Tectonic control on fluvial styles: the Balfour Formation of the Karoo Basin, South Africa

The Balfour Formation represents a fully fluvial succession of late Late Permian–earliest Triassic age which accumulated in the foredeep of the Karoo Basin during the overfilled phase of the foreland system. The lack of a coeval marine environment within the limits of the preserved Karoo Basin provides an opportunity to study the stratigraphic cyclicity developed during a time when accommodation was solely controlled by tectonics. The Balfour stratigraphy is composed of a succession of six third-order fluvial depositional sequences separated by subaerial unconformities. They formed in isolation from eustatic influences, with a timing controlled by orogenic cycles of loading and unloading. Sediment accumulation took place during stages of flexural subsidence, whereas the bounding surfaces are related to stages of isostatic uplift. The vertical profile of all sequences displays an overall fining-upward trend related to the gradual decrease in topographic slope during orogenic loading. At the same time, an upward change in fluvial styles can be observed within each sequence, from initial higher to final lower energy systems. The actual fluvial styles in each location depend on paleoslope gradients and the position of the stratigraphic section relative to the orogenic front. Proximal sequences show transitions from braided to meandering systems, whereas more distal sequences show changes from sand-bed to fine-grained meandering systems. The average duration of the Balfour stratigraphic cycles was 0.66 My, i.e. six cycles during 4 My. No climatic fluctuations are recorded during this time, with the long-term climatic background represented by temperate to humid conditions.     

Sedimentology of the upper Karoo fluvial strata in the Tuli Basin, South Africa

The sedimentary rocks of the Karoo Supergroup in the Tuli Basin (South Africa) may be grouped in four stratigraphic units: the basal, middle and upper units, and the Clarens Formation. This paper presents the findings of the sedimentological investigation of the fluvial terrigenous clastic and chemical deposits of the upper unit. Evidence provided by primary sedimentary structures, palaeontological record, borehole data, palaeo-flow measurements and stratigraphic relations resulted in the palaeo-environmental reconstruction of the upper unit.The dominant facies assemblages are represented by sandstones and finer-grained sediments, which both can be interbedded with subordinate intraformational coarser facies. The facies assemblages of the upper unit are interpreted as deposits of a low-sinuosity, ephemeral stream system with calcretes and silcretes in the dinosaur-inhabited overbank area. During the deposition of the upper unit, the climate was semi-arid with sparse precipitation resulting in high-magnitude, low-frequency devastating flash floods. The current indicators of the palaeo-drainage system suggest flow direction from northwest to southeast, in a dominantly extensional tectonic setting.Based on sedimentologic and biostratigraphic evidence, the upper unit of the Tuli Basin correlates to the Elliot Formation in the main Karoo Basin to the south.     

坦桑尼亚古元古代姆柏兹地体锆石U-Pb-Hf同位素特征及其指示的构造环境研究

通过研究坦桑尼亚乌本迪变质活动带内姆柏兹地体(初)糜棱岩的锆石U-Pb-Hf同位素特征,认为初糜棱岩物质来源于古老地壳的再循环。对比研究坦桑尼亚鲁呼呼盆地和鲁夸盆地卡鲁超群沉积特征,结合卡鲁超群底部砂岩的碎屑锆石年龄谱系特征,推测鲁夸盆地内卡鲁系的最大沉积时限为晚石炭纪-早二叠纪,其物质来源于乌本迪带或南部伊鲁米德带内的新元古代-寒武纪岩浆岩。通过计算碎屑锆石年龄与地层沉积时代差值的累频分布特征,确定了晚古生代时期的鲁夸沉积盆地构造属性为拉张背景的陆间裂谷。结合本次锆石U-Pb-Hf同位素特征研究和区域地质资料分析结果,认为姆柏兹地体经历了两次俯冲-造山-裂解(伸展)构造旋回,响应了哥伦比亚超大陆、罗迪尼亚超大陆的聚合、裂解。冈瓦纳大陆裂解期间形成的裂谷盆地接受沉积,形成了卡鲁超群沉积。     

Dolerite intrusion morphology at Majuba Colliery, northeast Karoo Basin, Republic of South Africa

Dolerite sills, at times transgressive, and dykes are common at Majuba Colliery. Their behaviour within the Karoo stratigraphic pile limits and controls the effectiveness of extracting the deep-seated Gus coal seam. Due to the intrusion of dolerites, the coal seam elevation can vary by as much as 70 m. Data from 452 boreholes, 88 of which were drilled to granitic gneiss basement and data from the underground development were used to construct cross-sections through the colliery. Based on texture, geochemistry and mode of emplacement, there exist four different dolerite types (T1 to T4) at Majuba. These are intruded into sedimentary rocks of the Karoo Supergroup although one, the T3 dolerite, has been found intruded into basement gneiss. In the east, an ultramafic intrusion of pre-Karoo Supergroup age created a basement high. By far, the greatest number of dolerite sills intruded within a sandstone unit, and have identical sandstones in the footwall and hangingwall, rather than intruding along lithological boundaries.     

Basin fill evolution and paleotectonic patterns along the Samfrau geosyncline: the Sauce Grande basin–Ventana foldbelt (Argentina) and Karoo basin–Cape foldbelt (South Africa) revisited

As integral parts of du Toit’s (1927) “Samfrau Geosyncline”, the Sauce Grande basin–Ventana foldbelt (Argentina) and Karoo basin–Cape foldbelt (South Africa) share similar paleoclimatic, paleogeographic, and paleotectonic aspects related to the Late Paleozoic tectono-magmatic activity along the Panthalassan continental margin of Gondwanaland. Late Carboniferou-earliest Permian glacial deposits were deposited in the Sauce Grande (Sauce Grande Formation) and Karoo (Dwyka Formation) basins and Falkland–Malvinas Islands (Lafonia Formation) during an initial (sag) phase of extension. The pre-breakup position of the Falkland (Malvinas) Islands on the easternmost part of the Karoo basin (immediately east of the coast of South Africa) is supported by recent paleomagnetic data, lithofacies associations, paleoice flow directions and age similarities between the Dwyka and the Lafonia glacial sequences. The desintegration of the Gondwanan Ice Sheet (GIS) triggered widespread transgressions, reflected in the stratigraphic record by the presence of inter-basinally correlatable, open marine, fine-grained deposits (Piedra Azul Formation in the Sauce Grande basin, Prince Albert Formation in the Karoo basin and Port Sussex Formation in the Falkland Islands) capping glacial marine sediments. These early postglacial transgressive deposits, characterised by fossils of the Eurydesma fauna and Glossopteris flora, represent the maximum flooding of the basins. Cratonward foreland subsidence was triggered by the San Rafael orogeny (ca. 270 Ma) in Argentina and propogated along the Gondwanan margin. This subsidence phase generated sufficient space to accommodate thick synorogenic sequences derived from the orogenic flanks of the Sauce Grande and Karoo basins. Compositionally, the initial extensional phase of these basins was characterized by quartz-rich, craton-derived detritus and was followed by a compressional (foreland) phase characterized by a paleocurrent reversal and dominance of arc/foldbelt-derived material. In the Sauce Grande basin, tuffs are interbedded in the upper half of the synorogenic, foldbelt-derived Tunas Formation (Early–early Late? Permian). Likewise, the first widespread appearance of tuffs in the Karoo basin is in the Whitehill Formation, of late Early Permian (260?Ma) age. Silicic volcanism along the Andes and Patagonia (Choiyoi magmatic province) peaked between the late Early Permian and Late Permian. A link between these volcanics and the consanguineous airborne tuffs present in the Sauce Grande and Karoo basins is suggested on the basis of their similar compositions and ages.     

Tectonic and lithological constraints on the evolution of the Karoo graben of northern Malawi (East Africa)

The results of a lithostratigraphic, tectonic and kinematic study of the Karoo deposits of northern Malawi are reported. The objective of the lithostratigraphic study is to correlate the deposits of the Karoo basins of northern Malawi with the well-known deposits of southern Tanzania, thus establishing a stratigraphic framework through which the timing of faulting can be constrained. The kinematic analysis of faulting constrains the opening direction for the Karoo graben in this area and provides basic data to discuss the Karoo graben development within the regional tectonic framework of south-eastern Africa. The studied adults are defined by moderately to steeply dipping cataclastic zones with a width of up to 15 m and are characterized by an array of slickensided fault surfaces with different orientations and slip directions. In this study, small faults (offset < 10 m) and meso-scale faults (offset > 10 m, but generally not exceeding 30–40 m) have been distinguished. Methods used to analyse the kinematic data include the ‘pressure tension’ (PT) method, which estimates the principal axes for the bulk brittle strain, and the internal rotation axis (IRA) method, which estimates the axis of bulk internal rotation and the overall sense of slip at the faults. A mass balance calculation reveals a volume increase of up to 16% during cataclastic deformation in the fault zones. The PT method shows an approximately east trending extension direction for faults that occur only in the latest Carboniferous (?) and Early Permian strata, whereas the fault kinematics from faults that cut middle Permian to Early Triassic rocks is characterized by a ESE to SE trending extension direction. The small faults yield essentially the same kinematic results as the meso-scale faults. In a transport-parallel cross-sectional view, the principal extension axes are at an acute angle of approximately 60° to the major fault planes. Given the moderate fault density, the relatively high angle between the orientation of the principal extension axis and the fault planes suggest only a moderate amount of horizontal extension across the Karoo graben of northern Malawi. Riedel structures in the fault zones formed within two conjugate sets of localized shear zones; slip on one set was top to the W/NW and, on the other, top to the E/SE. The two conjugate sets of Riedel structures have an acute angle about the regional shortening axes, implying that no pronounced rotation of the strain axes occurred. The internal rotation axes for the Riedel structures reveal a largely bimodal distribution and inferred weakly monoclinic to orthorhombic symmetry. Therefore the overall deformation during Karoo rifting in northern Malawi is interpreted to be close to a coaxial deformation with a limited amount of horizontal extension.[/p]     

Permian plate margin volcanism and tuffs in adjacent basins of west Gondwana: Age constraints and common characteristics

Increasing evidence of Permian volcanic activity along the South American portion of the Gondwana proto-Pacific margin has directed attention to its potential presence in the stratigraphic record of adjacent basins. In recent years, tuffaceous horizons have been identified in late Early Permian–through Middle Permian (280–260 Ma) sections of the Paraná Basin (Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay). Farther south and closer to the magmatic tract developed along the continental margin, in the San Rafael and Sauce Grande basins of Argentina, tuffs are present in the Early to Middle Permian section. This tuff-rich interval can be correlated with the appearance of widespread tuffs in the Karoo Basin. Although magmatic activity along the proto-Pacific plate margin was continuous during the Late Paleozoic, Choiyoi silicic volcanism along the Andean Cordillera and its equivalent in Patagonia peaked between the late Early Permian and Middle Permian, when extensive rhyolitic ignimbrites and consanguineous airborne tuffaceous material erupted in the northern Patagonian region. The San Rafael orogenic phase (SROP) interrupted sedimentation along the southwestern segment of the Gondwana margin (i.e., Frontal Cordillera, San Rafael Basin), induced cratonward thrusting (i.e., Ventana and Cape foldbelts), and triggered accelerated subsidence in the adjacent basins (Sauce Grande and Karoo) located inboard of the deformation front. This accelerated subsidence favored the preservation of tuffaceous horizons in the syntectonic successions. The age constraints and similarities in composition between the volcanics along the continental margin and the tuffaceous horizons in the San Rafael, Sauce Grande, Paraná, and Karoo basins strongly suggest a genetic linkage between the two episodes. Radiometric ages from tuffs in the San Rafael, Paraná, and Karoo basins indicate an intensely tuffaceous interval between 280 and 260 Ma.     

Permian plate margin volcanism and tuffs in adjacent basins of west Gondwana: Age constraints and common characteristics

Increasing evidence of Permian volcanic activity along the South American portion of the Gondwana proto-Pacific margin has directed attention to its potential presence in the stratigraphic record of adjacent basins. In recent years, tuffaceous horizons have been identified in late Early Permian–through Middle Permian (280–260 Ma) sections of the Paraná Basin (Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay). Farther south and closer to the magmatic tract developed along the continental margin, in the San Rafael and Sauce Grande basins of Argentina, tuffs are present in the Early to Middle Permian section. This tuff-rich interval can be correlated with the appearance of widespread tuffs in the Karoo Basin. Although magmatic activity along the proto-Pacific plate margin was continuous during the Late Paleozoic, Choiyoi silicic volcanism along the Andean Cordillera and its equivalent in Patagonia peaked between the late Early Permian and Middle Permian, when extensive rhyolitic ignimbrites and consanguineous airborne tuffaceous material erupted in the northern Patagonian region. The San Rafael orogenic phase (SROP) interrupted sedimentation along the southwestern segment of the Gondwana margin (i.e., Frontal Cordillera, San Rafael Basin), induced cratonward thrusting (i.e., Ventana and Cape foldbelts), and triggered accelerated subsidence in the adjacent basins (Sauce Grande and Karoo) located inboard of the deformation front. This accelerated subsidence favored the preservation of tuffaceous horizons in the syntectonic successions. The age constraints and similarities in composition between the volcanics along the continental margin and the tuffaceous horizons in the San Rafael, Sauce Grande, Paraná, and Karoo basins strongly suggest a genetic linkage between the two episodes. Radiometric ages from tuffs in the San Rafael, Paraná, and Karoo basins indicate an intensely tuffaceous interval between 280 and 260 Ma.     

Tectonostratigraphical development of the Upper Karooforeland basin: Orogenic unloading versus thermally-induced Gondwana rifting

The origins of the Karoo Basin have never been adequately explained, but twomain models have been suggested: (1) a purely foreland basin (retro-arc) model; and (2) a polyphase successor basin, beginning with extension during Upper Table Mountain Group (Silurian) times to a foreland basin in the Early Karoo (Permian) and extension in the Upper Karoo (Upper Triassic-Jurassic). Subsidence and forward modelling on the known stratigraphy of the Karoo Basin do not fit a simple foreland basin model. This is particularly true for the Upper Karoo where the stratigraphy, stacking patterns and age of the succession suggest that the foreland basin model is not viable, and that continental extension played a major role in late basin development. Evidence for extension, and when this occurred, is provided by: (1) sequence stratigraphical identification of a major Middle-Late Carnian low stand sequence boundary unconformity, related to uplift of a newly emergent source area in the southeast; and (2) the presence of volcanic detritus in Upper Karoo sediments, chemically similar to the Karoo basalts, suggesting a possible chemogenetic link between them and, by implication, with early volcanism and incipient Gondwana rifting, now well-preserved in the rift sequences of East Antarctica. This early volcanism, which began not later than the Carnian (∼230 Ma), and provenance uplift, may be related to a thermal anomaly linked to mantle plume-induced updoming, crustal extension and faulting approximately 40 Ma prior to maximum uplift preceeding Karoo Basalt eruption at 183 Ma. Thermal uplift occurred some 200 km off the present southeast coast of South Africa, just south of the Karoo Hotspot, but away from the direct influence of any known hotspot or hotspot track. This uplift, aligned parallel to the southeast coast of South Africa, at a high angle to the Cape Fold Belt, was located close to the site of later rifting and separation along the Agulhas Falkland Fracture Zone.     

Deglaciation sequences in the Permo-Carboniferous Karoo and Kalahari basins of southern Africa: a tool in the analysis of cyclic glaciomarine basin fills

The Late Westphalian to Artinskian glaciomarine deposits of the Karoo and Kalahari basins of southern Africa consist of massive and stratified diamictite, mudrock with ice-rafted material, sandstone, silty rhythmite, shale and subordinate conglomerate forming a cyclic succession recognizable across both basins. A complete cycle comprises a resistant basal unit of apparently massive diamictite overlain by softer, bedded stratified diamictite, sandstone and mudrock with a total thickness of as much as 350 m. Four major cycles are observed each separated by bounding surfaces. Lateral facies changes are present in some cycles. The massive diamictites formed as aprons and fans in front of the ice-grounding line, whereas the stratified diamictites represent more distal debris-flow fans. The sandstones originated in different environments as turbidite sands, small subaqueous outwash channel sands and delta front sands. The rhythmites and mudrock represent blanket deposits derived from turbid meltwater plumes. Cycles represent deglaciation sequences which formed during ice retreat phases caused by eustatic changes in the Karoo and Kalahari basins. Evidence for shorter-term fluctuation of the ice margin is present within the major advance-retreat cycles. Hardly any sediment was deposited during lowstand ice sheet expansion, whereas a deglaciation sequence was laid down during a sea-level rise and ice margin retreat with the volume of meltwater and sediment input depending on temporary stillstands of the ice margin during the retreat phase. The duration of the cycles is between 9 and 11 Ma suggesting major global tectono-eustatic events. Smaller cycles probably linked to orbital forcing were superimposed on the longer-term events. A sequence stratigraphic approach using the stacking of deglaciation sequences with the ice margin advance phases forming bounding surfaces, can be a tool in the framework analysis of ancient glaciomarine basin fills.     

Timing and magnitude of tetrapod extinctions across the Permo-Triassic boundary

A review of the tetrapod (amphibian and amniote) record across the Permo-Triassic boundary (PTB) indicates a global evolutionary turnover of tetrapods close to the PTB. There is also a within-Guadalupian tetrapod extinction here called the dinocephalian extinction event, probably of global extent. The dinocephalian extinction event is a late Wordian or early Capitanian extinction based on biostratigraphic data and magnetostratigraphy (the extinction precedes the Illawara reversal), so it is not synchronous with the end-Guadalupian marine extinction. The Russian PTB section documents two tetrapod extinction events, one just before the dinocephalian extinction event and the other at the base of the Lystrosaurus assemblage. However, generic diversity across the latter extinction remains essentially the same despite a total evolutionary turnover of tetrapod genera. The Chinese and South African sections document the stratigraphic overlap of Dicynodon and Lystrosaurus. In the Karoo basin, the lowest occurrence of Lystrosaurus is in a stratigraphic interval of reversed magnetic polarity, which indicates it predates the marine-defined PTB, so, as previously suggested by some workers, the lowest occurrence of Lystrosaurus cannot be used to identify the PTB in nonmarine strata. Correlation of the marine PTB section at Meishan, southern China, to the Karoo basin based primarily on magnetostratigraphy indicates that the main marine extinction preceded the PTB tetrapod extinction event. The ecological severity of the PTB tetrapod extinction event has generally been overstated, and the major change in tetrapod assemblages that took place across the PTB was the prolonged and complex “replacement” of therapsids by archosaurs that began before the end of the Permian and was not complete until well into the Triassic. The tetrapod extinctions are not synchronous with the major marine extinctions at the end of the Guadalupian and just before the end of the Permian, so the idea of catastrophic causes of synchronous PTB extinctions on land and sea should be reconsidered.     

Vertebrate burrows in late Pleistocene paleosols at Korean Palaeolithic sites and their significance as a stratigraphic marker

A vertebrate burrow-bearing layer of late Pleistocene age is commonly found at many Paleolithic archaeological sites in Korea. The burrows are straight to slightly curved in horizontal (plan) view and gently inclined in lateral (sectional) view. They are interpreted as having been produced by rodent-like mammals based on their size and architecture. The significance of such burrow-bearing layers as a characteristic stratigraphic marker unit is demonstrated by high burrow abundance, consistent stratigraphic position, lack of stratigraphic recurrence at these sites, and widespread geographic extent. Three dating methods, tephrochronology, radiocarbon, and OSL dating, were used to infer the age of these burrow-bearing layers. The dating results indicate that they were formed between ca. 40,000 and 25,000 yr (MIS 3−2), and this suggests that this layer can be used as a stratigraphic time-marker in late Pleistocene paleosol sequences for this region.     

Distinct brief major events in the Karoo large igneous province clarified by new Ar/Ar ages on the Lesotho basalts

Recent mineral separate ages obtained on the Karoo large igneous province (southern Africa) suggest that the province was built by several distinct magmatic pulses over a rather long period on the order of 5–6 Ma concerning the main erupted volume [Jourdan, F., Féraud, G., Bertrand, H., Kampunzu, A.B., Tshoso, G., Watkeys, M.K., Le Gall., B., 2005. The Karoo large igneous province: Brevity, origin, and relation with mass extinction questioned by new ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age data, Geology 33, 745–748]. Although this apparently atypical province is dated in more detail compared to many other large igneous provinces, volumetrically important areas still lack sufficient high-quality data. The timing of the Karoo province is crucial as this event is correlated with the breakup activity of the Gondwana supercontinent. The Lesotho basalts represent a major lava sequence of the province, but have not yet been precisely dated by systematic analysis of mineral separates. We analyzed plagioclase separates from five lava flows encompassing the complete 1.4-km-thick Lesotho sequence from top to bottom using the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar method. We obtained five plateau and mini-plateau ages statistically indistinguishable and ranging from 182.3 ± 1.6 to 181.0 ± 2.0 Ma (2σ). We derived an apparent maximum duration for this event of  0.8 Ma by neglecting correlated errors embedded in the age uncertainties.

A critical review of previous ages obtained on the Lesotho sequence [Duncan R.A., Hooper, P.R., Rehacek, J., Marsh, J.S., Duncan, A.R., 1997. The timing and duration of the Karoo igneous event, southern Gondwana. Journal of Geophysical Research 102, 18127–18138] shows that groundmass analyses are unreliable for high-resolution geochronology, due to alteration and ³⁹Ar recoil effects. Discrepancy between our ages and a previous plagioclase age at  184 Ma obtained by the later workers is tentatively attributed to the heterogeneity of the monitor used and/or cryptic excess ⁴⁰Ar. The current age database suggests that at least three temporally and spatially distinct brief major events (the Lesotho and southern Botswana lava piles and the Okavango dyke swarm) are so far recognized in the Karoo province. Identification of brief and volumetrically important Karoo magmatic events allows detecting the migration of the Karoo magmatism and potentially the stress regime that affected the southern African lithosphere at this time. A filtered compilation of 60 ages obtained with homogeneous intercalibrated standards suggests a shorter duration for the main pulses of the magmatism between 3 and 4.5 Ma, compared to a whole province duration of  10 Ma, between  182 and  172 Ma.     

Timing and magnitude of tetrapod extinctions across the Permo-Triassic boundary

A review of the tetrapod (amphibian and amniote) record across the Permo-Triassic boundary (PTB) indicates a global evolutionary turnover of tetrapods close to the PTB. There is also a within-Guadalupian tetrapod extinction here called the dinocephalian extinction event, probably of global extent. The dinocephalian extinction event is a late Wordian or early Capitanian extinction based on biostratigraphic data and magnetostratigraphy (the extinction precedes the Illawara reversal), so it is not synchronous with the end-Guadalupian marine extinction. The Russian PTB section documents two tetrapod extinction events, one just before the dinocephalian extinction event and the other at the base of the Lystrosaurus assemblage. However, generic diversity across the latter extinction remains essentially the same despite a total evolutionary turnover of tetrapod genera. The Chinese and South African sections document the stratigraphic overlap of Dicynodon and Lystrosaurus. In the Karoo basin, the lowest occurrence of Lystrosaurus is in a stratigraphic interval of reversed magnetic polarity, which indicates it predates the marine-defined PTB, so, as previously suggested by some workers, the lowest occurrence of Lystrosaurus cannot be used to identify the PTB in nonmarine strata. Correlation of the marine PTB section at Meishan, southern China, to the Karoo basin based primarily on magnetostratigraphy indicates that the main marine extinction preceded the PTB tetrapod extinction event. The ecological severity of the PTB tetrapod extinction event has generally been overstated, and the major change in tetrapod assemblages that took place across the PTB was the prolonged and complex “replacement” of therapsids by archosaurs that began before the end of the Permian and was not complete until well into the Triassic. The tetrapod extinctions are not synchronous with the major marine extinctions at the end of the Guadalupian and just before the end of the Permian, so the idea of catastrophic causes of synchronous PTB extinctions on land and sea should be reconsidered.     

Evolution,architecture and hierarchy of distributary deep‐water deposits: a high‐resolution outcrop investigation from the Permian Karoo Basin,South Africa

Sea floor and shallow seismic data sets of terminal submarine fan lobes can provide excellent planform timeslices of distributive deep‐water systems but commonly only limited information on cross‐sectional architecture. Extensive outcrops in the Tanqua depocentre, south‐west Karoo Basin, provide these three‐dimensional constraints on lithofacies distributions, stacking patterns, depositional geometries and the stratigraphic evolution of submarine lobe deposits at a scale comparable with modern lobe systems. Detailed study (bed‐scale) of a single‐lobe complex (Fan 3) over a 15 km by 8 km area has helped to define a four‐fold hierarchy of depositional elements from bed through to lobe element, lobe and lobe complex. The Fan 3 lobe complex comprises six distinct fine‐grained sandstone packages, interpreted as lobes, which display compensational stacking patterns on a 5 km scale. Between successive lobes are thin‐bedded, very fine‐grained sandstones and siltstones that do not change lithofacies over several kilometres and therefore are identified as a different architectural element. Each lobe is built by many lobe elements, which also display compensational stacking patterns over a kilometre scale. Thickness variations of lobe elements can be extremely abrupt without erosion, particularly in distal areas where isopach maps reveal a finger‐like distal fringe to lobes. Lobe deposits, therefore, are not simple radial sheet‐dominated systems as commonly envisaged.     

东川、滇中地区中元古代地层格架

东川、滇中地区是上扬子陆块出露元古代地层最广泛的地区,但露头又断续分布在不同的地点.由于缺乏古生物及年龄资料,在不同地区多以岩性进行地层划分与对比,而出现了"正层"与"倒层"观点之分歧.通过对东川及滇中地区地层中所夹的火山岩年龄测试及重要界面的观察与研究,发现东川地区黑山组凝灰岩中锆石U-PbSHRIMP年龄为1503...     

Geomorphological palaeoenvironments of the Sneeuberg Range,Great Karoo,South Africa

Sedimentary sequences within headwater valleys on the landward side of the Great Escarpment of South Africa are elucidated and their significance as indicators of environmental change is assessed. This study focuses on the Sneeuberg Range, the most prominent mountain range in the semi‐arid central Great Karoo. Valley fills of a hitherto unrecognised complexity and of a greater age than any previously recorded in the central Great Karoo are reported. Three phases of deposition spanning the Late Pleistocene up to the present are documented from sites where gully erosion has incised the valley fills. The earliest depositional phase is represented by deeply weathered, calcretised gravel deposits, which probably were emplaced by debris flow and fluvial processes in the form of a fan. These deposits subsequently were buried by finer grained, largely unconsolidated sediment, with much of this emplacement occurring during the Holocene. There is evidence for phases of landscape stability and instability within this facies. Finally, sheetwash has removed fine‐grained sediments from valley flanks and has deposited it either on valley bottoms, or in presently active gullies. This process appears to be ongoing, and is the subject of current investigation. The sedimentary deposits are interpreted as representing a wide range of palaeoenvironmental conditions that have prevailed within the central Great Karoo since the penultimate glaciation. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On Stratigraphy and Flora of Cretaceous Deposits in the Chulym-Yenisei Region,Western Siberia

The stratigraphic positions and substantiation of ages of the Serta, Chulym, Antibes, and Sym paleofloras are considered. It is shown that these paleofloras most likely did not replace each other during the evolution, but rather existed simultaneously on the geological time scale. The Kiya, Simonovo, and Sym formations do not have distinct stratigraphic boundaries, expressed mapping features, or reliable paleontological evidence for age substantiation. They should be considered as a united stratigraphic unit.     

Magma flow in dyke swarms of the Karoo LIP: Implications for the mantle plume hypothesis

The ~ 183 Ma old Karoo Large Igneous Province extends across southern Africa and is related to magmatism in Antarctica (west Dronning Maud Land and Transantarctic Mountains) and parts of Australasia. Intrusive events, including the emplacement of at least ten dyke swarms, occurred between ~ 183 Ma and ~ 174 Ma. We review here the field evidence, structure and geochronology of the dyke swarms and related magmatism as it relates to melt sources and the mantle plume hypothesis for the Karoo LIP. Specifically, the magma flow-related fabric(s) in 90 dykes from five of these swarms is reviewed, paying particular attention to those that converge on triple junctions in southern Africa and Antarctica. The northern Lebombo and Rooi Rand dyke swarms form an integral part of the Lebombo monocline, which converges upon the Karoo triple junction at Mwenezi, southern Zimbabwe. Dykes of the Northern Lebombo dyke swarm (182–178 Ma) appear to have initially intruded vertically, followed later by lateral flow in the youngest dykes. In dykes of the Okavango dyke swarm (178 Ma) there is evidence of steep magma flow proximal to the triple junction, and lateral flow from the southeast to the northwest in the distal regions. This is consistent with the Karoo triple junction and the shallow mantle being a viable magma source for both these dyke swarms. In the Rooi Rand dyke swarm (174 Ma) there is also evidence of vertical and inclined magma flow from north to south. This flow direction cannot be reconciled with the Karoo triple junction, as the northern termination of the Rooi Rand dyke swarm is in east-central Swaziland. The Jutulrøra and Straumsvola dyke swarms of Dronning Maud Land display evidence of sub-vertical magma flow in the north and lateral flow further south. The regional pattern of magma flow is therefore not compatible with direction expected from the Weddell Sea triple junction. The overall flow pattern in Karoo dykes is consistent with the triple junction being an important magma source. However, the Limpopo Belt and Kaapvaal Craton have significantly controlled the structure and distribution of the Lebombo and Save–Limpopo monoclines and the Okavango dyke swarm. The locus of magma flow in dykes of Dronning Maud Land is at least 500 km from the Karoo triple junction, as is the apparent locus for the Rooi Rand dyke swarm. In comparison with recent modelling of continental assembly, the structure and flow of the dyke swarms, linked with geochronology and geochemistry, suggests that thermal incubation during Gondwana assembly led to Karoo magmatism. A plate tectonic, rather than a fluid dynamic plume explanation, is most reasonably applicable to the development of the Karoo LIP which does not bear evidence of a deep-seated, plume source.