Autogenic incision‐backfilling cycles and lobe formation during the growth of alluvial fans with supercritical distributaries

Autogenic cycles of channelization, terminal deposit formation, channel backfilling and channel abandonment have been observed in the formation of fans and deltas. In subcritical flow, these terminal deposits are characterized as mouth bars that lead to flow bifurcation, backwater and eventual channel backfilling. Similar, although less well characterized, cycles also take place on supercritical subaerial and submarine fans. This study investigates the hydraulics and morphodynamics of autogenic incision and backfilling cycles associated with supercritical distributive channel flow in alluvial fans. The research questions of the study are: (i) how are supercritical autogenic cycles on alluvial fans different from the subcritical cycles; (ii) what are the hydraulic and sediment transport characteristics at the various stages of autogenic feedback cycles; and (iii) what role do the cycles play in the overall fan evolution? These questions are investigated in the laboratory, and emphasis is placed on measuring the hydraulic and topographic evolution of the systems during the cycles. The cycles arise quasi‐periodically under constant water and sediment discharge. Periods of sheet‐like flow are competent to move sediment () but not competent enough to carry the full imposed load. The net result is preferential deposition near the inlet, resulting in fan steepening and an increase in flow competency with time. At a sediment supply to capacity ratio of , the sheet‐like flow is unstable to small erosional events near the inlet, resulting in the collapse of the distributed flow to a strong channelized state. During channelization, a graded () supercritical (Fr > 1) channel develops and transports eroded and fed sediment up to and through the fan front – extending the fan, initiating a lobe shaped deposit and reducing the local slope. The slopes defined by a sheet‐like flow with and channelized flow with set the maximum and minimum slopes on the fan, respectively. Once formed, graded channels act as bypass conduits linking the inlet with the terminal deposit. On average, deposits are up to six channel depths in thickness and have volumes approximately five times that of the excavated channel. The main distinctive characteristics of the supercritical cycles relate to how the flow interacts with the terminal deposit. At the channel to deposit transition, the flow undergoes a weak hydraulic jump, resulting in rapid sedimentation, dechannelization and lateral expansion of the flow, and deposition of any remaining sediment on top of the channel fill and floodplain. This process often caps the channel as the deposit propagates up channel erasing memory of the excavated channel.     

Contrasting morphodynamics in alluvial fans and fan deltas: effect of the downstream boundary

Alluvial fans and fan deltas can, in principle, have exactly the same upstream conditions, but fan deltas by definition have ponding water at their downstream boundary. This ponding creates effects on the autogenic behaviour of fan deltas, such as backwater adaptation, mouth bars and backward sedimentation, whereas alluvial fans may lack these effects. Hence the present authors hypothesize that morphodynamics on alluvial fans are determined primarily by upstream boundary conditions, whereas morphodynamics on fan deltas are determined by both the upstream and the downstream boundary condition and changes therein. To isolate the effects of the upstream and downstream boundaries, five new alluvial fan experiments are compared with the details of three fan deltas published earlier that were formed under very similar and simple conditions. Similar to the fan deltas, the alluvial fans build up by sheet flow, whilst quasi‐regular periods of incision cause temporary channelized flow. Incision is followed by channel backfilling, after which the fan returns to sheet flow. The channelization and backfilling in alluvial fans is markedly less pronounced and more prone to autogenic disturbance than in fan deltas. The difference is caused by morphodynamics at the downstream boundary. In a fan delta, the flow expansion of the channel causes deposition of all the sediment, which forms a mouth bar and causes strong backfilling. In an alluvial fan, on the other hand, the slope break at the fan perimeter causes some deposition, but transport is not reduced to zero. Consequently, the backfilling in alluvial fans is less pronounced than in fan deltas. Other published experiments support this trend: removal of the mouth bar by a river leads to permanent channelization, whilst pronounced mouth‐bar formation in highly channelized deltas promotes backward sedimentation. The experimental results for this study predict that, when alluvial fans prograde into lakes or deep rivers, they transition to fan deltas with increasingly deeper channels and thicker backfill deposits.     

Autogenic avulsion,channelization and backfilling dynamics of debris‐flow fans

Alluvial fans develop their semi‐conical shape by quasi‐cyclic avulsions of their geomorphologically active sector from a fixed fan apex. On debris‐flow fans, these quasi‐cyclic avulsions are poorly understood, partly because physical scale experiments on the formation of fans have been limited largely to turbidite and fluvial fans and deltas. In this study, debris‐flow fans were experimentally created under constant extrinsic forcing, and autogenic sequences of backfilling, avulsion and channelization were observed. Backfilling, avulsion and channelization were gradual processes that required multiple successive debris‐flow events. Debris flows avulsed along preferential flow paths given by the balance between steepest descent and flow inertia. In the channelization phase, debris flows became progressively longer and narrower because momentum increasingly focused on the flow front as flow narrowed, resulting in longer run‐out and deeper channels. Backfilling commenced when debris flows reached their maximum possible length and channel depth, as defined by channel slope and debris‐flow volume and composition, after which they progressively shortened and widened until the entire channel was filled and avulsion was initiated. The terminus of deposition moved upstream because the frontal lobe deposits of previous debris flows created a low‐gradient zone forcing deposition. Consequently, the next debris flow was shorter which led to more in‐channel sedimentation, causing more overbank flow in the next debris flow and resulting in reduced momentum to the flow front and shorter runout. This topographic feedback is similar to the interaction between flow and mouth bars forcing backfilling and transitions from channelized to sheet flow in turbidite and fluvial fans and deltas. Debris‐flow avulsion cycles are governed by the same large‐scale topographic compensation that drives avulsion cycles on fluvial and turbidite fans, although the detailed processes are unique to debris‐flow fans. This novel result provides a basis for modelling of debris‐flow fans with applications in hazards and stratigraphy.     

Pre-vegetation alluvial fan facies and processes: an example from the Cambro-Ordovician Rozel Conglomerate Formation, Jersey, Channel Islands

Prior to the Silurian a lack of land vegetation is expected to have influenced the processes of sedimentation on alluvial fans, principally by causing increased rates of run-off and erosion in the fan catchments. In the Cambro-Ordovician Rozel Conglomerate Formation, this effect was central to the generation of alluvial fan deposits that are unusually deficient in sand and clay, despite being sourced from a catchment dominated by sandstone and mudstone. Seven facies are identified, interpreted as representing the deposits of: (i) shallow stream and sheetfloods, (ii) channelized, non-cohesive debrisflows, (iii) sub-aerial mud-rich debrisflows, (iv) sub-aqueous mud-rich debrisflows, (v) low energy streams that reworked abandoned fan sectors, (vi) a sandflat-playa lake system and (vii) talus slopes. The first two facies are both clast-supported conglomerate, comprise 98% of the deposit, and represent deposition on active depositional lobes and in the fan head trench. The remaining facies are the products of infrequent sedimentary processes, fan abandonment processes and marginal sub-environments. The facies assemblage in many ways mimics that of a modern-day, water-lain, arid region fan. However, the palaeolatitude of these fans was high and the climate is inferred to have been cool and wet. The near absence of sandstone and mudstone beds with few mudflows is ascribed to rapid hinterland uplift and high rates of erosion resulting in minimal chemical breakdown of source rocks in the catchments. Such high rates of erosion are in turn ascribed to a combination of frequent rainstorms and an absence of vegetation cover.     

构造活动盆地的层序地层与构造地层分析--以中国中、新生代构造活动湖盆分析为例

中国中、新生代构造相对活动的断陷或陆内前陆盆地充填序列一般可划分出5个级别具有地层对比意义的层序地层单元。层序构成和沉积体系域的发育分布受到盆地形成演化过程中各种构造作用的控制。盆地规模的沉积旋回多是盆地幕式裂陷、多幕挤压挠曲沉降、多期构造反转、断块差异沉降等构造作用的沉积响应;高频层序单元的发育则主要与湖平面和沉积物供给量的变化有关。不同构造演化阶段的层序结构和沉积体系域构成等存在显著差异,主要取决于古构造格架和同沉积构造的活动。构造坡折带是由构造活动所产生的、对沉积作用具有长期控制作用的古沉积斜坡或古地貌突变带,在断陷或前陆等盆地中普遍发育,其识别对阐明盆内沉积体系域,特别是构成重要油气藏的低位域的分布和预测具有重要意义。     

Quaternary alluvial fans in the Gobi of southern Mongolia: evidence for neotectonics and climate change

Alluvial fans in southern Monglia occur along a group of narrow discontinuous mountain ranges which formed as transpressional uplifts along a series of strike-slip faults. They provide information on the nature of neotectonic activity in the eastern Gobi Altai range and on palaeoclimate change. Alluvial fan formation was dominated by various geomorphological processes largely controlled by climatic changes related to an increase in aridity throughout late Quaternary times. Their sedimentology shows that initially they experienced humid conditions, when the sedimentary environments were dominated by perennial streams, followed by a period of increasing aridity, during which coarse fanglomerates were deposited in alluvial fans by ephemerial streams and active-layer structures were produced by permafrost within the alluvial fan sediments. With climatic amelioration during early Holocene times, the permafrost degraded and fan incision and entrenchment dominated. Sedimentation was then confined to the upper reaches of the fans, adjacent to steep mountain slopes, and within the entrenched channels. The alluvial fans have been neotectonically deformed, faulted and their surface warped by small thrust faults that propagate from the mountain fronts into their forelands. Localised uplift rates are in the order of 0.1 to 1 m Ka⁻¹. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Appraisal of CO2 storage potential in compressional hydrocarbon-bearing basins: Global assessment and case study in the Sichuan Basin (China)

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) has been proposed as a potential technology to mitigate climate change. However, there is currently a huge gap between the current global deployment of this technology and that which will be ultimately required. Whilst CO₂ can be captured at any geographic location, storage of CO₂ will be constrained by the geological storage potential in the area the CO₂ is captured. The geological storage potential can be evaluated at a very high level according to the tectonic setting of the target area. To date, CCS deployment has been restricted to more favourable tectonic settings, such as extensional passive margin and post-rift basins and compressional foreland basins. However, to reach the adequate level of deployment, the potential for CCS of regions in different tectonic settings needs to be explored and assessed worldwide. Surprisingly, the potential of compressional basins for carbon storage has not been universally evaluated according to the global and regional carbon emission distribution. Here, we present an integrated source-to-sink analysis tool that combines comprehensive, open-access information on basin distribution, hydrocarbon resources and CO₂ emissions based on geographical information systems (GIS). Compressional settings host some of the most significant hydrocarbon-bearing basins and 36% of inland CO₂ emissions but, to date, large-scale CCS facilities in compressional basins are concentrated in North America and the Middle East only. Our source-to-sink tool allows identifying five high-priority regions for prospective CCS development in compressional basins: North America, north-western South America, south-eastern Europe, the western Middle East and western China. We present a study of the characteristics of these areas in terms of CO₂ emissions and CO₂ storage potential. Additionally, we conduct a detailed case-study analysis of the Sichuan Basin (China), one of the compressional basins with the greatest CO₂ storage potential. Our results indicate that compressional basins will have to play a critical role in the future of CCS if this technology is to be implemented worldwide.     

Braided rivers within an arid alluvial plain (example from the Lower Triassic,western German Basin): recognition criteria and expression of stratigraphic cycles

Based on a detailed sedimentological analysis of Lower Triassic continental deposits in the western Germanic sag Basin (i.e. the eastern part of the present‐day Paris Basin: the ‘Conglomérat basal’, ‘Grès vosgien’ and ‘Conglomérat principal’ Formations), three main depositional environments were identified: (i) braided rivers in an arid alluvial plain with some preserved aeolian dunes and very few floodplain deposits; (ii) marginal erg (i.e. braided rivers, aeolian dunes and aeolian sand‐sheets); and (iii) playa lake (an ephemeral lake environment with fluvial and aeolian sediments). Most of the time, aeolian deposits in arid environments that are dominated by fluvial systems are poorly preserved and particular attention should be paid to any sedimentological marker of aridity, such as wind‐worn pebbles (ventifacts), sand‐drift surfaces and aeolian sand‐sheets. In such arid continental environments, stratigraphic surfaces of allocyclic origin correspond to bounding surfaces of regional extension. Elementary stratigraphic cycles, i.e. the genetic units, have been identified for the three main continental environments: the fluvial type, fluvial–aeolian type and fluvial/playa lake type. At the time scale of tens to hundreds of thousands of years, these high‐frequency cycles of climatic origin are controlled either by the groundwater level in the basin or by the fluvial siliciclastic sediment input supplied from the highland. Lower Triassic deposits from the Germanic Basin are preserved mostly in endoreic basins. The central part of the basin is arid but the rivers are supplied with water by precipitation falling on the remnants of the Hercynian (Variscan)–Appalachian Mountains. Consequently, a detailed study of alluvial plain facies provides indications of local climatic conditions in the place of deposition, whereas fluvial systems only reflect climatic conditions of the upstream erosional catchments.     

Differentiating the effect of episodic tectonism and eustatic sea-level fluctuations in foreland basins filled by alluvial fans and axial deltaic systems: insights from a three-dimensional stratigraphic forward model

Many studies of foreland basins have recognized a hierarchical organization in the stacking of sequences deposited by axial‐deltaic and alluvial fan systems. The hierarchy is often explained in terms of the competing control of eustasy and pulsed tectonic subsidence and the different frequencies at which these processes operate. Unravelling the relative contributions of tectonic and eustatic controls on the sequence stacking pattern is a fundamental question in foreland basin analysis, yet this is difficult because of the lack of independent stratigraphic evidence. In this study, a three‐dimensional numerical model is presented, which aids in the interpretation of alluvial successions in foreland basins filled by transverse and axial depositional systems, under conditions of variable tectonism and eustatic sea‐level change. The tectono‐sedimentary model is capable of simulating the hierarchical stratigraphic response to both eustatic and tectonic forcing, and is of higher resolution than previous models of foreland basin filling. Numerical results indicate that the onset of tectonic activity is reflected by rapid retrogradation of both depositional systems and by widespread flooding and onlap of carbonate sediments. Syntectonic fluvial patterns on the axial‐deltaic plain are dominated by bifurcating channels, swiftly relocating in response to the general rise in relative sea level induced by flexural subsidence. The resulting surface morphology of the axial delta is convex upwards. Syntectonic eustatic sea‐level fluctuations result in parasequence‐scale packages of retrograding and prograding fan and delta sediments bounded by minor flooding surfaces and type 2 sequence boundaries. Incised channels are rare within the syntectonic parasequences and are formed only during phases of tectonic quiescence when eustatic falls are no longer compensated by the subsidence component in the rise in relative sea level. Suites of amalgamating, axial channels corresponding to multiple eustatic falls delineate the resulting type 1 unconformities. Coarse‐grained, incised‐channel fills are found in the zone between the alluvial fan fringes and the convex‐upward body of the axial delta, as the axial streams tend to migrate towards this zone of maximum accommodation.     

Sequence stratigraphic characteristics and geological significance of the Permian Qixia Stage in northwestern Sichuan Basin

Based on outcrops, drilling, cores, and logging data, the Liangshan Formation and Qixia Formation in the northwestern Sichuan region are analyzed using the theory and method of sequence stratigraphy. Three third-order sequence boundaries are identified, including the basal boundary of Liangshan Formation (type Ⅰ), the boundary between Qi 1 Member and Qi 2 Member (type Ⅱ), and the boundary between the Qixia Formation and the Maokou Formation (type Ⅰ). The Middle Permian Qixia Stage can be subdivided into two third-order sequences (from base to top: SQ1 and SQ2). The SQ1 sequence corresponds to the Liangshan Formation and the Qi 1 Member, and the SQ2 sequence corresponds to the Qi 2 Member. Based on the sequence stratigraphic framework reconstruction of the Qixia Stage, the sedimentary filling pattern of the “onlapping at the base and truncation at the top” is discovered. The contour maps of SQ1 and SQ2 sequence stratigraphic thickness are calculated and plotted. Combined with the stratigraphic filling pattern, the tectonic-palaeogeographical framework of the early SQ1 and SQ2 phases of the Qixia Stage, their geological significance is discussed. At the Qixia Stage, the differentiation between uplift and depression occurs in the northwest and northeast trends. The Hannan uplift, the northern Sichuan uplift, the northern margin uplift and the Guangyuan-Wangcang sag have controlled the sedimentary pattern in the study area. It is indicated that prototype of the Guangyuan-Wangcang Trough began in the Middle Permian Qixia Stage. In the study area, the karst cave-type dolostone reservoir and the karst-type limestone reservoir around the Guangyuan-Wangcang sag rim are favorable exploration areas.     

四川盆地西北部二叠系栖霞阶层序地层特征及地质意义

基于露头、钻井岩心和测录井资料,采用层序地层学理论与方法,将四川盆地西北部二叠系梁山组+栖霞组作为一个整体予以解剖,识别出梁山组底界面(Ⅰ型)、栖一段与栖二段界面(Ⅱ型)和栖霞组与茅口组界面(Ⅰ型)3个三级层序界面,将中二叠统栖霞阶划分为2个三级层序: 下部的SQ1层序对应梁山组+栖一段,上部的SQ2层序对应栖二段。通过栖霞阶层序地层格架分析,发现栖霞阶地层存在“底超顶削”的充填规律,统计并绘制SQ1与SQ2层序地层厚度等值线图,对研究区栖霞阶SQ1初期和SQ2期构造—古地理格局进行了恢复,在明确SQ2期为栖霞阶主要成滩期的基础上,结合岩溶发育单元及白云岩展布特征,讨论栖霞阶油气储集意义。结果表明:区内栖霞阶存在北西、北东向隆坳分异,汉南隆起、川北隆起、北缘隆起与广元—旺苍凹陷始终控制了区内沉积格局,指出广元—旺苍海槽雏形始于二叠系栖霞阶。研究区岩溶白云岩孔洞型储集层区与环广元—旺苍凹陷周缘的灰岩岩溶型储集层区为有利的勘探区。     

浙江中西部永康盆地及金衢盆地白垩系冲积扇特征

浙江众多中小型白垩纪盆地中,分布着河湖相红色沉积岩夹火山岩的白垩系上部地层。作者对位于浙江省金华地区永康市和义乌市境内的2条剖面进行了研究,即金衢盆地早白垩世晚期至晚白垩世早期的铜山岩中戴组剖面和永康盆地早白垩世晚期的方岩景区方岩组剖面,认为其主要为冲积扇沉积,具有多套沉积旋回的陆相碎屑岩准层序组,沉积特征表现为:下部紫红色块状砾岩、砂砾岩,夹泥质粉砂岩,局部有紫红色凝灰岩及深灰色玄武岩;上部棕褐色钙质粉砂岩与泥质粉砂岩组成不等厚互层,产恐龙化石Chilantaisaurus zhejiangensis;具有大型交错层理等沉积构造。其中扇根亚相的砂砾岩为槽流沉积和辫流水道沉积,扇中亚相的片状或席状砂岩为漫流沉积,漫流成因的片状或席状砂岩可能成为良好的油气储集体。此研究成果对中国南方小盆地白垩系扇根—扇中碎屑岩的沉积特征及其成因分析具有重要意义。     

Evolution of Quaternary alluvial fans and terraces in the intramontane Pinjaur Dun, Sub-Himalaya, NW India: interaction between tectonics and climate change

Quaternary alluvial fans in the tectonically active Pinjaur Dun, an intramontane valley in the Sub‐Himalaya, were deposited in front of the Nalagarh Thrust and were influenced both by tectonics and glacial climate fluctuations. The surface morphology indicates that an earlier set of first‐order fans (Qf1) became entrenched and onlapped by a series of second‐order fans (Qf2). The younger fan segments were then cut by a pair of terraces (T1 and T2). Quartz optically stimulated luminescence dating establishes that the Qf1 aggradational phase was initiated before 96·5 ± 25·3 ka and terminated after 83·7 ± 16·3 ka. This was followed by a period of incision, before Qf2 fan deposition started at 72·4 ± 13·4 ka and continued until 24·5 ± 4·9 ka. Sediment was deposited on the T1 (upper) and T2 (lower) terraces at 16·3 ± 2·1 and 4·5 ka, respectively, recording a return to overall degradation punctuated by minor deposition on terraces. The period of incision separating the younger and older fan deposits coincided with enhanced SW monsoon precipitation. The subsequent development of the Qf2 fans and their progradation until 20 ka suggest erosional unloading of the thrust hangingwall during a tectonically quiescent phase. Toe cutting, deposition of axial river and lacustrine facies, and retreat of Qf2 around 45 ka, indicate fanward shift of the axial river due to tilting of the valley towards the NE in response to reactivation of the Nalagarh Thrust. The cessation of Qf2 deposition around 20 ka and the onset of through‐fan entrenchment suggest reduced sediment supply but relatively high stream power during the last glacial maxima (LGM). The prolonged stream incision since the cessation of Qf2 deposition, with only minor depositional phases at 16·3 ± 2·1 and 4·5 ka, resulted from high water discharge and low sediment input during intensification of the SW monsoon and vegetation changes in the hinterland.     

Limitations of sequence stratigraphic correlation between marine and continental deposits: a 3D experimental study of unconformity-bounded units

Experiments have been carried out in a model basin 16 × 1·2 × 0·9 m to address the effect of base‐level and discharge changes on actively growing alluvial‐shoreline wedges. Two distinct types of erosive surfaces were investigated: one produced by base‐level fluctuations in the coastal zone and the other by discharge and supply fluctuations in the upstream alluvial basin. In the first experiment, three similar base‐level cycles were simulated keeping sediment supply and basin tilting constant within each cycle, and changing discharge from one cycle to the next. In the second experiment, rises and falls of base level were instantaneous and discharge changes were in phase (high discharge linked to high water levels in the basin). In the third experiment, base level and discharge changed gradually, at different rates and they were out of phase, resembling a typical glacio‐eustatic cycle in which sea‐level rises and falls are linked to increased and decreased discharge, respectively. The resulting stratigraphy of the alluvial to deltaic sedimentary wedge was analysed in terms of the development of unconformities and the evolving depositional geometry. An intervening decoupled zone between parts of the model basin dominated by alluvial processes and that at the coastal zone is identified. Within this decoupled zone, unconformities in the alluvial succession tend to vanish basinward, and base‐level generated coastal unconformities disappear landward. The two types of unconformity can be generated at different times during a glacio‐eustatic cycle, and it is thus erroneous to correlate them, even though they may appear to form a continuous surface. Unconformities within the modelled stratigraphy do not constitute time lines nor do they consistently separate younger from older beds, as they require a significant time to form and they have thick sedimentary packages as depositional correlatives. The experiments also support a fourfold division of sequences, showing the development of a significant sedimentary package during base‐level falls.     

前陆盆地钾盐矿床成因及模式——以西班牙北部埃布罗盆地为例

前陆盆地蕴藏有巨量的钾盐资源,而对于其内的钾盐矿床成因和模式还欠缺系统的总结。西班牙埃布罗盆地是由于伊比利亚和欧亚块体碰撞而形成的前陆盆地。始新世晚期(约36 Ma)海水完全从盆地退出后,在极端干旱气候作用下,由于碰撞造山导致盆地的封闭作用,在南比利牛斯前陆盆地系统的前渊带(即埃布罗盆地北部)形成了典型的厚层含钾石盐_光卤石的正常海相蒸发岩序列。后期受到构造挤压作用,钾盐地层以盐底劈的形式出露在背斜核部。埃布罗盆地钾盐成因是构造、气候和物源三者耦合作用的结果,与中国库车前陆盆地有很大的相似性。据此,作者建议可重点关注盆地南北盐丘地带苏维依组蒸发岩以及卤水的迁移方向。     

Cretaceous sedimentary basins in Sichuan,SW China: Restoration of tectonic and depositional environments

This study documents sediment infill features and their responses to the tectonic evolution of the Sichuan Basin and adjacent areas. The data include a comparison of field outcrops, well drillings, inter-well correlations, seismic data, isopach maps, and the spatial evolution of sedimentary facies. We divided the evolutionary history of the Sichuan Cretaceous Basin into three stages based on the following tectonic subsidence curves: the early Early Cretaceous (145–125 Ma), late Early Cretaceous to early Late Cretaceous (125–89.8 Ma), and late Late Cretaceous (89.8–66 Ma). The basin underwent NW–SE compression with northwestward shortening in the early Early Cretaceous and was dominated by alluvial fans and fluviolacustrine sedimentary systems. The central and northern areas of the Sichuan Basin were rapidly uplifted during the late Early Cretaceous to early Late Cretaceous with southwestward tilting, which resulted in the formation of a depression, exhibited southwestward compression, and was characterized by aeolian desert and fluviolacustrine deposits. The tectonic framework is controlled by the inherited basement structure and the formation of NE mountains, which not only affected the clastic supply of the sedimentary basin but also blocked warm-wet currents from the southeast, which changed the climatic conditions in the late Late Cretaceous. The formation and evolution of Cretaceous sedimentary basins are closely related to synchronous subtle far-field tectonism and changes in climate and drainage systems. According to the analysis of the migration of the Cretaceous sedimentation centers, different basin structures formed during different periods, including periods of peripheral mountain asynchronous thrusting and regional differential uplift. Thus, the Sichuan Cretaceous sedimentary basin is recognized as a superimposed foreland basin.     

Areal versus linear evaluation of relationship between drainage basin lithology and geochemistry of stream and overbank sediments in low-order mountainous drainage basins

The comparison of two multiple regression models is based on the assumption that geochemical composition of the drainage basin alluvial sediments is derived primarily from the underlying bedrock lithology. The parent material is integrated with both stream sediment and overbank sediment geochemistry via the two essentially different approaches as regards the drainage basin geomorphological data: (1) as the relative area of influence representing a portion of the catchment basin occupied by a specific rock type and (2) as the relative “line” of influence representing a narrow zone of the underlying bedrock traversed by the perennial streams which form the active stream network. The model comparison is established on the goodness-of-fit test for both experimental designs and for the same set of data. Both experiments converge on the linear approach as the more appropriate model in evaluating the lithologic influence on the analysed sample media in small mountainous watersheds.     

Arsenic Levels in Groundwater from Quaternary Alluvium in the Ganga Plain and the Bengal Basin, Indian Subcontinent: Insights into Influence of Stratigraphy

Late Quaternary stratigraphy and sedimentation in the Ganga Alluvial Plain and the Bengal Basin have influenced arsenic contamination of groundwater. Arsenic contaminated aquifers are pervasive within lowland organic rich, clayey deltaic sediments in the Bengal Basin and locally within similar facies in narrow, entrenched river valleys within the Ganga Alluvial Plain. These were mainly deposited during early-mid Holocene sea level rise. Arsenic was transported from disseminated sources as adsorbed on dispersed phases of hydrated-iron-oxide. These were preferentially entrapped as sediment coatings on organic-rich, fine-grained deltaic and floodplain sediments. Arsenic was released later to groundwater mainly by reductive dissolution of hydrated-iron-oxide and corresponding oxidation of sediment organic matter. Strong reducing nature of groundwater in the Bengal Basin and parts of affected middle Ganga floodplains is indicated by high concentration of dissolved iron (maximum 9-35 mg/l). Groundwater being virtually stagnant under these settings, released arsenic accumulates and contaminates groundwater. The upland terraces in the Bengal Basin and in the Central Ganga Alluvial Plain, made up of the Pleistocene sediments are free of arsenic contamination in groundwater. These sediments are weakly oxidised in nature and associated groundwater is mildly reducing in general with low concentration of iron (<1 mg/l), and thus incapable to release arsenic. These sediments are also flushed free of arsenic, released if any, by groundwater flow due to high hydraulic head, because of their initial low-stand setting and later upland terraced position.     

松辽盆地西缘断陷盆地特征及油气远景

大杨树盆地与松辽盆地及其他西缘盆地的对比, 发现它们具有类似的充填序列和构造演化历史, 表明这些盆地应是松辽盆地的一部分。目前, 在陆家堡凹陷中已发现具有一定规模的油田, 大杨树盆地深部发现良好的烃源岩, 这表明沿松辽盆地西缘发育的一系列断陷盆地具有良好的油气远景, 大杨树盆地是其中最具勘探潜力的盆地之一。     

塔里木盆地北部地区奥陶系层序地层格架与沉积演化*

应用层序地层学和沉积岩石学的原理与方法,深入分析塔里木盆地北部地区(塔北地区)轮南、哈拉哈塘和英买力3个构造单元逾百口钻井的岩心、薄片、测井等资料,结合主要构造运动及海平面变化的研究,建立塔北地区奥陶系层序地层格架,阐述格架内沉积特征及演化。根据区域性不整合界面划分2个二级层序(SSQ1,SSQ2),SSQ1包括下奥陶统—中奥陶统,SSQ2包括中奥陶统—上奥陶统;再根据岩性岩相转换面划分11个三级层序(OSQ1—OSQ11);进一步根据主要海泛面,划分海侵体系域(TST)和高位体系域(HST)。塔北地区奥陶纪沉积环境主要为浅海台地,经历了局限台地—开阔台地—淹没台地—台地边缘的演化过程,最终因陆源碎屑的注入破坏了台地的沉积环境,晚奥陶世塔北地区转为混积台地环境。