Biostratigraphy and Paleoecology of Maastrichtian Sediments in the Zagros Basin, Iran

To enable the lithostratigraphic and biostratigraphic study of the Gurpi Formation,within the ‘Dezak’ or Globigerina Marl,a stratigraphic section at Booraki,located to the NNW of Shiraz,SW Iran,through the late Cretaceous was examined.The formation consists of shale and greenish-gray marls interbedded with cream limestone,brown sandstones and siltstones with an exposed thickness of 160 m in the studied section.Samples were taken at regular intervals in all yielding 14 genera and 16 different species of benthic and planktic foraminifera that allowed determination of the age of the beds as Maastrichtian.To examine the paleoecology of the formation,some important ecological factors including water level,salinity,and oxygen regime change during the depositional courses of the formation were analyzed.The density of foraminiferans decreases from the base to top of the Gurpi Formation whereas the ratio of planktic to benthic Foraminifera(i.e.,P/B) and proportion of shallow-water fauna increase.These foraminiferal changes indicate an increase and decrease in depth,temperature,salinity and oxygen,respectively,at the base and top of the Formation.     

Evaluating thermal history models for the Otway Basin, southeastern Australia, using (U-Th)/He and fission-track data from borehole apatites

New apatite helium and fission-track data from the Otway Basin are consistent with previously published borehole ages, confirming earlier suggestions that existing thermal models for basin evolution should be reevaluated. Analysis of the relationship between helium ages and grain size in newly analyzed samples, as well as in samples previously reported, reveals that grain size variations may contribute to the previously reported scatter in helium ages among aliquots of the same sample. In addition, systematic variations in apatite grain size with borehole depth or temperature may also have a significant effect on the interpretation of borehole helium age data. Incorporation of the observed grain size variations in Otway borehole apatites into forward models based on published thermal histories, principally based on vitrinite reflectance and fission-track data, suggests that existing models for the eastern Otway Basin are broadly consistent with the helium data. In contrast, thermal histories for western basin boreholes, now thought to be at maximum temperatures, predict helium ages that are generally older than the observed ages, implying that basin temperatures were hotter than indicated by the models. This discrepancy is consistent with a Cenozoic heating event in parts of the western Otway Basin similar to that documented for the eastern basin. The relatively wide spread of apparent apatite fission-track (AFT) ages and compositions compared to the restricted age range of helium measurements on coexisting grains, although not conclusive, supports previous suggestions that composition does not appear to affect the sensitivity of the He closure temperature in apatite.     

Sedimentology of the Madumabisa Mudstone Formation (Late Permian), Lower Karoo Group,mid-Zambezi Valley Basin,southern Zambia

Sediments of the Upper Carboniferous to Lower Jurassic Karoo Supergroup (∼ 4.5 km thick) were deposited in the mid-Zambezi Valley Basin, southern Zambia. The Upper Palæozoic Lower Karoo Group in this area ends with a Late Permian sedimentary unit called the Madumabisa Mudstone Formation. The formation is 700 m thick and comprises four lithofacies grouped into two facies assemblages, collectively interpreted as lacustrine deposits. Sediments of a massive mudrock facies assemblage were deposited from suspension, probably from sediment-laden rivers entering a lake. Concretionary calcilutite beds probably mark the positions of palæosediment-water interfaces where calcite was precipitated. A laminated mudrock facies assemblage is attributed to lacustrine deposition from inflowing rivers at the lake margins and shallow parts of the lake. Repeated thickening-upward cycles are evidence of upward shallowing, interrupted by events of more abrupt deepening. Sandstone interbeds are interpreted as fluvial deposits laid down during low lake stands, with cross-lamination and asymmetrical ripples indicating current rather than wave deposition. A fossil assemblage of ostracods, bivalves, gastropods, fish scales, the alga Botryococcus sp. and fossil burrows is consistent with a lacustrine origin for the formation.     

Dinosaur burrows in the Otway Group (Albian) of Victoria,Australia, and their relation to Cretaceous polar environments

Three enigmatic structures in an outcrop of the Otway Group (Albian) of Victoria, Australia, compose the first known evidence suggestive of dinosaur burrows outside of North America and the oldest from the fossil record. The most complete of the Otway structures nearly matches the size and morphology of a burrow attributed to the only known burrowing dinosaur, Oryctodromeus cubicularis from the Upper Cretaceous (Cenomanian) of Montana (USA). The suspected burrows cross-cut alluvial facies and overlie nearby strata containing dinosaur tracks. The structures contain identical sand fills in their upper portions, implying a near-synchronous origin and filling; graded bedding in the most complete structure also indicates passive filling of an originally open structure. This probable burrow is a 2.1 m long, gently descending, semi-helical tunnel, with a near-constant diameter (about 30 cm) that connects with an enlarged terminal chamber. The structures are unlikely to have been caused by physical or chemical sedimentary processes, and hence are considered as biogenic structures; moreover, their size and morphology imply tetrapod tracemakers. Burrow allometry indicates tracemakers with a mass of 10–20 kg, matching size estimates for small ornithopods from the Otway Group. Burrowing behavior in hypsilophodontid-grade dinosaurs, which compose most of the dinosaurian assemblage in the Lower Cretaceous of Victoria, was proposed previously as an adaptation for surviving formerly polar conditions in southeastern Australia. This paradigm is explored in detail, particularly through actualistic examples of tetrapod burrowing in cold climates. These structures may provide the first clues of ornithopod burrowing in these extreme environments, while also establishing search images for similar structures in other Lower Cretaceous outcrops in Victoria.     

Calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphy and paleoecology of the Cenomanian – Turonian transition in the Tarfaya Basin, southern Morocco

An abundant and diverse nannoflora occurs across the Cenomanian/Turonian (C/T) boundary at Tazra in the Tarfaya Basin of southern Morocco. The nannoflora of this sequence permits recognition of three biozones (CC10-CC12), three subzones (CC10a, CC10b and CC10c), and thirteen important nannolith bioevents previously reported from this interval elsewhere. The floral record shows erratic species abundance fluctuations that clearly vary with lithology and reflect at least in part preservational bias and diagenetic processes. In general, four dissolution resistant taxa are dominant: Watznaueria barnesae, Eiffellithus turriseiffelii, Eprolithus floralis, and Zeugrhabdotus spp. The late Cenomanian Zone CC10 marks a rapid excursion in ∂¹³C and is characterized by the successive extinction of four taxa, which are widely recognized as reliable biomarkers: Corollithion kennedyi, Axopodorhabdus albianus, Lithraphidites acutus, and Helenea chiastia. This interval is also marked by high species richness and high abundance of the tropical species Watznaueria barnesae, suggesting warm tropical waters. The subsequent ∂¹³C plateau and organic carbon-rich black shale deposition of the oceanic anoxic event (OAE2) is characterized by low species richness, but high nannofossil abundance, and peak abundance of the cool water and high productivity indicator Zeugrhabdotus spp., followed by the first peak abundance of cool water Eprolithus floralis. This interval correlates with the planktic foraminiferal diversity minimum and the Heterohelix shift, which marks the expansion of the oxygen minimum zone (OMZ). The C/T boundary is identified based on the FO of Quadrum gartneri, which is <1 m below the FO of the planktic foraminifer C/T marker Helvetoglobotruncana helvetica. In the early and middle Turonian, the two dominant species, tropical W. barnesae and cool water E. floralis, alternate in abundance and suggest fluctuating climatic conditions.     

Integrated Biostratigraphy, Depositional Setting and Geochemical Analyses for Petroleum Potential Evaluation of the Lower Cretaceous (Barremian – Albian) Strata of the Koppeh-Dagh Basin, Northeastern Iran

The lower Cretaceous rock units of the Koppeh-Dagh Basin of northeastern Iran were investigated here in terms of biostratigraphy, depositional setting and geochemical analyses to find out if they, alike other parts of the world, are rich in petroleum. For this purpose, a stratigraphic framework is established using calcareous nannofossil and palynological elements. A nannoplankton zonation based on which subzones of the zones CC7 – CC8 of Sissingh(1977) and their equivalent NC6 – NC8 of Roth(1978) was established indicating a Late Barremian–Albian age. Palynological assemblages led us to establish the local palynozone of Odontochitina operculata. A dominantly marginal basin to a transitional zone between shelf and basin under a dysoxic–anoxic condition with low to moderate sedimentation rates coincided with a gradual sea level rise was introduced as the environment of deposition for the strata via interpretation of the palynological parameters and quantitative palynology. The obtained data from Rock-Eval pyrolysis in compilation with palynofacies analysis reveals that the studied succession contains mainly gas-prone type III kerogen. The Spore Coloration Index(SCI) alongside with the Rock-Eval pyrolysis results(low values of HI and TOC) proves that these rock units locally produced natural gas during the time under consideration.     

Temnospondyls from the Beaufort Group (Karoo Basin) of South Africa and Their Biostratigraphy

The Permo-Triassic Beaufort Group (Karoo Basin) of South Africa is biostratigraphically subdivided into eight, temporally successive assemblage zones based on therapsids (‘mammal-like reptiles’). The Temnospondyli, fossil tetrapods usually regarded as extinct amphibians, are second only to therapsids in terms of diversity and abundance in these strata, with nine higher-level taxa (‘families’) known. Temnospondyls are also playing an increasingly important role in biostratigraphy and correlation of the Beaufort strata. The lower Beaufort Group (Late Permian) contains six of the eight biozones, but only one temnospondyl ‘family’, the Rhinesuchidae, whose record in the Karoo is the richest in the world. However, rhinesuchid taxonomy remains in flux and the group is thus of limited biostratigraphic utility. The Early Triassic Lystrosaurus Assemblage Zone (middle Beaufort Group) contains the Rhinesuchidae, Amphibamidae, Lydekkerinidae, Tupilakosauridae, Rhytidosteidae, Mastodonsauridae and Trematosauridae, although the biostratigraphy of temnospondyls within this biozone is poorly constrained. The uppermost reaches of the Lystrosaurus biozone contain a paucity of fossils but includes ‘Kestrosaurus’ (Mastodonsauridae) and ?Trematosuchus (Trematosauridae), taxa previously thought to pertain to the lower part of the overlying Cynognathus biozone. The late Early to Middle Triassic Cynognathus Assemblage Zone (upper Beaufort Group) hosts the Mastodonsauridae, Trematosauridae, Brachyopidae, Laidleriidae and, possibly, the Rhytidosteidae. Based largely on the spatial and temporal distribution of mastodonsaurids, this biozone has been biostratigraphically subdivided into a lower A, middle B and upper C subzones, characterised by differing ages and faunas.     

泥岩标志层在海陆过渡沉积环境地层对比中的应用——以珠江口盆地陆丰凹陷A油田古近系为例

珠江口盆地A油田区古近系海陆过渡沉积环境砂体变化快,由此带来砂体追踪对比的困难。基于测井和地震资料,在恩平组和珠海组共识别出5套具有等时意义的泥岩标志层。在泥岩标志层约束下,建立了目的层段的高分辨率层序地层格架:3个长期旋回、8个中期旋回以及21个短期旋回。在等时地层格架内,短期旋回的砂体平面分布特征研究表明,恩平组为北东向物源的辫状河三角洲沉积,珠海组为北东—南西展布的滨岸沉积;单砂体沉积微相及含油性研究表明,恩平组的辫状河三角洲分流河道和珠海组的滨岸砂坝为含油有利相带,这一认识在后续开发中得到了验证。     

Subaqueous mass flow origin for Lower Permian diamictites and associated facies of the Grant Group, Barbwire Terrace, Canning Basin, Western Australia

The intracratonic Canning Basin is Western Australia's largest sedimentary basin (>400 000 km²) and has experienced repeated episodes of Phanerozoic extension and subsidence, resulting in deposition of a number of first-order 'megasequences'. A major phase of basin extension and sedimentation (Grant Group) occurred in the Late Carboniferous/Early Permian when Australia lay at high palaeolatitudes. Facies analysis of 5000 m of drill core from 25 continuously cored wells in Grant Group strata on the fault-bounded Barbwire Terrace in the northern Canning Basin identified three facies associations (FAs). These record the predominance of fault-generated, subaqueous mass flow and sediment reworking. The lowest association (FA I; up to 355 m thick) rests unconformably on tilted older strata and consists of coarse-grained, subaqueously deposited, sediment gravity flow facies. These include fault-generated breccias, massive and graded sandstones and conglomerates deposited by turbidity currents and diamictites generated by mixing of different textural populations during downslope remobilization. FA I is overlain abruptly by relatively fine-grained deposits of FA II (up to 140 m thick), which consist of laminated to thin-bedded mudstone and sandstone turbidites, recording an abrupt increase in relative water depths. In turn, these facies coarsen upwards and are transitional into shallow-water, swaley cross-stratified and rippled sandstones of FA III (up to 125 m thick). The overall stratigraphic succession probably records an initial phase of faulting and accommodation of coarse sediment (FA I), a subsequent phase of rapid subsidence, increasing water depths and 'sediment underfilling' (FA II) and, finally, a regressive phase of shoreface progradation. The occurrence of rare striated clasts in FA I suggests reworking of glacial sediment, but no direct glacial influence on sedimentation can be identified.     

南海高压气田泥岩盖层封闭机制、封气能力及演化过程——以莺歌海盆地X13高压气田为例

近期在南海莺歌海盆地勘探发现了高压大气田和一批含气圈闭,随着勘探的深入,高压领域(高压区、高压层系)天然气规模成藏和气水分布的复杂性日益凸显。利用钻井、地震和分析测试资料,对莺歌海盆地X13高压气田上中新统黄流组一段泥岩盖层的封闭机制、封气能力进行了研究,认为泥岩盖层存在物性封闭和泥岩滞排超压封闭两种封闭机制,并建立了相应的封气能力评价方法。X13高压气田泥岩盖层封气能力形成时间约在6.1Ma;3.6Ma时,X13高压气田构造-岩性圈闭形成,这也是天然气成藏的早期,储层、泥岩盖层为常压,泥岩盖层以物性封闭为主,盖层的排替压力大于储层剩余压力,因而具备了封气能力;1.8~0Ma,是天然气晚期成藏时期,储层、盖层已发育超压,泥岩盖层既存在物性封闭,也存在泥岩滞排超压封闭,泥岩盖层的排替压力与滞排超压之和大于超压储层的剩余压力,其中滞排超压发挥了主要的封气作用。较之天然气成藏早期,成藏晚期的盖层泥岩具备更好的封气能力。提出了"中部滞排欠压实-底部畅排压实型盖层—大型储集体组合"的圈闭(带)是高压领域天然气成藏富集区,这一认识对南海高压领域天然气勘探具有指导意义。     

Evolution and palaeoenvironment of the Bauru Basin (Upper Cretaceous,Brazil)

The Bauru Basin was one of the great Cretaceous desert basins of the world, evolved in arid zone called Southern Hot Arid Belt. Its paleobiological record consists mainly of dinosaurs, crocodiles and turtles. The Bauru Basin is an extensive region of the South American continent that includes parts of the southeast and south of Brazil, covering an area of 370,000 km². It is an interior continental basin that developed as a result of subsidence of the central-southern part of the South-American Platform during the Late Cretaceous (Coniacian–Maastrichtian). This sag basin is filled by a sandy siliciclastic sequence with a preserved maximum thickness of 480 m, deposited in semiarid to desert conditions. Its basement consists of volcanic rocks (mainly basalts) of the Lower Cretaceous (Hauterivian) Serra Geral basalt flows, of the Paraná-Etendeka Continental Flood Basalt Province. The sag basin was filled by an essentially siliciclastic psammitic sequence. In lithostratigraphic terms the sequence consists of the Caiuá and Bauru groups. The northern and northeastern edges of the basin provide a record of more proximal original deposits, such as associations of conglomeratic sand facies from alluvial fans, lakes, and intertwined distributary river systems. The progressive basin filling led to the burial of the basaltic substrate by extensive blanket sand sheets, associated with deposits of small dunes and small shallow lakes that retained mud (such as loess). Also in this intermediate context between the edges (more humid) and the interior (dry), wide sand sheet areas crossed by unconfined desert rivers (wadis) occurred. In the central axis of the elliptical basin a regional drainage system formed, flowing from northeast to southwest between the edges of the basin and the hot and dry inner periphery of the Caiuá desert (southwest). Life in the Bauru Basin flourished most in the areas with the greatest water availability, in which dinosaurs, crocodiles, turtles, fish, amphibians, molluscs, crustaceans, and charophyte algae lived. The fossil record mainly consists of transported bones and other skeletal fragments. In the northeastern and eastern marginal regions fossils are found in marginal alluvial fan deposits, broad plains of braided streams and ephemeral alkaline water lakes. In the basin interior the fossil record is related to deposits in sand sheets with braided streams, small dunes, and shallow lakes. In the great Caiuá inner desert a few smaller animals could survive (small reptiles and early mammals), sometimes leaving their footprints in dune foreset deposits. The aim of this article is to present and link the basin sedimentary evolution, palaeoecological features and palaeontological record.     

Larger foraminifera distribution and strontium isotope stratigraphy of the La Cova limestones (Coniacian–Santonian, “Serra del Montsec”, Pyrenees, NE Spain)

The Upper Cretaceous La Cova limestones (southern Pyrenees, Spain) host a rich and diverse larger foraminiferal fauna, which represents the first diversification of K-strategists after the mass extinction at the Cenomanian–Turonian boundary.The stratigraphic distribution of the main taxa of larger foraminifera defines two assemblages. The first assemblage is characterised by the first appearance of lacazinids (Pseudolacazina loeblichi) and meandropsinids (Eofallotia simplex), by the large agglutinated Montsechiana montsechiensis, and by several species of complex rotalids (Rotorbinella campaniola, Iberorotalia reicheli, Orbitokhatina wondersmitti and Calcarinella schaubi). The second assemblage is defined by the appearance of Lacazina pyrenaica, Palandrosina taxyae and Martiguesia cyclamminiformis.A late Coniacian-early Santonian age was so far accepted for the La Cova limestones, based on indirect correlation with deep-water facies bearing planktic foraminifers of the Dicarinella concavata zone. Strontium isotope stratigraphy, based on many samples of pristine biotic calcite of rudists and ostreids, indicates that the La Cova limestones span from the early Coniacian to the early-middle Santonian boundary. The first assemblage of larger foraminifera appears very close to the early-middle Coniacian boundary and reaches its full diversity by the middle Coniacian. The originations defining the second assemblage are dated as earliest Santonian: they represent important bioevents to define the Coniacian-Santonian boundary in the shallow-water facies of the South Pyrenean province.By means of the calibration of strontium isotope stratigraphy to the Geological Time Scale, the larger foraminiferal assemblages of the La Cova limestones can be correlated to the standard biozonal scheme of ammonites, planktonic foraminifers and calcareous nannoplankton. This correlation is a first step toward a larger foraminifera standard biozonation for Upper Cretaceous carbonate platform facies.     

Foraminifers and stratigraphy of the Karatash Group (lower Triassic-Middle Anisian), the southeastern Pamir

First data on Middle Triassic foraminifers of the southeastern Pamir are considered. The lower-middle Anisian sediments are reliably recognized within uniform limestone succession of the Karatash Group in the Southeastern Pamir based on found foraminiferal species Meandrospira deformata Salaj, Meandrospira cheni (Ho), Pilamminella ex gr. semiplana (Kochansky-Devide et Pantic), and Endotheba badouxi (Zaninetti et Bronnimann). The lower-middle Anisian Meandrospira deformata Zone is defined and the Karatash Group is subdivided into the Khan (lower) and Yulla (upper) formations. The foraminifers found imply their migration between the western (Alps, Carpathians, Balkans) and eastern (South China platform, Malaysia, Japan) Tethys across the southeastern Pamir region. Characteristic species of the genus Meandrospira recorded in the southeastern Pamirs are described with specifying their taxonomic scope.     

Mineral matter and trace elements in coals of the Gunnedah Basin, New South Wales, Australia

The concentrations of major and trace inorganic elements in a succession of Permian coals from the Gunnedah Basin, New South Wales, have been determined by X-ray fluorescence techniques applied to both whole-coal and high-temperature ash samples. The results have been evaluated in the light of quantitative data on the minerals in the same coals, determined from X-ray diffraction study of whole-coal samples using a Rietveld-based interpretation program ( ™), to determine relationships of the trace elements in the coals to the mineral species present. Comparison of the chemical composition of the coal ash interpreted from the quantitative mineralogical study to the actual ash composition determined by XRF analysis shows a high degree of consistency, confirming the validity of the XRD interpretations for the Gunnedah Basin materials. Quartz, illite and other minerals of detrital origin dominate the coals in the upper part of the sequence, whereas authigenic kaolinite is abundant in coals from the lower part of the Permian succession. These minerals are all reduced in abundance, however, and pyrite is a dominant constituent, in coals formed under marine influence at several stratigraphic levels. Calcite and dolomite occur as cleat and fracture infillings, mostly in seams near the top and bottom of the sequence. The potassium-bearing minerals in the detrital fraction are associated with significant concentrations of rubidium, and the authigenic kaolinite with relatively high proportions of titanium. Zirconium is also abundant, with associated P and Hf, in the Gunnedah Basin coal seams. Relationships exhibited by Ti, Zr, Nd and Y are consistent with derivation of the original sediment admixed with the seams from an acid volcanic source. Pyrite in the coals is associated with high concentrations of arsenic and minor proportions of thallium; no other element commonly associated with sulphides in coals, however, appears to occur in significant proportions with the pyrite in the sample suite. Small concentrations of Cl present in the coal are inversely related to the pyrite content, and appear to represent ion-exchange components associated with the organic matter. Strontium and barium are strongly associated with the cleat-filling carbonate minerals. Ge and Ga appear to be related to each other and to the coal's organic matter. Cr and V are also related to each other, as are Ce, La, Nd and Pr, but none of these show any relationship to the organic matter or a particular mineral component.     

Oxygen and carbon isotope composition of Gordon Group carbonates (Ordovician), Florentine Valley,Tasmania, Australia

The Gordon Group carbonates consist of biota of the Chlorozoan assemblage, diverse non‐skeletal grains and abundant micrite and dolomite, similar to those of modern warm water carbonates. Cathodoluminescence studies indicate marine, meteoric and some burial cements. Dolomites replacing burrows, mudcracks and micrite formed during early diagenesis.

δ¹⁸O values (‐5 to ‐7%ō PDB) of the non‐luminescent fauna and marine cement are lighter than those of modern counterparts but are similar to those existing within low latitudes during the Ordovician because of the light δ¹⁸O values of Ordovician seawater (‐3 to ‐5%o SMOW). The δ¹⁸O difference (2%o) between marine and meteoric calcite indicates that Ordovician meteoric water was similar to that in modern subtropics. Values of δ¹³C relative to δ¹⁸O indicate that during the Early Ordovician there were higher atmospheric CO₂ levels than at present but during the Middle and Late Ordovician they became comparable with the present because of a change from ‘Greenhouse’ to glacial conditions. δ¹⁸O values of Late Ordovician seawater were heavier than in the Middle Ordovician mainly because of glaciation.

Dolomitization took place in marine to mixed‐marine waters while the original calcium carbonate was undergoing marine to meteoric diagenesis.     

The intrinsic effect of shape on the retrogradation motif and timing of drowning of carbonate patch reef systems (Lower Frasnian,Bugle Gap,Canning Basin,Western Australia)

The evolution and architecture of a set of retreating Lower Frasnian patch reef outcrops in the Canning Basin of Western Australia were evaluated, and their depositional and stratigraphic contacts spatially recorded using digital surveying tools. The geological data, together with high‐resolution digital elevation models, were assembled in three‐dimensional visualization and modelling software and subsequently used for building two‐dimensional surface models and three‐dimensional volumetric models. Numerical data on geometry and shape were extracted from these models and used to quantitatively assess the retrogradation motif of patch reef development. The development of the patch reefs comprises three stages. During stages 1 and 2, the patch reefs exhibited an overall retrogradational escarpment‐type configuration displayed by, on average, 60° steep reef‐margin walls that lacked the support of coeval slope deposits. The subdivision between stages 1 and 2 is based on minor backstepping reducing less than 10% of the platform‐top area. The onset of stage 3 is recognized by stromatolite development fringing reef‐margin walls. During stage 3 an aggrading accretionary reef‐margin developed, comprising allochthonous and autochthonous slope deposits. Both types of slope deposit onlap the previous stages and are distributed unevenly with allochthonous slope deposits being noticeably absent around the smaller and more elongate patch reefs. The variation in distribution of slope sediment type can be explained by the amount, linked to platform size, of platform‐top shedding. Small patch reefs were unable to fill the available accommodation adjacent to escarpments with allochthonous slope sediments and were thus encroached by autochthonous slope sediments. The variation, which cannot be explained by the size difference in the platform‐top factory, has been related to the difference in perimeter length. For patch reefs with similar platform‐top production areas, a more elongate patch reef inherits a longer perimeter and a proportionally smaller volume of allochthonous slope sediment per margin length will be transported to the flanks. Thus, the more elongate patch reef intrinsically contained more sites within which autochthonous slope sediments developed. Digital outcrop modelling and numerical evaluation of the evolution of the patch reefs revealed the major differences in retrogradation motif. The quantified variations in progressive decline of platform‐top area with height were confirmed by hypothetical decline curves for ellipse‐shaped carbonate systems for which aspect ratio (ratio between length and width) varied. This mathematical model demonstrates that the progressive decline of the production area is highly sensitive to shape and can be used to numerically assess and predict the relative timing of drowning, i.e. when the platform‐top production area becomes nil, of retrogradational isolated carbonate platforms that are controlled by high accommodation. Wider implications can be surmised for highstand systems tracts and prograding carbonate systems. For example, for equally sized platforms with hypothetically similar carbonate factories and identical external forces, the potential to prograde by platform‐top shedding is higher with a smaller aspect ratio because the shorter perimeter implies less accommodation space needing to be filled up to commence slope progradation. Clearly, there are intrinsic effects of shape on the development of carbonate platform systems.     

Mineral-groundwater interactions and the formation of authigenic kaolinite within the southeastern intake beds of the Great Australian (Artesian) Basin,New South Wales,Australia

Petrographic studies undertaken on samples from outcrops of the Jurassic Pilliga Sandstone intake beds in the extreme southeastern portion of the Great Australian Basin reveal an abundance of low birefringent clay material filling pore spaces and detrital grain fractures. Thin-section petrography and scanning electron microscopy indicate that much of this material is authigenic and X-ray diffraction studies show it to be essentially monomineralic, consisting of well-ordered kaolinite. Although the Pilliga Sandstone is quartz-rich, micrometric analysis indicates that potassium feldspar is present in quantities up to 20% of the total detrital material. Sporadic biotite mica is also present, constituting up to 3% of the detrital volume.Mechanisms for the formation of authigenic kaolinite are discussed in terms of chemical equilibrium and detrital mineral stability in aqueous systems. Chemical data from bore water and surface waters from this stratigraphic unit indicate that kaolinite is the major stable mineral phase in contact with these natural waters and that minerals such as potassium feldspar or mica would chemically alter to kaolinite. Such alteration of detrital mineral grains is supported by thin-section petrography and this mechanism is considered to be the source for the majority of the authigenic kaolinite observed.The hydrogeological characteristics of the Pilliga Sandstone intake beds are related to the extent of development of authigenic kaolinite.     

Palynology, petrography and geochemistry of the Sewickley coal bed (Monongahela Group, Late Pennsylvanian), Northern Appalachian Basin, USA

Forty-two bench samples of the Sewickley coal bed were collected from seven localities in the northern Appalachian Basin and analyzed palynologically, petrographically, and geochemically. The Sewickley coal bed occurs in the middle of the Pittsburgh Formation (Monongahela Group) and is of Late Pennsylvanian age. Palynologically, it is dominated by spores of tree ferns. Tree fern spore taxa in the Sewickley include Punctatisporites minutus, Punctatosporites minutus, Laevigatosporites minimus, Spinosporites exiguus, Apiculatasporites saetiger, and Thymospora spp. In fact, Punctatisporites minutus was so abundant that it had to be removed from the standard counts and recorded separately (average 73.2%). Even when Punctatisporites minutus is removed from the counts, tree fern spores still dominate a majority of the assemblages, averaging 64.4%. Among the tree fern spores identified in the Sewickley coal, Thymospora exhibits temporal and spatial abundance variation. Thymospora usually increases in abundance from the base to the top of the bed. Thymospora is also more abundant in columns that are thick (>100 cm) and low in ash yield (<12.0%, dry basis). Calamite spores (e.g. Calamospora spp., Laevigatosporites minor, and L. vulgaris) are the next most abundant plant group represented in the Sewickley coal, averaging 20%. Contributions from all other plant groups are minor in comparison.Petrographically, the Sewickley coal contains high percentages of vitrinite (average 82.3%, mineral matter-free (mmf)), with structured forms being more common than unstructured forms. In contrast, liptinite and inertinite macerals both occur in low percentages (average 7.7% and 10.0%, respectively). Geochemically, the Sewickley coal has a moderate ash yield (average 12.4%) and high total sulfur content (average 3.4%).Four localities contained a high ash or carbonaceous shale bench. These benches, which may be coeval, are strongly dominated by tree fern spores. Unlike the lower ash benches, they contain low percentages of vitrinite, which mainly occurs as unstructured vitrinite, and higher liptinite and inertinite contents.The accumulated data suggest that the Sewickley paleomire was probably a rheotrophic, planar mire that had a consistent water cover. This is supported by the high vitrinite contents, moderate ash yields, and high total sulfur contents. The high ash and carbonaceous shale benches probably represent either periods of dryness and substrate exposure, or flooding of the mire surface, the duration of which is unknown.