Intraplate volcanism in the Danube Basin of NW Hungary: 3D geophysical modelling of the Late Miocene Pásztori volcano

International Journal of Earth Sciences - Three-dimensional geophysical modelling of the early Late Miocene Pásztori volcano (ca. 11–10 Ma) and adjacent area in the Little...     

Palaeoecological background of the Upper Palaeolithic site of Ságvár,Hungary: radiocarbon-dated malacological and sedimentological studies on the Late Pleistocene environment

In this paper, the authors present new palaeoecological and sedimentological results from the Upper Palaeolithic site of Ságvár, Hungary. Simple (abundance and dominance) and advanced (cluster analysis, principal component analysis, correspondence) statistical analyses of malacological results were carried out, determining eight malacological zones (MZs) and the key species of the fauna evolution in the sequence. Furthermore, an age–depth model was calculated via Bayesian modelling using new radiocarbon age data. The accumulation rate (AR) was calculated by deriving data from the age–depth model. The palaeoecological reconstruction indicated a cool/cold climate and chiefly steppe environment, with low loess ARs. Not only the vegetation cover but also the geographical setting of the sequence could have led to the low AR values. However, in the uppermost part of the sequence, during the GS 3 and GS 2.1c stadials, the reconstructed palaeoclimate indicated a warming period. Nevertheless, this contradiction is not unique in the Carpathian Basin. The settled Upper Palaeolithic hunters around 22 300 cal a bp lived in a progressively warming wooded steppe environment, hunting mainly for reindeer. Climate change might have forced them to migrate away, following the reindeer.     

Facies analysis and depositional environments of the Oligocene–Miocene Asmari Formation, Zagros Basin, Iran

The Asmari Formation(a giant hydrocarbon reservoir)is a thick carbonate sequence of the Oligocenee Miocene in the Zagros Basin,southwest of Iran.This formation is exposed at Tang-e-Lendeh in the Fars interior zone with a thickness of 190 m comprising medium and thick to massive bedded carbonates.The age of the Asmari Formation in the study area is the late Oligocene(Chattian)eearly Miocene(Burdigalian).Ten microfacies are defned,characterizing a gradual shallowing upward trend;the related environments are as follows:open marine(MF 8e10),restricted lagoon(MF 6e7),shoal(MF 3e5),lagoon(MF 2),and tidal fat(MF 1).Based on the environmental interpretations,a homoclinal ramp consisting of inner and middle parts prevails.MF 3e7 are characterized by the occurrence of large and small porcelaneous benthic foraminifera representing a shallow-water setting of an inner ramp,infuenced by wave and tidal processes.MF 8e10,with large particles of coral and algae,represent a deeper fair weather wave base of a middle ramp setting.     

Lake Sequence Stratigraphy of the Shahejie Formation in the Zhanhua Hollow, Shandong Province

Two sequences can be identified in the sedimentary strata of the lower Tertiary ShahejieFormation in the Zhanhua hollow. The lowstand, lake-transgressive and highstand systemstracts were formed under the control of ancient structure, palaeotopography, palaeoclimate, sed-iment supply, marine-transgression, and so on. In the paper the authors present a composite se-quence stratigraphical section of the Shahejie Formation in this area, and expound the bounda-ries of parasequences, parasequences set and systems tracts and evolutions of lake sequencestratigraphy and sedimentology and discuss various factors controlling the lake level fluctuation.The differences between lake and marine sequence stratigraphy are also indicated in the paper.The lake sequence stratigraphical study should be based on a synthetic analysis of structural evo-lution, palaeomagnetism, palaeoclimatic changes, geological Well logs, seismic and logging data,palaeontological data, global sea level changes, and so on. The sequence stratigraphical evolutionis closely related to the formation, development and elimination of the whole basin and thesedimentary process.     

Sedimentology and facies analysis of Miocene mixed siliciclastic–carbonate deposits of the Dam Formation in Al Lidam area,eastern Saudi Arabia

The Burdigalian mixed siliciclastic–carbonate deposits of the Dam Formation are well-exposed in Al Lidam area, in the eastern province of Saudi Arabia. They represent a shallow part of the Arabian plate continental margin. The Dam Formation is correlatable to the Miocene reservoirs in both Iran and Iraq. Therefore, studying the Dam Formation lithologic heterogeneity in a small distance with high resolution could help in further work related to pattern prediction of the Miocene reservoir properties. High-resolution sedimentological investigation was carried out through six outcrops. The facies parameters (lithology, sedimentary structures, main fossils, paleocurrent patterns and geometries of the sedimentary bodies) were described. The results revealed 15 lithofacies that have been further grouped into 7 lithofacies associations 5 of which are carbonates and include (1) interbedded dolostone and evaporates, (2) microbialite buildup, (3) ooid-dominated grainstones, (4) burrowed skeletal peloidal wackestone–packstone and (5) mollusc-dominated wackestone–packstone. The remaining two associations are of siliciclastics and include (6) intertidal siliciclastics and (7) wave-dominated siliciclastics. These lithofacies were interpreted to reflect deposition in a mixed siliciclastic–carbonate ramp system that includes subtidal, shoreface, intertidal, foreshore, supratidal and estuarine deposits in a shallowing-upward succession. Each one of these lithofacies association has distinct geometry and architecture pattern. Oolites and heterozoan lithofacies occur as sheets and show great continuity along the strike direction. Oolites pass laterally in the dip direction into more skeletal- and peloid-dominated zones, whereas heterozoan lithofacies stay continuous in the dip directions and change from siliciclastic to carbonate heterozones. In contrast, microbialite lithofacies lack continuous beds and occur as localised bioherms and biostroms. Channelised lithofacies are restricted laterally into isolated channel bodies and vertically in the contact boundary between siliciclastic and carbonate lithofacies, whereas the interbedded dolostone and evaporite lithofacies form distinct, relatively thick continuous layers. With continuous exposures in both strike (1.2 km) and dip (0.15 km) directions, the outcrops in the Al Lidam area provide unique opportunity to study the heterogeneity among lithofacies of the mixed siliciclastic–carbonate system of the Dam Formation. Such study may provide insights to predict occurrence and distribution of lithofacies bodies in their equivalent reservoirs which are important for reservoir characterisation.     

Provenance of the Upper Triassic siliciclastics of the Mecsek Mountains and Villány Hills (Pannonian Basin,Hungary): constraints to the Early Mesozoic paleogeography of the Tisza Megaunit

International Journal of Earth Sciences - The Tisza Megaunit in the Southern Pannonian Basin formed part of the southern margin of the European Plate in the Early Mesozoic era. Its exact...     

A Periglacial Palaeoenvionment in the Upper Carboniferous–Lower Permian Tobra Formation of the Salt Range, Pakistan

The Upper Carboniferous—Lower Permian(Upper Pennsylvanian-Asselian) Tobra Formation is exposed in the Salt and Trans Indus ranges of Pakistan.The formation exhibits an alluvial plain(alluvial fan-piedmont alluvial plain) facies association in the Salt Range and Khisor Range.In addition,a stream flow facies association is restricted to the eastern Salt Range.The alluvial plain facies association is comprised of clast-supported massive conglomerate(Gmc),diamictite(Dm)facies,and massive sandstone(Sm) Hthofacies whereas the stream flow-dominated alluvial plain facies association includes fine-grained sandstone and siltstone(Fss),fining upwards pebbly sandstone(Sf),and massive mudstone(Fm) Hthofacies.The lack of glacial signatures(particularly glacial grooves and striatums) in the deposits in the Tobra Formation,which are,in contrast,present in their timeequivalent and palaeogeographically nearby strata of the Arabian peninsula,e.g.the AI Khlata Formation of Oman and Unayzah B member of the Saudi Arabia,suggests a pro-to periglacial,i.e.glaciofluvial depositional setting for the Tobra Formation.The sedimentology of the Tobra Formation attests that the Salt Range,Pakistan,occupied a palaeogeographic position just beyond the maximum glacial extent during Upper Pennsylvanian-Asselian time.     

Kalligrammatid Lacewings from the Upper Jurassic Daohugou Formation in Inner Mongolia, China

A new species, referable to a new genus, is erected, and named the Sinokalligramma jurassicum gen. et sp. nov. It is the second finding of kalligrammatids in the Daohugou Formation. The origin and migration of the family Kalligrammatidae are discussed. The geological age and stratigraphic correlation of the Daohugou and Karabastau Formations are briefly reviewed and reassessed.     

Fe-Mn oxide indications in the feeder and mound zone of the Jurassic Mn-carbonate ore deposit, Úrkút,Hungary

The Úrkút manganese deposit, one of the World's largest, is located in the central part of the Transdanubian Range, western Hungary. The deposit is interbedded with Mesozoic limemarlstone. The Fe-Mn-oxide indications of a feeder and mound zone embedded in limemarlstone at the footwall of the Mn-carbonate ore deposit were studied using 45 samples (Úrkút Mine, Shaft III, deep level). Microstructural and textural (optical microscopy, SEM-EDS) observations, mineralogy (XRD-μXRD), and geochemistry (ICP, C and O by IR-MS) were used to characterize the host marlstone and the Fe-Mn oxides of the feeder and mound zone. High-resolution in situ and bulk organic matter analyses were performed for the first time using GC–MS, FTIR-ATR, and Raman spectroscopy. Stromatolite-like, filamentous and coccoid microstuctures built up of Fe-Mn-oxides (ferrihydrite, goethite, manganite, pyrolusite, hollandite, birnessite, hausmannite) and silica occur in the micritic marlstone host rock among common calcite biodebris (microfossils and Echinozoa fragments) and rare detrital clasts (quartz, feldspar). The clay minerals occur as greenish patches in the limemarlstone and show boring traces. The calcite matrix of the limemarlstone and idiomorphic dolomite are authigenic. δ¹³C_PDB values of the carbonate in the host limemarlstone reflect greater organic matter contributions approaching the mineralized areas (0.64 to − 21.35‰). Temperature calculation based on δ¹⁸O_SMOW values of the carbonate, assuming equilibrium conditions, show elevated temperatures toward the mineralized areas (9.93 to 29.87‰). In places, the Mn oxides appear with Fe oxides in laminated, micro-stromatolite-like structures. In these oxide zones, variable kinds of organic compounds occur as intercalated microlaminae identified by FTIR and Raman line-profile analyses as aromatic hydrocarbons. Results indicate that metal-bearing fluids infiltered the unconsolidated micritic limemarl. Fe-oxide enrichment occurred most probably through iron oxidizing microbes under suboxic, neutrophilic conditions, while Mn oxide formed most probably by active surface catalyses. At the sediment/water interface, Fe-Mn-oxide stromatolite mounds (chimneys) formed in rift zones from the discharge of fluids of elevated temperature. The host marl itself may have originated by microbially mediated reactions (clay minerals and calcite micrite).     

Magnetostratigraphy of the Miocene Las Arcas Formation,Santa María Valley,northwestern Argentina

The first magnetostratigraphic study of the Las Arcas Formation (Late Miocene) was carried out in Las Totoritas creek (26º12′S; 65º47′W, NW Argentina), a key place in between of two geological provinces: Northwestern Pampean Ranges and Eastern Cordillera, in northwestern Argentina. This was accompanied by isotopic dating (9.01 ± 0.12 Ma, ⁴⁰Ar–³⁹Ar in amphibole) of the unit, obtained from a 3.4 m thick tuff intercalated at ∼45 m above the base. The Las Arcas Formation is 810 m thick at the sampling locality and it is mainly composed of tabular reddish conglomerates, sandstones and siltstones in both coarsening- and thickening-upward arrangements. The exposed section was sampled at 48 sites, 26 of which are interpreted as carrying primary magnetization. The new magnetostratigraphic column was correlated with the Geomagnetic Polarity Time Scale (GPTS), and suggests that deposition of the Las Arcas Formation strata started at around 9.1 Ma and ended around 6.8 Ma. The paleomagnetic pole obtained for this unit (Dec = 8.7° Inc = −43.9° dp = 14.9 dm 9.3) indicates that this area underwent non-significant rotation (11.0° ± 13.6°) since the Late Miocene.     

A lagoonal interlude with occasional hypersalinity in the deposition of the Early–Middle Miocene Brasso Formation of Trinidad

An outcrop of the Early–Middle Miocene age Brasso Formation along the Guaico-Tamana Road of Trinidad was logged and sampled for 20 m at 1 m intervals. The log revealed two sand- and silt-rich successions separated by a claystone-rich interval with thinner sands. One horizon yielded gypsum that is concluded to indicate that conditions occasionally became hypersaline. With the exception of one laminated siltstone interval ～1 m thick, all the beds lacked primary sedimentary structures, but many contained much mollusc debris. The lack of primary structures is thought to reflect bioturbation. Pyrite was common throughout much of the section, but replaced by hematite in two intervals. The pyrite is indicative of anoxic conditions in the sediment below the bioturbated layer, while the hematite shows that conditions occasionally became strongly oxic. The development of low-diversity benthonic foraminiferal communities dominated by porcellaneous-walled Quinqueloculina seminulangulata supports a model of occasional hypersalinity. These conditions are concluded to have developed in a leaky lagoon situated between the carbonate bioherms of the Tamana Formation of Central Trinidad and the mountainous allochthon of the Northern Range. Occasional high numbers of planktonic foraminifera are suggested to result from onshore winds blowing surface seawater into the lagoon. The lagoonal interlude came at the end of a tectonically-induced transgressive–regressive cycle. The influence of tectonics on the deposition of the Brasso Formation complicates at least for the Early–Middle Miocene any attempt to tie the sequence stratigraphy of Trinidad to a global sea-level model. It remains to be seen how much this is true for the remainder of the Neogene succession.     

Features and Formation Mechanism of Faults and Potash-forming Effect in the Lop Nur Salt Lake, Xinjiang, China

1 Introduction The Lop Nur Salt Lake, located in the eastern part of the Tarim Basin, Xinjiang, China, has become a playa in the Quaternary. It is under the jurisdiction of Ruoqiang County, Xinjiang, being ~450 km east of Korla City, the capital of the Bayingolin Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture (Fig. 1), and 300 km south of the seat of Shanshan County. The geographic coordinates are 90o00'–91o30' E and 39o40'– 41o20' N. Field survey and drilling since 1995 have revealed an occurren…     

Larger Foraminiferal Biostratigraphy and Facies Analysis of the Oligocene–Miocene Asmari Formation in the Western Fars Sub-basin, Zagros Mountains, Iran

The Oligocene–Miocene carbonate record of the Zagros Mountains, known as the Asmari Formation, constitutes an important hydrocarbon reservoir in southern Iran. This marine carbonate succession, which developed under tropical conditions, is explored in terms of larger foraminiferal biostratigraphy, facies analysis and sequence stratigraphy in a new section at Papoon cropping out in the western Fars sub-basin, in the south-east of the Zagros belt. Facies analysis shows evidence of re-working and transport of skeletal components throughout the depositional system, interpreted here as a carbonate ramp. The foraminifera-based biozones identified include the Globigerina–Turborotalia cerroazulensis–Hantkenina Zone and Nummulites vascus–Nummulites fichteli Zone, both of Rupelian age, the Archaias asmaricus–Archaias hensoni–Miogypsinoides complanatus Zone of Chattian age and the ‘Indeterminate’ Zone of Aquitanian age. The vertical sedimentary evolution of the formation exhibits a progressive shallowing of the facies belts and thus the succession is interpreted as a high-rank low-order regressive systems tract. This long-lasting Rupelian–Aquitanian regressive event is in accordance with accepted global long-term eustatic curves. Accordingly, long-term eustatic trends would have been a factor controlling accommodation during the deposition of the Asmari Formation studied in the western Fars sub-basin.     

Foraminiferal biofacies in the San José Calcareous Silt Member (Manzanilla Formation,Upper Miocene to Lower Pliocene) in the Manzanilla Bay area,north-east Trinidad,and their environmental significance

The Miocene–Pliocene Manzanilla Formation of northern Trinidad marks the arrival of the east-west flowing Orinoco River. Foraminifera were examined quantitatively in samples obtained at ∼5 m intervals from the lowest member of the formation, the San José Calcareous Silt Member, where exposed at eastern Manzanilla Bay and Point Noir. Recovery of Globorotalia merotumida indicates an age within the Globorotalia acostaensis Zone through Globorotalia margaritae evoluta Subzone, (N16–N19). Values of the information function (H) and the percentage of the total assemblage as planktonic foraminifera (%P), both traditionally used as palaeodepth indicators, were uncorrelated. The low values of H are indicative of freshwater influence. Cluster analysis revealed two major biofacies dominated by Pseudononion atlanticum and Hanzawaia carstensi respectively, for which similar values of mean H and mean %P suggest similar, inner to middle neritic palaeodepths, the P. atlanticum Biofacies indicating times of hypoxia. Entrained within these were rarer samples from a biofacies indicative of shallowing and increased freshwater input (Ammonia parkinsonia gr. Biofacies). An Amphistegina gibbosa Biofacies marked an interval in which water because sufficiently clear to support foraminifera symbiotic with algae, while a sample containing only Haplophragmoides wilberti was indicative of intertidal conditions. Some samples containing reddened foraminifera showed that deposition occasionally became very slow, but these were not limited to any one biofacies. The range of palaeodepths in which the San José Calcareous Silt Member was deposited is far less than in the underlying Brasso Formation, indicating that tectonic induction of transgressive–regressive cycles was slighter during San José times.     

Conceptual model for surface salinization in an overpressured and a superimposed gravity-flow field, Lake Kelemensz��k area, Hungary

The Duna-Tisza Interfluve, Hungary, is characterized by patchy surface salinization. However, in the Duna Valley, salinized wetlands appear in a N?CS trending continuous zone (Lake Kelemenszék area). The source of the salts is reported to be the overpressured NaCl-type water of the Pre-Neogene basement and the NaHCO₃-type water of the Neogene sediments. This ??basement and basin origin of salts?? concept is based on the strong correlation between the regional distribution of surface salinization and the basinal flow pattern. This study, applying integrated methods, presents hydrogeological evidence for this theory and creates a conceptual model for the salinization. The model reflects that the basement water rises near to the surface through conductive faults crosscutting an extensive aquitard and aquifer. These faults ensure ??shortcut??-type water exchange between the basement and the uppermost aquifer. This hydraulic setting generates chemical anomalies in this aquifer up to the surface, producing Na?CHCO₃?CCl-type water. This water causes extensive surface salinization in those discharge areas where the infiltrating freshwater does not superimpose the upwelling saline water. Where a freshwater lens is located above the ascending saline water, this fresh gravity-driven flow controls the surface distribution of salts, which results in saline patches.     

Sedimentological and Petrographical Aspects of Upper Miocene Evaporites in the Beypazari and Çankiri-Çorum Basins,Central Anatolia,Turkey

The Southeast Anatolian orogen is a part of the eastern Mediterranean-Himalayan orogenic belt. Development of the Southeast Anatolian orogen began with the first ophiolite obduction onto the Arabian platform during the Late Cretaceous, and it continued until the Miocene. Its lingering effects continue to be discernible at present. During the Late Cretaceous-Miocene interval, three major deformational phases occurred, related to Late Cretaceous, Eocene, and Miocene nappe emplacements. The Miocene nappes are composed of ophiolites and metamorphic massifs.

For a decade, field studies in the region have shown that strike-slip tectonics played a role complementary to the major horizontal effects of the nappe movement, as indicated by: (1) fault systems active during the Eocene; (2) different Eocene rock units composed of coeval continental and deep-sea deposits and presently tectonically juxtaposed; and (3) other stratigraphic and structural data obtained across the present strike-slip fault zones.

These strike-slip faults possibly resulted from oblique subduction of the mid-oceanic ridge underneath the northerly situated Yuksekova ensimatic island-arc complex, causing a gradual cessation of the island-arc system. The subduction also led to the development of a back-arc pull-apart basin, i.e., the Maden basin, which opened on the upper plate. The geologic history in Southeast Anatolia resembles the development of the San Andreas fault system and subsequent tectonic evolution.     

Structure of the Wollaston Lake Reflector (Trans-Hudson Orogen, Canada) from reflection AVO analysis: Fractured diabase intrusion, fluids, or silicified shear zone?

A nearly 160-km long Wollaston Lake Reflector (WLR) observed in seismic reflection profile S2b of the 1994 Lithoprobe Trans-Hudson Orogen transect (THOT) in northern Saskatchewan (Canada) is among the most spectacular and well-recorded features imaged within the crystalline crust. Based on modeling of its normal-incidence reflectivity, the observed bright spot reflector was originally interpreted as a series of tabular diabase intrusions. In order to further elucidate its structure, we reprocessed line S2b and analysed the WLR for the Amplitude Variations with Offset (AVO). By contrast to conventional (approximate) AVO analysis, we used the exact Zoeppritz equations and considered a thin-layer (mixed positive and negative polarities) reflectivity. The results suggest two possible interpretations of the WLR: 1) the reflector caused by a massive mafic intrusion as suggested earlier, in which case the intruded rocks should have anomalous Poisson's ratios of σ ≥ 0.33, and 2) the WLR represents a silicified shear zone, with only moderate (e.g.,  5–10%) alteration of the host rock and σ ≈ 0.2. Although both of these models may to some extent co-exist within the WLR, its brightness, sharpness, great lateral extent and smooth shape favour the second interpretation.In both models, a fractured fluid-filled zone within a major crustal detachment should have played a key role in the formation of the WLR. The association of the reflector with laterally- and depth-migrating fluids is also supported by magneto-telluric measurements of crustal conductivity beneath the WLR. Analogies from the studies of the Kola Superdeep Borehole (Russia), where free or metamorphic fluids were found at comparable depths, also suggest that fluids may contribute to WLR structure and formation.     

Changes in Calcareous Nannofossil Assemblages and Paleoenvironmental Interpretation of the Early Miocene Lice Formation, Kahramanmaraş Basin, Turkey, East Mediterranean

This study investigated the calcareous nannofossil assemblages in detail from the early Miocene aged Lice Formation outcropping in the Kahramanmara? basin. The biostratigraphy of calcareous nannofossils was outlined and paleoenvironmental features determined. In 81 samples taken from three measured sections in the region, 17 calcareous nannofossil genus and 48 nannofossil species were identified. These calcareous nannofossil genus and species identified the Lice Formation as being in the CNM4 nannofossil biozone. The abundance and diversity of early Miocene calcareous nannofossil species varied in the measured sections, with the samples generally moderate-poor, apart from a few samples. The relative abundance of individuals of Cyclicargolithus floridanus, Coccolithus pelagicus, Reticulofenestra hagii and Sphenolithus moriformis species, with paleoecological importance identified in the study region, indicate that in early Miocene times, the basin in which the Lice Formation deposited was meso-eutrophic with excess nutrient input, temperate and generally stable shallow marine conditions.