A New Species of Coniopteris moguqiensis sp. nov. from the Middle Jurassic Wanbao Formation in Eastern Inner Mongolia,China

In recent years, an increasing number of plant fossil leaves and petrified woods have been discovered from the Middle Jurassic Wanbao Formation in Moguqi Town of Inner Mongolia, NE China. Here, we describe a new species of Coniopteris moguqiensis sp. nov. preserved as a fragment with fertile and sterile pinnules. The sterile ultimate pinnules are elongate ovate with sphenopteriod type venation, and fertile pinnules are usually isolated, bipinnate at least with the sorus apical, elliptical, 1 mm in diameter; sporangia are almost globular, 100–150 μm in diameter, and the annulus is vertical. In situ spores are rounded-triangular in polar view, 25–30 μm in diameter with sides straight and slightly convex; trilete, laesurae are thin and slightly straight; the exine surface is usually psilate under the light microscope but finely reticuloid sculptured on the proximal view under a scanning electronic microscope. The fern genus Coniopteris usually suggests a warm and humid environment, which is consistent with the palaeoclimatic conditions of petrified wood and megafossil plants. The new discovery further supplements the floral composition of the Wanbao Formation, providing new material for understanding the evolutionary trend and classification of Coniopteris.     

浙江长兴煤山D剖面早三叠世孢粉组合及全球对比意义

在长兴煤山D剖面下三叠统殷坑组14 m厚的地层内(第25-60层)密集采孢粉样89件, 从12块样品中获得孢粉化石47属50种, 据此将该剖面下三叠统底部的孢粉组合定为Lundbladispora-Taeniaesporites-Equisetosporites组合.组合中裸子植物花粉占优势, 为59.0%~79.6%;蕨类植物孢子次之, 为20.4%~41.0%;裸子植物花粉中以无肋双气囊类花粉为主, 含量为19.7%~54.4%, 多沟类花粉虽仅见Equisetosporites一属, 但含量高, 最高达24.3%.蕨类植物孢子中光面三缝孢类含量最高, 为14.3%~24.4%, 以圆形的Puncatisporites为主, 最高可达16.2%.孢粉组合Lundbladispora-Taeniaesporites-Equisetosporites与同一剖面的早三叠世牙形石第2带Isarcicella isarcica带及第3带Clarkina carinata-C.planata带相重合.这对当前正在进行的陆相二叠系-三叠系界线的准确划分提供了重要的参照系.研究还表明, 煤山D剖面早三叠世早期的孢粉组合与中国北方区的早三叠世同期的孢粉组合对比较为困难, 而与华南各地的对比较为吻合, 说明中国南、北方古生代孢粉组合向中生代孢粉组合转变的时间并不一致, 北方较早, 南方较晚.      

A New Material of Lindera (Lauraceae) of the Late Pliocene from Tengchong, Yunnan and the Genus' Biogeography Significance

Lindera is a large genus of graceful, pleasantly scented and common native trees and shrubs of southern China and neighboring regions of SE Asia. There is a well-documented Cenozoic fossil record not only in these regions but also from elsewhere. A new fossil leaf record has been found in diatomite beds from the Upper Pliocene Mangbang Formation of Tuantian, Tengchong County, Yunnan. The leaves are identified and assigned to Lindera acuminatissima K. Q. Dao et B. N. Sun sp. nov., by comparing their leaf architecture and epidermal characteristics with those of 51 extant Lauraceae species and with 15 known fossil Lindera taxa. The specimens have well-preserved cuticles, with typical leaf architecture and epidermal characteristics of the Lauraceae, including entire leaf margin, intramarginal veins, basal ternate acrodromous primary veins, one-cell trichome base, paracytic stomatal apparatus, sunken guard cells, subsidiary hardly staining cells and presence of oil cells. These characteristics are consistent with Lindera sect. Daphnidium but are different from reported fossil and extant species of Lindera. The cuticles of Lindera are fragile and delicate with only three Lindera fossils reported based on this tissue. In terms of paleobiogeography, the fossil record indicates that Lindera is distributed in high- to mid-latitude regions of the Late Cretaceous to Paleocene northern hemisphere. Coincidentally, the records of Lindera located on both sides of the Bering Land Bridge possibly support the hypothesis that ancient plants extended via transcontinental exchanges through the Bering Corridor. In the Eocene, ancient Lindera spread to Europe through the Northern Degeer Route and the Southern Thulian Route. At the same time, ancient Lindera spread into Central Asia. Climatic changes and tectonization since the Neogene prevented the propagation of Lindera throughout Asia, North America and Europe, and hence the distribution areas have just regressed to the low-latitude regions in Asia and North America. From the Paleogene to the Neogene, Lindera has changed its distribution by surviving extreme climate changes. Quaternary glaciations ultimately led to Lindera becoming extinct in Europe. The new record from Tengchong, Yunnan, with its lower latitude located in tropical and subtropical regions, indicates that Lindera has lived in those regions since the late Pliocene.     

云南临沧晚中新世一种水龙骨科植物化石的修订及其生物学意义

云南现代真蕨类植物资源丰富,蕨类植物多样性的地史起源,必须从化石记录入手。在云南临沧上中新统邦卖组植物化石采集中发现了槲蕨属1块不育叶和2块腐殖叶的新材料,这些标本为修订Drynaria propinqua Wen et al.,2013,以及揭示该种不育叶和腐殖叶的特征提供了新的材料。通过与槲蕨属国内外报道的化石种和现生种的详细比较,将其重新定名为Drynaria cf.propinqua。Drynaria cf.propinqua的发现,表明云南临沧晚中新世的气候与现今中国西南地区温暖湿润的气候类似,这些附生植物的生活习性表明,临沧地区复杂分层的森林生态系统至少在晚中新世已经确立。     

Ages of Jurassic volcano-sedimentary strata in the Yanshan Fold-and-Thrust Belt and their implications for the coal-bearing strata of northern China

ABSTRACT

Jurassic coal-bearing strata are widely distributed in the North China Craton (NCC) and other areas of northern China. These coal-bearing strata were previously considered to be Early–Middle Jurassic in age based on plant fossils, particularly the fossil assemblage of Coniopteris–Phoenicopsis. Since coal-bearing strata are interbedded with volcanic units in the basins of the Yanshan Fold-and-Thrust Belt (YFTB), northern NCC, isotopic dating of the volcanic units can therefore provide age constraints on the coal-bearing strata and the Coniopteris?Phoenicopsis assemblage. In this paper, we performed a systematic geological survey and present the results of zircon U–Pb dating of the volcanic units and a pluton in typical basins of the YFTB. These data, combined with the results of previous studies, indicate that the ages of the Nandaling/Xinglonggou, Haifanggou, Jiulongshan, and Tiaojishan/Lanqi formations are 180–168, 169–161, 161–157, and 161–153 Ma, respectively. The ages of the interbedded coal-bearing Yaopo and Beipiao formations are constrained to be 169–161 and 177–169 Ma, respectively. Our results demonstrate that both the coal-bearing strata and the Coniopteris?Phoenicopsis assemblage are Middle Jurassic in age, which is younger than that previously considered. This fossil assemblage plays a critical role in age constraints on the Jurassic coal-bearing strata. The refinement of its age permits a more precise dating of the coal-bearing strata, especially in northwestern China, where datable interbedded volcanic units are lacking.

• Stratigraphical framework for the Jurassic strata of Yanshan region is established.

• The fossil assemblage of Coniopteris?Phoenicopsis occurred in Middle Jurassic.

• The Jurassic coal-bearing strata in northern China are mainly Middle Jurassic.

     

Seismic evidence of up to 200 m lake‐level change in Southern Patagonia since Marine Isotope Stage 4

Maar lake Laguna Potrok Aike is located north of the Strait of Magellan (south‐eastern Patagonia). Seismic reflection profiles revealed a highly dynamic palaeoclimate history. Dunes were identified in the eastern part of the lake at approximately 30 to 80 m below the lake floor, overlying older lacustrine strata, and suggest that the region experienced dry conditions probably combined with strong westerly winds. It is quite likely that this can be linked to a major dust event recorded in the Antarctic ice cores during Marine Isotope Stage 4. The dunes are overlain by a series of palaeo‐shorelines indicating a stepwise water‐level evolution of a new lake established after this dry period, and thus a change towards wetter conditions. After the initial, rapid and stepwise lake‐level rise, the basin became deeper and wider, and sediments deposited on the lake shoulder at approximately 33 m below present‐day lake level point towards a long period of lake‐level highstand between roughly 53·5 ka cal. bp and 30 ka cal. bp with a maximum lake level some 200 m higher than the desiccation horizon. This highstand was then followed by a regressional phase of uncertain age, although it must have happened some time between approximately 30 ka cal. bp and 6750 yrs cal. bp . Dryer conditions during the Mid‐Holocene are evidenced by a dropping lake level, resulting in a basin‐wide erosional unconformity on the lake shoulder. A second stepwise transgression between ca 5·8 to 5·4 ka cal. bp and ca 4·7 to 4 ka cal. bp with palaeo‐shorelines deposited on the lake shoulder unconformity again indicates a change towards wetter conditions.     

Syntectonic hydrothermal calcite in a faulted carbonate platform margin (Albian of Jorrios, northern Spain)

ABSTRACT A calcite mass more than 1·5 km long and 20 m wide crops outs along the faulted margin of the Albian carbonate platform of Jorrios in northern Spain. The mass contains abundant dissolution cavities up to 7 m long and 1 m high, filled with cross‐stratified quartz sandstone and alternating sandstone–calcite laminae. Similar cavities are also present in a 50‐m‐wide zone of platform limestones adjacent to the calcite mass that are filled with limestone breccias and sandstone. The calcite mass has mean δ¹⁸O values of 19·6‰ (SMOW), whereas platform limestones have mean δ¹⁸O values of 24·4‰ (SMOW). Synsedimentary faulting of the carbonate margin and circulation of heated fault‐related waters resulted in replacement of a band of limestone by calcite. Soon after this replacement, dissolution by undersaturated fluids affected both the calcite mass and the adjacent limestones. Percolating marine quartz sand filled all dissolution cavities, sometimes alternating with precipitating calcite. The resulting cavities and fills, which recall products of meteoric diagenesis, are attributed to a hydrothermal origin based on their geometry, occurrence along the profile and synsedimentary tectonic relationships. The early faulting and diagenesis are related to local extensional tectonism in a large‐scale strike‐slip setting. Movements occurred during the early dispar/appenninica zone of the Late Albian.     

Internal Structure of Cambrian Fossil Embryo Markuelia Revealed in the Light of Synchrotron Radiation X-ray Tomographic Microscopy

In the light of Synchrotron Radiation X-ray Tomographic Microscopy (SRXTM), the internal structure of Markuelia hunanensis is revealed. In one example, vitrification and peeling show the annuli hidden under the chorion. Sectioning and 3-D reconstruction display an intact digestive tract from the inverted introvert to the terminal anus. The inverted introvert forms a rugby cavum. The following digestive tract is rope-like coiling, parallel to the body axis, about 650 μm in length, and uniform in diameter (~80 μm). An exquisitely preserved pipe-like structure is hidden in the middle of the rope-like structure, diameter 20–40 μm, with a length of ~120 μm. We interpret this pipe-like structure as the possible epidermis of the gut and its surroundings as the possible residue of musculature, similar to that in Priapulans. The two symmetrical rod-shape structures connecting the body wall and digestive tract are interpreted as the possible retractor muscles. After comparing the well preserved Left-form and Right-form Body of Markuelia, we suggest that they may represent a dimorphism. Counted directly, one sample of Markuelia hunanensis possesses 62 annulations and the other 68.     

The Discovery of Phlogopite Exsolution Lamellae in Garnets of Eclogite Inclusions, Liaoning Province

In No. 50 kimberlite pipe of Fuxian County, Liaoning Province, an eclogite inclusion(nodule), which is extremely rare in kimberlites, was discovered and phlogopite exsolutionlamellae were found in garnets of the inclusion. Microscopic, TEM and energy spectral observa-tions and studies confirmed that these lamellae are phlogopite. They are colourless and acicularin section, generally 0.5-5μm in width and 10-100μm in length. Nevertheless, fine lamellae,0.05-0.1μm wide and 1-2μm long, are also well developed. Along [111] of the garnet, three setsof phlogopite lamellae show oriented arrangement approximately at angles of 60°-70°, indi-cating that these lamellae might be the product of exsolution from garnet as a result ofpressure-release when eclogite ascended from the relatively deep level to the relatively shallowlevel of the mantle. Tiny acicular exsolution minerals (or inclusions) are commonly found ingarnet and pyroxene in eclogite inclusions of kimberlites all over the world and it has been re-ported that the identified exsolution minerals include pyroxene and rutile. This is the first timethat phlogopite exsolution lamillae were found in eclogite inclusions in the world.     

Distribution of contourite drifts on convergent margins: Examples from the Hikurangi subduction margin of New Zealand

Contourite drift systems form a significant component of the marine clastic sedimentary record. Although contourites form in all tectonic settings, few studies have described their development along convergent margins; such characterization is needed to underpin oceanographic and palaeoenvironmental studies in active settings. This study is the first to document contourite drift development along the Hikurangi subduction margin of New Zealand. Integration of bathymetric, seismic and well data enables five classes of drift to be recognized around the subduction wedge, occurring in three principal associations: (i) an upper slope drift association of giant elongate mounded (ca 150 km long, 50 km wide and up to 1100 m thick) and plastered drifts (ca 300 km long, 8 km wide and <600 m thick), which occurs upon and inboard of a major intrabasinal thrust‐cored high, whose long axis parallels the coast; shallow bottom currents disperse sub‐parallel to this axis; (ii) a spatiotemporally discontinuous association of confined and mounded hybrid drifts (ca 500 m long, <2 km wide and up to 500 m thick) that occurs along the mid‐to‐outer slope domain of the wedge, recording the interaction of along‐slope and downslope currents within trench‐slope basins; and (iii) a trench fill assemblage that implies the passage of abyssal bottom currents across a 40 km reach of the trench‐axial Hikurangi Channel‐levée, with associated modification of the channel form and of overbank sediment waves. The fundamental presence of contourites along this margin appears to depend on the orientation and strength of oceanographic bottom currents. However, drift type and evolution vary depending on the slope gradient and the presence of irregular seafloor topography created by tectonic structures. The documented drifts are generally smaller, less continuous, and develop more intermittently than similar styles of drifts documented on passive margins; this mode of occurrence may be characteristic of contourite development on convergent margins.     

Phylogeny, diet, and habitat of an extinct ground sloth from Cuchillo Curá, Neuquén Province, southwest Argentina

Advancements in ancient DNA analyses now permit comparative molecular and morphological studies of extinct animal dung commonly preserved in caves of semiarid regions. These new techniques are showcased using a unique dung deposit preserved in a late glacial vizcacha (Lagidium sp.) midden from a limestone cave in southwestern Argentina (38.5° S). Phylogenetic analyses of the mitochondrial DNA show that the dung originated from a small ground sloth species not yet represented by skeletal material in the region, and not closely related to any of the four previously sequenced extinct and extant sloth species. Analyses of pollen and plant cuticles, as well as analyses of the chloroplast DNA, show that the Cuchillo Curá ground sloth browsed on many of the same herb, grass, and shrub genera common at the site today, and that its habitat was treeless Patagonian scrub-steppe. We envision a day when molecular analyses are used routinely to supplement morphological identifications and possibly to provide a time-lapse view of molecular diversification.     

Cuticular ultrastructure of a Cretaceous decapod crustacean

The cuticie of the lobster Hoploparia longimana (Sowerby) from the Cambridge Greensand (Upper Cretaceous), when etched in E.D.T.A. and examined with the scanning electron microscope, reveals detail of ultrastructure not previously described from any fossil arthropod cuticle. The fibre patterns of laminae and inter-laminae are described and interpreted by comparison with those in modern crustacean cuticles. Horizontal tubules at the laminae may represent a lamina membrane. The pore canals are round with fibrous walls and are surrounded by elliptical voids, possibly originally occupied by vertical fibres. Wider canals, around 15 μm in diameter, are probably setal ducts. The cuticle is now largely composed of an apatite.     

Bamboo Leaf and Pollen Fossils from the Late Miocene of Eastern Zhejiang,China and their Phytogeological Significance

Fossil bamboo leaves and pollen from Upper Miocene deposits of the Shengxian Formation in Tiantai and Ninghai counties,eastern Zhejiang,China represent a rare record in Asia.The distinctive pseudopetiole and parallel venation of the leaf blades and the clearly thickened annulus of the pollen aperture place them in the subfamily Bambusoideae.Morphological analysis supports the determination of these fossil leaves as belonging to the genus Bambusium and two new species are described.Bambusium latipseudopetiolus Q.J.Wang et B.N.Sun sp.nov.has a distinctly wide pseudopetiole of 0.23 cm in width and 0.40 cm in length,several vascular bundles on parallel veins,and 5–8 lateral veins on both sides of the midrib.Bambusium longipseudopetiolus Q.J.Wang et B.N.Sun sp.nov.has a distinctly long pseudopetiole of 0.60 cm in length and 0.10 cm in width,several vascular bundles on the pseudopetiole,and 6 lateral veins on both sides of the midrib.Pollen grains from the same layer provide additional evidence of bamboos.They are characterized by 32.0–51.0 μm in diameter,a round pore 3.0–4.0 μm in diameter with a broad thickened annulus 2.5–3.5 μm around,and several conspicuous secondary folds on the exine surface.The morphological analysis leads to their assignment to Graminidites bambusoides Stuchlik.These fossils are important for the study of bamboo phytogeography in China.They demonstrate that there were bamboos growing in southeastern China during the Late Miocene and that bamboos in Zhejiang begin to diversify no later than the Late Miocene.In combination with bamboo fossils from other places,it seems that bamboos had a wide distribution across southern China during the Miocene,ranging from southwestern Yun'nan to southeastern Zhejiang.     

PETROCHEMICAL STUDY OF THE CENOZOIC BASALTIC ROCKS IN EASTERN CHINA (PART 1 OF 2)

New types of carbonaceous filamentous microstructures have been identified in silica veins at two new localities in the ～3.5 Ga North Pole area of Western Australia. Their carbon isotopic compositions were measured in situ by secondary-ion mass spectrometry. The carbonaceous filaments are ～1μm wide, 10 to 100 μm long, and are permineralized in a fine-grained (～1 μm) silica matrix. They are morphologically divided into three types (i.e., spiral, threadlike, and branched filaments). Their sizes and morphologies resemble modern and previously reported fossil bacteria. These similarities and their complex three-dimensional geometry suggest that they may represent morphologically preserved fossil bacteria. δ¹³C values of the carbonaceous filaments range from ?42 to ?32‰, which strongly suggest that they are composed of biologically fixed organic compounds, possibly via the reductive acetyl-CoA pathway or the Calvin cycle. This is consistent with the hypothesis that autotrophs already existed on the Archean Earth.     

吉林延边地区下白垩统长财组铁角蕨属一新种

现生铁角蕨Asplenium Linn.种类繁多,广布于热带—温带地区,以热带—亚热带为分布中心。确切的Asplenium Linn.化石最早出现于东亚和俄罗斯远东地区的下白垩统地层中,是西伯利亚—加拿大区白垩纪的新生分子。根据吉林延边地区下白垩统长财组发现的铁角蕨化石的营养羽片和生殖羽片标本,在原位孢子研究基础上,通过与现生铁角蕨植物繁殖器官的对比,确认当前材料属于Asplenium Linn.;并进一步与国内外相关属种进行比对,建立了一个新种——长财铁角蕨（新种）（Asplenium changcaium Sun et Liu, sp. nov.）。该新种原位孢子的研究为深入探讨铁角蕨属乃至铁角蕨科的系统演化奠定了基础。     

Ruffordia goeppertii (Schizaeales,Anemiaceae) – A common fern from the Lower Cretaceous Crato Formation of northeast Brazil

Extraordinarily well preserved fern macrofossils of Ruffordia goeppertii (Dunker) Seward (Schizaeales, Anemiaceae) are described from the Lower Cretaceous (late Aptian) Nova Olinda Member of the Crato Formation, northeast Brazil. The identification is based on the morphology of macrofossils and in situ spores, taken from organically preserved material. This extinct, relatively small fern exhibits dimorphic fronds with sterile and fertile pinnules and schizaeoid sporangia, including cicatricose spores. The growth form with clearly differentiated sterile and fertile pinnae may be interpreted as an ancestral state in the phylogeny of the extant genus Anemia. The abundance of this fern reflects its role as ground cover in at least partly (dry) sunny areas, possibly in fern savannah-like habitats, with adaptations to survive drought stress. Finds of Ruffordia in northern Gondwana extend the wide palaeogeographic range of this taxon.     

Fission track data from the Bathurst Batholith: Evidence for rapid mid‐Cretaceous uplift and erosion within the eastern highlands of Australia

Apatite fission track thermochronology reveals that uplift and erosion occurred during the mid‐Cretaceous within the Bathurst Batholith region of the eastern highlands, New South Wales. Apatite fission track ages from samples from the eastern flank of the highlands range between ca 73 and 139 Ma. The mean lengths of confined fission tracks for these samples are > 13 μm with standard deviations of the track length distributions between 1 and 2 μm. These data suggest that rocks exposed along the eastern flank of the highlands were nearly reset as the result of being subjected to palaeotemperatures in the range of approximately 100–110°C, prior to being cooled relatively quickly through to temperatures < 50°C in the mid‐Cretaceous at ca 90 Ma. In contrast, samples from the western flank of the highlands yield apparent apatite ages as old as 235 Ma and mean track lengths < 12.5 μm, with standard deviations between 1.8 and 3 μm. These old apatite ages and relatively short track lengths suggest that the rocks were exposed to maximum palaeotemperatures between approximately 80° and 100°C prior to the regional cooling episode. This cooling is interpreted to be the result of kilometre‐scale uplift and erosion of the eastern highlands in the mid‐Cretaceous, and the similarity in timing of uplift and erosion within the highlands and initial extension along the eastern Australian passive margin prior to breakup (ca 95 Ma) strongly suggests these two occurrences are related.     

Annalepis zeilleri Fliche 1910 emend., un organe reproducteur de Lycophyte de la Lettenkohle de l'Est de la France. Morphologie,spores in situ et paléoécologie

Numerous dispersed and well preserved lycopsidean reproductive organs have been discovered at Wasselonne (Bas-Rhin, France) in the middle part of the Lettenkohle. They were known under the nameAnnalepis zeilleri Fliche 1910 but they passed unnoticed because of a misappreciation of their structure and of their affinities. These sporophylls, which are 2,5–4,5 cm long and 1–2 cm wide, consist of a distal triangular short limb and a proximal long winged petiole which bears adaxially a single, large and tongue-shaped sporangium. According as it is a microsporophyll or a megasporophyll, the sporangium contains small monolete microspores or large trilete megaspores which agree respectively with the dispersed microspore and megaspore generaAratrisporites Leschik andTenellisporites Potonie. The cones composed of these sporophylls must have been very large as they had a diameter of at least 14 cm. Among all the known Mesozoic lycopsidean cones they are by far the largest found as yet. From their general organization and their size, these sporophylls are quite similar to those of the CarboniferousLepidodendraceae of which they perhaps are one of the descendants. We therefore place the genusAnnalepis Fliche 1910 in the orderLepidodendrales, without being able to state the family as yet. These sporophylls also look like those of some other Triassic Lycophytes (Lycostrobus, Cylostrobus, Skilliostrobus) which also produce microspores similar to the microspore genusAratrisporites. The large distribution of these spores shows that the Lycophytes and more precisely a lepidodendralean issue had an important world-wide development during the Triassic. This lycopsid flora found in the lower part of the “Marnes bariolées” of the Alsacian Lettenkohle is the first true wittness of the permanent settlement of a swampy terrestrial flora at the border of a marine environment. It follows a coastal episode with wide carbonaceous intertidal channels, reworked mud-cracks, stromatolithes and bird's eyes, typical of the intertidal space.     

Functional groups in a single pteridosperm species: Variability and circumscription (Pennsylvanian, Nova Scotia, Canada)

Multiple foliar specimens of the Late Pennsylvanian fossil pteridosperm [gymnosperm] Alethopteris zeilleri (Ragot) Wagner were collected from one restricted stratigraphical horizon in the Canadian Sydney Coalfield. Variability of functional-group distribution using FTIR technique was studied in compressions, adaxial versus abaxial cuticles, and in unseparated cuticles as a function of maceration time from 48 to 168 h. The results obtained document spectral variability that could be expected within specimens of one species. For example, CH₂/CH₃ and Al/ox ratios can differ by as much as 20% of the values. Moreover, the experiments performed confirm that by using a previously established maceration protocol, long maceration periods do not bias FTIR spectra in terms of oxygenation overprinting. The inference that this cuticle is robust, under the given diagenetic level, probably reflects a reassuring degree of chemical fidelity of the Pennsylvanian plant to support Carboniferous chemotaxonomic observations.     

Anatomy of falling‐stage deltas in the Turonian Ferron Sandstone of the western Henry Mountains Syncline,Utah: Growth faults,slope failures and mass transport complexes

Falling‐stage deltas are predicted by sequence stratigraphic models, yet few reliable criteria are available to diagnose falling‐stage deltaic systems in surface exposures. Recent work on the Upper Cretaceous (Turonian) Ferron Sandstone in the western Henry Mountains Syncline of south‐central Utah has established its environment of deposition as a series of modest‐sized (5 to 20 km wide), probably asymmetrical, mixed‐influence deltas (‘Ferron Notom Delta’) that dispersed sediment eastwards from the rising Sevier orogenic hinterland into the Western Cordilleran Foreland Basin. Analysis of sandstone body stacking patterns in a 67 km long, depositional strike‐parallel (north–south) transect indicates that the growth of successive deltas was strongly forced by synsedimentary growth of a long wavelength (ca 100 km), 50 m amplitude fold structure. Herein, two discrete areas within this transect, superbly exposed in three dimensions, are documented in order to determine the details of stratal stacking patterns in the depositional dip direction, and thereby to assess the stratigraphic context of the Ferron Notom Delta. In the two study areas, dip transects expose facies representing river mouth bar to distal delta front environments over distances of 2 to 4 km. Key stratal packages are clinothems that offlap, downlap, and describe descending regressive trajectories with respective to basal and top datums; they are interpreted as the product of relative sea‐level fall. The vertical extent of clinoforms suggests that deltas prograded into <30 m of water. Furthermore, these deltaic successions preserve abundant evidence of delta front slope failure, growth faulting, and incision and filling of deep (<15 m) slope gullies. Gully fills are composed of chaotic intraformational breccia and/or massive sandstone, and constitute linear, ‘shoestring’ sandbodies in the distal portions of individual palaeodelta systems. They are interpreted to have been cut and filled during the late falling‐stage and lowstand of relative sea‐level cycles. The north–south distribution of the stratal style described above seems to be focused on the flanks of the growth anticline, and so the numerous falling‐stage systems tracts preserved within the Ferron Notom Delta probably owe their origin to synsedimentary structural growth, and the unstable fluid pressure regime that this growth imposed on the sea floor and shallow subsurface.