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.     

Lacustrine deltas in a Mesozoic alluvial sequence from Camp Hill, Antarctica

Sedimentary rocks of late Mesozoic age exposed at Camp Hill, northern Antarctic Peninsula, are associated with calc-alkaline volcanic rocks. They represent deposition on a fault-controlled floodplain, with marginal alluvial fans, on a volcanic arc. Finely laminated mudstone and occasional graded laminae were deposited from suspension and by density underflow currents, respectively, in small shallow lakes. Thickening- and coarsening-upward sandstone bodies overlying the lake deposits are interpreted as lacustrine deltas of which two types are preserved: (1) Gilbert-type with steep foresets and (2) mouth-bar type which lack steep foresets. Sections through the latter type reveal the presence of sub-environments characteristic of fluvial-dominated marine deltas, i.e. prodelta, distributary mouth-bar and distributary channel. Abandoned mouth-bars resulting from avulsion are recognized. It is suggested that the processes which operated during formation of the mouth-bar deltas resulted from hyperpycnal flow. By contrast, the Gilbert-type delta is thought to be the consequence of a reduced inflow of suspended sediment causing homopycnal flow, and thorough mixing of the river and lake waters.     

Depositional systems and sequence stratigraphy of coarse-grained deltas in a shallow-marine, strike-slip setting: the Bohemian Cretaceous Basin, Czech Republic

Deposits of coarse‐grained, Gilbert‐type deltas showing varying degrees of reworking of foresets by basinal currents were identified in Middle Turonian to Early Coniacian sandstones of the Bohemian Cretaceous Basin. The progradation of the deltaic packages, earlier interpreted as large‐scale subaqueous dunes, shelf ridges or subaqueous fault‐scarp ‘accumulation terraces’, was controlled by high‐ and low‐frequency, relative sea‐level changes in a relatively slowly subsiding, intracontinental strike‐slip basin. End‐member types of the Bohemian Cretaceous coarse‐grained deltas are deep‐water deltas, characterized by thick (50–80 m) foreset packages with steep (10–30°) foresets, and shallow‐water deltas, which deposited thin (<15 m) packages with foresets typically between 4° and 10°. The differences in thickness and foreset slope angle were controlled predominantly by the accommodation available during progradation. The depositional regime of the deltas was governed by (i) the fluvial input of abundant sand bedload, with a minor proportion of gravel; (ii) gravity flows, most probably caused by liquefaction of the upper part of the unstable foreset slope; and (iii) migration of sandy bedforms on the foreset slopes. The bedform migration was driven by unidirectional currents of possible tidal origin. Individual foreset packages represent systems tracts, or parts of systems tracts, of depositional sequences. A variety of stacking patterns of high‐frequency sequences exists in the basin, caused by low‐frequency relative sea‐level changes as well as by local changes in sediment input. Because of generally low subsidence rates, fluvial or beach topset strata were not preserved in the cases studied. The absence of preserved fluvial facies, which has been one of the main arguments against the fluvio‐deltaic origin of the sandstone bodies, is explained by erosion of the topsets during transgression and their reworking into coarse‐grained lags of regional extent covering ravinement surfaces.     

东营凹陷北带沙河街组沙砾岩体的成因类型及其储集性研究

在基岩块断运动条件下形成的东营箕状断陷盆地，在沙河街期于凹陷北带堆积了巨厚层的砂砾岩体。本文通过对砂砾岩体的沉积学及地球物理特征分析，确定了其成因类型──冲积扇、扇三角洲、近岸水下扇和陡坡深水浊积扇，并简述了其储集性能。     

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

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

Deformation structures and an alteration zone linked to deposition of volcanogenic sulphate in an ancient playa (Oligocene of Nebraska, USA)

Historic, sulphur-rich volcanic eruptions have altered global climate for as much as five years, and much larger events are known from the geologic record. At Scotts Bluff, Nebraska, Early Oligocene strata of the lower Arikaree Group contain a tephra bed with abundant calcite pseudomorphs after gypsum. Previous work has shown sulphate from the pseudomorphs in this tephra bears a high ¹⁷O anomaly indicative of oxidation of sulphur gases by ozone or hydrogen peroxide in the atmosphere. Possible sources of the tephra were caldera eruptions at about 28 Ma in the San Juan volcanic field of south-western Colorado (∼500 km SW of the study site) and the eastern Great Basin (∼1000 km WSW). The present sedimentological study shows that tephra and volcanogenic sulphate were deposited and preserved within a small, surface-discharging playa that developed on the irregular upper surface of aeolian siltstones of the subjacent White River Group. Sulphate solutions (including perhaps sulphuric acid) percolated downward within the vadose zone, dissolving early formed smectite cement within underlying volcaniclastic sandstones, reddening these rocks along an irregular alteration front. Preserved fine-scale stratification within the sandstones precludes the possibility that reddening took place during pedogenesis. Displacive growth of gypsum at the playa centre folded tephra beds and forced tephra into underlying sandstones, forming elongate cones. The large mass fraction of gypsum (now replaced by calcite) in the playa sediments suggests a huge, long-distance delivery of sulphate aerosols. Some of the sulphate and tephra may have come from the same eruption, or the fine-grained tephra may simply have aided preservation of dry-fog sulphate derived from an unrelated, effusive eruption of lava.     

松辽盆地十层断陷沉积特征与油气前景

十屋断陷沉积特征表现为近物源、粗碎屑快速沉积、冲积扇、扇三角洲、湖底扇与深水湖组合构成了特有的“扇－湖”沉积面貌，正常三角洲缺乏。断陷沉积发展经历了早期充填、中期扩张、晚期萎缩3个阶段：早期充填阶段发育有冲积扇、辫状河及成煤沼泽；中期扩张阶段沉积特征为深水湖泊与湖底扇、扇三角洲组合；晚期萎缩阶段为浅湖与三角洲、湖岸洪泛平原组合。良好的沉积盆地类型决定了丰富的生油气物质基础，众多的沉积体系构成了多样化的复合圈闭，因此十屋断陷具有良好的找油气前景。     

Geoheritage values of one of the largest maar craters in the Arabian Peninsula: the Al Wahbah Crater and other volcanoes (Harrat Kishb, Saudi Arabia)

Al Wahbah Crater is one of the largest and deepest Quaternary maar craters in the Arabian Peninsula. It is NW-SE-elongated, ～2.3 km wide, ～250 m deep and surrounded by an irregular near-perpendicular crater wall cut deeply into the Proterozoic diorite basement. Very few scientific studies have been conducted on this unique site, especially in respect to understanding the associated volcanic eruption processes. Al Wahbah and adjacent large explosion craters are currently a research subject in an international project, Volcanic Risk in Saudi Arabia (VORiSA). The focus of VORiSA is to characterise the volcanic hazards and eruption mechanisms of the vast volcanic fields in Western Saudi Arabia, while also defining the unique volcanic features of this region for use in future geoconservation, geoeducation and geotourism projects. Al Wahbah is inferred to be a maar crater that formed due to an explosive interaction of magma and water. The crater is surrounded by a tephra ring that consists predominantly of base surge deposits accumulated over a pre-maar scoria cone and underlying multiple lava flow units. The tephra ring acted as an obstacle against younger lava flows that were diverted along the margin of the tephra ring creating unique lava flow surface textures that recorded inflation and deflation processes along the margin of the post-maar lava flow. Al Wahbah is a unique geological feature that is not only a dramatic landform but also a site that can promote our understanding of complex phreatomagmatic monogenetic volcanism. The complex geological features perfectly preserved at Al Wahbah makes this site as an excellent geotope and a potential centre of geoeducation programs that could lead to the establishment of a geopark in the broader area at the Kishb Volcanic Field.     

Sedimentology and tectonic implications of Cretaceous fan-delta conglomerates, Queen Charlotte Islands, Canada

The Honna Formation, of Coniacian age, consists of several hundred metres of polymictic clast-supported conglomerate associated with sandstone and mudstone. Five conglomerate facies are recognized: ungraded beds; inverse graded beds; normal graded beds; inverse-to-normal graded beds; and parallel-stratified beds. These facies are interpreted as the deposits of subaqueous cohesionless debris flows and/or high-density turbidity currents. The depositional environment was a deep-water, gravelly fan that draped a fault-controlled, basin-margin slope. The fan is inferred to have passed upslope directly into an alluvial fan (unpreserved); hence, the name fan delta can be applied to the overall depositional system. This type of fan delta, of which the Brae oilfield in the North Sea is an example, is defined here as a deep-water fan delta. The lack of a shelf is in marked contrast to other types of fan delta. Three facies associations are recognized in the Honna Formation: subaqueous proximal-fan conglomerates, distal-fan turbiditic sandstones, and pro-fan/interfan mudstones with thin sandy turbidites. The proximal fan is envisaged as an unchannelled gravel belt with a downslope length of at least 20 km; such a long subaqueous gravel belt lacks a known modern analogue. The distal fan was an unchannelled sandy extension of the proximal gravel belt. It is postulated that the Honna Formation accumulated in a foreland basin which migrated westwards from the Coast Mountains where the Wrangellia-Alexander terrane was colliding with North America. In this model, the Honna fan delta was sourced by a (west-verging) thrust sheet whose sole-thrust was the Sandspit Fault immediately to the east. Deep-water fan deltas appear to develop preferentially when eustatic sea-level is relatively high, so that the‘feeder’ alluvial fan is small, and gravelly throughout. In petroleum exploration and field development, care should be taken to distinguish deep-water fan deltas from base-of-slope (canyon-fed) submarine fans, because the two systems differ significantly in terms of coarse-sediment distribution.     

大型敞流坳陷湖盆浅水三角洲与湖盆中心砂体的形成与分布

大型敞流坳陷湖盆浅水三角洲及湖盆中心砂体已成为中国陆相盆地岩性油气藏最重要的勘探目标。通过对现代典型湖盆浅水三角洲的深入分析,结合我国中、新生代大型坳陷湖盆浅水三角洲及湖盆中心砂体的地质研究,取得以下主要进展与认识：①在分析浅水三角洲形成地质背景的基础上,按照供源体系、湖水深度及三角洲前缘倾斜坡度将湖盆三角洲分为9种成因结构类型;②建立了毯式浅水曲流河三角洲的沉积模式,指出末端分流河道及末端决口扇是浅水曲流河三角洲的典型微相类型;③分析了浅水三角洲砂体大面积分布的形成条件,指出敞流湖盆是湖盆中心浅水三角洲砂体发育的重要条件,敞流通道对湖盆中心砂体分布有重要控制作用;④湖盆中心发育河流、三角洲、湖流及密度底流砂体等牵引流成因砂体,也发育洪水浊积扇及滑塌浊积扇等重力流成因砂体;⑤大型浅水三角洲体系三级层序界面对岩性（成岩）圈闭的发育有重要控制作用,三角洲平原带层序界面上覆叠置砂体富集岩性油气藏,勘探潜力大。本文研究成果希对坳陷湖盆沉积学研究及岩性油气藏勘探能有推动作用。     

Sedimentologic and stratigraphic constraints on emplacement of the Star Kimberlite, east–central Saskatchewan

Diamond-bearing kimberlites in the Fort à la Corne region, east–central Saskatchewan, consist primarily of extra-crater pyroclastic deposits which are interstratified with Lower Cretaceous (Albian and Cenomanian) marine, marginal marine and continental sediments. Approximately 70 individual kimberlite occurrences have been documented. The Star Kimberlite, occurring at the southeastern end of the main Fort à la Corne trend, has been identified as being of economic interest, and is characterized by an excellent drill core database. Integration of multi-disciplinary data-sets has helped to refine and resolve models for emplacement of the Star Kimberlite. Detailed core logging has provided the foundation for sedimentological and volcanological studies and for construction of a regionally consistent stratigraphic and architectural framework for the kimberlite complex. Micropaleontologic and biostratigraphic analysis of selected sedimentary rocks, and U–Pb perovskite geochronology on kimberlite samples have been integrated to define periods of kimberlite emplacement. Radiometric age determination and micropaleontologic evidence support the hypothesis that multiple kimberlite eruptive phases occurred at Star. The oldest kimberlite in the Star body erupted during deposition of the predominantly continental strata of the lower Mannville Group (Cantuar Formation). Kimberlites within the Cantuar Formation include terrestrial airfall deposits as well as fluvially transported kimberlitic sandstone and conglomerate. Successive eruptive events occurred contemporaneous with deposition of the marginal marine upper Mannville Group (Pense Formation). Kimberlites within the Pense Formation consist primarily of terrestrial airfall deposits. Fine- to medium-grained cross-stratified kimberlitic (olivine-dominated) sandstone in this interval reflects reworking of airfall deposits during a regional marine transgression. The location of the source feeder vents of the Cantuar and Pense kimberlite deposits has not been identified. The youngest and volumetrically most significant eruptive events associated with the Star Kimberlite occur within the predominantly marine Lower Colorado Group (Joli Fou and Viking Formations). Kimberlite beds, which occur at several horizons within these units, consist of subaerial and marine fall deposits, the latter commonly exhibiting evidence of wave-reworking. Black shale-encased resedimented kimberlite beds, likely deposited as subaqueous debris flows and turbidites, are particularly common in the Lower Colorado Group. During its multi-eruptive history, the Star Kimberlite body is interpreted to have evolved from a feeder vent and overlying positive-relief tephra ring, into a tephra cone. Initial early Joli Fou volcanism resulted in formation of a feeder vent (200 m diameter) and tephra ring. Subsequent eruptions, dominated by subaerial deposits, partly infilled the crater and constructed a tephra cone. A late Joli Fou eruption formed a small (70 m diameter) feeder pipe slightly offset to the NW of the early Joli Fou feeder vent. Deposits from this event further infilled the crater, and were deposited on top of early Joli Fou kimberlite (proximal to the vent) and sediments of the Joli Fou Formation (distal to the vent). The shape of the tephra cone was modified during multiple marine transgression and regression cycles coeval with deposition of the Lower Colorado Group, resulting in wave-reworked kimberlite sand along the fringes of the cone and kimberlitic event deposits (tempestites, turbidites, debris flows) in more distal settings.     

Sedimentary Response of Different Fan Types to the Paleogene–Neogene Basin Transformation in the Kuqa Depression, Tarim Basin, Xinjiang Province

A group of alluvial fans formed in the early Paleogene represent marginal sedimentary facies at the foot of the South Tianshan Mountain, Kuqa Depression, Tarim Basin, Xinjiang province. Two types of fans occurred in the middle–late Paleogene Kumugeliemu and Suweiyi formations: one alluvial, and the other fan delta deposited in a lacustrine setting. Within the early Neogene Jidike Formation, coastal subaqueous fans developed, probably in a deeper water lacustrine setting. The three types of fans are stacked vertically in outcrop with the sequence in ascending order: bottom alluvial, middle fan-delta, and top subaqueous. The subaqueous is a typical coarse-fan deposit occurring in the glutinite member of the Jidike Formation in some wells. Laterally, from the foreland to the lacustrine settings, the distribution pattern of sedimentary facies represents the same three fan types sequentially. The spatial distribution of these fans was controlled by the Paleogene–Neogene Basin transformation, and evolution with different types of fans developed in the Kuqa Depression in response. In the Paleogene, the Kuqa Depression was a rift basin where an alluvial fan was deposited in the foreland setting, which, by early Neogene, became a foreland basin when the lake level changed. With any rise in lake level, fan-deltas migrated from lacustrine to foreland settings, whereas when the lake level fell, fan migration was reversed. In the early Neogene, with increasing slope and rising lake level, fans progressed and covered the previous fan-delta and lacustrine mudstone. Eventually, subaqueous fans developed, forming the present spatial configuration of these three fan types.     

Ice‐marginal forced regressive deltas in glacial lake basins: geomorphology,facies variability and large‐scale depositional architecture

This study presents a synthesis of the geomorphology, facies variability and depositional architecture of ice‐marginal deltas affected by rapid lake‐level change. The integration of digital elevation models, outcrop, borehole, ground‐penetrating radar and high‐resolution shear‐wave seismic data allows for a comprehensive analysis of these delta systems and provides information about the distinct types of deltaic facies and geometries generated under different lake‐level trends. The exposed delta sediments record mainly the phase of maximum lake level and subsequent lake drainage. The stair‐stepped profiles of the delta systems reflect the progressive basinward lobe deposition during forced regression when the lakes successively drained. Depending on the rate and magnitude of lake‐level fall, fan‐shaped, lobate or more digitate tongue‐like delta morphologies developed. Deposits of the stair‐stepped transgressive delta bodies are buried, downlapped and onlapped by the younger forced regressive deposits. The delta styles comprise both Gilbert‐type deltas and shoal‐water deltas. The sedimentary facies of the steep Gilbert‐type delta foresets include a wide range of gravity‐flow deposits. Delta deposits of the forced‐regressive phase are commonly dominated by coarse‐grained debrisflow deposits, indicating strong upslope erosion and cannibalization of older delta deposits. Deposits of supercritical turbidity currents are particularly common in sand‐rich Gilbert‐type deltas that formed during slow rises in lake level and during highstands. Foreset beds consist typically of laterally and vertically stacked deposits of antidunes and cyclic steps. The trigger mechanisms for these supercritical turbidity currents were both hyperpycnal meltwater flows and slope‐failure events. Shoal‐water deltas formed at low water depths during both low rates of lake‐level rise and forced regression. Deposition occurred from tractional flows. Transgressive mouthbars form laterally extensive sand‐rich delta bodies with a digitate, multi‐tongue morphology. In contrast, forced regressive gravelly shoal‐water deltas show a high dispersion of flow directions and form laterally overlapping delta lobes. Deformation structures in the forced‐regressive ice‐marginal deltas are mainly extensional features, including normal faults, small graben or half‐graben structures and shear‐deformation bands, which are related to gravitational delta tectonics, postglacial faulting during glacial‐isostatic adjustment, and crestal collapse above salt domes. A neotectonic component cannot be ruled out in some cases.     

Sedimentation,tectonism and volcanism relationships in two Andean basins of southern Peru

The intermontane basins of the Central Andes, formed from the first episode of the andine tectonic (peruvian phase, Santonian), are characterized by a clastic continental sedimentation, settled in a compressive tectonic context and containing volcanic intercalations. The two basins presented in this paper, have distinct ages and a different geodynamic context, each:

1. The Cuzco-Sicuam Basin, Maestrichtian-Paleocene in age, is a back-arc basin. A coarse grained red bed sedimentation appeared at the same time as the synsedimentary tectonic and volcanic activity increased in the source area.
2. The Moquegua Basin, Oligocene in age, is a fore-arc basin. After a compressive phase, the northeastern border of the basin shows high mobility, characterized by superposed alluvial fans. Within the basin, the coarse grained sediments are associated with volcanic tuffs.

In the two basins, the tectonism, the volcanism and the coarse grained sedimentation occured simultaneously. The coarse grained sedimentation does not appear to be linked with climatic changes, but with the increasing mobility of the source area. The relationship between tectonic regime and volcanic activity in the basin and in the source area is considered.     

Depositional model for lacustrine nearshore subaqueous fans in a rift basin: The Eocene Shahejie Formation,Dongying Sag,Bohai Bay Basin,China

The origin of the fourth member of the Eocene Shahejie Formation in the northern steep slopes of the Minfeng Sub‐sag, Dongying Sag, China, was investigated by integrating core studies and flume tank depositional simulations. A non‐channelized depositional model is proposed in this paper for nearshore subaqueous fans in steep fault‐controlled slopes of lacustrine rift basins. The deposits of nearshore subaqueous fans along the base of steep border‐fault slopes of rift basins are typically composed of deep‐water coarse‐grained sediment gravity‐flow deposits directly sourced from adjacent footwalls. Sedimentation processes of nearshore subaqueous fans respond to tectonic activities of boundary faults and to seasonal rainfall. During tectonically active stages, subaqueous debris flows triggered by episodic movements of border‐faults dominate the sedimentation. During tectonically quiescent stages, hyperpycnal flows generated by seasonal rainfall‐generated floods, normal discharges of mountain‐derived rivers and deep‐lacustrine suspension sedimentation are commonly present. The results of a series of flume tank depositional simulations show that the sediments deposited by subaqueous debris flows are wedge‐shaped and non‐channelized, whereas the sediments deposited by hyperpycnal flows generated by sporadic floods from seasonal rainfall are characterized by non‐channelized, coarse‐grained lobate depositional bodies which switch laterally because of compensation sedimentation of hyperpycanal flows. The hyperpycnal‐flow‐deposited non‐channelized lobate depositional bodies can be divided into a main body and lateral edges. The main body can be further subdivided into a proximal part, middle part and frontal part. Normal mountain‐derived river‐discharge‐deposited sediments are characterized by thin‐bedded, fine‐grained sandstones and siltstones with a limited distribution range. Normal mountain‐derived river‐discharge‐deposited sediments and deep‐lacustrine mudstones are commonly eroded in the area close to boundary faults. A nearshore subaqueous fan can be divided into three segments: inner fan, middle fan and outer fan. The inner fan is composed of debrites and the proximal part of the main body. The middle fan consists of the middle part of the main body and lateral edges, normal mountain‐derived river‐discharge‐deposited fine‐grained sediments and deep‐lacustrine mudstones. The outer fan comprises the frontal part of the main body, lateral edges, and deep‐lacustrine mudstones. Based on the non‐channelized depositional model for nearshore subaqueous fans, criteria for stratigraphic subdivision and correlation are discussed and applied.     

Geomorphology of the eastern coast of the Dead Sea, Jordan

This paper aims to investigate the geomorphological characteristics of theeastern coast of the Dead Sea as influenced by structural instability andclimatic changes. Aerial photos and map analyses served to distinguish mainmorphological features and slope classes, whereas geomorphological changesalong the cost, mainly those developed by the declining of the Dead Sealevels were located and examined in the field. The eastern coast of the DeadSea was considered an ultimate outcome of stream work practiced undercontrols of sea-level lowerings. Climatic, hydrological and structuralinstabilities characterizing the study coast put watersheds and wadisdraining into the sea under accelerated erosion that produced huge volumes ofsediments to be deposited in the upper levels of the subsiding former lakesof the Dead Sea. Retrogradation exposed subaqueous deltaic-fluviatileformations, contributing to coastal geomorphological development. Also,present climatic seasonal fluctuations, rejuvenating stream work, continue tosubject past depositional environments to denudation as the stream distanceof transport is increased, and newer subaqueous deltas are being formed.Weathering and mass-wasting processes added to such a development byenhancing the formation of karst, tofoni and pedestal features as well as thehigh erodibility rate of deltaic sediments which endagers constructionalprojects along the study coast.     

准噶尔盆地乌夏地区二叠纪构造控扇作用

乌夏前陆冲断带二叠系构造层序特征、沉积相特征及断裂特征研究表明,二叠纪乌夏地区系受到推覆体严格控制的周缘前陆盆地,主要发育水下扇-扇三角洲-冲积扇-湖泊沉积体系,其中扇体发育代表了最典型的沉积特征.受海西运动晚期的影响,构造演化经历了强烈俯冲碰撞造山期、弱冲断夹短暂伸展火山期和强烈冲断复活期3个阶段,并形成了众多走向不同却又彼此相互切割叠加的逆冲断裂,影响了地层的沉积与剥蚀,控制了断裂带的形成和演化.由早至晚扇体由山前向盆内呈前展式夹短暂退覆式叠置迁移,相应地,二叠纪以北东东向断裂为主,并从山前向盆地方向依次发育,其间夹杂短暂后展式发育,构造活动强度逐渐由西向东、由北向南迁移,因此,绝大多数同生断裂控制了扇体的沉积边界和分布,部分控制了其厚度和发育方向,扇体的迁移与控扇断裂的活动迁移具有很好的吻合性,断裂活动是控制乌夏地区沉积的主要因素.     

The environment in and around ice-dammed lakes in the moderately high relief setting of the southern Canadian Cordillera

During decay of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet, ˜13 000–10000 cal. yr BP, numerous ice-dammed, ribbon-shaped lakes developed within the moderately deep valleys of the Interior Plateau of British Columbia. We describe the pattern and characteristics of lake sediments within the Thompson Valley, propose a palaeoenvironmental model for glacial lakes Thompson and Deadman and explore their implications for the palaeogeography of Cordilleran Ice Sheet decay. Seventeen glaciolacustrine lithofacies are identified within deltas, subaqueous fans and lake-bottom beds. Sediments accumulated at high rates and by a diversity of sediment dispersal and depositional processes: hyperpycnal and surge-type turbidity currents, grain flows and debris flows. Megascale subaqueous failures (tens of metres thick) were facilitated by high sedimentation rates. The palaeoenvironmental model highlights: (i) high rates of basin infilling; (ii) the dominant role of tributary rivers, rather than valley-occupying ice, in delivering water and sediment to lakes; and (iii) the role of melt cycles, jökulhlaups and hyperpycnal flows in sediment delivery. These conditions, in combination with a lack of organics and a fining upward sequence in lake sediments, suggest that glacial lakes Thompson and Deadman were coeval with dwindling plateau ice.     

Sheet-flow deposits of graded beds and mudstones on an alluvial sandflat-playa system: Upper Triassic Blomidon redbeds, St Mary's Bay, Nova Scotia

The 400 m of Blomidon redbeds accumulated in a semi-arid rift valley in the subtropics. At St Mary's Bay, these redbeds are 64% sandy mudstone (playa mudflats), 25% graded beds (sandflats at the toes of alluvial fans), 10% fissile claystone (playa lakes), and 1% channel sandstone (stream channels). Flash floods in mountains south of the valley flowed down alluvial fans to spread out to the north-east as sheet flows on sandflats and playa mudflats. Deceleration of the sheet flows deposited graded beds 2–83 cm in thickness on the sandflats and thin layers of mud on the playas. Nine sequences, consisting of arrangements of six lithologies, compose 90% of the graded beds. In order of decreasing abundance, these are: ripple cross-laminated siltstone → horizontally laminated mudstone; fining-upward, ripple cross-laminated siltstone; ripple cross-laminated sandstone → horizontally laminated mudstone; cross-bedded sandstone horizontally laminated mudstone; ripple cross-laminated sandstone → ripple cross-laminated siltstone; rippledrift cross-laminated siltstone horizontally laminated mudstone; fining-upward, ripple-drift cross-laminated siltstone; cross-bedded sandstone → ripple cross-laminated siltstone; and cross-bedded sandstone → ripple cross-laminated siltstone → horizontally laminated mudstone. The sheet flows, perhaps up to 1 m in depth, had a high concentration of suspended load. Deposition was dominantly during lower flow regime conditions and moderate to rapid flow deceleration. There are 32 thinning and fining-up cycles where a sandflat package of graded beds is transitionally followed by a playa package of sandy mudstone. The cycles range in thickness from 1·3 to 13·3 m, averaging 4·6 m. Each cycle is initiated by avulsion to a new active channel network on a fan. Gradual abandonment of the channel network produces the thinning and fining-up cycle. The cycles are grouped in three 60–70 m fining-up megacycles. Upwards within each megacycle, the packages of sandy mudstone compose a progressively larger proportion of the cycles. Each megacycle evidently was initiated by a brief period of tectonic movement on the border faults that produced greater relief of the highlands relative to the valley floor. Subsequent erosion gradually lowered the relief to yield a fining-up megacycle.     

Stratigraphic architecture and sedimentology of a Late Pleistocene subaqueous moraine complex,southwest Ireland

Glacigenic sediments exposed in coastal cliffs cut through undulatory terrain fronting the Last Glacial Maximum laterofrontal moraine at Waterville on the Iveragh Peninsula, southwest Ireland, comprise three lithofacies. Lithofacies 1 and 2 consist of interdigitated, offlapping and superimposed ice‐proximal subaqueous outwash and stacked sequences of cohesionless and cohesive subaqueous debris flows, winnowed lag gravels and coarse‐grained suspension deposits. These are indicative of sedimentation in and around small grounding line fans that prograded from an oscillating glacier margin into a proglacial, interlobate lake. Lithofacies 3 comprises braided river deposits that have undergone significant syn‐sedimentary soft‐sediment deformation. Deposition was likely related to proglacial outwash activity and records the reduction of accommodation space for subaqueous sedimentation, either through the lowering of proglacial water levels or due to basin infilling. The stratigraphic architecture and sedimentology of the moraine at Waterville highlight the role of ice‐marginal depositional processes in the construction of morphostratigraphically significant ‘end moraine’ complexes in Great Britain and Ireland. Traditional ‘tills’ in these moraines are often crudely stratified diamictons and gravelly clinoforms deposited in ice‐proximal subaqueous and subaerial fans. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.