Sedimentology and paleoenvironmental evolution of Messinian evaporites in the Iskenderun-Hatay basin complex, Southern Turkey

Messinian evaporites, which resulted from the salinity crisis during the final closure of the Mediterranean Sea, are exposed in SE Turkey. These evaporites formed in two isolated sub-basins, Iskenderun-Arsuz (IA) and Hatay-Samanda? (HS), which belong to different depositional configurations and tectonic structures. The Neogene fill of these sub-basins consists of a thick sedimentary succession that started with Early Miocene terrestrial clastics, followed by reefs (Middle Miocene) and shallow water siliciclastics (Tortonian - Early to Late Miocene) and finally Messinian evaporates. These sub-basins accumulated in a diverse range of depositional environments from very shallow to deeper water. Evaporite facies in the IA sub-basin consist of sabkhas, saline lagoons and ponds. They are mainly represented by chemical deposits such as scattered gypsum nodules and balls, nodular bedded gypsum, laminated gypsum (Type-A) and selenites (Type-S1). Evaporites in the HS sub-basin mainly consist of detrital gypsum composed of gypsum laminae (Type-B, C), gypsum arenite-rudites and deeper water selenites (≤ 20 m), and resedimented selenites (Type-S2), which were deposited on a sulfate platform with a slope-basin transitional zone. Secondary gypsum with alabastrine and porphyroblastic textures as well as satin spar veins is commonly associated with the sabkha-type evaporites of the IA sub-basin. Deeper-water clastic evaporites of the HS sub-basin have generally remained as primary gypsum or have only been slightly affected by diagenetic alterations. The isotope values (^87/86Sr; δ¹⁸O SMOW; and δ³⁴S CDT) from the different kinds of gypsum lithofacies of the sub-basin are similar to those of the Messinian evaporites in other peri-Mediterranean basins, indicating an origin from marine water without external or basinal contributions.The Messinian evaporites examined in this paper are overlain by Early Pliocene (Zanclean) deposits composed of shallow- and deep-water siliciclastics and carbonates with local intercalations of Lago-Mare-type strata. Throughout the Messinian evaporitic stage, the IA sub-basin was mainly comprised of shallow water evaporites, while the HS sub-basin underwent deepening related to regional tectonics induced by the Dead Sea Fault during the construction of the Hatay Graben.     

Messinian deposits and erosion in northern Tunisia: inferences on Strait of Sicily during the Messinian Salinity Crisis

Outcrops, offshore wells, electric logs and seismic profiles from northern Tunisia provide an opportunity to decipher the Messinian Salinity Crisis in the Strait of Sicily. Messinian deposits (including gypsum beds) near the Tellian Range reveal two successive subaerial erosional surfaces overlain by breccias and marine Zanclean clays, respectively. In the Gulf of Tunis, Messinian thick evaporites (mostly halite) are strongly eroded by a fluvial canyon infilled with Zanclean clays. The first erosional phase is referred to the intra-Messinian tectonic phase and is analogous to that found in Sicily. The second phase corresponds to the Messinian Erosional Surface that postdates the marginal evaporites, to which the entire Sicilian evaporitic series must refer. The Western and Eastern Mediterranean basins were separated during deposition of the central evaporites.     

The Messinian Sicilian stratigraphy revisited: new insights for the Messinian salinity crisis

Controversies around the Messinian salinity crisis (MSC) are because of the difficulties in establishing genetic and stratigraphic relationships between its deep and shallow‐water record. Actually, the Sicilian foreland basin shows both shallow and deep‐water Messinian records, thus offering the chance to reconstruct comprehensive MSC scenarios. The Lower Gypsum of Sicily comprises primary and resedimented evaporites separated in space and time by the intra‐Messinian unconformity. A composite unit including halite, resedimented gypsum and Calcare di Base accumulated between 5.6 and 5.55 Ma in the main depocentres; it records the acme of the Messinian Salinity Crisis during a tectonic phase coupled with sea‐level falls at glacials TG14‐TG12. These deposits fully post‐date primary gypsum, which precipitated in shallow‐water wedge‐top and foreland ramp basins between 5.96 and 5.6 Ma. This new stratigraphic framework results in a three‐stage MSC scenario characterized by different primary evaporite associations: selenite in the first and third stages, carbonate, halite and potash salt in the second one associated with hybrid resedimented evaporites.     

Algal crusts, autochthonous and clastic gypsum in a cannibalistic evaporite basin: a case history from the Messinian of Northern Apennines

The Messinian Vena del Gesso Basin in the Northern Apennines is filled by very thick (up to 35 m) beds of coarse crystalline gypsum (selenite) associated with thinner carbonate and shaly (euxinic) intercalations. The conventional Usiglio model of salt fractionation does not apply to this evaporitic sequence for the following reasons: carbonate which underlies gypsum is not evaporitic but algal in origin; most gypsum did not precipitate from surface brines but at and below a sediment-water interface occupied by algal mats; a significant portion (10–80%) of gypsum beds is composed of redeposited selenite which was removed from the margins and transported toward the centre of the basin by slope-controlled currents and gravity flows (debris flows). We call this process cannibalistic because of its intraformational character (connected with evaporative fall of water level) and volumetric importance. A recurrent vertical pattern of six main facies (euxinic to gypsum fanglo-merates) is interpreted as a bathymetric, regressive cycle controlled by both sedi-mentological and tectonic-eustatic factors. The inferred environmental setting is a residual turbidite trough (Marnoso-arenacea) evolving abruptly toward lagoonal conditions and filled up to sea level by evaporitic and mechanical (mostly fluvial) processes. Repeated inundations of restricted-marine water started the depositional cycle thirteen or fourteen times.     

Half-graben lacustrine sedimentary rocks of the lower Carboniferous Strathlorne Formation, Horton Group, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada

The Strathlorne Formation is the middle formation of a three-part Horton Group stratigraphy present throughout the post-Acadian Orogeny Maritimes Basin in Atlantic Canada. It is up to 600 m in thickness and is of Tournaisian age. The formation was deposited in a complex lacustrine system during the period of maximum fault-bounded extensional subsidence within two asymmetric half-graben sub-basin segments of a large rift. This rift was located at a palaeolatitude of 10–15°S. Four facies assemblages are identified and interpreted: (1) dark grey mudstone (open lacustrine), (2) grey, very fine to fine-grained sandstone (nearshore/shoreline), (3) grey, medium-grained sandstone to conglomerate (fan delta) and (4) red siltstone to fine-grained sandstone (interdeltaic mudflat). Interpreted structural asymmetry of the fault-bounded sub-basins is evidenced by asymmetry of sediment input, facies distribution and palaeoflow in the lacustrine sedimentary fill. These indicators suggest that the sub-basins, which were linked end-to-end, had opposed polarity of structural asymmetry during deposition of the Strathlorne Formation. Open lacustrine sediments are typified by stacked shallowing-upward sequences, each representing deepening due to sub-basin-wide subsidence events followed by gradual infilling to shallow water depths. Sub-basin asymmetry is also reflected in the contrast of thick sequences and grouped thinner sequences at marginal and axial positions, respectively. The lakes which occupied the sub-basins were large (up to 100 × 50 km), tens to hundreds of metres deep and periodically stratified (presence of an anoxic hypolimnion, at least near sub-basin axes).     

Architecture of coastal and alluvial deposits in an extensional basin: the Carboniferous Joggins Formation of eastern Canada

Abstract The Joggins Formation was deposited in the Cumberland Basin, which experienced rapid mid‐Carboniferous subsidence on bounding faults. A 600 m measured section of coastal and alluvial plain strata comprises cycles tens to hundreds of metres thick. The cycles commence with coal and fossiliferous limestone/siltstone intervals, interpreted as widespread flooding events. These intervals are overlain by coarsening‐upward successions capped by planar‐based sandstone mounds, up to 100 m in width that represent the progradation of small, river‐generated delta lobes into a standing body of open water developed during transgression. The overlying strata contain sand‐rich heterolithic packages, 1–8 m thick, that are associated with channel bodies 2–3 m thick and 10–50 m wide. Drifted plant debris, Calamites groves and erect lycopsid trees are preserved within these predominantly green‐grey heterolithic sediments, which were deposited on a coastal wetland or deltaic plain traversed by channel systems. The cycles conclude with red siltstones, containing calcareous nodules, that are interbedded with thin sandstones and associated with both single‐storey channel bodies (1–1·5 m thick and 2–3 m wide) and larger, multistorey channels (3–6 m thick) with incised margins. Numerous channel bodies at the same level suggest that multiple‐channel, anastomosed river systems were developed on a well‐drained floodplain. Many minor flooding surfaces divide the strata into parasequences with dominantly progradational and aggradational stacking patterns. Multistorey channel bodies are relatively thin, fine grained and modestly incised, and palaeosols are immature and cumulative. The abundance and prominence of flooding surfaces suggests that base‐level rise was enhanced, whereas the lack of evidence for abrupt basinward stepping of facies belts, coupled with the absence of strong fluvial incision and mature palaeosols, suggests that base‐level fall was suppressed. These architectural features are considered to reflect a tectonic architectural signature, in accordance with the high‐subsidence basinal setting. Evidence for restricted marine influence and variation in floral assemblages suggests modulation by eustatic and climatic effects, although their relative importance is uncertain.     

Study of the Messinian carbonate-evaporite lithofacies offshore Western Libya

This study represents a preliminary investigation of the late Messinian subsurface Marsa Zouaghah Formation in the Western Libyan Offshore, Central Mediterranean Sea. The formation was deposited in three major environmental settings: (a) Marginal Sabkha; (b) Open Lagoon; and (c) Hypersaline Lagoon. The marginal sabkha and open lagoonal settings are locally interrupted by intertidal oolitic shoal deposits. The marginal sabkha facies is replaced in central parts of the Libyan offshore by a narrow zone of aeolian-fluvial facies, the distribution and thickness of which is entirely controlled by a local uplift, the Tripoli Nose'. The marginal sabkha facies broadly defines the late Messinian palaeoshoreline lying parallel to, and north of, the E-W Jifarah fault system which dominated the southern part of the Libyan offshore. This fades is, thus, interpreted as being structurally controlled by fault systems. The hypersaline lagoonal facies is developed in areas of relatively higher rates of subsidence than that of adjacent facies belts. It is therefore, related to restriction formed by continuous subsidence and evaporation. The Marsa Zouaghah Formation constitutes saltern evaporates deposited over a wide platform in sabkha and lagoonal settings, forming part of the 'basin-wide-evaporites' of the Mediterranean Basin deposited during the Messinian salinity crisis. The evaporites formed during a major relative sea-level fall within a subsiding basin situated on the northern continental margin of the African plate. Local, vertical and lateral variations in lithofacies and thickness within the Messinian deposits of the north-west Libyan offshore were controlled by contemporaneous strike-slip movements in addition to sea-level change.     

The Mediterranean Messinian salinity crisis: an Apennine foredeep perspective

Owing to its expanded stratigraphic sections, the Apennine thrust belt offers the opportunity to better understand the evaporitic and post-evaporitic Messinian events. A physical stratigraphic framework of Messinian deposits, based on facies analysis and basin-wide correlation of key surfaces and sedimentary cycles, is presented. It is shown that the Messinian Apennine foredeep had marginal basins with shallow-water primary evaporites and deeper basins where resedimented evaporites accumulated under relatively deep-water conditions. Like many other Mediterranean examples, primary shallow-water evaporites of Apenninic marginal basins show evidence for subaerial exposure and erosion. However, the development of such an erosional surface does not correspond to the deposition of primary evaporites in the deepest part of the basin(s); here, the unconformity can be traced towards the base of resedimented evaporites or to a level within them, implying that the deeper basins of the Apennine foredeep never underwent desiccation during the Messinian salinity crisis, but rather received the eroded marginal evaporites. This fact, usually overlooked, raises important questions about the deep desiccation model of the Mediterranean.     

Depositional environments of Upper Miocene (Messinian) evaporite deposits of the Sicilian Basin*

In Sicily, Messinian evaporitic sedimentary deposits are developed under a wide variety of hypersaline conditions and in environments ranging from continental margin (subaerial), to basin-margin supratidal, to intertidal, to subtidal and out into the hypersaline basin proper. The actual water depth at the time of deposition is indeterminate; however, relative terms such as ‘wave base’ and ‘photic zone’ are utilized. The inter-fingering relationships of specific evaporitic facies having clear and recognizable physical characteristics are presented. These include sub-aerial deposits of nodular calcium sulphate formed displacively within clastic sediments; gypsiferous rudites, arenites and arenitic marls, all of which are reworked sediments and are mixed in varying degrees with other clastic materials (subaerial, supratidal, and intertidal to deep basinal deposits). Laminated calcium sulphate alternating with very thin carbonate interlaminae and having two different aspects; one being even and continuous and the other of a wavy, irregular appearance (subtidal, intertidal, and supratidal deposits). Nodular calcium sulphate beds, usually associated with wavy, irregular laminated beds (supratidal, sabkha deposits); very coarsely crystalline gypsum beds (selenite), associated with more even, laminated beds (subaqueous, intertidal to subtidal deposits); wavy anastomozing gypsum beds, composed of very fine, often broken crystals (subaqueous, current-swept deposits); halite having hopper and chevron structures (supratidal to intertidal); and halite, potash salts, etc. having continuous laminated structure (subaqueous, possibly basinal). Evidence for diagenetic changes is observed in the calcium sulphate deposits which apparently formed by tectonic stress and also by migrating hypersaline waters. These observations suggest that the common, massive form of alabastrine gypsum (or anhydrite, in the subsurface) may not always be ascribed to original depositional features, to syndiagenesis or to early diagenesis but may be the result of late diagenesis.     

Deep-water clastic evaporites deposition in the Messinian Adriatic foredeep (northern Apennines,Italy): did the Mediterranean ever dry out?

A new genetic facies model for deep-water clastic evaporites is presented, based on work carried out on the Messinian Gessoso-solfifera Formation of the northern Apennines during the last 15 years. This model is derived from the most recent siliciclastic turbidite models and describes the downcurrent transformations of a parent flow mainly composed of gypsum clasts. The model allows clearer comprehension of processes controlling the production and deposition of clastic evaporites, representing the most common evaporite facies of the northern Apennines, and the definition of the genetic and stratigraphic relationship with primary shallow-water evaporites formed and preserved in marginal settings. Due to the severe recrystallization processes usually affecting these deposits, petrographic and geochemical analyses are needed for a more accurate interpretation of the large spectrum of recognized gravity-driven deposits ranging from debrisflow to low-density turbidites. Almost all the laminar ‘balatino’ gypsum, previously considered a deep-water primary deposit, is here reinterpreted as the fine-grained product of high to low-density gravity flows. Facies associations permit the framing of the distribution of clastic evaporites into the complex tectonically controlled depositional settings of the Apennine foredeep basin. The Messinian Salinity Crisis occurred during an intense phase of geodynamic reorganization of the Mediterranean area that also produced the fragmentation of the former Miocene Apennine foredeep basin. In this area, primary shallow-water evaporites equivalent to the Mediterranean Lower Evaporites, apparently only formed in semi-closed thrust-top basins like the Vena del Gesso Basin. The subsequent uplift and subaerial exposure of such basins ended the evaporite precipitation and promoted a widespread phase of collapse leading to the resedimentation of the evaporites into deeper basins. Vertical facies sequences of clastic evaporites can be interpreted in terms of the complex interplay between the Messinian tectonic evolution of the Apennine thrust belt and related exhumation–erosional processes. The facies model here proposed could be helpful also for better comprehension of other different depositional and geodynamic contexts; the importance of clastic evaporites deposits has been overlooked in the study of other Mediterranean areas. Based on the Apennine basins experience, it is suggested here that evaporites diffused into the deeper portions of the Mediterranean basin may consist mainly of deep-water resedimented deposits rather than shallow-water to supratidal primary evaporites indicative of a complete basin desiccation.     

Origin and geochemistry of Miocene marine evaporites associated with red beds: Great Kavir Basin,Central Iran

During the Cenozoic numerous shallow epicontinental evaporite basins formed due to tectonic movements in the Northern Province of the Central Iran Tectonic Zone (the Great Kavir Basin). During the Miocene, due to sea‐level fluctuations, thick sequences of evaporites and carbonates accumulated in these basins that subsequently were overlain by continental red beds. Development of halite evaporites with substantial thickness in this area implies inflow of seawater along the narrow continental rift axis. The early ocean basin development was initiated in Early Eocene time and continued up to the Middle Miocene in the isolated failed rift arms. Competition between marine and non‐marine environments, at the edge of the encroaching sea, produced several sequences of both abrupt and gradual transition from continental wadi sediments to marginal marine evaporites in the studied area. These evaporites show well‐preserved textures indicative of relatively shallow‐brine pools. The high Br content of these evaporites indicates marine‐derived parent brines that were under the sporadic influence of freshening by meteoric water or replenishing seawater. However, the association of hopper and cornet textures denotes stratified brine that filled a relatively large pool and prevented rapid variations in the Br profile. Unstable basin conditions that triggered modification of parent brine chemistry prevailed in this basin and caused variable distribution patterns for different elements in the chloride units. The presence of sylvite and the absence of Mg‐sulphate/chlorides in the paragenetic sequence indicate SO₄−depleted parent brine in the studied sequence. Petrographic examinations along with geochemical analyses on these potash‐bearing halites reveal parental brines which were a mixture of seawater and CaCl₂‐rich brines. The source of CaCl₂‐rich brines is ascribed to the presence of local rift systems in the Great Kavir Basin up to the end of the Early Miocene. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A revised stratigraphic framework for later Cenozoic sequences in the northeastern Mediterranean region

This study describes the lithostratigraphic character of mid-Cenozoic (Oligocene-Pliocene) sequences in different parts of the northeastern Mediterranean area and offers a detailed stratigraphic correlation for this region. The sequences concerned are drawn from the Camardi area (south-central Anatolia), the Adana Basin, the Misis Mountains and the Kyrenia Range (northern Cyprus) and the submerged Florence Rise (west of Cyprus). The stratigraphic relationships identified here indicate the following: (a) Following the middle Eocene (Lutetian) regression there was uplift throughout the entire region; (b) Episodes of fluvial and lacustrine deposition in intramontane settings ensued in most of this region during the late Eocene/early Miocene interval; (c) Following a regionally extensive phase of tectonic compression, major marine transgression commenced in the late Oligocene in northern Cyprus and in the early Miocene in adjacent southern Turkey, with the exception of the Ecemi§ Fault Zone where continental deposition continued; (d) These Oligo-Miocene transgressive sequences comprise a broadly diachronous complex of both shallow and deeper marine facies, including reefal carbonates, littoral clastics, basinal shales and fan-turbidites; (e) Deeper marine Miocene facies persisted longer in the Misis area and in northern Cyprus; (f) A regional regression occurred throughout most of the area during the late Serravallian to Tortonian interval and is marked by the abrupt, locally discordant appearance of extensive shallow marine, deltaic and fluvial deposits; (g) Continued regression in the Messinian led to the formation of significant evaporite deposits in the western and southern parts of the region, but localized uplift of the Misis area is attested by the initial deformation of the Neogene rocks there and the absence of Messinian sediments from this area; (h) In the Pliocene there was extensive emergence of the northern parts of the region interrupted by brief marine incursions. The present-day drainage pattern was established at this time; (i) Marine conditions persisted longer in northern Cyprus, where emergence occurred only in the latest Pliocene.     

Sedimentology of the Cretaceous Maha Sarakham evaporites in the Khorat Plateau of northeastern Thailand

Evaporites of the Cretaceous to early Tertiary Maha Sarakham Formation on the Khorat Plateau of southeast Asia (Thailand and Laos) are composed of three depositional members that each include evaporitic successions, each overlain by non-marine clastic red beds, and are present in both the Khorat and the Sakon Nakhon sub-basins. These two basins are presently separated by the northwest-trending Phu Phan anticline. The thickness of the formation averages 250 m but is up to 1.1 km thick in some areas. In both basins it thickens towards the basin centre suggesting differential basin subsidence preceding or during sedimentation. The stratigraphy, lithological character and mineralogy of the evaporites and clastics are identical in both basins suggesting that they were probably connected during deposition. Evaporites include thick successions of halite, anhydrite and a considerable accumulation of potassic minerals (sylvite and carnallite) but contain some tachyhydrite, and minor amounts of borates. During the deposition of halite the basin was subjected to repeated inflow of fresher marine water that resulted in the formation of anhydrite marker beds. Sedimentary facies and textures of both halite and anhydrite suggest deposition in a shallow saline-pan environment. Many halite beds, however, contain a curious `sieve-like' fabric marked by skeletal anhydrite outlines of gypsum precursor crystals and are the product of early diagenetic replacement by halite of primary shallow-water gypsum. The δ³⁴S isotopic values obtained from different types of anhydrite interbedded with halite range from 14.3‰ to 17.0‰ (CDT), suggesting a marine origin for this sulphate. Bromine concentration in the halite of the Lower Member begins around 70 ppm and systematically increases upward to 400 ppm below the potash-rich zone, also suggesting evaporation of largely marine waters. In the Middle Member the initial concentration of bromine in halite is 200 ppm, rising to 450 ppm in the upper part of this member. The bromine concentration in the Upper Member exhibits uniform upward increase and ranges from 200 to 300 ppm. The presence of tachyhydrite in association with the potassic salts was probably the result of: (1) the large volumes of halite replacement of gypsum, on a bed by bed basis, releasing calcium back into the restricted waters of the basin; and (2) early hydrothermal input of calcium chloride-rich waters. The borates associated with potash-rich beds likely resulted from erosion and influx of water from surrounding granitic terrains; however, hydrothermal influx is also possible. Interbedded with the evaporites are non-marine red beds that are also evaporative, with displacive anhydrite nodules and beds and considerable amounts of displacive halite. The δ³⁴S isotopic values of this anhydrite have non-marine values, ranging from 6.4‰ to 10.9‰ (CDT). These data indicate that the Khorat and Sakhon Nakhon basins underwent periods of marine influx due to relative world sea-level rise but were sporadically isolated from the world ocean.     

Facies relationships in the Upper Devonian-Lower Carboniferous of southwest Ireland and adjacent regions

In southwest Ireland 2,500 m of Upper Famennian to basal Namurian marine sandstones and mudstones, the Cork Beds, overlie rocks of Old Red Sandstone facies. Coastal exposures of the Cork Beds are interpreted as showing gradual upward change from alluvial strata, through thick subtidal and shelf sediments to pyritic muds. A review of recent palaeontological evidence shows that the thick shallow marine part of the Cork Beds is older than the major development of lime-stones north of the Cork Harbour—Kenmare Une, whose equivalents to the south are in the condensed basinal sediments. The Lower Carboniferous portion of the Cork Facies is shown to be thicker in South Cork than in West Cork. In Lower Carboniferous times a positive area–the Glandore High–separated two sub-basins with different depositional histories. Six palaeogeographic maps are used to demonstrate the progressive shift of facies belts as Lower Carboniferous marine transgression progressed. Finally, brief comparison is made with rocks of the same age in southwest England.     

Lithofacies and cyclicity of Mohilla evaporite basins on the rifted margin of the Levant in the Late Triassic,Makhtesh Ramon,southern Israel

Marine‐connected basins with evaporites occur beneath most extensional continental margins that originated at low‐latitudes and often are of major economic significance. Cyclicity in the evaporite lithofacies reflects the degree of restriction of the basin, overprinted by sea‐level changes, and caused by structural movements in the barrier region, whether by fault‐block rotation, footwall uplift or hanging wall subsidence, in both extensional and compressional basins. The Upper Triassic evaporites of the Ramon section in southern Israel model cyclic sedimentation in such environments. The Mohilla Formation is a carbonate–evaporate–siliciclastic succession of Carnian age that fills a chain of basins extending along the Levant margin from southern Israel to Jordan and Syria. The basins developed in half‐grabens adjacent to normal faults that formed during a period of regional extension. Evaporites of this formation are well‐exposed in outcrops at Makhtesh Ramon, the southernmost of these basins. The M2 Member of the Mohilla Formation is composed of 42 sub‐metre cycles of alternating dolostone, gypsum and calcareous shales. Field and microfacies analysis showed these cycles to conform mostly to restricted shallow and marginal marine environments, spatially limited by the uplifted shoulders of the half‐graben systems. A total of 10 facies types belonging to six depositional environments have been identified. From stacking patterns and analysis of bed to bed change, cycles can be categorized into three groupings: (i) low frequency exposure to exposure cycles that developed under eustatic or climate control; (ii) high frequency deepening/shallowing‐upward cycles, characterized by gradual transitions due to short‐term sea‐level or runoff‐event oscillations possibly referable to orbital forcing; and (iii) high frequency shallowing‐upward cycles, characterized by abrupt transitions, attributable to sporadic tectonic events affecting accommodation space or barrier effectiveness. The way facies and cycling of the sedimentary environments was deciphered in the Mohilla evaporite basin can be used to unravel the genesis of many other evaporite basins with barriers of tectonic origin.     

Study of a Neogene basin dynamics: The “Bizerte basin”, northeastern Tunisia: relevance to the global Messinian Salinity Crisis

The Messinian sediments of northeastern Tunisia were deposited under an active tectonic setting. They are organized in sequences indicating a transitional deposit from margin – littoral to lacustrine – continental facies. These series unconformably overlie the Serravallian–Tortonian silty clays packages, and are overlain by the transgressive Early Pliocene marl (Zanclean). The presence of evaporitic strata points out to the Messinian Salinity Crisis described in the peripheral basins of the western Mediterranean. The Messinian sedimentation was found to have been closely controlled by transtensive tectonics and differential subsidence at a large spatio-temporal scale. It is organized in sequences typical of a depositional environment controlled by eustatism, tectonic and maybe by climate changes. Despite the existence of some local specific sedimentological characteristics, our results corroborate previous findings that pointed out to the Messinian times as a singular period all around the Mediterranean Basin. Field and subsurface seismic profile data helped reconstructing either the sedimentary or tectonic unconformities existing between the studied Messinian series and older Neogene successions.     

Facies analysis and depositional systems of Cenozoic sediments in the Hoh Xil basin, northern Tibet

A sedimentary succession more than 5800 m thick, including the Lower Eocene to Lower Oligocene Fenghuoshan Group, the Lower Oligocene Yaxicuo Group, and the Lower Miocene Wudaoliang Group, is widely distributed in the Hoh Xil piggyback basin, the largest Cenozoic sedimentary basin in the hinterland of the Tibetan plateau. The strata of the Fenghuoshan and Yaxicuo groups have undergone strong deformation, whereas only minor tilting has occurred in the Wudaoliang Group. We analyze their sedimentary facies and depositional systems to help characterize continental collision and early uplift of the Tibetan plateau. The results indicate fluvial, lacustrine, and fan-delta facies for the Fenghuoshan Group, fluvial and lacustrine facies for the Yaxicuo Group, and lacustrine facies for the Wudaoliang Group. Development of the Hoh Xil basin underwent three stages: (1) the Fenghuoshan Group was deposited mainly in the Fenghuoshan-Hantaishan sub-basin between 56.0 and 31.8 Ma ago; (2) the Yaxicuo Group was deposited mainly in the Wudaoliang and Zhuolai Lake sub-basins between 31.8 and 30.0 Ma ago; and (3) the Wudaoliang Group was deposited throughout the entire Hoh Xil basin during the Early Miocene. The Fenghuoshan and Yaxicuo groups were deposited in piggyback basins during the Early Eocene to Early Oligocene, whereas the Wudaoliang Group was deposited in a relatively stable large lake. The Hoh Xil basin underwent two periods of strong north–south shortening, which could have been produced by the collision between India and Asia and the early uplift of the Tibetan plateau. The study suggests the Hoh Xil region could reach a high elevation during the Late Oligocene and the diachronous uplift history for the Tibetan plateau from east to west.     

High-resolution stratigraphy and depositional model of wind- and water-laid deposits in the ordovician Guaritas rift (Southernmost Brazil)

The upper portion of the Pedra Pintada Alloformation includes about 100 m of mostly eolian deposits. This paper emphasizes the vertical succession and lateral association of sedimentary facies, based on analysis of outcrop data and aerial photographs, as well as the hierarchy and origin of bounding surfaces. It aims to propose a high-resolution stratigraphic and depositional model that may be useful to exploitation of eolian reservoirs. The succession has been preserved due to basin subsidence, and is described in terms of four facies associations that constitute three dominantly eolian units. These units are sharply bounded by major flooding surfaces (super surfaces) that, in turn, are overlain by 1 to 2 m thick, dominantly water-laid facies (lacustrine, fluvial, deltaic and eolian). Both their internal organization and boundaries were controlled by changes in the base level rise rate. The basal Eolian Unit is composed of crescentic eolian dunes and damp interdune deposits ascribed to a wet eolian system. On the other hand, eolian units II and III, also characterized by crescentic eolian dunes (simple and compound) deposits, were related to dry eolian systems, since they comprise dry (eventually wet) interdune facies. Eolian Unit III is truncated by basinwide unconformity, which is then overlain by the ephemeral fluvial deposits (Varzinha Alloformation). This second type of super surface is related to climate-induced wind erosion (deflation) down to the water table level (regional Stokes surface) followed by fluvial incision linked to tectonic activity.     

The carboniferous lithostratigraphy of Southeast County Limerick,Ireland, and the origin of the shannon trough

The Carboniferous succession in southeast County Limerick, on the southeastern margin of the Shannon Trough, is Courceyan to mid-Namurian in age and over 1900 m thick. The lithostratigraphy is described in detail. Its most important aspect is the presence of two thick volcanic sequences, a Chadian one of the alkali basalt to trachyte suite and one of Asbian age dominated by limburgites and ankaramites. The associated Dinantian carbonates are of shelf or ramp facies throughout, and no fundamental division into shelf and basin facies occurs as in the Dublin and Craven Basins in early Viséan times. Rapid differential subsidence between this area and the Shannon Estuary began during deposition of the late Courceyan to early Chadian Waulsortian facies but was less marked in the remaining Viséan when much of the volcanic topography was preserved by rapid basinal subsidence. There was basinal inversion in the late Dinantian to lower Namurian, followed by renewed subsidence in mid-Namurian times. This contrasts with the continuous rapid subsidence of the area further west on the Shannon Estuary. This behaviour, together with a comparison of that of nearby Carboniferous basins such as the Dublin, South Munster, and Craven Basins, which lack substantial volcanic sequences, suggests an origin in a transtensional regime rather than one of simple crustal stretching.     

Lithostratigraphic and sedimentary evolution of the Kom Ombo (Garara) sub-basin,southern Egypt

Southern Egypt is mostly covered by clastic sediments belonging to the Paleozoic and the Mesozoic. The Precambrian basement rocks bound the Etbai area to the east and Gabgaba area to the west. The basement extends further west forming dissected small and major exposures in southern Egypt, south of latitude 23° 30′ N but are covered by Cretaceous-Lower Tertiary sediments further north, the Western Limestone Plateau. The clastic sediments in southeast Egypt, on the western side of the basement rocks in-between latitudes 22° N and 24° 35′ N, built two sub-basins, Kom Ombo (Garara) sub-basin in the north and south Nile Valley sub-basin in the south. These are separated by a dissected basement wall. The two sub-basins have different lithostratigraphic successions, Paleozoic (Early to Late) in the south Nile Valley sub-basin whereas Late Paleozoic-Mesozoic-Tertairy in the Kom Ombo sub-basin. The platform clastic sediments within both sub-basins were possibly supplied from an easterly located Paleotethys extending to North Gondwana. The Oxfordian opening of the Indian Ocean associated with rise in sea level supplied more waters to the north and sediments by passed the filled southern Nile Valley sub-basin and reached the adjacent Kom Ombo sub-basin defining a depositional shift. On the other hand, during the Jurassic, Northern Egypt received Neotethys waters that filled deeper sub-basins (e.g., the Maghara sub-basin), hence the difference in lithology between Jurassic northern and southern sediments. Since the Jurassic, most of Egypt received Tethys waters. In the drilled wells studied, the younger top sediments surrounding the well sites are related to the Tethys geostratigraphy. The sub-basins in southern Egypt are controlled by N-S faults defining constant subsiding basins. The E-W Guinea–Nubia Lineament bounds the northern side of the Kom Ombo sub-basin, where it is closed by a northern basement arch.