Lower Rotliegend fluvio-lacustrine sequences in the Saar-Nahe Basin

The Rotliegend beds of the middle of the Kusel Group to the middle of the Lebach Group in the Saar-Nahe Basin are characterized by sedimentary sequences which developed in streams, deltas, and lakes. The stream sequences consisting of cross-stratified sandstone units are attributed to braided fluvial environment. The lake-delta sequences usually show gradual transition from lacustrine mudstones to delta-front cross-stratified sandstones and to floodbasin, crevasse and overbank sandstones and mudstones. Loaded high-intensity flows occasionally result in deformation- and erosion-structures. Low-energy lacustrine sedimentation is evident from paper-shales and massive mudstones. The mudstones alternate with cross-laminated sandstones where influenced by terrigenous influx.     

A stable isotope study of the Mercia Mudstones (Keuper Marl) and associated sulphate horizons in the English Midlands

ABSTRACT Widespread evaporitic sulphate horizons occur in the frequently dolomitic Mercia Mudstones (Upper Triassic) of the English Midlands. The mudstones were deposited on an extensive peneplain which had areas of upstanding minor relief (Charnwood Massif, Derbyshire—Pennines, London Platform). Horst and graben structures formed during the early and middle Triassic, controlled late Triassic sedimentation rates and peneplain slope directions. A stable isotope study (S,C,O) of the sulphates and dolomites of the Trent Formation indicates that during the deposition of the lower Fauld Member grabens such as the Need wood Basin in Staffordshire and areas marginal to a graben such as Newark in Nottinghamshire had a marine brine regime with minor continental input. Using constraints applied by sulphate concentrations of modern waters in arid environments, the ratio of volume of marine input to volume of continental input lay between 3:1 and 4:1. The horst area (East Leake, Nottinghamshire) was strongly influenced by continental brines which derived sulphate from the exposed Carboniferous Hathern Anhydrite Series. A predominantly continental brine regime existed across the whole area during deposition of the overlying Hawton Member. Periodic marine influxes gave rise to thin sulphate horizons whilst continental run-off was occasionally sufficient to form temporary lakes. The Blue Anchor Formation (Rhaetian) was deposited in a lacustrine environment with waters of mixed marine and continental origin. Salinities were lower than those of the preceding Trent Formation brines.     

Facies sequences of a semi-arid closed basin: the Lower Jurassic East Berlin Formation of the Hartford Basin, New England, U.S.A.

The Lower Jurassic East Berlin Formation exposed in the centre of the Hartford Basin can be divided into six facies: (1) laminated black mudstone is composed of very finely-laminated, organic-bearing clay-stone with common millimetre-scale lenses of dolomitic siltstone; (2) planar laminated mudstone is commonly mudcracked and composed of thickly-laminated, red, green or grey mudstone with common centimetre-scale lenses of sandstones; (3) disrupted mudstone has a complex, desiccation-cracked fabric; (4) planar- and large-scale trough cross-stratified sandstones are composed of moderately well-sorted medium- to coarse-grained arkoses; (5) small-scale, cross-stratified silty sandstones with common climbing-ripple structure; and (6) interbedded sandstones and mudstones which commonly carry desiccation cracks. Mudstone facies are organized into repetitive, metre-scale facies sequences which change gradationally upwards from laminated black mudstones to planar-laminated mudstones to disrupted mudstones. Facies sequences have sharp tops and bottoms and record increasing desiccation upwards. There are 15 such cycles in the upper 100 m of the formation in central Connecticut. They record long periods of dry playa mudflat aggradation punctuated by the rapid expansion and contraction of perennial lakes. The sandy facies occur as single, decimetre-scale sedimentation units or as two or more stacked sedimentation units up to 1 m thick. These record sheet floods across ephemeral floodplains.     

Depositional history and stratigraphical evolution of the Sakamena group (Middle Karoo Supergroup) in the southern Morondava Basin, Madagascar

The Karoo Supergroup in Madagascar is subdivided into three lithostratigraphical units: the Late Carboniferous-Early Permian Sakoa Group; the Late Permian-Middle Triassic Sakamena Group; and the Triassic-Early Jurassic Isalo Group. The Sakamena Group is fairly well exposed in the southern Morondava Basin, where it is approximately 4000 m thick. The Sakamena Group is separated from the Sakoa Group by an angular unconformity. The Lower Sakamena Formation is characterised by two major facies associations: (1) interbedded muddy conglomerates and coarse sandstones; and (2) interbedded sandstones and mudstones, which were deposited in a rejuvenated rift setting by coarse-grained fluvial systems and debris flows on the rift margins. In the Vatambe area, facies represent fandelta deposition in a saline lake or tongue of the ocean. The Middle Sakamena Formation comprises three major facies: (1) laminated mudstones and sandstones; (2) sandstones; and (3) mudstones. The Middle Sakamena facies were deposited by low gradient meandering streams and in shallow lakes. The Upper Sakamena Formation was deposited in similar environments, except that it is comprised predominantly of red beds. The Isalo Group consists predominantly of coarse-grained sandstones (up to 6000 m thick). These sandstones were deposited by braided streams with the coarse detritus derived from a structural uplift in the east.     

Organic petrography and geochemistry of inertinite-rich mudstones, Jakobsstigen Formation, Upper Jurassic, northeast Greenland: Indications of forest fires and variations in relative sea-level

The lower-middle Oxfordian Jakobsstigen Formation, Wollaston Forland, northeast Greenland, consists mainly of stacked coarsening-upward successions of offshore to shoreface heteroliths, sandstone and rare foreshore sandstones. The units are separated by thin, laterally extensive sheets of terrigenous carbonaceous mudstones, which have been subjected to organic petrographic and geochemical studies. The mudstones are thermally immature, with maturities corresponding to R₀ in the range 0.35–0.50%. The mudstones contain very high proportions of allochthonous inertinite, subordinate huminite, char and negligible proportions of liptinite. Inertinite reflectance distributions are markedly bimodal, with maxima at approximately 1.73 and 4.91% R_m. Both pyrolysis yields and solvent extract yields are low. The distributions of n-alkanes are markedly light-end skewed and show a pronounced predominance of even-numbered compounds in the lower carbon number range. Biomarker-distributions feature a dominance of C₂₉-steranes, slight enhancement of extended hopanes and αββ-steranes, low proportion of tricyclic triterpanes and very low hopane/sterane ratios. Sedimentological, organic petrographical and geochemical evidence suggests that the regular alternation between marine and terrestrial depositional environments during deposition of the Jakobsstigen Formation was related to low-amplitude, high-frequency changes in relative sea-level and local climate. The mudstones were deposited during early rise of relative sea-level in shallow, flat-bottomed lakes or lagoons on a broad coastal plain. The lakes acted as traps for fine elastic sediment and for predominantly windborne inertinite, generated by wildfires in the hinterland. High rates of evaporation rendered the lakes mildly saline, hampering their colonization by vegetation other than cyanobacteria and halophilic microorganisms. Similarly, saline porewaters excluded higher plant vegetation from emergent areas. Upon continued rise of the relative sea-level, the lakes were gradually flooded and their deposits became covered by sandy shallow marine sediments. The larger areas covered by shallow marine waters during periods of high relative sea-level led to a more humid local climate and to lower frequency of wildfires. During falling relative sea-level, the marine deposits were eroded and partially removed and the cycle subsequently repeated upon renewed rise in relative sea-level. Hence, minor changes in relative sea-level gave rise to the regular alternation of two vastly different depositional environments, as well as to marked variations in local climate.     

南极利文斯顿岛上三叠统Miers Bluff组及其与相当地层对比

南极南设得兰群岛利文斯顿岛 Miers Bluff组 (MBF)是一套岩层倒转、强烈变形、浅变质的浊流沉积地层 ,主要由砂岩、泥岩、粉砂岩及含砾砂岩组成 ,具有很好的韵律层 ,形成鲍玛序列 ,通常被认为属于近海底扇浊流沉积 ,并当作中新生代火山岩的基底。最近发现的孢粉化石指明其时代属晚三叠世 ,从而解决了久来时代的疑问(石炭—三叠纪 ,二叠—三叠纪 ,或前侏罗纪 )。分布在南极半岛格雷厄姆地的特里尼蒂半岛群、南奥克尼群岛的杂砂岩—页岩组、智利南部乔诺斯群岛乔诺斯变质杂岩的 Potranca组以及新西兰惠灵顿的 Torlesse杂岩应是时代相当、岩性及沉积环境相似的岩层。三叠纪末受太平洋板块俯冲影响 ,这一浊流地层褶皱、变形、隆升 ,具有相同的构造风格 ,是冈瓦纳古陆在侏罗纪早期开始裂解前夕一次构造事件的重要佐证     

Microbial–serpulid build-ups in the Norian–Rhaetian of the Western Mediterranean area: ecological response of shelf margin communities to stressed environments

Microbial–serpulid communities are the main reef-builders of most Norian–Rhaetian carbonate platforms of Italy. They represent minor, yet significant communities in the shallow western Tethys, in contrast with the highly diversified sponge- and coral-dominated Dachstein reefs widespread from Eastern Alps to Australia. The microbial–serpulid build-ups are systematically associated with narrow intraplatform troughs and developed on the outer margin–upper slope area under marine conditions unsuitable for the development of coralgal reefs. The development of these settings can be related to transtensional tectonics affecting an elongate belt which was roughly parallel to the Piedmont–Ligurian Ocean spreading axis during the Jurassic. Dysoxic and mesosaline waters are the main cause of the success of the Norian microbial–serpulid build-ups; whereas, from the late Norian to the Rhaetian, eutrophication and climate change control their distribution. These environments acted during Norian–Rhaetian times as refuges, where opportunitistic organisms could survive and build frameworks during a period otherwise dominated by coralgal reefs.     

THE RHAETIAN OF NORTHEAST ASIA

In the course of investigations in the North Caucasus, the Pamirs and the Soviet Northeast, geologists observed in sections certain beds with a peculiar fauna, underlain by deposits of the Norian stage and overlain by Upper Jurassic deposits. According to I. I. Tuchkov, in the Soviet Northeast these beds are unconditionally referred to the Rhaetian. In 1959 A. I. Afizky found numerous Upper Norian ammonites within these deposits on the Bolshoi Anyui River (lower course of the Kolyma River). As early as 1937 J. Fromaget mentioned findings of Norian ammonites in the supposedly “Rhaetian” beds in south-Asian sections. This author first put forward the Rhaetian stage problem, suggesting that it might be regarded as a zone of the Norian stage. Such a solution of the Rhaetian stage problem breaks with traditional stratigraphy. The present paper points out another way towards the solution of the above problem, taking into account both the numerous cases of findings of beds with a mixed Norian-Rhaetian fauna and the irregular distribution of ammonite zones in the Norian (six zones) and the Rhaetian (one zone) stages. By lowering the lower boundary of the Rhaetian stage and including the two upper zones of the Norian stage into the Rhaetian, the problem, of the latter may be solved without breaking with traditional stratigraphy.—Auth. Eriglish summ.     

The age and formation mechanisms of Late Triassic fissure deposits,Gloucestershire, England: Comments on Mussini,G. et al. (2020). Anatomy of a Late Triassic Bristol fissure: Tytherington fissure 2

In the Late Triassic the landscape NE of present-day Bristol, SW England was dominated by Carboniferous Limestone ridges and cuestas that became progressively buried by continental Mercia Mudstones and finally inundated during the Rhaetian marine transgression. Mussini et al. (2020) adopt the assertions of earlier collaborators back to Whiteside and Marshall (2008) that terrestrial vertebrate assemblages from sediments contained within karstic fissure systems in the former limestone ridges at Cromhall, Tytherington and elsewhere are restricted to the Rhaetian. We review and reject the sedimentological, stratigraphic, geomorphological and topographic arguments for this and reassert a long pre-Rhaetian (Norian) history for the vertebrate-bearing fissure systems at both Tytherington and Cromhall. We also reject the contemporaneous Rhaetian freshwater-seawater mixing zone dissolution model for the fissure systems adopted by Mussini et al. (2020) and reaffirm that the Tytherington and Cromhall fissures developed as conduit caves with a long Triassic history. Applying a new regional study of the Rhaetian transgressive surface, we also show that whilst the fissures at Cromhall remained sealed after the Norian, those at nearby Tytherington were re-exposed in the Late Rhaetian. Already partially filled with Norian sediments, the Tytherington fissures were subject to reworking on the seabed. Internal collapses, probably triggered by well documented repeated regional seismicity, led to the chaotic state of the Tytherington fills when downward moving Rhaetian marine components came to lie amongst and mix with earlier Norian terrestrial sediments. The vertebrate associations in the Tytherington fissures therefore contain a substantial Rhaetian input whilst those at Cromhall do not.     

Sedimentology of the Baluti Formation in the Galley Derash,Amadiya, North Iraq: insight on carbonate turbidite facies and their depositional environmental

The Baluti Formation is exposed succession of the Rhaetian age (Upper Triassic). These strata are interpreted herein for the first time to redeposit in a deep marine setting (distally steepened carbonate ramp/medial to distal slope) on the northwestern margin of the Neo-Tethys. The Galley Derash section is apparently continuous with no evidence for either subaerial exposure or submarine erosion. The absence of erosional scours in the study area confirms emplacement of these strata below both fair-weather and storm wave base. Event beds, particularly those resulting from sediment gravity flows, dominate the Rhaetian interval. The Upper Rhaetian strata are primarily assigned to the Galley Derash Valley. It records an upward transition from moderate-scale, olistolith-bearing debris flow deposits (debrite) to medium-/thin-bedded turbidites remobilized as sediment slumps/slides. The succession is dominated by medium- to thin-bedded calcareous turbidites and hemipelagic suspension deposits. Very low fossil assemblages, particularly stromatolite fragments, and planktonic bivalves occur within some intervals in the section. Rapid and relatively continuous sedimentation is attested to by the thickness of the section, the abundance of calcareous turbidites, and the thin nature of the intercalated hemipelagic beds. Low content of badly preserved fossils and evidence of continuous and rapid sedimentation refer to alteration by tectonic disturbances or diagenesis. This makes the Baluti Beds as a supplementary section for the Rhaetian successions in Iraq.     

Isotopic Evolution of Saline Lakes in the Low-Latitude and Polar Regions

Isotopic fractionations associated with two primary processes (evaporation and freezing of water) are discussed, which are responsible for the formation and evolution of saline lakes in deserts from both low-latitude and the Polar regions. In an evaporative system, atmospheric parameters (humidity and isotopic composition of water vapor) have strong influence on the isotopic behavior of saline lakes, and in a freezing system, salinity build-up largely controls the extent of freezing and associated isotope fractionation. In both systems, salinity has a direct impact on the isotopic evolution of saline lakes. It is proposed that a steady-state “terminal lake” model with short-term hydrologic and environmental perturbations can serve as a useful framework for investigating both evaporative and freezing processes of perennial saline lakes. Through re-assessment of own work and literature data for saline lakes, it was demonstrated that effective uses of the isotope activity compositions of brines and salinity-chemistry data could reveal dynamic changes and evolution in the isotopic compositions of saline lakes in response to hydrologic and environmental changes. The residence time of isotopic water molecules in lakes determines the nature of responses in the isotopic compositions following perturbations in the water and isotope balances (e.g., dilution by inflow, water deficit by increased evaporation, and/or reduction in inflow). The isotopic profiles of some saline lakes from the Polar regions show that they switched the two contrasting modes of operation between evaporative and freezing systems, in response to climate and hydrological changes in the past.     

Microvertebrates from the Rhaetian basal bone bed of Saltford,near Bath,SW England

The famous Rhaetian bone bed (Late Triassic, 205 Ma) is well known because it marks a major switch in depositional environment from terrestrial red beds to fully marine conditions throughout the UK and much of Europe. The bone bed is generally cemented and less than 10 cm thick. However, we report here an unusual case from Saltford, near Bath, S.W. England where the bone bed is unconsolidated and up to nearly 1 m thick. The exposure of the basal beds of the Westbury Formation, Penarth Group includes a bone bed containing a diverse Rhaetian marine microvertebrate fauna dominated by sharks, actinopterygian fishes and reptiles. Despite the unusual sedimentary character of the bone bed, we find similar proportions of taxa as in other basal Rhaetian bone beds (55–59 % Lissodus teeth, 13–16 % Rhomphaiodon teeth, 12–14 % Severnichthys teeth, 6–9% Gyrolepis teeth, 3–4% undetermined sharks’ teeth, 1–3% undetermined bony fish teeth, and < 1% of each of Hybodus, Parascylloides, and Sargodon), the only differences being in the proportions of Rhomphaiodon teeth, which can represent 30–40 % of specimens elsewhere. This suggests that taphonomic bias of varying Rhaetian bone beds may be comparable despite different sedimentary settings, and that the proportions of taxa say something about their original proportions in the ecosystem.     

鄂尔多斯盆地西缘桌子山地区奥陶系深水条纹条带状泥岩等深流成因分析*

沉积形成的条纹和条带状构造多包含化学沉积和机械沉积2个沉积过程,在探讨其沉积机制时往往受到制约。而桌子山地区中、上奥陶统克里摩里组和乌拉力克组发育良好的条纹条带状泥岩,为单一的机械沉积作用所致,是研究条纹条带构造形成过程中沉积流体作用机制的理想层位。本次研究以详细的野外观察为基础,结合室内岩石薄片鉴定和近年来关于细粒沉积水槽实验的研究成果,探讨深水等深流在形成条纹条带构造中的作用。克里摩里组上段多为条纹状泥岩组成,呈极细的连续或断续透镜状,垂向上表现为细—粗—细序列;乌拉力克组多为条带状泥岩,与砾屑石灰岩伴生,垂向上发育窄—宽—窄序列。其成因则与等深流引起的黏土絮凝波和底载荷运动相关。在弱等深流作用期,絮凝波发育并存在长的尾迹,在等深流改造底载荷进行再沉积的同时,黏土絮凝波发生垂直降落沉积,形成条纹状泥岩;在强等深流作用期,絮凝波不发育,底载荷连续加积形成条带状泥岩。克里摩里组条纹状泥岩与乌拉力克组条带状泥岩的差别可能与水深相关,前者水体较深,后者水体较浅。研究结果说明鄂尔多斯盆地西缘中、晚奥陶世的最大海侵发生在克里摩里组上段,这对研究该地区的构造性海侵和大地构造环境具有重要意义。     

柴达木盆地北缘侏罗系两类不同有机质丰度泥岩的 生物标志物特征对比研究

在柴达木盆地北缘地区,分别选取有机碳含量很低和较高的侏罗系泥岩样品,对比分析了它们在生物标志物组成上的差异。结果发现,高有机质丰度泥岩的生标组成与我国西北地区侏罗纪煤系有机质的特征差异不大,相比而言,低有机质丰度泥岩的正烷烃以前主峰为特征,Pr/Ph比值在1.0左右,三环萜烷和伽马蜡烷丰度较高,并在部分样品中检出了25 降藿烷系列。结合泥岩的有机岩石学特征,认为这些差异可能反映了泥岩沉积环境和生烃母质的不同:高有机质丰度泥岩的有机显微组分以相对弱还原条件下的形态有机质为主,包括藻类体、孢子体和角质体等,而低有机质丰度泥岩的有机显微组分以相对强还原条件下的矿物沥青基质为主,其母质可能来源于低等显微菌藻类。进一步通过对比不同有机质丰度泥岩,以及区内原油生标组成之间的相互关系,讨论了研究区的油源问题。     

Metapelites of the Valyukhta Formation as indicators of the Riphean residual weathering crust,Patom Highland

Bimodal metapelites of complex (sedimentary-epigenetic) origin were found at the base of the Upper Riphean Zhuya Group, which disconformably overlies the Lower-Middle Riphean Kadalikan Group. The substrate of these rocks is represented by relatively low-aluminous mudstones of the Valyukhta Formation, which bear evidence of physical disintegration replaced upsection by chemical decomposition. The altered mudstones compose a weathering crust with the typical fissure, clastic, rubble-grus (lithomarge), and fine-clastic (dispersed) zones. Rocks of the lithomarge zone are enriched in silica, which was removed from the dispersed zone during the formation of the chemical weathering crust. During partial erosion of this crust, detrital quartz and fine-dispersed (mature) clay material penetrated the fissured mudstones. The bulk of detrital quartz was precipitated in the lithomarge and clastic zones. Fine-dispersed clay matter was accumulated in lower parts of the fissure zone. Mudstones subjected to different-depth epigenetic alterations are transformed into sericite-bearing shales of in the fissure zone, quartz-bearing shales in the clastic zone, siliceous-quartz shales and clay-like siliceous-quartz rocks in the rubble-grus zone, and sericite phyllites in the fine-clastic zone. These rocks, developed after mudstones of the Valyukhta Formation, represent different-depth indicators of the weathering crust.     

The Silurian rocks of the Tortworth Inlier,Gloucestershire

The Silurian succession in the Tortworth Inlier includes strata belonging to the three main divisions of the System. The Upper Llandovery, which rests unconformably on Tremadoc beds, consists of about 700 ft. (213 m.) of fine-grained sandstones, mudstones and shales with two igneous bands. The Wenlock Series is represented by some 800 ft. (244 m.) of mudstones, siltstones and calcareous sandstones with impersistent limestone bands at various horizons. The Ludlow succession is incomplete, but at least 300 ft. (91 m.) of mudstones, siltstones and fine-grained sandstones are present, and they pass up conformably into the Downtonian.     

The anatomy of an early Dinantian terraced floodplain: palaeo-environment and early diagenesis

The lowermost Carboniferous rocks in the Cockburnspath area of east Berwickshire (southern Scotland) are interpreted as coastal floodplain sediments. A lower mudstone-dominated unit is composed of silty mudstones and shales with subordinate sandstones and argillaceous ferroan dolomites (cementstones). These are interpreted as distal floodplain sediments with periodic crevasse-splay deposition. The dark grey colour of the mudrocks suggests deposition in reducing conditions, probably in floodplain lakes. Most of the cementstones are concretionary, some with septarian cracks, suggesting an early diagenetic origin. An immature palaeosol suggests periodic pedogenesis under improved drainage. A synsedimentary erosion surface indicates incision of a valley into the floodplain, presumably in response to base-level lowering. An upper sandstone-dominated unit starts with fine-grained rippled sandstones, cut by small channel sandstones. These are interpreted as floodplain lake deposits fed by crevasse channels. A distinctive conglomerate with cementstone clasts, wood fragments and fish remains is interpreted as a major overbank deposit, dumped into a pre-existing floodplain lake. A bivalve fauna was established in the overlying mudstones, followed by a thin limestone with a restricted marine fossil assemblage, showing that seawater flooding of the lakes occurred at times. Mudrocks throughout the sequence contain no pyrite, except for the marine band which has an organic-carbon/sulphur ratio and degree of pyritization value typical of marine sediments. The concretionary cementstones have δ¹³C values around —4 to —6%^0/00 PDB which are interpreted as indicative of anaerobic oxidation of organic matter. The combined geochemical data suggest a significant involvement of iron reduction in cementstone formation, although the δ¹³C values are ambiguous in assessing the relative involvement of methanogenesis and methane oxidation. Limited seawater inundation of the floodplains might have supplied magnesium and calcium ions for dolomite formation assuming that any H₂S derived as a result of sulphate reduction was oxidized by iron reduction. Alternatively a weathering source for solutes might have been involved.