Evaluating along‐strike variation using thin‐bedded facies analysis,Upper Cretaceous Ferron Notom Delta,Utah

Thin‐bedded delta‐front and prodelta facies of the Upper Cretaceous Ferron Notom Delta Complex near Hanksville in southern Utah, USA, show significant along‐strike facies variability. Primary initiation processes that form these thin beds include surge‐type turbidity currents, hyperpycnal flows and storm surges. The relative proportion of sedimentary structures generated by each of these depositional processes/events has been calculated from a series of measured sedimentological sections within a single parasequence (PS6–1) which is exposed continuously along depositional strike. For each measured section, sedimentological data including grain size, lithology, bedding thickness, sedimentary structures and ichnological suites have been documented. Parasequence 6–1 shows a strong along‐strike variation with a wave‐dominated environment in the north, passing abruptly into a fluvial‐dominated area, then to an environment with varying degrees of fluvial and wave influence southward, and back to a wave‐dominated environment further to the south‐east. The lateral facies variations integrated with palaeocurrent data indicate that parasequence 6–1 is deposited as a storm‐dominated symmetrical delta with a large river‐dominated bayhead system linked to an updip fluvial feeder valley. This article indicates that it is practical to quantify the relative importance of depositional processes and determine the along‐strike variation within an ancient delta system using thin‐bedded facies analysis. The wide range of vertical stratification and grading sequences present in these event beds also allows construction of conceptual models of deposition from turbidity currents (i.e. surge‐type turbidity currents and hyperpycnal flows) and storm surges, and shows that there are significant interactions and linkages of these often paired processes.     

Late Miocene fish otoliths from the Colombacci Formation (Northern Apennines,Italy): implications for the Messinian ‘Lago‐mare’ event

A fish otolith assemblage from the Messinian ‘Lago‐mare’ deposits of the Colombacci Formation cropping out in the Montecalvo in Foglia Syncline, Marche, central Italy, is described. The assemblage displays a low diversity and consists of seven taxa belonging to three families: the Gobiidae, Myctophidae and Sciaenidae. Sciaenid otoliths are the most abundant elements representing 88% of the entire assemblage. The palaeoecological analysis reveals a coastal shallow marine environment strongly influenced by continental outflow. The low diversity and high abundance of the euryecious sciaenids are indicative of a very simplified food web, which probably represented an ecological response to the fluctuating environmental parameters and available food resources. The fish remains documented here provide an unambiguous evidence that normal marine conditions were present in the Mediterranean, at least in the upper part of the ‘Lago‐mare’ event, and unquestionably demonstrate that the marine refilling preceded the Mio‐Pliocene boundary. These findings clearly demonstrate that fishes, because of their mobility and migratory behaviour, represent a useful tool for the large‐scale interpretation of the environmental conditions of the Messinian Mediterranean water body. The necessity of a new scenario of palaeoenvironmental evolution for the post‐evaporitic Messinian of the Mediterranean is also discussed. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A combined study of radar facies,lithofacies and three‐dimensional architecture of an alpine alluvial fan (Illgraben fan,Switzerland)

Alluvial fans serve as useful archives that record the history of depositional and erosional processes in mountainous regions and thus can reveal the environmental controls that influenced their development. Economically, they play an important role as groundwater reservoirs as well as host rocks for hydrocarbons in deeply buried systems. The interpretation of these archives and the evaluation of their reservoir architecture, however, are problematic because marked heterogeneity in the distribution of sedimentary facies makes correlation difficult. This problem is compounded because the accumulated sedimentary deposits of modern unconsolidated fan systems tend to be poorly exposed and few such systems have been the focus of investigation using high‐resolution subsurface analytical techniques. To overcome this limitation of standard outcrop–analogue studies, a geophysical survey of an alpine alluvial fan was performed using ground‐penetrating radar to devise a scaled three‐dimensional subsurface model. Radar facies were classified and calibrated to lithofacies within a fan system that provided outcropping walls and these were used to derive a three‐dimensional model of the sedimentary architecture and identify evolutionary fan stages. The Illgraben fan in the Swiss Alps was selected as a case study and a network of ca 60 km sections of ground‐penetrating radar was surveyed. Seven radar facies types could be distinguished, which were grouped into debris‐flow deposits and stream‐flow deposits. Assemblages of these radar facies types show three depositional units, which are separated by continuous, fan‐wide reflectors; they were interpreted as palaeo‐surfaces corresponding to episodes of sediment starvation that affected the entire fan. An overall upward decline in the proportion of debris‐flow deposits from ca 50% to 15% and a corresponding increase in stream‐flow deposits were identified. The uppermost depositional unit is bounded at its base by a significant incision surface up to 700 m wide, which was subsequently filled up mostly by stream‐flow deposits. The pronounced palaeo‐surfaces and depositional trends suggest that allocyclic controls governed the evolution of the Illgraben fan, making this fan a valuable archive from which to reconstruct past sediment fluxes and environmental change in the Alps. The results of the integrated outcrop–geophysical approach encourage similar future studies on fans to retrieve their depositional history as well as their potential reservoir properties.     

‘Box‐Profile’ Ion Implants as Geochemical Reference Materials for Electron Probe Microanalysis and Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry

Although electron probe microanalysis and secondary ion mass spectrometry are widely used analytical techniques for geochemical and mineralogical applications, metrologically rigorous quantification remains a major challenge for these methods. Secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) in particular is a matrix‐sensitive method, and the use of matrix‐matched reference materials (RMs) is essential to avoid significant analytical bias. A major problem is that the number of available RMs for SIMS is extremely small compared with the needs of analysts. One approach for the production of matrix‐specific RMs is the use of high‐energy ion implantation that introduces a known amount of a selected isotope into a material. We chose the more elaborate way of implanting a so‐called ‘box‐profile’ to generate a quasi‐homogeneous concentration of the implanted isotope in three dimensions, which allows RMs not only to be used for ion beam analysis but also makes them suitable for EPMA. For proof of concept, we used the thoroughly studied mineralogically and chemically ‘simple’ SiO₂ system. We implanted either ⁴⁷Ti or ⁴⁸Ti into synthetic, ultra‐high‐purity silica glass. Several ‘box‐profiles’ with mass fractions between 10 and 1000 μg g^?1 Ti and maximum depths of homogeneous Ti distribution between 200 nm and 3 μm were produced at the Institute of Ion Beam Physics and Materials Research of Helmholtz‐Zentrum Dresden‐Rossendorf. Multiple implantation steps using varying ion energies and ion doses were simulated with Stopping and Range of Ions in Matter (SRIM) software, optimising for the target concentrations, implantation depths and technical limits of the implanter. We characterised several implant test samples having different concentrations and maximum implantation depths by means of SIMS and other analytical techniques. The results show that the implant samples are suitable for use as reference materials for SIMS measurements. The multi‐energy ion implantation technique also appears to be a promising procedure for the production of EPMA‐suitable reference materials.