A truly gigantic pliosaur (Reptilia,Sauropterygia) from the Kimmeridge Clay Formation (Upper Jurassic,Kimmeridgian) of England

Four isolated cervical vertebrae from the Kimmeridge Clay Formation (Upper Jurassic, Kimmeridgian) of Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England are identified as from a pliosaurid plesiosaurian sauropterygian on account of their shortness relative to width and height, their near platycoelous nature and the location of tall rib facets on the centrum body. They are noteworthy for their size, with a maximum width of 269 mm, maximum height of 222 mm and maximum length of 103 mm. Simple scaling and comparisons with cervical vertebrae of Mid Jurassic pliosaurs Peloneustes and Liopleurodon, and the Early Cretaceous Stenorhynchosaurus and Sachicasaurus suggest a total body length of between ~ 9.8 m and 14.4 m for the Abingdon Kimmeridge Clay pliosaur. Likely the true length was towards the higher end of this range.A genus and species cannot be confidently determined on the basis of the described material, but they likely belong to Pliosaurus sp. or a similar animal, for which a precise neck length is not known. We estimate a neck length of 0.77 m for Pliosaurus ?brachyspondylus based on the average cervical lengths provided for specimen CAMSM J.35991.     

鄂尔多斯盆地甘泉地区下侏罗统高分辨率层序地层学分析

根据层序沉积时限以及基准面旋回界面识别标志,运用高分辨率层序地层学理论和方法,对鄂尔多斯盆地中南部甘泉地区下侏罗统进行了划分。识别出下侏罗统各级旋回层序界面,并将其划分为1个超长期、8个长期、32个中期、86个短期旋回层序。应用地层等时对比技术,以长期旋回层序为地层对比框架、中期旋回层序为地层对比单元,建立了研究区下侏罗统等时地层格架。下侏罗统沉积于盆地基底快速沉降、缓慢抬升的构造环境,在基底抬升速度周期性变化过程中,盆地边缘沉积了数层可采煤层,成为划分层序的重要依据。     

伊犁盆地侏罗系水西沟群层序地层学研究

伊犁盆地侏罗系水西沟群是一套在基本一致的构造应力和沉积环境下形成的含煤碎屑岩建造,但在这套地层的中部(三工河组)出现了岩性、颜色的突变,并且对应的测井曲线也出现明显的突坎现象。笔者运用层序地层学的观点,从年代地层、岩性、体系域、沉积韵律以及测井曲线解释等5方面对这一现象进行了分析,认为该群中部存在一不整合面(或层序界面),并尝试对水西沟群层序地层进行重新划分。     

A sequence stratigraphic model for an intensely bioturbated shallow-marine sandstone: the Bridport Sand Formation, Wessex Basin, UK

The Bridport Sand Formation is an intensely bioturbated sandstone that represents part of a mixed siliciclastic‐carbonate shallow‐marine depositional system. At outcrop and in subsurface cores, conventional facies analysis was combined with ichnofabric analysis to identify facies successions bounded by a hierarchy of key stratigraphic surfaces. The geometry of these surfaces and the lateral relationships between the facies successions that they bound have been constrained locally using 3D seismic data. Facies analysis suggests that the Bridport Sand Formation represents progradation of a low‐energy, siliciclastic shoreface dominated by storm‐event beds reworked by bioturbation. The shoreface sandstones form the upper part of a thick (up to 200 m), steep (2–3°), mud‐dominated slope that extends into the underlying Down Cliff Clay. Clinoform surfaces representing the shoreface‐slope system are grouped into progradational sets. Each set contains clinoform surfaces arranged in a downstepping, offlapping manner that indicates forced‐regressive progradation, which was punctuated by flooding surfaces that are expressed in core and well‐log data. In proximal locations, progradational shoreface sandstones (corresponding to a clinoform set) are truncated by conglomerate lags containing clasts of bored, reworked shoreface sandstones, which are interpreted as marking sequence boundaries. In medial locations, progradational clinoform sets are overlain across an erosion surface by thin (<5 m) bioclastic limestones that record siliciclastic‐sediment starvation during transgression. Near the basin margins, these limestones are locally thick (>10 m) and overlie conglomerate lags at sequence boundaries. Sequence boundaries are thus interpreted as being amalgamated with overlying transgressive surfaces, to form composite erosion surfaces. In distal locations, oolitic ironstones that formed under conditions of extended physical reworking overlie composite sequence boundaries and transgressive surfaces. Over most of the Wessex Basin, clinoform sets (corresponding to high‐frequency sequences) are laterally offset, thus defining a low‐frequency sequence architecture characterized by high net siliciclastic sediment input and low net accommodation. Aggradational stacking of high‐frequency sequences occurs in fault‐bounded depocentres which had higher rates of localized tectonic subsidence.     

Stalked barnacles (Cirripedia,Thoracica) from the Upper Jurassic (Tithonian) Kimmeridge Clay of Dorset,UK; palaeoecology and bearing on the evolution of living forms

New thoracican cirripede material from the Kimmeridge Clay (Upper Jurassic, Tithonian) is described. This includes a log, encrusted on the lower surface with hundreds of perfectly preserved, articulated specimens of Etcheslepas durotrigensis Gale, 2014, and fewer specimens of Concinnalepas costata (Withers, 1928). Some individuals are preserved in life position, hanging from the underside of the wood, and the material provides new morphological information on both species. It appears that Martillepas ovalis (Withers, 1928), which occurs at the same level (Freshwater Steps Stone Band, pectinatus Zone) attached preferentially to ammonites, whereas E. durotrigensis and C. costata used wood as a substrate for their epiplanktonic lifestyle. Two regurgitates containing abundant barnacle valves, mostly broken, and some bivalve fragments, have been found in the Kimmeridge Clay. These were produced by a fish grazing on epiplanktonic species, and are only the second example of regurgitates containing barnacle valves known from the fossil record. The evolution of modern barnacle groups is discussed in the light of the new Jurassic material as well as recently published molecular phylogenies. New clades defined herein are called the Phosphatothoracica, the Calamida and the Unilatera.     

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

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

Correlation of the Kimmeridgian-Tithonian (Jurassic) boundary beds exposed in the Boulonnais,France with those at Kimmeridge,Dorset, UK

Sediments of Kimmeridgian and Tithonian age are well exposed on the Boulonnais coast of northern France between Equihen and Cap Gris Nez and on the south coast of England at and adjacent to Kimmeridge Bay. Both successions were deposited on a marine shelf and lie within the Subboreal faunal province which enables detailed correlations to be made between them based on ammonite assemblages. They are, however, lithologically markedly different due to their environmental settings: close to a land area in the case of the Boulonnais and within a depositional basin in the case of Kimmeridge. The succession adjacent to the Kimmeridgian-Tithonian boundary exposed in the Boulonnais is highly condensed and laterally variable with more attenuated successions occurring close to the former Anglo-Brabant Massif land area. The boundary occurs at the end of a succession of up to six regressive-transgressive events that onlap the land area. This is in contrast to that at outcrop at Kimmeridge, where the Kimmeridgian-Tithonian boundary is marked by a correlative conformity in an unbroken basinal succession. The cliff and foreshore exposures in the Kimmeridge area provide the only unbroken succession in the Subboreal faunal province of the beds adjacent to the Kimmeridgian-Tithonian boundary.     

准噶尔盆地阜东斜坡区上侏罗统齐古组高分辨率层序分析及砂体预测*

准噶尔盆地阜康凹陷东部斜坡区上侏罗统齐古组是重要勘探层系。以高分辨率层序地层学理论为指导,利用露头、钻井岩心、地震及测井资料对准东阜东斜坡区齐古组进行了高分辨率层序地层研究,并进一步划分出1个长期、3个中期及8个短期旋回层序。长期旋回层序则以向上“变深”复“变浅”为主。短期、中期旋回层序以向上“变深”型和向上“变深”复“变浅”型为主,向上“变浅”型不发育,并且中期旋回初期砂体有利储集体发育。在高分辨率层序地层格架内,通过多种资料完成研究区沉积体系刻画,并分析沉积体系的演化,认为其主要受构造运动影响。在上述基础上,结合储集层有效厚度、物性参数以及地震分频反演技术对齐古组一段分布的储集层砂体进行有利区预测,划分出3个有利目标区块。     

Middle to late Miocene sequence stratigraphy of the Transylvanian Basin (Romania)

The history of Middle to Late Miocene evolution of the Transylvanian Basin was determined by the bordering Carpathian orogen evolution, the tectonic events being well recorded by the sedimentary history. The basin evolved in a back-arc setting, under a regional, compressional stress field. The major tectonic events produced during the Late Sarmatian and Post-Pannonian were related to the reactivation of the pre-Badenian fault systems. The Transylvanian Basin got uplifted after the Late Pannonian (? during the Pliocene), and at least 500 m of sedimentary cover was eroded.

Based on seismic and well-log interpretation, core and outcrop sedimentology, and microfauna, eight sequences were defined. The early Middle Miocene sequences are roughly synchronous to five 3rd order global sea-level cycles. Most of the recognized sequence boundaries are enhanced by regional tectonic events. The sedimentary evolution was also strongly influenced by salt-tectonics, active starting with the Late Sarmatian.

Two sequences were identified in the Lower Badenian deposits. The third sequence (late Early Badenian to early Mid Badenian) preserves information about deeper shelf settings. The lowstand of the following sequence was responsible for the deposition of the salt formation (late Mid Badenian), an important lithostratigraphic marker in the sedimentary record of the basin. In general, the Upper Badenian deposits (parts of the 4th and 5th sequences) belong to deep marine submarine fan systems. The Sarmatian (partially 5th, 6th and partially 7th sequences) was characterized by diverse salinity conditions, stretching from brackish to hypersaline, and by high tectonic instability, which induced several significant relative sea-level falls. During that time, deltaic (north) and fandeltaic (east) systems fed submarine fans, stacked between salt-related submarine heights (“channeled” deep-marine depocenters). Most of the Pannonian deposits (partially 7th and 8th sequences) belong to submarine fan systems, but shallower facies were also found in the western and eastern part of the basin.     

Controls on iron-isotope fractionation in organic-rich sediments (Kimmeridge Clay, Upper Jurassic, Southern England)

This study explores the fractionation of iron isotopes (⁵⁷Fe/⁵⁴Fe) in an organic-rich mudstone succession, focusing on core and outcrop material sampled from the Upper Jurassic Kimmeridge Clay Formation type locality in south Dorset, UK. The organic-rich environments recorded by the succession provide an excellent setting for an investigation of the mechanisms by which iron isotopes are partitioned among mineral phases during biogeochemical sedimentary processes.Two main types of iron-bearing assemblage are defined in the core material: mudstones with calcite ± pyrite ± siderite mineralogy, and ferroan dolomite (dolostone) bands. A cyclic data distribution is apparent, which reflects variations in isotopic composition from a lower range of δ⁵⁷Fe values associated with the pyrite/siderite mudstone samples to the generally higher values of the adjacent dolostone samples. Most pyrite/siderite mudstones vary between −0.4 and 0.1‰ while dolostones range between −0.1 and 0.5‰, although in very organic-rich shale samples below 360 m core depth higher δ⁵⁷Fe values are noted. Pyrite nodules and pyritized ammonites from the type exposure yield δ⁵⁷Fe values of −0.3 to −0.45‰. A fractionation model consistent with the δ⁵⁷Fe variations relates the lower δ⁵⁷Fe pyrite and siderite ± pyrite mudstones values to the production of isotopically depleted Fe(II) during biogenic reduction of the isotopically heavier lithogenic Fe(III) oxides. A consequence of this reductive dissolution is that a ⁵⁷Fe-enriched iron species must be produced that potentially becomes available for the formation of the higher δ⁵⁷Fe dolostones. An isotopic profile across a dolostone band reveals distinct zonal variations in δ⁵⁷Fe, characterized by two peaks, respectively located above and below the central part of the band, and decoupling of the isotopic composition from the iron content. This form of isotopic zoning is shown to be consistent with a one-dimensional model of diffusional-chromatographic Fe-isotope exchange between dolomite and isotopically enriched pore water. An alternative mechanism envisages the infiltration of dissolved ferrous iron from variable (high and low) δ⁵⁷Fe sources during coprecipitation of Fe(II) ion with dolomite. The study provides clear evidence that iron isotopes are cycled during the formation and diagenesis of organic carbon-rich sediments.     

Kimmeridgian (Late Jurassic) ostracods from Highway A16 (NW Switzerland): taxonomy, stratigraphy, ecology, and biogeography

Ostracods are a common microfaunal element of the Kimmeridgian of the Jura Mountains in NW Switzerland. The stratigraphical subdivision within the Kimmeridgian can as clearly be inferred from ostracods as it is the case from the ammonite biozonation. This proves the utiliy of the ostracod biozonation, especially where ammonites are not available or rare. The ostracod-bearing layers of the sequence under study (middle part of the Reuchenette Formation = Banné Member, Courtedoux Member and Lower Virgula Marls) have been deposited in waters with highly brackish to marine salinities (high in the pliohaline range to—predominanttly—brachyhaline according to the Venice System, Oertli 1964). From the base of the section (base of the Banné Member, high brachyhaline in average), salinities slowly decreased, with lowest salinities in the lower dinosaur track levels of Courtedoux Member (high pliohaline on average). They then increased again to higher salinities (high brachyhaline on average) above the upper dinosaur track levels of the Courtedoux Member and the Lower Virgula Marls (lowermost A. eudoxus Zone). These trends perfectly correlate with the increased occurence of ammonites above the upper dinosaur track levels. In terms of Kimmeridgian ostracod palaeobiogeography, the fauna of the NW Swiss Jura Mountains described in this work is most similar to the Aquitan and Paris Basins, a little less to Northern Germany, and even less (with not even half of the species in common) to Southern Germany. The NW Swiss Jura Mountains still belong to a largely boreally influenced “Western and Central European subprovince”, whereas Southern Germany (though located more to the north) was subjected to an enhanced tethyan influence.     

松辽盆地梨树断陷十屋油田营城组层序地层及沉积体系

松辽盆地梨树断陷十屋油田营城组的岩心观察显示,其发育碎屑岩,局部发育安山岩、凝灰岩。营城组可划分为4 个三级层序: S7 ( 营四段) 、S8 ( 营三段) 、S9 ( 营二段) 和S10 ( 营一段) ,反映营城组时期湖平面发生过4 次较大规模的变化,层序发育较完整、连续性较好。层序7 属于深水型沉积,主要发育水下扇; 层序8 属于半深水型盆地边缘沉积,以发育三角洲和扇三角洲为特征; 层序9 和层序10 都属于浅水型沉积,发育棕褐色泥岩。以层序9 为例,区内主要发育的沉积体系类型为扇三角洲沉积体系、三角洲沉积体系和湖泊沉积体系,可进一步识别出扇三角洲前缘、三角洲前缘、三角洲平原、浅湖和半深湖等5 种亚相,水下重力河道、滑塌重力流、河口坝、间湾、水下扇和静水泥等19 种微相,以发育水下扇和水下重力河道沉积为特色。     

Palaeontology,stratigraphy and sedimentology of Woodeaton Quarry (Oxfordshire) and a new microvertebrate site from the White Limestone Formation (Bathonian,Jurassic)

Woodeaton Quarry in Oxfordshire has previously yielded a number of large sauropod vertebrae and other (unpublished) dinosaur remains from a horizon in the Rutland Formation. No review of the wider terrestrial fauna from Woodeaton has been published to date. Here we present an overview of new material recovered from a microvertebrate site at the top of the White Limestone Formation (Middle Jurassic, Bathonian, Great Oolite Group, Retrocostatum Zone) and review the stratigraphy to provide a comprehensive local stratigraphic framework and place the quarry in the correct regional context. The terrestrial fauna is similar to that found from other UK Bathonian microvertebrate sites and includes probable dromaeosaurid theropods, ornithischians, tritylodontids and mammaliaforms such as amphitheriids, docodonts, ‘eutriconodonts’, ‘haramyids’ and multituberculates. Placement of the White Limestone Formation boundaries are clarified with respect to the Rutland and Forest Marble Formations. This indicates that the microvertebrate bed from Woodeaton is slightly older than that of the well-known mammal bed from nearby Kirtlington Quarry.     

川西邛崃县白马庙气田上侏罗统蓬莱镇组高分辨率层序地层分析

以高分辨率层序地层学理论及其技术方法为指导,通过地表露头、岩心、测井和地震资料的综合分析,在白马庙气田上侏罗统蓬莱镇组识别出3类不同成因类型和发育规模的层序界面、3个级别的湖泛面,划分出2个长期、6个中期、38～40个短期基准面旋回层序,并对不同级次旋回层序的特征进行了详细讨论.同时,发现中期基准面旋回层序近顶部的薄层灰岩和钙质泥岩也是识别中期基准面旋回的重要标志之一.在此基础上,运用旋回等时对比法则对各级次旋回层序进行对比,建立了3个不同时间尺度的等时地层格架,认为开展高分辨率层序地层分析对深化白马庙气田蓬莱镇组气藏的勘探开发工作具有重要意义.     

Tethyan-to-boreal correlation in the Kimmeridgian using high-resolution sequence stratigraphy (Vocontian Basin,Swiss Jura,Boulonnais, Dorset)

Ammonite biostratigraphy plays a central role in the definition of Jurassic stratigraphy. Nevertheless, the strong provincialism of European ammonite species during the Kimmeridgian is a long-standing problem in correlation attempts between the boreal and Tethyan faunal realms. Moreover, the sequence-stratigraphic interpretations for northern and southern Europe given in the Jurassic chronostratigraphic chart of Hardenbol et al. in SEPM Publ. 60 (chart) (1998) are different. The present study aims to resolve this correlation problem in order to better understand the connections between the boreal and the Tethyan realms during the Kimmeridgian. A sedimentological and high-resolution sequence-stratigraphic interpretation is presented for two unpublished sections (Cras d’Hermont and Roche de Mars) in the northern Swiss Jura, where recently discovered ammonites display both boreal and Tethyan influences. Then, these sections are correlated with the same time interval in the central Swiss Jura and Vocontian Basin, which belong to the Tethyan realm. Lastly, a long-distance transect is constructed between the Vocontian Basin, Swiss Jura, northern France, and southern England, the last two areas being part of the sub-boreal realm. The main results of this work are that: (1) third-order depositional sequences, and also higher-frequency sequences, can be correlated from the Tethyan to the boreal realm; (2) the sequence-stratigraphic interpretation given by Hardenbol et al. in SEPM Publ 60 (chart) (1998) for northern Europe seems to be accurate and agrees with the sequence-stratigraphic framework established in the Swiss Jura; (3) the Late Kimmeridgian of the Swiss Jura displays boreal influences; (4) integrated high-resolution sequence-stratigraphic and cyclostratigraphic studies are a valuable approach for bridging the correlation gap between northern and southern Europe.     

Uppermost Triassic to Lower Jurassic stratigraphy in the Lough Foyle Basin of County Londonderry,Northern Ireland

The Lough Foyle Basin is a half-graben that straddles the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland and contains sediments that range in age from Lower Carboniferous to Holocene. The basin’s post-rift succession is represented by sediments of the Penarth Group and Lias Group. The lithostratigraphy and biostratigraphy of that interval are revised using new borehole material and existing outcrop. Palaeontological data provide a chronostratigraphic framework and aid palaeoenvironmental interpretations. Foraminifera, ostracods, palynomorphs indicate a nearshore, marginal marine depositional setting throughout much of the Rhaetian with a more marine, shelf and nearshore depositional setting for the Lias Group. The Penarth Group succession is similar to that elsewhere in Northern Ireland but the Lias Group (Waterloo Mudstone Formation) differs in that five distinct members can be recognised (Clooney Mudstone, Drummans Siltstone, Gortmore Mudstone, Tircreven Sandstone and Ballyleighery Mudstone), four of which are newly described. The deltaic and shelf sandstones of the Tircreven Sandstone Member are the only such examples preserved in the Jurassic strata of Northern Ireland and are some of the oldest in the Jurassic of the UK and Ireland, providing evidence of the proximity of the nearby Irish Landmass and representing a useful comparison for Early Jurassic sandstone reservoirs in offshore basins.     

Microvertebrates from the Wadhurst Clay Formation (Lower Cretaceous) of Ashdown Brickworks,East Sussex,UK

Ashdown Brickworks, near Bexhill, East Sussex, has produced a large number of vertebrate fossils from the Wadhurst Clay Formation, part of the Wealden Supergroup (Hastings Group; Valanginian; Lower Cretaceous). Here we describe the microvertebrate fauna of the ‘conglomerate bed’, representing a rich sample of taxa. While most of the recovered teeth and bones are abraded, some heavily, most can be identified to species level. The taxa include four species of hybodont sharks (Egertonodus basanus, Planohybodus ensis, Polyacrodus parvidens, P. brevicostatus), three taxa of bony fishes (an unidentified Lepidotes-like semionotiform, the pycnodontiform Ocloedus, and an albuliform), three taxa of crocodyliforms (the goniopholid Hulkepholis, a bernissartiid, and the atoposaurid Theriosuchus), and the theropod dinosaurs Baryonyx and an allosauroid. Sediments of the Wadhurst Clay Formation as a whole indicate freshwater to very slightly brackish-water environments of deposition, and the mainly aquatic time-averaged mixture of fishes and tetrapods recovered from the ‘conglomerate bed’, together with isolated terrestrial species, confirms this interpretation.     

Sedimentary Conditions of Evaporites in the Late Jurassic Xiali Formation, Qiangtang Basin: Evidence from Geochemistry Records

The Qiangtang Basin (QB), located in the central Tibetan Plateau, is a Jurassic marine basin and one of the most important prospective salt resource belts in China. In recent decades, many outcrops of gypsiferous?bed have been found in the Jurassic marine strata in the basin. Salt springs with abnormally high sodium (Na+) contents had been identified in the Late Jurassic Xiali Formation (Fm.) in the basin in the last years. However, to date, no potash or halite deposits have been identified in the QB. Gypsum outcrops and salt springs are very important?signs in the investigation of halite and potash deposits. Therefore, the Xiali Fm. is?a potentially valuable layer to evaluate for the possible presence of halite and potash deposits in the basin. However,?few studies?have explored the formation?conditions of evaporites in the unit. Here, we present detailed geochemical records from the Yanshiping section related to the study of the formation?conditions of evaporites in the Xiali Fm. of the QB. Climate proxies based on the obviously increased anion concentrations of SO42? and Cl? and the significant correlation?coefficients of Ca2+-SO42? (R = 0.985) and Na+-Cl? (R = 0.8974) reveal that the upper member of the Xiali Fm. (the upper Xiali Fm.) formed under an arid climate and evolved into the sulfate phase or early chloride phase. Provenance proxies based on the obviously increased K+ and Na+ ion concentrations and the significant correlation?coefficient of Na+-Cl? (R = 0.8974) suggest that the upper Xiali Fm. featured optimal provenance conditions for the possible formation of halite deposits. The regression and the semi-closed tidal?flat environment in the upper Xiali Fm. were favorable for the formation of potash and halite deposits. The low Mg2+ /Ca2+ values (mean value = 1.82) and significant Na+-Cl? correlation?coefficient (R = 0.8974) also suggest that the upper Xiali Fm. is the layer most likely to contain potential halite deposits. In addition, the macroscopic correlations of tectonism, provenance, paleoclimate, saliferous strata and sedimentary?environment between the QB and the adjoining Amu Darya Basin in Central Asia reveal that the two basins shared similar geologic settings that were favorable for the formation of evaporites during the Late Jurassic. Therefore, the upper Xiali Fm. is a valuable layer to explore for halite deposit and may be potentially valuable in the future exploration for potash deposits in the QB.     

Facies analysis and sequence stratigraphy of Kometan Formation (Upper Cretaceous) in the imbricated zone,northeastern Iraq

Facies and sequence stratigraphic analysis of the Kometan Formation (Upper Cretaceous) were studied from Kometan village, Kurdistan region of northeastern Iraq. Lithologically, the formation consists of 44 m of white weathering, light grey, thin to medium-bedded highly fractured limestones with chert nodules. Petrographic study of the carbonates shows that both skeletal and non-skeletal grains were present. The skeletal grains include a variety of planktonic foraminifera (including Oligostegina), calcispheres, ostracods, pelecypods, larva ammonite, and echinoderms. Non-skeletal grains include peloids only. Three main microfacies types are distinguished in the studied formation. The results of stable carbon and oxygen isotopes of the studied carbonate samples show negative values of δ¹⁸O. These indicate that the seawater was warm with low salinity during precipitation of the carbonates in the Kometan Formation in northeastern Iraq. The positive δ¹³C values of carbonate samples, in the middle part of the formation, reflect the widespread deposition of organic-rich marine sediments during a transgression and deepening of the basin. Petrographic, facies and stable isotopic analyses revealed that the Kometan Formation was deposited in a warm, basinal, pelagic (open marine) environment with low salinity. The Kometan Formation consists of one complete third-order depositional sequence, separated by a sequence boundary (SB) of type 2. The third-order sequence is subdivided into a transgressive systems tract (TST) and highstand systems tract (HST). This reflects episodes of transgression and still stands of the relative sea level. The TSTs are topped by maximum flooding surface (MFS) characterized by deepening-/fining-upward parasequences implying a retrogradational stacking pattern. The HST is marked by shallowing-/coarsening-upward parasequences implying a progradational stacking pattern.     

Sequence stratigraphy of a carbonate-evaporite succession (Zechstein 1, Hessian Basin, Germany)

The evaporitic Hessian Zechstein Basin is a sub‐basin of the Southern Zechstein Basin, situated at its southern margin. Twelve facies groups were identified in the Zechstein Limestone and Lower Werra Anhydrite in order to better understand the sequence‐stratigraphic evolution of this sub‐basin, which contains economically important potassium salts. Four different paleogeographic depositional areas were recognized based on the regional distribution of facies. Siliciclastic‐carbonate, carbonate, carbonate‐evaporite and evaporite shallowing‐upward successions are developed. These allow the establishment of parasequences and sequences, as well as correlation throughout the Hessian Basin and into the Southern Zechstein Basin. Two depositional sequences are distinguished, Zechstein sequence 1 and Zechstein sequence 2. The former comprises the succession from the Variscan basement up to the lowermost part of the Werra Anhydrite, including the Kupferschiefer as part of the transgressive systems tract. The highstand systems tract is defined by the Zechstein Limestone, in which two parasequences are developed. In large parts of the Hessian Basin, Zechstein sequence 1 is capped by a karstic, subaerial exposure surface, interpreted as recording a type‐1 sequence boundary that formed during a distinct brine level fall. Low‐lying central areas (Central Hessian Sub‐basin, Werra Sub‐basin), however, were not exposed and show a correlative conformity. Topography was minimal at the end of sequence 1. Widely developed perilittoral, sabkha and salina shallowing‐upward successions indicate a renewed rise of brine level (interpreted as a transgressive systems tract), because of inflow of preconcentrated brines from the Southern Zechstein Basin to the north. This marks the initiation of Zechstein sequence 2, which comprises most of the Lower Werra Anhydrite. In the Central Hessian Sub‐basin, situated proximal to the brine inflow and on the ridges within the Hessian Basin, physico‐chemical conditions were well suited for sulphate precipitation to form a thick cyclic succession. It consists of four parasequences that completely filled the increased accommodation space. In contrast, only minor sulphate accumulation occurred in the Werra Sub‐basin, situated further southwards and distal to the inflow. As a result of substantially different sulphate precipitation rates during increased accommodation, water depth in the region became more variable. The Werra Sub‐basin, characterized by very low sedimentation rates, became increasingly deeper through time, trapping dense halite brines and precipitating rock salt deposits (Werra Halite). This ‘self‐organization’ model for an evaporitic basin, in which depositional relief evolves with sedimentation and relief is filled by evaporite thereafter, contradicts earlier interpretations, that call upon the existence of a tectonic depression in the Werra area, which controlled sedimentation from the beginning of the Zechstein.