Source‐to‐sink analysis of ancient sedimentary systems using a subsurface case study from the Møre‐Trøndelag area of southern Norway: Part 1 – depositional setting and fan evolution

In this study, we use seismic reflection, well and core data to investigate the role that basin physiography and sediment routing systems played on the distribution, geometry and stratigraphic architecture of Upper Cretaceous submarine fans (SF) offshore Norway. The Late Cretaceous Møre‐Trøndelag margin of western Norway was characterised by steep submarine slopes (gradient of ~0.3°–3°). Mudstones dominate the Upper Cretaceous slope succession, although a few regionally extensive, sandstone‐dominated units are developed. We focus on the most regionally extensive sandstone unit, which is of Late Turonian‐to‐Early Coniacian age. Mapping and visualisation of 2D and 3D seismic reflection data and analysis of well data indicates that the sandstone unit comprises a total of 11 SF, which were fed by sand‐rich sediment gravity flows routed through multiple upper slope canyons. Based on the internal organisation of seismic facies, four fan types have been identified: (i) Type Ia fans, which are characterised by <10 erosional channel complexes at their bases and aggradational to landward‐stepping lobes in their upper parts; (ii) Type Ib fans, which are characterised by >10 erosional channel complexes at their bases and aggradational to landward‐stepping lobe and mass‐transport deposits near the fan apex in their upper parts; (iii) Type II fans, which are dominated by aggradational lobe deposits; and (iv) Type III fans, which are dominated by a single channel complex that passes downdip into a small terminal lobe. The different fan types are interpreted to reflect variable stratigraphic responses to source proximity and basin physiography, which is principally related to the degree of local fault reactivation and differential compaction. This variability highlights the diversity of fan types that may occur over short distances along continental margins, and demonstrates the importance of local controls in understanding the internal stratigraphic variability that may be present in deep‐marine successions.     

Source‐to‐sink analysis of ancient sedimentary systems using a subsurface case study from the Møre‐Trøndelag area of southern Norway: Part 2 – sediment dispersal and forcing mechanisms

The composition, volume and stratigraphic organisation of submarine fan systems deposited along continental margins are expected to reflect the landscape from which the sediment was derived. During the Late Cretaceous, the Møre‐Trøndelag margin, Norwegian North Sea was dominated by the deposition of deep‐marine fines; the emplacement of 11 sand‐rich submarine fan systems occurred only during a c. 3 Myr period in the Turonian‐Coniacian. The systems were fed by sediment that was routed through submarine canyons incised into the basin margin; the canyons are underlain by angular unconformities and are interpreted to have resulted from tectonically induced changes in slope physiography and erosion by gravity flows. The areal extent of the onshore drainage catchments that supplied sediment to the fans has been estimated based on scaling relationships derived from modern source‐to‐sink systems. The results of our study suggest that the Turonian fans were sourced by drainage catchments that were up to ca.3600 km², extending more than ca.100 km inland from the palaeo‐shoreline. The estimated inboard catchment extent correlates with the innermost structures of a large, long‐lived, basement‐involved, normal fault complex. On the basis of our analysis, we conclude that increased sediment supply to the Turonian fan systems reflects tectonic rejuvenation of the landscape, rather than eustatic sea‐level or climate fluctuations. The duration of fan deposition is thus interpreted to reflect the ‘relaxation time’ of the landscape following tectonic perturbation, and fan system retrogradation and abandonment is interpreted to reflect the eventual depletion of the onshore sediment source. We demonstrate that a better understanding of the stratigraphic variability in deepwater depositional systems can be gained by taking a complete source‐to‐sink view of ancient sediment dispersal systems.     

Relationships between shelf‐edge trajectories and sediment dispersal along depositional dip and strike: a different approach to sequence stratigraphy

Analysis of shelf‐edge trajectories in prograding successions from offshore Norway, Brazil, Venezuela and West Africa reveals systematic changes in facies associations along the depositional dip. These changes occur in conjunction with the relative sea‐level change, sediment supply, inclination of the substratum and the relief of the margin. Flat and ascending trajectories generally result in an accumulation of fluvial and shallow marine sediments in the topset segment. Descending trajectories will generally result in erosion and bypass of the topset segment and deposition of basin floor fans. An investigation of incised valley fills reveals multiple stages of filling that can be linked to distinct phases of deepwater fan deposition and to the overall evolution of the margin. In the case of high sediment supply, like the Neogene Niger and Orinoco deltas, basin floor fans may develop systematically even under ascending trajectory styles. In traditional sequence stratigraphic thinking, this would imply the deposition of basin floor fans during a period of relative sea‐level highstand. Facies associations and sequence development also vary along the depositional strike. The width and gradient of the shelf and slope show considerable variations from south to north along the Brazilian continental margin during the Cenozoic. During the same time interval, the continental shelf may display high or low accommodation conditions, and the resulting stacking patterns and facies associations may be utilized to reconstruct palaeogeography and for prediction of lithology. Application of the trajectory concept thus reveals nuances in the rock record that would be lost by the application of traditional sequence stratigraphic work procedures. At the same time, the methodology simplifies the interpretation in that less importance is placed on interpretation and labelling of surface boundaries and systems tracts.     

Impact of recycling and lateral sediment input on grain size fining trends—Implications for reconstructing tectonic and climate forcings in ancient sedimentary systems

Grain size trends in basin stratigraphy are thought to preserve a rich record of the climatic and tectonic controls on landscape evolution. Stratigraphic models assume that over geological timescales, the downstream profile of sediment deposition is in dynamic equilibrium with the spatial distribution of tectonic subsidence in the basin, sea level and the flux and calibre of sediment supplied from mountain catchments. Here, we demonstrate that this approach in modelling stratigraphic responses to environmental change is missing a key ingredient: the dynamic geomorphology of the sediment routing system. For three large alluvial fans in the Iglesia basin, Argentine Andes we measured the grain size of modern river sediment from fan apex to toe and characterise the spatial distribution of differential subsidence for each fan by constructing a 3D model of basin stratigraphy from seismic data. We find, using a self‐similar grain size fining model, that the profile of grain size fining on all three fans cannot be reproduced given the subsidence profile measured and for any sediment supply scenario. However, by adapting the self‐similar model, we demonstrate that the grain size trends on each fan can be effectively reproduced when sediment is not only sourced from a single catchment at the apex of the system, but also laterally, from tributary catchments and through fan surface recycling. Without constraint on the dynamic geomorphology of these large alluvial systems, signals of tectonic and climate forcing in grain size data are masked and would be indecipherable in the geological record. This has significant implications for our ability to make sensitive, quantitative reconstructions of external boundary conditions from the sedimentary record.     

Tracking sand‐fairways through a deformed turbidite system: the Numidian (Miocene) of Central Sicily,Italy

Understanding ancient deep‐water sedimentary systems that accumulated at complex plate boundaries requires confronting the stratigraphic record of deformed sedimentary successions by tracking sand‐fairways and identifying original relationships in later deformed sequences. Here, we investigate the Numidian turbidite system (early to mid‐Miocene) of Central‐East Sicily to explore a deep‐water sedimentary system deposited at an active thrust belt on the Central Mediterranean. Turbidites include multi‐metre thick‐bedded, ultra‐mature quartz sandstones that were sourced from North Africa and are now deformed and dismembered within the Apennine‐Maghrebian orogen. To date, much research has focused on the little‐deformed sections that sample discrete parts of the original turbidite pathways. Yet the bulk of these systems are represented by deformed successions and these have attracted little modern sedimentological and stratigraphic investigation. We present new data based on field mapping, sedimentological/structural fieldwork, and biostratigraphy (planktonic foraminifera and nannofossils) that focus on the Numidian turbidites of Central‐East Sicily. Thickness and facies variations, together with evidence of large‐scale sediment bypass and local substrate reworking, characterize the Numidian turbidites of the study area, consistent with a partially confined turbidite system. Our work demonstrates that the Numidian turbidite system accumulated across active structures and these provided tortuous, evolving corridors through which turbidity currents were routed, transporting coarse sand over many hundreds of km. These results provide insight on structurally confined turbidites in analogous tectonic settings and demonstrate the need to seek sedimentological and stratigraphic data from deformed and dismembered parts of deep‐water systems.     

Changing of the guards: Detrital zircon provenance tracking sedimentological reorganization of a post-Gondwanan rift margin

Understanding the development of sedimentary systems during continental rifting is important for tracking environmental change and lithospheric processes. Conceptual models have been developed for the sourcing, routing and facies architecture of sediments in rift-settings, driven in part by quantitative sediment tracking. Here, we present laser ablation split-stream detrital zircon U/Pb geochronology and Hf-isotopes for post-rift (Cretaceous-Paleogene) clastic sediments from Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) wells and Plio-Pleistocene palaeoshoreline material, from the southern margin of Australia. Provenance results are contextualized through comparison with well-characterized source regions and regional pre- and syn-rift sediment reservoirs to track changes associated with Australia-Antarctica separation during East Gondwana break-up. The provenance character of the post-rift sediments studied are distinct from pre-existing sediment reservoirs and demonstrate termination of previously stable sediment routing systems and a dominance of local basement of the Proterozoic Madura and Coompana provinces (~1.2 Ga and CHUR-like Hf-signatures; Moodini Supersuite) in offshore ODP wells. A composite post-rift Cretaceous?-Eocene sample in the easternmost well expresses characteristic Phanerozoic zircon age signatures associated with source regions in eastern Australia that are interpreted to reflect inversion in the Ceduna Sub-basin to the east. Detrital zircon signatures in Plio-Pleistocene palaeoshoreline sediment are also relatively distinct, indicating derivation from coastal erosion in the Leeuwin Complex (~0.5 and 0.7 Ga subchondritic grains) and Albany–Fraser Orogen (~1.2 Ga subchondritic grains) several hundred, to over a thousand kilometers to the west. Collectively, results highlight the fundamental geological processes associated with rifting that dramatically change the character of sediment provenance via (a) isolation of pre-existing primary and secondary sources of detritus, (b) development of new source regions in basin compartmentalized highs and localized fault scarps, and (c) establishment of marine and coastal currents that redefine clastic sediment transport.     

The nature and evolution of deep-sea channel systems

Abstract A distinction is drawn between sea-floor canyons, which are incised into bedrock, and fan valleys and deep-sea channels, which are cut in unconsolidated sediment. The formation of continental margin canyons/fans and deep-sea channels is an inevitable consequence of continental margin rifting and sea-floor subsidence. Such submarine sediment transport systems are amongst the longest-lived physiographic features on earth, with the Bounty Channel system being more than 50 Myr old. Many deep-sea channels form the distal part of ocean-margin sediment transport systems, being incised 100–350 m into ocean-floor sediments, traversing great distances over the ocean-basin floor, and generally terminating on an abyssal plain. The course of each deep-sea channel is, however, unique. Channel locations are controlled primarily by inherited basement relief, and, during their evolution, by rates and patterns of lithospheric subsidence and sedimentation. In the early stages of ocean-basin formation, deep-sea channels may issue from the axial parts of marginal rifts, or directly from slope canyon-fan systems. As an ocean basin widens, margin-connected channels may become trapped within the strip of oldest (and therefore deepest) oceanic crust at the continent/ocean interface, and will therefore be margin-parallel features. In some cases, as for the Cascadia Channel, channels may escape from the ocean-margin deep, bypassing the spreading ridge via a fracture zone. Deep-sea channels and their associated sediments are influenced also by global sea-level change, by rate of turbidity current generation from the headward continental margin, by rates of pelagic sediment supply, by differential levee development consequent upon the Coriolis effect, and by the operation of deep-sea current systems with their associated sediment drifts. The survival of deep-sea channels as long-lived features necessitates that rates of long-term subsidence at the channel terminus exceed sediment accumulation.     

Sequence architecture and depositional evolution of the northern continental slope of the South China Sea: responses to tectonic processes and changes in sea level

The continental slopes of the South China Sea (SCS), the largest marginal sea on the continental shelf of Southeast Asia, are among the most significant shelf‐margin basins in the world because of their abundant petroleum resources and a developmental history related to sea floor spreading since Late Oligocene time. Based on integrated analyses of seismic, well‐logging and core data, we systematically document the sequence architecture and depositional evolution of the northern continental slope of the SCS and reveal its responses to tectonism, sea‐level change and sediment supply. The infill of this shelf‐margin basin can be divided into seven composite sequences (CS1–CS7) that are bounded by regional unconformities. Composite sequences CS3 to CS7 have formed since Late Oligocene time, and each of them generally reflects a regional transgressive–regressive cycle. These large cycles can be further divided into 20 sequences that are defined by local unconformities or transgressive–regressive boundaries. Depositional–geomorphological systems represented on the continental slope mainly include shelf‐edge deltas, prodelta‐slope fans, clinoforms of the shelf‐margin slope, unidirectionally migrating slope channels, incised slope valleys, muddy slope fans, slope slump‐debris‐flow complexes and large‐scale soft‐sediment deformation of bedding. Changing sea levels, reflected by evidence from sequence architecture in the study area, are generally comparable with those of the Haq (1987) global sea level curve, whereas the regional transgressions and regressions were apparently controlled by tectonic uplift and subsidence. Composite sequences CS3 and CS4 formed from Late Oligocene to Middle Miocene time and represent continental‐slope deposition during a time of northwest‐northeast seafloor spreading and subsequent development of sub‐basins in the southwest‐central SCS. The development of composite sequences CS5 to CS7 after Middle Miocene time was obviously influenced by the Dongsha Movement during convergence between the SCS and Philippine Sea plates. Climatic variations and monsoon intensification may have enhanced sediment supply during Late Oligocene‒Early Miocene (25–21 Ma) and Late Pliocene‒Pleistocene (3–0.8 Ma) times. This study indicates that shelf‐edge delta and associated slope fan systems are the most important oil/gas‐bearing reservoirs in the SCS continental‐slope area.     

Morphology and sedimentary systems in the Central Bransfield Basin, Antarctic Peninsula: sedimentary dynamics from shelf to basin

A detailed regional characterization of the physiography, morphology and sedimentary systems of the Central Bransfield Basin (CBB) was carried out using swath bathymetry and high‐ and very high‐resolution seismic profiles. The basin margins show continental shelves with numerous glacial troughs, and continental slopes where relatively wide and flat slope platforms represent the middle domain in an atypical physiographic scenario in glaciated margins. Although the CBB is tectonically active, most of the morphologic features are sedimentary in origin, and can be classified into four sedimentary systems: (1) glacial‐glaciomarine, composed of erosional surfaces, glacial troughs, furrows and draping sheets; (2) slope‐basin, formed by trough mouth fans, slope aprons, the Gebra‐Magia instability complex and turbidity systems; (3) seabed fluid outflow system composed of pockmark fields; and (4) contourite, composed of drifts and moats. The sedimentary systems show a clear zonation from shelf to basin and their dynamics reflects the complex interplay among glacial, glaciomarine, marine and oceanographic processes involved in the entire shelf‐to‐basin sediment distribution. The CBB morphology is primarily controlled by glacial/interglacial cyclicity and physiography and to a lesser extent by tectonics and oceanography. These factors have affected the South Shetland Islands (SSI) and Antarctic Peninsula (AP) margins differently, creating a relatively starved SSI margin and a more constructional AP margin. They have also created two entire sediment‐dispersal domains: the shelf‐to‐slope, which records the glaciation history of the CBB; and the lower slope‐to‐basin, which records the imprint of local factors. This study provides a ‘source‐to‐sink’ sedimentary scheme for glaciated margins, which may be applied to the basin research in other margins, based on the characterization of sedimentary systems, their boundaries and the linkages among them. This approach proves to be adequate for the identification of global and local factors governing the CBB and may therefore be applied to other study areas.     

Crustal profiles of active continental collisional belt: Czechoslovak deep seismic reflection profiling in the West Carpathians

Summary. Czechoslovak deep seismic reflection profiles across the West Carpathians, the first in the Alpine-Himalayan belt, and surface geological data, suggest that the passive margin of the Eurasian plate was obliquely overriden by the upper Carpatho-Pannonian plate during the end of the Krosno sea subduction some 17-14 Ma ago. The following period was dominated by slight oblique continental collision (transpression and transtension) of the West Carpathian-East Alpine continental material escaping from the East Alpine collision zone and Eurasian Brunovistulic passive margin. Crustal shortening in the North was accommodated by significant northerly dipping backthrusting and crustal thickening. Backthrusting is clearly observable on deep seismic lines 2T and 3T. Different subsidence features are present on the deep seismic line 3T. There are active pull-apart graben in the Vienna basin, mid-Miocene (16–10 Ma) low-angle normal faulting in the Danube basin, and there is a normal simple shear zone offsetting the Moho boundary beneath the Danube basin.     

Three-dimensional analogue modelling of an alluvial basin margin affected by hydrological cycles: processes and resulting depositional sequences

The dynamics between sediment erosion and accumulation at an alluvial basin margin affected by changes in the surface hydrology are explored using scaled analogue models produced in a flume. The presented results differ from previous counterparts in that accumulation or erosion has not been forced at a spreading outlet, but occurred at a slope change produced by previously accumulated sediment. Cyclical upstream incision produced by increased stream discharge generated incised valleys, and these were subsequently filled by sediment carried by less efficient streams generated during the low discharge period. High resolution mapping using 2.5 mm contour maps allowed the study of sediment accumulation and terrain modelling. The results of three selected experiments are analysed. The only variable explored was discharge. The basin margin was simulated by a ramp inserted in a low sloping flume, consisting of two segments of different slopes selected to emulate high and low efficiency flume fans produced elsewhere. Water and fine‐medium sand entered the ramp along a narrow (0.1 m) channel and flow expanded but without occupying the complete 1.2 m flume width. Flows were highly concentrated and noncohesive. Fan‐like accumulation (slope: 0.11) began during low discharge (LD) periods at the ramp slope break, and proceeded upstream, onlapping quickly at first, but shifting to mostly progradation at the end of the period. High discharges (HD) usually generated two or three incised channels at the beginning of the period, but one of them prevailed and rapidly eroded parts of the LD fan and moved the sediment to a more distal low‐sloping fan (slope: 0.045). Both LD and HD fans passed downstream into a system of small parallel channels resembling a braided alluvial plain ending in sediment lobes. The mapping of the accumulated sediment during the various periods allowed calculation of sediment budgets for the entire flume. The stratal architecture of the deposits was investigated along five parallel trenches cut after experiment termination. The regression analysis of depositional profiles at fan‐like features (expanding flow) and at braided plains (parallel flow) indicated that these fan‐like systems are linear and dependent on applied discharge, while the latter showed an exponential decrease of slope downstream, with a starting value set up by the fan slope. Two main types of stratigraphic units were generated, the LDST and HDST (system tracts). The LDST has a nonerosive base over ‘bedrock’ and the previous HDST, filling proximal erosional topography and prograding as well, generating an onlap–downlap array. Its geometry is highly variable and dependent on pre‐existing topography. The HDST base is an important erosive surface comparable to sequence boundaries. However, there are places without erosion due to a marginal position with respect to the main stream. Indeed, the results suggest that the three‐dimensional variability of erosion and depositional processes might produce very different architectures along the same basin margin.     

Impact of structural and autocyclic basin-floor topography on the depositional evolution of the deep-water Valparaiso forearc basin, central Chile

The Valparaiso Basin constitutes a unique and prominent deep‐water forearc basin underlying a 40‐km by 60‐km mid‐slope terrace at 2.5‐km water depth on the central Chile margin. Seismic‐reflection data, collected as part of the CONDOR investigation, image a 3–3.5‐km thick sediment succession that fills a smoothly sagged, margin‐parallel, elongated trough at the base of the upper slope. In response to underthrusting of the Juan Fernández Ridge on the Nazca plate, the basin fill is increasingly deformed in the seaward direction above seaward‐vergent outer forearc compressional highs. Syn‐depositional growth of a large margin‐parallel monoclinal high in conjunction with sagging of the inner trough of the basin created stratal geometries similar to those observed in forearc basins bordered by large accretionary prisms. Margin‐parallel compressional ridges diverted turbidity currents along the basin axis and exerted a direct control on sediment depositional processes. As structural depressions became buried, transverse input from point sources on the adjacent upper slope formed complex fan systems with sediment waves characterising the overbank environment, common on many Pleistocene turbidite systems. Mass failure as a result of local topographic inversion formed a prominent mass‐flow deposit, and ultimately resulted in canyon formation and hence a new focused point source feeding the basin. The Valparaiso Basin is presently filled to the spill point of the outer forearc highs, causing headward erosion of incipient canyons into the basin fill and allowing bypass of sediment to the Chile Trench. Age estimates that are constrained by subduction‐related syn‐depositional deformation of the upper 700–800 m of the basin fill suggest that glacio‐eustatic sea‐level lowstands, in conjunction with accelerated denudation rates, within the past 350 ka may have contributed to the increase in simultaneously active point sources along the upper slope as well as an increased complexity of proximal depositional facies.     

Tectono-sedimentary processes along an active marine/lacustrine half-graben margin: Alkyonides Gulf, E. Gulf of Corinth, Greece

ABSTRACT The Alkyonides half‐graben is separated from the Gerania Range to the south by active faults whose offshore traces are mapped in detail. The East Alkyonides and Psatha Faults have well‐defined, Holocene‐active tip zones and cannot be extrapolated from the onshore Skinos Fault into a single continuous surface trace. During the late Quaternary, catchments draining the step‐faulted range front have supplied sediment to alluvial fans along a subsiding marine ramp margin in the hangingwall of the Skinos Fault, to shelf ledge fans on the uplifting footwall to the East Alkyonides Fault and to the Alepochori submarine fan in the hangingwall of the latter. During late Pleistocene lowstand times (c. 70–12 ka), sediment was deposited in Lake Corinth as fan deltas on the subsiding Skinos shelf ramp which acted as a sediment trap for the adjacent 360 m deep submarine basin plain. At the same time, the uplifting eastern shelf ledge was exposed, eroded and bypassed in favour of deposition on the Alepochori submarine fan. During Holocene times, the Skinos bajada was first the site of stability and soil formation, and then of substantial deposition before modern marine erosion cut a prominent cliffline. The uplifting eastern shelf ledge has developed substantial Holocene fan lobe depositional sequences as sediment‐laden underflows have traversed it via outlet channels. We estimate mean Holocene displacement rates towards the tip of the Psatha Fault in the range 0.7–0.8 mm year^?1. Raised Holocene coastal notches indicate that this may be further partitioned into about 0.2 mm year^?1 of footwall uplift and hence 0.5–0.6 mm year^?1 of hangingwall subsidence. Holocene displacement rates towards the tip of the active East Alkyonides Fault are in the range 0.2–0.3 mm year^?1. Any uplift of the West Alkyonides Fault footwall is not keeping pace with subsidence of the Skinos Fault hangingwall, as revealed by lowstand shelf fan deltas which show internal clinoforms indicative of aggradational deposition in response to relative base‐level rise due to active hangingwall subsidence along the Skinos Fault. Total subsidence here during the last 58 kyr lowstand interval of Lake Corinth was some 20 m, indicating a reduced net displacement rate compared to estimates of late Holocene (< 2000 bp ) activity from onshore palaeoseismology. This discrepancy may be due to the competition between uplift on the West Alkyonides Fault and subsidence on the onshore Skinos Fault, or may reflect unsteady rates of Skinos Fault displacement over tens of thousands of years.     

Late Ordovician,deep‐water gravity‐flow deposits,palaeogeography and tectonic setting,Tarim Basin,Northwest China

The Upper Ordovician in the Tarim Basin contains 5000–7000 m of siliciclastic and calciclastic deep‐water, gravity‐flow deposits. Their depositional architecture and palaeogeographical setting are documented in this investigation based on an integrated analysis of seismic, borehole and outcrop data. Six gravity‐flow depositional–palaeogeomorphological elements have been identified as follows: submarine canyon or deeply incised channels, broad and shallow erosional channels, erosional–depositional channel and levee–overbank complexes, frontal splays‐lobes and nonchannelized sheets, calciclastic lower slope fans and channel lobes or sheets, and debris‐flow complexes. Gravity‐flow deposits of the Sangtamu and Tierekeawati formations comprise a regional transgressive‐regressive megacycle, which can be further classified into six sequences bounded by unconformities and their correlative conformities. A series of incised valleys or canyons and erosional–depositional channels are identifiable along the major sequence boundaries which might have been formed as the result of global sea‐level falls. The depositional architecture of sequences varies from the upper slope to abyssal basin plain. Palaeogeographical patterns and distribution of the gravity‐flow deposits in the basin can be related to the change in tectonic setting from a passive continental margin in the Cambrian and Early to Middle Ordovician to a retroarc foreland setting in the Late Ordovician. More than 3000 m of siliciclastic submarine‐fan deposits accumulated in south‐eastern Tangguzibasi and north‐eastern Manjiaer depressions. Sedimentary units thin onto intrabasinal palaeotopographical highs of forebulge origin and thicken into backbulge depocentres. Sediments were sourced predominantly from arc terranes in the south‐east and the north‐east. Slide and mass‐transport complexes and a series of debris‐flow and turbidite deposits developed along the toes of unstable slopes on the margins of the deep‐water basins. Turbidite sandstones of channel‐fill and frontal‐splay origin and turbidite lobes comprise potential stratigraphic hydrocarbon reservoirs in the basin.     

Changes in Cenozoic depositional environment and sediment provenance in the Danube Basin

The Danube Basin is situated between the Eastern Alps, Western Carpathians and Transdanubian mountain ranges and represents a classic petroleum prospection site. The basin fill is known from many 2D reflection seismic lines and deep wells with measured e‐logs which provided a good opportunity for theories about its evolution. New analyses of deep wells situated in the Danube Basin northeastern margin allowed us to refine stratigraphy and to interpret various depositional systems. This also allowed us to outline changes in provenance of sediment during the Cenozoic. The performed interpretation of the Palaeogene and Neogene depositional systems also confirmed the Oligocene–Early Miocene exhumation of the basin pre‐Neogene basement. Opening and development of the Middle to Late Miocene basin depocentres above the boundary between the Western Carpathians and Northern Pannonian domain was recognized. Our analysis contributed to a better understanding of the Hurbanovo–Diösjenő fault which acts as an inherited weakness zone along the boundary of two crustal fragments with different provenance. We document various basin types stacked one on another (retro‐arc, back‐arc and extensional hinterland basin). The analysis of sediment sources reveals intricate geodynamic processes during the Eastern Alpine–Western Carpathian orogenic system collision with European platform (formation of ALCAPA microplate) and its successive tectonics escape during the Pannonian Basin System origination.     

Quantifying sand delivery to deep water during changing sea-level: Numerical models from the Quaternary Brazos Icehouse continental margin

Sequence stratigraphy for clastic continental margins predicts the development of sand-rich turbidite deposits during specific times in relation to base-level cycles. It is now widely understood that deltas can extend to the shelf-edge forced by high sediment flux and/or base level, providing a direct connection to transfer sediment and sand to the slope and basin floor even during high base level periods. Herein, we build a stratigraphic forward model for the last 120 kyr of the fluvio-deltaic to deep-water Brazos system (USA) where sediment partitioning along an Icehouse continental margin can be evaluated. The reduced-complexity stratigraphic forward model employs geologically constrained input parameters and mass balance. The modelled architecture is consistent with the location of depositional units previously mapped in the shelf. Sand bypasses the shelf and upper slope between 35 to 15 kyr before present and only about 20%–30% of all the sediment and sand supplied to the system is transferred to deep water. Several scenarios based on the initial Brazos model investigate the relationships between base level and deep-water sand ratio (DWSR). DWSR is defined as the relative amount of sand transferred to the deep-water portions of the system subdivided by the total sand input to the model. Linear correlations between DWSR and base level change rates or base level are very poor. Short-term variability due to local processes (for example avulsions) is superimposed to the long-term trends and mask the base level signal. DWSR for an entire base-level cycle is mainly controlled by the proportion of time the delta stays docked at the shelf-edge. Stratigraphic forward models are useful to complement field observations and quantify how different processes control stratigraphy, which is important for making predictions in areas with limited information.     

Sediment routing in the Zagros foreland basin: Drainage reorganization and a shift from axial to transverse sediment dispersal in the Kurdistan region of Iraq

In the northwestern sector of the Zagros foreland basin, axial fluvial systems initially delivered fine-grained sediments from northwestern source regions into a contiguous basin, and later transverse fluvial systems delivered coarse-grained sediments from northeastern sources into a structurally partitioned basin by fold-thrust deformation. Here we integrate sedimentologic, stratigraphic, palaeomagnetic and geochronologic data from the northwestern Zagros foreland basin to define the Neogene history of deposition and sediment routing in response to progressive advance of the Zagros fold-thrust belt. This study constrains the depositional environments, timing of deposition and provenance of nonmarine clastic deposits of the Injana (Upper Fars), Mukdadiya (Lower Bakhtiari) and Bai-Hasan (Upper Bakhtiari) Formations in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. Sediments of the Injana Formation (~12.4–7.75 Ma) were transported axially (orogen-parallel) from northwest to southeast by meandering and low-sinuosity channel belt system. In contrast, during deposition of the Mukdadiya Formation (~7.75–5 Ma), sediments were delivered transversely (orogen-perpendicular) from northeast to southwest by braided and low-sinuosity channel belt system in distributive fluvial megafans. By ~5 Ma, the northwestern Zagros foreland basin became partitioned by growth of the Mountain Front Flexure and considerable gravel was introduced in localized alluvial fans derived from growing topographic highs. Foredeep accumulation rates during deposition of the Injana, Mukdadiya and Bai-Hasan Formations averaged 350, 400 and 600 m/Myr respectively, suggesting accelerated accommodation generation in a rapidly subsiding basin governed by flexural subsidence. Detrital zircon U-Pb age spectra show that in addition to sources of Mesozoic-Cenozoic cover strata, the Injana Formation was derived chiefly from Palaeozoic-Precambrian (including Carboniferous and latest Neoproterozoic) strata in an axial position to the northwest, likely from the Bitlis-Puturge Massif and broader Eastern Anatolia. In contrast, the Mukdadiya and Bai-Hasan Formations yield distinctive Palaeogene U-Pb age peaks, particularly in the southeastern sector of the study region, consistent with transverse delivery from the arc-related terranes of the Walash and Naopurdan volcano-sedimentary groups (Gaveh-Rud domain?) and Urumieh-Dokhtar magmatic arc to the northeast. These temporal and spatial variations in stratigraphic framework, depositional environments, sediment routing and compositional provenance reveal a major drainage reorganization during Neogene shortening in the Zagros fold-thrust belt. Whereas axial fluvial systems initially dominated the foreland basin during early orogenesis in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, transverse fluvial systems were subsequently established and delivered major sediment volumes to the foreland as a consequence of the abrupt deformation advance and associated topographic growth in the Zagros.     

Late Triassic tectonic inversion in the upper Yangtze Block: Insights from detrital zircon U–Pb geochronology from south‐western Sichuan Basin

The Sichuan Basin and the Songpan‐Ganze terrane, separated by the Longmen Shan fold‐and‐thrust belt (the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau), are two main Triassic depositional centres, south of the Qinling‐Dabie orogen. During the Middle–Late Triassic closure of the Paleo‐Tethys Ocean, the Sichuan Basin region, located at the western margin of the Yangtze Block, transitioned from a passive continental margin into a foreland basin. In the meantime, the Songpan‐Granze terrane evolved from a marine turbidite basin into a fold‐and‐thrust belt. To understand if and how the regional sediment routing system adjusted to these tectonic changes, we monitored sediment provenance primarily by using detrital zircon U‐Pb analyses of representative stratigraphic samples from the south‐western edge of the Sichuan Basin. Integration of the results with paleocurrent, sandstone petrology and published detrital zircon data from other parts of the basin identified a marked change in provenance. Early–Middle Triassic samples were dominated by Neoproterozoic (~700–900 Ma) zircons sourced mainly from the northern Kangdian basement, whereas Late Triassic sandstones that contain a more diverse range of zircon ages sourced from the Qinling, Longmen Shan and Songpan‐Ganze terrane. This change reflects a major drainage adjustment in response to the Late Triassic closure of the Paleo‐Tethys Ocean and significant shortening in the Longmen Shan thrust belt and the eastern Songpan‐Ganze terrane. Furthermore, by Late Triassic time, the uplifted northern Kangdian basement had subsided. Considering the eastward paleocurrent and depocenter geometry of the Upper Triassic deposits, subsidence of the northern Kangdian basement probably resulted from eastward shortening and loading of the Songpan‐Ganze terrane over the western margin of the Yangtze Block in response to the Late Triassic collision among Yangtze Block, Yidun arc and Qiangtang terrane along the Ganze‐Litang and Jinshajiang sutures.     

Depositional systems in multiphase rifts: seismic case study from the Lofoten margin,Norway

The evolution of depositional systems in multiphase rifts is influenced by the selective reactivation of faults between subsequent rift phases. The Middle Jurassic to Palaeocene tectonic history of the Lofoten margin, a segment of the North Atlantic rift system, is characterised by three distinct rift phases separated by long (>20 Myr) inter‐rift periods. The initial rift phase comprised a distinct fault initiation and linkage stage, whereas the later rift phases were characterised by selective reactivation of previously linked through‐going faults which resulted in immediate rift climax. Using 2‐D and 3‐D seismic reflection data in conjunction with shallow core data we present a 100 Myr record of shallow to deep marine depositional environments that includes deltaic clinoform packages, slope aprons and turbidite fans. The rapid re‐establishment of major faults during the later rift phases impacts on drainage systems and sediment supply. Firstly, the immediate localisation of strain and accumulation of displacement on few faults results in pronounced footwall uplift and possible fault block rotation along those faults, which makes it more likely for any antecedent fault‐transverse depositional systems to become reversed. Secondly, any antecedent axially‐sourced depositional systems that are inherited from the foregoing rift phase(s) are likely to be sustained after reactivation because such axial systems have already been directed around fault tips. Hence, the immediate localisation of strain through selective reactivation in the later rift phases restricts fault‐transverse sediment supply more than axial sediment supply, which is likely to be a key aspect of the tectono‐sedimentary evolution of multiphase rifts.     

Sediment supply from landslide-dominated catchments: implications for basin-margin fans

The sediment flux from a mountainous catchment can be expressed as a function of a landslide rate constant κ which accounts for the vigour of hillslope erosion. Since the incising drainage network flushes all or a portion of the products of hillslope erosion to a range front where fan deposition takes place, a conservation of solid sediment volume allows the fan area and progradation distance to be calculated. These parameters are related primarily to the discharge of sediment from the catchment and to local tectonic subsidence.
A survey of modern alluvial fans in a wide range of climatic and tectonic settings shows that the effects of climate and bedrock lithology cannot be discriminated in the scatter of data of catchment area vs. fan area. However, by focusing on over 100 fans in the arid and semiarid zone of SW USA, the impact of tectonic subsidence rate is unambiguous. Although further quantitative data on local tectonic subsidence rates are urgently required, our preliminary analysis suggests considerable potential for reconstructing palaeocatchments where basin tectonic subsidence rates can be estimated. The progradation distances of fans from the northern and southern margins of the Middle Devonian Hornelen Basin of Norway, and the western and north-eastern margins of the Mio-Pliocene Ridge Basin, California, allow catchment sizes and denudation rates to be approximated. Although unique solution sets are not possible, an iteration of parameter values allows plausible parameter combinations to be calculated which shed light on the tectonic and sedimentary history of the proximal basin and upland source regions. Model results suggest significant asymmetry in basin subsidence rates, catchment slopes and transport mechanics between the two margins.