Provenance evolution of collapse graben fill in the Himalaya—The Miocene to Quaternary Thakkhola-Mustang Graben (Nepal)

This study focuses on the detailed provenance evolution of young, syn- to post-orogenic extensional grabens in orogens like the Himalaya to trace the tectonic history of such late-stage basins, using the Neogene Thakkhola-Mustang Graben as a case study. The graben is situated within the Tibetan-Tethys zone and is filled with > 870 m of continental deposits of Miocene to Holocene age-. Based on logged sections within the predominantly alluvial to coarse-grained fluvial fill of the graben we investigated paleocurrent data and the petrology of sandstones and conglomerates including heavy minerals studies to interpret provenance and source areas in detail. Significant changes are recorded by slight differences in heavy mineral and pebble compositions.The sandstones can be classified as lithic greywackes, lithic arkoses and feldspathic litharenites. Sandstone, mudstone, quartzite and some granite clasts are dominant in conglomerates of the central part of the graben. Tetang Formation conglomerates of Miocene age comprise mostly clasts of Mesozoic rocks with an eastern provenance, consistent with measured paleocurrent directions. All paleocurrent data and compositional analyses of imbricated conglomerates of the Miocene–Pliocene Thakkhola Formation in the northeast of the graben suggest that clasts were derived from eastern source areas comprising mainly Mesozoic rocks whereas Paleozoic clasts of a western to northern source area predominate in the centre of the graben.Heavy mineral analysis indicates that tourmaline, staurolite, zircon, garnet and apatite constitute a significant proportion of the assemblages of all formations through time whereas epidote, andalusite, kyanite, chloritoid, hornblende, chrome-spinel, rutile and amphiboles are less common. These assemblages reflect in general stable minerals and low to high-grade metamorphic source rocks, and are principally controlled by reworking of older, passive margin sediments of the Tibetan-Tethys zone as indicated by provenance discrimination diagrams.Three successive stages in provenance evolution were recognized: (1) The Miocene Tetang Formation, characterized by higher kyanite values, corresponding to the Himalayan foreland evolution; (2) the Thakkhola Formation, characterized by granite clasts and significantly higher amounts of andalusite, indicating source area expansion and erosion of the Mustang-Mugu granites to the northwest; (3) the Upper Pleistocene/Holocene Kaligandaki Formation, bearing higher amounts of epidote/klinozoisite and ophiolite and high-pressure/low temperature detritus as indicated by chrome spinel and blue amphiboles, derived from the north-lying Indus-Tsangpo suture zone. The change in source areas from the Miocene/Pliocene to the Late Pleistocene/Holocene is interpreted as a result of the evolution from an initial stage of high-angle normal faulting and collapse basin formation to a low-angle extensional detachment basin system.     

孙吴-嘉荫盆地白垩系淘淇河组-太平林场组砂岩主量元素的地球化学特征

沉积盆地中砂岩的地球化学特征主要受物源区控制,碎屑岩的地球化学成分可揭示沉积物的地质信息.笔者通过对孙吴-嘉荫盆地白垩系淘淇河组-太平林场组砂岩的主量元素地球化学特征分析,结合砂岩薄片碎屑成分统计表明:淘淇河组-太平林场组时期物源区的大地构造背景主要为活动大陆边缘,包括大陆岛弧和大洋岛弧.物源区母岩类型主要为花岗岩,中酸性火山岩及低级变质岩.盆地不同位置物源区的大地构造背景和母岩类型有所不同.结合区域地质资料综合分析认为:在淘淇河组-太平林场组沉积时期,小兴安岭仅在太平林场组时期不是盆地主要物源区,而佳木斯地块一直是盆地东部的一个主要物源区.     

藏南古近纪甲查拉组物源分析及其对印度-欧亚大陆碰撞启动时间的约束

位于特提斯喜马拉雅北亚带的江孜地区古近纪甲查拉组角度不整合于晚白垩世宗卓组之上,系该地区最高(时代最晚)海相地层。运用岩石学和地球化学方法对其进行分析研究结果表明该组物源区主要为近源再旋回造山带,岩屑的母岩类型主要是岩浆弧成因的中性、中酸性安山质火山岩。新生代以前,特提斯喜马拉雅属于印度板块的被动大陆边缘,从特提斯喜马拉雅南亚带向北亚带显示了一种从浅水陆棚到深水盆地的变化,在侏罗-白垩纪时其陆源碎屑物主要是成熟度极高的石英砂岩,所以甲查拉组的碎屑物质只能来源于当时的冈底斯弧地区,所获有限的古水流证据也指示了这一点。从欧亚大陆侵蚀下来的碎屑物质被带到原印度大陆地区沉积,暗示该区的特提斯洋壳已经完全消失,印度与欧亚大陆在特提斯喜马拉雅中、东部产生了初始的陆-陆碰撞,其碰撞的启动时间为甲查拉组开始沉积的65 M a±。     

Petrofacies,provenance, and paleocurrent analysis of Pachmarhi sandstone (Early Triassic), Satpura basin,Central India

The Satpura Gondwana basin hosts a ～5 km thick siliciclastic succession that unconformably overlies the Precambrian basement. The Gondwana sequence in this basin starts from Early Permian (Talchir Formation) to Lower Cretaceous (Jabalpur Formation). The aim of this study is to (1) identify the source rock (provenance) for Early Triassic Pachmarhi sediments in the Satpura Gondwana succession and (2) to understand the relative role of tectonics and climate in determining the sandstone composition. These sandstones are medium to coarse-grained, moderately to moderately well sorted, subangular to subrounded, of moderate sphericity, and composed of several varieties of quartz, feldspar, rock fragments, and micas. Petrographically, the Pachmarhi sandstones are mostly quartzarenite and subarkose. The petrofacies in Qt–F–L and Qm–F–Lt triangular diagrams show that the bulk of the Pachmarhi was derived from continental (cratonic) source, especially from craton interior. Petrofacies, together with paleocurrent data, suggest that Pachmarhi Formation was deposited by a network of braided river system, which flowed dominantly from southeast to northwest. The study suggests that the sediments were mostly derived from Precambrian granites, gneiss, and metasedimentary basement rocks straddling the southern margin of the basin. Paleocurrent data also corroborates this contention.     

皖北地区新元古代构造背景的转换:来自碎屑岩地球化学的证据

在对安徽省北部宿州新元古代史家组砂岩地球化学特征分析的基础上,结合前人发表的淮南和凤阳新元古代刘老碑组页岩的地球化学数据,对它们的物源和构造背景进行了对比讨论.结果表明:刘老碑组页岩的地球化学特征表明其来自于中-酸性火成岩高程度的首次风化,而史家组砂岩则来自于经历了再循环的古老地壳物质较低程度的风化.刘老碑组页岩相对史...     

Detrital carbonate grains as provenance indicators in the Upper Cretaceous Pietraforte Formation (northern Apennines)

The Upper Cretaceous Pietraforte Formation, an allochthonous unit of the Ligurian domain in the northern Apennines, provides a case study of the importance of detrital carbonate grains for provenance determination in sandstones. The Pietraforte Formation is composed of turbidite sandstones with subordinate conglomerate, deposited in an external sector of the Ligurian ocean, close to the Adriatic margin. The sandstones have a lithic composition, characterized by abundant sedimentary and metasedimentary rock fragments (35–56% of the terrigenous framework), little feldspar (<7%) that is almost exclusively plagioclase, and a high ratio of fine- to coarse-grained polycrystalline quartzose grains to total quartzose grains (average Q_p/Q_t=0.37). Carbonate rock fragments dominate the lithic association of both sandstones and conglomerates and provide the most detailed information for provenance determination. They are composed primarily of dolostones and a wide variety of limestones containing identifiable age-diagnostic microfossils. Fossils and rock textures of carbonate clasts document the erosion of Upper Triassic to Lower Cretaceous shelf and pelagic carbonate units which can be matched with Mesozoic rock types present in the Tuscan domain of the northern Apennines. Compositional results constrain the source of the Pietraforte Formation sandstones to the western margin of the Adriatic plate, from uplifted sedimentary and metasedimentary rocks of the Tuscan domain and its low-grade metamorphic basement. Coeval intrabasinal sources provided additional supplies to the depositional basin of the Pietraforte Formation; this intrabasinal supply consists of shelf carbonate allochems, planktonic foraminifera and argillaceous rip-up clasts. The presence of carbonate grains from shallow-water environments may indicate the existence during deposition of marginal shelf areas favourable for carbonate allochem production.     

西秦岭造山带徽成盆地早白垩世地层物源综合分析

徽成盆地是西秦岭造山带内一个具有代表性的盆地,保留较完整的地层记录.早白垩世田家坝组、周家湾组和鸡山组为一套砂砾岩沉积组合序列.本文通过对早白垩世砂岩的古水流恢复、砾石成分与含量、重矿物和地球化学分析,对沉积岩物源区特征和原型盆地进行探讨.古水流恢复和砾石成分统计表明,沉积物主要是近源堆积,主要来自于盆地南缘和北部.重矿物研究结果表明,早白垩世砂岩母岩以岩浆岩为主,并有少量变质岩/沉积岩.地球化学分析表明,早白垩世砂岩为成熟度较低的硬砂岩和长石/岩屑砂屑岩.稀土元素标准化配分曲线呈现轻稀土富集、重稀土平坦和弱Eu负异常特征.砂岩物源区组成判别图研究表明,早白垩世砂岩的物源区主要出露长英质火山岩.砂岩源区构造环境判别图解及特征指数分析表明,早白垩世砂岩源区主要形成于大陆岛弧和活动大陆边缘.结合区域资料和前人研究,表明早白垩世徽成地区发育走滑拉分盆地.     

Post-Marinoan marine siliciclastic sedimentation: The Masirah Bay Formation,Neoproterozoic Huqf Supergroup of Oman

The Huqf Supergroup of Oman contains an excellently exposed succession from the presumed Marinoan-age Fiq glaciation (ca. 635 Ma) to the Precambrian–Cambrian boundary (542 Ma). Within this time interval, two major siliciclastic-to-carbonate cycles are present, starting with the transgression of basin margins following the deposition of the glacigenic, probably rift-related Fiq Member. The dominantly siliciclastic portion of the first cycle is termed the Masirah Bay Formation. In the Huqf region of east-central Oman, two quartz-arenitic sandstone bodies crop out, below the transition into the overlying Khufai Formation carbonates. In the Jabal Akhdar of northern Oman, only deep marine shales and siltstones are found.The Masirah Bay Formation in the Huqf area is divided into a number of members with constituent units containing distinctive facies assemblages. In Member 1, wave-rippled shoreface deposits are overlain by trough cross-stratified, coarse-grained sandstones deposited in proximal tidal sandsheets or estuarine tidal shoals. Member 2 represents essentially a repeat of this coarsening- and shallowing-up trend via a basin-wide flooding event. A second major flooding surface is overlain by the lower shoreface to offshore sedimentary rocks of Member 3, which pass gradationally upwards into the distal carbonate ramp of the Khufai Formation. The two major progradational cycles can be identified in nearby subsurface well penetrations such as Masirah-1 (SMP-1).The tidal sandstones of the Masirah Bay Formation were deposited as regressive-transgressive pulses in a longer term transgressive stratigraphic trend associated with both the demise of continental glaciation and the end of active extensional tectonics. As basin margins were flooded, compositionally and texturally mature but coarse-grained quartzose sand was swept by currents into tidal sandsheets and estuary-fills along a broad littoral margin situated in the eastern fringe of the study area. The development of meso-macrotidal conditions over extensive sandy shelves and coastlines appears to be a common but unexplained feature of the Ediacaran and Early Cambrian interval.     

东昆仑黑海地区赛什腾组变质碎屑岩地球化学特征及其对物质来源的制约

东昆仑地区出露的赛什腾组为一套边缘前陆盆地沉积,是原特提斯洋在东昆仑地区俯冲消减到碰撞闭合的沉积记录。对赛什腾组的地球化学特征进行分析和研究,有助于深入理解物源区的类型和性质。本次对赛什腾组的沉积序列进行了详细研究,对典型样品进行了主量、微量及稀土元素地球化学分析和研究。研究结果显示,赛什腾组的变质碎屑岩原岩主要为杂砂岩,少量的岩屑砂岩和长石砂岩;其物源区大地构造背景主要为活动大陆边缘及大陆岛弧。赛什腾组主要来自陆源碎屑岩或中酸性岩浆岩等长英质物质来源区,并且在沉积过程中有白沙河岩组、小庙岩群、万宝沟群等古老沉积组分的加入。此外,原特提斯洋演化过程中形成的岛弧花岗岩,也为赛什腾组提供物质来源。     

新疆库鲁克塔格南华系砂岩碎屑组成对其物源及盆地演化的指示

库鲁克塔格南华系记录了塔里木北缘同期的火山-沉积事件和蚀源区物质组成及演化的信息。该区不同剖面内南华系各组砂岩碎屑组分的统计分析显示,贝义西组砂岩在不同剖面内组成差异显著:西山口剖面以岩屑砂岩为主,且岩屑为火山岩岩屑与沉积岩岩屑,物源为再旋回地层,而依格孜塔格剖面以长石砂岩和岩屑长石砂岩为主,岩屑主要为变质岩岩屑,物源为下伏古元古代高级变质岩。砂岩碎屑组成在剖面上垂向的变化表明贝义西组沉积期与照壁山组沉积期间（725 Ma±）存在一个沉积转型事件,导致贝义西组之上的照壁山组、阿勒通沟组及特瑞艾肯组砂岩组成在不同区域趋于一致,转变为代表基底隆起-过渡大陆区物源的典型“长石砂岩”。南华系砂岩碎屑组成与大陆裂谷盆地沉积砂岩相似,且物源区存在由前裂谷地层-过渡裂谷肩部-切割裂谷肩部-克拉通内部的连续演化过程,是库满凹陷早期裂解的岩相学记录。     

松辽盆地南部钱家店铀矿床姚家组砂岩地球化学特征及地质意义

沉积物的地球化学成分在沉积岩物源分析及构造背景的研究中具有重要的作用.对研究区4口钻孔中的姚家组砂岩进行了详细的岩石学和地球化学研究,结果显示,砂岩碎屑颗粒石英含量最高,长石次之,岩屑含量最低,平均值分别为42%、37%和21%,具有锆石+钛磁铁矿+石榴子石的重矿物组合,反映源岩以酸性岩浆岩或变质岩为主,Dickinson判别图解表明物源主要来自于大陆物源区;姚家组砂岩的稀土元素以轻稀土富集、重稀土平坦、中度铕负异常为特征.砂岩CIA值为52.02~60.16,平均值为56.69,反映了干燥气候背景下弱的化学风化作用.源岩属性判别图解表明源岩为再旋回的古老沉积物及长英质火山岩.主量、微量和稀土元素的构造背景判别图解综合表明姚家组砂岩物源区为被动大陆边缘构造环境,结合区域构造演化,认为姚家组砂岩的物源为华北克拉通北缘燕山陆内造山带发育的火山-沉积岩系.      

The Itaja�� foreland basin: a tectono-sedimentary record of the Ediacaran period, Southern Brazil

The Itajaí Basin located in the southern border of the Luís Alves Microplate is considered as a peripheral foreland basin related to the Dom Feliciano Belt. It presents an excellent record of the Ediacaran period, and its upper parts display the best Brazilian example of Precambrian turbiditic deposits. The basal succession of Itajaí Group is represented by sandstones and conglomerates (Baú Formation) deposited in alluvial and deltaic-fan systems. The marine upper sequences correspond to the Ribeir?o Carvalho (channelized and non-channelized proximal silty-argillaceous rhythmic turbidites), Ribeir?o Neisse (arkosic sandstones and siltites), and Ribeir?o do Bode (distal silty turbidites) formations. The Apiúna Formation felsic volcanic rocks crosscut the sedimentary succession. The Cambrian Subida leucosyenogranite represents the last felsic magmatic activity to affect the Itajaí Basin. The Brusque Group and the Florianópolis Batholith are proposed as source areas for the sediments of the upper sequence. For the lower continental units the source areas are the Santa Catarina, S?o Miguel and Camboriú complexes. The lack of any oceanic crust in the Itajaí Basin suggests that the marine units were deposited in a restricted, internal sea. The sedimentation started around 600?Ma and ended before 560?Ma as indicated by the emplacement of rhyolitic domes. The Itajaí Basin is temporally and tectonically correlated with the Camaqu? Basin in Rio Grande do Sul and the Arroyo del Soldado/Piriápolis Basin in Uruguay. It also has several tectono-sedimentary characteristics in common with the African-equivalent Nama Basin.     

Syn- and post-sedimentary controls on clay mineral assemblages in a tectonically active basin,Andean Argentinean foreland

In the northern part of the Calchaquí Valley (NW Argentina), Palaeogene Andean foreland sediments are represented by a 1400-metre-thick continental succession (QLC: Quebrada de Los Colorados Formation) consisting of claystones, siltstones, sandstones, and conglomerates representing sedimentation in fluvial-alluvial plains and alluvial fan settings. To understand the main syn- and postsedimentary variables controlling the clay mineral assemblages of this succession, we have studied the fine-grained clastic sediments by X-ray diffraction and electron microscopy, along with a detailed sedimentary facies analysis, for two representative sections. In the northern section, the whole succession was sampled and analysed by XRD, whereas in the second section, a control point 15 km to the south, only the basal levels were analysed. The XRD study revealed a strong contrast in clay mineral assemblages between these two sections as well as with sections in the central Calchaquí Valley studied previously. In the northernmost part of the study area, a complete evolution from smectite at the top to R3 illite/smectite mixed-layers plus authigenic kaolinite at the bottom, through R1-type mixed-layers in between, has been recognized, indicating the attainment of late diagenesis. In contrast, the clay mineral assemblages of equivalent foreland sediments cropping out only 15 km to the south contain abundant smectite and micas, subordinate kaolinite and chlorite, and no I/S mixed-layers to the bottom of the sequence. Early diagenetic conditions were also inferred in a previous study for equivalent sediments of the QLC Formation cropping out to the south, in the central Calchaquí Valley, as smectite occurs in basal strata. Burial depths of approximately 3000 m were estimated for the QLC Formation in the central and northern Calchaquí Valley; in addition, an intermediate to slightly low geothermal gradient can be considered likely for both areas as foreland basins are regarded as hypothermal basins. Consequently, the attainment of late diagenesis in the northernmost study area cannot be explained by significant differences in burial depth nor in geothermal gradient in relation to the section 15 km to the south nor with the central Calchaquí Valley. The formation of R3 mixed-layer I/S and authigenic kaolinite in the northern study area was most likely controlled by the circulation of hot, deep fluids along the reverse faults that bounded the Calchaquí valley. These faults were active during the Cenozoic, as evidenced by the syndepositional deformation features preserved in the studied sediments. Stress could also have been a driving force in burial diagenesis at the R3 mixed-layer I/S stage in these young continental sediments.     

川西坳陷中段上侏罗统蓬莱镇组物源及沉积体系研究

作为川西坳陷主要的油气勘探目的层,上侏罗统蓬莱镇组物源区及物源方向的研究是明确沉积体系、砂体及储层空间展布的基础。由于缺乏针对性的系统研究,对于川西坳陷中段蓬莱镇组物源方向及沉积体系展布的研究,长期以来存在较大争议。根据碎屑组分、重矿物、微量元素以及古地貌分析结果,对研究区蓬莱镇物源及沉积体系进行了重新认识。结果表明,川西坳陷中段蓬莱镇组存在龙门山中段、北段、米仓山多个物源区。其中,研究区西部物源主要来自龙门山中段,发育呈北西-南东向展布的近源、短轴三角洲沉积体系,砂岩分选差、粒度相对较粗、矿物成分成熟度相对较低,储层不发育;研究区中东部沉积物则主要来自龙门山北段以及米仓山,发育北东-南西向展布的远源、长轴三角洲沉积体系,砂岩分选好、粒度相对较细、长石含量及矿物成分成熟度较高,物性条件较好。同时,蓬莱镇组不同时期主要物源体系存在差异。自蓬一段至蓬四段,主物源方向由西、北西向北、北东方向转变,主物源区由龙门山中段向龙门山北段迁移。     

珠江口盆地恩平凹陷恩平组物源体系分析及未来大洋钻探建议

物源体系分析是沉积盆地特征分析的重要内容，为进一步阐明珠江口盆地恩平凹陷恩平组的沉积特征和物源体系，本文拟利用恩平凹陷的三维地震资料和钻井数据，通过古生物环境分析和锆石U- Pb定年等方法，并借助地震剖面中古沟谷的识别、前积反射结构、地震多属性分析结果和沉积相带平面分布特征，对恩平凹陷恩平组物源体系特征进行综合分析。研究结果表明，恩平组PSQ1～PSQ2时期表现位明显的陆相湖盆特征，物源主要为珠江口盆地内隆起的古生代变质岩和中生代火成岩基底，少量来源于北部华南褶皱带的元古宙变质岩；随着PSQ3时期断层活动逐渐停止，湖平面不断上升，华南褶皱带物源供给能力明显增强，逐渐成为恩平凹陷主要物源。鉴于目前南海北部缺少陆相湖盆地层的完整岩芯剖面，制约了南海北部裂陷期构造- 沉积耦合研究并影响了该地区的油气勘探，建议下一步在南海北部陆相沉积盆地(如珠江口盆地)开展大洋钻探工作，以便获取更连续、时间精度更高，受风化作用影响更小的陆相湖盆地层的完整岩芯剖面。这不仅有利于指导下一步油气勘探，也可通过重建陆相沉积盆地不同地质历史时期的沉积变化过程，为了解古气候状态和预测未来气候变化提供重要依据。     

Correlation and paleoenvironments of middle Paleogene marine beds based on dinoflagellate cysts in southwestern Patagonia,Argentina

An understanding of paleonvironmental and paleoceanographic evolution of the Southwestern Atlantic Ocean during the Palaeogene is prevented by the lack of precise tools to date and correlate the sedimentary units. Palynological samples collected in the upper portion of the Man Aike Formation, which crops out southern Lago Argentino area, in the southwest of the Austral Basin (50°21′45″S–72°14′30″W), contain well preserved marine organic dinoflagellate cysts, which are potentially important biostratigraphic and paleoenvironmental indicators. Herein we describe the composition of the Man Aike Formation's dinoflagellate cyst assemblages and compare them to similar assemblages collected in the same basin in the upper member of the Río Turbio Formation using Compositional Statistical Analysis. The dinoflagellate cyst assemblages from the upper part of the Man Aike Formation are highly correlated to the assemblages from the upper member of the Río Turbio Formation from outcropping sections (51°31′13″S–72°15′11″W) and with the lower part of sediment cores drilled by Yacimientos Carboníferos Fiscales in the Río Turbio Formation area. These dinoflagellate cyst assemblages show a very low correlation with the assemblages from the upper part of the Yacimientos Carboníferos Fiscales's cores. The comparison of our results with the high-resolution Southern Pacific Ocean dinoflagellate cyst zonation for the late Palaeocene to late Eocene allow us to date some of the dinoflagellate events recorded in formations of southwestern Patagonia. The assemblages from the Man Aike Formation and the lower part of the upper member of the Río Turbio Formation relate to the zones SPDZ11 and SPDZ12 and are assigned to the mid-middle Eocene (late Lutetian to early Bartonian). The biostratigraphy proposed herein constrains the age of the Man Aike Formation and equivalent units based on calcareous microfossil data, mollusks affinities and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr isotopic values to an age ranging between ∼42 and 39 Ma. The assemblages from the upper part of the upper member of the Río Turbio Formation relate to the SPDZ13 Zone, which corresponds to the late Eocene (early Priabonian). The dinoflagellate cyst assemblages indicate that they were under the influence of relatively warm, marine open waters in an inner-shelf environment for the lower part of the sections. In the upper part of the sections, the assemblages suggest shallow marine waters associated with coastal areas and high trophic levels, possibly as a result of freshwater inputs.     

Provenance shift through time in superposed basins: From Early Cryogenian glaciomarine to Late Ediacaran orogenic sedimentations (Araçuaí Orogen,SE Brazil)

Records of Precambrian glaciation have been reported from southeastern Brazil for over a century. We present sedimentological, stratigraphic and isotopic (U-Pb and Lu-Hf on detrital zircons, C and O on carbonates) studies on diamictite-rich to diamictite-free successions of the Araçuaí Orogen, the Brazilian counterpart of the Araçuaí – West Congo Orogenic System (AWCO). From base to top, the Chapada Acauã Formation (Macaúbas Group) includes a diamictite-rich unit, with lenses of graded sandstone and clast-supported conglomerate, that gradually passes to graded sandstone, pelite with sparse oversized clasts and rare carbonate lenses on top, representing mass flow and turbidity current deposits of submarine fan, followed by finer-grained turbiditic sedimentation with iceberg discharges along fan fringes, from glaciomarine to post-glacial scenarios. The Salinas Formation comprises a deep-sea sand-mud sequence composed of pelites and pelitic wackes. The Chapada Acauã Formation was deposited in-between 750 and 667 Ma. It shows wide spectra of zircon ages (typical of continental rift to passive margin settings) that start around 3.2 Ga and display main age peaks indicating sediment provenance from the Rhyacian-Orosirian basement (εHf_(t) = +14.6 to −18.5) and Early Tonian anorogenic rocks (950–880 Ma; εHf_(t) = −3.2 to −23.2) for the diamictite-rich lower unit and, for the upper unit, also in Early Cryogenian anorogenic rocks (ca. 715 Ma, εHf_(t) = −9.6). In contrast, the Salinas Formation shows most ages in-between 676 and 620 Ma and a maximum sedimentation age around 551 Ma, with εHf_(t) from +6.9 to −18.2, unravelling an important shifting of sediment provenance to sources located in magmatic arcs and collisional granites of the Araçuaí and Ribeira orogens. The Early Cryogenian age and negative Hf signature for the glaciomarine Chapada Acauã Formation point to sediment sources in the 720–670 Ma anorogenic igneous rocks found in AWCO and adjacent Congo – São Francisco Craton, and suggest correlation with the Sturtian global glaciation.     

Santa Bárbara Formation (Early Paleozoic, Caçapava do Sul, southern Brazil): Petrographic and Sm–Nd isotopic provenance parameters

Integrated petrographic and Sm–Nd isotopic data were applied in order to constrain the provenance of the Early Paleozoic Santa Bárbara Formation, Sul-rio-grandense Shield, southern Brazil. This unit comprises continental sandstones, conglomerates and siltstones deposited under semi-arid climate in a rift or pull-apart basin. Samples were collected within a stratigraphic framework composed of three sequences, in which the two basal ones present northeastwards paleoflow, and the third one marks the inversion of basin filling. Samples from sequence I show, in the south, a strong influence of intermediate volcanic (Hilário Formation) sources, and a significant increase in quartz and metamorphic fragments upsection. In the northern deposits, there is a possible influence of juvenile units (Cambaí/Vacacaí), and a more significant input of Paleoproterozoic-sourced sedimentary rocks (e.g. Maricá Formation) upsection. Samples collected from the topmost deposits of sequence II present a clear increase in the amount of volcanic fragments (mostly acidic), reflecting denudation of the “Caçapava high”. Data obtained in sequence III (Pedra do Segredo) show a progressive decrease in quartz content and a significant increase in feldspathic, plutonic fragments. A more evolved phase of denudation of the “Caçapava high”, exposing leucogranitoids of the Caçapava do Sul complex, is proposed for this interval.     

The Carrancas Formation,Bambuí Group: A record of pre-Marinoan sedimentation on the southern São Francisco craton,Brazil

The Carrancas Formation outcrops in east-central Brazil on the southern margin of the São Francisco craton where it comprises the base of the late Neoproterozoic Bambuí Group. It is overlain by the basal Ediacaran cap carbonate Sete Lagoas Formation and was for a long time considered to be glacially influenced and correlative with the glaciogenic Jequitaí Formation. New stratigraphic, isotopic and geochronologic data imply that the Carrancas Formation was instead formed by the shedding of debris from basement highs uplifted during an episode of minor continental rifting. Reddish dolostones in the upper Carrancas Formation have δ¹³C values ranging from +7.1 to +9.6‰, which is a unique C isotopic composition for the lowermost Bambuí Group but similar to values found in the Tijucuçu sequence, a pre-glacial unit in the Araçuaí fold belt on the eastern margin of the São Francisco craton. The stratigraphic position below basal Ediacaran cap carbonates and the highly positive δ¹³C values together indicate a Cryogenian interglacial age for the Carrancas Formation, with the high δ¹³C values representing the so-called Keele peak, which precedes the pre-Marinoan Trezona negative δ¹³C excursion in other well characterized Cryogenian sequences. Hence, The Carrancas Formation pre-dates de Marinoan Jequitaí Formation and represents an interval of Cryogenian stratigraphy not previously known to occur on the southern margin of São Francicso craton. Documentation of Cryogenian interglacial strata on the São Francisco craton reinforces recent revisions to the age of Bambuí Group strata and has implications for the development of the Bambuí basin.     

陕西山阳地区上泥盆统桐峪寺组重力流沉积

近二十年来,对沉积物重力流及其沉积物的研究已引起国内外沉积学界的广泛重视,无论在理论研究还是在实际应用方面,均取得了不少成功的经验,著述甚多。1987年以来,笔者对秦岭造山带中的刘岭群进行了详细的观察研究,首次在上泥盆统桐峪寺组发现一套以颗流、浊流为特征的重力流沉积组合。这一发现对整个刘岭群的沉积环境与沉积相研究具有重要意义,为秦岭造山带的形成与演化及大地构造格局研究提供了有力的沉积学依据。