Bar development in a fluvial sandstone (Westphalian 'A'), Scotland

The fluvial sandstone beneath the Mill Coal in the Westphalian ‘A’ of Scotland erosively overlies a lake mudstone. Slightly erosive surfaces within the sandstone, traceable for over 200 m, are used to divide it into two types of major sedimentary units termed type A and type B. Type A sand units are approximately 200 m wide, up to 7 m thick, convex upward, and lenticular in all directions. The constituent cosets overlap to the ENE and dip mainly at 1–2° downcurrent (NNW), but locally at 10–15°. Where thickest, type A sand units display a vertical facies sequence commencing with trough cross-bedded and massive sandstone, overlain by a thick zone of ripple cross-lamination, a thin zone of trough cross-beds, and a variably eroded silt drape up to 0.4 m thick. Attenuated lateral margins are dominated by flat bedded sandstone with primary current lineation. Type A sand units are interpreted as deposits which were accreted on to a large fluvial bar during successive flood events. The bar is thought to have had a similar topographic significance to sand waves described from the Brahmaputra and slip face bounded bars observed in the South Saskatchewan river. Palaeocurrents measured from trough cross-bed sets 0.3–1.0 m thick within type B sand units indicate flow to the WSW, perpendicular to the palaeoflow direction measured from type A units. In sections perpendicular to the WSW flow direction type B units are lenticular, and in ENE-WSW trending sections they can be traced for over 80 m at a constant thickness. Type B sand units are interpreted as the product of low stage channels which flowed across bar fronts and tops. The sandstone described herein is interpreted as a braided-type river deposit but is atypical, because it is fine grained and has an internal structure dominated by ripple cross-lamination and upper phase plane beds. The palaeoriver is thought to have been of low sinuosity, 7–10 m deep, with a high suspended load and large rapidly fluctuating discharge. At low stage a braided-type flow pattern developed around submerged bars. The regime of the palaeoriver was probably controlled by the fine sediment grain size and humid tropical climate.     

山东诸城棠棣戈庄早白垩世晚期恐龙足迹化石新发现及其意义*

新近野外调查发现,山东诸城西北棠棣戈庄下白垩统大盛群发育蜥脚类恐龙足迹化石,其赋存于大盛群田家楼组紫红色细砂岩、泥质粉砂岩、粉砂质泥岩和黄绿色粉砂岩韵律层中。研究区共发现29个恐龙足迹化石,其中有23个构成1条半圆形行迹,初步研究确定造迹者为蜥脚类恐龙,个体较小、身长3～4m、处于漫步状态。根据岩层中共生发育的小型槽状交错层理、板状交错层理、爬升波纹层理、水平层理、雨痕、泥裂等沉积构造,认为研究区下白垩统大盛群为滨浅湖沉积,可进一步划分出砂质滩坝、滩坝边缘、沙泥混合滩及泥滩等沉积微相,恐龙足迹化石产在砂质滩坝微相细砂岩、粉砂岩层面上。河湖相细砂岩、粉砂岩有利于恐龙足迹化石赋存,也暗示蜥脚类恐龙喜好在湖岸边活动,表明生活习性与生存环境具有一定的相互制约关系。     

鄂尔多斯盆地延长组长9油层组三角洲砂岩沉积特征

通过钻井、录井、测井及岩心等资料的综合分析,识别出辫状河三角洲和曲流河三角洲是鄂尔多斯盆地上三叠统延长组长9油层组主要的三角洲沉积相类型。辫状河三角洲分布于盆地西部,辫状分流河道和辫状水下分流河道发育砂岩,砂岩中主要发育冲刷面、槽状交错层理、板状交错层理和平行层理等,以向上变细的正粒序为主,砂岩粒度概率曲线主要为两段式或三段式。曲流河三角洲分布于盆地东部,陆上分流河道、水下分流河道和河口坝发育砂岩,砂岩中主要发育冲刷面、槽状交错层理、板状交错层理、平行层理和砂纹层理等,以向上变细的正粒序为主,也可见向上变粗的逆粒序,砂岩粒度概率曲线主要为两段式或三段式,可见四段式。进一步的对比分析表明,盆地内长9油层组辫状分流河道、辫状水下分流河道和陆上分流河道中砂体最发育,水下分流河道和河口坝砂体次之。     

Preservation of pre-vegetational mixed fluvio–aeolian deposits in a humid climatic setting: an example from the Middle Proterozoic Eriksfjord Formation, Southwest Greenland

Sedimentological studies of a 30 m thick coastal cliff section within the Middle Proterozoic Eriksfjord Formation in western South Greenland reveals three distinct types of fluvial sand sheet deposits that reflect perennial streams (Type I), semi-perennial streams (Type II), and ephemeral flash floods (Type III). Perennial river sand sheets are characterised by co-sets of medium-scale trough cross-beds, interbedded with isolated medium- and large-scale, high-angle, tabular cross-beds. Indications of desiccation or subaerial exposure are absent. Semi-perennial fluvial sand sheets consist predominantly of low-angle cross-beds, interbedded with isolated sets of high-angle tabular cross-beds with common reactivation surfaces. Horizontal lamination and climbing ripple lamination form subordinate structures. Associated with the sand sheets are adhesion structures and 0.05–0.4 m thick sets of wind ripple-lamination indicating periods of subaerial exposure and aeolian reworking. High-energy ephemeral flash flood sand sheets consist almost exclusively of planar-parallel lamination and climbing ripple lamination with some isolated sets of low-angle cross-bedding. Scouring and internal truncation surfaces are common. The three types of sand sheets are considered to reflect deposition under changing climatic conditions, varying from humid to arid or semi-arid. Aeolian deposits are preserved within the sand sheets showing characteristics of dominantly perennial flow punctuated by shorter periods of desiccation (Type II), while sand sheets showing features typical of arid and or semi-arid flow conditions (Type III) contain no preserved aeolian deposits. This selective preservation is interpreted to be a result of the combined effect of groundwater table level and fluvial style which in turn are inferred to have been controlled by the climatic regime. The deposits show that during pre-vegetational times the preservation of aeolian deposits, under certain conditions, may be more optimal in fluvial systems formed in a humid climate than in fluvial systems formed under semi-arid or arid circumstances. The occurrence of aeolian deposits within a Precambrian succession of fluvial deposits therefore, need not be an indication of the most arid environmental conditions.     

Sedimentary structures of tidal flats: A journey from coast to inner estuarine region of eastern India

Sedimentary structures of some coastal tropical tidal flats of the east coast of India, and inner estuarine tidal point bars located at 30 to 50 kilometers inland from the coast, have been extensively studied under varying seasonal conditions. The results reveal that physical features such as flaser bedding, herringbone cross-bedding, lenticular bedding, and mud/silt couplets are common to both the environments. In fact, flaser bedding and lenticular bedding are more common in the point bar facies during the monsoon months than in the coastal tidal flat environments. Interference ripples, though common in both the environments, show different architectural patterns for different environmental domains. Interference ripples with thread-like secondary set overriding the earlier ripple-form, resembling wrinkle marks, are the typical features in estuarine point bars near the high water region. Because structures which are so far considered as key structures for near-coastal tidal flats are common to both the environments, caution should be exercised for deciphering palaeo-environments, particularly for Proterozoic rocks, where one has to depend only on physical sedimentary structures.     

Terrestrial-marine transition in the Cambrian rocks of Kangaroo Island, South Australia

The upper part of the Lower Cambrian succession in northeast Kangaroo Island comprises three interbedded facies associations. The fine-grained association is composed of siltstone, mudstone and minor sandstone. It contains flat lamination and abundant ripple cross-lamination which shows bipolar palaeocurrents, and occurs in combinations of flaser bedding, lenticular bedding and wavy lamination. Although body fossils are relatively rare, trilobite traces and desiccation cracks are common, and the association is interpreted as a predominantly subtidal to intertidal deposit. The conglomerate facies association contains horizontally bedded cobble to boulder conglomerate, with subordinate trough cross-stratified coarse sandstone to granule/pebble conglomerate. Fabrics and structures in the coarse conglomerates are consistent with alluvial transport (stream and debris flow), but not beach deposition. The conglomerate association is attributed to tectonic uplift and erosion of a Precambrian-Lower Cambrian succession developed adjacent to the present north coast of Kangaroo Island. Southward progradation of an alluvial fan complex occurred across east-west oriented tidal flats on which limited wave activity reworked sand and fine gravel, but not coarser material. The sandstone facies association mainly comprises trough cross-stratified and plane-laminated sandstone, the latter with current lineation predominantly sub-parallel to the east-west shoreline. Trough cross-stratification is ascribed to onshore waves and longshore currents, and current lineation to predominantly shore-parallel tidal currents, augmented by longshore drift and storm surge. Tectonic movements gave rise to cycles of transgression and regression as tidal and alluvial processes dominated alternately.     

Sedimentary features of a Weichselian glaciolacustrine delta

Inclined beds of sand, granules, pebbles and cobbles resembling a glacio-tectonically tilted sequence were shown by sedimentological studies to constitute the 10–12 m thick foreset beds of a glaciolacustrine Gilbert-type delta in Kyndby, North Sjælland, Denmark. The foreset beds are slightly curved, dip 10–28 SE, and display a bundlewise structure with alternating coarse-grained cobble-rich and fine-grained sandy units. The occurrence of ascending megaripple cross-bedding and climbing ripple cross-lamination in the sandy foresets can be ascribed to strong backflow currents formed by the lee-side vortice. The foreset beds are underlain by flat-lying fine-grained sand, silt and clay (bottomset beds), and are overlain transitionally or erosively by 2–3 m of flat-lying sand, pebbles and cobbles (topset beds). In the transition zone between foreset beds and topset beds, various delta distributary channel units occur. The delta probably formed in a partly ice-dammed lake in connection with the general retreat of a Weichselian advance from the north ('Norwegian ice')     

豫西太原组、山西组中潮道沉积的类型和特征

豫西太原组中的潮道为陆表海滨岸潮道类型,其特点为:向上变细的层序,冲刷切割下伏的灰岩层,具大型板状、槽状交错层理和双向交错层理,潮道曲流砂坝发育。山西组下段的潮道为障壁后潮道,位于障壁砂坝后的潮坪区;潮道砂岩泥质杂基较高,正粒序,砂体自海向陆分叉尖灭;潮坪、潮道等亚环境组合影响了其上发育的煤层的厚度变化。山西组上段的潮道为下三角洲平原潮道类型,多位于分流河口,砂岩为正粒序,双(单)粘土层和潮汐周期层序发育。     

Transgression of an estuarine channel and tidal flat complex: the Lower Triassic of Barles, Alpes de Haute Provence, France

The Lower Triassic succession of Barles, Alpes de Haute Provence, France, comprises an unconformable quartz arenite sand body of 90m thickness. The succession may be informally divided into (i) lower channellized cross-bedded member overlain by (ii) an upper fining upward member. The lower member comprises vertically stacked, subtidal channel units separated into five major sand bodies by thin developments of fine grained channel margin and shoal deposits. Subtidal channel fill deposits are dominated by varying scales of cross bedding. These scales vary systematically from the base to the top of the member, with large scale planar sets dominating the lowest channel sand body (sand body 1), medium scale planar and trough cross bedding characterizing sand bodies 2-4, the largest scale planar sets in the highest sand body (sand body 5). This upward change in cross bedding scale is concomitant with a decrease in both the relief of major channel sand body erosion surfaces, and the proportion of preserved interchannel shoal deposits. The succeeding fining upward member comprises small scale tidal channel units overlain by channel shoal and tidal flat deposits. Tidal flat sequences are characterized by parallel laminated, wave and current rippled sandstones separated by bioturbated, fine grained siltstones and mudstones. The vertical variation in facies of the Lower Triassic succession suggests two main periods of deposition. The lower member is considered to preserve successively more seaward components of a transgressive estuarine complex. The overlying upper member records the seaward progradation of tidal channel, shoal and tidal flat environments. The unconformity bounded nature of the lower member, combined with its systematic variation in facies, suggests it may represent an incised valley-estuarine fill developed in response to an early Triassic relative sea level fall and subsequent rise. Succeeding tidal channel and tidal flat deposits forming the upper fining upward member reflect a change in sediment supply and/or rate of relative sea level rise comparable with a progradational shoreline. It is unclear whether this final depositional episode represents a period of highstand progradation or a later lowstand shoreline system developed following a further period of relative sea level fall and rise.     

SOME APPLICATIONS OF THEORY AND EXPERIMENT TO THE STUDY OF BEDDING GENESIS

The origin of many sedimentation units deposited in granular cohesionless materials can be rationally explained by utilizing the concept of the profile of equilibrium. This basic concept can be formally expressed in terms of the variables, or groups of variables, that characterize a sediment transport system. A change in one or more variables or a shift in local base level will generally cause a shift in the spatial position of the profile, resulting in either aggradation or degradation. As shown by flume experiments, the rate of shift of the profile is a critical factor in bedding genesis. A relatively large and rapid upward shift of the profile results in the deposition of a tabular or wedge-shaped unit of cross-bedding, i.e., a laboratory delta. On the other hand, a gradual upward shift of the profile results in the deposition of a sequence of horizontal bedding that is commonly associated with intercalations of ripple or dune cross-bedding. For the intermediate case of a moderately rapid shift of the profile, the depositional sequence includes trough units and poorly-defined tabular units of cross-bedding with numerous intercalations of horizontal bedding. The concept of the profile of equilibrium therefore provides a rationale for considering the depositional framework for sedimentary structures produced by current flow.     

Barnacle-dominated limestone with giant cross-beds in a non-tropical, tide-swept, Pliocene forearc seaway, Hawke's Bay, New Zealand

Pliocene, non-tropical, widespread and locally thick (up to 100 m) limestones occur in Hawke's Bay, eastern North Island, where they are intimately associated with very thick ( > 5 km), terrigenous-dominated, Neogene sequences that formed in a tectonically active convergent margin setting. The non-tropical character of the limestones is shown unequivocally by (1) the complete dominance of skeletal calcarenites and calcirudites, (2) the occurrence of oyster banks as the only in situ organic structures, (3) the dominance of barnacles, epifaunal molluscs, bryozoans, echinoderms, foraminifers, brachiopods and calcareous red algae as skeletal components, and (4) the preponderance of calcite over aragonite in the mineralogy of the skeletal grains and cements. The abundance of barnacle fragments in the limestones, and the related exclusive occurrence of only one major organic association, a barnacle-(epifaunal) bivalve-bryozoan assemblage, is striking and unusual given the extent of the limestones. Pecten and oyster valves acted as substrates for barnacle attachment, and their growth was promoted by strong tidal paleocurrents that swept the depositional setting: a long (450 km), narrow (30–50 km) forearc basin seaway, which formed between an actively deforming subduction complex to the east and an uplifting structural ridge to the west. Synsedimentary deformation promoted limestone formation on the margins of the seaway by creating current-swept, clastic-free submarine ridges that acted as the sites of carbonate production. Tidal flows dispersed the carbonate constituents and organised them into a wide spectrum of tide-influenced, cross-bedded and horizontal structures. Most spectacular are occurrences of giant tabular cross-beds, with sets 10–40 m thick and foreset dips of 7–36°, some interpreted as the deposits of major sand bars on carbonate deltas marginal to the mouths of saddles traversing the rising antiforms, and others analogous to modern linear sand ridges. The small- to large-scale planar and trough cross-beds, and the horizontal and lenticular beds that are invariably associated with the giant cross-beds and dominate most sections, represent mainly the deposits of sand waves and sand sheets at inner- to mid-shelf depths in the seaway.     

Mega- and giant ripples in the Ganga,Yamuna, and Son Rivers,Uttar Pradesh,India

Sand bars of the three important rivers of the Gangetic Alluvium, namely the Ganga, Yamuna and Son are investigated. Megaripples of undulatory type are the most abundant bed forms present, and are responsible for the development of large-scale cross-bedding, the most common bedding structure present in the area. Giant ripples, with superimposed megaripples are recorded in one sand bar in the Yamuna River. On a steeply sloping point bar in the Ganga River, delta-like lobes have produced foreset bedding oriented towards the main channel, at right angles to the direction of the main flow.     

南阳凹陷张店油田核二段储层物性特征及控制因素分析研究

张店油田核桃园纽核二段储层主要属于金华-张店三角洲前缘分流河道和河口坝砂体。样品物性分析研究表明：该储层属中低孔、低渗储层。其物性主要受地层水特征、岩石相类型、成因砂体和沉积相带,如颗粒粒度,分选及杂基含量等因素控制。地层水中Ca2＋、HCO3-离子增加表明碳酸盐岩溶解形成次生孔隙带,核二段储层河口砂坝物性好于分流河道砂体,以块状含砾砂岩相物性最好,其次为板状和小型槽状交错层理砂岩相,砂纹层理粉砂岩相物性较差。颗粒粒度越大、分选越接近1、碳酸盐含量越少越有利储层物性。     

The sedimentology and alluvial architecture of the sandy braided South Saskatchewan River, Canada

Ground penetrating radar (GPR) surveys of unit and compound braid bars in the sandy South Saskatchewan River, Canada, are used to test the influential facies model for sandy braided alluvium presented by Cant & Walker (1978) . Four main radar facies are identified: (1) high‐angle (up to angle‐of‐repose) inclined reflections, interpreted as having formed at the margins of migrating bars; (2) discontinuous undular and/or trough‐shaped reflections, interpreted as cross‐strata associated with the migration of sinuous‐crested dunes; (3) low‐angle (< 6°) reflections, interpreted as formed by low‐amplitude dunes or unit bars as they migrate onto bar surfaces; and (4) reflections of variable dip bounded by a concave reflection, interpreted as being formed by the filling of channel scours, cross‐bar channels or depressions on the bar surface. The predominant vertical arrangement of facies is discontinuous trough‐shaped reflections at the channel base overlain by discontinuous undular reflections, overlain by low‐angle reflections that dominate the deposits near the bar surface. High‐angle inclined reflections are only found near the surface of unit bars, and are of relatively small‐scale (< 0·5 m), but can be found at a greater range of depths within compound bars. The GPR data show that a high spatial variability exists in the distribution of facies between different compound bars, with facies variability within a single bar being as pronounced as that between bars. Compound bars evolve as an amalgamation of unit bars and other compound bars, and comprise a facies distribution that is representative of the main bar types in the South Saskatchewan River. The GPR data are compared with the original model of Cant & Walker (1978) and reveal a much greater variability in the scale, proportion and distribution of facies than that presented by Cant & Walker (1978) . Most notably, high‐angle inclined strata are over‐represented in the model of Cant and Walker, with many bars being dominated by the deposits of low‐ and high‐amplitude dunes. It is suggested that further GPR studies from a range of braided river types are required to properly quantify the full range of deposits. Only by moving away from traditional, highly generalized facies models can a greater understanding of braided river deposits and their controls be established.     

Sedimentological and provenance response to Cambrian closure of the Clymene ocean: The upper Alto Paraguai Group,Paraguay belt,Brazil

Final Gondwana amalgamation was marked by the closure of the Neoproterozoic Clymene ocean between the Amazonia craton and central Gondwana. The events which occurred in the last stage of this closure were recorded in the upper Alto Paraguai Group in the foreland of the Paraguay orogen. Outcrop-based facies analysis of the siliciclastic rocks of upper Alto Paraguai Group, composed of the Sepotuba and Diamantino Formations, was carried out in the Diamantino region, within the eastern part of the Barra dos Bugres basin, Mato Grosso state, central-western Brazil. The Sepotuba Formation is composed of sandy shales with planar to wave lamination interbedded with fine-grained sandstone with climbing ripple cross-lamination, planar lamination, swaley cross-stratification and tangential to sigmoidal cross-bedding with mud drapes, related to marine offshore deposits. The lower Diamantino Formation is composed of a monotonous, laterally continuous for hundreds of metres, interbedded siltstone and fine-grained sandstone succession with regular parallel lamination, climbing ripple cross-lamination and ripple-bedding interpreted as distal turbidites. The upper part of this formation consists of fine to medium-grained sandstones with sigmoidal cross-bedding, planar lamination, climbing ripple cross-lamination, symmetrical to asymmetrical and linguoid ripple marks arranged in lobate sand bodies. These facies are interbedded with thick siltstone in coarsening upward large-scale cycles related to a delta system. The Sepotuba Formation characterises the last transgressive deposits of the Paraguay basin representing the final stage of a marine incursion of the Clymene ocean. The progression of orogenesis in the hinterland resulted in the confinement of the Sepotuba sea as a foredeep sub-basin against the edge of the Amazon craton. Turbidites were generated during the deepening of the basin. The successive filling of the basin was associated with progradation of deltaic lobes from the southeast, in a wide lake or a restricted sea that formed after 541 ± 7 Ma. Southeastern to east dominant Neoproterozoic source regions were confirmed by zircon grains that yielded ages around 600 to 540 Ma, that are interpreted to be from granites in the Paraguay orogen. This overall regressive succession recorded in the Alto Paraguai Group represents the filling up of a foredeep basin after the final amalgamation of western Gondwana in the earliest Phanerozoic.     

A subtidal bar model for the eze-aku sandstones,Nigeria

“Coarsening upward” successions typical of subtidal sand bars have been recognised in the NE-trending linear sandstone bodies which occur within marine shale in the Eze-Aku Formation (Upper Cretaceous) of southeastern Nigeria.The ideal succession, 15–20 m thick, consists of the following units from bottom to top: (1) bioturbated grey siltstone (offshore mud); (2) wave-ripple-laminated, fine-grained well-sorted sandstone (offshore sands); (3) trough and tabular, cross-bedded medium-grained sandstone with channelled base (subtidal channel complex); (4) trough cross-bedded, medium-grained sandstone with bimodal-bipolar paleocurrent pattern (subtidal bar); (5) coarse, pebbly trough cross-bedded sandstone with wave-rippled top, rare burrows and a bimodal-bipolar paleocurrent pattern (subtidal bar). A sixth facies, not a part of the normal sequence, consists of coarse, carbonate-cemented pebbly sandstone grading into pure shell-limestone (bar margin).The sand bars seem to have grown on a shallow mud-bottomed, wave-worked inland sea inhabited by burrowers. A model for the stages of the vertical growth of the bar is presented.     

Dynamics and facies model of a macrotidal sand-bar complex, Cobequid Bay—Salmon River Estuary (Bay of Fundy)

The 40-km-long, Cobequid Bay—Salmon River estuary has a maximum tidal range of 16·3 m and experiences limited wave action. Sediment, which is derived primarily from areas seaward of the estuary, is accumulating faster than the high-tide elevation is rising, and the system is progradational. The deposits consist of an axial belt of sands, which is flanked by mudflats and salt marshes in the inner half of the estuary where a funnel-shaped geometry is developed, and by erosional or non-depositional foreshores in the outer half where the system is confined by the valley walls. The axial sands are divisible into three facies zones: zone 1—elongate, tidal sand bars at the seaward end; zone 2—sand flats with a braided channel pattern; zone 3—the inner, single-channel, tidal—fluvial transition. Tidal current speeds reach a maximum in zone 2, but grain sizes decrease headward (from medium and coarse sand in zone 1, to fine and very fine sand in zones 2 and 3) because the headward termination of the major flood channels prevents the coarse, traction population from entering the inner part of the estuary. Longitudinal progradation will produce a 20-m-thick, upward-fining succession, the lower 1/2–2/3 of which will consist of cross-bedded, medium to coarse sand deposited on the zone 1 sand bars. The ebb-dominated portion of this unit will be finer grained than the flood-dominated part, and will contain trough crossbedding produced by 3-D megaripples; the flood-dominated areas, by contrast, will consist mainly of compound cross-bedding created by sandwaves with superimposed megaripples. Headward migration of swatchways (oblique channels that link the ebb- and flood-dominated areas) will create packages of ebb cross-bedding that is orientated at a high angle to the long axis of the estuary and that contains headwardinclined, lateral-accretion surfaces. The overlying fine and very fine sands of zones 2 and 3 will be composed mainly of upper-flow-regime parallel lamination. The succession will be capped by a 4-m-thick unit of mixed flat, mudflat and salt marsh sediments. A review of other macrotidal estuaries with tidal ranges greater than 10 m suggests that the major elements of the model have general applicability.     

山东峡山湖东岸现代滩坝沉积模式及控制因素*

滩坝作为发育于滨岸带非常重要的沉积储集层类型之一,已成为隐蔽油气藏勘探的目标。为进一步明确峡山湖东岸滨浅湖滩坝沉积模式,以现代沉积考察为基础,结合探地雷达技术和粒度分析资料,对东岸研究区滩坝砂体的沉积特征以及控制因素进行详细分析。结果表明: 峡山湖东岸主要发育风成沙丘及滩坝2种沉积体系。早期风成沉积物以发育连续性好的大型板状交错层理细砂为主,分选较好,粒度概率曲线以两段式为特征;滩坝沉积物以发育连续性差的板状交错层理、平行层理中砂为主,主要为反粒序或者复合粒序,具冲刷构造,岩性较混杂并以砂泥薄互层为特征,发育大量植物根系,粒度概率曲线以三段式为主,跳跃组分分为2段,分选较好。探地雷达资料表明研究区下部主要以厚层层状反射结构砂体为主,与风成沙丘沉积反射特征较为一致,环境敏感粒度组分对滩坝沉积较强的水动力作用有较好的指示。总体上,风力作用控制了风成砂体的沉积发育并且改变了古地貌条件,风浪作用冲刷改造了早期砂体,为滩坝的发育提供了物源,控制了滩坝发育的规模和地理位置,可概括为“风运—湖改”滩坝沉积模式,可为滩坝体系的识别和有利储集层预测提供指导。     

埃迪卡拉系微生物碳酸盐岩沉积特征及其地质意义:以川中磨溪8井区灯影组四段为例*

四川盆地高石梯—磨溪地区埃迪卡拉系灯影组广泛发育一套微生物碳酸盐岩。以磨溪8井区灯影组四段(灯四段)为例,通过精细解析高频向上变浅序列的岩石学特征,发现灯四段微生物云岩及序列建造具有如下特征: (1)向上变浅序列主要由凝块石云岩、叠层石云岩和(含微生物)泥晶云岩3类构成,伴以少量微生物粘结颗粒云岩;(2)完整的典型向上变浅序列自下而上由(含微生物)泥晶云岩(A段)、平直状叠层石云岩(B段)、小型丘状叠层石云岩(C段)、分散状凝块石云岩(D段)、格架状凝块石云岩(E段)、微生物粘结颗粒云岩(F段)等6个岩性单元构成,但大量的序列由A-C-E、A-C-D、B-D、B-C-D-E等不完整的岩性单元构成,且序列顶底皆以凝块石云岩/(含微生物)泥晶云岩、叠层石云岩/(含微生物)泥晶云岩等不平整的岩性突变面或暴露面区分;(3)埃迪卡拉系微生物碳酸盐岩发育于浪基面之上至平均海平面附近的相对高能区域,且凝块石云岩较叠层石云岩形成的环境能量高。该研究结果不仅揭示出较高能的浅水环境控制了规模性微生物岩分布这一规律,而且对区域储集层预测具有指导意义,同时也因建立了有别于现代微生物的环境分布模式而具有重要的沉积学意义。     

Deep distributary channels and giant bedforms in the Upper Carboniferous of the Central Pennines, northern England

Channels, with maximum depths of over 40 m, have been cut into the top of a coarsening upward sequence, in the Upper Carboniferous of northern England. The channels are interpreted as deep, distributaries cut into delta slope deposits. Giant cross-bed sets, up to 40 m thick, are the major channel infilling facies. Internal erosion surfaces occur within the giant cross-beds and some are draped by micaceous, silty sandstone. Previously interpreted as deltaic sedimentation units, the cross-beds are now thought to have been produced mainly by side attached, alternate bars and the drapes are interpreted as low stage deposits. Cosets of medium scale cross-beds overlie the giant cross-beds. These are thought to be deposits of dunes and smaller bars on top of the transverse bars and in the shallower parts of the distributary. The giant cross-beds are commonly underlain by unlaminated sandstone but may be underlain by undulatory bedding. The latter was apparently produced by ridges, parallel to the current, spaced between 9 and 23 m apart. The north of England appears to have had a major river by present day standards, for at least part of the upper Carboniferous.