Triassic to Middle Jurassic stratigraphy of the Kerr McGee 97/12-1 exploration well,offshore southern England

The Triassic through to the Middle Jurassic (Bathonian) stratigraphy of the Kerr McGee 97/12-1 exploration well is described using petrophysical logs, in association with lithological and palaeontological analyses. Over 6210′ of sediment was penetrated, with sixteen Triassic and fourteen Lower–Middle Jurassic sedimentary units recognised, with a total measured depth (T.D) of 7310′ within the Sherwood Sandstone Group, Budleigh Salterton Pebble Beds of Early/Middle Triassic, Olenekian/Anisian age. As expected the sedimentary sequences are comparable to those described from the Wessex Basin, especially the Portland–Wight and Dorset (sub) basins. Of particular note, however, is the very thick halite sequence (1074′) within the Carnian, Dunscombe Mudstone Formation and also an expanded “Paper Shales” (27′) sequence within the earliest Toarcian. A normal fault is noted at 1260′ with the Late Bajocian, Inferior Oolite Group in fault contact with the latest Toarcian, Bridport Sand Formation, Down Cliff Clay Member. The Late Triassic (Rhaetian) to Middle Jurassic (Bathonian) yielded rich microfaunal and palynomorph assemblages, all of which have been previously described throughout northwest Europe. Four microfossils groups (foraminifera, ostracods, dinocysts and miospores) have been used to interpret stratigraphic ages and palaeoenvironments.This study provides new lithological and microfossil data for the Triassic to Middle Jurassic (Bathonian) sequences preserved in the offshore Portland–Wight Basin and provides a key tie-point/reference section for future offshore drilling.     

Frequency analysis across the drowning of a Lower Jurassic carbonate platform: The Calcare Massiccio Formation (Apennines,Italy)

This work illustrates the evolution the Lower Jurassic shallow-water carbonates known as the Calcare Massiccio Formation in the Central Apennines (Italy). The Calcare Massiccio is characterized by lateral and vertical variability in the facies associations, related to an articulated physiography of the Triassic to Lower Jurassic carbonate platform and to its tectonic evolution. This work documents the depositional environment changes during the platform evolution. Quantitative analysis on samples collected from three stratigraphic sections were performed through the Calcare Massiccio succession allowed up to the overlying Pliensbachian pelagites. Two type of carbonate sedimentation have been recognized: in the peritidal and shallow subtidal environments (Calcare Massiccio A) the carbonate production is dominated by microbial activity, while the carbonate sedimentation in a deeper environment of middle to outer ramp (Calcare Massiccio B), is dominated by a bioclastic sedimentation.The evolution from the Calcare Massiccio A to the B can be interpreted as the product of increase of accommodation that in turn produced a backstepping of carbonate facies belt, the photic microbial dominated peritidal facies developed on the persistent Latium-Abruzzi Platform while the bioclastic carbonate production factory settled on the structural highs resulting from the dismembering of the platform by syn-sedimentary tectonic.The bioclastic carbonate factory was not efficient in filling the available accommodation space produced by Sinemurian extensional tectonic. This inefficiency was amplified by the restricted area available for this factory in the small structural highs. These conditions were sufficient to predispose the platform to the drowning without invoke change in the trophic resource or change in the palaeoceanography.     

Regional maturity as determined by organic petrography and geochemistry of the Schei Point Group (Triassic) in the western Sverdrup Basin, Canadian Arctic Archipelago

Maturity and source rock potential of organic rich beds in the Triassic Schei Point Group in the Sverdrup Basin, Arctic Canada have been investigated using reflected light microscopy and the results are compared with other maturity parameters determined geochemically (i.e. Rock Eval, and biomarker maturation parameters). The samples evaluated belong to the Eden Bay Member of the Hoyle Bay Formation and contain a predominance of marine algal material, in the form of Tasmanales, and dinoflagellates, along with mixed terrestrial organics.The rock matrix is dominantly carbonate with some shaly input, indicating that the rocks were deposited in an iron-poor highly euxinic environment. With few exceptions there is good agreement between parameters,determined using microscopy; namely %R_o, λ_max and and geochemical parameters, T_max, HI,

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steranes, C₂₉ steranes. The ternary diagram showing the abundance of normalized C₂₇, C₂₈ and C₂₉ regular steranes indicates a mostly marine depositional environment for the Schei Point source rock. This is confirmed by the abundance of marine fauna and flora in these samples.Analytical results from several different techniques indicate that the source rocks become more mature from the margin towards the axis of the Sverdrup Basin. This is due, in part, to the increase in overburden of sediments in the axis of the basin. Also the high thermal conductivity of salt has strongly influenced the maturity of Schei Point source rocks over the crest of the salt cored structures, i.e. Well Hazen F-54, and the proximity of salt has enhanced maturation levels at Well Rock Point J-43. The sections investigated were also considered to have an excellent gas potential due to their higher than average TOC content.     

东海陆架盆地台北坳陷月桂峰组生物地层及古环境

月桂峰组分布于台北坳陷西带,上覆灵峰组、下伏石门潭组,由灰黑色泥岩、砂岩组成。在微体古生物和地球化学微量元素详细分析的基础上,确立它属古近纪古新世沉积,推测可能为古新世早期,该地层相当于苏北盆地阜宁组一段。月桂峰组所含孢粉、藻类化石组合及地球化学微量元素特征表明月桂峰组当时的沉积环境以淡水湖相为主,局部时期(晚期)可能演变成海陆交互相,或者受到海水的影响。     

Assessment of the oil source-rock potential of the Pedregoso Formation (Early Miocene) in the Falcón Basin of northwestern Venezuela

The early Miocene Pedregoso Formation is one of the numerous formations rich in organic matter within the stratigraphic record of the Urumaco Trough, in the central area of the Falcón Basin. Due to its lithological characteristics and stratigraphic position, this formation is of great interest regarding the basin's petroliferous systems. The evaluation of various inorganic and organic geochemical parameters indicates that the organic matter is primarily of marine origin, deposited in a marine carbonate environment typical of reefal systems, under oxic-to-dysoxic conditions. The low variability in the TOC concentrations and in the distributions of the biomarkers extracted from the samples suggests that the paleoenvironmental conditions and the organic-matter supply remained approximately constant throughout the sedimentation of this unit. The Pedregoso type-II organic matter (marine origin) and initial organic richness value (∼1.8%) suggest that this unit has probably generated hydrocarbons within the Urumaco Trough. However, present-day thermal maturity parameters reveal that the Pedregoso organic matter is overmature (dry gas window), indicating that this unit is only capable to generate gas. In addition, the geothermal gradient, maturity parameters, and the maximum paleotemperature estimated in this study suggest that the Pedregoso Formation reached a maximum burial depth the ∼6.5 km, consistent with the value obtained from data of stratigraphic thickness in the Urumaco Trough. This implies that the thermal anomaly that affected the basin during the Late Eocene–Early Miocene did not reach the central part of the basin, and therefore, the organic matter maturation in this unit is due to the sedimentary burial.     

The Loppio Oolitic Limestone (Early Jurassic,Southern Alps): A prograding oolitic body with high original porosity originated by a carbonate platform crisis and recovery

The Loppio Oolitic Limestone is a lithostratigraphic unit of the Early Jurassic Trento Platform in the Southern Alps, Northern Italy, which deposited over an area of ca. 3500 km². It appears as a roughly tabular or wedge-shaped sedimentary body with thickness gradually increasing from 0 to ca. 100 m toward the western platform margin. We investigated the sedimentology, petrography and bulk carbonate carbon isotope geochemistry of the Loppio Oolitic Limestone in order to shed light on its depositional setting and origin. The Loppio Oolitic Limestone is made almost exclusively of oolitic grainstone, and can be subdivided in two parts. In the lower part, ooids are poorly sorted and sedimentary structures are scarce or absent. In the upper part, sorting becomes good and sedimentary structures are common. The vertical succession of sedimentary structures and the upward increase in sorting suggest a shallowing upward trend within the oolite. A reddened surface, meteoric cements and dinosaur footprints occur at the top of the unit, testifying for a subaerial exposure which is also confirmed by carbon and oxygen stable isotopic data. In terms of sequence stratigraphy, the Loppio Oolitic Limestone represents a Highstand Systems Tract, bounded at the top by a subaerial exposure surface. Bulk carbonate stable carbon isotope curves across the Loppio Oolitic Limestone from 7 stratigraphic sections could be correlated over distances of tens of km on the whole Trento Platform. This correlation suggests that the deposition of ooids was nearly synchronous across the platform. A negative excursion of carbon isotopes with magnitude of ca. 1‰ VPDB was identified within a lime mudstone unit (“Nodular lithozone” of the Monte Zugna Formation) immediately below the Loppio Oolitic Limestone, which can be correlated to a global perturbation of the carbon cycle in the mid-Sinemurian. The flooding of a wide area of formerly peritidal carbonate platform below the wave base was interpreted as due to an ecological crisis that caused a drop of carbonate production. We suggest that the subsequent recovery of carbonate production is marked by the shallowing upward succession of the Loppio Oolitic Limestone, which quickly occupied the accommodation space formed in consequence of the crisis, thus preventing the platform drowning. The Loppio Oolitic Limestone deposited as an initially highly porous oolitic sand that was then topped by a clayey interval (base of the Rotzo Formation), giving origin to a structural and stratigraphic configuration that could be favourable for the accumulation of hydrocarbons in the subsurface. The recurrence of similar facies superpositions, formed in consequence of perturbations of the carbon cycle with documented climatic effects, is discussed with regard to the Tethysian record of Mesozoic carbonate platforms.     

Diagenetic alterations related to marine transgression and regression in fluvial and shallow marine sandstones of the Triassic Buntsandstein and Keuper sequence,the Paris Basin,France

The distribution of diagenetic alterations in Triassic fluvio-deltaic, quartzarenitic to sublitharenitic, lowstand systems tract (LST) sandstones of the Grès á Voltzia Formation, anastomosing fluvial, quartzarenitic transgressive systems tract (TST) sandstones of the Grès á Roseaux Formation, and shallow marine, quartzarenitic to sublitharenitic, TST sandstones of the Grès Coquiller Formation, the Paris Basin (France), can be linked to transgression and regression events, and thus to the sequence stratigraphic context. Near-surface eogenetic alterations, which display a fairly systematic link to the depositional facies and sequence stratigraphic framework, include: (i) cementation by meteoric water calcite (δ¹⁸O=−8.9‰ and δ¹³C=−9.1‰) in the fluvio-deltaic, LST sandstones, (ii) cementation by mixed marine–meteoric calcite (δ¹⁸O=−5.3‰ to −2.6‰ and δ¹³C=−3.9‰ to −1.3‰) and dolomite (δ¹⁸O=−4.6‰ to −2.6‰ and δ¹³C=−2.9‰ to −2.3‰) in the foreshore, TST sandstones and below parasequence boundaries (PB), and transgressive surface (TS), and in the shoreface, TST sandstones below maximum flooding surfaces (MFS), being facilitated by the presence of carbonate bioclasts, (iii) dissolution of detrital silicates and precipitation of K-feldspar overgrowths and kaolinite, particularly in the fluvio-deltaic, LST sandstones owing to effective meteoric water circulation, and (vi) formation of autochthonous glauconite, which is increases in abundance towards the top of the fluvio-deltaic, LST sandstones, and along TS, and in the shoreface, TST sandstones, by alteration of micas owing to the flux of seawaters into the sandstones during transgression, whereas parautochthonous glauconite is restricted to the TS sandstones owing to marine reworking. Mesogenetic alterations, which include cementation by quartz overgrowths and illite, display fairly systematic link to fluvio-deltaic, LST sandstones. This study has revealed that linking of diagenesis to transgression and regression events enables a better understanding of the parameters that control the spatial and temporal distribution of diagenetic alterations in sandstones and of their impact on reservoir quality evolution.     

下刚果盆地北部海域海相碳酸盐岩沉积储层特征

西非下刚果盆地为一典型被动大陆边缘含盐盆地,下刚果盆地北部海域在白垩系海相碳酸盐岩层系获得丰富油气发现。研究区海相碳酸盐岩领域油气勘探面临的核心瓶颈问题,即白垩系碳酸盐岩的沉积模式、演化规律、储层特征以及沉积储层发育控制因素。综合钻井、地震、区域地质等资料,分析认为自下向上相对海平面的上升控制了沉积演化,沉积体系演化模式为浅海碳酸盐岩台地→浅海混积陆棚→半深海-海底扇。下刚果盆地碳酸盐岩储层展布在纵向及平面上均可以划分为内中外3个储层发育带,碳酸盐岩储层最主要发育于下白垩统Albian阶下Sendji组。该时期研究区整体发育浅海碳酸盐岩混积缓坡台地沉积体系,沉积亚相可进一步划分为混积滨岸、后缓坡、浅水缓坡以及深水缓坡4种类型,其中浅水缓坡亚相颗粒滩微相与后缓坡亚相台内浅滩、砂质浅滩微相储层最为发育。碳酸盐岩储层岩性组合主要包括颗粒灰岩、砂岩、砂质灰岩、白云岩4种类型;储层发育主要受沉积相带的控制,并受成岩作用的影响。     

蜑螺科软体动物系统分类学研究进展

蜑螺科是一类广盐性腹足类动物,主要分布在热带和亚热带海域,是潮间带底栖生物群落的重要组成部分之一,该科动物为探讨物种适应辐射及热带海域生物多样性模式提供了重要研究材料。本文对蜑螺科的国内外系统分类学研究现状和趋势进行了回顾与展望。蜑螺类动物为适应不同生境而进化出多样的贝壳形态,仅依据外部形态很容易产生误导或错误鉴定,因此蜑螺科的分类系统以及一些种属的有效性仍存在争议。我国缺乏系统的蜑螺科分类学研究,已报道的种类还不能完全反应中国海实际的物种数。未来需强化标本采集,在传统形态学分类的基础上,借助分子生物学和解剖学等手段,明确中国海蜑螺科种属组成和区系特点,进而完善蜑螺科的系统分类学研究。     

Sedimentology and depositional architecture of tidal compound dunes on a carbonate ramp: The lower Miocene deposits of the central Apennine (Latium,Italy)

The sedimentology and sequence stratigraphy of the central Apennine lower Miocene carbonate deposits (Guadagnolo Formation) are the goal of this paper. The Guadagnolo carbonate ramp deposits consist of a thick succession of three main lithofacies: marls, marly limestones and cross-bedded limestones. The lateral and vertical facies distribution, as well as the biota assemblages, suggests a deposition of these sediments along the middle-outer ramp sector of the Latium-Abruzzi carbonate platform. All the data suggest sedimentation under the influence of tidal currents that were responsible of bedforms generation as simple and compound dunes. These bodies are developed on metric and decametric scale, and are stacked one to other to form complex sedimentary bodies extending both in strike and dip section for several tens to hundred meters. The dune system developed in a semiclosed basin (the Paleoadriatic sea), open in the southern and closed in the northern sector respectively. Within this basin a probably amphidromic system developed. The flow sediment transport was dominantly westward, and was conditioned by the ramp paleotopography. From a sequence stratigraphic point of view several high and low rank depositional sequences that were differentiated basing on their relative physical scale (thickness of each unit) and on the lateral extension of the unconformities and the correlative conformities bounding them were recognized. The hierarchy of recognized sequence-stratigraphic units include, from the smallest to the largest: simple depositional sequences, low-rank composite depositional sequences and high-rank composite depositional sequences. In the Guadagnolo succession four high-rank composite depositional sequences having a duration variable from 0.9 to 1.6 Ma, and named Guadagnolo 1, 2, 3, and 4, were recognized. These high-rank composite sequences are internally constituted by a stacking of simple and low-rank composite depositional sequences, having a duration ranging from 40 ka to 200 ka. All these units constitute part of a higher-rank composite sequence developing between 21 and 14.80 Ma that we name “The Guadagnolo Depositional Sequence”. The wedge-shaped geometry, the thickness variation and the stacking pattern of the Guadagnolo succession are the response to eustasy and tectonic subsidence. The glacial eustasy mostly controlled the formation of the high-frequency depositional sequences, tectonic subsidence, related to the roll-back of the hinge west-directed subduction in turn connected to the advancement of the Apennine thrust modulated the accommodation space.     

The role played by carbonate cementation in controlling reservoir quality of the Triassic Skagerrak Formation,Norway

Anomalously high porosities up to 30% at burial depth of >3000 m along with varying amounts and types of carbonate cements occur in the fluvial channel sandstone facies of the Triassic Skagerrak Formation, Central Graben, Norway. However, porosities of the Skagerrak Formation are lower in the Norwegian sector than in the UK sector. In this study, petrographic analysis, core examination, scanning electron microscopy, elemental mapping, carbon and oxygen isotope, fluid inclusion and microgeometry analysis are performed to determine the diagenesis and direct influence on reservoir quality, with particular focus on the role played by carbonate cementation. The sandstones are mainly fine-grained lithic-arkosic to sub-arkosic arenites and display a wide range of intergranular volumes (2.3%–43.7% with an average of 23.6%). Porosity loss is mainly due to compaction (av. 26.6%) with minor contribution from cementation (av. 12.1%). The carbonate cements are patchy in distribution (from trace to 20.7%) and appear as various types e.g. calcretes (i.e. calcareous concreted gravels), poikilitic sparite and sparry ferroan dolomite, and euhedral or/and aggregated ankerite/ferroan dolomite crystals. This study highlights the association of carbonate precipitation with the remobilisation of carbonate from intra-Skagerrak calcretes during early burial stage i.e. <500 m. During deeper burial, compaction is inhibited by carbonate cements, resulting high intergranular volume of up to 32% and 29% for fine- and medium-grained sandstones, respectively. Carbonate cement dissolution probably results from both meteoric water flow with CO₂ during shallow burial, and organic CO₂ and carboxylic acid during deep burial. The maximum intergranular volume enhanced by dissolution of early carbonate cements is calculated to 8% and 5% for fine- and medium-grained sandstones, respectively. Compaction continues to exert influence after dissolution of carbonate cements, which results in a loss of ∼6% intergranular volume for fine- and medium-grained sandstones. Reservoir quality of the Norwegian sector is poorer than that of the UK sector due to a lower coverage of clay mineral coats e.g. chlorite, later and deeper onset of pore fluid overpressure, lower solubility of carbonate compared to halite, and a higher matrix content.     

Upper Triassic shallow water limestones in the Sinta Ridge (Banda Sea,Indonesia)

Ten rock samples were dredged during the Banda Sea I cruise in the northern slope of the Sinta Ridge, which separates the North and South Banda basins. Some of the samples are limestones from a very shallow marine environment, with Upper Norian (to Rhaetian?) benthic Foraminifera. Similarities with eastern Sulawesi, Buru and Seram are consistent with an independant Upper Triassic block and the origin of the Banda Sea microcontinents is questionable.     

Ecotone or Ecocline: Ecological Boundaries in Estuaries

Two main ecological boundaries, ecotone and ecocline, have been defined in landscape ecology. At this scale, the estuary represents a boundary between rivers and the sea, but there has been no attempt to fit empirical data for estuaries to these boundary models. An extensive data set from the Thames estuary was analysed using multivariate techniques and species-range analysis, in order to investigate whether the ecocline or the ecotone model was most relevant to this estuary. Data for periods of high and low freshwater flow allowed the impact of large-scale fluctuations implicit in both models to be determined.A continuum of assemblages existed along the salinity gradient from freshwater river to the North Sea, with shifts in the ranges of organisms apparent in response to changes in freshwater flow. This pattern closely fits an ecocline model. However, the estuary differs from previously defined ecoclines in having two overlapping gradients in the major stressor: from river to mid-estuary for freshwater species and from sea to mid-estuary for marine species. We propose, therefore, that the estuary represents a two-ecocline model, with fauna inhabiting the mid-estuary being either freshwater or marine species at the edge of their range, rather than ‘ true estuarine organisms ’. This allows a redefinition of the Remane diagram, with estuarine species removed, and supports previous arguments that brackish-water species do not exist. Such two-ecocline models may also exist in other marine systems, such as rocky shores.     

Mixed carbonate-siliciclastic infilling of a Neogene carbonate shelf-valley system: Tampa Bay, West-Central Florida

The shelf-valley system underlying Tampa Bay, Florida’s largest estuary, is situated in the middle of the Neogene carbonate Florida Platform. Compared to well-studied fluvially incised coastal plain valley systems, this shelf-valley system is unique in its karstic origin and its alternating carbonate-siliciclastic infill. A complex record of sea-level changes, paleo-fluvial variability and marine processes have controlled the timing and mechanisms of this ‘compound’ shelf-valley infill. A dense grid of high-resolution, single-channel seismic data were collected at the mouth of Tampa Bay, in an attempt to define this stratigraphy, determine the controls on deposition, and define the underlying structure of this shelf-valley system. The seismic data were correlated with nearby wells and boreholes for lithologic and age control. Sequence stratigraphic methods were incorporated in order to develop an integrated chronostratigraphy for the depositional infilling of the shelf-valley system. Five seismic sequences were identified. Sequence boundaries generally show erosional truncation and karstification, with downlap of overlying sequences. Structure contour and isopach maps indicate that the Tampa Bay shelf-valley system has remained in essentially the same location since its formation in the early Miocene, although the provenance of sedimentary infill has changed. This change is due to increasing amounts of siliciclastic material during the Neogene. Seismic facies interpretations indicate lower-energy, northward prograding deposition dominated by predominantly carbonate sediments within the lowest Sequence A. Higher energy, siliciclastic fluvio-deltaic deposition within sequences B and C originates to the east and northeast of the shelf-valley system related to a Pliocene pulse of sedimentation onto the Florida Platform. Finally, marine processes (longshore transport, ebb-tidal delta formation) dominate the upper two sequences (D and E), reworking these siliciclastic sediments into a spatially mixed carbonate-siliciclastic depositional setting.     

Palynological,palaeoenvironmental and sequence stratigraphical analyses of a Turonian-Coniacian sequence,Beni Suef Basin,Eastern Desert,Egypt: Implication of Pediastrum rhythmic signature

Sixteen samples from the “E” to “B” members of the Abu Roash Formation encountered in the Beni Suef Basin, Eastern Desert of Egypt were palynologically analyzed for palaeoenvironmental and sequence stratigraphic investigations. The integrated palynofacies and lithofacies analysis of the studied section indicates deposition of five alternating regressive and transgressive sequences in well-oxygenated, proximal shelf settings. The Abu Roash “E” and the upper “D” to the lower “C” members were deposited during pronounced regressive phases in oxic, shallow marginal marine settings. The upper “B” Member was deposited during a recurring regressive phase but of a lower magnitude in oxic, shallow inner neritic conditions. The lower “D” Member was deposited during a minor transgression phase in dysoxic, shallow inner neritic settings. While the upper “C” to the lower “B” section was deposited during a stronger transgressive episode in a relatively deep, inner neritic environment of prominent dysoxic conditions. This interchange in the depositional setting was documented by the pronounced and concurrent, cyclic nature of the freshwater algae, peridinioid dinoflagellate cysts, pteridophyte spores, and reworked sporomorphs with variable intensities. Their increasing and conversely their diminishing trends clearly reflect alternating regressive-transgressive periods of reduced and relatively normal salinity conditions, respectively. Overall, sedimentation of the studied Abu Roash section indicates a recurring rise in sea level, which accentuated during the earliest Santonian time.The analogous peaking in the Pediastrum signals with those of the pteridophyte spores and reworked taxa indicate a good connection between these Pediastrum signals and the pronounced fluviatile influxes of terrigenous sediments during regressive phases. Accordingly, this can be used to identify regressive sequence boundaries and hence the clastic reservoirs. Even with the small counts recorded herein, we believe high ratios of peridinioid/gonyalulacoid dinocysts are significantly paralleled by peaking signals of freshwater algae and regressive sedimentation phases. This must be preliminary documented here. Probably future palynological studies will be able to fully interpret and address this important Pediastrum rhythmic event in different sequence stratigraphic settings.The palynological parameters, age controlled sporomorph marker taxa, lithology, and gamma ray data were used to differentiate the Abu Roash members into three distinctive 3rd order depositional sequences (AR SQ1, AR SQ2, and AR SQ3). These sequences match well with the global stratigraphic sequences Tu 3, Tu 4, and Co 1 and connect the local rise in sea level to the global eustatic sea level rise.     

Facies controls on the distribution of diagenesis and compaction in fluvial-deltaic deposits

The Upper Triassic – Lower Jurassic Åre Formation comprising the deeper reservoir in the Heidrun Field offshore mid-Norway consists of fluvial channel sandstones (FCH), floodplain fines (FF), and sandy and muddy bay-fill sediments (SBF, MBF) deposited in an overall transgressive fluvial to lower delta plain regime. The formation has been investigated to examine possible sedimentary facies controls on the distribution of cementation and compaction based on petrography and SEM/micro probe analyses of core samples related to facies associations and key stratigraphic surfaces. The most significant authigenic minerals are kaolinite, calcite and siderite. Kaolinite and secondary porosity from dissolution of feldspar and biotite are in particular abundant in the fluvial sandstones. The carbonate minerals show complex compositional and micro-structural variation of pure siderite (Sid I), Mg-siderite (Sid II), Fe-dolomite, ankerite and calcite, displaying decreasing Fe from early to late diagenetic carbonate cements. An early diagenetic origin for siderite and kaolinite is inferred from micro-structural relations, whereas pore filling calcite and ankerite formed during later diagenesis. The Fe-dolomite probably related to mixing-zone dolomitization from increasing marine influences, and a regional correlatable calcite cemented layer has been related to a flooding event. Porosity values in non-cemented sandstone samples are generally high in both FCH and SBF facies associations averaging 27%. Differential compaction between sandstone and mudstone has a ratio of up to 1:2 and with lower values for MBF. We emphasize the role of eogenetic siderite cementation in reducing compactability in the fine-grained, coal-bearing sediments most prominent in MBF facies. This has implications for modeling of differential compaction between sandstone and mudstones deposited in fluvial-deltaic environments.     

四川盆地中南部地区中三叠统雷口坡组沉积相研究

川中南部地区中三叠统雷口坡组划分为3个相（开阔台地相、局限台地相、蒸发台地相）、4个亚相（潮下、泻湖、潮阃坪、潮上坪）和17个微相。沉积相横向上总体变化不大,岩性较统一,蒸发岩较发育,纵向上沉积相变化具有同步性。利用单因素法和优势相法,并结合层序地层学研究成果,把雷口坡组分为7个作图单元,较精确地展示了雷口坡纽不同层段的沉积相展布和演化。研究区内雷口坡期的相对海平面升降变化和台地次级洼隆相间的古地貌共同控制着沉积相带展布和演化。雷口坡组以局限台地相为主,主要发育在雷一段1亚段的台内滩微相,为储集体有利的发育相带,多发育于潮间高处与泻湖的过渡区附近相对高能带。     

A seismic velocity inversion on Bjørnøya — The western Barents Shelf

Seismic velocity measurements on the exposed Triassic to Cambro-Silurian sedimentary sequence on Bjørnøya show a velocity inversion in the stratigraphic section with a minimum velocity (3.8 km/s) in the Devonian fluvial sandstones of the Røedvika Formation, which also has the highest porosity (～ 17%). The low porosity in the younger formations is due to silicification and dolomitization probably by chemical alterations of the pore water rather than an overburden effect. Sonobuoy measurements in the vicinity of Bjørnøya show seismic velocities at the sea floor comparable with velocities of the exposed formations on the island itself.     

Deep-lacustrine sandy debrites and turbidites in the lower Triassic Yanchang Formation,southeast Ordos Basin,central China: Facies distribution and reservoir quality

The deep lacustrine gravity-flow deposits are widely developed in the lower Triassic Yanchang Formation, southeast Ordos Basin, central China. Three lithofacies include massive fine-grained sandstone, banded sandstone, and massive oil shale and mudstone. The massive fine-grained sandstones have sharp upper contacts, mud clasts, boxed-shaped Gamma Ray (GR) log, but no grading and Bouma sequences. In contrast, the banded sandstones display different bedding characteristics, gradational upper contacts, and fine-upward. The massive, fine-grained sandstones recognized in this study are sandy debrites deposited by sandy debris flows, while the banded sandstones are turbidites deposited by turbidity currents not bottom currents. The sediment source for these deep gravity-flow sediments is a sand-rich delta system prograding at the basin margin. Fabric of the debrites in the sandy debris fields indicates initial formation from slope failure caused by the tectonic movement. As the sandy debris flows became diluted by water and clay, they became turbidity currents. The deep lacustrine depositional model is different from the traditional marine fan or turbidite fan models. There are no channels or wide lobate sand bodies. In the lower Triassic Yanchang Formation, layers within the sandy debrites have higher porosity (8–14%) and permeability (0.1–4 mD) than the turbidites with lower porosity (3–8%) and permeability (0.04–1 mD). Consequently, only the sandy debrites constitute potential petroleum reservoir intervals. Results of this study may serve as a model for hydrocarbon exploration and production for deep-lacustrine reservoirs from gravity-flow systems in similar lacustrine depositional environments.