Quaternary Moraines vs Catastrophic Rock Avalanches in the Karakoram Himalaya, Northern Pakistan

A history and conception of glacial events for the central Karakoram Himalaya, proposed some 80 years ago by Giotto Dainelli, are largely accepted today. However, certain deposits identified as terminal moraine complexes marking glacial episodes were actually emplaced by rock avalanches. In the Skardu and Shigar intermontane basins of Baltistan, at least 15 rock avalanche events were previously mapped as moraine or till. Criteria used for distinguishing these catastrophic landslide deposits emphasize homogeneous lithology of rubble and matrix, clast shape, facies characteristics, the large scale unity of emplacement, and morphological relations to valley topography. The deposits of three events, at Katzarah, Satpura, and the north end of Shigar Valley, have been reconstructed in detail. Thick supraglacial debris does not result in similar deposits. Extensive valley fills, river terraces, large sediment fans, and lacustrine sediments formerly attributed to late-glacial conditions are reinterpreted as postglacial events involving rock avalanches that interrupted fluvial development. Existing reconstructions of glaciations are left in doubt, especially late-glacial events in the central Karakoram, as are the roles assigned to Karakoram, main Indus Valley, and western Himalayan ice.     

岷江叠溪古堰塞湖沉积物中孢粉特征

对岷江上游叠溪古堰塞湖200余米厚的堰塞湖相沉积物进行了大量采样测试分析.主要对湖相沉积物中的孢粉和沉积年代进行了测试.通过测试获得了古堰塞湖沉积物的沉积时间和气候环境特征.古堰塞湖沉积物底部形成时间约3.0万年, 靠近顶部形成时间约为1.5万年前.孢粉测试结果显示, 古堰塞湖沉积物沉积剖面可划分为9个气候环境段: (1)温凉半湿润的针阔叶混交森林草原气候环境; (2)寒冷干旱的针叶森林草原气候环境; (3)温凉半干旱的针、阔叶混交疏林草原气候环境; (4)温暖湿润的针、阔叶混交森林草原气候环境; (5)凉半干的针、阔叶混交疏林草原气候环境; (6)温湿的针叶疏林草原气候环境; (7)温凉半干旱的针阔叶混交疏林草原气候环境; (8)凉半湿润的森林草原气候环境; (9)冷干的疏林草原气候环境.研究成果揭示了青藏高原东部边缘至四川盆地过渡带3.0~1.5万年间的古气候古环境演化特征, 为区域环境研究提供了宝贵的资料.      

Deltaic sedimentation in the Lake Hazar pull-apart basin, south-eastern Turkey

Lake Hazar lies within a small pull-apart basin along the East Anatolian Transform Fault in south-eastern Turkey. Deltas are formed where streams debouch into the low-energy lacustrine environment. The facies constituting the deltas include delta plain debris flow, braided stream, and marginal lacustrine deposits; delta front foreset and mouth bar deposits; prodelta and lacustrine deposits. The facies are spatially restricted with sharp transitions. Facies sequences and relationships indicate two distinct styles of deltaic sedimentation. Fan deltas with a tripartite structure characteristic of Gilbert-type deltas comprise the marginal drainage system and form along the basin margins. Mouth bar deltas develop where the axial drainage system of the basin debouches into the lake. The distribution of the two deltaic types is thought to be a function of gradient and controlled by position relative to faults within the basin.     

青海巴颜喀拉山北麓古高位湖相沉积的分布与特征

巴颜喀拉山北麓地区古湖岸线分布广泛,湖相沉积与湖成地貌发育。目前,在扎陵湖和鄂陵湖沿岸可清晰地划分出4级湖岸阶地、多级湖相沉积和古高位湖相沉积。古高位湖相沉积出露的最高海拔为4615m,分别高出现代扎陵湖水面328m、鄂陵湖水面346m;在扎陵湖和鄂陵湖谷地分布着多级湖岸堆积阶地或基座阶地、多级湖相沉积和古高位湖相沉积;在小野马岭、大野马岭、扎陵湖北等地的基岩山丘上,也发育有多级湖相沉积和古高位湖相沉积,其古高位湖相沉积高出现代扎陵湖和鄂陵湖湖面50～350m。巴颜喀拉山北麓古高位湖相沉积的形成时代可能为中更新世。     

Glacier-dammed lake in Southeastern Tibetan Plateau during the Last Glacial Maximum

Lacustrine, alluvial terraces and sediments record at least one Holocene glacially dammed lake in Songzong Basin immediately upstream of the Purlung TsangpoRiver, a main tributary of the downstream of Yarlung Tsangpo River, at the northeastern syntaxis of the Himalaya. The lacustrine deposit is more than 88 meters thick at the SongzongLandslide. There is an 18.33 meters thick layer of lacustrine silt within the lacustrine terrace. The Optical Simulated Luminescence (OSL) ages at the bottom and top of the lacustrine silt layerare 22.5±3.3ka B.P., and 16.1±1.7ka B.P., respectively, which indicates that the lacustrine deposits were formed during the Last Glacial Maximum ranging from 25kaB.P. to 15kaB.P.The ancient shorelines and the lake erosion zone confirm the preexistence of Songzong Lake. There are also terraces formed by moraines in the Songzong Basin. The high and large moraineterrace seen near the mouth of the Dongqu Valley is very prominent. The special characteristics of thelacustrine sediment and the ancient lake line in the Songzong Basin indicate that the lacustrinesediments are related to the blocking of the Purlung Tsangpo River by a glacier from DongquValley during Last Glacial Maximum.     

Tectonics induced switching of provenance during the Late Quaternary aggradation of the Indus River Valley,Ladakh, India

The Indus River flows through Ladakh, one of the driest and coldest places on earth, in a tectonically active domain. Fluvial, glaciofluvial, lacustrine and debris dominated sequences represent the Late Quaternary sedimentary record along the river course. Karakoram Fault, a major crustal scaled feature reported to be active during the Quaternary, is associated with the Indus River drainage. Linkages between a major, active fault and deposits formed during the activity period of the fault are explored using heavy mineral deduced provenance and Optically Stimulated Luminescence(OSL) chronology.Five deposits in a ~200 km long stretch of the Indus River have been examined for a ~80 ka period to decipher the climate linked aggradation history. Damming of the Indus River at ~79 ka and existence of the Spituk Lake for >30 ka is demonstrated. Using geology of the provenance in relation to the mineralogical attributes of the Quaternary deposits, the major drainage reorganization when the connection of the Tangtse Valley to the Indus was blocked, is inferred at ~73 ka. It is supported by the geologicalgeomorphological evidence. The study demonstrates the application of provenance linked mineralogy in terrestrial aggradation in a tectonically active region.     

Late quaternary sediments in Lake Zürich,Switzerland

Lake Zürich occupies a glacially overdeepened perialpine trough in the northern Middlelands of Switzerland. A total of 154.4 m of Quaternary sediments and 47.3 m of Tertiary Molasse bedrock has been cored from the deepest part of the lake, some 10 km south of the city of Zürich. Some 16.8 m of gravels and sands directly overlying the bedrock include basal till and probably earliest subglacial fluvial and lacustrine deposits. These are overlain by 98.6 m of fine-grained, glacial-aged sediments comprising completely deformed proglacial and/or subglacial lacustrine muds, separated by four basal mud tills. The lack of interglacial sediments, fossils, and other datable material, and the presence of severe sediment deformation and unknown amounts of erosion prevent the establishment of an exact chronostratigraphy for sediments older than the upper mud till. Above it some 8.6 m of lacustrine muds were deposited, folded, faulted, and tilted during the final opening of the lake at about 17,500–17,000 years ago. Superimposed are 30.4 m of final Würm and post-glacial sediments comprising (from oldest): cyclic proglacial mud, thick-bedded and laminated mud, a complex transition zone, laminated carbonate, laminated marl, and diatom-calcite varves. These sediments reflect changing catchment and lacustrine conditions including: glacial proximity, catchment stability, lake inflow characteristics, thermal structure, chemistry, and bed stability. Average sedimentation rates ranged from 11 cm yr⁻¹ immediately after glacier withdrawal, to as low as 0.4 mm yr⁻¹ as the environment stabilized. The lack of coarse outwash deposits separating the fine-grained glaciolacustrine sediments from a corresponding underlying basal till suggests that deglaciation of the deep northern basin of Lake Zürich was by stagnation-zone retreat rather than by retreat of an active ice-front.     

川西杂谷脑“冰碛物”中软沉积物变形构造的成因

对四川理县杂谷脑“冰碛物”的地层结构进行了观察,对河湖相地层中的软沉积物变形构造进行了分析。综合研究表明,所谓杂谷脑晚更新世“冰碛物”是由泥石流、崩滑塌堆积物、堰塞湖沉积和河流相砂砾石层构成的多成因“混杂”堆积,湖相地层中发育的强烈褶皱和断裂是河岸陡壁岩石崩塌滑落导致古堰塞湖沉积物发生软沉积变形的结果。软沉积变形构造包括卷曲构造、液化泥块、阶梯状微断裂、球枕构造、火焰构造、落石沉陷构造、环状构造、同生断层和大型褶曲等。一次崩滑塌事件的典型沉积层序由崩塌体、不规则接触面和下伏的河湖相变形地层所组成。沿杂谷脑河上游发现的一系列大型崩塌褶曲构造以及伴生的多种典型的液化变形构造,指示可能是地震活动触发了群发性的崩塌、滑坡灾害事件。     

金沙江上游特米古滑坡堰塞湖形成与溃决时间讨论

开展古滑坡堰塞湖形成演化过程研究,可以揭示古灾害地质环境效应,重建区域构造历史活动序列和古气候演变特征。特米古滑坡发育于金沙江上游巴塘段,滑坡堆积地貌和堰塞湖相沉积物保存较好,是研究区内古地质环境的良好载体。在遥感解译、无人机测绘、现场调查和地质测年的基础上,结合前人研究成果,分析探讨了特米古滑坡发育特征、堰塞湖形成时间与溃决演化过程。结果表明,特米古滑坡是特大型岩质历史堵江滑坡,滑坡堰塞湖实际形成时间应该远早于2.15 ka BP,历史上曾发生过多次溃决,完全溃决时间大约为1.08 ka BP,堰塞湖稳定保存时间大于1.07 ka。金沙江巴塘段大型堵江滑坡群并非由单次地质事件形成,而是由金沙江断裂带多次强烈地震诱发。     

Discovery of Upper Oligocene–Lower Miocene brown coal deposits (Kosh-Agach formation) in the Dzhazator River valley (Southeastern Russian Altai): Neotectonic and paleogeographical aspects

Results of complex paleontological and geochemical analysis are reported for a new locality of the Upper Oligocene–Lower Miocene Kosh-Agach carbonaceous formation in the Dzhazator River valley. This find specifies the scales of lacustrine–marsh sedimentation at the end of the Paleogene and beginning of the Neogene, as well as the character and amplitude of post-Neogene neotectonic movements in the southeastern highest mountain part of Russian Altai. Systematic rejuvenation of the radiocarbon age of the sequences studied, which has been established for the first time in Altai, is related to influx of young carbon during the subsequent complex geological history. This fact is of great importance for deciphering the chronology of Pleistocene glacial–dammed lakes in the intermontane basins of Altai and Tuva, the erosion zone of which spanned exhumed Tertiary deposits.     

金沙江上游特米古滑坡堰塞湖形成与溃决时间讨论

开展古滑坡堰塞湖形成演化过程研究,可以揭示古灾害地质环境效应,重建区域构造历史活动序列和古气候演变特征.特米古滑坡发育于金沙江上游巴塘段,滑坡堆积地貌和堰塞湖相沉积物保存较好,是研究区内古地质环境的良好载体.在遥感解译、无人机测绘、现场调查和地质测年的基础上,结合前人研究成果,分析探讨了特米古滑坡发育特征、堰塞湖形成时...     

Stream-dominated alluvial fan and lacustrine depositional systems in Cenozoic strike-slip basins, Denali fault system, Yukon Territory, Canada

Ancient stream-dominated (‘wet’) alluvial fan deposits have received far less attention in the literature than their arid/semi-arid counterparts. The Cenozoic basin fills along the Denali fault system of the northwestern Canadian Cordillera provide excellent examples of stream-dominated alluvial fan deposits because they developed during the Eocene-Oligocene temperate climatic regime in an active strike-slip orogen. The Amphitheatre Formation filled several strike-slip basins in Yukon Territory and consists of up to 1200 m of coarse siliciclastic rocks and coal. Detailed facies analysis, conglomerate: sandstone percentages (C:S), maximum particle size (MPS) distribution, and palaeocurrent analysis of the Amphitheatre Formation in two of these strike-slip basins document the transition from proximal, to middle, to distal and fringing environments within ancient stream-dominated alluvial-fan systems. Proximal fan deposits in the Bates Lake Basin are characterized by disorganized, clast-supported, boulder conglomerate and minor matrix(mud)-supported conglomerate. Proximal facies are located along the faulted basin margins in areas where C:S = 80 to 100 and where the average MPS ranges from 30 to 60 cm. Proximal fan deposits grade into middle fan, channelized, well organized cobble conglomerates that form upward fining sequences, with an average thickness of 7 m. Middle fan deposits grade basinward into well-sorted, laterally continuous beds of normally graded sandstone interbedded with trough cross-stratified sandstone. These distal fan deposits are characteristic of areas where C:S = 20 to 40 and where the average MPS ranges from 5 to 15 cm. Fan fringe deposits consist of lacustrine and axial fluvial facies. Palaeogeographic reconstruction of the Bates Lake Basin indicates that alluvial-fan sedimentation was concentrated in three parts of the basin. The largest alluvial-fan system abutted the strike-slip Duke River fault, and prograded westward across the axis of the basin. Two smaller, coarser grained fans prograded syntaxially northward from the normal-faulted southern basin margin. Facies analysis of the Burwash Basin indicates a similar transition from proximal to distal, stream-dominated alluvial fan environments, but with several key differences. Middle-fan deposits in the Burwash Basin define upward coarsening sequences 50 to 60 m thick composed of fine-grained lithofacies and coal in the lower part, trough cross-stratified sandstone in the middle, and conglomerate in the upper part of the sequence. Upward-coarsening sequences, 90–140 m thick, also are common in the fan fringe lacustrine deposits. These sequences coarsen upward from mudstone, through fine grained, ripple-laminated sandstone, to coarse grained trough cross-stratified sandstone. The upward-coarsening sequences are basinwide, facies independent, and probably represent progradation of stream-dominated alluvial-fan depositional systems. Coal distribution in the Amphitheatre Formation is closely coupled with predominant depositional processes on stream-dominated alluvial fans. The thickest coal seams occur in the most proximal part of the basin fill and in marginal lacustrine deposits. Coal development in the intervening middle and distal fan areas was suppressed by the high frequency of unconfined flow events and lateral channel mobility.     

The lacustrine microbial carbonate factory of the successive Lake Bonneville and Great Salt Lake,Utah, USA

The Bonneville Basin is a continental lacustrine system accommodating extensive microbial carbonate deposits corresponding to two distinct phases: the deep Lake Bonneville (30 000 to 11 500 ¹⁴C bp ) and the shallow Great Salt Lake (since 11 500 ¹⁴C bp ). A characterization of these microbial deposits and their associated sediments provides insights into their spatio‐temporal distribution patterns. The Bonneville phase preferentially displays vertical distribution of the microbial deposits resulting from high‐amplitude lake level variations. Due to the basin physiography, the microbial deposits were restricted to a narrow shoreline belt following Bonneville lake level variations. Carbonate production was more efficient during intervals of relative lake level stability as recorded by the formation of successive terraces. In contrast, the Great Salt Lake microbial deposits showed a great lateral distribution, linked to the modern flat bottom configuration. A low vertical distribution of the microbial deposits was the result of the shallow water depth combined with a low amplitude of lake level fluctuations. These younger microbial deposits display a higher diversity of fabrics and sizes. They are distributed along an extensive ‘shore to lake’ transect on a flat platform in relation to local and progressive accommodation space changes. Microbial deposits are temporally discontinuous throughout the lake history showing longer hiatuses during the Bonneville phase. The main parameters controlling the rate of carbonate production are related to the interaction between physical (kinetics of the mineral precipitation, lake water temperature and runoff), chemical (Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺ and HCO₃^? concentrations, Mg/Ca ratio, dilution and depletion) and/or biological (trophic) factors. The contrast in evolution of Lake Bonneville and Great Salt Lake microbial deposits during their lacustrine history leads to discussions on major chemical and climatic changes during this interval as well as the role of physiography. Furthermore, it provides novel insights into the composition, structure and formation of microbialite‐rich carbonate deposits under freshwater and hypersaline conditions.     

Catastrophic rock slope failures and late Quaternary developments in the Nanga Parbat–Haramosh Massif,Upper Indus basin,northern Pakistan

The Nanga Parbat–Haramosh Massif has some of the greatest relief on Earth and highest measured rates of uplift, denudation, and river incision in bedrock. Many studies have sought to understand how its morphology relates to geotectonic evolution and glaciations. However, few catastrophic rock slope failures had been recognised and many of their impacts had been attributed to other processes. Recently more than 150 of these landslides have been found within a 100-km radius of Nanga Parbat (8125 m). New discoveries are reported east, north and west of Nanga Parbat along the Indus streams. Most generated long-run-out rock avalanches that dammed the Indus or its tributaries, some impounding large lakes. They initiated episodes of intermontane sedimentation followed by trenching and removal of sediment. Valley-floor features record a complex interplay of impoundment and sedimentation episodes, superimposition of streams in pre-landslide valley floors, and exhumation of buried features. These findings depart from existing reconstructions of Quaternary events. A number of the rock-avalanche deposits were previously misinterpreted as tills or moraine and their associated lacustrine deposits attributed to glacial lakes. Features up to 1000 m above the Indus, formerly seen as tectonically raised terraces, are depositional features emplaced by landslides, or erosion terraces recording the trenching of valley fill in landslide-interrupted river reaches. Unquestionably, tectonics and glaciation have been important but decisive and misread formative events of the Holocene involve a post-glacial, landslide-fragmented fluvial system. The latter has kept valley developments in a chronic state of disequilibrium with respect to climatic and geotectonic controls. Accepted glacial chronologies are put in doubt, particularly the extent and timing of the last major glaciation. The pace and role processes in the Holocene have been seriously underestimated.     

东营凹陷牛38井沙三中上段红灰韵律层中的环境信息

通过环境磁学、沉积学、遗迹化石学与地球化学对牛３８井厘米级红灰韵律层的综合研究发现红层中具明显的胶体凝聚现象，其磁化率值、总铁与游离铁含量较高，层内生物扰动作用相对较强，表明气候变化引起的化学沉积是控制韵律旋回的主因，底栖生物的潜穴活动促进了沉积界面处微化学环境的变化。经频谱分析等时序分析法的估算可知该红灰韵律层是受十年级与百年级主周期的控制，可能与太阳黑子或太阳磁场活动等天文周期有关。虽然此类天文周期对地球气候变化的影响能力也许不强，但由于化学沉积对气候变化反应灵敏，而且可能当时湖水化学环境正处于胶体沉积的临界值附近，因而水体化学性质稍有偏离即可导致韵律层的形成。     

Geology,stratigraphy and palaeoenvironmental evolution of the Stephanorhinus kirchbergensis-bearing Quaternary palaeolake(s) of Gorzów Wielkopolski (NW Poland,Central Europe)

The sedimentary succession exposed in the Gorzów Wielkopolski area includes Eemian Interglacial (MIS 5e) or Early Weichselian (MIS 5d–e) deposits. The sedimentary sequence has been the object of intense interdisciplinary study, which has resulted in the identification of at least two palaeolake horizons. Both yielded fossil remains of large mammals, alongside pollen and plant macrofossils. All these proxies have been used to reconstruct the environmental conditions prevailing at the time of deposition, as well as to define the geological context and the biochronological position of the fauna. Optically stimulated luminescence dating of the glaciofluvial layers of the GS3 succession to 123.6 ± 10.1 (below the lower palaeolake) and 72.0 ± 5.2 ka (above the upper palaeolake) indicate that the site formed during the Middle–Late Pleistocene (MIS 6 – MIS 5). Radiocarbon-dating of the lacustrine organic matter revealed a tight cluster of Middle Pleniglacial Period (MIS 3) ages in the range of ~41–32 ka cal bp (Hengelo – Denekamp Interstadials). Holocene organic layers have also been found, with ¹⁴C ages within a range of 4330–4280 cal bp (Neolithic). Pollen and plant macrofossil records, together with sedimentological and geochemical data, confirm the dating to the Eemian Interglacial.     

古湖相碳酸盐沉积和化石贝壳的87Sr/86Sr及其意义

位于极端干旱区的额济纳盆地，是我国内陆地区代表性的盆地之一。这里不仅具有典型的大陆性气候、脆弱的生态系统，而且在平缓的戈壁滩下面，沉积有厚达200-400余米的古湖相地层。盆地东南与最高达近500m沙丘的巴丹吉林沙漠比邻，构成了特征性的盆地-沙漠系统，是世界少有的自然景观，也是目前研究热点之一。 考察研究工作揭示，巴丹吉林沙漠在蹑今30000a左右存在一湿润时期（Wunnemann等，1998；杨小平，2002；杨小平等，2003），并与临区腾格里沙漠相应时期发育的大湖期可以对比（Zhang等，2002，2004）。 新近的考察工作发现，在盆地东南部古日乃与巴丹吉林沙漠过渡区，存在有多级古沙丘被水夷平的、高度不等的平台，在这些平台之上，保存有水体快速蒸发环境条件下沙粒物质被钙质胶结的坚硬、类似砂岩的顶盖，其高度在大范围内可以对比，同时伴有湖相碳酸盐沉积、根管等。这些地貌、沉积与盆地北部沙砾石层中大量出现的贝壳化石和湖相地层，构成了古湖泊存在的地质证据。 14C测年结果表明，分布于第二级平台上的碳酸盐结核其形成年代为距今25000a前（25630±270a、25530±230a、25640±220a，半衰期5568a，下同），掰鳃类贝壳化石的年代为距今28000a(28530±430a、28630±320a、28780±340a、28560±280a)。 对这两组样品进行87Sr/86Sr分析结果表明（表1），碳酸盐沉积的87Sr/86Sr比值变化较为显著而贝壳化石的87Sr/86Sr比值变化相对较小，且贝壳化石的87Sr/86Sr比值的平均值小于碳酸盐沉积的87Sr/86Sr比值。 由于贝壳化石和碳酸盐沉积的87Sr/86Sr比值在一定意义上代表了古湖水的锶同位素比值，而87Sr/86Sr比值又与湖泊水体盐度相关（刘秀明等，2000），因此可以推测，贝壳化石所代表的古湖泊发育时期的水体较碳酸盐结核形成时期的盐度要低，也就是说古湖泊发育早期的为淡水，后期水体盐度有所增高。这是与贝壳化石本身代表的淡水种属相一致。由于后期湖泊水拉的快速下降和水体的快速蒸发，使得碳酸盐结核沉积的87Sr/86Sr比值增高，而这种古湖泊水位的快速下降和结核的形成是直接与气候变化相关联的。反映了该时期额济纳盆地古湖泊高湖面的存在和气候快速变化的历史。     

Pollutant transport in a shallow unconfined aquifer in Perry,Ohio

The groundwater system in northern Perry Township in Lake County, Ohio, is a shallow, unconfined aquifer consisting of periglacial lake beach deposits and less permeable lacustrine plain deposits. Groundwater flow is generally toward Lake Erie from south to north and is controlled by the top of the Ashtabula Till, but strong, local variations are caused by northward flowing streams During the study period, water levels in most wells exhibited a seasonal fluctuation of less than 0 3 m from their mean values. The areal distributions of chloride and nitrate concentrations indicate that road salt runoff easily infiltrates the aquifer and that nitrate may be sourced from fertilizer application. Ground-water flow and solute transport models indicate that in excess of 27 years are required to obtain chemical steady-state under hydrologic steady-state conditions. The simulations also demonstrate that nitrate loading must occur in more than one cultivated field in order to obtain the observed wide-spread nitrate distribution.     

Interaction between Downslope and Alongslope Processes on the Margins of Daihai Lake,North China: Implication for Deltaic Sedimentation Models of Lacustrine Rift Basin

Daihai Lake, a modern lacustrine rift basin, located in Inner Mongolia, North China, serves as an important modern analog for understanding deltaic depositional processes in an active rift setting. Two of the deltas (Yuanzigou delta and Bulianghe delta) on the margins of Daihai Lake were surveyed to compare and contrast stacking patterns using aerial photographs, field trenching and sediment sampling. Shallow cores and trench data collected from the margins of Daihai Lake indicate that a variety of depositional processes have been active since Daihai Lake formed. Two 3-D sedimentation models which employ chronostratigraphic correlation technique were generated. The chronostratigraphic sedimentation models predict and represent the architectures and sand-body continuity of sediments. Stratigraphical coincidence of the broad sheeted drifts and channel erosion suggests a coupling between downslope and alongslope processes. Distributary mouth bars are prevalent in the front of deltas on steeper slopes due to the dominance of down-slope flows. On the contrary, the along-slope currents favor the development of distal bar deposits with sheeted sandbodies on gentle depositional slopes. This study provides an insight into the architecture of complex sedimentary facies associated with highlighting key differences between downslope flows and alongslope currents. The distribution of sand within these deltas is of particular interests, with applications in understanding the architecture of hydrocarbon reservoirs formed in lacustrine rift basin.     

Physical Criteria for Recognition of Lacustrine Gravel Beach-bar Deposits using Modern Examples,the Qinghai Lake,Qinghai-Tibet Plateau,China

Beach-bar deposits are very common in the shallow-water zone of lacustrine basins, and have been an attractive exploration target within lacustrine basins, where numerous lacustrine beachbar oil pools have been discovered recently. Physical criteria for recognizing lacustrine beach-bar deposits are important not only for reconstruction of paleoenvironments and paleoshorelines, but also for the exploration and development of hydrocarbon. Modern beach-bars, 162 km in length, in Qinghai Lake, Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, were studied in detail based on lithology, sedimentary structure, texture, basal contact, bed thickness and dip angle, mean grain size, sorting, skewness, sedimentary succession, etc. The study found that the gravel beach-bars have a fixed sedimentary succession, “ABC” sequence, which is composed of A, B, and C intervals. The A interval is characterized by poorly sorted pebbly sandstones, the B interval is characterized by well sorted conglomerates and the C interval is characterized by normally graded sandstones. The A, B, and C intervals have particular quantitative characteristics, including mean grain size, sorting, skewness, dip angle of layers, and thickness of layers. The gravel beach-bar deposits can be presented in different combined pattern, such as “ABCABC”, “ABABAB”, and “BCBCBC”. The beach-bars deposits are stripe-like, parallel to the shoreline, and with convex tops and flat bottoms. The length of the beach-bars can be tens of kilometers. The width of the beach-bars can be thousands of meters.