A comparison of mud- and sand-dominated meanders in a downstream coarsening reach of the mixed bedrock-alluvial Klip River, eastern Free State, South Africa

Along a 28 km reach of the Klip River, eastern Free State, South Africa, mud- and sand-dominated meanders have developed in close proximity within a floodplain wetland up to 1.5 km wide, providing an unusual opportunity to compare their characteristics under similar hydrological conditions. Throughout the reach, the channel bed is grounded on sandstone/shale bedrock although the banks are alluvial, and most river activity occurs during summer high flows. The reach can be divided into three geomorphological zones: Zone 1 (0–11 km), a muddy proximal part with a single meandering channel (w/d < 10) and near-permanent standing water in oxbows and backswamps; Zone 2 (11–17.5 km), a transitional mud-to-sand part with one main channel (w/d  20–30), a number of sinuous palaeochannels and oxbows, and only limited standing water; and Zone 3 (17.5–28 km), a sandy distal part with a single meandering channel (w/d  15–30), scroll bars and oxbows, and little standing water. Each zone also has a distinctive sedimentology: Zone 1 is characterised by an  3–4 m thick succession of basal sand and minor granules overlain by dominantly muddy sediment deposited primarily by oblique accretion in meander bends; Zone 2 is characterised by < 4 m of interbedded sand and mud deposited primarily by lateral point-bar accretion, although a history of avulsions also attests to the importance of abandoned-channel accretion; and Zone 3 is characterised by < 3 m of dominantly sand deposited primarily by lateral point-bar accretion. This unusual downstream sediment coarsening trend, and the associated changes in channel and floodplain character, are independent of sediment inputs from tributaries, and result from a downstream increase in bankfull unit stream power from < 3.5 W m^− 2 (Zone 1) to  4–10 W m^− 2 (Zone 3). Mud is deposited primarily in low-energy Zone 1 but is conveyed in suspension more effectively through higher energy Zones 2 and 3, only forming drapes over sandy lateral accretion deposits during waning flood stages. The downstream increase in unit stream power is controlled in part by a slight downstream increase in floodplain gradient that may be related to a subtle variation in the erosional resistance of the bedrock underlying the channel bed. These findings add to previous work on meandering rivers by demonstrating that mud-dominated meanders can occur in long-term erosional settings where the channel bed is grounded on bedrock, and that downstream fining trends may be reversed locally.     

Morphology and evolution of an anastomosed channel network where saline underflow enters the Black Sea

The Bosphorus Strait accommodates two‐way flow between the Aegean and Black Seas. The Aegean (Mediterranean) inflow has speeds of 5 to 15 cm sec^?1 in the strait and a salinity contrast of ～12‰ to 16‰ with the Black Sea surface waters on the shelf. An anastomosed channel network crosses the shelf and in water deeper than 70 m is characterized by first‐order channels 5 to 10 m deep, local lateral accretion bedding, muddy in‐channel barforms, and a variety of sediment waves both on channel floors and bar crests, crevasse channels entering the overbank area and levée/overbank deposits which are radiocarbon‐dated in cores to be younger than ～7·5 to 8·0 ka. This channel network accommodates the saline density current formed by the Mediterranean inflow. The density contrast between the density underflow and the ambient water mass is ～0·01 g cm^?3, similar to the density contrast ascribed to low‐concentration turbidity currents in the deep sea. Channel‐floor deposits are sandy to gravelly with local shell concentrations. Low‐relief bedforms on the channel floor have relatively straight crests, upflow‐dipping cross‐stratification, heights 1 to 1·5 m and wavelengths 85 to 155 m. Bankfull flows are subcritical, so these probably are not antidunes. Bar tops are ornamented locally with mudwaves having heights 1 to 2 m and wavelengths ～20 to 100 m; these are potentially antidunes formed under shallow overbank flows. Towards the shelf edge, the degree of channel bifurcation increases dramatically and bar tops are dissected locally by secondary channels, some of which terminate in hanging valleys. Conical mounds on the shelf (possibly mud volcanoes or sites of fluid seepage) interact with the channel network by promoting accretion of muddy streamlined macroforms in their lee. This channel network may be one of the largest and most accessible natural laboratories on Earth for the study of continuously flowing density currents. Although the driver is salinity contrast, the underflow transports sufficient sediment to form levée wedges and large streamlined barforms, and presumably transports sediment into deep water.     

川西新场气田沙溪庙组浅水三角洲砂体类型与展布特征

砂体类型与分布特征的差异性造就了油气储层发育的非均质性,通过岩心垂向序列特征明确了沙溪庙组砂体成因类型,并综合测井、地震资料刻画了不同类型砂体的空间分布。沙溪庙组浅水三角洲平原发育垂积型主河道、侧积/填积型次河道砂体以及溢岸砂体,前缘发育侧积型近端水下分流河道、填积型远端水下分流河道、进积型河口坝砂体以及席状砂体;平原主河道砂体厚度多大于10 m,宽600~1 800 m,通过同位垂向切叠与侧向等高程切叠而形成毯状连片砂体,次河道砂体多位于主河道侧缘,厚度平均7.5 m,物性较差,并常被主河道切割而零星分布;内前缘近端水下分流河道砂体厚4~8 m,宽500~1 200 m,多错位切叠或拼接接触,呈带状;远端水下分流河道发育于三角洲外前缘,单砂体厚2.5~6 m,宽200~700 m,平面呈鞋带状,砂体孤立;前缘河口坝砂体分布较少,垂向上常被河道切叠;平原相带两类河道砂体的物性差异造成了储层内部的非均质性,而三角洲前缘储层的非均质性更多在于不同类型砂体的迷宫状展布上。     

Fluvial processes and facies sequences in the sandy braided South Saskatchewan River, Canada

The South Saskatchewan River has a long term average discharge of 275 m³/sec, with flood peaks in the range of 1500 to 3800 m³/sec. South of Saskatoon, the four major types of geomorphological elements recognised are channels, slipface-bounded bars, sand flats and vegetated islands and floodplains. Major channels are 3-5 m deep, up to 200 m wide, and flow around sand flats which are 50-2000 m long, and around vegetated islands up to 1 km long. At areas of flow expansion, long straight-crested cross-channel bars form. During falling stage, a small part of the crest of the cross-channel bar may become emergent, and act as a nucleus for downstream and lateral growth of a new sand flat. The dominant channel bedforms are dunes, which deposit trough cross bedding. Cross-channel bars deposit large sets of planar tabular cross bedding. Sand flats that grow from a nucleus on a cross-channel bar are mostly composed of smaller planar tabular sets, with some parallel lamination, trough cross-bedding, and ripple cross-lamination. A typical facies sequence related to sand flat growth would consist of in-channel trough cross-bedding, overlain by a large (1-2 m) planar tabular set (cross-channel bar), overlain in turn by a complex association mostly of small planar tabular cross-beds, trough cross-beds and ripple cross-lamination. By contrast, a second stratigraphic sequence can be proposed, related only to channel aggradation. It would consist dominantly of trough cross-beds, decreasing in scale upward, and possible interrupted by isolated sets of planar tabular cross-bedding if a cross-channel bar formed, but failed to grow into a sand flat. During final filling of the channel, ripple cross-lamination and thin clay layers may be deposited. In the S. Saskatchewan, these sequences are a minimum of 5 m thick, and are overlain by 0.5-1 m of silty and muddy vertical accretion deposits.     

Lateral accretion in a deep-marine channel complex: implications for channellized flow processes in turbidity currents

Some deep-marine channels show striking similarities to fluvial channels, despite major differences in the properties of the flows that they conduct. Some field observations from deep-marine channel deposits within a Late Cretaceous palaeo-canyon in the Rosario Formation of Baja California, Mexico, that bear on these comparisons have been reported. These channel deposits contain erosively based lateral accretion sets. These sets are generally a few metres thick and resemble fluvial point bar deposits. Sediment movement and deposition within these accretion deposits was induced by turbidity currents several to many times thicker than the depth of the channel, moving at several metres per second. The inclined sets define laterally migrating and sinuous channels locally at a high angle to the confining canyon. The instantaneous channel widths varied from 6 to 39 m, the depths from 2·5 to 4 m and the sinuosities from 1·3 to 3·1. Palaeocurrent data, taken mostly from clast imbrication in conglomerates, indicates current modes along the channel thalweg, but with other directions representing either secondary flow (oriented primarily up the point bar) or over-passing canyon-confined flow. It is suggested that, at times, the lower part of the turbidity currents flowing down the channels behaved similarly to within-bank fluvial currents, with a cross-channel component of flow towards the cut bank, and return flow at the bed sweeping up the point bar. At other times, this secondary circulation may be absent or reversed, which may be related to changes in flow thickness, coupling with the overriding flow and possible flow separation.     

远源浅水辫状河三角洲前缘储层构型模式研究:以冀中坳陷饶阳凹陷留西油田L18断块为例*

利用渤海湾盆地冀中坳陷饶阳凹陷留西油田留18断块内岩心、录井、测井、三维地震以及生产动态资料,应用层次分析的方法,对远源浅水辫状河三角洲前缘进行了相带划分,对砂体构型进行了解剖,明确了各相带内沉积构型样式的特征,建立了远源浅水辫状河三角洲前缘精细的沉积构型模式。研究表明: (1)研究区水体整体较浅,远源浅水辫状河三角洲前缘亚相广泛发育,并进一步分为前缘近端、前缘中端和前缘远端3个相带,不同相带在砂体厚度、岩性组合特征和砂体横向连通性等方面存在差异。(2)前缘远端水下分流河道水动力较弱,所携带沉积物较少,形成横向连通性较差的小规模河口坝,河口坝之间的厚层泥质披覆夹层为主要的夹层类型。(3)前缘中端分流河道水动力强度中等,形成串珠状或分叉树枝状的河口坝,单一河口坝由2~4期前积增生体构成,前积倾角约2.2°,增生体间的泥质披覆夹层为主要的夹层类型。(4)前缘近端分流河道水流强度较大,下切作用较强,所携带沉积物较多;下伏河口坝互相叠置切割,形成连片分布的复合体;单个河口坝由多个前积增生体构成,前积倾角约3.5°,增生体内的漫溢夹层及增生体间的泥质披覆夹层为主要夹层类型。     

Landward fining from multiple sources in a sand sheet deposited by the 1929 Grand Banks tsunami, Newfoundland

A sandy deposit from the 1929 Grand Banks tsunami in Newfoundland contains sediment from two distinct sources, one from an inferred gravel shoreline close to the deposit, and one from a sandy dune some 200 m seaward of the deposit. The deposit ranges from 0 to 15 cm thick, and is composed of a bimodal mix of fine and coarse sand. We took approximately 100 core samples of this deposit in an attempt to characterize lateral grain size trends within the sand. Although the coarse fraction does fine with distance inland, the fine fraction does not change size over the study area, and the aggregate grain size changes in no systematic way.

We interpret this deposit to represent the mixture of material picked up at the bar with material picked up at the gravel shoreline. The bar material does not fine in part because it is already fairly well sorted, but also because it is far from its source. The shoreline material, on the other hand, is poorly sorted so that the tsunami took only those grains it was capable of moving, and deposited them near their source.

We estimated the size of the tsunami by determining the flow depth-flow velocity combinations required to advect sand from the bar to the back of the deposit, and by estimating the shear velocity required for motion of the largest grain we found during our survey. This modeling indicates an average flow depth of about 2.5–2.8 m over the area, at a flow velocity of 1.9–2.2 m/s. This estimate compares well with eyewitness accounts of a maximum flow depth of 7 m at the shoreline if our estimate represents an average over the whole study area.     

Morphology and evolution of bars in a wandering gravel-bed river; lower Fraser river, British Columbia, Canada

A hierarchical typology for the channels and bars within aggradational wandering gravel-bed rivers is developed from an examination of a 50 km reach of lower Fraser River, British Columbia, Canada. Unit bars, built by stacking of gravelly bedload sheets, are the key dynamic element of the sediment transfer system, linking sediment transport during individual freshets to the creation, development and remoulding of compound bar platforms that have either a lateral or medial style. Primary and secondary unit bars are identified, respectively, as those that deliver sediment to compound bars from the principal channel and those that redistribute sediment across the compound bar via seasonal anabranches and smaller channels. The record of bar accretion evident in ground-penetrating radar sequences is consistent with the long-term development of bar complexes derived from historical aerial photographs. For two compound bars, inter-annual changes associated with individual sediment transport episodes are measured using detailed topographic surveys and longer-term changes are quantified using sediment budgets derived for individual bars from periodic channel surveys. Annual sediment turnover on the bars is comparable with the bed material transfer rate along the channel, indicating that relatively little bed material bypasses the bars. Bar construction and change are accomplished mainly by lateral accretion as the river has limited capacity to raise bed load onto higher surfaces. Styles of accretion and erosion and, therefore, the major bar form morphologies on Fraser River are familiar and consistent with those in gravelly braided channels but the wandering style does exhibit some distinctive features. For example, 65-year histories reveal the potential for long sequences of uninterrupted accretion in relatively stable wandering rivers that are unlikely in braided rivers.     

The genesis of lateral accretion deposits in recent intertidal mudflat channels, Solway Firth, Scotland

ABSTRACT The pattern of lateral accretion on an intertidal point bar is a response to the suspended sediment concentrations to which it is exposed. In summer, high sediment concentrations occur only during shallow (ebb) channel flows; deposition therefore takes place mainly on the point bar toe. In winter, high concentrations obtain at all depths and deposition therefore occurs on the upper point bar slopes. Accretion of the point bar toe is limited by scouring resulting from the high rainfall runoff of winter. High suspended sediment concentrations have little effect, however, if flow velocities are too high to allow deposition. Deposition is dependent on the non-uniformity of curved channel flow and is often confined to the downstream (ebb-sense) portion of the point bar. The lateral accretion deposits form a series of wedge-shaped units. Each unit represents one year's deposition, bounded by erosion scarps produced during successive winters. The base of the point bar deposit shows a gradual aggradation, keeping pace with the build-up of the adjacent interchannel flats.     

Zircon geochronology and Sm–Nd isotopic study: Further constraints for the Archean and Paleoproterozoic geodynamical evolution of the southeastern Guiana Shield, north of Amazonian Craton, Brazil

The eastern part of the Guiana Shield, northern Amazonian Craton, in South America, represents a large orogenic belt developed during the Transamazonian orogenic cycle (2.26–1.95 Ga), which consists of extensive areas of Paleoproterozoic crust and two major Archean terranes: the Imataca Block, in Venezuela, and the here defined Amapá Block, in the north of Brazil.

Pb-evaporation on zircon and Sm–Nd on whole rock dating were provided on magmatic and metamorphic units from southwestern Amapá Block, in the Jari Domain, defining its long-lived evolution, marked by several stages of crustal accretion and crustal reworking. Magmatic activity occurred mainly at the Meso-Neoarchean transition (2.80–2.79 Ga) and during the Neoarchean (2.66–2.60 Ga). The main period of crust formation occurred during a protracted episode at the end of Paleoarchean and along the whole Mesoarchean (3.26–2.83 Ga). Conversely, crustal reworking processes have dominated in Neoarchean times. During the Transamazonian orogenic cycle, the main geodynamic processes were related to reworking of older Archean crust, with minor juvenile accretion at about 2.3 Ga, during an early orogenic phase. Transamazonian magmatism consisted of syn- to late-orogenic granitic pulses, which were dated at 2.22 Ga, 2.18 Ga and 2.05–2.03 Ga. Most of the ε_Nd values and T_DM model ages (2.52–2.45 Ga) indicate an origin of the Paleoproterozoic granites by mixing of juvenile Paleoproterozoic magmas with Archean components.

The Archean Amapá Block is limited in at southwest by the Carecuru Domain, a granitoid-greenstone terrane that had a geodynamic evolution mainly during the Paleoproterozoic, related to the Transamazonian orogenic cycle. In this latter domain, a widespread calc-alkaline magmatism occurred at 2.19–2.18 Ga and at 2.15–2.14 Ga, and granitic magmatism was dated at 2.10 Ga. Crustal accretion was recognized at about 2.28 Ga, in agreement with the predominantly Rhyacian crust-forming pattern of the eastern Guiana Shield. Nevertheless, T_DM model ages (2.50–2.38 Ga), preferentially interpreted as mixed ages, and ε_Nd < 0, point to some participation of Archean components in the source of the Paleoproterozoic rocks. In addition, the Carecuru Domain contains an oval-shaped Archean granulitic nucleus, named Paru Domain. In this domain, Neoarchean magmatism at about 2.60 Ga was produced by reworking of Mesoarchean crust, as registered in the Amapá Block. Crustal accretion events and calc-alkaline magmatism are recognized at 2.32 Ga and at 2.15 Ga, respectively, as well as charnockitic magmatism at 2.07 Ga.

The lithological association and the available isotopic data registered in the Carecuru Domain suggests a geodynamic evolution model based on the development of a magmatic arc system during the Transamazonian orogenic cycle, which was accreted to the southwestern border of the Archean Amapá Block.     

Facies architecture of asymmetrical branching distributary channels: Cretaceous Ferron Sandstone,Utah, USA

Distributary channel systems are an important component of deltaic systems, but details of their branching pattern, stream‐order, internal variability and relation with adjacent levée, bay and bayhead delta are rather poorly documented in ancient examples. Photomosaic and measured sections collected along a gooseneck‐shaped canyon in southern Utah allow direct mapping of the branching pattern of an ancient distributary system. The main channel belt is ca 250 m wide and narrows to ca 200 m downstream of the branching point. A subordinate channel belt, ca 80 m wide, branches off of the main channel, forming a distinctly asymmetrical branching pattern. Water discharge in the main channel is estimated to be 85 to 170 m³ sec^?1. Comparison with palaeodischarge estimates of trunk rivers mapped in previous studies suggests that the branching documented in this study probably is a fourth‐order split. The distributary channels are characterized by a U‐shaped geometry filled with medium‐grained, cross‐bedded sandstone, and are dominated by lateral accretion, suggesting limited lateral migration and moderate sinuosity. Tidally influenced facies and limited trace fossils indicate direct marine influence. The distributary channels erode into adjacent levée and underlying heterolithic bay‐fill deposits, and the marine influence suggests that they were deposited on a lower delta plain, rather than on a non‐marine floodplain. The subordinate channel fed a bayhead delta, suggesting that it was formed by a partial avulsion, rather than bifurcation around a mouth bar, as is more characteristic of terminal distributary channels. Channel‐floor drapes, bar‐accretion drapes and abandoned channel fills within the sandstone channel belts represent the most important heterogeneity from the perspective of reservoir characterization.     

曲流串沟型江心洲形成机制与演化探讨

曲流串沟型江心洲是现代河流水利学研究关注的重要河流要素,不同于曲流河点坝和辫状河心滩,但在油气储层沉积学研究中鲜有关注。选取现代松花江典型河段,开展基于水动力学的沉积数值模拟,恢复曲流串沟型江心洲的演化过程,建立了曲流串沟型江心洲演化模式。研究结果表明:1）洪水期曲流河发生漫滩冲刷,串沟发育扩张,截弯取直,形成分汊河道及江心洲地貌;2）分汊偏移角、相对梯度优势可用于预测短期汊道存在的稳定性;3）串沟型江心洲形成于曲流点坝残余沉积之上,发育洲头侵蚀、洲尾加积、翼部双侧积,但垂向加积主要发育在顶部,不构成沉积主体结构。通过上述研究建立了曲流江心洲沉积模式,揭示了曲流河江心洲内部结构及分汊河道水动力特征,对现代河流治理和地下河流沉积储层刻画有指导意义。     

Large-scale structure of Calamus River deposits (Nebraska, USA) revealed using ground-penetrating radar

The large-scale (i.e. bar-scale) structure of channel deposits of the braided, low-sinuosity Calamus River, Nebraska, is described using ground-penetrating radar (GPR) profiles combined with vibracores. Basal erosion surfaces are generally overlain by medium-scale, trough-cross-stratified (sets 3–25 cm thick), very coarse to medium sands, that are associated with relatively high amplitude, discontinuous GPR reflectors. Overlying deposits are bioturbated, small-scale cross-stratified (sets <3 cm thick) and vegetation-rich, fine to very-fine sands, that are associated with low-amplitude discontinuous reflectors. Near-surface peat and turf have no associated GPR reflectors. In along-stream profiles through braid and point bars, most GPR reflectors dip downstream at up to 2° relative to the basal erosion surface, but some reflectors in the upstream parts of bars are parallel to the basal erosion surface or dip upstream. In cross-stream profiles through bars, GPR reflectors are either approximately parallel to bar surfaces or have low-angle inclinations (up to 6°) towards cut banks of adjacent curved channels. Basal erosion surfaces become deeper towards cut banks of curved channels. These structures can be explained by lateral and downstream growth of bars combined with vertical accretion. Convex upwards forms up to 0·5 m high, several metres across and tens of metres long represent episodic accretion of unit bars (scroll bars and bar heads). Stratal patterns in channel fills record a complicated history of erosion and deposition during filling, including migration of relatively small bars. A revised facies model for this type of sandy, braided river has been constructed based on this new information on large-scale bedding structure.     

Time scale of an early to mid-Paleozoic orogenic cycle of the long-lived Central Asian Orogenic Belt, Inner Mongolia of China: Implications for continental growth

We present a detailed, new time scale for an orogenic cycle (oceanic accretion–subduction–collision) that provides significant insights into Paleozoic continental growth processes in the southeastern segment of the long-lived Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB). The most prominent tectonic feature in Inner Mongolia is the association of paired orogens. A southern orogen forms a typical arc-trench complex, in which a supra-subduction zone ophiolite records successive phases during its life cycle: birth (ca. 497–477 Ma), when the ocean floor of the ophiolite was formed; (2) youth (ca. 473–470 Ma), characterized by mantle wedge magmatism; (3) shortly after maturity (ca. 461–450 Ma), high-Mg adakite and adakite were produced by slab melting and subsequent interaction of the melt with the mantle wedge; (4) death, caused by subduction of a ridge crest (ca. 451–434 Ma) and by ridge collision with the ophiolite (ca. 428–423 Ma). The evolution of the magmatic arc exhibits three major coherent phases: arc volcanism (ca. 488–444 Ma); adakite plutonism (ca. 448–438 Ma) and collision (ca. 419–415 Ma) of the arc with a passive continental margin. The northern orogen, a product of ridge-trench interaction, evolved progressively from coeval generation of near-trench plutons (ca. 498–461 Ma) and juvenile arc crust (ca. 484–469 Ma), to ridge subduction (ca. 440–434 Ma), microcontinent accretion (ca. 430–420 Ma), and finally to forearc formation. The paired orogens followed a consistent progression from ocean floor subduction/arc formation (ca. 500–438 Ma), ridge subduction (ca. 451–434 Ma) to microcontinent accretion/collision (ca. 430–415 Ma); ridge subduction records the turning point that transformed oceanic lithosphere into continental crust. The recognition of this orogenic cycle followed by Permian–early Triassic terminal collision of the CAOB provides compelling evidence for episodic continental growth.     

Alluvial architecture of mid-channel fluvial–tidal barforms: The mesotidal Lower Columbia River,Oregon/Washington,USA

Barforms of mesotidal to macrotidal fluvial–tidal transitions, regardless of fluvial-discharge, are currently thought to display a sedimentary architecture dominated by tidal signatures. Due to the scarcity of observations from modern mesotidal fluvial–tidal transitions, especially those of multi-channelled large-rivers (mean annual discharge ≥7000 m³ s⁻¹ and peak discharges ≥15 000 m³ s⁻¹) with mid-channel bars, this concept remains unproven. The present study analyses data produced by a combination of high-resolution ground penetrating radar and coupled shallow vibracores (<5 m depth), collected from modern fluvial–tidal mid-channel bars of the mesotidal multi-channelled Lower Columbia River, Washington/Oregon, USA, which can experience peak discharges ≥18 000 m³ s⁻¹. These data were used alongside time-sequenced aerial imagery to characterize the spatio-temporal sedimentological evolution of these barforms in singular flows or combined flows consisting of river, tidal and/or wind-wave oscillatory, current components operating in unique fluvial–tidal transition regimes. Results indicate that ca 75% of the Lower Columbia River fluvial–tidal transition produces braid-bars with basal to bar-top sedimentological architectures that are indistinguishable from fluvial-only braid-bars recorded in the literature. Barform stratal characteristics within the fluvial–tidal transitions of mesotidal large-rivers are therefore more likely to be dominated by downstream-oriented currents. Furthermore, a new style of low-angle (<5°) inclined heterolithic stratification found in bar-top accretion-sets within upper-mixed tidal–fluvial regime braid-bars is observed. This common stratification is created by combined-flows characterized by intrabasinal wind-wave oscillatory-currents and bidirectional tidal-currents. This inclined heterolithic stratification marks the initial downstream fluvial–tidal crossover point from Lower Columbia River up-dip fully-fluvial braid-bar architectures, to those possessing bar-top facies produced by the hydraulic-sedimentation response of combined intrabasinal wind-wave and tidal influence. When preserved, this form of mid-channel bar inclined heterolithic stratification provides a unique sedimentological signature of multi-channelled fluvial–tidal transitions that possess an open-water lower basin with intrabasinal wind-waves.     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987111000570

Mid-Cretaceous strata within the Tintina Trench.3 km west of the community of Ross River, contain evidence of deposition in two distinct,alternating,fluvial settings.Coal-bearing,mud-dominated strata are commonly associated with high-constructive sandy channel systems,with extensive overbank. levee and splay deposits.Channels are between 3 and 30 m wide and 0.4-7 m thick.They show repetitive development of side and in-channel bar-forms,as well as up-channel widening of the rivers by selective erosion of associated overbank and levee deposits.Levees extended for several hundred metres away from the channels.In this setting low-angle inclined stratification and epsilon cross stratification may reflect lateral migration of crevasse channels or small streams.The paucity of exposure prevents recognition of the channels as products of multiple channel anastomosed systems or single channel high-constructive systems. Gravel-dominated strata,inter-bedded with,and overlying coal-bearing units,are interpreted as deposits of wandering gravel-bed rivers,with sinuosity approaching 1.4.In most exposures they appear to be dominated by massive and thin planar-bedded granule to small pebble conglomerates,which would traditionally be interpreted as sheet-flood or longitudinal bar deposits of a high-gradient braided stream or alluvial fan.Architectural analysis of exposures in an open-pit shows that the predominance of flat bedding is an artefact of the geometry of the roadside exposures.In the pit the conglomerates are dominated by large scale cross stratification on a scale of 1-5.5 m.These appear to have developed as downstream and lateral accretion elements on side-bars and on in-channel bars in water depths of 2-12 m.Stacking of strata on domed 3rd order surfaces suggests development of longitudinal in-channel bar complexes similar to those observed in parts of the modern Rhone River system.Mudstone preserved in some of the channels reflects intervals of channel abandonment or avulsion.Minimum channel width is from 70 to 450 m.     

Coulomb stress triggering of earthquakes along the Atalanti Fault, central Greece: Two April 1894 M6+ events and stress change patterns

Two M6+ events occurred 15–20 km apart in central Greece on April 20 and April 27, 1894. We identify the April 27, 1894 rupture (2nd in the sequence) with the Atalanti segment of the Atalanti Fault Zone because of unequivocal surface rupturing evidence reported by Skouphos [Skouphos, T., 1894. Die swei grossen Erdbeben in Lokris am 8/20 und 15/27 April 1894. Zeitschrift Ges. Erdkunde zu Berlin, vol. 24, pp. 409–474]. Coulomb stress transfer analysis and macroseismic evidence suggest that the April 20, 1894 event (1st in the sequence) may be associated with the Martinon segment of the same fault zone. Our stress modelling suggests that this segment may have ruptured in an M = 6.4 event producing a 15-km long rupture which transferred 1.14 bar in the epicentral area of the April 27th, 1894 event, thus triggering the second M = 6.6 earthquake along the Atalanti segment and producing a 19-km long rupture. We also examined three alternative fault sources for the first event; however, all these produce smaller stress stresses for triggering the second event. The proposed slip model for the second earthquake is capable of producing coastal subsidence of the order of centimetres to decimetres, which fits the geological data. The 1894 earthquake sequence was followed by a difference in the timing of subsequent M > 5 events in each of the “relaxed” areas (stress shadows; a negative change in Coulomb failure stress > − 0.6 bar), which terminated between 22–37 years (north) and 80 years (south).     

Reconstructing fluvial bar surfaces from compound cross‐strata and the interpretation of bar accretion direction in large river deposits

The interpretation of fluvial styles from the rock record is based for a significant part on the identification of different types of fluvial bars, characterized by the geometric relationship between structures indicative of palaeocurrent and surfaces interpreted as indicative of bar form and bar accretion direction. These surfaces of bar accretion are the boundaries of flood‐related bar increment elements, which are typically less abundant in outcrops than what would be desirable, particularly in large river deposits in which each flood mobilizes large volumes of sediment, causing flood‐increment boundary surfaces to be widely spaced. Cross‐strata set boundaries, on the other hand, are abundant and indirectly reflect the process of unit bar accretion, inclined due to the combined effect of the unit bar surface inclination and the individual bedform climbing angle, in turn controlled by changes in flow structure caused by local bar‐scale morphology. This work presents a new method to deduce the geometry of unit bar surfaces from measured pairs of cross‐strata and cross‐strata set boundaries. The method can be used in the absence of abundant flood‐increment bounding surfaces; the study of real cases shows that, for both downstream and laterally accreting bars, the reconstructed planes are very similar to measured bar increment surfaces.