Sand ridges off Sarasota, Florida: A complex facies boundary on a low-energy inner shelf environment

The innermost shelf off Sarasota, Florida was mapped using sidescan-sonar imagery, seismic-reflection profiles, surface sediment samples, and short cores to define the transition between an onshore siliciclastic sand province and an offshore carbonate province and to identify the processes controlling the distribution of these distinctive facies. The transition between these facies is abrupt and closely tied to the morphology of the inner shelf. A series of low-relief nearly shore-normal ridges characterize the inner shelf. Stratigraphically, the ridges are separated from the underlying Pleistocene and Tertiary carbonate strata by the Holocene ravinement surface. While surficial sediment is fine to very-fine siliciclastic sand on the southeastern sides of the ridges and shell hash covers their northwestern sides, the cores of these Holocene deposits are a mixture of both of these facies. Along the southeastern edges of the ridges the facies boundary coincides with the discontinuity that separates the ridge deposits from the underlying strata. The transition from siliciclastic to carbonate sediment on the northwestern sides of the ridges is equally abrupt, but it falls along the crests of the ridges rather than at their edges. Here the facies transition lies within the Holocene deposit, and appears to be the result of sediment reworking by modern processes. This facies distribution primarily appears to result from south-flowing currents generated during winter storms that winnow the fine siliciclastic sediment from the troughs and steeper northwestern sides of the ridges. A coarse shell lag is left armoring the steeper northwestern sides of the ridges, and the fine sediment is deposited on the gentler southeastern sides of the ridges. This pronounced partitioning of the surficial sediment appears to be the result of the siliciclastic sand being winnowed and transported by these currents while the carbonate shell hash falls below the threshold of sediment movement and is left as a lag. The resulting facies boundaries on this low-energy, sediment-starved inner continental shelf are of two origins which both are tied to the remarkably subtle ridge morphology. Along the southeastern sides of the ridges the facies boundary coincides with a stratigraphic discontinuity that separates Holocene from the older deposits while the transition along the northwestern sides of the ridges is within the Holocene deposit and is the result of sediment redistribution by modern processes.     

渤海湾盆地渤中凹陷古近系沉积体系演化及物源分析

综合运用地质、测井、地震及分析化验等资料,对渤海湾盆地渤中凹陷古近系沉积体系进行了较深入的研究,研究表明渤中凹陷古近系的沉积体系主要受构造升降和湖平面变化的控制,经历了3期裂陷和湖侵,发育5套沉积体系,其中沙河街组沉积时期为裂陷期,以扇三角洲、湖底扇沉积为主,并发育特征的滩坝及浅水台地相沉积;东营组沉积时期为湖侵期,主要发育大型湖泊三角洲沉积,并逐渐向辫状河相过渡。构造及沉积体系分析认为,沙三段沉积时期物源丰富,主要来自石臼坨凸起、渤南和庙西凸起,沙一、二段沉积时期物源有限,东三沉积期物源主要来自石臼坨和沙东南凸起,东二沉积期大面积的湖侵使得本区处于浅湖-半深湖环境,凹陷周边大量古水系将石臼坨凸起、沙垒田凸起的物源带入凹陷中沉积,使得大型三角洲叠覆体广泛发育。     

Glaciomarine sedimentation and palaeo-glacial setting of Maxwell Bay and its tributary embayment, Marian Cove, South Shetland Islands, West Antarctica

High-resolution (3.5 kHz and multi-channel) seismic profiles and piston cores were collected from Maxwell Bay and its tributary embayment, Marian Cove, in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica, during the Korea Antarctic Research Program (1992/93 and 1995/96) to elucidate the glaciomarine sedimentation processes and recent glacial history of the area. Seismic data from Maxwell Bay reveal a rugged bay margin and flattened basin floor covered with well-stratified hemipelagic muds. On the base-of-slope, acoustically transparent debris flows occur, indicating downslope resedimentation of glaciomarine sediments. Despite the subpolar and ice-proximal settings of Marian Cove, the seafloor is highly rugged with a thin sediment drape, suggesting that much of the area has been recently eroded by glaciers. Sediment cores from the cove penetrated three distinct fining-upward lithofacies: (1) basal till in the lower part of the core, accumulated just seaward of the grounding line of the tidewater glacier; (2) interlaminated sand and mud in the middle part, deposited in ice-proximal zone by a combination of episodic subglacial meltwater inflow and iceberg dumping; and (3) pebbly mud in the upper part, deposited in ice-distal zone by both surface meltwater plume and ice-rafting from the glacier front. A reconstruction of the glacial history of these areas since the late glacial maximum shows an ice sheet filling Maxwell Bay in late Wisconsin time and grounding of the tidewater glacier in Marian Cove until about 1300 yr BP.     

湖北兴山大峡口二叠系剖面沉积相分析

在大量前人研究的基础上,通过野外实测,运用沉积相分析方法,结合露头层序地层学、生物地层学、储层成岩作用等方面研究,初步对湖北兴山大峡口二叠系剖面进行了沉积相分析研究,认为该剖面由下至上可划分为两个沉积体系单元,即碳酸盐缓坡沉积体系（相）和碳酸盐台地沉积体系（相）。同时,初步总结出了该剖面的沉积相模式。海平面的升降变化是控制该区沉积相发育和分布的主要因素。     

Distribution and thickness of sedimentary facies in the coastal dune, beach and nearshore sedimentary system at Maspalomas, Canary Islands

Numerous studies have shown that most beaches and coastal dune systems of the world are currently eroding but very few have investigated the combined sediment budgets of subaerial and nearshore submarine systems. In the case of the dune field of the Maspalomas Natural Special Reserve (in the south of Gran Canaria), the adjacent Maspalomas and El Inglés beaches and the adjacent submarine platform, the sediment budgets have been severely affected by erosion over the past few decades. The objectives of this study were to investigate the availability of sand within the modern sedimentary system, including the coastal dunes, the beaches and the submerged shelf, but also to assess local sediment sinks. An isopach map generated on the basis of topo-bathymetric data and seismic-reflection profiles revealed that sediment thickness varies from 0–22 m in the study area. Expanses of relatively low sediment thickness were identified in the south-western sector of the coastal dune field along Maspalomas beach, and in the nearshore region to the south of this beach. These localized sediment-deficit areas earmark Maspalomas beach as the most vulnerable shore strip threatened by erosion. The shallow seismic data also revealed that the submarine platform south of Maspalomas represents a marine terrace cut into an ancient alluvial fan, thus documenting an influence of the geomorphological heritage on the present-day morphodynamics. A side-scan sonar mosaic of this nearshore platform enabled the delimitation of areas covered by rock, boulders and gravel, vegetated sand patches and a mobile sand facies, the latter including ripple and megaripple fields. The megaripple field in a valley close to the talus of the marine terrace has been identified as a major sediment sink of the Maspalomas sedimentary system. It is fed by south-westerly storm-wave events. The sediment deficit in the coastal dune field and along Maspalomas beach can therefore only be explained by a currently faster loss of sediment to an offshore sink than can be compensated by the supply of sand from outside the system.     

东海Zk23孔的古沙脊沉积环境

根据东海陆架Zk23孔岩心分析资料,进行了沉积地层学、生物地层学和年代地层学分析,确定了该钻孔中段细砂层为埋藏古长江河口沙脊沉积,阐明了该孔附近海区冰消期前后和冰后期的沉积历史。约在15kaB．P以前,海平面上升较快,沉积了下层的河口-水下三角洲相地层;约在15～12kaB．P．的冰消期期间,海平面波动并稳定于60～80m等深线附近,发育了沙脊地貌：约在12kaB．P．以来海平面再度快速上升,至7kaB．P水位稳定,直至今日,沉积了沙脊上覆的浅海相粉砂质黏土和黏土质粉砂地层。     

Deglaciation of the western margin of the Barents Sea Ice Sheet — A swath bathymetric and sub-bottom seismic study from the Kveithola Trough

Kveithola Trough, an E–W trending glacial trough in the NW Barents Sea, was surveyed for the first time during the EGLACOM cruise of R/V OGS-Explora in summer 2008. Swath bathymetry shows that the seafloor is characterized by E–W trending mega-scale glacial lineations (MSGL) that record a fast flowing ice stream draining the Svalbard/Barents Sea Ice Sheet (SBIS) during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). MSGL are overprinted by transverse sediment ridges about 15 km apart which give rise to a staircase axial profile of the trough. Such transverse ridges are interpreted to be grounding-zone wedges (GZWs) formed by deposition of subglacial till during episodic ice stream retreat. Sub-bottom (CHIRP) and multi-channel reflection seismic data show that the present-day morphology is largely inherited from the palaeo-seafloor topography at the time of deposition of the transverse ridges, overlain by a draping glaciomarine unit which in places is over 15 m thick. Our data allow the reconstruction of depositional processes which accompanied deglaciation of the Spitsbergen Bank area. The sedimentary drape deposited on top of the GZWs is suggested to have accumulated at a very high rate, (on average in the order of 1–1.5 m ka^?1) and therefore may potentially preserve a high-resolution palaeoclimatic record of deglaciation and post-glacial conditions in this sector of the Barents Sea.     

Modern tidal rhythmites deposited in a deep-water estuary

 The sedimentary record in Muir Inlet, a macrotidal fjord in Alaska, is dominated by cyclic silt–mud rhythmites. Couplet thicknesses vary systematically in a vertical sequence and reflect a semidiurnal tidal regime. Semimonthly, monthly, bimonthly, and annual cycles can be identified both visually in cores and by spectral frequency analysis. An average annual sedimentation of 22.5 cmyr^-1 occurs over a four-month meltwater season and is confirmed by ²¹⁰Pb dating. These modern deep-water tidal rhythmites can be used to verify interpretations made on ancient rhythmites in the stratigraphic record, and they also provide a dating tool to interpret high latitude successions for high-resolution climate change. Received: 20 February 1997 / Revision received: 1 October 1997     

滨里海盆地科尔占地区石炭系沉积相

科尔占地区位于滨里海盆地阿斯特拉罕-阿克纠宾斯克隆起带东南部的比伊克扎尔次级隆起上,该地区广泛发育下二叠统孔谷组盐岩,以盐岩沉积为界,它将整个剖面划分为盐上层系（以碎屑岩为主的含油气层系）和盐下层系（以碳酸盐岩为主的含油气层系）两个大的含油气层系,石炭系为盐下层系中主要的含油气层系之一。通过对研究区唯一的盐下井K井岩屑及其薄片的详细观察,并结合该井测井资料,分析了石炭系的沉积特征,并对其沉积相进行了划分与描述。K井石炭系主要发育3种类型沉积相,分别为深水浊积扇相、斜坡相和台地相,其中深水浊积扇相可进一步划分为内扇、中扇和外扇3个亚相,台地相划分为滩间洼地和台内滩2个亚相。利用K井钻探结果,结合区域资料,初步预测出科尔占地区早石炭世和中石炭世末期沉积相带的平面分布特征。     

Seismic characteristics, morphology and formation of the ponded Fangliao Fan off southwestern Taiwan, northern South China Sea

Using bathymetry and reflection seismic profiles this study reveals the nature of the modern ponded Fangliao Fan within a framework of sediment infilling of an intra-slope basin on a tectonically active margin off southwestern Taiwan. The Fangliao Fan begins at the mouth of Fangliao Canyon at a water depth of 900 m and terminates down-slope at the escarpment of a linear ridge north of the Kaoping Slope Valley at a water depth of about 1,100 m, sediment gravity flows being prevented from farther down-slope transport due to ponding against this bathymetric high. The fan appears as a distinct basinward-opening triangular depocenter confined by ridges on both sides and the NW–SE trending ridge aligned normal to the elongation of the fan. These topographic ridges were formed by mud-diapiric intrusions. The external form of the ponded Fangliao Fan is characterized by a fan-valley fill pattern that has a concave cross-sectional morphology, in contrast to typical mounded fans deposited on slope-basin plains having a smooth topography. Sediment episodically funneled through the Fangliao Canyon from upslope areas and derived from the flanks of the mud-diapiric ridges are mainly transported by mass movement before being re-dispersed by unconfined channels to infill the intra-slope basin, thereby building up channelized fan complexes with poorly developed levees. The sediment flows from the mouth of Fangliao Canyon flow down-slope along the west flank of the Fangliao Ridge. In the process, a feeder channel has been eroded into the seafloor along which sediment is transported to the distal parts of the fan. Sediment west of the feeder channel is mainly redistributed by mass movement and/or fan channels to fill up the irregular topographic low in the slope. Due to a very low sediment supply, Fangliao Fan represents a starved ponded slope fan. As such it provides insights into the processes by which ponded fans develop and can therefore serve as an analog for similar fans developed on topographically complex slopes elsewhere. The morpho-structural features of the Fangliao Fan resulted from the interplay between sediment supply, uplift of the mud-diapiric ridge, mass movements, and alternating incision and deposition.     

北部湾盆地海中凹陷流三段沉积相研究及其意义

以频率、连续性、振幅、几何形态为划分依据,将海中凹陷流三段划分为6类地震相。通过区域沉积背景研究,分析其可能发育的沉积相类型,并根据其自身的地震反射特征和浅层有井层段沉积相分析,进行了地震相到沉积相的转化。海中凹陷流三段发育的沉积相类型主要有辫状河-冲积平原、滨浅湖、辫状河三角洲、近岸水下扇和半深湖。研究的意义在于证实了海中凹陷流三段储集层发育,同时推测凹陷深处发育的半深湖和大面积分布的浅湖可能发育大套湖相烃源岩。     

花东盆地晚中新世以来沉积演化特征

利用近年来在台湾东部海域采集的多道地震和多波速测深资料,对该海域花东海盆区晚中新世以来的沉积充填演化特征进行描述和分析。通过对花东海盆区域地形特征描述、层序地层格架的建立和地震剖面的解译,在本区晚中新世以来的沉积充填中刻画出6种典型地震相类型,并分析其对应的沉积相类型,包括浊积扇、浊积水道充填、块体流、沉积物波、海底峡谷－伴生沉积物滑塌变形－充填、深水扇沉积。结合地震相平面分布及垂向沉积相叠置关系,将晚中新世－第四纪沉积充填演化划分为3个阶段:晚中新世晚期开始受到块体流冲蚀阶段,到海底峡谷冲刷－沉积物失稳－峡谷充填－再侵蚀阶段,到峡谷输送的大量沉积物在上新世以来主要堆积发育了沉积物波、浊积扇、深水扇等沉积体系阶段。     

Late glacial fans in the eastern Skagerrak; depositional environment interpreted from swath bathymetry and seismostratigraphy

The origin of acoustically transparent fan deposits overlying glacial till and ice-proximal sediments on the southern margin of the Norwegian Channel has been studied using high-resolution seismic-reflection profiles and multibeam bathymetry. The first deposits overlying glacigenic sediments are a series of stacked, acoustically transparent submarine fans. The lack of glaciomarine sediments below and between individual fans indicates that deposition was rapid and immediately followed the break up of the Late Weichselian ice cover. The fans are overlain by stratified glaciomarine sediments and Holocene mud. Because of the uniformity of this drape, the upper surface of the fan deposits is mimicked at the present seafloor, and the bathymetric images clearly show the spatial relationship of the fans to bedrock ridges and the presence of braided channel-levee systems on the surface of the youngest fans. The acoustically transparent character of the fan deposits indicates that they comprise silt and clay, and their lobate form and lack of internal stratification indicates that they were deposited by debris flows. The channel-levee morphology indicates deposition from more watery hyperconcentrated fluid flows. The fan sediments were either derived from 1) erosion of Mid Weichselian lake deposits in southern Skagerrak or 2) from Late glacial ice-margin lake deposits, ponded against the Norwegian Channel ice stream, which collapsed catastrophically when the lateral support was removed as the ice disintegrated. Fans composed almost exclusively of fine-grained sediment need not, therefore, rule out an origin in a deglacial setting relatively close to the former margins of glaciers and ice sheets.     

南黄海盆地北部坳陷古近系沉积特征及其沉积演化

南黄海盆地经历了多年油气勘探,无论是在中生界还是新生界,至今未获得油气突破。新生界储层具有优越的储集条件,故重点分析了古近系阜宁组和三朵—戴南组的沉积特征及其沉积演化特征。以钻井和测井资料为基础,将阜宁组和三朵—戴南组划分为4种沉积相类型,即河流相、扇三角洲相、三角洲相和湖相,其中河流相在研究区可划分为辫状河流相和曲流河流相;并且分析了各沉积相、沉积亚相和沉积微型的岩电性特征。仔细解剖地震反射特征,进行阜宁组和三朵—戴南组地震相分析,以单井相分析为基础,解析各地震相沉积意义。根据瓦尔特定律,将单井沉积相分析与地震相分析充分结合,分析各层段沉积相分布特征。阜宁组主要发育曲流河流相、扇三角洲相、滨浅湖相和半深湖相;三朵—戴南组主要发育辫状河流相、扇三角洲相和滨浅湖相。根据区域构造演化特征,结合沉积相分析,深入分析了研究区古近系阜宁组至三朵—戴南组的沉积演化特征。     

Upper Jurassic overlapping-fans slope-apron system: Brae oilfield, North Sea

The Brae oilfield reservoir in the North Sea comprises Upper Jurassic resedimented conglomerates and sandstones interbedded with organic-rich silstone and mudstone thin-bedded turbidites. The system represents a series of small overlapping fans that form a thick (300 m) slope-apron accumulation of sediments deposited in a narrow (<10 km wide) belt along an active fault zone. The complex lateral and vertical distribution of facies was due mainly to variable tectonic activity, and partly also to sediment supply and sea-level changes. Margin setting represents fan and/or source area     

Conglomeratic reservoir characterization in the Caiyu field of the Langgu sag, North China

Several subaqueous alluvial fans are developed along the footwall of the northern boundary fault zone—the Daxing fault of the Langgu sag, Bohai Bay Basin, North China. A distinct feature is the significant difference in hydrocarbon enrichment between neighboring wells drilled in the same sedimentary facies. This paper analyses the controlling factors for hydrocarbon accumulation of subaqueous alluvial fan in the Caiyu field, north of the Langgu sag. Based on reprocessed seismic data and using Jason inversion method, the contrast of cross-well correlation panel was established and a reservoir type model was build-up; reservoir heterogeneity was interpreted from inversion impedance data. The result shows six conglomeratic bodies in this fan, which are stacked vertically and laterally. The lithofacies is the key controlling factor for the hydrocarbon accumulation, and diagenesis and tectonic stresses also play important roles in the hydrocarbon enrichment.     

A high-resolution geophysical investigation of sediment distribution controlled by catchment size and tides in a multi-basin turbid outwash fjord: Simpson Bay,Prince William Sound,Alaska

Surficial sediment distribution within Simpson Bay is a function of antecedent bedrock and recently deposited glacial geology, as well as active physical processes both within Simpson Bay and Prince William Sound (PWS). Simpson Bay is a turbid, outwash fjord located in northeastern PWS, Alaska. Freshwater from heavy precipitation, and the melting of high alpine glaciers enter the bay through bay head rivers and small shoreline creeks. The catchment has a high watershed/basin surface area ratio (∼8:1), and easily erodible bedrock that contribute to high sediment loads. The system can be divided into three discrete basins, each with specific morphologic and circulatory characters. Side scan sonar, swath bathymetry, and seismic profiles reveal that bathymetric highs are areas of outcropping glacial surfaces. High backscatter coupled with surface grab samples reveal these surfaces to be composed of coarse sediment and bedrock outcrops. Bathymetric lows are areas of low backscatter, and grab samples reveal these areas to be ponded deposits of organic-rich estuarine muds. The data provide evidence of terminal morainal bank systems, and glacial grounding line deposits at the mouth of the bay and rocky outcrops were identified as subsurface extensions of aerial rocky promontories. Radioisotope analyses of short cores reveal that the bay has an average accumulation rate of approx. 0.5 cm year⁻¹, but that this varies in function of the watershed/basin surface area ratios of the different basins. The interaction of tidal currents and sediment source drives sediment distribution in Simpson Bay. Hydrographic data reveal high spatial variability in surface and bottom currents throughout the bay. Subsurface currents are tide dominated, but generally weak (5–20 cm s⁻¹), while faster currents are found along shorelines, outcrops, and bathymetric highs. Bathymetric data reveal steep slopes with little to no modern sediment throughout the bay, suggesting lack of deposition due to tidal currents.     

东海Zk23孔的古沙脊沉积环境

根据东海陆架Zk23孔岩心分析资料,进行了沉积地层学、生物地层学和年代地层学分析,确定了该钻孔中段细砂层为埋藏古长江河口沙脊沉积,阐明了该孔附近海区冰消期前后和冰后期的沉积历史。约15kaBP以前,海平面上升较快,沉积了下层的河口—水下三角洲相地层;15～12kaBP的冰消期期间,海平面波动并稳定于60～80m等深线附近,发育了沙脊地貌;12kaBP以来海平面再度快速上升,至7kaBP水位稳定,直至今日,沉积了沙脊上覆的浅海相粉砂质黏土和黏土质粉砂地层。     

Seismic stratigraphy of Late Quaternary sediments of western Mersin Bay shelf, (NE Mediterranean Sea)

High-resolution shallow seismic-reflection profiles obtained from the western Mersin Bay have revealed the existence of the two distinct depositional sequences (C and B) lying on a narrow and relatively steeply-sloping continental shelf which mainly receives its sediments from the ephemeral rivers. The upper Holocene sedimentary sequence (C) is characterized by stratified (simple to complex) to chaotic reflection configurations produced by the development of a prograding wedge of terrigenous sediment. Particular occurrences of slope- and front-fill facies and the lack of a sharp boundary, which has, however, been observed on the western shelf of this bay, between the Early Holocene and latest Pleistocene deposits are related to possible movement of underlying deposits due to local gravity mass movements or synsedimentary tectonics due to adjustment of the underlying evaporites in adjacent basin. The maximum thickness of the topmost sequence C is associated with the Tarsus–Seyhan delta, which lies to the northeast of the area and is prograding along the shelf. Other variations in thickness (5–40 m) of this topmost sequence are related to the variable sediment discharge along the coast, and the distance from the coast. It is at a maximum (40 m) in the nearshore area just west of the Lamas river mouth and at a minimum (5–15 m) in the offshore area.

The lower depositional pre-Holocene sequence (B) is characterized by continuous to wavy reflection configurations and how some cyclicity, suggesting coarse, heterogeneous sediments deposited under high energy conditions (fan-deltas) of Plio-Pleistocene age.

The combined interpretation of seismic reflection profiles with the available bore-hole data reveals the existence of a widespread Miocene acoustic basement (A) off the Susanoğlu–Tırtar coasts and Karapınar–Gilindirez rivers mouths. Unusual features in some profiles suggest the escape of coastal freshwater into the accumulating sediment.