Migration of the lower North Palawan submarine canyon: characteristics and controls

ABSTRACT

The North Palawan Canyon is a large, previously undescribed submarine canyon that incises the continental shelf and slope of the southern South China Sea. Using multibeam bathymetric data and two-dimensional seismic reflection data, we have characterized current canyon morphology and documented lower-canyon migration in cross-section since the middle Miocene. We have also explored possible causes for the ancient migrations. The 175 km modern canyon is flanked by sediment waves outside its northern bank, and depositional lobes fan out from the canyon mouth. Over the past 15 million years, at least 20 cycles of significant canyon incising and infilling have occurred, along with significant canyon migration. This migration, as recorded in the sedimentary (seismic) record near a leftward bend in the canyon’s lower reach, can be divided into three stages: southward migration during the middle Miocene (averaging 1.24 km/m.y.), northward migration during the late Miocene (1.34 km/m.y.), and stationarity since the Pliocene. The overall zigzagging pattern of the canyon thalweg (as seen in cross-section through time) results from lateral and downstream migration in an aggradational environment. The early (middle to late Miocene) rapid zigzagging migration of the lower main channel, first southward and then northward, was probably associated with the strong collision of the North Palawan Block with the Philippine Mobile Belt, which would have triggered submarine instabilities and deformed the seafloor. The more recent (Pliocene and later) slowing or cessation of canyon migration is likely the result of the now quieter tectonic setting and long-term climatic cooling and drying.     

台湾峡谷中段沉积特征及流体机制探讨

海底峡谷、高弯度水道等深水沉积单元中的流体活动方式是人们关注的热点.本次研究利用高分辨地震资料,结合地形地貌特征对台湾峡谷中段的沉积特征及流体活动方式进行初步探讨.台湾峡谷中段发育内堤岸(inner levee),它成层性好、地层产状倾斜,地震反射特征与峡谷西岸和下覆滑塌体明显不同,内部结构表现为逐级上超的特征,以侧向加积为主.曲流河和深水高弯度水道的点坝均发育于河(水)道拐弯处,由于离心力作用,沉积物在凸岸堆积形成点坝.该内堤岸位于峡谷中段直线型地段,不具备形成点坝的地形地貌条件,综合分析认为该内堤岸是由垂直于峡谷轴向、自西向东的底流与沿峡谷向下的重力流交互作用形成的.     

坦桑尼亚滨海盆地陆坡峡谷沉积特征及其控制因素*

东非陆缘深水盆地具有巨大油气资源潜力,但对陆坡峡谷沉积特征研究较少,制约有利储集层预测。本研究利用三维地震资料,对东非坦桑尼亚滨海盆地陆坡峡谷开展精细研究。结果表明:(1)研究区陆坡发育多条大型海底峡谷;上陆坡处,坡度较陡,峡谷内以侵蚀作用为主,沉积物主要局限在褶皱推覆带的翼部;褶皱推覆带之外的下陆坡区,坡度变缓,峡谷末端发育席状砂质沉积及砂泥混杂的碎屑流沉积,同时在峡谷北侧发育向北延伸的泥质漂积体;在陆坡边缘,发育海底滑塌,形成块体搬运沉积。(2)峡谷沉积受陆源物质供给、褶皱推覆带、北大西洋底流以及陆坡边界断层等因素控制。受东非裂谷海域分支活动影响,研究区陆架窄、陆坡陡,陆源物质可迅速通过陆架,进入陆坡峡谷:与河流相连的峡谷,物源充足、规模较大,有沉积物发育而没有与河流直接相连的峡谷物源有限、规模较小,峡谷内无明显沉积;褶皱推覆带通过改变海底地形来控制峡谷内沉积分布,褶皱翼部发育沉积,核部则以侵蚀为主;褶皱推覆带外,北大西洋底流与峡谷末端重力流发生交互作用,细粒物质被搬运至峡谷北岸形成漂积体;陆坡边缘断层活跃,峡谷被断层切割,形成断崖,并引发海底滑塌,陆坡处不发育水道及朵体沉积,陆源物质通过峡谷被搬运至更深的深海盆地内。     

Sediment dispersal system in the Taiwan–South China Sea collision zone along a convergent margin: A comparison with the Papua New Guinea collision zone of the western Solomon Sea

Through a large-scale examination of the morpho-sedimentary features on sea floors in the Taiwan–Luzon convergent margin, we determined the main sediment dispersal system which stretches from 23°N to 20°N and displays as an aligned linear sediment pathway, consisting of the Penghu Canyon, the deep-sea Penghu Channel and northern Manila Trench. The seafloor of South China Sea north of 21°N are underlain by a triangle-shaped collision marine basin, resulting from oblique collision between the Luzon Arc and Chinese margin, and are mainly occupied by two juxtaposed slopes, the South China Sea and Kaoping Slopes, and a southward tilting basin axis located along the Penghu Canyon. Two major tributary canyons of the Formosa and Kaoping and small channels and gullies on both slopes join into the axial Penghu Canyon and form a dendritic canyon drainage system in this collision marine basin. The canyon drainage system is characteristic of lateral sediment supply from flank slopes and axial sediment transport down-canyon following the tilting basin axis. The significance of the collision marine basin in term of source to sink is that sediments derived from nearby orogen and continental margins are transported to and accumulated in the collision basin, serving as a temporary sediment sink and major marine transport route along the basin axis. The comparison of the Taiwan–South China Sea collision zone with the Papua New Guinea collision zone of the western Solomon Sea reveals remarkable similarities in tectonic settings and sedimentary processes that have resulted in similar sediment dispersal systems consisting of (1) a canyon drainage network mainly in the collision basin and (2) a longitudinal sediment transport system comprising a linear connection of submarine canyon, deep-sea channel and oceanic trench beyond the collision marine basin.     

Morphology,sedimentary features and evolution of a large palaeo submarine canyon in Qiongdongnan basin,Northern South China Sea

The large Miocene-aged palaeo canyon that extents through the Qiongdongnan basin (QDNB) and Yinggehai basin (YGHB) of Northern South China Sea has been of considerable interest both economically and scientifically over the past decade. Stemmed from this, significant research has been employed into understanding the mechanism for its existence, incision, and sedimentary fill, yet debate remains. In the first case the canyon itself is actually quite anomalous. Alone from the size (over 570 km in length and more than 8 km in width (Yuan et al., 2009)), which is considerably more than most ancient deep-water channels (REFS), the canyon’s sedimentary fill is also distinctly different. Some explanations have been given to explain the canyon’s origin and existence, these include increased sediment supply from the Red River which is genetically linked to uplift of the Tibetan Plateau, lowstand turbidite and mass-transport activity, reactivation and dextral displacement of the Red River Fault zone inducing erosive gravity-flows, regional tilt of the QDNB and YGHB, paleo-seafloor morphology and seal-level fluctuations. With the application of new data obtained from interpretations of a large number of 2D seismic profiles, core and well log data, and tectonic and sedimentary analysis this contribution aims to: (1) Present models to explain the Canyon’s sedimentary fill and basin plain deposits, which provided significant understanding of processes pre-, syn- and post-incision and; (2) review the plausibility and likelihood of each of the controlling mechanisms, hoping to shed light on this controversial aspect. We conclude that the final erosive event that shaped the canyon is dated at 5.5 Ma. The Canyon’s unusual fill is a product of variation in the interaction between turbidity currents and MTD that blocked the canyon’s axis, and the reduction in gravity flow energy through time; and therefore the complete succession represents one major erosive and cut event at 5.5 Ma and thereafter multi-gravity currents fills unlike in most slope channel-fills.     

琼东南盆地中央峡谷体系东段形态-充填特征及其地质意义

通过对琼东南盆地东部水深数据和高精度地震资料的综合分析,对盆地东段中央峡谷体系的形态特征和内部充填结构进行了详细的描述和刻画。研究结果显示:琼东南盆地中央峡谷体系东段呈NEE向分布于长昌凹陷中央,峡谷具有相对笔直的通道,较为狭窄,剖面上表现为明显的“V型”形态,两侧发育陡峭的峡谷侧壁;东段峡谷的内部充填沉积物由滞留沉积体、块体流-席状砂复合体、浊流沉积体和垮塌沉积体构成,垂向上显示出多期的形成演化过程。形态特征和充填结构表明,盆地东段峡谷主要受到该区域古地貌特征的影响和控制,形成于晚中新世早期的长条状负地形为中央峡谷的形成提供了有利的空间,限制了盆地东段峡谷的形态特征,该地貌特征将持续影响峡谷内部的沉积物输送和堆积样式。更新世以来充分的沉积物供给在陆架坡折处形成了大量的陆坡峡谷,沉积物以垂向输送的方式沿着坡降向下运移,在下陆坡位置形成现代深水扇,并被现今中央峡谷的头部区域所捕获,在地貌特征的限制下,沉积物将发生转向输送,沿着盆地东段峡谷的走向,自西向东发生轴向运移。盆地东段构造控制型峡谷是造成琼东南盆地东西部中央峡谷体系在形态和充填上具有明显差异的原因。研究区内3种不同的现代沉积物输送方式,对于更好地理解盆地西部沉积物运移和西段峡谷的形成过程也具有一定的指示和对比意义。     

台湾东部海域台东峡谷沉积特征及其成因

台湾东部峡谷的研究程度较低,对其沉积特征及成因缺乏系统的论述.利用近年来在台湾东部海域获得的地震剖面,对台东峡谷的形态特征、沉积充填以及成因进行了详细的分析.台东峡谷主体位于花东海盆,该部分水深在4 000~5 500 m范围内,以NE方向为主,长度约为160 km,宽度为0.2~14 km.根据峡谷的平面延伸特征,可以将台东峡谷分为3个区段:上游段为NE-NEE走向段、中游段为NE-NNW走向段、下游段为NE走向段直到峡谷嘴部;下切谷剖面形态从上游段的"V"型、中游段的复合形态（"UV"并行）逐渐过渡到下游段的"U"型.台东峡谷上游段-中游段滑塌构造发育,峡谷转弯处的侧翼可见波状沉积,其下游段则以沉积充填为主.台东峡谷的成因与构造作用、地形特征和深水沉积作用关系密切.受西南高东北低的地形特征及基底隐伏断裂控制,峡谷总体呈现NE向延伸;重力流作用为峡谷的下切侵蚀和充填提供了动力与物质来源,峡谷从上游段到下游段下切侵蚀能力减弱,谷底充填增厚;峡谷中游段受海山的阻挡,发生转向;峡谷下游段因多条峡谷携带的沉积物汇入和"喇叭状"地形的影响,输送的沉积物在出加瓜脊末端后,形成了大型深水扇.      

Perched lobe formation in the Gulf of Cadiz: Interactions between gravity processes and contour currents (Algarve Margin, Southern Portugal)

The Gulf of Cadiz is swept by the strong saline Mediterranean Outflow Water (MOW). On the Algarve Margin (South Portugal), this current has constructed fine-grained contourite drifts. This margin is dissected by the Portimao Canyon and three short channels that only incise the upper slope, and are absent on a terrace located at mid-slope depths along the Algarve Margin. High-resolution seismic profiles and sediment cores highlight the original architecture of the sedimentary deposits on this terrace. Coarse-grained lenticular chaotic bodies formed during major relative sea-level lowstands are intercalated within the drift. The lobate shape and sandy nature of the lenticular chaotic bodies and their location at the mouths of the three short channels suggest they are gravity-generated deposits that are perched on the middle continental slope.In the Gulf of Cadiz, the interaction between contour current and gravity processes is strongly controlled by climatic variations and relative sea-level changes during the late Quaternary. During cold periods when sea-level was low, erosion intensified on the continental shelf and the deepest part of MOW was active. Sediment was transported downslope through the channels and deposited on sedimentary lobes perched on the mid-slope terrace. During warm periods when relative sea-level was high, the supply of sediment from the shelf was shut off and the shallowest part of MOW was more active. Contourite drifts fill the channels and bury the sandy lobes.     

Geomorphology of a modern carbonate slope system and associated sedimentary processes: Example of the giant Great Abaco Canyon,Bahamas

The large acoustic data set acquired during the Carambar cruises is composed of high resolution bathymetry, backscatter data and very‐high resolution seismic lines which allow for an overview of the morphology and sediment transfer processes from the shallow upper slope to the abyssal plain of a modern carbonate system: the north‐eastern slope of the Little Bahama Bank. Surficial distribution of the acoustic facies and echofacies reflects a wide variety of sedimentary processes along and across the slope. The western sector of the Little Bahama Bank is dominated by depositional processes whereas its eastern sector, which is incised in the lower slope by giant canyons, is affected by erosion and bypass processes. Datasets suggest that currents play an important role both in along‐slope sedimentary processes and in the abyssal plain. The Antilles Current appears to affect a large part of the middle and lower slopes. The absence of sizeable present‐day channel/levée complexes or lobes at the mouth of the canyon – revealed by the bathymetric map – indicates that the southward flowing Deep Western Boundary Current influences modern abyssal sediment deposition. Based on depositional processes and indicators of canyon maturity observed in facies distribution, the current study proposes that differential subsidence affects the eastern versus western part of the bank. The morphology of the Great Abaco Canyon and Little Abaco Canyon, which extend parallel to the platform, and the Little Bahama Bank slope appears to be related to the Great Abaco Fracture Zone.     

Quantitative evaluation of the depth of the western Mediterranean before, during and after the Late Miocene salinity crisis

Quantitative geophysical calculations which take into consideration the isostatic loading of sediment overburden, the overlying water cover, and the thermal cooling history of the continental edge, and its adjacent oceanic lithosphere, demonstrate the foundering of the margins of the western Mediterranean had already commenced in the Aquitanian stage of the early Miocene. The calculations are based on magnitudes and rates of sediment accumulation observed along a profile of three commercial boreholes into the subsurface of the continental shelf of southern France. By the time of the late Miocene (Messinian) salinity crisis, the depth of the seafloor within the Balearic basin exceeded 2.5 km. Sea-level fluctuations induced by evaporitic draw-down permitted the exposure of large tracts of the former submerged continental margins to subaerial processes. The measured magnitude of sediment removal by erosion and channel incision near the outer shelf of the modern Gulf of Lion surpasses 1 km. The subsidence history of this shelf platform south of France provides new evidence that the continental lithosphere behaves as if it is rigidly coupled to its oceanic counterpart commencing with the initial phase of the pull-apart. No major vertical fault displacements have subsequently offset their overlying crustal layers. The sedimentary shaping and construction of the margin seaward of the Rhône delta resulted in a pronounced shelf edge migration and slope progradation during the pre-salinity crisis Miocene. It has taken 5 million years of predominant upbuilding to establish a new equilibrium profile similar in cross-section to the precrisis depositional surfaces created by outbuilding.     

Late Quaternary climatic events and sea-level changes recorded by turbidite activity, Dakar Canyon, NW Africa

The relationship of sea-level changes and short-term climatic changes with turbidite deposition is poorly documented, although the mechanisms of gravity-driven sediment transport in submarine canyons during sea-level changes have been reported from many regions. This study focuses on the activity of the Dakar Canyon off southern Senegal in response to major glacial/interglacial sea-level shifts and variability in the NW-African continental climate. The sedimentary record from the canyon allows us to determine the timing of turbidite events and, on the basis of XRF-scanning element data, we have identified the climate signal at a sub-millennial time scale from the surrounding hemipelagic sediments. Over the late Quaternary the highest frequency in turbidite activity in the Dakar Canyon is confined to major climatic terminations when remobilisation of sediments from the shelf was triggered by the eustatic sea-level rise. However, episodic turbidite events coincide with the timing of Heinrich events in the North Atlantic. During these times continental climate has changed rapidly, with evidence for higher dust supply over NW Africa which has fed turbidity currents. Increased aridity and enhanced wind strength in the southern Saharan-Sahelian zone may have provided a source for this dust.     

南海北部珠江口盆地陆架边缘斜坡带层序结构和沉积演化及控制作用

南海盆地是东南亚陆缘最大的、含有丰富油气等资源的边缘海盆地.对于南海大陆斜坡带的发育、沉积演化与南海盆地构造作用及动力学过程的响应关系等方面缺乏深入认识.依据地震、测井及岩心等丰富资料,对南海珠江口盆地东南部陆架边缘斜坡带的层序地层、沉积-地貌演化及其对构造、海平面和沉积物供应变化的响应关系开展了系统性的研究.研究表明盆地的沉积充填可划分为由区域性不整合所限定的7个复合（二级）层序（CS1-CS7）.复合层序CS3-CS7（上渐新统-第四系）均由区域性的海侵-海退旋回构成;其内可进一步划分出由局部不整合或水退-水进的转换面为界的20个次级层序（三级）.研究识别出包括外陆架至陆架边缘三角洲、前三角洲-斜坡扇、陆架边缘前积体、单向迁移的横向底流-斜坡重力流复合水道、大型斜坡下切峡谷、泥质斜坡扇、斜坡滑塌泥石流复合体以及大规模软沉积物变形体等沉积体系或沉积复合体,它们在不同层序具有特定的时空分布,构成多种沉积样式.短周期（三级）的沉积旋回变化与Haq的海平面变化曲线总体上可对比,但长周期的海侵和海退则明显不同,受到了构造隆升和沉降等的控制.陆架边缘沉积演化可划分出裂后早期海底扩张沉积（破裂层序）、裂后晚期海底扩张沉积、后海底扩张等构造-沉积演化阶段.裂谷作用晚期的热隆起、构造差异沉降、裂后热衰减沉降以及上新世以后的东侧碰撞等对主要不整合的形成和海侵-海退产生了重要的影响.晚渐新世至中中新世发育的复合层序（CS3和CS4）记录了裂后海底扩张到停止的大陆斜坡沉积过程;而裂后早期的沉积层序（CS3）为破裂层序,以发育大型的陆架边缘三角洲-前三角洲斜坡扇体系构成的前积层为特征.气候变化和季风加强可能增强了晚渐新世-早中新世和更新世沉积期的沉积物供应,为大规模陆架边缘三角洲体系的发育提供了充足的物源供给.发育于陆架边缘的三角洲-滨岸碎屑体系和共生的前三角洲斜坡扇体系构成区内最重要的油气勘探对象.      

Recurrent decadal-scale dust events over Holocene western Africa and their control on canyon turbidite activity (Mauritania)

Sediment records from continental shelves and slopes might provide paleoenvironmental information in the highest temporal resolution but are often hampered due to strong erosional and reworking processes. Here, we present a Holocene sedimentary record from an exceptional shelf mud belt depocenter off northern Mauritania, compared to a second sediment core located inside a large canyon system at the adjacent continental slope. Both records are of outstandingly continuous and highest temporal resolution (9 a/cm) and are investigated by sedimentological and geochemical methods.A series of sharply defined, recurrent dust peaks is preserved in the shelf archive. Each event has lasted for a single decade only and seems to coincide with an individual turbidite bed in the canyon. A joint mechanism should, thus, be responsible for both of these deposits and we suggest a regional atmospheric trigger. Only short-lasting Trade wind strengthening would cause such pronounced aridity over western Saharan Africa. The effect would be massive dust export to shelf and slope. Recently developed high resolution aridity and humidity records from western Africa support the existence of these events over the Holocene and identify them as being controlled by the Atlantic system as far south as 19°N.     

Seismic models of inner parts of the Euro-Asian continent and its margins

Analogies are drawn between continental and continental margin structures on the basis of seismic data on the crustal structure of Eurasia and its Atlantic margins. Crustal thinning from the inner parts of the continent to its margins is observed to be a general feature common to the formation of deep midland depressions and sedimentary basins of shelf zones. The latter are characterized by crustal thinning and its assimilation. These phenomena cannot be explained solely be sea-floor spreading effects in the process of active rifting and formation of oceanic crust. It appears that the main role in the formation of the margins in played by processes of mantle erosion in connection with heating at continental margins and with the migration of mantle material to the lower part of the crust.     

Sedimentology of glacial and glacial marine deposits on the George V-Adelie continental shelf, East Antarctica

Mineralogic and textural data suggest that glacial ice derived from the region of the present day Cook Ice Shelf extended to the edge of the d'Urville Sea continental shelf. As part of this glacial maximum, basal tills and glacial marine sediments were deposited over an irregular subglacial surface. Extensive redeposition of eroded material took place in the middle and outer portions of the continental shelf. Retreat of glacial ice was relatively rapid and was associated with widespread deposition of a thin residual glacial marine unit and turbidity current deposits in the far western and eastern parts of the region. Today, sedimentation on the continental shelf of the d'Urville Sea is controlled by biogenic and physical oceanographic processes. Deposition of ice-rafted detritus from icebergs undoubtedly occurs but is relatively insignificant. Glacial advances along this periphery of East Antarctica appear to the regulated by adjacent outlet glaciers rather than direct advance of the grounded ice sheet.     

南海西北部中建南海底峡谷群的发现及演化特征

在南海西北部首次发现中建南峡谷群,目前对其地质信息尚未开展相关研究.综合利用水深地形数据和二维多道地震资料,主要分析中建南峡谷群的地形地貌特征、平面展布与分段性特点,精细刻画峡谷沉积充填结构及演化特征,再进一步讨论峡谷形成的控制因素.中建南海底峡谷群分布于中建阶地与中建北海台之间,它是由西侧的一条主轴峡谷和东侧的多条小型分支峡谷组成,整体呈SE-S-SE走向,以走向转折拐点为起点,将峡谷分为三段式:北段、中段和南段,北段以侵蚀作用为主,中段和南段主要受侵蚀作用、沉积作用,东南部的峡谷口外主要受沉积作用.研究区晚中新世?第四纪时广泛分布峡谷沉积体系,包括半深海相、三角洲相、峡谷/水道充填相、滑塌相、块体搬运复合沉积和浊积扇相.揭示了该海底峡谷群的发育和演化主要受海平面变化、沉积物源供给和重力流、底流作用的控制.通过对该峡谷群的地形地貌和沉积演化特征的分析,将对海洋地质灾害、南海深水沉积体系研究及油气资源勘探有重要的科学意义.      

南海北部狭窄陆架-断裂陆坡控制的大型深水扇体系

南海北部狭窄陆架-断裂陆坡控制的深水沉积体系研究程度极低.以“源-渠-汇”耦合思想为指导,基于岩石学特征、测井相、地震相分析,刻画了揭阳凹陷珠海组深水扇砂体的垂向叠置和横向迁移特征,并将其形成演化划分为珠海组四段初始形成期、珠海组三段-二段发展扩大期、珠海组一段萎缩消亡期.揭阳凹陷珠海组大型盆底扇的形成受控于易剥蚀的中生界物源、多期的相对海平面快速下降、狭窄陆架-断裂陆坡的有利地貌这3个关键因素的耦合作用;在区域三级相对海平面快速下降的背景下,揭阳凹陷北侧东沙隆起富砂的下白垩统快速剥蚀,沉积物直接沿狭窄陆架区的侵蚀下切谷或小型陆架边缘三角洲的水下分流河道搬运,顺断裂坡折带或构造转换带调节,以重力流形式经峡谷水道继续搬运至下陆坡盆地形成大型海底扇.     

A large-scale meandering submarine canyon: outcrop example from the late Proterozoic Adelaide Geosyncline, South Australia

The late Proterozoic Adelaide Geosyncline, along with overlying Cambrian strata, comprises a thick sequence of sediments and sparse volcanics which accumulated in a major rift and passive margin setting. During late syn-rift or early post-rift phases, large volumes of terrigenous and carbonate sediments of the late Proterozoic Umberatana and Wilpena Groups and Cambrian Hawker Group filled the rift. Submarine canyon development was related to at least four of these depositional cycles, the most notable of which resulted in incision and subsequent filling of the major (several kilometres in width and up to 1.5 km deep) submarine canyons by the Wonoka Formation. The Wonoka Formation canyons are not obviously fault controlled. They are interpreted to have been eroded by turbidity currents during a relative low-stand of sea-level. They were subsequently filled by a fining-upwards suite of sediments which reflects subsequent relative rise of sea-level and carbonate platform development. Ultimately the canyon complex was buried by north-westerly progradation of overlying fluvial and slope sequences (Billy Springs Beds and possibly correlative upper Pound Subgroup). It is considered likely that more distal elements of this prograding clastic wedge provided the necessary material for canyon erosion, prior to canyon filling and ultimate burial by what may have been elements of the same depositional cycle. It is considered possible that the series of isolated outcrops of canyon cross-sections within the Wonoka Formation are sections of a single canyon thalweg developed within a considerably broader zone of slope degradation. If this interpretation is correct, then the gorge-like Patsy Springs Canyon lies in more proximal regions of the basin-slope, whereas 40 km to the north-east the lower slope is cut by the Fortress Hill Canyon Complex. Palaeocurrent analyses of channel-fill turbidites within the canyons imply that the Fortress Hill Complex is in fact the outcropping western edge of a sinuous, incised canyon thalweg. The Wonoka Formation canyons, containing basal sedimentary breccias but only minor conglomerates, are considered typical of passive margin canyon development. They are contrasted with the generally highly conglomeratic channel-fills observed in outcropping Tertiary and Cretaceous examples of active margin canyons and upper fan valleys.     

琼东南盆地中央峡谷沉积充填特征及油气地质意义

综合利用地震、测井、岩芯、岩屑分析化验资料及古生物资料,研究了琼东南盆地中央峡谷形态、沉积充填特征及其油气地质意义。结果表明,位于琼东南盆地中央坳陷带的中央峡谷,西起始莺歌海盆地东部陆坡,东终止南海西北次海盆,整体呈SW—NE走向,平面上呈"S"形,剖面上呈对称或不对称"V"和"U"型,峡谷长、底宽、顶宽和谷深分别约为580km、1～3km、6～15km、400～600m;峡谷以溯源堆积方式充填了相互叠置的多期砂岩和泥岩,中、下部以近基浊积岩充填为主,向上逐渐过渡为远基浊积岩和深海相泥岩;峡谷沉积体系划分为峡谷中心、边缘和漫溢3个微相;峡谷不仅是碎屑物质的通道,也是碎屑物质卸载堆积和油气运移、富集的重要场所,发育隐蔽岩性和构造-岩性复合油气藏。     

南海西北陆缘深水沉积体系内部构成特征

深水沉积是近年来我国海域油气勘探重点之一,利用高精度二维和三维地震剖面的精细解剖,揭示了南海西北陆缘区深水沉积体系类型及其内部构成特征.这些深水地区除堆积正常深海-半深海泥岩外,还发育大量深水重力流沉积,包括块体流沉积、深水峡谷、沉积物波等大型沉积体.研究表明,南海西北陆缘区发育4类陆坡, 即进积型、滑塌型、水道化型、宽缓渐变型陆坡.不同陆坡类型具有不同地貌形态,发育不同的沉积体类型.大型块体流沉积主要发育于滑塌型和水道化型陆坡,沉积物波主要发育于宽缓渐变型陆坡下部及深海中央峡谷长昌段的周缘地区.由于南海西北陆缘自晚中新世以来形成向东开口的喇叭形变深的地貌形态,导致在盆地中央形成了独特的与陆坡走向一致的深海峡谷体系——中央峡谷.该峡谷的沉积充填不仅包括来自于西部峡谷头部的浊积水道沉积,还包括来自于北部陆坡的块体流沉积,特别是来自于滑塌型陆坡的块体流沉积.中央峡谷体系构成了西北陆缘区多源汇聚的深水沉积物输送系统,同时也是南海西北陆缘深水区重要的油气储层发育层系.