedly influenced the downslope transport direction of gravity currents and was sufficient to cause a major diversion of the turbidite system around the growing structure. This field‐based study permits the development of a sedimentological model that predicts the evolutionary style of mixed coarse‐grained and fine‐grained turbidite slope systems, the internal distribution of reservoir and non‐reservoir lithofacies within them, and has the potential to serve as an analogue for seismic or outcrop‐based studies of slope valley fills developed in actively deforming structural settings and under severe icehouse regimes.     

Late‐glacial to Holocene depositional architecture of the Ombrone palaeovalley system (Southern Tuscany,Italy): Sea‐level,climate and local control in valley‐fill variability

The Ombrone palaeovalley was incised during the last glacial sea‐level fall and was infilled during the subsequent Late‐glacial to Holocene transgression. A detailed sedimentological and stratigraphic study of two cores along the palaeovalley axis led to reconstruction of the post‐Last Glacial Maximum valley‐fill history. Stratigraphic correlations show remarkable similarity in the Late‐glacial to early‐Holocene succession, but discrepancy in the Holocene portion of the valley fill. Above the palaeovalley floor, about 60 m below sea‐level, Late‐glacial sedimentation is recorded by an unusually thick alluvial succession dated back to ca 18 cal kyr bp . The Holocene onset was followed by the retrogradational shift from alluvial to coastal facies. In seaward core OM1, the transition from inner to outer estuarine environments marks the maximum deepening of the system. By comparison, in landward core OM2, the emplacement of estuarine conditions was interrupted by renewed continental sedimentation. Swamp to lacustrine facies, stratigraphically equivalent to the fully estuarine facies of core OM1, represent the proximal expression of the maximum flooding zone. This succession reflects location in a confined segment of the valley, just landward of the confluence with a tributary valley. It is likely that sudden sediment input from the tributary produced a topographic threshold, damming the main valley course and isolating its landward segment from the sea. The seaward portion of the Ombrone palaeovalley presents the typical estuarine backfilling succession of allogenically controlled incised valleys. In contrast, in the landward portion of the system, local dynamics completely overwhelmed the sea‐level signal, following marine ingression. This study highlights the complexity of palaeovalley systems, where local morphologies, changes in catchment areas, drainage systems and tributary valleys may produce facies patterns significantly different from the general stratigraphic organization depicted by traditional sequence‐stratigraphic models.     

Geomorphic expression of the southern Central Andes forebulge (37°S,Argentina)

We present a geomorphologic analysis of an east‐west transect located east of the southern Andes of Argentina (~37°S). We observe a succession of zones that underwent erosion and deposition during the Pleistocene. If the proximal Andean foothills are incised, a proximal depozone receives sediments feeding the megafan of the Rio Colorado on the Chadileuvú plain. More distally, the abandoned palaeo‐valleys and bending of the valley floors reflect a localized uplift. Further to the east, another depozone corresponds to the Pampa Deprimida lowland. This pattern is consistent with the presence of a classical flexural geometry of the lithosphere. The distal uplift of the foreland corresponds in terms of location, length (150 km) and amplitude (240 m) to the Andean forebulge modelled by a geophysical approach. In this study, we identify the morphological imprint of this bulge and show its effect on the fluvial activity.     

东濮凹陷两种新储层类型——沙河街组河口湾体系的识别与储层预测

东濮凹陷沙河街组河口湾环境发育的最初征兆是出现震积岩（Seismites）和水下脱水收缩裂隙（Synaeresis）,预示其基底有构造性下沉,海水在间歇性地灌入,接着淡水介形类开始大量死亡。与海水有关的生物痕迹如Ophiomorpha、Tigillites屡屡出现,说明此时此地淡水水体已被河口湾咸水水体所取代,最后剖面中见到滨海高能环境下的生物痕迹Arenicolites和鲕粒砂岩、介壳碎屑层等,指示潮道和潮汐坝的存在。至此,这一地区的河口湾以陆相（分流河道）－陆海混合相（河口湾点坝）－海相（潮道）为代表的三元结构,便完整地记录了一次海面升降周期。由陆相动物活动痕迹、植物活动痕迹和古土壤识别出的陆相部分在沙河街组有10层（开31井）,由海相生物痕迹、海相生物及海相内源沉积物识别出的海相部分有12层（开31井、新胡4井）,说明沙河街组沉积期曾有过10次以上的海面升降过程。海面下降时,河流沿兰聊断裂和内黄凸起间断裂谷地侵蚀切割两岸形成可容空间;海面上升期,此可容空间部分或全部被不同类型的沉积物所充填,形成了分流河道、河口湾点坝砂为代表的下切谷型储层和以潮道、滩坝砂体为代表的超覆型储层。     

Evolution of an incised valley coastal plain estuary under low sediment supply: a ‘give‐up’ estuary

The literature on incised river valley sedimentology is dominated by studies of sediment‐rich systems in which the valley has been filled during and/or shortly after drowning. In contrast, the Holocene evolution of the Kosi Lagoon, South Africa (an incised coastal plain river valley) took place under very low sedimentation rates which have produced a distinctive stratigraphy and contemporary sedimentary environments. The findings are based on a synthesis of the results of studies of seismic stratigraphy, sediment distribution, morphodynamics and geomorphology. Barrier migration was prevented by a high pre‐Holocene dune barrier against which Holocene coastal deposits accumulated in an aggradational sequence. Holocene evolution of the back barrier involved: (i) drowning of the incised valley; (ii) wave‐induced modification of the back‐barrier shoreline leading to segmentation during the highstand; and (iii) marine sedimentation adjacent to the tidal inlet. Segmentation has divided the estuary into a series of geochemically and sedimentologically distinctive basins connected by channels in the estuarine barriers. The seismic stratigraphy of the back barrier essentially lacks a transgressive systems tract, shoreline modification and deposition having been accomplished during the highstand. The lack of historical geomorphological change suggests that the system has achieved morphological equilibrium with ambient energy conditions and low sediment supply. This study presents a classification for estuarine incised valley fills based on the balance between sea‐level rise and sedimentation in which Kosi represents a ‘give‐up’ estuary where much of the relict incised channel form is drowned and preserved. It exhibits a fundamentally different set of evolutionary processes and stratigraphic sequences to those of the better known incised valley systems in which sedimentation either keeps pace with sea‐level (‘keep‐up’ estuaries) or occurs after initial drowning (‘catch‐up’ estuaries).     

Late Quaternary multiple incised valley systems: An unusually well‐preserved stratigraphic record of two interglacial valley‐fill successions from the Arno Plain (northern Tuscany,Italy)

Un‐fragmented stratigraphic records of late Quaternary multiple incised valley systems are rarely preserved in the subsurface of alluvial‐delta plains due to older valley reoccupation. The identification of a well‐preserved incised valley fill succession beneath the southern interfluve of the Last Glacial Maximum Arno palaeovalley (northern Italy) represents an exceptional opportunity to examine in detail evolutionary trends of a Mediterranean system over multiple glacial–interglacial cycles. Through sedimentological and quantitative meiofauna (benthic foraminifera and ostracods) analyses of two reference cores (80 m and 100 m long) and stratigraphic correlations, a mid‐Pleistocene palaeovalley, 5 km wide and 50 m deep, was reconstructed. Whereas valley filling is chronologically constrained to the penultimate interglacial (Marine Isotope Stage 7) by four electron spin resonance ages on bivalve shells (Cerastoderma glaucum), its incision is tentatively correlated with the Marine Isotope Stage 8 sea‐level fall. Above basal fluvial‐channel gravels, the incised valley fill is formed by a mud‐prone succession, up to 44 m thick, formed by a lower floodplain unit and an upper unit with brackish meiofauna that reflects the development of a wave‐dominated estuary. Subtle meiofauna changes towards less confined conditions record two marine flooding episodes, chronologically linked to the internal Marine Isotope Stage 7 climate‐eustatic variability. After the maximum transgressive phase, recorded by coastal sands, the interfluves were flooded around 200 ka (latest Marine Isotope Stage 7). The subsequent shift in river incision patterns, possibly driven by neotectonic activity, prevented valley reoccupation guiding the northward formation of the Last Glacial Maximum palaeovalley. The applied multivariate approach allowed the sedimentological characterization of the Marine Isotope Stage 7 and Marine Isotope Stage 1 palaeovalley fills, including shape, size and facies architecture, which revealed a consistent river‐coastal system response over two non‐consecutive glacial–interglacial cycles (Marine Isotope Stages 8 to 7 and Marine Isotope Stages 2 to 1). The recurring stacking pattern of facies documents a predominant control exerted on stratigraphy by Milankovitch and sub‐Milankovitch glacio‐eustatic oscillations across the late Quaternary period.     

Submarine origin for the Neoproterozoic Wonoka canyons,South Australia

An examination of the deeply incised Ediacaran Wonoka canyons in the Adelaide Geosyncline (most recently interpreted as subaerial valleys) demonstrates their submarine origin, and confirms them as some of the best examples of ancient outcropping submarine canyons in the world. The entire canyon-fill succession is interpreted to be of deep-water (below wave base) origin, consisting of calcareous shale and siltstone together with a variety of mass-flow deposits including turbidites, grain flows and debris flows. The canyon fill lacks definitive shallow-water structures (e.g. mud cracks, fenestral fabrics or wave ripples) at all stratigraphic levels. Canyon-lining carbonate crusts that have previously been interpreted as non-marine calcretes or tufas (and used to suggest a non-marine origin for the canyons) are argued to be of deep-water, marine, microbial origin. Extremely negative carbon isotope values from the canyon-fill and canyon-lining crusts have a primary marine origin. Previously interpreted deepening upward trends in the canyon fill (used as evidence of a subaerial erosion episode followed by drowning) are suggested to be fining upward trends, caused by the transition from canyon cutting to canyon filling, with the majority of the fill being of deep-water slope origin. The basal conglomeratic canyon-fill sediments represent the last vestiges of the high-energy, deep-water, canyon-erosion environment in which the incisions formed. A deep-water origin for the canyons is consistent with all previous stratigraphic observations of the Wonoka canyons, including the conspicuous lack of regional unconformities in the lower Wonoka Formation, and their emanation from the deep-water facies of the Wonoka Formation. A submarine canyon origin also removes the need for extreme (~ 1 km) relative sea level fluctuation and associated problems (i.e. an enclosed basin with Messinian-style evaporative drawdown or thermal uplift above a migrating mantle plume) required by the subaerial valley hypotheses.     

Late Quaternary valley-fill succession of the Lower Tagus Valley, Portugal

The Lower Tagus Valley in Portugal contains a well-developed valley-fill succession covering the complete Late Pleistocene and Holocene periods. As large-scale stratigraphic and chronologic frameworks of the Lower Tagus Valley are not yet available, this paper describes facies, facies distribution, and sedimentary architecture of the late Quaternary valley fill. Twenty four radiocarbon ages provide a detailed chronological framework. Local factors affected the nature and architecture of the incised valley-fill succession. The valley is confined by pre-Holocene deposits and is connected with a narrow continental shelf. This configuration facilitated deep incision, which prevented large-scale marine flooding and erosion. Consequently a thick lowstand systems tract has been preserved. The unusually thick lowstand systems tract was probably formed in a previously (30,000–20,000 cal BP) incised narrow valley, when relative sea-level fall was maximal. The lowstand deposits were preserved due to subsequent rapid early Holocene relative sea-level rise and transgression, when tidal and marine environments migrated inland (transgressive systems tract). A constant sea level in the middle to late Holocene, and continuous fluvial sediment supply, caused rapid bayhead delta progradation (highstand systems tract). This study shows that the late Quaternary evolution of the Lower Tagus Valley is determined by a narrow continental shelf and deep glacial incision, rapid post-glacial relative sea-level rise, a wave-protected setting, and large fluvial sediment supply.     

Vertically stacked Gilbert-type deltas of Ventimiglia (NW Italy): The Pliocene record of an overfilled Messinian incised valley

Overfilled incised valleys develop when the rate of sediment supply outpaces the rate of accommodation. An overfilled incised valley presents simple or compound valley-fill architecture, depending on the depth of the valley incision, compared with the height reached by the following sea-level rise.The Ventimiglia incised valley, exposed on the Ligurian coast, north-western Mediterranean margin, presents a spectacular example of compound incised-valley fill, developed in perennial “overfill” conditions. The valley was subaerially incised during the Messinian Salinity Crisis and rapidly flooded by the sea at the beginning of Pliocene, then filled by eleven coarse-grained Gilbert-type deltas during Early–Middle Pliocene time.The basal Messinian unconformity is locally paved with subaerial scree breccias and bioclastic shallow-marine sandstones, and blanketed by bathyal marls. These deposits record the lowstand, transgressive and early-highstand systems tracts of the first valley-fill sequence. The subsequent progradation of Gilbert-type deltas occurred in four stages, or depositional sequences, separated by transgressive marine-marl intervals. Within each depositional sequence, the deltaic bodies display offlapping architecture, recording falling shoreline trajectory, downward shifts in facies, and overall forced regression. The water depth and accommodation in the inundated coastal valley was gradually decreasing with time. The reduced accommodation allowed the youngest deltas to prograde out to the shelf edge, triggering mass collapses and subsequent filling into the newly created slump scars. Some of the deltas probably acted as “canyon-perched deltas” and supplied sediment to the deep-water slope and floor of the Ligurian Basin.The vertical stacking of Gilbert-type deltas is usually attributed, in tectonically active basins, to fault-related subsidence pulses. In Ventimiglia, the accommodation was created by high-frequency eustatic sea-level rises that, probably accompanied by climate controlled reductions in sediment supply, temporarily outpaced uplift, leading to the development of multiple cycles of infill.     

Geological controls on the geometry of incised‐valley fills: Insights from a global dataset of late‐Quaternary examples

Incised valleys that develop due to relative sea‐level change are common features of continental shelves and coastal plains. Assessment of the factors that control the geometry of incised‐valley fills has hitherto largely relied on conceptual, experimental or numerical models, else has been grounded on case studies of individual depositional systems. Here, a database‐driven statistical analysis of 151 late‐Quaternary incised‐valley fills has been performed, the aim being to investigate the geological controls on their geometry. Results of this analysis have been interpreted with consideration of the role of different processes in determining the geometry of incised‐valley fills through their effect on the degree and rate of river incision, and on river size and mobility. The studied incised‐valley fills developed along active margins are thicker and wider, on average, than those along passive margins, suggesting that tectonic setting exerts a control on the geometry of incised‐valley fills, probably through effects on relative sea‐level change and river behaviour, and in relation to distinct characteristics of basin physiography, water discharge and modes of sediment delivery. Valley‐fill geometry is positively correlated with the associated drainage‐basin size, confirming the dominant role of water discharge. Climate is also inferred to exert a potential control on valley‐fill dimensions, possibly through modulations of temperature, peak precipitation, vegetation and permafrost, which would in turn affect water discharge, rates of sediment supply and valley‐margin stability. Shelves with slope breaks that are currently deeper than 120 m contain incised‐valley fills that are thicker and wider, on average, than those hosted on shelves with breaks shallower than 120 m. No correlation exists between valley‐fill thickness and present‐day coastal‐prism convexity, which is measured as the difference in gradient between lower coastal plains and inner shelves. These findings challenge some concepts embedded in sequence stratigraphic thinking, and have significant implications for analysis and improved understanding of ‘source to sink’ sediment route‐ways, and for attempting predictions of the occurrence and characteristics of hydrocarbon reservoirs.     

松辽盆地盆西斜坡白垩系姚家组下切谷充填结构

白垩纪青山口组沉积末期至姚家组沉积初期,松辽盆地发生了湖平面大幅度下降,湖区大规模萎缩,形成了SSQq-qn和SSQy-n之间的二级层序界面.这一时期,西部斜坡普遍暴露,缺失了三级层序SQqn4和SQy1地层,并在齐齐哈尔古水系的作用下在西部斜坡的北部形成了下切谷.下切谷长约70km,宽约20km,呈NW-SE延伸.在SQy23层序水进域,下切谷逐渐被充填.下切谷发育区SQy23水进域的地层厚度明显高于相邻区域,在沉积走向上的高地层厚度梯度带反映了下切谷的边界.下切谷充填序列具有多期旋回性特征,一个完整的短期充填旋回的底界为侵蚀面,侵蚀面之上依次发育泥砾岩、具交错层理含陆源砾石和泥砾中-细粒砂岩、具波纹层理粉砂质泥岩和泥岩.充填下切谷的不同短期旋回的砂体在空间上具有叠瓦状结构.在倾向剖面上,砂体沿下切谷底界面逐层叠置超覆,向盆地方向分叉并尖灭在泥岩中,反映了河-湖共同作用.在横剖面上,砂体呈透镜状错叠.早期的砂体主要发育于相对深谷部位,相对高部位以泥质充填为主,后期的砂体不受原始深谷限制.在SQy23最大湖泛期,下切谷内以泥质充填为主.      

准噶尔盆地车排子凸起下切谷特征及演化模式

下切谷作为一种特殊的层序内部组成要素,其侵蚀-充填演化模式对于层序划分和油气勘探均具有重要意义.综合利用三维地震、钻井、古生物等资料,展开了对下切谷下切-充填的演化过程分析.研究表明地震相干切片识别出东西、南东、南北3类不同流向的下切谷.在地震剖面上,下切谷表现为以V型为主的形态特征,内部充填样式以前积、发散、上超等样式为主.结合区域地质背景分析认为,海西-燕山运动期车排子凸起强烈隆升,基准面快速下降导致对下伏地层产生侵蚀,下切谷由此产生.古近系之后开始沉降,基准面重新上升使得下切谷开始接受沉积充填,充填时限与古岸线位置有关.对下切谷的演化控制因素讨论认为,下切谷的下切-充填演化受到构造、古地貌、古气候及物源供给等因素的共同影响.      

Signatures of climate vs. sea-level change within incised valley-fill successions: Quaternary examples from the Texas GULF Coast

The passive margin Texas Gulf of Mexico Coastal Plain consists of coalescing late Pleistocene to Holocene alluvial–deltaic plains constructed by a series of medium to large fluvial systems. Alluvial–deltaic plains consist of the Pleistocene Beaumont Formation, and post-Beaumont coastal plain incised valleys. A variety of mapping, outcrop, core, and geochronological data from the extrabasinal Colorado River and the basin-fringe Trinity River show that Beaumont and post-Beaumont strata consist of a series of coastal plain incised valley fills that represent 100 kyr climatic and glacio-eustatic cycles.

Valley fills contain a complex alluvial architecture. Falling stage to lowstand systems tracts consist of multiple laterally amalgamated sandy channelbelts that reflect deposition within a valley that was incised below highstand alluvial plains, and extended across a subaerially-exposed shelf. The lower boundary to falling stage and lowstand units comprises a composite valley fill unconformity that is time-transgressive in both cross- and down-valley directions. Coastal plain incised valleys began to fill with transgression and highstand, and landward translation of the shoreline: paleosols that define the top of falling stage and lowstand channelbelts were progressively onlapped and buried by heterolithic sandy channelbelt, sandy and silty crevasse channel and splay, and muddy floodbasin strata. Transgressive to highstand facies-scale architecture reflects changes through time in dominant styles of avulsion, and follows a predictable succession through different stages of valley filling. Complete valley filling promoted avulsion and the large-scale relocation of valley axes before the next sea-level fall, such that successive 100 kyr valley fills show a distributary pattern.

Basic elements within coastal plain valleys can be correlated with the record offshore, where cross-shelf valleys have been described from seismic data. Falling stage to lowstand channelbelts within coastal plain valleys were feeder systems for shelf-phase and shelf-margin deltas, respectively, and demonstrate that falling stage fluvial deposits are important valley fill components. Signatures of both upstream climate change vs. downstream sea-level controls are therefore interpreted to be present within incised valley fills. Signatures of climate change consist of the downstream continuity of major stratigraphic units and component facies, which extends from the mixed bedrock–alluvial valley of the eroding continental interior to the distal reaches, wherever that may be at the time. This continuity suggests the development of stratigraphic units and facies is strongly coupled to upstream controls on sediment supply and climate conditions within hinterland source regions. Signatures of sea-level change are critical as well: sea-level fall below the elevation of highstand depositional shoreline breaks results in channel incision and extension across the newly emergent shelf, which in turn results in partitioning of the 100 kyr coastal plain valleys. Moreover, deposits and key surfaces can be traced from continental interiors to the coastal plain, but there are downstream changes in geometric relations that correspond to the transition between the mixed bedrock–alluvial valley and the coastal plain incised valley. Channel incision and extension during sea-level fall and lowstand, with channel shortening and delta backstepping during transgression, controls the architecture of coastal plain and cross-shelf incised valley fills.     

Nature,origin and evolution of a Late Pleistocene incised valley‐fill,Sunda Shelf,Southeast Asia

Understanding the stratigraphic fill and reconstructing the palaeo‐hydrology of incised valleys can help to constrain those factors that controlled their origin, evolution and regional significance. This condition is addressed through the analysis of a large (up to 18 km wide by 80 m deep) and exceptionally well‐imaged Late Pleistocene incised valley from the Sunda Shelf (South China Sea) based on shallow three‐dimensional seismic data from a large (11 500 km²), ‘merge’ survey, supplemented with site survey data (boreholes and seismic). This approach has enabled the characterization of the planform geometry, cross‐sectional area and internal stratigraphic architecture, which together allow reconstruction of the palaeo‐hydrology. The valley‐fill displays five notable stratigraphic features: (i) it is considerably larger than other seismically resolvable channel forms and can be traced for at least 180 km along its length; (ii) it is located in the axial part of the Malay Basin; (iii) the youngest part of the valley‐fill is dominated by a large (600 m wide and 23 m deep), high‐sinuosity channel, with well‐developed lateral accretion surfaces; (iv) the immediately adjacent interfluves contain much smaller, dendritic channel systems, which resemble tributaries that drained into the larger incised valley system; and (v) a ca 16 m thick, shell‐bearing, Holocene clay caps the valley‐fill. The dimension, basin location and palaeo‐hydrology of this incised valley leads to the conclusion that it represents the trunk river, which flowed along the length of the Malay Basin; it connected the Gulf of Thailand in the north with the South China Sea in the south‐east. The length of the river system (>1200 km long) enables examination of the upstream to downstream controls on the evolution of the incised valley, including sea‐level, climate and tectonics. The valley size, orientation and palaeo‐hydrology suggest close interaction between the regional tectonic framework, low‐angle shelf physiography and a humid‐tropical climatic setting.