Middle Pleistocene glacial stratigraphy at Baxter Rivulet,western Tasmania,Australia

Mapping, analysis and interpretation of glacigenic sediments in the King Valley, Tasmania has led to a revision of the Pleistocene stratigraphy of Tasmania. The sediments provide evidence of a glaciation that occurred between the Middle Pleistocene Henty Glaciation and the Early Pleistocene Linda Glaciation. The Moore Glaciation is estimated, on the basis of weathering rinds, amino-acid dating and palaeomagnetism to have occurred between 400000 and 550000 yrs BP. At Baxter Rivulet, sediments of the Moore Glaciation rest unconformably on highly weathered till and weathered Ordovician limestone and are overlain by outwash gravel of the Henty Glaciation. The Moore Glaciation sediments can be divided into four formations on the basis of lithology, organic content and degree of chemical weathering. The Huxley Formation (oldest) was deposited by an ice advance of the Mt. Jukes Glacier and is overlain by the Baxter Formation. The Baxter Formation consists of a bed of organic silty sand which records a cool non-forested flora of an interstadial period. The overlying Pyramid and Moore formations are outwash gravels from the Mt. Jukes and King Valley glaciers respectively. Though deposited during the same general ice advance, these two gravels were deposited at different times and show that the glaciers of the West Coast Range had spatially differentiated responses to climatic change.     

对冀北晚更新世地层的新认识

冀北晚更新世地层划分为迁安组与马兰组。迁安组形成于整个晚更新世 ,以河流相沉积为主 ,早期为温暖气候环境 ,晚期为寒冷气候环境 ,可划分为两个生物组合类型。马兰组形成于晚更新世晚期 ,为寒冷干旱气候环境下多种成因形成的一套堆积物     

西藏阿里札达盆地下更新统香孜组地层厘定与层序地层划分

根据札达盆地香孜组河湖相地层剖面的接触关系、沉积旋回、沉积体系和岩相岩性特征,可将札达盆地下更新统香孜组河湖相地层划分为2个沉积相、3个岩段。香孜组一、二岩段为一套砾岩夹砂岩的粗碎屑岩,属典型的冲（洪）积扇沉积物;第三岩段为砾岩与砂岩互层,属冰水冰缘相沉积。ESR法和古地磁法测年结果表明,札达盆地香孜组河湖相地层的形成时代为早更新世早期（2．68—1．36Ma）。札达盆地为一同生断陷盆地,在后期重新复活的过程中,盆地只经历了冲积体系域和水进体系域。冲积体系域形成于札达盆地早更新世早期重新复活层序发育的早、中期,水进体系域形成于札达盆地早更新世早期重新复活层序发育的晚期。     

鄂西地区一个含早期人类和巨猿化石的新地层单位--高坪组

着重论述了鄂西建始高坪龙骨洞的堆积 ,并建立了一个新的岩石地层单位——高坪组。高坪组为一套水动力条件较弱的暗河沉积 ,岩性为黏土、亚黏土、砂质黏土 ,含巨猿化石 ,属早更新世早期 ,可与柳城巨猿洞堆积、周口店第 18地点、元谋组下部对比。龙骨洞的地层时代早于 1.93Ma     

Provenance and depositional environments of Quaternary sediments from the western North Sea Basin

As the majority of the data on Quaternary sediments from the North Sea Basin are seismostratigraphical, we analysed the Elsterian Swarte Bank Formation, the Late Saalian Fisher Formation and the Late Weichselian (Dimlington Stadial) Bolders Bank Formation in order to determine genesis and provenance. The Swarte Bank Formation is a subglacial till containing palynomorphs from the Moray Forth and the northeastern North Sea, and metamorphic heavy minerals from the Scottish Highlands. The Fisher Formation was sampled from the northern and central North Sea. In the north, it is interpreted as a subglacial till, with glaciomarine sediments cropping out further south. These sediments exhibit a provenance signature consistent with the Midland Valley of Scotland, the Eocene of the North Sea Basin, the Grampian Highlands and northeast Scotland. The Bolders Bank Formation is a subglacial till containing palynomorphs from the Midland Valley of Scotland, northern Britain, and a metamorphic heavy‐mineral suite indicative of the Grampian Highlands, Southern Uplands and northeast Scotland. These data demonstrate that there was repeated glaciation of the North Sea Basin during the Middle and Late Pleistocene, with ice sheets originating in northern Scotland. There was no evidence for a Scandinavian ice sheet in the western North Sea basin. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Vines 1 revisited: are older Neoproterozoic glacial deposits preserved in Western Australia?

The stratigraphy in Vines 1, a 2017.5 m-deep cored stratigraphic hole drilled by the Geological Survey of Western Australia in 2001 near the Western Australian – South Australian border, has been reinterpreted with implications for the Neoproterozoic to Cambrian geological history of the Officer Basin. A previous interpretation considered the intersected succession as a conformable stratigraphic package, the Vines Formation. An assemblage of palynomorphs, found throughout the hole and previously used to infer an age of no older than earliest Cambrian, is now thought to consist of contaminants. An older assemblage, which is considered to be reworked and inherited from underlying rocks, provides a new maximum age constraint of mid-Neoproterozoic. Based on sedimentological interpretations and comparisons with other drillholes in the western Officer Basin, and the succession in the eastern Officer Basin, the Vines 1 succession is reinterpreted as four discrete sedimentary packages, the Pirrilyungka (new name), Wahlgu, Lungkarta and Vines (redefined) Formations, in ascending order. The Pirrilyungka and Wahlgu Formations include glacigenic sediments and may correlate with similar glacial successions in Supersequences 2 and 3 (mid to late Cryogenian) of the Centralian Superbasin, and the Sturt Tillite and Elatina Formation and their equivalents in the Adelaide Rift Complex of South Australia, respectively. The eolian Lungkarta Formation and fluvial Vines Formation are considered, on regional evidence, to be most likely of Ediacaran to earliest Cambrian age.     

Formation of glaciolacustrine Late Pleistocene end moraines in the Tasman Valley,New Zealand

Detailed examination of the Tekapo Formation in the Tasman Valley, New Zealand has identified 20 facies, and five facies associations. These associations are delta foresets and bottomsets, sediment density flows, ice-contact lake sediments with ice-rafted debris and resedimentation deposits, and outwash gravels. Interpretation of the sediment-landform associations informed by observations at modern glacier termini suggests that the Late Pleistocene Tekapo Formation moraines have been formed by downwasting of a more expanded Tasman Glacier. During the early stages of glacier retreat, ponds on the glacier surface develop into thermokarst lakes which enlarge and coalesce to form a large supraglacial lake. Continued downwasting causes the lake outlet river to entrench into the impounding latero-frontal ice-cored moraine, lowering the lake level. This exposes lake-bottom sediments and forms shorelines on the proximal slopes of the ice-cored moraine. As the ice-cored moraine melts, these lake sediments are deformed and deposited against the Mt. John moraine. The observations and interpretations reported here suggest the Late Pleistocene end moraine is a constructional feature not a structural (glaciotectonic) feature as suggested by previous studies.     

晚新生代以来塔里木盆地周缘碎屑沉积物与周缘山系隆起时代对比

作者用磁性地层学方法研究了塔里木盆地周缘吉迪克组、康村组、库车组、西域组及上覆黄土．结果表明：以细颗粒碎属为特征的吉迪克组、康村组为中新世沉积，年龄约２４．４０—５．３０ＭａＢ．Ｐ，以砾岩为特征的库车组、下西域组为上新世沉积，年龄约５．３０—２．５０ＭａＢ．Ｐ．。而上西域砾岩为早更新世早期沉积物，年龄约２．５０—１．５０ＭａＢ．Ｐ。作者认为，由于印度板块向欧亚板块的俯冲造成塔里木盆地周缘山系的迅速抬升形成高大山系的时代为上新世初期，大约５．３０ＭａＢ．Ｐ。     

Pleistocene evolution of the Nile Valley in northern Upper Egypt

In the El Minia district of northern Upper Egypt, the Pleistocene deposits of the Nile Valley include (?)Early Pleistocene conglomerates of the Armant Formation and (?)Middle Pleistocene sands of the Qena Formation. These sediments are exposed along both sides of the valley in terraces at different heights, unconformably overlying Eocene limestones. Field observations suggest that the conglomerate facies of the Armant Formation was deposited in proximal and mid-alluvial fans. The sands of the Qena Formation are differentiated into two facies: a cross-bedded sandstone, representative of alluvial fan—braided stream environments, and a facies of sand interbedded with mud that may have been deposited by a meandering river. The heavy minerals of the Armant Formation are markedly different from those of the Qena Formation, suggesting derivation from different sources. Surface textures of quartz grains from the Qena sands, observed by SEM, exhibit chemical features, attributed to a fluviatile origin. Sand from the Armant Formation is characterized by mechanical and chemical surface textural features that suggest original aeolian derivation followed by later fluvial sedimentation.     

Definition and character of the Regency Interglacial and Early-Middle Pleistocene stratigraphy in the King Valley, western Tasmania, Australia

Interpretation of weathered glacial and interglacial deposits in the lower King Valley suggests that the Early Pleistocene Thureau Formation is conformably overlain by the Regency Formation. Pollen analysis of the Regency Formation provides evidence of a new climatic stage, the Regency Interglacial. The interglacial deposit consists of humified peat overlain by drifted wood and leaves. The pollen analysis shows a transition from montane scrub rainforest to lowland temperate rainforest dominated by Lagarostrobos franklinii, Nothofagus cunninghamii and Phyllocladus aspleniifolius. Trace quantities of the species Quintinia psi-latispora and Gothanipollis perplexus , now both extinct in Tasmania, were also recorded. On the basis of intense chemical weathering and correlation with sediments that have a reversed magnetization the weathered glacial deposits of the Thureau Formation are thought to be older than 730,000 B.P. The eroded interglacial deposit rests on the weathered deposits and is buried by outwash gravels of the David Formation, which was deposited during an ice advance of the Middle Pleistocene Henty Glaciation (c. 150,000 B.P.). Comparison of the Regency site with a site 2 km to the south at Baxter Rivulet shows that the unconformity between the interglacial deposit and the overlying outwash gravel represents the erosion of the evidence for the Middle Pleistocene Moore Glaciation.     

伊犁果子沟地区新元古代冰成沉积的碎屑锆石 LA-ICP-MS U-Pb年龄及其地质意义

为了对新疆果子沟地区塔里萨依组冰成沉积进行时代限定及前寒武纪地质演化讨论,开展了碎屑锆石LA-ICP-MS U-Pb定年工作。碎屑锆石最年轻年龄介于620~610 Ma和580~572 Ma之间,表明塔里萨依组冰成杂砾岩代表了埃迪卡拉纪时期的产物,而且在一次大冰期中发生了2次的小冰期旋回,同库鲁克塔格地区的汉格尔乔克组冰碛砾岩对应。碎屑锆石年龄谱没有反映出1000~700 Ma的年龄分布,但这个年龄段相关的岩浆活动在伊犁以北至温泉地区被广泛发现。而在年龄谱中大量存在的650~600 Ma年龄,本区附近却没有相关岩浆活动记录的报道,结合本区同库鲁克塔格地区新元古代冰期沉积存在的相似性,说明塔里萨依组冰期沉积物可能接收了更远的"伊犁块体"以南地区的物源。同时探讨了650~600 Ma岩浆活动可能与"伊犁块体"同塔里木板块分离,向哈萨克斯坦板块聚合有关。     

许家窑组及许家窑文化层年代问题的磁性地层学证据

许家窑文化遗址的发现将传统上被认为是早更新世前后的泥河湾层的年代范围推至晚更新世 ,由此建立的许家窑组被确认为我国北方晚更新世湖相沉积的标准地层。近几年对包含许家窑文化层在内的泥河湾层用高分辨率磁性地层学方法研究结果表明 ,在文化层以下 3m处发现了厚度达 6 m以上且分布连续的反向极性带 (未见底 ) ,综合分析认为 ,该反向极性带为松山反向极性带。这一发现否定了在文化层以下 4— 5 m处存在布莱克反向极性偏移的报道。根据松山反向极性时的结束时间为距今 78万年及泥河湾层的沉积速率推算 ,许家窑泥河湾层的年代范围应为早更新世晚期至中更新世 ,而许家窑文化层应为中更新世早期。由此可见 ,泥河湾层的年代范围及分组方案尚需用多种手段进一步研究才能定论     

Pliocene—pleistocene boundary in the Kleszczów Graben at Belchatów,central Poland

The Pliocene-Pleistocene boundary, defined using pollen analysis, has been recorded in sections at the Belchatów outcrop, Kleszczów Graben, central Poland. The boundary is located at the top of the green clay subunit of the Tertiary Clayey-sandy unit. A pollen flora of Reuverian C type, dominated by pine, 10–20% of ‘Reuverian elements’ and scarce thermophilous Tertiary trees, was found directly below this subunit. Cold stage floras of Praetiglian type were, in turn, recorded in the ?ekińsko Formation, lying directly on the green clays. The Pliocene—Pleistocene transition at Belchatów demonstrates the characteristic features of this boundary in western Europe, that is, the disappearance of Tertiary thermophilous tree pollen taxa, followed by a cooling to open-forest or forest-steppe conditions. Both pollen analysis and geological data suggest continuous sedimentation at least from the Upper Pliocene to the Prae-Tiglian, with no change of sediment sources and no marked hiatuses. The fluvial deposits of the Praetiglian ?ekińsko Formation, although Pleistocene in age, mark a final period in the Tertiary evolution of the Kleszczów Graben. Later, there is a hiatus to the deposition of the first glacigenic sediments in the region possibly of Elsterian age.     

天山北麓晚新生代沉积及其新构造 与古环境指示意义 *

天山山脉隶属中亚造山带,晚新生代时期印度板块向亚洲板块俯冲的构造效应同样影响到天山地区,使这一晚古生代形成的造山带重新复活。天山南北两侧的晚第三纪和第四纪时期的地层正是对印度板块-亚洲板块碰撞带的响应,发生构造变形,形成了一系列逆冲断层和褶皱,指示这一区域的地壳在晚新生代变短和加厚。文章对天山北缘晚中新世以来的沉积进行了详细的磁性地层学和沉积学研究,结果表明:在研究的独山子背斜地区,磨拉石沉积最早出现于约7百万年前,说明天山山脉自7百万年前开始有一次构造隆升,研究区内7.00~2.58Ma间的巨厚砾石沉积主要是构造抬升的结果。而早更新世的西域砾岩沉积在很大程度上与第四纪时期全球冰期的来临,特别是北半球开始发育大规模冰川作用有关,因此西域砾岩应当是在第四纪冰川作用(气候变冷)及新构造运动共同作用下的产物。     

Structural imprints at the front of the Chocó-Panamá indenter: Field data from the North Cauca Valley Basin, Central Colombia

The northern Andes are a complex area where tectonics is dominated by the interaction between three major plates and accessory blocks, in particular, the Chocó-Panamá and Northern Andes Blocks. The studied Cauca Valley Basin is located at the front of the Chocó-Panamá Indenter, where the major Romeral Fault System, active since the Cretaceous, changes its kinematics from right-lateral in the south to left-lateral in the north. Structural studies were performed at various scales: DEM observations in the Central Cordillera between 4 and 5.7°N, aerial photograph analyses, and field work in the folded Oligo-Miocene rocks of the Serranía de Santa Barbara and in the flat-lying, Pleistocene Quindío-Risaralda volcaniclastic sediments interfingering with the lacustrine to fluviatile sediments of the Zarzal Formation.The data acquired allowed the detection of structures with a similar orientation at every scale and in all lithologies. These families of structures are arranged similarly to Riedel shears in a right-lateral shear zone and are superimposed on the Cretaceous Romeral suture.They appear in the Central Cordillera north of 4.5°N, and define a broad zone where 060-oriented right-lateral distributed shear strain affects the continental crust. The Romeral Fault System stays active and strain partitioning occurs among both systems. The southern limit of the distributed shear strain affecting the Central Cordillera corresponds to the E–W trending Garrapatas–Ibagué shear zone, constituted by several right-stepping, en-échelon, right-lateral, active faults and some lineaments. North of this shear zone, the Romeral Fault System strike changes from NNE to N.Paleostress calculations gave a WNW–ESE trending, maximum horizontal stress, and 69% of compressive tensors. The orientation of σ1 is consistent with the orientation of the right-lateral distributed shear strain and the compressive state characterizing the Romeral Fault System in the area: it bisects the synthetic and antithetic Riedels and is (sub)-perpendicular to the active Romeral Fault System.It is proposed that the continued movement of the Chocó–Panamá Indenter may be responsible for the 060-oriented right-lateral distributed shear strain, and may have closed the northern part of the Cauca Valley, thereby forming the Cauca Valley Basin.Conjugate extensional faults observed at surface in the flat-lying sediments of the Zarzal Formation and Quindío-Risaralda volcaniclastic Fan are associatedwith soft-sediment deformations. These faults are attributed to lateral spreading of the superficial layers during earthquakes and testify to the continuous tectonic activity from Pleistocene to Present.Finally, results presented here bring newinformation about the understanding of the seismic hazard in this area: whereas the Romeral Fault Systemwas so far thought to be themost likely source of earthquakes, themore recent cross-cutting fault systems described herein are another potential hazard to be considered.     

萨拉乌苏组地层年代学研究

我国北方地区晚更新世河湖相标准地层——萨拉乌苏组地层的年代学研究,有助于正确理解萨拉乌苏组与马兰黄土以及与冰期气候对比等关系。笔者近年来根据野外层位对比和地层沉积相的划分,采用同位素年代测定,并结合黄土-古土壤序列研究的最新成果,初步建立了可以与黄土、深海沉积记录和冰期气候波动对比的萨拉乌苏组地层序列。认为河湖相沉积的萨拉乌苏组形成于约140-70kaBP的末次间冰期,大致与深海氧同位素第5阶段对应,与黄土高原古土壤S₁发育同期。城川组风成细砂形成于约70-10kaBP的末次冰期,与黄土高原的马兰黄土是同期异相地质体.      

Pleistocene sediments,soils and landscape evolution at Stebbing,Essex

Pleistocene sediments and soils exposed at Stebbing in central Essex, England are described, analysed and interpreted. The sand and gravel units above Eocene London Clay and Upper Pliocene Red Crag are shown to be a high level member of the Kesgrave Formation, with a surface immediately beneath that of the Westland Green Gravels, which are tentatively assigned to the Pre-Pastonian ‘a’ Stage of the British Quaternary succession. The rubified, argillic soil developed in the surface of these fluvial deposits is a composite of the Valley Farm and Barham Soils and displays micromorphological evidence of several phases of clay illuviation, gleying and clay coating disruption. Originally truncated and buried beneath Anglian gelifluction deposits, cover sand and till, the soil has been exhumed in most places by subsequent erosion. The full succession, however, is preserved within large gulls that formed by periglacial cambering prior to this erosion. More recent loess incorporation and pedogenesis have modified the exhumed soil and the materials within the gulls.     

Middle Pleistocene glacial and glaciomarine sedimentation in the west central North Sea

A sequence of Middle Pleistocene (approximately early 'Cromerian Complex') sediments has been subdivided into subglacial, proximal glaciomarine, distal glaciomarine and marine facies. The subglacial facies represents lodgement till deposited during the final stages of ice-sheet advance. At the onset of ice-sheet retreat, streams deposited their load into a shallow-water; glaciomarine environment; gravelly sediments immediately in front of the ice-grounding line and finer material, in suspension, to more distal areas. Ice-rafting, slumping and traction currents were also active within the glaciomarine environment. The lithofacies characteristics of this sequence are consistent with deposition from a grounded tidewater ice-sheet. The glacigenic succession is restricted to the Forth Approaches area, which implies that the ice-sheet had a limited offshore extent.     

化学风化指数和磁化率对洞庭盆地第四纪古气候变化的响应

在安乡凹陷东南部两护村新施工揭穿第四系的ZKC1孔,孔内第四系为河流和湖泊沉积,地层组成自下而上依次为上新世—早更新世华田组、早更新世汨罗组、中更新世早期—中期洞庭湖组、晚更新世坡头组以及全新统等。对钻孔岩心进行了系统的主量元素及磁化率分析,进而从陆相沉积物化学风化指数(CWI)与温度和湿度正相关、磁化率与温度和湿度负相关的理论出发,探讨洞庭盆地第四纪气候演变。结合其他资料,CWI曲线特征指示洞庭盆地第四纪气候演变过程:早更新世为冷干→暖湿→冷干→暖湿,中更新世为冷干→暖湿→冷干—温湿→暖湿,晚更新世为寒冷→温湿→寒冷,全新世总体为温湿-暖湿。这一结论与ZKC1孔孢粉组合特征反映的气候演变过程及中国东部第四纪气候演化基本吻合,说明沉积物CWI对第四纪气候演变具有较好的响应。变化曲线及相关系数(-0.32)表明磁化率值与CWI值呈较明显的负相关,暗示温度和湿度对磁化率具有明显的控制作用。但可能受盆地升降等因素的影响叠加,磁化率曲线未能如CWI一样明确反映出第四纪气候的阶段性变化。     

Quaternary Stratigraphic Division and Paleoenvironmental Evolution Observed from Core LZK1 on Hengsha Island, Shanghai

The Quaternary sediments in the Yangtze delta are loose and lack precise stratification marks in the lithology. Moreover, due to the limitations of dating methods, it is difficult for Quaternary cores to deliver accurate age constraints. Thus, it is a challenge to establish the Quaternary stratigraphic framework. Gravity core LZK1 was drilled on Hengsha Island, Shanghai, in the Yangtze delta, in 2012. The core was terminated at 403.83 m below the local land surface, the uppermost 291.2 m comprising a thick sequence of Quaternary sediments. This study investigated the stratigraphic subdivision and paleoenvironmental change of the Quaternary sediments. From bottom to top, the Quaternary stratigraphic sequence can be subdivided into the lower Pleistocene Anting Formation, Middle Pleistocene Jiading Formation, Upper Pleistocene Chuansha Formation and Nanhui Formation, Holocene Loutang Formation, Shanghai Formation, and Rudong Formation. According to this study, the Hengsha Island area was dominated by a freshwater lacustrine environment during the early Pleistocene, an alternation of shallow lake and shore lake environment during the Middle Pleistocene, a delta plain to lagoonal environment during the early Upper Pleistocene, a fluvial channel to floodplain environment from the LGM (Last Glacial Maximum) to the end of the Upper Pleistocene, and a delta environment during the Holocene.