Early Holocene drowned lagoonal deposits from the Kattegat, southern Scandinavia

Shallow seismic profiling indicated the presence of a drowned lagoon-barrier system formed during the transgression of the southern Kattegat, and investigations of core material have confirmed this. Studies of plant and animal macrofossils show that the lagoonal sediments contain a mixture of marine, brackish, lacustrine, telmatic and terrestrial taxa, and analyses of foraminifers indicate brackish-water conditions. Low oxygen isotope values obtained on shells of marine molluscs also point to lowered salinity. The lagoonal sediments are situated at depths between 24 and 35 m below present sea level. They are dated to between c. 10.5 cal. ka BP and c. 9.5 cal. ka BP, and reflect a period characterized by a moderate relative sea level rise. The lagoonal sediments are underlain by lateglacial glaciomarine clay and silt, which are separated from the Holocene deposits by an unconformity. The earliest Holocene sediments consist of littoral sand with gravel, stones and shells; these sediments were formed during the transgression of the area before the barrier island-lagoon system was developed. The lagoonal sediments are overlain by mud, which contains animal remains that indicate increasing water depths.     

Carbonate sediment transport pathways based on foraminifera: case study from Frank Sound, Grand Cayman, British West Indies

Foraminifera can be used to determine the source(s) of carbonate sediment and the directions of sediment transport in shallow, coastal lagoons such as Frank Sound on the south-central coast of Grand Cayman. These determinations, based on the distribution of foraminiferal assemblages and ‘tracer species’ (numerically abundant species that live in known physiographic units and/or ecological conditions), show that the lagoonal sediments are a mixture of grains that originated in the lagoon and forereef. The variable proportions of these foraminifera throughout the lagoon reflects the dynamic processes that control lagoonal sedimentation. Amphistegina gibbosa, Discorbis rosea, and Asterigerina carinata lived in the forereef environment. The fact that these ‘tracer species’ are found throughout Frank Sound and in the beach sands, shows that they were transported across the reef crest and the lagoon. Abrasion-resistant Archaias angulatus, a‘tracer species’ indicative of a lagoonal setting, forms up to 50% of foraminiferal assemblages found in the lagoonal sediments. Preferential winnowing of small tests from these populations indicates sorting under high energy conditions. The vertical distribution of the forereef and lagoonal foraminifera in the sediment blanket that covers the floor of Frank Sound indicates that these processes are temporally persistent. Transportation of forereef foraminifera into and around the lagoon and sorting of the lagoonal foraminifera cannot take place under ‘normal’ conditions when the tranquil lagoon is characterized by weak currents. Storms and/or hurricanes, however, generate short-lived high-energy events that can move and sort the sediment and foraminifera. At the height of a storm, water and sediment are moved over the reef and then piled and held onshore by the onshore winds and the constant flow of water over the reef and across the lagoon. These currents can mix some of the lagoonal and forereef sediments. As a storm wanes, however, the ‘piled water’ flows offshore via strong rip currents that pass into the ocean through the channels which transect the reef. These currents winnow and/or strip sediment from the lagoon and may transport lagoonal sediments into the forereef area. As a result, residual lagoonal sediment is commonly characterized by larger and abrasion-resistant foraminifera.     

A review of Middle Ordovician sedimentation in the St. Lawrence Lowland,eastern Canada

Middle Ordovician sediments of the St. Lawrence Lowland, eastern Canada, and its northeastward extension to St-Siméon, are subdivided into the numerous formations of the Chazy, Black River and Trenton Groups. Details of each formation and interpretation of environments of deposition are presented and a coherent model for the development of the upper Middle Ordovician Trenton Group throughout the region is presented. In the southwest, around Montreal, a complete and continuous Middle Ordovician sequence is present and Trenton Group sediments overlie well-developed tidal flat and lagoonal (Black River Group) and mixed shallow subtidal (Chazy Group) sediments. This sequence was deposited on a slowly subsiding, essentially flat, broad shelf environment. Northeastward from Montreal, toward the Montmorency Promontory of the Quebec City area, basal Middle Ordovician sediments become younger and the extent of the shelf area narrowed significantly. The latter resulted in skeletal shoal sediments (lower Trenton Group) developing closer to shore and concomitant less well-developed clastic-rich lagoonal sediments (Black River Group and basal Trenton Group). At Montmorency Promontory the shoal sediments (basal Trenton Group) accumulated along an irregular and rugged coastline. Northeast of the Promontory a steep onshore to offshore profile and rapidly deposited basal inshore clastics (Black River Group) precluded the deposition of skeletal shoals and rapid submergence promoted the early development of deeper shelf (middle and upper Trenton Group) and slope and basin (top Trenton Group, Saint Irénée Formation) sediments. In contrast, corresponding offshore sediments (middle and upper Trenton Group) in the southwest reflect a lower depositional gradient and more gradual subsidence. These patterns of deposition were determined by the interaction of the changing nature of the Ordovician coastline southwest, at, and northeast of the Montmorency Promontory and the variable subsidence rates influenced by the eastward evolving Taconic Orogen.     

Chromium speciation and existing natural attenuation conditions in lagoonal and pond sediments in the former chemical plant of Porto-Romano (Albania)

Near the outskirts of the Albanian port of Durres on the Adriatic Coast, at a place called Porto Romano, an old chemical complex has been producing chromate salts for a period of ∼20 years (1972–1993). As a result large quantities of chromite ore processing residue (COPR) waste were released mainly as suspended particles and/or dissolved species in effluents, which settled in a decantation pond area, 200 × 250 m in size, east of the industrial plant. Unfortunately, pollutants were spread out with time. Knowing that chromium mobility and toxicity in natural settings is species dependent, the species characterization has been carried out in different sampling media (pond sediments, lagoonal sediments and water samples). Five pond profiles were sampled within the decantation area up to a depth of ∼1 m, till the underlying Quaternary lagoonal silty-clays were reached. Total Cr content is highly variable with values between 1,130 and 24,409 mg/kg which is clearly higher than the defined local background values for lagoonal silty-clays (198 mg/kg of Cr). Leaching of Cr(VI) especially occurs in the pond sediments, which are low in OC, CEC and clay content, under acidic and neutral pH conditions (e.g. up to ∼2,230 mg/kg Cr(VI) leached from a sample containing a total concentration of Cr 12,200 mg/kg). Moreover, leaching of the Cr(III) occurs only under strictly acidic conditions (maximum 1,144 mg/kg leached from a sample containing a total Cr-concentration of 17,608 mg/kg). In this study also a number of natural attenuation conditions (i.e. reaction with lagoonal clays rich in organic matter and iron as well as isomorphous substitution) have been recognized.     

Formation and preservation of an overstepped segmented lagoon complex on a high‐energy continental shelf

The duration of shoreline occupation at a given sea‐level, coastal response to sea‐level change and the controls on preservation of various shoreline elements can be recognized by detailed examination of submerged shorelines on the continental shelf. Using bathymetric and seismic observations, this article documents the evolution and preservation of an incised valley and lithified barrier complex between ?65 m and ?50 m mean sea‐level on a wave‐dominated continental shelf. The barrier complex is preserved as a series of aeolianite or beachrock ridges backed by laterally extensive back‐barrier sediments. The ridges include prograded cuspate lagoonal shoreline features similar to those found in contemporary lagoons. The incised valley trends shore‐parallel behind the barrier complex and records an early phase of valley filling, followed by a phase of extensive lagoonal sedimentation beyond the margins of the incised bedrock valley. Sea‐level stability at the outer barrier position (ca ?65 m) enabled accumulation of a substantial coastal barrier that remained intact during a phase of subsequent slow sea‐level rise to ?58 m when the lagoon formed. These lagoonal sediments are stripped seawards by bay ravinement processes which caused the formation of several prograded marginal cuspate features. An abrupt rise in sea‐level to ?40 m, correlated with melt‐water pulse 1B, enabled the preservation of thick lagoonal sediments at the top of the incised valley fill and preservation on the sea bed of the cemented core of the barriers. This situation is unique to subtropical coastlines where early diagenesis is possible. The overlying sandy sediment from the uncemented upper portion of the barriers is dispersed by ravinement, partly burying the ridges and protecting the underlying sediments. The high degree of barrier or shoreline preservation is attributed to rapid overstepping of the shoreline, early cementation in favourable climatic conditions and the protection of the barrier cores by sand sheet draping.     

Facies architecture of an isolated carbonate platform: tracing the cycles of the Latemàr (Middle Triassic, northern Italy)

The 720-m-thick succession of the Middle Triassic Latemàr Massif (Dolomites, Italy) was used to reconstruct the lagoonal facies architecture of a small atoll-like carbonate platform. Facies analysis of the lagoonal sediments yields a bathymetric interpretation of the lateral facies variations, which reflect a syndepositional palaeorelief. Based on tracing of lagoonal flooding surfaces, the metre-scale shallowing-upward cycles are interpreted to be of allocyclic origin. Short-term sea-level changes led to subaerial exposure of wide parts of the marginal zone, resulting in the development of a tepee belt of varying width. Occasional emergence of the entire lagoon produced lagoon-wide decimetre-thick red exposure horizons. The supratidal tepee belt in the backreef area represented the zone of maximum elevation, which circumscribed the sub- to peritidal lagoonal interior during most of the platform's development. This tepee rim, the subtidal reef and a sub- to peritidal transition zone in between stabilized the platform margin. The asymmetric width of facies belts within individual metre-scale cycles was caused by redistribution processes that reflect palaeowinds and storm paths from the present-day south and west. The overall succession shows stratigraphic changes on a scale of tens of metres from a basal subtidal unit, overlain by three tepee-rich intervals, separated by tepee-poor units composed of subtidal to peritidal facies. This stacking pattern reflects two third-order sequences during the late Anisian to early middle Ladinian.     

Metasedimentary “graben” and associated structures in the lagoonal Almere Member (Groningen Formation,The Netherlands)

The lagoonal Almere Member (Holocene) has a high silt content over large areas, which favours the formation of numerous meta- and postsedimentary features. A graben-like structure is described for the first time and the name “gravifossum” is proposed. A similar structure has also been observed in comparable sediments in northern France.Processes, leading to meta- and postsedimentary structures, are supposed to have interacted.     

Lipids of Recent sediments,Part I: Straight-chain hydrocarbons and carboxylic acids of some temperate lacustrine and sub-tropical lagoonal/tidal flat sediments

Analyses of the lipid constituents of three temperate lacustrine sediments (Rostherne Mere, Esthwaite Water and Grasmere, Great Britain) and three sub-tropical lagoonal/tidal flat sediments (U.S. Virgin Islands, Rockhampton, Qld., Australia and Port Moresby, Papua, New Guinea) indicate the presence of straight-chain components attributable to autochthonous and allochthonous sources. Despite broad similarities in carbon-number distributions, minor differences observed in the respective hydrocarbon and in the respective fatty-acid compositions of the various sediments reflect differences in the sedimentary environments. Lipid constituents obtained by organic solvent extraction following acid hydrolysis appear to include a larger bacterial contribution than that observed in the lipids extracted by solvent alone.     

Non-marine selachians from the basal Cretaceous of Charente,SW France

A gypsum quarry at Cherves-de-Cognac in south-western France exposes a large section of Berriasian (basal Cretaceous) sediments deposited in a lagoonal environment. The sediments have yielded rich vertebrate faunas, but only two species of selachians are present; the lonchidiid hybodont Parvodus celsucuspus sp. nov. and the batoid Belemnobatis variabilis. The composition of the fauna, including only a single, seemingly endemic, hybodont species from a time when hybodont faunas are relatively well investigated in Europe, indicate that small hybodonts were not able to migrate longer distances. The recorded batoid species also occurs in southern England, demonstrating that these batoids were primarily marine fishes that regularly explored areas with reduced salinity.     

Benthic Respiration and Inorganic Nutrient Fluxes in the Estuarine Region of Patos Lagoon (Brazil)

In situ benthic flux chamber experiments were performed during late austral spring and early summer of 1996 at eleven nearshore locations in the southern Patos Lagoon, Brazil. The Patos Lagoon is the largest lagoonal system in South America and is a very important nursery ground for local fin fish and shell fish fisheries. These are the first benthic flux measurements made in Patos Lagoon and they suggest that remineralizationwithin the sediments may dominate the recycling of organic matter and nutrients in thelagoon. Measured oxygen benthic fluxes (45–160 mmol m^-2 d^-1) are sufficientto remineralize reported mean water column carbon fixation while phosphate and fixednitrogen benthic fluxes (-0.4–2 and -1.1–4.2 mmol m^-2 d^-1, respectively)are sufficient to supply 100% and 25% of the required water column nutrient demand,respectively. Although of limited areal and temporal coverage, these initial studiesdemonstrate that sediments play a major role in the metabolism and nutrient cyclingwithin the Patos Lagoon Estuary and that future studies of lagoonal biogeochemistrymust consider exchange with the bottom.     

Biotically constrained palaeoenvironmental conditions of a mid-Holocene intertidal lagoon on the southern shore of the Arabian Gulf: evidence associated with a whale skeleton at Musaffah,Abu Dhabi,UAE

Whale remains (a left and right mandible, scapula, humerus and fragmentary radius and ulna as well as parts of the cranium and rostrum) belonging to a probable humpback whale (Megaptera cf. novaeangliae) were found in the well-described sabkha sequence exposed in the Musaffah Industrial Channel, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. More precisely, the whale remains were found in a series of sediments representing a range of lagoonal facies. The sediments surrounding the whale bones were age-dated at approximately 5200 ¹⁴C yrs BP and are therefore interpreted to correspond to the previously documented late Flandrian sea-level peak, preceding a fall in sea-level which culminated in the supratidal sabkha overprint of the carbonates. Associated with the whale remains is an assemblage of molluscs, foraminifera and ostracods. Together with the inferred presence of sea grass and algae, these facies are interpreted to indicate a very shallow subtidal to intertidal lagoonal environment. Cirripede remains found associated with the skeleton were identified as those of the whale barnacle Coronula diadema and hence had their origins with the whale. Significantly, the low species diversity of microfossils suggests that higher salinities existed in the mid-Holocene lagoon than are present in modern counterparts. This is here inferred to be related to the onset of continental aridity in Arabia during the mid-Holocene.     

Correlations between Holocene flood tidal delta and barrier island inlet fill sequences: Back Sound-Shackleford Banks, North Carolina

Large, well-developed flood tidal deltas on a barrier island coastline generally indicate a wave-dominated, microtidal sedimentary regime. Vibracores in a lagoon behind the barrier island Shackleford Banks, North Carolina contain an upward fining sequence of coarse-medium, very shelly sand, medium-fine laminated sand, fine-very fine cross-laminated sand and marsh mud. This sequence is interpreted as being a flood tidal delta deposit based on analogy with modern flood tidal delta sediments and represents lagoonal deposition in response to a migrating or closing inlet. The sand facies defined in lagoonal vibracores is found to be continuous beneath a lagoonal marsh and correlative with inlet sections identified in Shackleford Banks drill holes. The correlation of flood tidal delta deposits with inlet sequences in this microtidal environment indicates a close relationship between barrier and backbarrier inlet controlled sedimentation.     

SABKHA CYCLES IN THE ARAB/DARB FORMATION OFF THE TRUCIAL COAST OF ARABIA

SUMMARY
Study of 176 ft. (53.7 m) of core from the Arab/Darb Formation of the Umm Shaif Field, Abu Dhabi Marine Areas, has revealed a sequence of sediments which can be related to nine distinct cycles of sabkha formation. The sabkha cycle consists of a basal algal grainstone/boundstone (which is interpreted as a shoal) passing upwards through lagoonal dolomite, intertidal algal mat and into a final supratidal development of nodular anhydrite and associated dolomite. Dolomiti-sation and the formation of nodular anhydrite were early-stage products of diagenesis. Poikilotopic anhydrite is common in the lagoonal dolomites but it is thought that this was not formed until the sediment was completely lithified.
Stylolites, although of small amplitude, are more common in dolomite than in limestone; a generalisation which is at variance with earlier observations.     

Submergence and uplift of settlements in the area of Helike,Greece, from the Early Bronze Age to late antiquity

Excavations in the Helike Delta on the Gulf of Corinth have brought to light architectural remains from the Early Bronze Age (EBA), Geometric, Classical, Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine periods. Borehole results suggest that a lagoon intermittently occupied much of the delta during the Holocene. We discovered a well‐preserved EBA settlement about 1km inland from the present shore, buried under 3 to 5m of fine sediments containing marine, brackish, and freshwater microfossils. A Classical site 130m away, buried under 3m of similar sediments, may have been destroyed by the earthquake and tsunami of 373 B.C., which submerged the city of Helike. Possible tsunami evidence is noted. Although the EBA and Classical sites were both long submerged and buried by lagoonal sediments, tectonic uplift has raised both horizons above sea level. A shallow black clay layer suggests that a marsh covered the Classical and EBA sites in Byzantine times. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Late Pleistocene and Holocene environmental changes in the coastal zone of northwestern Portugal

This paper examines the Quaternary changes in the coastal zone of northwestern Portugal through the relationship between sediments and landforms. By interpolating the available data from geomorphology, lithostratigraphy, sedimentology and geochronology, it was possible to reconstruct existing palaeoenvironments, the oldest of which date back to the last interglacial. The main landforms are a high and a low platform bounded by scarps. River sands and silty sediments formed in a lacustrine environment (Antas Formation, MIS 5) are associated with the high platform. Two deposits are associated with the low platform: the Cepães Formation (MIS 3) consisting of a lower set of river sand beds and an upper gravel beach bed, and the Aguçadoura Formation (MIS 1) consisting of Holocene lagoonal beds. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Nodules in carbonaceous sediments of the Southern Tunguska basin

Pioneer results of the comprehensive analysis of nodules from the Upper Paleozoic coaliferous association and the underlying Middle Paleozoic sequence in the southern Tunguska Basin (Siberian Craton) suggest the following: (1) sediments underlying the coaliferous association contain two (siliceous and carbonate) types of normal nodules and one type of allogenic nodules (redeposited chalcedony nodules in the kaolin-itechalcedony unit of the Beloyarsk Formation); (2) the coaliferous association includes four (calcite, siderite, pyrite, and goethite) types of nodules; (3) each nodule type is confined to a specific genetic type of sediment; e.g., siliceous nodules are confined to lagoonal sediments; calcite nodules, to lacustrine and lacustrine-boggy sediments; siderite nodules, to lacustrine-boggy and boggy sediments; pyrite nodules, to boggy sediments; and goethite nodules, to alluvial sediments; (4) the formation of goethite nodules is mainly related to the erosion and redeposition of siderite nodules; (5) the coefficient of carbon concentration shows a distinct positive correction with the coefficient of nodule content; (6) nodules appeared in the coaliferous association during diagenesis and epigenesis; the calcite and pyrite nodules are enriched in sandy material, as suggested by the high content of insoluble residue; (7) combustion of coal seams promoted the melting of the adjacent siderite nodules and the formation of magnetite ores; consequently, the thermally altered mudstones, siltstones, and sandstones were transformed into a high-quality building material that is used as road fill.     

Stratigraphy and tectono-sedimentary evolution of the Upper Cretaceous–Tertiary sequence in the southern part of the Malatya Basin, East Anatolia, Turkey

The Malatya Basin is situated on the southern Taurus-Anatolian Platform. The southern part of the basin contains a sedimentary sequence which can be divided into four main units, each separated by an unconformity. From base to top, these are: (1) Permo-Carboniferous; (2) Upper Cretaceous–Lower Paleocene, (3) Middle-Upper Eocene and (4) Upper Miocene. The Upper Cretaceous–Tertiary sedimentary sequence resting on basement rocks is up to 700 m thick.The Permo-Carboniferous basement consist of dolomites and recrystallized limestones. The Upper Cretaceous–Lower Paleocene transgressive–regressive sequence shows a transition from terrestrial environments, via lagoonal to shallow-marine limestones to deep marine turbiditic sediments, followed upwards by shallow marine cherty limestones. The marine sediments contain planktic and benthic foraminifers indicating an upper Campanian, Maastrichtian and Danian age. The Middle-Upper Eocene is a transgressive–regressive sequence represented by terrestrial and lagoonal clastics, shallow-marine limestones and deep marine turbidites. The planktic and benthic foraminifers in the marine sediments indicate a Middle-Upper Eocene age. The upper Miocene sequence consists of a reddish-brown conglomerate–sandstone–mudstone alternation of alluvial and fluvial facies.During Late Cretaceous–Early Paleocene times, the Gündüzbey Group was deposited in the southern part of a fore-arc basin, simultaneously with volcanics belonging to the Yüksekova Group. During Middle-Late Eocene times, the Yeşilyurt Group was deposited in the northern part of the Maden Basin and the Helete volcanic arc. The Middle-Upper Eocene Malatya Basin was formed due to block faulting at the beginning of the Middle Eocene time. During the Late Paleocene–Early Eocene, and at the end of the Eocene, the study areas became continental due to the southward advance of nappe structures.The rock sequences in the southern part of the Malatya Basin may be divided into four tectonic units, from base to top: the lower allochthon, the upper allochthon, the parautochthon and autochthonous rock units.     

Late Neogene rift valley fill sediments preserved in caves of the Dead Sea Fault Escarpment (Israel): palaeogeographic and morphotectonic implications

Evaporitic‐lagoonal marl and dolomite laminar fill sediments are preserved in relict dry caves of the Dead Sea Fault Escarpment (Israel) which has been tectonically active since the Late Neogene. The hosting caves are located within Turonian massive carbonate bedrock and at higher altitudes than previously documented fill sediments of the Dead Sea depression. Based on the relative altitudes of the cave sediments, the ‘reversed stratigraphy’ of the Dead Sea depression fill sediments, possible partial correlation of the cave sediments with other fill sedimentary units of the depression, and sedimentary, geochemical and mineralogical characteristics, it is concluded that: (i) the cave sediments are among the oldest of the depression fill; and (ii) the deposition of the cave sediments took place in hypersaline dolomite‐precipitating water bodies of Late Neogene age, during the initial morphotectonic stages of the depression formation. Variable and relatively low Sr/Ca and δ³⁴S ratios of the cave sediments (assuming precipitation from sea water) suggest variable fresh water input into the depositional brine. The present altitudes of the cave sediments reflect Late Neogene levels of water bodies in the depression, modified by vertical post‐Late Neogene tectonic movements within the still active fault escarpment. According to these altitudes, a 50 to 250 m uplift of the western margins of the depression since the Late Miocene to Early Pliocene is inferred.     

塔里木板块巴楚隆起区寒武系盐下勘探潜力分析

巴楚隆起区主体部位的寒武系多为典型浅水局限台地蒸发相、潟湖相沉积,因此不存在与柯坪地块露头区玉尔吐斯组类似的黑色优质烃源岩,仅为含石膏泥质白云岩或白云质泥岩型烃源岩。生烃和排烃过程发生于加里东晚期—海西晚期,储层以微晶白云岩为主,残余颗粒白云岩次之。理想勘探区块位于潟湖边缘斜坡带及后期构造作用较强的断裂带,下部烃源岩与下—中寒武统盐岩—石膏层构成良好的储—盖组合,具备油气成藏基本条件。以巴什托—先巴扎构造带与康塔库木构造带、古董山构造带—卡拉沙依构造带北段间夹区块、和田1井构造带最具优势勘探潜力。     

Pb-isotope evidence for the origin of lead in strata-bound Pb-Zn deposits in triassic carbonates of the Eastern and Southern Alps

A comparison of ore-lead isotope ratios of Pb-Zn deposits hosted in Triassic carbonates of the Eastern and Southern Alps with the isotopic composition of trace leads of their host rocks, of Triassic volcanics, and of the underlying clastic sediments shows that these rocks could have supplied only part of the ore lead. The isotopic signature of feldspar lead from crystalline basement rocks, however, reveals that they must have contributed a significant amount of metal to these deposits. The presence of barite and of thallium is also indicative that feldspars were the main source of lead. Arsenic is one of the few important trace elements in these deposits and is known to occur in some areas of Lower Paleozoic metasediments in unusually high concentrations. Any model explaining the origin of these deposits must consider the extensive leaching of the basement and to some extent of the overlying clastic sediments as well. How the metal-bearing solutions entered the lagoonal back-reef areas is still open to question as feeder channels have not yet been positively identified. The results further demonstrate that the basement also acted as a metal source for galena-bearing deposits hosted in Permian sediments, vein-type deposits in Permian volcanics, and probably the barite-fluorite polymetallic deposits along a Devonian erosional surface in the Carnic Alps as well.