Sedimentology of a lacustrine fan-delta system, Miocene Horse Camp Formation, Nevada, USA

A 1600-m-thick succession of the Miocene Horse Camp Formation (Member 2) exposed in east-central Nevada records predominantly terrigenous clastic deposition in subaerial and subaqueous fan-delta environments and nearshore and offshore lacustrine environments. These four depositional environments are distinguished by particular associations of individual facies (14 defined facies). Subaerial and subaqueous fan-delta facies associations include: ungraded, matrix-and clast-supported conglomerate; normally graded, matrix- and clast-supported conglomerate; ungraded and normally graded sandstone; and massive to poorly laminated mudstone. Subaqueous fan-delta deposits typically have dewatering structures, distorted bedding and interbedded mudstone. The subaerial fan-delta environment was characterized by debris flows, hyperconcentrated flows and minor sheetfloods; the subaqueous fan-delta environment by debris flows, high- and low-density turbidity currents, and suspension fallout. The nearshore lacustrine facies association provides examples of deposits and processes rarely documented in lacustrine environments. High-energy oscillatory wave currents, probably related to a large fetch, reworked grains as large as 2 cm into horizontally stratified sand and gravel. Offshore-directed currents produced uncommonly large (typically 1–2 m thick) trough cross-stratified sandstone. In addition, stromatolitic carbonate interbedded with stratified coarse sandstone and conglomerate suggests a dynamic environment characterized by episodic terrigenous clastic deposition under high-energy conditions alternating with periods of carbonate precipitation under reduced energy conditions. Massive and normally graded sandstone and massive to poorly laminated mudstone characterize the offshore lacustrine facies association and record deposition by turbidity currents and suspension fallout. A depositional model constructed for the Horse Camp Formation (Member 2) precludes the existence of all four depositional environments at any particular time. Rather, phases characterized by deposition in subaerial fan, nearshore lacustrine and offshore lacustrine environments alternated with phases of subaerial fan-delta, subaqueous fan-delta and offshore lacustrine deposition. This model suggests that high-energy nearshore currents due to deep water along the lake margin reworked sediment of the fan edge, thus preventing development of a subaqueous fan-delta environment and promoting development of a well-defined nearshore lacustrine environment. Low-energy nearshore currents induced by shallow water along the     

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

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

Proximal braidplain deposits in the Middle Devonian Malbaie Formation of Eastern Gaspé, Quebec, Canada

The Middle Devonian Malbaie Formation of Eastern Gaspé, Canada, comprises sharply alternating conglomerate and sandstone units. Their petrography suggests derivation from the same source, but palaeocurrents indicate different dispersal systems for the sand and gravel. The principal conglomerate facies is horizontally stratified, with well-developed imbrication, characteristic of deposition on a high-energy, proximal braidplain. Minor cross-stratified conglomerate shows well-defined size sorting, attributed to avalanching down foresets and sorting within minor bedforms on bar tops. The sandstone units mainly comprise erosion surfaces overlain by mudstone intraclasts, alternating with lineated low-angle to horizontally stratified sandstone or trough cross-stratified sandstone. The sandstone units were deposited on a proximal braidplain with highly variable discharge, but the absence of calcrete indicates that dry periods were not prolonged. The Malbaie is the coarsest, uppermost formation of a Devonian clastic wedge formed during the Acadian Orogeny. The uniformity of facies association and palaeocurrents, particularly in conglomerate units, indicates derivation from a broad upwarp to the south. This implies that the Acadian uplands resulted from straight compression, in contrast to the localized uplifts formed by strike-slip faulting during the Carboniferous.     

The Cretaceous Uhangri Formation, SW Korea: lacustrine margin facies

The Uhangri Formation forms part of the Cretaceous sedimentary sequence deposited in a series of inland basins in the south-western Korean Peninsula. It comprises an approximately 400-m-thick epiclastic sequence of conglomerate, (gravelly) sandstone, cherty mudstone and black shale. The entire sequence can be represented by 16 distinctive sedimentary facies organized into four facies associations. Facies association I is characterized by thick homogeneous brownish siltstone, wedge-shaped disorganized conglomerate and thinly interlayered gravelly sandstone units. The siltstone units were formed by large floods submerging the alluvial fan fringe (floodplain), whereas the conglomerate and gravelly sandstone units were deposited by sheetfloods and debris flows. Facies association II consists of stratified conglomerate — gravelly sandstone, laminated sandstone and sandstone/siltstone couplets which form fining-upward cycles. Some facies units are low-angle trough cross-bedded and show broad channel geometries. This association represents subaqueous delta lobes fed by high- and low-concentration turbidity currents in the distal delta realm. Facies association III is characterized, by wedged conglomerate and gravelly sandstone facies with interfingered massive sandstone bounded by scoured bases. It represents a delta front where distributary channels and mouth bars are dominant. Facies association IV consists of laterally continuous sequence of laminated black shale, crudely stratified sandstone and convoluted sandstone/cherty mudstone. This facies association is suggestive of depositional processes controlled by chemical equilibrium resulting from an interaction between density inflows and lake water. The cherty mudstone resulted from inorganic precipitation from siliceous solution provided by acidic volcanism. The Uhangri sequence generally shows a fining-upward trend with a transition from alluvial fan fringe, coarse-grained subaqueous delta, to shallow lake. The retrogradation was probably due to continuous subsidence related to continental rifting in the oblique-slip mobile zone.     

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

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

Fluvial, tidal and storm sedimentation in the Chilhowee Group (Lower Cambrian), northeastern Tennessee, U.S.A.

The Lower Cambrian Chilhowee Group of northeastern Tennessee consists of the Unicoi, Hampton and Erwin Formations, and is divided into four facies. The conglomerate facies occurs only within the lower 200 m of measured section (the Unicoi Formation) and consists of fine-grained to pebbly quartz wacke with rare thin beds of laminated siltstone. Low-angle to horizontally laminated, fine-grained sandstone with laminae and lenses of granules and pebbles represents upper flow-regime, overbank deposition within a braided stream system that was close to a coastline. Medium-scale, planar-tabular cross-stratified conglomerate in which megaripple bedforms are preserved is interpreted as representing deposition in interbar pools of braided channels, as flood stage waned and larger bedforms ceased to migrate. Large-scale, planar-tabular cross-stratified conglomerate beds represent migration of large transverse bars within a broad braided stream channel during high flood stage. The sandstone facies occurs throughout the Chilhowee Group, and is therefore interbedded with all other facies. It consists of mainly medium- to very coarse-grained, subarkosic to arkosic arenite. Thinly interbedded, laminated siltstone and sandstone, which may exhibit wavy or lenticular bedding, represents deposition during slack water periods between ebb and flood tides. Large-scale planar-tabular and trough cross-stratification reflects deposition within the deepest areas of subtidal channels, whereas medium-scale cross-stratification represents deposition in shallower water on shoals separating channels. Fining- and thinning-upward sequences most likely resulted from the longshore migration of channels and shoals. The hummocky facies occurs only in the Erwin Formation and consists of horizontally laminated to hummocky stratified, fine-grained arkosic to subarkosic arenite interbedded with equal amounts of bioturbated mudstone. It represents deposition between storm and fairweather wave-base by combined-flow storm currents. The quartz arenite facies is characterized by an absence of fine-grained units and lithologically consists of a super-mature, medium- to coarse-grained quartz arenite. Large-scale planar-tabular cross-stratification and abundant low-angle cross-stratification with rare symmetrical ripples (lower quartz arenite facies) occurs interbedded with the braided fluvial conglomerate facies, and was deposited within either a ridge-and-runnel system or a system of nearshore bars. Large-scale, planar-tabular cross-stratification (upper quartz arenite facies), which forms the top of two 40 m-thick coarsening-upward sequences of the type: hummocky faciessandstone faciesquartz arenite facies, probably represents deposition on sand ridges that formed on a sand-starved shelf as transgression caused the detachment and reworking of shoreface channel-shoal couplets. Palaeocurrent data for the Chilhowee Group are unimodal but widely dispersed from 0° to 180°, and exhibit a minor mode to the west. The data are interpreted to reflect the influence of longshore, tidal and storm currents. The ichnofossil assemblage changes upsection from one characterized only by Paleophycus to a Skolithos ichnofacies and finally to a Cruziana ichnofacies. The facies sequence, biogenic and palaeocurrent data reflect the interaction through time of (I) non-marine and marine processes; and (2) transgression coupled with shoreline progradation. The Chilhowee Group represents an overall deepening from terrestrial deposition to a marine shoreface that experienced both longshore and tidal currents, and finally to a storm shelf environment that periodically shoaled upward.     

Upper Cretaceous Gongila Formation in the Hawal Basin, northeast Benue Trough: a storm and wave dominated regressive shoreline complex

The Gongila Formation in the Hawal Basin displays lithological characteristics, textural variations and sedimentary structures that facilitate palaeoenvironmental reconstruction. The 41 m thick Gongila succession is divisible into: (i) a mudstone facies association (at the bottom) composed of fossiliferous limestone, clay shale, and sharp-based, graded and swaly-bedded shell debris; and (ii) a cross-stratified sandstone facies association that constitutes the uppermost 60% of the entire succession. The cross-stratified sandstone facies association is further subdivided, on the basis of sedimentary structures, into: (i) a lower interval represented by a coarsening upward fine- to medium-grained sandstone, siltstone and shale in which units characterised by parallel lamination and hummocky cross-stratification pass upward through a zone of small-scale low angle cross-stratification into units characterised by planar cross-stratification and sparse Teichichnus and Skolithos burrow traces; and (ii) an upper interval dominated by fine- to medium-grained sandstone and bioturbated siltstone characterised by erosive based, high angle tangential foresets, subhorizontal laminations and burrow structures belonging to the Thalassinoides, Ophiomorpha and Skolithos ichnogenera.The overall sequence of the Gongila Formation represents progradation on a wave influenced coast, passing from shelf mudstone at the base to lower and upper shoreface sandstones at the top. Each facies association displays an alternation between relatively high energy conditions when sediment was mainly deposited by decelerating suspension laden currents, and relatively low energy conditions when wave reworked fine-grained sediment as it was deposited from suspension. The influence of storms in these conditions is inferred from the associated lithofacies, textural characteristics and sedimentary structures.     

江西龙虎山地区红层沉积相分析及与丹霞地貌发育关系研究——以仙人城景区为例

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

Paleoenvironment of deposition of the Dupi Tila Formation,Lalmai Hills,Comilla, Bangladesh

The Dupi Tila Formation is composed of yellow to light brown medium to very fine moderately hard to loose sandstone, siltstone, silty clay, mudstone and shale with some conglomerates with clasts of petrified wood. The lithofacies of matrix supported conglomerate, trough cross bedded conglomerate, massive sandstone, trough cross bedded sandstone, planar cross bedded sandstone, ripple cross laminated sandstone-siltstone, flaser laminated sandstone-shale, lenticular laminated sandstone-siltstone-shale, parallel laminated sandstone-siltstone, wavy laminated shale, parallel laminated blue shale, and mudstone are delineated within this formation. Based on the grain size, sedimentary structures, water depth and genesis of individual facies, facies are grouped into three types of facies associations like (i) coarse-grained conglomerate facies association in relation to tractive current deposits of alluvial fan set up at the base of litho-succession (FAC), (ii) medium to fine-grained sandstone-siltstone-mudstone facies association or facies association in relation to strong tide (FAT) characterizing the middle part of litho-succession, (iii) very fine-grained sandstone-siltstone-mudstone facies association in relation to less frequent weak tide or heterolithic facies association (FAHL) characterizing upper part of litho-succession and shallow marine facies association (FASM) composing the uppermost litho-succession. Presence of gluconite indicates that the depositional environment was shallow to deep marine. The dominant paleoflow direction during the deposition of Dupi Tila Formation was toward southeast to southwestern direction. The rivers were of braided type at the piedmont alluvial depositional set up at the lower part, which later changed to estuarine-tidal flat type environmental set up in the middle part to upper part and paleo-environment was shallow marine in the uppermost part.     

An iron-bearing wave-dominated siliciclastic shelf: Facies analysis and palaeogeographic implications (Silurian-Lower Devonian Sierra Grande Formation,Southern Argentina)

The Sierra Grande Formation (Silurian-Early Devonian) consists of quartz arenites associated with clast supported conglomerates, mudstones, shales and ironstones. Eight sedimentary facies are recognized: cross-stratified and massive sandstone, plane bedded sandstone, ripple laminated sandstone, interstratified sandstone and mudstone, laminated mudstone and shale, oolitic ironstone, massive conglomerate and sheet conglomerate lags. These facies are interpreted as shallow marine deposits, ranging from foreshore to inner platform environments. Facies associations, based on vertical relationships among lithofacies, suggest several depositional zones: (a) beach to upper shoreface, with abundant plane bedded and massive bioturbated sandstones; (b) upper shoreface to breaker zone, characterized by multistorey cross-stratified and massive sandstone bodies interpreted as subtidal longshore-flow induced sand bars; (c) subtidal, nearshore tidal sand bars, consisting of upward fining sandstone sequences; (d) lower shoreface zone, dominated by ripple laminated sandstone, associated with cross-stratified and horizontal laminated sandstone, formed by translatory and oscillatory flows; and (e) transitional nearshore-offshore and inner platform zones, with heterolithic and pelitic successions, and oolitic ironstone horizons. Tidal currents, fair weather waves and storm events interacted during the deposition of the Sierra Grande Formation. However, the relevant features of the siliciclastics suggest that fair weather and storm waves were the most important mechanisms in sediment accumulation. The Silurian-Lower Devonian platform was part of a continental interior sag located between southern South America and southern Africa. The Sierra Grande Formation was deposited during a second order sea level rise, in which a shallow epeiric sea flooded a deeply weathered low relief continent.     

江西象山地质公园丹霞地貌成景地层沉积环境分析

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

黔东镇远地区早寒武世清虚洞组潮坪风暴沉积特征及古地理意义

东镇远地区早寒武世（相当于2008国际地层年表中的寒武纪第二世）清虚洞组发现类型丰富、特征典型的风暴沉积标志。侵蚀底面、粗粒滞留沉积、粒序层、波状层理、韵律层理等沉积组构明显,而丘状层理不发育。通过对金盆剖面和溜沙关剖面详细的野外观察及室内分析,识别出三种类型的风暴沉积序列。研究区风暴沉积的背景沉积为灰色纹层状灰岩,见波状层理、鸟眼构造等,指示潮坪环境。综合分析得出,镇远地区的风暴沉积属于潮坪风暴沉积。这丰富了湘西黔东地区早寒武世清虚洞组风暴沉积的类型。风暴沉积的发现也为研究区早寒武世位于赤道附近的低纬度区域提供了间接的证据。     

珠江口盆地珠一坳陷珠海组三角洲沉积特征

利用珠江口盆地珠一坳陷珠海组取心井、测井及地震资料,探讨了珠海组三角洲沉积的岩石相、沉积微相、沉积亚相特征及发育分布规律,分析了其岩电响应特征,进而建立岩电响应模式,并通过研究区井-震对比,建立了珠海组三角洲沉积的地震响应模型。     

Tectono sedimentary evolution of the Umm Ghaddah Formation (late Ediacaran-early Cambrian) in Jordan

The terrestrial Umm Ghaddah Formation of late Ediacaran-early Cambrian age was deposited in NE–SW elongated intracontinental rift system basins and sub-basins bounded by active listric half-graben faults. Basin fill consists of conglomerate facies association A, deposited in a fault-controlled transverse alluvial fan system that drained northwestward and graded laterally into sandstone facies association B, deposited by a braided river system flowing northeastward axial to the rift basin. The alluvial fan facies association was deposited by rock falls and non-cohesive debris flows of sediment gravity flow origin, and by sheetflood processes.The Umm Ghaddah Formation is dominated by a large-scale fining upward succession interpreted to reflect a gradual cessation of the Pan African Orogeny. Within this large-scale trend there are also minor fining and coarsening upward cycles that are attributed to repeated minor tectonic pulses and autocyclic shifting of the system.The distribution pattern of the Umm Ghaddah Formation and the underlying Ediacaran Sarmuj Conglomerates, Hiyala Volcaniclastics and Aheimir Volcanics in Jordan and adjacent countries in isolated extensional half-grabens and grabens formed during the extensional collapse phase of Arabia associated with the Najd Fault System seems to be unrelated to the present day Wadi Araba-Dead Sea transform fault system.     

The Ventersdorp Contact placer: a gold-pyrite placer of stream and debris-flow origins from the Archaean Witwatersrand Basin of South Africa

Five local varieties of the Ventersdorp Contact placer at the East Driefontein Gold Mine, Carletonville, are distinguished by clast-type assemblage, reflecting discrete provenances. The placer further comprises six lithofacies which are not restricted to specific provenance-varieties. The six lithofacies are: massive, matrix-supported conglomerate (facies Gms): massive, or crudely bedded, clast-supported conglomerate (facies Gm); channel-based conglomerate (facies Gt); single clast layers (facies Glag); horizontally stratified sandstone (facies Sh); and trough cross-stratified sandstone (facies St). Facies Gms represents debris-flow deposits, whereas the other facies are stream deposits. Lithofacies and provenance-varieties are complexly interrelated in local environments, which are themselves complexly related to geomorphic elements of a degradation surface. The maximum thickness of the placer is 7 m. The placer was deposited on a hard, i.e. non-alluvial, bedrock surface, suggesting that it is a pediment mantle. It owes its preservation to a capping of conformably overlying basalts. Economic gold mineralization is present in all the conglomerate facies and all the provenance-varieties. Gold concentrations are high in gravel-bar deposits and channel fills but are not restricted to these environments. A major feature of gold concentration is its variability between provenance-controlled varieties. The gold concentration of a specific primary source is interpreted to be a major control on gold concentration in the final deposit. The origin of the placer as a pediment mantle, and its subsequent preservation by lava-flows, suggests that there was little potential for selective reworking of heavy minerals. Nevertheless, the Ventersdorp Contact placer on the Carletonville Goldfield is one of the richest gold placers in the Witwatersrand Basin.     

粤北丹霞盆地晚白垩世丹霞组沉积相及古气候意义

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

Aspects of the sedimentology,palynology and palaeobotany of the Upper Devonian of southern Kerry Head,Co. Kerry,Ireland

The uppermost 220 m of Upper Devonian sedimentary rocks of southern Kerry Head are described in terms of three lithofacies associations. Facies association 1 (about 49 per cent of succession) comprises fine to medium grained sandstones, with basal erosion surfaces and intraformational breccias, dominantly cross-stratified, and usually displaying a multistorey character. They are interpreted as deposits of laterally migrating and aggrading single-channel rivers, flowing in a southerly direction. Facies association 2 (43 per cent) comprises interbedded fine to very fine grained sandstones and siltstones, displaying a diversity of sedimentary structures, rapid lateral and vertical facies transitions, and occurring as broad sheets or channel-filling sequences. They are interpreted as crevasse, levee, and channel-fill deposits. Association 3 (8 per cent) is dominantly siltstone, with lenses and sheets of very fine sandstone, interpreted as the floodbasin deposits of a semi-arid alluvial plain. Macrofloras and spores occurring in association 2 indicate: (1) major plants (woody seed ferns) grew in areas very close to palaeochannel margins; (2) a phytogeographic location within the Munster Basin comparable with Hook Head; and (3) a Late Devonian age for the succession.     

Stratigraphy and Sedimentology of Middle Jurassic Sequence of Chorar Island,Patan District,Kachchh Basin,Gujarat

Chorar Island exposes ～109 m thick middle Jurassic (Bathonian-Callovian) succession in the eastern most part of the Kachchh Basin, Patan District, Gujarat and is divided into two, Khadir and Gadhada formations. It mainly comprises of mixed siliciclastic-carbonate sediments and limestones; the shales dominate the lower part of the succession while the top of the succession is marked by ferruginous sandstone which also forms the vast, prominent peripheral zone of the Chorar dome. The field and laboratory analysis of the succession reveals nine lithofacies which includes ferruginous sandstone, cross bedded white sandstone, micritic sandstone, allochemic sandstone, sandy micrite, mudstone, sandy allochemic limestone, coralline limestone and shale. The mix siliciclastic-carbonate sediments and ferruginous facies are fossiliferous in nature and display sedimentary structures, like ripple marks, cross- and planar- lamination with biogenic sedimentary structures. Coralline limestone facies comprise of large size (>1m diameter) corals, which are diagenetically modified severely and have lost its original internal structures. The sediment characteristics and associated bioclasts indicates low to moderate wave and current energy in shoreface-offshore subsequently changing to wave dominated shoreface during the deposition of the middle Jurassic sediments of the Chorar Island.     

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.