Diagenesis of a mixed siliciclastic/evaporitic sequence of the Middle Muschelkalk (Middle Triassic), the Catalan Coastal Range, NE Spain

The Middle Muschelkalk (Middle Triassic) of the Catalan Coastal Range (north-east Spain) comprises sandstone, mudstone, anhydrite and minor carbonate layers. Interbedded sandstones and mudstones which are dominant in the north-eastern parts of the basin are terminal alluvial fan deposits. South-westward in the basin, the rocks become dominated by interbedded evaporites and mudstones deposited in sabkha/mudflat environments. The diagenetic and pore water evolution patterns of the Middle Muschelkalk suggest a strong facies control. During eodiagenesis, formation of microdolomite, anhydrite, baryte, magnesite, K-feldspar and mixed-layer chlorite/smectite was favoured within and adjacent to the sabkha/mudflat facies, whereas calcite, haematite, mixed-layer illite/smectite and quartz formed mainly in the alluvial facies. Low δ¹⁸O_SMOW values for microdolomite (+23.7 to +28.4%) and K-feldspar overgrowths (+17.3 to +17.7%) suggest either low-temperature, isotopic disequilibrium or precipitation from low-¹⁸O porewaters. Low-¹⁸O waters might have developed, at least in part, during low-temperature alteration of volcanic rock fragments. During mesodiagenesis, precipitation of quartz overgrowths and coarse dolomite occurred in the alluvial sandstones, whereas recrystallization of microdolomite was dominant in the sabkha/mudflat facies. The isotopic compositions of these mesogenetic phases reflect increasing temperature during burial. Upon uplift and erosion, telogenetic calcite and trace haematite precipitated in fractures and replaced dolomite. The isotopic composition of the calcite (δ¹⁸O_SMOW=+21.5 to +25.6%o; δ¹³C= 7.7 to - 5.6%o) and presence of haematite indicate infiltration of meteoric waters.     

Facies sequences of a semi-arid closed basin: the Lower Jurassic East Berlin Formation of the Hartford Basin, New England, U.S.A.

The Lower Jurassic East Berlin Formation exposed in the centre of the Hartford Basin can be divided into six facies: (1) laminated black mudstone is composed of very finely-laminated, organic-bearing clay-stone with common millimetre-scale lenses of dolomitic siltstone; (2) planar laminated mudstone is commonly mudcracked and composed of thickly-laminated, red, green or grey mudstone with common centimetre-scale lenses of sandstones; (3) disrupted mudstone has a complex, desiccation-cracked fabric; (4) planar- and large-scale trough cross-stratified sandstones are composed of moderately well-sorted medium- to coarse-grained arkoses; (5) small-scale, cross-stratified silty sandstones with common climbing-ripple structure; and (6) interbedded sandstones and mudstones which commonly carry desiccation cracks. Mudstone facies are organized into repetitive, metre-scale facies sequences which change gradationally upwards from laminated black mudstones to planar-laminated mudstones to disrupted mudstones. Facies sequences have sharp tops and bottoms and record increasing desiccation upwards. There are 15 such cycles in the upper 100 m of the formation in central Connecticut. They record long periods of dry playa mudflat aggradation punctuated by the rapid expansion and contraction of perennial lakes. The sandy facies occur as single, decimetre-scale sedimentation units or as two or more stacked sedimentation units up to 1 m thick. These record sheet floods across ephemeral floodplains.     

四川会理—会东及邻区中元古界昆阳群沉积特征及演化

四川会理 会东及邻区中元古界昆阳群 ,由下而上可分为力马河组、凤山营组和天宝山组 ,与古元古界河口群为不整合接触 ,其代表年龄值为 1 70 0± 1 0 0Ma～ 1 2 0 0± 1 0 0Ma。对这套地层的沉积学研究 ,前人涉及甚少。笔者在野外考察和室内分析的基础上 ,对其沉积相和沉积环境进行了详细的研究。初步认为研究区的中元古界昆阳群可分为 7种沉积相 ,进而探讨了该区的沉积演化历史。     

Depositional environments and diagenesis in Lake Parakeelya: a Cambrian alkaline playa from the Officer Basin, South Australia

Laminated and desiccated siliceous dolostones, dolomitic mudstones and dolomitic sandstones in the Cambrian Parakeelya Alkali Member of the Observatory Hill Formation accumulated in an alkaline playa. Four facies are recognized (from lake centre to lake edge): lake, saline mudflat, dry mudflat and sandflat facies. The facies occur in cycles. Cycles of tens of metres thickness record the gradual expansion and contraction of the playa. Superimposed smaller cycles of tens of centimetres thickness record minor oscillations in the position of the strandline in a shallow lake. The dominance of saline mudflat, dry mudflat and sandflat facies indicates that the lake was rimmed by broad flat areas with negligible relief. The high δ¹⁸O values of primary and penecontemporaneous diagenetic carbonates of +24 to +28‰ (SMOW) indicate strong evaporation of ground and surface waters within the lake system. Calcite pseudomorphs of the sodium carbonate minerals trona and shortite have δ¹⁸O values between + 19 and + 22.5‰, and contain fluid inclusions with variable salinites and homogenization temperatures up to around 110°C. This suggests that the euhedral alkaline evaporites were dissolved by heated waters; calcite pseudomorphs then precipitated from a mixed solution formed by the interaction of these incoming fluids with the relatively saline interstitial brines. The sodium bicarbonate solutions formed by dissolution of the evaporites would have been dispersed by the basinal brines so that despite the closed drainage, further groundwater concentration did not take place.     

Anatomy of an Upper Triassic continental to marginal‐marine system: the mixed siliciclastic–carbonate Travenanzes Formation (Dolomites,Northern Italy)

The Travenanzes Formation is a terrestrial to shallow‐marine, siliciclastic–carbonate succession (200 m thick) that was deposited in the eastern Southern Alps during the Late Triassic. Sedimentary environments and depositional architecture have been reconstructed in the Dolomites, along a 60 km south–north transect. Facies alternations in the field suggest interfingering between alluvial‐plain, flood‐basin and shallow‐lagoon deposits, with a transition from terrestrial to marine facies belts from south to north. The terrestrial portion of the Travenanzes Formation consists of a dryland river system, characterized by multicoloured floodplain mudstones with scattered conglomeratic fluvial channels, merging downslope into small ephemeral streams and sheet‐flood sandstones, and losing their entire discharge subaerially before the shoreline. Calcic and vertic palaeosols indicate an arid/semi‐arid climate with strong seasonality and intermittent discharge. The terrestrial/marine transition shows a coastal mudflat, the flood basin, which is usually exposed, but at times is inundated by both major river floods and sea‐water storm surges. Locally coastal sabkha deposits occur. The marine portion of the Travenanzes Formation comprises carbonate tidal‐flat and shallow‐lagoon deposits, characterized by metre‐scale shallowing‐upward peritidal cycles and subordinate intercalations of dark clays from the continent. The depositional architecture of the Travenanzes Formation suggests an overall transgressive pattern organized in three carbonate–siliciclastic cycles, corresponding to transgressive–regressive sequences with internal higher‐frequency sedimentary cycles. The metre‐scale sedimentary cyclicity of the Travenanzes Formation continues without a break in sedimentation into the overlying Dolomia Principale. The onset of the Dolomia Principale epicontinental platform is marked by the exhaustion of continental sediment supply.     

民和盆地上侏罗统湿型冲积扇沉积

本文通过岩相特征、粘土矿物分布、早期成岩矿物组合、微量元素等特征的综合分析，认为民和盆地上侏罗统下部为一较典型的湿型冲积扇沉积。冲积扇扇中发育河道冲刷充填和漫流沉积，而泥石流不发育。沉积层序与现代湿型冲积扇可对比。扇体中粘土岩及早期成岩矿物组合中富含高岭石，应与扇体发育时的潮湿气候和弱酸性流体的较强的淋滤有关。由粘土岩中微量元素因子分析进一步表明，该地层中富硼、钒的特征与相邻非扇相地层明显不同     

Facies model for a sandy ephemeral stream and clay playa complex; the Middle Devonian Trentishoe Formation of North Devon, U.K.

Sediments in the Trentishoe Formation of the Middle Devonian Hangman Sandstone Group (North Devon, U.K.) provide the basis of a model for sandy ephemeral stream and clay playa deposition. Three types of sequence are found, representing proximal, medial and distal areas on an extensive alluvial plain. The Proximal sequence consists of cross-cutting channel-fill sandstones which represent the deposits of a network of low sinuosity sand bed streams. The Medial sequence comprises upwards coarsening cyclothems which start with relatively distal, thinly bedded sandstone and siltstone flood sheets cut by complexes of silt draped channel-fill sandstones and single channel fill sandstones. The flood sheets coarsen and thicken upwards to more proximal multistorey sheet sandstones. The Distal sequences consist of laminated mudstone and sandstone, cut by desiccation and water escape features, alternating with wave rippled sandstones, and represent playa lakes occasionally incised by high sinuosity channels with laterally accreting sandstones. The three sequence types represent the downslope progression from a low sinuosity channel network which passed into an ephemeral flood deposit complex which in turn drained into clay playas.     

Depositional history and stratigraphical evolution of the Sakoa Group (Lower Karoo Supergroup) in the southern Morondava Basin, Madagascar

The Sakoa Group is the lowermost stratigraphical succession of the Karoo Supergroup and the oldest sedimentary unit in Madagascar, spanning the Late Carboniferous through Early Permian epochs. The Sakoa Group is exposed in the southern Morondava Basin. It is predominantly a siliciclastic sequence comprising seven lithofacies associations: (1) diamictites; (2) conglomeratic sandstones; (3) sandstones; (4) interbedded thin sandstones and mudstones; (5) mudstones; (6) coals; and (7) limestones. These facies represent deposition in the early extensional stages of continental rift development. The sediments were deposited predominantly on alluvial fans, and in braided to meandering stream and overbank environments. Locally lacustrine and coal swamp environments formed in low areas of the basin floor during rift initiation. Subsidence rates remained fairly constant throughout the Early Permian and were accompanied by a gradual reduction in relief of the basin margins and an increased geomorphic maturity of the fluvial systems flowing across the basin floor. Near the end of the Early Permian the southern Morondava Basin was inundated by a marine transgression , which resulted in deposition of the Vohitolia Limestone. Subsequent tectonic uplift and erosion resulted in a regional unconformity between the Sakoa Group and the overlying Sakamena Group.     

Carbonate pond deposits related to semi-arid alluvial systems: examples from the Tertiary Madrid Basin, Spain

Carbonate pond deposits occur associated with alluvial sediments in Miocene sequences of the Madrid Basin, central Spain. The ponds developed near the basin margins, either in floodplain environments (north) or mud-flat settings (south). Three main facies assemblages are recognized: (1) floodplain/mud-flat, (2) palaeosols and (3) pond deposits. In the northern part of the basin, ponds developed on the floodplain of terminal fluvial systems. The floodplain facies are typically red mudstones with interbedded sandstones and siltstones. Palaeosols associated with the ponds show a pedofacies relationship, the maturity of soils increasing with distance from the main channel. Carbonate pond deposits consist mainly of limestones, which display typical ‘palustrine’features. The formation and further accumulation of carbonate in the ponds took place in periods of reduced clastic sediment input and it is suggested that recharge into the pond areas was mainly from groundwater. In the south, ponds developed on mud-flats located between sheet-flood-dominated alluvial fans and evaporite lakes. Mud-flat facies consist of red mudstone that exhibits evidence of progressive soil development near both edges and beneath the carbonate pond lenses. Carbonate in the ponds is mainly dolomite and comprises two subfacies, mottled and laminated dolomicrites. This mineralogy, together with the presence of gypsum crusts below and in the lower part of the carbonate body, suggests higher evaporation rates and/or more saline waters filling the ponds in this part of the basin. In spite of differences in depositional setting and, to some extent, climatic conditions between the two areas of the basin, both facies associations and the sequential arrangement of the ponds show strong similarities that allow the proposal of a facies model for carbonate pond deposits related to semi-arid alluvial systems. The sequences recognized from the pond deposits record a set of facies clearly different to those forming in swampy lakes associated with many permanent fluvial systems developed in more humid climates.     

阵发性洪水条件下辫状河型冲积扇构型研究:以准噶尔盆地西北缘现代白杨河冲积扇为例*

白杨河冲积扇是由阵发性洪水期的碎屑流沉积物与间洪期辫状河沉积物组成的复合型冲积扇,其构型与碎屑流扇的构型和河流型扇的构型有很大的不同。本研究选取准噶尔盆地西北缘干旱气候下发育的现代白杨河冲积扇作为解剖实例,对103个天然剖面和9个人工大型探槽进行了详细测量,在沉积微相及不同级别的沉积构型的观测和分析的基础上,分析了阵发性洪水条件下间歇性辫状河型冲积扇体的地貌单元的演化过程和沉积构型特征,研究不同流态的阵发性洪水条件下各种建造和改造机制,明确受阵发性洪水控制的间歇性辫状河型冲积扇的沉积特征,建立了其沉积构型模式。认为: 在洪水期,阵发性洪流(碎屑流)形成席状化的片流(或片洪)沉积,在洪退期,随着洪水强度的减弱,又转变为辫流沉积,而在间洪期,仍有持续的辫状流体(牵引流)在限制性的水道中流动,并对洪水期的碎屑流沉积物进行改造,形成了限制性的(条带状的)辫状河道沉积,2个时期的沉积物在时空上频繁叠置,形成了一种更加复杂的沉积构型。该模式对油田地下冲积扇砂砾储集层的成因识别、预测及对比具有一定的参考价值。     

Eocene fan delta-submarine fan deposition in the Wagwater Trough, east-central Jamaica

ABSTRACT The Wagwater Trough is a fault-bounded basin which cuts across east-central Jamaica. The basin formed during the late Palaeocene or early Eocene and the earliest sediments deposited in the trough were the Wagwater and Richmond formations of the Wagwater Group. These formations are composed of up to 7000 m of conglomerates, sandstones, and shales. Six facies have been recognized in the Wagwater Group: Facies I-unfossiliferous massive conglomerates; Facies II—channelized, non-marine conglomerates, sandstones, and shales; Facies III-interbedded, fossiliferous conglomerates and sandstones; Facies IV—fossiliferous muddy conglomerates; Facies V—channelized, marine conglomerates, sandstones, and shales; and Facies VI—thin-bedded sheet sandstones and shales. The Wagwater and Richmond formations are interpreted as fan delta-submarine fan deposits. Facies associations suggest that humid-region fan deltas prograded into the basin from the adjacent highlands and discharged very coarse sediments on to a steep submarine slope. At the coast waves reworked the braided-fluvial deposits of the subaerial fan delta into coarse sand and gravel beaches. Sediments deposited on the delta-front slope were frequently remobilized and moved downslope as slumps, debris flows, and turbidity currents. At the slope-basin break submarine fans were deposited. The submarine fans are characterized by coarse inner and mid-fan deposits which grade laterally into thin bedded turbidites of the outer fan and basin floor.     

A highstand oolitic sequence and associated facies from a Late Triassic lake basin, south-west England

High energy, lake‐shoreline carbonate sequences are rarely documented in the geological record. However, one example occurs in the Upper Triassic Mercia Mudstone Group (MMG) of southern Britain. The MMG is one of a number of thick, non‐fossiliferous mudstone deposits associated with North Atlantic Mesozoic rift basins. The origin of the MMG mudstones is the subject of current debate, with marine, playa‐lacustrine and alluvial–aeolian models having been proposed. Shoreline features have been documented from the northern margin of the basin, but the rarity of such features elsewhere in the MMG has led many workers to doubt a lacustrine origin for the mudstones. Wave‐dominated, lake‐shoreline deposits have been recognized in several sections from the southern basin margin in the Clevedon area of the Bristol Channel in south‐west England. These deposits provide evidence for the development of a sizeable perennial to semi‐perennial hypersaline lake in which the MMG mudstones accumulated. Shoreline sediments overlie alluvial stream and sheet‐flood deposits, and pass from transgressive gravel–conglomerate beach units with bioclasts, influenced by shore‐normal waves (deposited under semi‐humid conditions), to lower gradient, highstand oolitic sands affected by more varied wave approach (deposited under progressively more arid conditions), which culminated in lowstand, oolitic strand‐plain deposits overlain by a playa‐mudflat unit. Shoreline deposits record a simple shallowing‐upward transgressive–highstand–lowstand sequence. However, a change from a reflective (transgressive) to dissipative (highstand) shoreline is believed to represent a climatically induced change in prevailing wind direction. Shoreline features recognized in the MMG are similar to those of recent playa‐lacustrine basins of the western United States. Ooids display a variety of size, fracture and dissolution features in addition to beachrock fabrics, suggesting that they were originally composed of radial aragonite, similar to modern ooids from the Great Salt Lake, Utah.     

Fine‐grained meandering systems of the Lower Permian Clear Fork Formation of north‐central Texas,USA: Lateral and oblique accretion on an arid plain

Facies models that adequately represent the diverse range of fine‐grained fluvial systems are currently lacking from the literature. In this paper, the spectrum of these systems on the arid plains of western equatorial Pangea is explored, as well as the source and nature of the fine‐grained sediments. Eight fluvial elements in the Early Permian Clear Fork Formation of north‐central Texas represent channel systems up to 7 m deep with coarse basal deposits, three types of lateral‐accretion deposits and sandstone sheets, with laminated, disrupted and massive mudstones laid down in abandoned channels and on floodplains. The three fine‐grained fluvial styles represent a continuum between two end‐members: sustained lateral accretion of bedload composed of quartzose sediments and mud aggregates on point bars, and oblique accretion of suspended sediment on steep accretionary benches and banks with limited lateral migration. This spectrum is controlled, in part, by grain size and the proportion of suspended to bedload sediments. The presence of rarely documented swept ripples on exhumed accretion surfaces is attributed to rapid decline in water levels and downstream re‐entry of overbank floodwaters into the channel. Rill casts, roots and disrupted mudstones low down in channel bodies indicate periods of near‐dryness. Laterally extensive sheet sandstones were formed by episodic flows in broad, sandbed channels. The fluvial sediments were primarily intrabasinally sourced with extrabasinal sediments brought in during major floods from upland source areas or reworked from local storage in the basin, representing a supply limited system. The upward change in cement composition from mainly calcite and ankerite to dolomite and gypsum with minor celestine implies increasingly saline groundwater and progressive aridification, supporting Late Palaeozoic palaeoclimatic models. By integrating petrographic data with sedimentology, a plethora of information about ancient landscapes and climate is provided, allowing a fuller comparison between the Clear Fork Formation and modern dryland alluvial plains.     

Palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of a middle Miocene alluvial fan to cyclic shallow lacustrine depositional system in the Calatayud Basin (NE Spain)

ABSTRACT The middle Miocene sedimentary fill of the Calatayud Basin in north‐eastern Spain consists of proximal to distal alluvial fan‐floodplain and shallow lacustrine deposits. Four main facies groups characteristic of different sedimentary environments are recognized: (1) proximal and medial alluvial fan facies that comprise clast‐supported gravel and subordinate sandstone and mudstone, the latter exhibiting incipient pedogenic features; (2) distal alluvial fan facies, formed mainly of massive mudstone, carbonate‐rich palaeosols and local carbonate pond deposits; (3) lake margin facies, which show two distinct lithofacies associations depending on their distribution relative to the alluvial fan system, i.e. front (lithofacies A), comprising massive siliciclastic mudstone and tabular carbonates, or lateral (lithofacies B) showing laminated and/or massive siliciclastic mudstone alternating with tabular and/or laminated carbonate beds; and (4) mudflat–shallow lake facies showing a remarkable cyclical alternation of green‐grey and/or red siliciclastic mudstone units and white dolomitic carbonate beds. The cyclic mudflat–shallow lake succession, as exposed in the Orera composite section (OCS), is dominantly composed of small‐scale mudstone–carbonate/dolomite cycles. The mudstone intervals of the sedimentary cycles are interpreted as a result of sedimentation from suspension by distal sheet floods, the deposits evolving either under subaerial exposure or water‐saturated conditions, depending on their location on the lacustrine mudflat and on climate. The dolomite intervals accumulated during lake‐level highstands with Mg‐rich waters becoming increasingly concentrated. Lowstand to highstand lake‐level changes indicated by the mudstone/dolomite units of the small‐scale cycles reflect a climate control (from dry to wet conditions) on the sedimentation in the area. The spatial distribution of the different lithofacies implies that deposition of the small‐scale cycles took place in a low‐gradient, shallow lake basin located in an interfan zone. The development of the basin was constrained by gradual alluvial fan aggradation. Additional support for the palaeoenvironmental interpretation is derived from the isotopic compositions of carbonates from the various lithofacies that show a wide range of δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C values varying from ?7·9 to 3·0‰ PDB and from ?9·2 to ?1·7‰ PDB respectively. More negative δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C values are from carbonate‐rich palaeosols and lake‐margin carbonates, which extended in front of the alluvial fan systems, whereas more positive values correspond to dolomite beds deposited in the shallow lacustrine environment. The results show a clear trend of δ¹⁸O enrichment in the carbonates from lake margin to the centre of the shallow lake basin, thereby also demonstrating that the lake evolved under hydrologically closed conditions.     

Desert sand plain and sabkha deposits from the Bunter Sandstone Formation (L. Triassic) at the northern margin of the German Basin

Facies studies of well cores from the Bunter Sandstone Formation in the Tønder area, Denmark indicate, that the formation is composed of two desert sand plain sequences associated with sabkha and inland basin (lake?) mudstones. The lower desert sand plain sequence consists of subaerial sand flat deposits overlain by aeolian sand sheet and dune facies topped by interbedded aeolian and ephemeral river deposits. The upper desert sand plain sequence consists of ephemeral river deposits partly interbedded with and overlain by sabkha and inland basin mudstones. Two shoreline sandstones occur in the uppermost part. Both sequences are interpreted mainly in terms of tectonic subsidence of the basin and related upheavals of the source regions. The lower sequence represents a rather continuous progradation of the desert sand plain followed by a rapid transgression of the waters from the inland basin. The upper sequence represents brief periods of fluvial progradation followed by a gradual retreat of the river plain. The most distal part of the sand plain was finally reworked by weak wave-action.     

西藏日喀则地区第三系大竹卡组砾质扇三角洲——片状颗粒流沉积

一、引言 1987和1988年仲夏,我们中国和联邦德国的地质同行联合对西藏雅鲁藏布江缝合带进行了地质考察,对日喀则地区所出露的第三系磨拉石进行了比较详细的沉积学工作,现将初步研究成果作一个简略介绍。西藏日喀则地区第三系磨拉石主要出露于雅鲁藏布江一带,是一套砾岩、砂岩、泥岩和少量泥灰岩的沉积组合,作为碰撞造山带山前或山间盆地的沉积产物,已被许多学者所认识。本文主要讨论始新—渐新世大竹卡组(钱定宇等,1985)磨拉石沉积,尤其是砾岩的沉积机制,并认为湖相砾质扇三角洲沉积是该磨拉石盆地的最主要沉积类型之一,扇三角洲沉积相带发育齐全,在德日剖面和南卡堆剖面(图1)部有完好的扇三角洲层序,是一种独特的、以突发性片状颗粒流和片状牵引流沉积为代表的扇三角洲类型。在青藏高原羌塘地区(余光明等,1986)和柴达木盆地(邓宏文等,1987)都报道过类似的第三纪沉积。研究此类发育于特定大地构造背景的扇三角洲的沉积特征和形成机制具有重要的理论意义。     

辽河盆地大凌河油层湖底扇沉积特征

辽河盆地位于辽宁省南部,渤海湾盆地东北角,是继中生代发育起来的第三纪断陷盆地。分东部凹陷,西部凹陷和大民屯凹陷等二级构造单元(图1)。     

贺兰奥拉槽早古生代深水重力流体系的沉积特征和充填样式

位于鄂尔多斯西缘的贺兰构造带为一中元古代一古生代的奥拉槽。在区内的中寒武和中奥陶统中识别了一套巨厚的深水重力流沉积,其中包括下斜坡滑塌泥石流复合体、浊积扇以及碳酸盐岩斜坡扇裙等沉积类型。主要的相单元包括充填沟道或进入扇面形成的泥石流钙质角砾岩和砾岩、充填辫状水道的多层叠置的砂岩和砂砾岩、上叠扇的砂、泥岩互层以及浊积砂屑或含砾砂屑灰岩等。在中奥陶世该奥拉槽发展成一深水一半深水海槽,沿盆地西侧发育有浊积扇,而东侧仅有碳酸盐岩滑塌扇裙。它们可能是沿深水盆地两侧深大断裂产生的陡坡或水下断崖分布的,代表了早古生代贺兰奥拉槽在强烈沉陷期特定的深水盆地充填。     

Variable style of transition between Palaeogene fluvial fan and lacustrine systems, southern Pyrenean foreland, NE Spain

Two Palaeogene fluvial fan systems linked to the south‐Pyrenean margin are recognized in the eastern Ebro Basin: the Cardona–Súria and Solsona–Sanaüja fans. These had radii of 40 and 35 km and were 800 and 600 km² in area respectively. During the Priabonian to the Middle Rupelian, the fluvial fans built into a hydrologically closed foreland basin, and shallow lacustrine systems persisted in the basin centre. In the studied area, both fans are part of the same upward‐coarsening megasequence (up to 800 m thick), driven by hinterland drainage expansion and foreland propagation of Pyrenean thrusts. Fourteen sedimentary facies have been grouped into seven facies associations corresponding to medial fluvial fan, channelized terminal lobe, non‐channelized terminal lobe, mudflat, deltaic, evaporitic playa‐lake and carbonate‐rich, shallow lacustrine environments. Lateral correlations define two styles of alluvial‐lacustrine transition. During low lake‐level stages, terminal lobes developed, whereas during lake highstands, fluvial‐dominated deltas and interdistributary bays were formed. Terminal lobe deposits are characterized by extensive (100–600 m wide) sheet‐like fine sandstone beds formed by sub‐aqueous, quasi‐steady, hyperpycnal turbidity currents. Sedimentary structures and trace fossils indicate rapid desiccation and sub‐aerial exposure of the lobe deposits. These deposits are arranged in coarsening–fining sequences (metres to tens of metres in thickness) controlled by a combination of tectonics, climatic oscillations and autocyclic sedimentary processes. The presence of anomalously deeply incised distributary channels associated with distal terminal lobe or mudflat deposits indicates rapid lake‐level falls. Deltaic deposits form progradational coarsening‐upward sequences (several metres thick) characterized by channel and friction‐dominated mouth‐bar facies overlying white‐grey offshore lacustrine facies. Deltaic bar deposits are less extensive (50–300 m wide) than the terminal lobes and were also deposited by hyperpycnal currents, although they lack evidence of emergence. Sandy deltaic deposits accumulated locally at the mouths of main feeder distal fan streams and were separated by muddy interdistributary bays; whereas the terminal lobe sheets expand from a series of mid‐fan intersection points and coalesced to form a more continuous sandy fan fringe.     

塔里木盆地西南地区白垩系沉积相特征

塔西南白垩系发育,可分为上、下两统。下白垩统克孜勒苏群可分4段,多以陆相沉积为主,富含棕红色砂砾岩夹少许砂岩、粉砂岩、泥岩和砾岩。上白垩统英吉沙群为海陆相并存,库克拜组可分2段,常见泥岩、膏岩和海相化石;乌依塔格组多为红色泥岩、泥质粉砂岩夹砂岩;依格孜牙组多见灰岩、白云质灰岩,富含海相化石;吐依洛克组为棕红色泥岩、石膏和砂、砾岩,含海相化石。通过勾勒9个岩性单元的沉积相展布,分析昆仑山前白垩纪的沉积环境演化过程。克孜勒苏群西区多为陆相快速堆积,东区远离陆源为三角洲和滨岸沉积,具有宽泛的冲积扇—辫状河三角洲相分布。库克拜组总体显示为辫状河三角洲—潮坪相变的过程;乌依塔格组以潮坪为主;依格孜牙组表现为碳酸盐岩台地—台地边缘的演化;吐依洛克组为宽广潮坪。