Facies and sequence stratigraphy of a Late Barremian wave-dominated deltaic deposit, Agadir Basin, Morocco

The late Barremian succession in the Agadir Basin of the Moroccan Western High Atlas represents wave-dominated deltaic deposits. The succession is represented by stacked thickening and coarsening upwards parasequences 5–15 m thick formed during fifth- or fourth-order regression and building a third-order highstand systems tract. Vertical facies transitions in parasequences reflect flooding followed by shoaling of diverse shelf environments ranging from offshore transition interbedded mudstones, siltstones and thin sandstones, lower shoreface/lower delta front hummocky bedforms to upper shoreface/upper delta front cross-bedded sandstones. The regional configuration reflects the progradation of wave-dominated deltas over an offshore setting. The maximum sea-level fall led to the development of a sequence boundary that is an unconformity. The subsequent early Aptian relative sea-level rise contributes to the development of an extensive conglomerate lagged transgressive surface of erosion. The latter and the sequence boundary are amalgamated forming a composite surface.     

Controls on Quaternary coastal evolution of the east-northeastern coast of Brazil: roles of sea-level history, trade winds and climate

East-northeastern Brazil has a wave-dominated, micro- to meso-tidal coast, lying entirely within the southern Atlantic trade wind belt. Integration of geologic mapping, radiocarbon dating and vibracoring data shows that the Quaternary coastal evolution of this area was controlled by three major factors: (1) sea-level history; (2) trade winds; and (3) climate change.

Sea-level history. Along the east-northeastern coast of Brazil, relative sea level has fallen approximately 5 m during the last 5000 y. Correlation of this sea-level history with the evolution of beach-ridge, lagoonal and coastal plain deposits shows that: (1) sea-level rise favours the formation of barrier island—lagoonal systems and the construction of intralagoonal deltas; (2) sea-level lowering is not conductive to barrier island formation. Rather, lagoons and bays become emergent and beach-ridge plains rapidly prograde.

Trade winds. Sediment dispersal systems along the coastal zone of east-northeastern Brazil have been highly persistent since Pleistocene time, as deduced from beach-ridge orientation. This persistence results from the fact that sediment dispersal in wave-dominated settings is ultimately controlled by atmospheric circulation which, for the east-northeastern coast of Brazil is associated with the South Atlantic high-pressure cell. The remarkable stability of this cell through time, has allowed the accumulation of extensive beach-ridge plains at the longshore drift sinks located along the coast.

Climate change. Effects of Quaternary climate changes on coastal sedimentation are twofold. Climate changes may affect rainfall patterns, thus exerting an important control on coastal dune development. Along the coast of northeastern Brazil, active coastal dunes are only present in those areas in which at least four consecutive dry months occur during the year. Mapping of these areas has shown that dune development during the Holocene has been episodic, these episodes being probably controlled by variations in rainfall patterns associated with climate changes. Secondly, despite its overall stability, the position of the high-pressure cell has experienced small shifts in position during the Holocene in response to climate changes. Changes in wind direction associated with these shifts have induced modifications in the coastal dispersion system, which are recorded in the strandplains as small truncations in the beach-ridge alignments.

These results have important implications in understanding accumulation of ancient sandstone shoreline sequences.     

Facies and sequence stratigraphic analysis in an intracratonic, thermal-relaxation basin: the Early Proterozoic, Lower Quilalar Formation and Ballara Quartzite, Mount Isa Inlier, Australia

The Quilalar Formation and correlative Mary Kathleen Group in the Mount Isa Inlier, Australia, conformably overlie rift-related volcanics and sediments and non-conformably overlie basement rocks. They represent a thermal-relaxation phase of sedimentation between 1780 and 1740 Ma. Facies analysis of the lower siliciclastic member of the Quilalar Formation and the coeval Ballara Quartzite permits discrimination of depositional systems that were restricted areally to either N-S-trending marginal platform or central trough palaeogeographic settings. Four depositional systems, each consisting of several facies, are represented in the lower Quilalar Formation-Ballara Quartzite; these are categorized broadly as storm-dominated shelf (SDS), continental (C), tide-dominated shelf (TDS) and wave-dominated shoreline (WDS). SDS facies consist either of black pyritic mudstone intervals up to 10 m thick, or mudstone and sandstone associated in 6–12-m-thick, coarsening-upward parasequences. Black mudstones are interpreted as condensed sections that developed as a result of slow sedimentation in an outer-shelf setting starved of siliciclastic influx. Vertical transition of facies in parasequences reflects flooding followed by shoaling of different shelf subenvironments; the shoreface contains evidence of subaerial exposure. Continental facies consist of fining-upward parasequences of fluvial origin and tabular, 0·4–4-m-thick, aeolian parasequences. TDS facies are represented by stacked, tabular parasequences between 0·5 and 5 m thick. Vertical arrangement of facies in parasequences reflects flooding and establishment of a tidal shelf followed by shoaling to intertidal conditions. WDS facies are preserved in 0·5–3-m-thick, stacked, tabular parasequences. Vertical transition of facies reflects initial flooding with wave reworking of underlying arenites along a ravinement surface, followed by shoaling from lower shoreface to foreshore conditions. Parasequences are stacked in retrogradational and progradational parasequence sets. Retrogradational sets consist of thin SDS parasequences in the trough, and C, TDS and probably WDS parasequences on the platforms. Thick SDS parasequences in the trough, and TDS, subordinate C and probably WDS parasequences on the platforms make up progradational parasequence sets. Depositional systems are associated in systems tracts that make up 40–140-m-thick sequences bounded by type-2 sequence boundaries that are disconformities. Transgressive systems tracts consist of C, TDS and probably WDS depositional systems on the platforms and the SDS depositional system and suspension mudstone deposits in the trough. The transgressive systems tract is characterized by retrogradational parasequence sets and developed in response to accelerating rates of sea-level rise following lowstand. Condensed-section deposits in the trough, and the thickest TDS parasequences on the platforms reflect maximum rates of sea-level rise and define maximum flooding surfaces. Highstand systems tract deposits are progradational. Early highstand systems tracts are represented by TDS and probably WDS depositional systems on the platforms and suspension mudstone deposits in the trough and reflect decreasing rates of sea-level rise. Later highstand systems tracts consist of the progradational SDS depositional system in the trough and, possibly, thin continental facies on the platforms. This stage of sequence development is related to slow rates of sea-level rise, stillstand and slow rates of fall. Lowstand deposits of shelf-margin systems tracts are not recognized but may be represented by shoreface deposits at the top of progradational SDS parasequence sets.     

Correlations between Holocene flood tidal delta and barrier island inlet fill sequences: Back Sound-Shackleford Banks, North Carolina

Large, well-developed flood tidal deltas on a barrier island coastline generally indicate a wave-dominated, microtidal sedimentary regime. Vibracores in a lagoon behind the barrier island Shackleford Banks, North Carolina contain an upward fining sequence of coarse-medium, very shelly sand, medium-fine laminated sand, fine-very fine cross-laminated sand and marsh mud. This sequence is interpreted as being a flood tidal delta deposit based on analogy with modern flood tidal delta sediments and represents lagoonal deposition in response to a migrating or closing inlet. The sand facies defined in lagoonal vibracores is found to be continuous beneath a lagoonal marsh and correlative with inlet sections identified in Shackleford Banks drill holes. The correlation of flood tidal delta deposits with inlet sequences in this microtidal environment indicates a close relationship between barrier and backbarrier inlet controlled sedimentation.     

Sedimentary response to Late Quaternary sea-level changes in the Romagna coastal plain (northern Italy)

Data from 17 continuously cored boreholes, 40–170 m deep, reveal the subsurface stratigraphy of the Romagna coastal plain. Sedimentological and microfaunal data allow the distinction of eight facies associations of Late Pleistocene–Holocene age, including 18 lithofacies and 16 faunal associations. Ten ¹⁴C dates provide the basis to establish a sequence stratigraphic framework for the succession corresponding to the upper part 35 ky BP of the last glacio-eustatic cycle. The eight facies associations can be grouped into lowstand, transgressive and highstand systems tracts. The upper part of the lowstand systems tract consists of alluvial plain deposits. These accumulated during the Late Pleistocene when the shoreline was ≈250 km south of its present-day position. A pronounced stratigraphic hiatus (between 25 and 8·8 ky BP) is invariably recorded at the upper boundary (transgressive surface) of these Pleistocene, indurated and locally pedogenized alluvial deposits. The succeeding postglacial history is represented by a well developed transgressive–regressive cycle. Transgressive deposits, interpreted to reflect the rapid landward migration of a barrier–lagoon system, include two wedge-shaped, paralic and marine units. These thicken in opposite directions and are separated by a ravinement surface. Above the transgressive deposits, the maximum flooding surface (MFS) marks the change from a transgressive barrier–lagoon complex to a prograding, wave-dominated delta system (early Po delta). The MFS can be traced landwards, where it constitutes the base of lagoonal deposits. An aggradational to progradational stacking pattern of upper delta plain (marsh), lower delta plain (lagoon/bay), and delta front (beach ridge) deposits reflects the progressive increase in the sediment supply/accommodation ratio during the following highstand. The alluvial deposits capping the sequence accumulated by the 13th century AD, in response to an avulsion event that caused abandonment of the former Po delta lobe and the northward migration of the Po River towards its present position.     

Transgressive facies in the South Munster Basin, Ireland

This paper describes the sedimentation style associated with the basal Carboniferous transgression in southern Ireland and the influence which this event had on the palaeogeography of the region. The transgression as marked by the base of the Carboniferous succession is shown to represent one of several genetically related transgressive pulses which commenced during the Late Devonian. At this time an east-west trending graben, the South Munster Basin, developed in southern Ireland. This was initially a non-marine depositional site in which sediment was derived from the north and west. Subsidence and eustatic sea-level rise resulted in a marine transgression which proceeded in a rhythmic style resulting in a number of transgressive-stillstand pulses. The first transgressive pulse (T1) advanced in a westerly direction along the basin axis resulting in the development of an epicontinental-like sea. The shoreline remained essentially static along the northern basin margin initially until a second transgressive pulse (T2) resulted in expansion of the marine area. The latter proceeded by gradual northward erosive advance of a barred coastal area as far as the northern basin margin where the stability of the bounding platform halted its progress. Erosion of the barrier shoreface was insufficient to destroy all the backbarrier lagoonal deposits which are preserved as a thin transgressive diachronous unit which grades northwards to a coastal alluvial plain. Immediately preceding the basal Carboniferous transgression (T3), a shallow, wave-dominated, storm-influenced shelf sea occupied the basinal area. Two sublittoral sand bar complexes developed on the shelf under the influence of shore-parallel current regimes, apparently derived from source areas located on either side of the epicontinental sea The basal Carboniferous transgression took place in two pulses. The first (T3a) resulted in a rapid reduction in sand supply to the shelf and deposition of clay. The barrier shoreline responded by erosively retreating across the lagoon, leaving a transgressive lag in its wake. Its northwards advance was, however, limited due to the relative stability of the northern platform. Sand supply to the shelf was completely terminated in the second pulse (T3b) and the barrier rapidly migrated erosively across the northern platform for a considerable distance such that the coastal plain is overlain by a thin transgressive lag. This transgressive phase was immediately followed by shoreline stillstand and progressive shallowing of the shelf. An open sandy shelf developed on which offshore sand bars accumulated under a storm and wave dominated regime. Clay deposition continued in the deeper part of the basinal area but was eventually terminated as the shelf sands prograded centripetally into the basin. The main factor that controlled the style of the overall transgression was an interplay between eustatic sea level rise and basin subsidence. The rate of relative sea-level rise together with the effect of differential subsidence and fluvial input from the north appear to have diminished with time. The rate at which successive transgressive pulses advanced northwards shows an overall progressive increase.     

From river to shelf,anatomy of a high‐frequency depositional sequence: The Late Pleistocene to Holocene Tiber depositional sequence

The Late Pleistocene/Holocene Tiber delta succession represents the most recent and one of the best preserved, high‐frequency/low‐rank depositional sequences developed along the Latium continental margin of the Italian peninsula. Several previous studies have established a robust data set from which it has been possible to describe the stratigraphic architecture of the entire Tiber depositional sequence from the landward to seaward sectors and over a distance of 60 km. The Tiber depositional sequence shows many characteristics found in other Late Pleistocene to Holocene deltaic and coastal successions of the Mediterranean area. The stratigraphic architecture of the Tiber depositional sequence is controlled mainly by glacioeustasy, although factors such as tectonic uplift, volcanism and subsidence, exert an influence at a local scale. The resulting depositional model allowed discussion of some important points such as: (1) the genesis of the Tiber mixed bedrock‐alluvial valley, extending from the coastal plain to the innermost portion of the shelf, recording (i) multiple episodes of incision during relative sea‐level fall, and (ii) a downstream increase of depth and width of the valley during the base‐level fall and the subsequent base‐level rise; (2) the different physical expression of the Tiber depositional sequence boundary from landward to seaward, and its diachronous and composite character; (3) the maximum depth reached by the Tiber early lowstand delta at the end of the sea‐level fall is estimated at ca 90 m below the present sea‐level and not at 120 m as suggested by previous works; (4) the backward position of the Tiber late lowstand delta relative to the deposit of early lowstand; (5) the change of the channel pattern and of the stacking pattern of fluvial deposits within the Lowstand Systems Tract, Transgressive Systems Tract and Highstand Systems Tract. All of these features indicate that the Late Pleistocene/Holocene Tiber delta succession, even if deposited in a short period of time from a geological point of view, represents the result of the close interaction among many autogenic and allogenic factors. However, global eustatic variations and sediment supply under the control of climatic changes can be considered the main factors responsible for the stratigraphic architecture of this sedimentary succession, which has been heavily modified by human activity only in the last 3000 years.     

Depositional facies and the sequence stratigraphic control of a mixed-process influenced clastic wedge in the Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway: The Gallup System,New Mexico,USA

Depositional facies have been hypothesized to be linked to sequence stratigraphic positions. Also, shoreline systems are built by mixed processes, including rivers, storms, fair-weather waves and tides. Resolving the complexity of shoreline deposition requires detailed quantitative facies analysis with particular attention to heterolithic successions. In this study, 71 sections in a 130 km long outcrop belt of the Cretaceous Gallup Formation in the north-west of the San Juan Basin were measured. Five major facies associations were identified using sedimentological and iconological interpretations, including offshore shelf, non-deltaic shoreline sandstones, deltas, coastal bayline and fluvial. Each facies association also comprises subordinate facies. Depositional facies interpretations are placed in a high-resolution sequence stratigraphic framework that allows for reconstructions of the palaeogeography of individual parasequence sets that demonstrate temporal and spatial evolution of facies associations and depositional processes. The results show that the Gallup is a mixed-process-controlled depositional system with fair-weather and storm-wave dominance, river influence and tide-effect, contrasting with previous interpretations of a solely fair-weather wave-dominated environment. Depositional processes and the resultant facies change with sequence stratigraphic positions in response to relative sea-level changes – particular facies are only deposited in certain systems tracts. Distinction and transition between non-deltaic shorefaces and wave-dominated deltas have also been documented in this study. Non-deltaic shorefaces are characterized by homogeneous sandstones with a wide-range bioturbation index and the absence of mudstones. Wave-dominated deltas are subject to river influence and contain prodelta facies. This study shows the importance of detailed facies analysis with high-resolution sequence stratigraphic control using outcrops for documenting sedimentary processes of shallow marine shoreline systems.     

Late-Quaternary paleoenvironmental evolution of Lesina lagoon (southern Italy) from subsurface data

Integrated sedimentological and micropaleontological (foraminifers and ostracods) analyses of two 55 m long borehole cores (S3 and S4) drilled in the subsurface of Lesina lagoon (Gargano promontory—Italy) has yielded a facies distribution characteristic of alluvial, coastal and shallow-marine sediments. Stratigraphic correlation between the two cores, based on strong similarity in facies distribution and AMS radiocarbon dates, indicates a Late Pleistocene to Holocene age of the sedimentary succession.Two main depositional sequences were deposited during the last 60-ky. These sequences display poor preservation of lowstand deposits and record two major transgressive pulses and subsequent sea-level highstands. The older sequence, unconformably overlying a pedogenized alluvial unit, consists of paralic and marine units (dated by AMS radiocarbon at about 45–50,000 years BP) that represent the landward migration of a barrier-lagoon system. These units are separated by a ravinement surface (RS1). Above these tansgressive deposits, highstand deposition is characterised by progradation of the coastal sediments.The younger sequence, overlying an unconformity of tectonic origin, is a 10 m-thick sedimentary body, consisting of fluvial channel sediments overlain by transgressive–regressive deposits of Holocene age. A ravinement surface (RS2), truncating the transgressive (lagoonal and back-barrier) deposits in core S4, indicates shoreface retreat and landward migration of the barrier/lagoon system. The overlying beach, lagoon and alluvial deposits are the result of mid-Holocene highstand sedimentation and coastal progradation.     

Barrier-island genesis: evidence from the central atlantic shelf,eastern U.S.A.

Since most barrier systems appear to have retreated into their present positions from further out on the continental shelf, the continental shelf is a logical place in which to investigate barrier genesis. The Middle Atlantic Bight of North America, one of the best known shelf sectors, does not appear to contain any drowned barriers. Instead, a series of terraces bear on their surfaces a discontinuous carpet of lagoonal sediments beneath a discontinuous sand sheet formed by erosional barrier retreat. Scarps separating terraces are the lower shorefaces of stillstand barriers whose superstructures were destroyed when shoreface retreat resumed. Thus the “origin” of most barriers is that they have retreated in from the position of their immediate predecessors. Barrier genesis, in the classic sense of large-scale, coastwise spit progradation or mainland-beach detachment, could only have occurred at Late Wisconsin lowstand, when the sense of sea-level displacement was reversed. The relative roles of coastwise spit progradation and mainland-beach detachment depend on coastal relief and slope, with steep, rugged coasts favoring spit progradation at the expense of mainland-beach detachment. Since most major barrier systems form on flat coastal plains, it would appear that mainland-beach detachment is the more important mode of barrier formation.During stillstands or periods of reduction in the rate of sea-level rise, coasts can more nearly approach their climax configuration, in which the shoreline is relatively straight, and the shoreface is well developed and of maximum possible slope. Coastal adjustments during such periods may require localized mainland-beach detachment and coastwise spit progradation, in order to attain such a configuration.     

Wave-influenced deltas: geomorphological implications for facies reconstruction

ABSTRACT A process‐based facies model for asymmetric wave‐influenced deltas predicts significant river‐borne muds with potentially lower quality reservoir facies in prodelta and downdrift areas, and better quality sand in updrift areas. Many ancient barrier‐lagoon systems and ‘offshore bars’ may be better reinterpreted as components of large‐scale asymmetric wave‐influenced deltaic systems. The proposed model is based on a re‐evaluation of several modern examples. An asymmetry index A is defined as the ratio between the net longshore transport rate at the mouth (in m³ year^?1) and river discharge (in 10⁶ m³ month^?1). Symmetry is favoured in deltas with an index below ≈ 200 (e.g. Tiber, lobes of the Godavari delta, Rosetta lobe of the Nile, Ebro), whereas deltas with a higher index are asymmetric (e.g. Danube – Sf. Gheorghe lobe, Brazos, Damietta lobe of the Nile). Periodic deflection of the river mouth for significant distances in the downdrift direction occurs in extreme cases of littoral drift dominance (e.g. Mahanadi), resulting in a series of randomly distributed, quasi‐parallel series of sand spits and channel fills. Asymmetric deltas show variable proportions of river‐, wave‐ and tide‐dominated facies both among and within their lobes. Bayhead deltas, lagoons and barrier islands form naturally in prograding asymmetric deltas and are not necessarily associated with transgressive systems. This complexity underlines the necessity of interpreting ancient depositional systems in a larger palaeogeographic context.     

Initiation of the Mekong River delta at 8 ka: evidence from the sedimentary succession in the Cambodian lowland

Modern deltas are understood to have initiated around 7.5–9 ka in response to the deceleration of sea-level rise. This episode of delta initiation is closely related to the last deglacial meltwater events and eustatic sea-level rises. The initial stage of the Mekong River delta, one of the world's largest deltas, is well recorded in Cambodian lowland sediments. This paper integrates analyses of sedimentary facies, diatom assemblages, and radiocarbon dates for three drill cores from the lowland to demonstrate Holocene sedimentary evolution in relation to sea-level changes. The cores are characterized by a tripartite succession: (1) aggrading flood plain to natural levee and tidal–fluvial channel during the postglacial sea-level rise (10–8.4 ka); (2) aggrading to prograding tidal flats and mangrove forests around and after the maximum flooding of the sea (8.4–6.3 ka); and (3) a prograding fluvial system on the delta plain (6.3 ka to the present). The maximum flooding of the sea occurred at 8.0 ± 0.1 ka, 2000 years before the mid-Holocene sea-level highstand, and tidal flats penetrated up to 20–50 km southeast of Phnom Penh after a period of abrupt ～5 m sea-level rise at 8.5–8.4 ka. The delta progradation then initiated as a result of the sea-level stillstand at around 8–7.5 ka. Another rapid sea-level rise at 7.5–7 ka allowed thick mangrove peat to be widely deposited in the Cambodian lowland, and the peat accumulation endured until 6.3 ka. Since 6.3 ka, a fluvial system has characterized the delta plain, and the fluvial sediment discharge has contributed to rapid delta progradation. The uppermost part of the sedimentary succession, composed of flood plain to natural-levee sediments, reveals a sudden increase in sediment accumulation over the past 600–1000 years. This increase might reflect an increase in the sediment yield due to human activities in the upper to middle reaches of the Mekong, as with other Asian rivers.     

Paralic parasequences associated with Eocene sea-level oscillations in an active margin setting: Trihueco Formation of the Arauco Basin, Chile

The Eocene Trihueco Formation is one of the best exposed successions of the Arauco Basin in Chile. It represents a period of marine regression and transgression of second-order duration, during which barrier island complexes developed on a muddy shelf. The strata are arranged in classical shoaling-upward parasequences of shoreface and beach facies capped by coal-bearing, back-barrier lagoon deposits. These fourth-order cycles are superimposed upon third-order cycles which caused landward and seaward shifts of the coastal facies belts. The final, punctuated rise in sea level is represented by shelf mudrocks with transgressive incised shoreface sandstones. Relative sea-level oscillations as revealed in the stratigraphy of the Trihueco Formation show a reasonable correlation with published Eocene eustatic curves.     

Sediment distribution and evolution of tidal deltas along a tide-dominated shoreline, Wachapreague, Virginia

Borings from the barrier island/lagoon system of the Eastern Shore of Virginia penetrated an unconformity which separates Pleistocene barrier island and offshore marine sediments from the overlying Holocene tidal delta and barrier island sediments. Offshore marine sediments and deposits within the flood-tidal delta (marsh, tidal flat-bay, inlet-mouth bar complex) are recognized on the basis of sediment color, composition, grain-size changes in the vertical sequence, presence of organic matter, and faunal suite. Subsurface data, historical records, and morphology of lateral accretion on barrier islands suggest that major inlets in the vicinity of Wachapreague have been relatively stable throughout Holocene time; they appear to be located where Pleistocene stream valleys previously existed. Holocene barrier islands apparently developed on drainage divide areas following post-Wisconsin transgression of the sea.

The initial phase of tidal delta development was characterized by vertically accreting, fan-shaped, inlet-mouth bars; tidal channels stabilized after bar crests had shoaled sufficiently for marsh to form. With landward progradation across the lagoon, sand-rich deposits graded laterally away from the inlets and vertically into clayey sand and silty clay of the tidal flat-bay and marsh environments.

Ebb inlet-mouth bars developed asymmetrically southward in response to littoral drift. Flood tidal deltas also built preferentially toward the south as indicated by: (1) sand distribution of the inlet-mouth bar complex; and (2) greater development of marsh south of the inlets.     

Fan-Delta,Braid Delta and the Classification of Delta Systems

This paper mainly discusses the origin and deposhional features of fan-deltas and braid deltas. Fan-del-tas are storm discharge-dominated, while braid deltas are usually flashy flood-dominated. The two types ofdelta, like common deltas, were reworked by marine processes. Delta systems are classified into nine deltatypes on the basis of the subaerial depositional processes and the nature of marine reworking. Fan-deltas and braid deltas are of great significance for petroleum exploration. In divergent-marginforeland and intraplate rift-subsided basin settings fan-deltas often form combination traps for petroleum ac-cumulation.     

Sediment density flow distribution on wave-influenced deltas

Deltas are at the transition between fluvial and marine sedimentary environments where sediment density flows are often triggered during high river discharge events, forming submarine channels and sediment waves. On wave-influenced deltas, longshore currents are particularly efficient at transporting sediment alongshore, reducing the likelihood of sediment density flows from occurring at river mouths. This study describes four deltaic sedimentary systems at different stages of their evolution on a formerly glaciated continental inner shelf of eastern Canada in order to better understand the distribution of sediment density flows on wave-influenced deltas. Three types of settings are recognized as being prone to sediment density flows: (i) in the early stages of wave-influence and on large deltas, converging longshore currents can lead to offshelf sediment transport; (ii) on wave-influenced to wave-dominated deltas, a sandy spit can re-route the river mouth and sediment density flows form where the spit intersects the delta lip; (iii) in advanced stages of wave-dominated deltas and during their demise, rocky headlands are exposed and can intersect the slope, where off-shelf sediment transport occurs. These types of sediment density flows were all characterized by debris flows or surge-type turbidity currents which have limited offshore run-out. More rarely, hyperpycnal flows form at the river mouths, especially where the river incises glaciomarine clays prone to landsliding in the river, which increases fine-grained fluvial suspended sediment concentration. Overall, these results highlight the predominance of fluvial-dominated deltas during a phase of relative sea-level fall combined with high sediment supply. However, as soon as sediment supply diminishes, wave action remobilizes sediment alongshore modifying the distribution and types of sediment density flows occurring on wave-influenced deltas.     

Reef geometries, erosion surfaces and high-frequency sea-level changes, upper Miocene Reef Complex, Mallorca, Spain

The upper Miocene Reef Complex of Mallorca is a 20-km prograding unit which crops out in sea cliffs along the southern side of the island. These vertical and exceptionally clean outcrops permit: (i) identification of different facies (lagoon, reef front, reef slope and open platform) and their geometries and boundaries at different scales, ranging from metre to kilometre, and (ii) construction of a 6-km-long high-resolution cross-section in the direction of reef progradation. This cross-section shows vertical shifts of the reefal facies and erosion surfaces linked to a general progradational pattern that defines the accretional units. Four hierarchical orders of magnitude (1-M to 4-M) of accretional units are identified by consideration of the vertical facies shifts and by which erosion surfaces are truncated by other erosion surfaces. All these orders show similar patterns: horizontal beds of lagoonal facies in the upper part (landward), reefal and slope facies with sigmoidal bedding in the central part, and open-platform facies with subhorizontal bedding in the lower part (basinwards). The boundaries are erosion surfaces, horizontal over the lagoon facies, dipping basinwards over the reef-front facies and connecting basinwards with their correlative conformities over the reef-slope and open-platform facies. The four orders of accretional units are interpreted in terms of four (1-M to 4-M) hierarchies of sea-level cycles because (i) there is a close relation between the coral growth and the sea surface, (ii) there are vertical shifts in the reefal facies and their relation to the erosion surfaces, and (iii) there was very little tectonic subsidence in the study area during the late Miocene. Additionally, all these units can be described in terms of their position relative to the sea-level cycle: (i) the reefs prograde on the open-platform sediments during low stands of sea-level; (ii) aggradation of the lagoon, reef and open-platform facies dominates during sea-level rises, and the lagoonal beds onlap landwards upon the previous erosion surface; (iii) reefal progradation occurs during high stands of sea-level; and (iv) the 2-M sea-level fall produces an off-lapping reef and there is progradation with downward shifts of the reefal facies and erosion landward on the emerged (older) reefal units (A-erosion surfaces); the 3-M and 4-M sea-level falls produce only erosion (B-and C-erosion surfaces). Although precise age data do not exist at present, some speculations upon the frequency of these Miocene relative sea-level cycles can be made by comparisons with Pleistocene cyclicity. There is a good correlation between the Miocene 2-M cycles and the 100-ka Pleistocene cycles. Consequently, the 1-M cycles can be assigned to a fourth order in relation to previously proposed global cycles and the 2-M to fifth-order cycles. All these accretional units could be defined as ‘sequences’, according to the definition as commonly used in sequence stratigraphy. However, they represent higher than third-order sea-level cycles, but are not parasequences. The term subsequence, therefore, is suggested to define ‘a part of a sequence bounded by erosion surfaces (mostly subaerial) and their correlative conformities basinwards'. A hierarchy of subsequences can be established.     

潮汕地区全新世障壁海岸三角洲沉积演化与砂体展布

全新世我国华南沿海广泛发育障壁海岸,此环境下发育独特的障壁海岸三角洲沉积.基于对潮汕地区的现代地质考察,并总结前人的研究认识,得出该地区韩江三角洲形成演化的主要控制因素为海平面变化、障壁-潟湖体系、河流搬运能力;明确了不同时期三角洲演化的特征及砂体的展布规律;然后,结合螺河三角洲和万宁小海的发育特点,划分出障壁海岸三角洲演化的三大阶段,即形成期:障壁-潟湖体系形成,潟湖内开始形成三角洲;发展期:潟湖内水体稳定,三角洲前积较快,障壁沙坝向海迁移;改造期:潟湖逐渐消失,沉积物开始在障壁沙坝外侧沉积,三角洲向海推进;最后,建立了潮汕地区早期潟湖内河流作用为主、后期障壁外多种动力共同作用下的障壁海岸三角洲的沉积模式.     

Late Holocene to Recent aragonite-cemented transgressive lag deposits in the Abu Dhabi lagoon and intertidal sabkha

Modern cemented intervals (beachrock, firmgrounds to hardgrounds and concretionary layers) form in the lagoon and intertidal sabkha of Abu Dhabi. Seafloor lithification actively occurs in open, current-swept channels in low-lying areas between ooid shoals, in the intertidal zone of the middle lagoon, some centimetres beneath the inner lagoonal seafloor (i.e. within the sediment column) and at the sediment surface the intertidal sabkha. The concept of ‘concretionary sub-hardgrounds’, i.e. laminar cementation of sediments formed within the sediment column beneath the shallow redox boundary, is introduced and discussed. Based on calibrated radiocarbon ages, seafloor lithification commenced during the Middle to Late Holocene (ca 9000 cal yr bp ), and proceeds to the present-day. Lithification occurs in the context of the actualistic relative sea-level rise shifting the coastline landward across the extremely low-angle carbonate ramp. The cemented intervals are interpreted as parasequence boundaries in the sense of ‘marine flooding surfaces’, but in most cases the sedimentary cover overlying the transgressive surface has not yet been deposited. Aragonite, (micritic) calcite and, less commonly, gypsum cements lithify the firmground/hardground intervals. Cements are described and placed into context with their depositional and marine diagenetic environments and characterized by means of scanning electron microscope petrography, cathodoluminescence microscopy and Raman spectroscopy. The morphology of aragonitic cements changes from needle-shaped forms in lithified decapod burrows of the outer lagoon ooidal shoals to complex columnar, lath and platy crystals in the inner lagoon. Precipitation experiments provide first tentative evidence for the parameters that induce changes in aragonite cement morphology. Data shown here shed light on ancient, formerly aragonite-cemented seafloors, now altered to diagenetic calcites, but also document the complexity of highly dynamic near coastal depositional environments.     

Sedimentation in a fluvially infilling, barrier-bound estuary on a wave-dominated, microtidal coast: the Ouémé River estuary, Benin, west Africa

The Ouémé River estuary is located on the seasonally humid tropical coast of Benin, west Africa. A striking feature of this microtidal estuary is the presence of a large sand barrier bounding a 120 km² circular central basin, Lake Nokoué, that is being infilled by heterogeneous fluvial deposits supplied by a relatively large catchment (50 000 km²). Borehole cores from the lower estuary show basal Pleistocene lowstand alluvial sediments overlain by Holocene transgressive–highstand lagoonal mud and by transgressive to probably early highstand tidal inlet and flood‐tidal delta sand deposited in association with non‐preserved transgressive sand barriers. The change in estuary‐mouth sedimentation from a transgressive barrier‐inlet system to a regressive highstand barrier reflects regional modifications in marine sand supply and in the cross‐barrier tidal flux associated with barrier‐inlet systems. As barrier formation west of the Ouémé River led to an increasingly rectilinear shoreline, the longshore drift cell matured, ensuring voluminous eastward transport of sand from the Volta Delta in Ghana, the major purveyor of sand, to the Ouémé embayment, 200 km east. Concomitantly, the number of tidal inlets, and the tidal flux associated with a hitherto interlinked lagoonal system on this coast, diminished. Complete sealing of Lake Nokoué has produced a large, permanently closed estuary, where tidal intrusion is assured through the interconnected coastal lagoon via an inlet located 60 km east. Since 1885, tides have entered the estuary directly through an artificial outlet cut across the sand barrier. Although precluding the seaward loss of fluvial sediments, permanent estuary‐mouth closure has especially deprived the highstand estuary of marine sand, a potentially important component in estuarine infill on wave‐dominated coasts. In spite of a significant fluvial sediment supply, estuarine infill has been moderate, because of the size of the central basin. Estuarine closure has resulted in two co‐existing highstand sediment suites, with limited admixture, the marine‐derived, estuary‐mouth barrier and upland‐derived back‐barrier sediments. This situation differs from that of mature barrier estuaries characterized by active fluvial‐marine sediment mixing and facies interfingering.