Progradational Holocene carbonate tidal flats of Crooked Island,south‐east Bahamas: An alternative to the humid channelled belt model

The stratigraphic record of many cratonic carbonate sequences includes thick successions of stacked peritidal deposits. Representing accumulation at or near sea‐level, these deposits have provided insights into past palaeoenvironments, sea‐level and climate change. To expand understanding of carbonate peritidal systems, this study describes the geomorphology, sedimentology and stratigraphy of the tidal flats on the Crooked‐Acklins Platform, south‐east Bahamas. The Crooked Island tidal flats extend continuously for ca 18 km on the platformward flank of Crooked Island, reaching up to 2 km across. Tidal flats include four environmental zones with specific faunal and floral associations and depositional characteristics: (i) supratidal (continuous supratidal crust and pavement); (ii) upper intertidal, with the mangrove Avicennia germinans and the cyanobacteria Scytonema; (iii) lower intertidal (with the mangrove Rhizophora mangal) and (iv) non‐vegetated, heavily burrowed subtidal (submarine). These zones have gradational boundaries but follow shore‐parallel belts. Coring reveals that the thickness of this mud‐dominated sediment package generally is <2 m, with depth to Pleistocene bedrock gradually shallowing landward. The facies succession under much of the tidal flat includes a basal compacted, organic‐rich skeletal‐lithoclast lag above the bedrock contact (suggesting initial flooding). This unit grades upward into rhizoturbated skeletal sandy mud (subtidal) overlain by coarsening‐upward peloid‐foraminifera‐gastropod muddy sand (reflecting shallowing to intertidal elevations). Cores from landward positions include stacked thin indurated layers with autoclastic breccia, root tubules and fenestrae (interpreted as supratidal conditions). Collectively, the data reveal an offlapping pattern on this prograding low‐energy shoreline, and these Holocene tidal flats may represent an actualistic analogue for ancient humid progradational tidal flats. Nonetheless, their vertical facies succession is akin to that present beneath channelled belt examples, suggesting that facies successions alone may not provide unambiguous criteria for prediction of the palaeogeomorphology, lateral facies changes and heterogeneity in stratigraphic analogues.     

川中—川南过渡带嘉陵江组二段沉积相及其展布特征

川中—川南过渡带下三叠统嘉陵江组划分为局限台地相、蒸发台地相、开阔台地相3个相,8个亚相(开阔潮下、台内滩、台内雏滩、局限潟湖、台内洼地、局限潮坪、蒸发潟湖、蒸发潮坪)和18个微相。区域上嘉陵江组二段纵、横向沉积相对比结果表明:嘉陵江组二段沉积相横向上较均一、相变化较小;沉积相垂向上变化在较大范围内具有同步性。嘉二段共分5个作图单元,采取单因素法和优势相法相结合,并融合了层序地层学研究成果,较精确地展示了嘉陵江组二段不同层段的沉积相展布和演化。相对海平面升降变化和碳酸盐台地内隆坳相间古微地貌共同控制着沉积相带展布和演化。嘉陵江组二段以局限台地相和蒸发台地相为主,储集体有利发育相带是台内雏滩亚相和局限潮坪亚相,台内雏滩发育于潮坪与潟湖的过渡区附近相对高能带,局限潮坪则分布广泛。     

豫西陕渑煤田太原组一_3煤形成环境和聚煤特征

陕渑煤田位于河南省的西部,其晚古生代煤系地层由晚石炭世太原组、早二叠世早期山西组和早二叠世晚期～晚二叠世早期石盒子群所组成。本文主要讨论太原组—3煤层形成的沉积环境和聚煤特征。—3煤沉积前的下部碎屑岩段为一套开阔型海岸碎屑潮坪体系沉积,发育潮坪以及与其共生潮道和潮沟。—3煤沉积后的灰岩段根据微相、沉积构造及其中所含的生物化石等可以确定是一套由潮间带到潮下低能带的向上变深的沉积序列。—3煤层厚度分布主要受其沉积前沉积环境的影响,其中主要潮道发育的地方以及潮坪上较低洼的地带,上覆煤层厚度小(0～0.50m),而在潮坪上其它地区,煤层则厚度大(一般大于0.50m)。—3煤硫分主要受其沉积时沉积环境和沉积后沉积环境的影响,煤层中夹有薄层混灰岩时,煤的疏分就增高。—3煤层硫分和灰分普遍高的原因是受其堆积后较深水碳酸盐沉积的影响所致。     

Facies model of a mixed clastic–carbonate,wave‐dominated open‐coast tidal flat (Tithonian–Berriasian,north‐east Spain)

Detailed logging and analysis of the facies architecture of the upper Tithonian to middle Berriasian Aguilar del Alfambra Formation (Galve sub‐basin, north‐east Spain) have made it possible to characterize a wide variety of clastic, mixed clastic–carbonate and carbonate facies, which were deposited in coastal mudflats to shallow subtidal areas of an open‐coast tidal flat. The sedimentary model proposed improves what is known about mixed coastal systems, both concerning facies and sedimentary processes. This sedimentary system was located in an embayed, non‐protected area of a wide C‐shaped coast that was seasonally dominated by wave storms. Clastic and mixed clastic–carbonate muds accumulated in poorly drained to well‐drained, marine‐influenced coastal mudflat areas, with local fluvial sandstones (tide‐influenced fluvial channels and sheet‐flood deposits) and conglomerate tsunami deposits. Carbonate‐dominated tidal flat areas were the loci of deposition of fenestral‐laminated carbonate muds and grainy (peloidal) sediments with hummocky cross‐stratification. Laterally, the tidal flat was clastic‐dominated and characterized by heterolithic sediments with hummocky cross‐stratification and local tidal sandy bars. Peloidal and heterolithic sediments with hummocky cross‐stratification are the key facies for interpreting the wave (storm) dominance in the tidal flat. Subsidence and high rates of sedimentation controlled the rapid burial of the storm features and thus preserved them from reworking by fair‐weather waves and tides.     

Late Pliocene to Holocene platform evolution in northern Belize, and comparison with coeval deposits in southern Belize and the Bahamas

Lithostratigraphy, depositional facies architecture, and diagenesis of upper Pliocene to Holocene carbonates in northern Belize are evaluated based on a ca 290 m, continuous section of samples from a well drilled on Ambergris Caye that can be linked directly to outcrops of Pleistocene limestone, and of overlying Holocene sediments. Upper Pliocene outer‐ramp deposits are overlain unconformably by Pleistocene and Holocene reef‐rimmed platforms devoid of lowstand siliciclastics. Tectonism controlled the location of the oldest Pleistocene platform margin and coralgal barrier reef, and periodically affected deposition in the Holocene. A shallow, flat‐topped, mostly aggradational platform was maintained in the Holocene by alternating periods of highstand barrier‐reef growth and lowstand karstification, differential subsidence, and the low magnitude of accommodation space increases during highstands. Facies in Pleistocene rocks to the lee of the barrier reef include: (i) outer‐shelf coralgal sands with scattered coral patch reefs; (ii) a shoal–water transition zone comprising nearshore skeletal and oolitic sands amidst scattered islands and tidal flats; and (iii) micritic inner‐shelf deposits. Four glacio‐eustatically forced sequences are recognized in the Pleistocene section, and component subtidal cycles probably include forced cycles and autocycles. Excluding oolites, Holocene facies are similar to those in the Pleistocene and include mud‐mounds, foraminiferal sand shoals in the inner shelf, and within the interiors of Ambergris and surrounding cayes, mangrove swamps, shallow lagoons, and tidal and sea‐marginal flats. Meteoric diagenesis of Pliocene and Pleistocene rocks is indicated by variable degrees of mineralogic stabilization, generally depleted whole‐rock δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C values, and meniscus and whisker‐crystal cements. Differences in the mineralogy and geochemistry of the Pliocene and Pleistocene rocks are attributed to variable extent of meteoric alteration. Dolomitization in the Pliocene carbonates may have begun syndepositionally and continued into the marine shallow‐burial environment. Positive dolomite δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C values suggest precipitation from circulating, near‐normal marine fluids that probably were modified somewhat by methanogenesis. Sedimentologic and diagenetic attributes of the Pliocene–Pleistocene rocks in the study area are similar to those in the Bahamas with which they share a common history of sea‐level fluctuations and climate change.     

河南省(华北型)早寒武世沉积环境演化及其痕迹化石组合

到目前为止本省内早寒武世尚未发现有梅树村期和筇竹寺期沉积,仅有沧浪铺期和龙王庙期沉积存在。在济源—博爱—武陟一线以南地区有沧浪铺阶辛集组、朱砂洞组和龙王庙阶馒头组。该线以北只有龙王庙阶辛集组和馒头组。辛集组是个受特定环境控制的穿时地层单元。早寒武世沧浪铺早—中期(辛集组)沉积环境是潮下浅水陆棚和滨岸潮下带、滨岸潮坪潮间带。沧浪铺中—晚期(朱砂洞组)沉积环境是滨岸碳酸盐潮坪缓坡—潮间—潮上蒸发坪和潮间蒸发岩洼地以及潮下碳酸盐浅水缓坡。龙王庙期(馒头组)沉积环境是滨岸碳酸盐岩潮坪缓坡和潮下碳酸盐岩浅水缓坡。早寒武世痕迹化石主要产于三个层位,可分为H-T组合和L-B组合。前者为潮下浅水陆棚风暴环境痕迹组合,后者为潮间—潮上低能泥坪环境痕迹组合。早寒武世痕迹化石共11属(1新属)、16种(1新种、1相似种、10未定种)。     

External controls on the distribution,fabrics and mineralization of modern microbial mats in a coastal hypersaline lagoon,Cayo Coco (Cuba)

Active, carbonate‐mineralizing microbial mats flourish in a tropical, highly evaporative, marine‐fed lagoonal network to the south of Cayo Coco Island (Cuba). Hypersaline conditions support the development of a complex sedimentary microbial ecosystem with diverse morphologies, a variable intensity of mineralization and a potential for preservation. In this study, the role of intrinsic (i.e. microbial) and extrinsic (i.e. physicochemical) controls on microbial mat development, mineralization and preservation was investigated. The network consists of lagoons, forming in the interdune depressions of a Pleistocene aeolian substratum; they developed due to a progressive increase in sea‐level since the Holocene. The hydrological budget in the Cayo Coco lagoonal network changes from west to east, increasing the salinity. This change progressively excludes grazers and increases the saturation index of carbonate minerals, favouring the development and mineralization of microbial mats in the easternmost lagoons. Detailed mapping of the easternmost lagoon shows four zones with different flooding regimes. The microbial activity in the mats was recorded using light–dark shifts in conjunction with microelectrode O₂ and HS^? profiles. High rates of O₂ production and consumption, in addition to substantial amounts of exopolymeric substances, are indicative of a potentially strong intrinsic control on mineralization. Seasonal, climate‐driven water fluctuations are key for mat development, mineralization, morphology and distribution. Microbial mats show no mineralization in the permanently submersed zone, and moderate mineralization in zones with alternating immersion and exposure. It is suggested that mineralization is also driven by water‐level fluctuations and evaporation. Mineralized mats are laminated and consist of alternating trapping and binding of grains and microbially induced magnesium calcite and dolomite precipitation. The macrofabrics of the mats evolve from early colonizing Flat mats to complex Cerebroid or Terrace structures. The macrofabrics are influenced by the hydrodynamic regime: wind‐driven waves inducing relief terraces in windward areas and flat morphologies on the leeward side of the lagoon. Other external drivers include: (i) storm events that either promote (for example, by bioclasts covering) or prevent (for example, by causing erosion) microbial mat preservation; and (ii) subsurface degassing, through mangrove roots and desiccation cracks covered by Flat mats (i.e. forming Hemispheroids and Cerebroidal structures). These findings provide in‐depth insights into understanding fossil microbialite morphologies that formed in lagoonal settings.     

Late Cambrian microbial build-ups,Llano Area,Central Texas: A three-phase morphological evolution

Although Late Cambrian microbial build-ups were recognized in the Point Peak Member of the Wilberns Formation in Central Texas (USA) nearly 70 years ago, only a few studies focused specifically on the build-ups themselves. This study focuses on the interpretation of the regional (15 measured sections described in literature representing an area of 8000 km²) and local (field and drone photogrammetry studies in a 25 km² area from within south Mason County) microbial build-up occurrence, describes their growth phases and details their interactions with the surrounding inter-build-up sediments. The study establishes the occurrence of microbial build-ups in the lower and upper Point Peak members (the Point Peak Member is informally broken up into the lower Point Peak and the upper Point Peak members separated by Plectotrophia zone). The lower Point Peak Member consists of three <1 m thick microbial bioherms and biostrome units, in addition to heterolithic and skeletal/ooid grainstone and packstone beds. One, up to 14 m thick, microbial unit associated with inter-build-up skeletal and ooid grainstone and packstone beds, intercalated with mixed siliciclastic–carbonate silt beds, characterizes the upper Point Peak member. The microbial unit in the upper Point Peak member displays a three-phase growth evolution, from an initial colonization phase on flat based, rip-up clast lenses, to a second aggradation and lateral expansion phase, into a third well-defined capping phase. The ultimate demise of the microbial build-ups is interpreted to have been triggered by an increase of water turbidity caused by a sudden influx of fine siliciclastics. The lower Point Peak member represents inner ramp shallow subtidal and intertidal facies and the upper Point Peak member corresponds to mid-outer ramp subtidal facies. Understanding the morphological architecture and depositional context of these features is of importance for identifying signatures of early life on Earth.     

辽宁本溪牛毛岭马家沟组顶部剖面微相分析与沉积环境

牛毛岭马家沟组顶部剖面位于本溪国家地质公园牛毛岭景区的东部.通过对碳酸盐岩的微相分析,恢复了马家沟组顶部剖面沉积环境并总结了沉积环境变化规律.依据标本研究划分出14种微相类型,包括1种风暴岩微相类型、9种缓坡微相类型、3种标准微相类型和1种自定义微相类型.此剖面自下而上划分为3个低能型向上变浅潮缘旋回.旋回一的沉积环境由内缓坡的潮缘或潟湖,至沙滩和沙堤,至潮汐水道的潮缘;旋回二沉积环境由局限或开放的内缓坡,至潮缘的浅潮下带和个别层位的潮间、潮上带;旋回三最为典型,沉积环境由灰色灰岩的中缓坡,至潮缘,再到黄色调碳酸盐岩的潮缘浅潮下带,至潮间、潮上带的蒸发潟湖,至干旱气候下潮间、潮上带的蒸发海岸.推断染色的Fe³⁺和黏土矿物为陆源,此剖面点处是碳酸盐岩孤岛（洲）的潮缘环境.     

Palaeoenvironmental records in Holocene Spanish tufas: a stable isotope approach in search of reliable climatic archives

Tufa deposits are potential terrestrial archives of palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic information. This study assesses the potential of stable isotopic archives from two closely juxtaposed Holocene tufa sites in SE Spain. The Ruidera site contains deep‐water lacustrine micrites and tufas, whereas the nearby Alcaraz site represents a shallow barrage tufa. Understanding site characteristics is critical to interpreting the stable isotopic variations. These Holocene lacustrine micrites have isotopic compositions consistent with modern European lake shore microbial carbonates, where the isotopic chemistry is strongly influenced by hydrological and residence time effects. All the lacustrine micrite δ¹³C values were influenced by microenvironmental microbial effects to some degree. Because of these effects, stable isotope data from lacustrine microbial micrites and tufas will not normally yield precise information on the isotopic composition of palaeoprecipitation, temperature or vegetation composition of an area. In contrast, Holocene tufas that formed in shallow, fast‐flowing riverine settings may contain valuable palaeoclimatic archives. The tufa deposits must be largely autochthonous, as at Alcaraz, where in situ reed stem encrustations are present. Records of relative change in air temperature and changes in the source of airmasses are potentially resolvable in the δ¹⁸O data. These interpretations can be verified by other independent climatic data where chronology is constrained. Variations in riverine tufa δ¹³C values probably record changes in local vegetation and/or soil respiration. Covariation between δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C values may be intrinsically linked to climatic factors such as aridity. Tentative palaeoclimatic interpretations for the middle Holocene at Alcaraz based on the isotope data suggest warming (or increasing influence of Mediterranean‐sourced precipitation) between approximately 5000–3000 radiocarbon years BP, accompanied by increased aridity. These interpretations are consistent with the sparse independent palaeoclimatic data and climate modelling results for the Holocene of SE Spain. This study supports the growing evidence that well‐chosen tufa sites could yield valuable palaeoclimatic information.     

Sedimentary facies of the central part of radial tidal sand ridge system of the eastern China coast

A unique radial tidal sand ridge system (RTSRS) has developed under a complex tidal current field on the eastern China coast between the Yangtze River delta to the south and the abandoned Yellow River (Huanghe) delta to the north. The present study examines the sedimentary evolution of a ridge-channel pair in the central RTSRS. Three cores, with two on the ridges and one in the channel, were drilled to reveal the late Pleistocene-Holocene deposits of the system. Five sedimentary facies were distinguished, i.e. ridgeshallow subtidal facies, ridge-deep subtidal facies, nearsurface channel bottom facies, middle tidal flat facies and low tidal flat facies. The ridge-shallow subtidal facies consists of sandy strata with ripple cross beddings, horizontal lamina, and massive beddings. Bioturbation seldom occurs. The ridge-deep subtidal facies is primarily characterized by sandy and muddy interlayers with common flaser and lenticular bedding structures. Bioturbation appears abundantly. Massive and graded sediment sequences of storm origin are present as characterized by rich shell fragments. The nearsurface channel bottom facies consists of loose, soft, clayey silt deposits with deformed sedimentary layers. This facies occurs in the deeper part of the active channels. The middle tidal flat and lower tidal flat facies composed of silt-clay couplets prevailed primarily in the tidal flats. Incomplete sedimentary successions show that coastal plain deposits dominate in the study area during 12–13 ka B.P. The sandy ridge and channel facies became dominant during 4–6 ka B.P. when the sea level receded temporarily. Tidal ridge and channel in the study area became active during the last four decades. Sediment reworking due to typhoon and sandy ridge migration plays a key role in shaping the present radial ridge system.     

长江口北支潮滩不同沉积微相有机地球化学元素分布*

利用在长江口崇明岛北支北四滧港（SY）、北堡港（BBG）以及新卫村（XW）潮滩获取的表层沉积物,测试总有机碳（TOC）、总氮（TN）及总硫（TS）含量,分析有机地球化学元素在潮滩微相的分布规律及影响因素,试图建立TOC/TN、TS/TOC等潮滩微相识别指标。研究结果显示,影响长江口潮滩TN、TS微相分布的重要因素为有机质含量及类型。在淤涨型潮滩,TOC/TN在高潮滩一般大于10,在中潮滩明显降至10以下;中潮滩植被带TS/TOC最高,平均值达0.063,其次为高潮滩互花米草带和中潮滩光滩（分别为0.055和0.054）,高潮滩芦苇带最低;TS-TOC一元线性回归斜率在高潮滩芦苇带呈现为显著低值,自高潮滩米草带向光滩,逐渐增大。在侵蚀型潮滩,TOC/TN从高潮滩到低潮滩均大于10,而且中、低潮滩的比值大于高潮滩,潮下带骤降至小于10;TS/TOC自陆向海逐渐增大,TS-TOC一元回归斜率高潮滩最低,中潮滩最高。另外,侵蚀型潮滩各微相的TS-TOC一元线性回归斜率均明显低于淤涨型潮滩。上述研究结果表明,长江口沉积物的TOC/TN和TS/TOC及TS-TOC一元线性回归斜率与潮滩沉积微相之间存在一定的关系,具有应用于全新世钻孔识别潮滩沉积物微相的潜力。     

Sedimentology of the Ekwan Shoal,Akimiski Strait,James Bay,Canada

One of the steepest depositional coasts of western James Bay is found along the west shores of Akimiski Strait, north of the mouth of the Ekwan River. This shore receives considerable amounts of sediment during the spring break-up of the rivers. The sediments are stored on the steep narrow tidal flats and marshes, and in thinner (up to 80 cm) drapes on till-cored shoals that parallel and protect the coast. The low areas between the shoals and the mainland are swept and reworked by relatively powerful (2 m s^?1) reversing currents due to flooding and ebbing of tides into the strait.A series of distinct environments and sedimentary facies develop on this western coast and its antecedent longshore shoal. The outer part of the shoal is characterized by tidal bedding, Macoma balthica burrows and considerable ice scour. The inner part of the shoal has winnowed sand, the greatest abundance of Macoma, and well-developed flaser bedding. The longshore tidal channel separating the shoal from the mainland has coarse sand lags in the shallower parts and silty sand in deeper protected areas. The steep tidal flats develop laminated silty sands locally saturated and slumping toward the channel. The high saturation of the sediments inhibits colonization of the flats by Macoma. The narrow marshes have characteristic vegetation zonation, with Puccinellia phryganodes colonizing the lower marsh. The sedimentary sequence of the marsh displays irregular, bioturbated laminated sequences of silt, silty sand and organic matter.     

Carbonate stromatolites from a Messinian hypersaline setting in the Caltanissetta Basin, Sicily: petrographic evidence of microbial activity and related stable isotope and rare earth element signatures

Lower Messinian stromatolites of the Calcare di Base Formation at Sutera in Sicily record periods of low sea‐level, strong evaporation and elevated salinity, thought to be associated with the onset of the Messinian Salinity Crisis. Overlying aragonitic limestones were precipitated in normal to slightly evaporative conditions, occasionally influenced by an influx of meteoric water. Evidence of bacterial involvement in carbonate formation is recorded in three dolomite‐rich stromatolite beds in the lower portion of the section that contain low domes with irregular crinkly millimetre‐scale lamination and small fenestrae. The dominant microfabrics are: (i) peloidal and clotted dolomicrite with calcite‐filled fenestrae; (ii) dolomicrite with bacterium‐like filaments and pores partially filled by calcite or black amorphous matter; and (iii) micrite in which fenestrae alternate with dark thin wispy micrite. The filaments resemble Beggiatoa‐like sulphur bacteria. Under scanning electron microscopy, the filaments consist of spherical aggregates of dolomite, interpreted to result from calcification of bacterial microcolonies. The dolomite crystals are commonly arranged as rounded grains that appear to be incorporated or absorbed into developing crystal faces. Biofilm‐like remains occur in voids between the filaments. The dolomite consistently shows negative δ¹³C values (down to ?11·3‰) and very positive δ¹⁸O (mean value 7·9‰) that suggest formation as primary precipitate with a substantial contribution of organic CO₂. Very negative δ¹³C values (down to ?31·6‰) of early diagenetic calcite associated with the dolomite suggest contribution of CO₂ originating by anaerobic methane oxidation. The shale‐normalized rare earth element patterns of Sutera stromatolites show features similar to those in present‐day microbial mats with enrichment in light rare earth elements, and M‐type tetrad effects (enrichment around Pr coupled to a decline around Nd and a peak around Sm and Eu). Taken together, the petrography and geochemistry of the Sutera stromatolites provide diverse and compelling evidence for microbial influence on carbonate precipitation.     

文昌B凹陷北坡珠海组潮汐沉积特征及演化

文昌凹陷珠海组是重要的含油层系,但目前缺乏对文昌B凹陷北坡珠海组沉积特征的系统性研究,制约了该地区进一步勘探。以钻测井、岩芯、分析化验以及地震等资料为基础,对文昌B凹陷北坡珠海组进行层序地层划分、地震相识别、沉积特征及其演化分析。综合研究表明,珠海组发育三个三级层序;研究区广泛发育潮汐复合层理、双向水流的羽状交错层理以及强烈的生物扰动和虫孔等构造,为典型潮坪的潮间带和潮下带沉积;在三个地震层序中识别出7种典型地震相并建立地震相与沉积相响应关系,以对沉积相展布进行研究;早渐新世末,海水开始侵入盆地,由于神狐隆起的障蔽作用,其沉积主要受潮汐作用控制,伴随海侵的进行,沉积了珠海组厚层的潮坪沉积,此后海侵进一步加剧,障壁逐渐消失,波浪作用增强,逐渐过渡到新近系正常滨浅海沉积;各层序高位体系域的潮下带和潮间带砂坪沉积与其上泥坪沉积和海侵浅海泥沉积组成良好的储盖组合,其中潮汐水道和水下沙坝楔形沉积体为砂体较厚、分选好的优质储层,也是下一步勘探的有利目标。     

Shoreline tufa and tufaglomerate from Pleistocene Lake Bonneville,Utah, USA: stable isotopic and mineralogical records of lake conditions,processes, and climate

Shoreline carbonate deposits of Pleistocene Lake Bonneville record the conditions and processes within the lake, including the evaporative balance as well as vertical and lateral chemical and isotopic gradients. Tufas (swash‐zone) and tufaglomerates (cemented, subaqueous colluvium or beachrock) on multiple, well‐developed shorelines near the Silver Island Range, Utah, also present an opportunity to examine physicochemical lake processes through time. Three shorelines are represented by carbonate deposits, including the 23–20 ka Stansbury stage, 15–14.5 ka Bonneville stage, and 14.5–14 ka Provo stage. Mean δ¹⁸O_VSMOW values of all three shorelines are statistically indistinguishable ( ～ 27 ± 1‰), when a few Bonneville samples of unusual composition are neglected. However, differences in primary carbonate mineralogy indicate that the correspondence is an artefact of the different fractionation factors between calcite or aragonite and water. Second, in order to sustain a much smaller, shallower lake during the colder Stansbury stage, the climate must have also been relatively dry. Third, δ¹⁸O values in tufa are higher than tufaglomerate by ～ 0.5‰, consistent with greater evaporative enrichment of lake water in the swash zone. Fourth, mean δ¹³C values for the Provo, Stansbury and Bonneville shorelines (4.4, 5.0 and 5.2‰, respectively) show that carbon species were dominated by atmospheric exchange, with the variations produced by differences in the oxidation of organic matter. Comparisons of shoreline carbonates with deep‐lake marls of the same approximate age indicate that shoreline carbonate was much higher in δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O values (both ～ 2.5‰) during Bonneville time, whereas isotopic differences were minor (both ～ 1‰) in Stansbury time. In particular, the Bonneville stage may have sustained large vertical or lateral isotopic gradients due to evaporative enrichment effects on δ¹⁸O values. In contrast, the lake during the much shallower Stansbury stage may have been well mixed. Differences in the primary mineralogy (Stansbury and Bonneville, aragonite > calcite; Provo, calcite > aragonite) reflect profound differences in lake chemistry in terms of open versus closed‐basin lakes. The establishment of a continuous outlet during Provo time probably reduced the Mg²⁺/Ca²⁺ ratio of lake water. Curiously, regardless of primary mineralogy, tufaglomerate cements are enriched in Na⁺ and Cl^? and depleted in Mg²⁺ relative to capping tufa of the same age. This probably reflects vital or kinetic effects in the swash zone (tufa). We suspect that ‘abiotic’ effects may have been important in the dark pore space of developing tufaglomerate, where the absence of light suppressed photosynthesis. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cambrian wave‐dominated tidal‐flat deposits,central Wisconsin,USA

In central Wisconsin, Cambrian strata of the Elk Mound Group record deposition on open‐coast, wave‐dominated tidal flats. Mature, medium‐grained quartz arenite is dominated by parallel‐bedding with upper‐flow regime parallel‐lamination, deposited during high‐energy storms that also produced three‐dimensional bedforms on the flats. Abundant wave ripples were produced as storms waned or during fair weather, in water depths ≤2 m. Indicators of variably shallow water (washout structures and stranded cnidarian medusae) and subaerial exposure (adhesion marks, rain‐drop impressions and desiccation cracks, including cracked medusae) are abundant. Parallel‐bedded facies preserve a Cruziana ichnofacies, similar to other Cambrian tidal‐flat deposits. Flats were dissected by small, mainly straight channels, the floors of which were grazed intensely by molluscs. Most channels were ephemeral but some developed low levées, point bars and cut‐banks, probably reflecting stabilization by abundant microbial mats and biofilms. Channels were filled with trough cross‐bedding that is interpreted to have been produced mainly during storm runoff. The strata resemble deposits of open‐coast, wave‐dominated tidal flats on the east coast of India and west coast of Korea. Ancient wave‐dominated and open‐coast tidal flats documented to date appear to have been limited to mud‐rich strata with ‘classic’ tidal indicators such as flaser bedding and tidal bundles. The Cambrian (Miaolingian to early Furongian) Elk Mound Group demonstrates that sandy, wave‐dominated tidal flats also can be recognized in the stratigraphic record.     

海相成煤论进展

海相成煤论的提出与深化,必将带来含煤沉积学诸多领域的新变革与新进展。本文从泥炭坪海相成煤模式、现代热带红树林潮坪比较沉积学研究、关于含煤建造中的潮汐沉积与陆表海性质、台地、堡岛及其复合的含煤建造沉积体系、聚煤盆地的地质事件及其沉积记录、煤田岩相古地理研究方法论及巨型聚煤盆地的整体研究诸领域论述了所取得的成果与新时展,从而丰富和深化了海相成煤论.为重新认识我国晚古生代巨型聚煤盆地,探求新的聚煤规律,扩大新的煤炭资源奠定基础.     

Carbonate tidal rhythmites from the Middle Jurassic of Britain

Newly discovered carbonate laminites are described from the Lincolnshire Limestone Formation (Middle Jurassic, Britain). These occur in the upper peloidal unit of fining-upward rhythms which comprise much of the lagoonal lower Lincolnshire Limestone in south Lincolnshire. The flat, millimetre-scale laminations are of three types: (1) alternating peloid-rich, peloid-poor laminae; (2) alternating bioclastic and peloidal laminae; (3) alternating bioclastic and micritic laminae. In all three types, small-scale cross-laminated sets (usually < 40 mm thick) also occur. The laminite horizons are usually < 150 mm thick and have, in some cases, been traced laterally for ～100 m. The close analogy of these carbonate laminites with siliciclastic counterparts favours their interpretation as tidal rhythmites, mechanically deposited in a low intertidal/shallow subtidal setting. The associated sedimentary features and overall stratigraphic-sedimentologic position of the deposits support this conclusion. According to the literature, mechanically deposited as opposed to algally induced carbonate laminites are rare outside the supratidal realm. Possible reasons for the real or imagined scarcity of intertidal/ subtidal carbonate laminites in ancient sedimentary regimes are discussed.     

Unusual isotopic phenomena in Welsh quarry water and carbonate crusts

Modern terrestrial speleothem-like calcareous deposits in streams draining a disused lime quarry on Black Mountain, South Wales have anomalously negative δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C compositions compared with other similar European deposits. Black Mountain water chemistry is unusual only in its locally very high pH (> 11.5) and carbonate ion concentrations. The high pH is caused by dissolution of lime spoil, resulting in high OH^– concentrations. This high alkalinity causes uptake of atmospheric CO₂ and strong fractionation of both carbon and oxygen stable isotopes, resulting in calcite precipitates with unusually negative isotopic compositions. Since shifts in δ¹⁸O of < 1° are highly significant for Holocene palaeoclimate reconstructions, depletions caused by hyperalkaline waters must be avoided. While extreme lime spoil contamination should be obvious, less heavily affected sites will record smaller fractionation effects and might escape detection. Even small depletions from low-level contamination will have large effects on palaeotemperatures based on carbonate crust δ¹⁸O values.