Petroleum potential of the Chalbi basin, NW Kenya

This paper deals with the study of subsurface stratigraphy of the Chalbi rift basin, northwest Kenya. The basin is known to have evolved through extension tectonics that brought out continental rifting as a part of the major Gondwanaland breakup in the Late Paleozoic and continued in the Mesozoic and Tertiary. This work has been based on gravity, seismic and gamma ray data, as well as the drill core logs available. The geophysical data used was collected by AMOCO as part of the hydrocarbon programme. But the gravity anomaly maps as well as seismic profiles were most useful for the interpretations incorporated in the present paper. They revealed the presence of several horst and graben structural systems. It was also revealed that the basin attracted sedimentary piles ranging up to 5 km thickness, which were deposited on basement rocks of Precambrian age. The basin subsequently got covered by basaltic flows of mainly Miocene age. The drill core lithologs that were available pertain to wells: C1, C2 and C3 in the Chalbi basin (Cretaceous). Comparing the lithologs from these wells with the seismic and gamma ray characteristics have been discussed in order to characterise the strata in which there was oil/gas shows. These characteristics were further seen in the light of the porosities, organic matter and other sedimentological parameters in order to understand the essential features of source rocks, reservoir rocks and the cap rocks. An attempt has been made to extrapolate the knowledge gained for recommending the probable prognostic sites for future drilling in the Chalbi Basin.     

Climatic changes since the last deglaciation inferred from a lacustrine sedimentary sequence in the eastern Nanling Mountains,south China

Two sediment cores recovered from Dahu Swamp, which is located in eastern Nanling Mountains in south China, were selected for investigation of palaeoclimatic changes. Multi‐proxy records of the two cores including lithological variation, organic carbon isotope ratio, dry bulk density, organic matter content, magnetic susceptibility, humification degree, median grain size and geochemical proxies reveal that during the last deglaciation three drier phases correspond to the Oldest, Older and Younger Dryas cooling events, and the intercalated two wetter phases synchronise with the Bølling and Allerød warming events. The Holocene Optimum, which was resulted from a strengthening of the East Asian (EA) summer monsoon, occurred in the early and mid Holocene (ca. 10–6 cal. ka BP). In the mid and late Holocene (ca. 6–3 cal. ka BP), a prevailing dry climate suggested a weakening of the EA summer monsoon. The general trend of Holocene climatic changes in this study agrees with the 25° N summer solar insolation, suggesting that orbitally induced insolation may have played an important role in the Holocene climate in the study region. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

泸沽湖地区晚全新世气候和环境演变

泸沽湖地区受人类活动影响较小、对气候变化较为敏感,是开展古气候研究的理想区域。本文以孢粉为重要研究手段,对采自泸沽湖草海地区103cm的浅钻沉积物开展研究,采样间距2cm,共取得52块样品用于孢粉分析。沉积物年龄采用AMS-~(14)C测定,经校正之后钻孔底部年龄为3455cal.a BP。经实验分析之后,所有样品均含有丰富的孢粉类群,反映的植被组成主要以松(Pinus)林为主,铁杉(Tsuga)也较为常见,被子植物中则以栎属(Quercus)占绝对优势,栗属(Castanea)和木犀科(Oleaceae)植物也频繁出现,而草本植物则以禾本科(Gramineae)为主,蓼科(Polygonaceae)、菊科(Asteraceae)和莎草科(Cyperaceae)植物也是重要的组成成分,林下生长有大量的蕨类的植物,主要以紫萁属(Osmunda)、石松属(Lycopodium)和膜蕨科(Hymenophyllaceae)等为主,另外,采样点草海为季节性湿地,水生植物主要以香蒲属(Typha)和藻类植物中的双星藻(Zygnema)和水绵(Spirogyra)最为常见。为了获得该地区晚全新世以来的气候变化曲线,本研究采用共存分析法分别对划分的四个孢粉带进行了古气候的定量重建,年均温和年均降水量分别为:3455cal.a BP至2585cal.a BP,MAT(mean annual temperature)=11.5~18.6℃,MAP(mean annual precipitation)=797.5~1484.3mm;2585cal.a BP至1699cal.a BP,MAT=11.7~18.6℃,MAP=617.9~1523.1mm;1699cal.a BP至595cal.a BP,MAT=8.5~18.6℃,MAP=797.5~1484.3mm;595cal.a BP至今,MAT=5.7~18.6℃,MAP=617.9~1484.3mm。结果显示该地区3455cal.a BP以来气候经历了略微变暖-变凉-持续变凉-回暖四个阶段。本研究还将变化曲线与其他地区同时代的研究结果进行了对比分析,显示年均温的变化趋势与格陵兰冰芯δ~(18)O以及祁连山敦德冰芯所反映的温度变化趋势基本一致,并可观察到中世纪暖期、晚全新世小冰期及现代温暖期。     

Late Quaternary vegetation changes around Lake Rutundu,Mount Kenya,East Africa: evidence from grass cuticles,pollen and stable carbon isotopes

Woody, subalpine shrubs and grasses currently surround Lake Rutundu, Mount Kenya. Multiple proxies, including carbon isotopes, pollen and grass cuticles, from a 755‐cm‐long core were used to reconstruct the vegetation over the past 38 300 calendar years. Stable carbon‐isotope ratios of total organic carbon and terrestrial biomarkers from the lake sediments imply that the proportion of terrestrial plants using the C₄ photosynthetic pathway was greater during the Late Pleistocene than in the Holocene. Pollen data show that grasses were a major constituent of the vegetation throughout the Late Pleistocene and Holocene. The proportion of grass pollen relative to the pollen from other plants was greatest at the last glacial maximum (LGM). Grass cuticles confirm evidence that C₄ grass taxa were present at the LGM and that the majority followed the cold‐tolerant NADP‐MEC₄ subpathway. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Tufa as a record of perennial fresh water in a semi-arid rift basin, Kapthurin Formation, Kenya

Lithological and biological features of a fossiliferous tufa in the Kapthurin Formation, Baringo, Kenya, reveal the presence of a lush wetland in a semi-arid environment during the Middle Pleistocene ( ca 500 ka) in this portion of the East African Rift Valley. Four geological sections, each between 3 m and 8 m in thickness, exposed over a distance of 0·5 km, reveal a 1 to 2 m thick paludal tufa which is composed of three carbonate beds, two dark grey silty claystones and a reddish-brown silty palaeosol. High resolution stratigraphic analysis, carbonate petrography, stable isotope and elemental geochemistry, clay mineralogy and fossil remains (molluscs, ostracods, diatoms and charophytes) reveal a ground water-fed system that fluctuated in depth and periodically disappeared altogether. Oxygen isotope ratios (δ¹⁸O) of tufa matrix range from −4·5‰ to −8·0‰ (Vienna Pee Dee Belemnite) and become more positive up section, indicating the decreasing influence of fault-related fluids and increasing residence time or freshness of wetland water, rather than evaporative enrichment. This spring was situated on a lake margin during low lake levels, thrived during periods of increased ground water input and was ultimately replaced by an alkaline lake. The wetland would appear to have existed during a cool interval within the generally warm Marine Isotope Stage 13 or perhaps during the warm second half of Marine Isotope Stage 13. The ground water source of this wetland arose through a fault system. Thus, the position of the tufa deposit is controlled structurally but the timing and duration of the wetland system may have been influenced by both climatic and tectonic factors.     

Cyclic sedimentation and climatically caused sea-level changes in the Late Palaeozoic of Central Europe

Significant short-term fluctuations are characteristic of geological history since Precambrian times. Only the younger Quaternary climatic fluctuations are known in more detail as a result of a high grade time resolution. Climatic change can also be postulated with respect to older, cold periods during which polar inland ice sheets developed. From a discussion of endogene and exogene interpretations it is shown that global climatic changes, and the sea-level changes induced by them, as well as changes in the position and extent of climatic zones throughout the world provide a control mechanism for sedimentation which is consistent with cyclic sedimentation in Late Palaeozoic times, and also if the basin subsides non-cyclically. The model allows an explanation of the development of the Permo-Carboniferous sedimentary cycles without numerous short-term vertical oscillations of the earth's crust. In reality, exogene and endogene controls on sedimentation act together in great variety of combinations.     

Spatial and temporal geochemical variability in lacustrine sedimentation in the East African Rift System: Evidence from the Kenya Rift and regional analyses

Many previous studies on lacustrine basins in the East African Rift System have directed their attention to climatic controls on contemporary sedimentation or climate change as part of palaeoenvironmental reconstruction. In contrast, this research focuses on the impact of tectonism and volcanism on rift deposition and develops models that help to explain their roles and relative importance. The study focuses on the spatial and temporal variability in bulk sediment geochemistry from a diverse range of modern and ancient rift sediments through an analysis of 519 samples and 50 major and trace elements. The basins examined variously include, or have contained, wetlands and/or shallow to deep, fresh to hypersaline lakes. Substantial spatial variability is documented for Holocene to modern deposits in lakes Turkana, Baringo, Bogoria, Magadi and Malawi. Mio‐Pleistocene sediments in the Central Kenya Rift and Quaternary deposits of the southern Kenya Rift illustrate temporal variability. Tectonic and volcanic controls on geochemical variability are explained in terms of: (i) primary controlling factors (faulting, subsidence, uplift, volcanism, magma evolution and antecedent lithologies and landscapes); (ii) secondary controls (bedrock types, rift shoulder and axis elevations, accommodation space, meteoric and hydrothermal fluids and mantle CO ₂); and (iii) response factors (catchment area size, orographic rains, rain shadows, vegetation densities, erosion and weathering rates, and spring/runoff ratios). The models developed have, in turn, important implications for palaeoenvironmental interpretation in other depositional basins.     

East African Rift System (EARS) Plume Structure: Insights from Quaternary Mafic Lavas of Turkana, Kenya

Quaternary mafic lavas from Lake Turkana (northern Kenya) provideinformation on processes operating beneath the East AfricanRift in an area of anomalous lithospheric and crustal thinning.Inferred depths of melting beneath Turkana (15–20 km)are shallower than those recorded elsewhere along the rift,consistent with the anomalously thin crustal section. The maficlavas have elevated incompatible trace element contents whencompared with mid-ocean ridge basalts, requiring an enrichmentevent in the source region. Basalts with low Sr isotopic ratios(     

Stratigraphy and geochemistry of a sequence of Quaternary palaeosols in the Lower Teleki Valley,Mount Kenya,East Africa — Implications for interregional correlations

The relative weathering of a sequence of five palaesols formed in different parent materials, including bedrock of phonolitic composition, is described and assessed. The three lower palaeosols (units 3–5) are considered to be of interglacial origin. The saprolite (unit 5), in phonolite, formed prior to deposition of the lower Brunhes-age till, is considered to be as old as the Brunhes Matuyama boundary (0.73 myr). The other two palaeosols in this group (units 3 and 4), derived from loess and till, respectively, formed over middle to late Brunhes time under palaeoclimates that were wetter (and presumably warmer), and of sufficient leaching power to move clay, as well as organically complexed extractable Fe and Al. The palaeosols in unit 3 are more complex than the lower ones. Their upper and lower horizons have about the same chemical composition as the lowest two palaeosols, while the middle horizons are similar to the upper two palaeosols (units 1 and 2). Radiocarbon dates for unit 3 are considered to be too young to account for the strong weathering in the upper and lower horizons. This interpretation is supported by high D/L ratios of aspartic acid. Overlying sediments, emplaced by episodic colluvial (unit 2) and slope wash (unit 1) processes, are less weathered; the lower colluvial unit in this group was emplaced during the late stade of the last glaciation. The surface sediments were emplaced more recently during the same interval and weathered mainly during the post-glacial period. Tentative correlations with core 82PCS18 from the Canary Basin show that upper unit 3 is probably equivalent to Isotope Stage 5e, lower unit 3 to Isotope Stage 7, unit 4 to Isotope Stage 8, and unit 5 to Isotope Stage 9. Units 1 and 2 are firmly correlated with Isotope Stage 2.     

Phytoliths infer locally dense and heterogeneous paleovegetation at FLK North and surrounding localities during upper Bed I time, Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania

The phytolith content of 10 samples collected immediately under Tuff IF (~ 1.785 Ma) at FLK N and other surrounding localities (~ 2 km²) provides a direct botanical evidence for woody vegetation in the eastern margin of Olduvai Gorge during uppermost Bed I time. Observation and counting of 143 phytolith types (5 to >150 μ) reveal dense but heterogeneous woody cover (~ 40–90%) of unidentified trees and/or shrubs and palms associated to the freshwater springs surrounding FLK N, and more open formation (presumably ~ 25–70% woody cover) in the southeast at localities VEK, HWK W and HWK E. The paleovegetation is best described as groundwater palm forest/woodland or bushland, which current analogue may be found near Lake Manyara in similar hydrogeological context (freshwater springs near saline/alkaline lake). Re-evaluating the published pollen data based on this analogy shows that 70% of the pollen signal at FLK N may be attributed to thicket-woodland, Acacia groundwater woodland, gallery and groundwater forests; while < 30% is attributed to swamp herbage and grasslands. Micro-botanical, isotopic, and taphonomical studies of faunal remains converge on the same conclusion that the area surrounding FLK N, which attracted both carnivores and hominins in the early Pleistocene, was densely wooded during uppermost Bed I time.     

宁晋泊地区全新世温暖期以来气候与环境变化研究

宁晋泊沉积物的环境指标高分辨率分析,揭示了作新世温暖期以来气候变化规律和湖泊演化过程。全新世温暖期早期,气候温暖,降水丰沛,环境稳定,湖泊水草茂美;其中在５５００－６０００ａＢＰ有一个短暂的降温过程;温暖期晚期,气候波动明显。全新世晚期,气候呈规律性波动,与华北地区文史资料一致,具有良好的可比性。     

Climatic deterioration and the end of the Gortian Interglacial in sediments from Derrynadivva and Burren Townland,near Castlebar,County Mayo,Ireland

Pollen and macrofossil analyses of two sequences of organic sediment in western Ireland have allowed the recognition of the latter parts of the Gortian Interglacial, a Middle Pleistocene temperate stage. The palaeobotanical information from the two sites identifies the preservation of partial sequences from the Gortian Interglacial (believed to be the equivalent of the Hoxnian Stage of Britain and the Holsteinian of Europe). The pollen and macrofossil data from one of the sites, Derrynadivva, span the middle and latter parts of the temperate stage. The results show that fire influenced the vegetation throughout the middle part of the temperate stage, and the termination of the organic depositional sequence appears to have been due to environmental deterioration. The former is identified through the abundant occurrence of charcoal in the sediments, whereas the latter is apparent in the sediment sequence and in the reworking of thermophilous pollen types into the upper part of the deposit. The second site, Burren Townland, records only part of the later zones of the interglacial, but the ericaceous assemblages of the latter part of the Gortian Interglacial are well developed and well preserved. Macrofossil analyses and scanning electron microscopy work on the pollen at the latter site has allowed the recognition of Rhododendron ponticum, adding to previous records of this species, which now has a very disjunct European distribution.     

Climatic changes indicated by trace elements in the Chagelebulu Stratigraphic Section,Badain Jaran Desert,China, since 150 kyr B.P.

This paper analyzes the contents of 16 trace elements in the strata of the Chagelebulu Stratigraphic Section, Badain Jaran Desert, since 150 kyr B.P. and discovered that both the contents of the relatively stable elements, such as P, Mn, Zr, Cr, Pb, Rb, Nb, Y, and the relatively active elements, such as V, Sr, Ni, Cu, Zn, As fluctuated with the sedimentary cycles composed of 25 aeolian dune sands, loess, paleosols, lacustrine facies, alluvial, and colluvial sandy gravels, showing 25 cycles of low-high variation and a fluctuant jagged graph of chemical elements’ migration and accumulation. The lower contents of the elements in the aeolian sands show the erosion, migration and deposition of wind power in a cold and arid climate. The relative accumulation of sandy-gravel layers, especially the lacustrine facies, loess, and paleosols correlates with the section’s position in the special depression relief with a background of warm and humid climate. The above-mentioned variational characteristics were mainly caused by 25 cycles of arid-cold, windy, and warm-humid climatic fluctuation on the southern fringe of the Badain Jaran Desert since 150 kyr B.P. The essential reason bears a relationship with the back and force swing of the East Asia winter monsoon and summer monsoon influenced by climatic vicissitudes during the glacial and interglacial periods.     

青藏高原西南部塔若错湖泊沉积物记录的近300年来气候环境变化

以青藏高原西南部塔若错的34cm浅湖芯为研究对象,对其沉积物样品进行总有机碳、无机碳、总氮、微量元素、正构烷烃含量及碳氮比等多项指标的分析测定。采用过剩210Pb和137Cs计年法对该湖芯进行了定年和沉积速率研究,获得了近300年的连续湖泊沉积环境序列。在明确了各指标气候环境指示意义的前提下,综合对比分析湖芯中各项气候环境指标,并结合定年结果重建了塔若错湖区近300年来的气候环境变化。结果表明：塔若错湖区气候环境变化可分为3个明显阶段：早期为1705～1778年,该地区气候环境温暖湿润,湖区植被广泛发育;中期为1778～1860年,湖区处于小冰期末次阶段,气候环境寒冷而湿润,植被发育受阻;后期为1860年至今,为小冰期结束后偏暖干化时期。其中,后期又可分为3个亚阶段：1860～1924年,湖区气候环境稍暖且干旱,植被稍有发育;1924～1969年,湖区气候环境呈现偏冷干特点,植被发育暂缓;1969年至今,湖区气候回暖,环境干旱化有所缓解,植被开始逐渐发育。在气候冷暖变化上,该湖芯记录与古里雅冰芯记录和青海湖湖泊沉积记录都有较好的可对比性,只是在起讫年代上存在一些差异。     

Climatic changes,desertification and the Republic of Sudan

Meteorological data for a period of 30 to 50 years was analysed to ascertain the climatic changes in the Republic of Sudan. The study confirms that the temperatures are rising and rainfall declining. Rigorous analysis of relative humidity, clouds, rediation and evaporation also confirms the changing pattern, a trend which may accelerate environmental degradation and desertification in Sudan.The author acknowledges the assistance of Nadir Ahmad El-Agib in completing this study. He is also thankful to Dr. Ahmad El-Agib for his help in getting the Meteorological data from Sudan.     

The paradigm of paraglacial megafans of the San Juan river basin,Central Andes,Argentina

The spatial distribution and several morphometric characteristics of the Quaternary alluvial fans of the San Juan River, in the province of San Juan, at the Central and Western part of Argentina, have been studied to classify them as paraglacial megafans, as well to ratify its depositional environmental conditions. The high sedimentary load exported by San Juan river from the Central Andes to the foreland depressions is estimated about 3,682,200 hm³. The large alluvial fans of Ullum-Zonda and Tulum valleys were deposited into deep tectonic depressions, during the Upper Pleistocene deglaciation stages. The outcome of collecting remotely sensed data, map and DEM data, geophysical data and much fieldwork gave access to morphometric, morphographic and morphogenetic data of these alluvial fans. The main drainage network was mapped on processed images using QGis (vers.2.0.1). Several fan morphometric parameters were measured, such as the size, the shape, the thickness, the surface areas and the sedimentary volume of exported load. The analyzed fans were accumulated in deep tectonic depressions, where the alluvium fill reaches 700 to 1200 m thick. Such fans do not reach the large size that other world megafans have, and this is due to tectonic obstacles, although the sedimentary fill average volume surpasses 514,000 hm³. The author proposes to consider Ullum-Zonda and Tulum alluvial fans as paraglacial megafans. According to the stratigraphic relationships of the tropical South American Rivers, the author considers that the San Juan paraglacial megafans would have occurred in the period before 24 ka BP, possibly corresponding to Middle Pleniglacial (ca 65–24ka BP). They record colder and more humid conditions compared with the present arid and dry conditions.     

Rift propagation at craton margin.: Distribution of faulting and volcanism in the North Tanzanian Divergence (East Africa) during Neogene times

A revised kinematic model is proposed for the Neogene tectono-magmatic development of the North Tanzanian Divergence where the axial valley in S Kenya splits southwards into a wide diverging pattern of block faulting in association with the disappearance of volcanism. Propagation of rifting along the S Kenya proto-rift during the last 8 Ma is first assumed to have operated by linkage of discrete magmatic cells as far S as the Ngorongoro–Kilimanjaro transverse volcanic belt that follows the margin of cratonic blocks in N Tanzania. Strain is believed to have nucleated throughout the thermally-weakened lithosphere in the transverse volcanic belt that might have later linked the S Kenya and N Tanzania rift segments with marked structural changes along-strike. The North Tanzanian Divergence is now regarded as a two-armed rift pattern involving: (1) a wide domain of tilted fault blocks to the W (Mbulu) that encompasses the Eyasi and Manyara fault systems, in direct continuation with the Natron northern trough. The reactivation of basement fabrics in the cold and intact Precambrian lithosphere in the Mbulu domain resulted in an oblique rift pattern that contrasts with the orthogonal extension that prevailed in the Magadi–Natron trough above a more attenuated lithosphere. (2) To the E, the Pangani horst-like range is thought to be a younger (< 1 Ma) structure that formed in response to the relocation of extension S of the Kilimanjaro magmatic center. A significant contrast in the mechanical behaviour of the stretched lithosphere in the North Tanzanian diverging rift is assumed to have occurred on both sides of the Masai cratonic block with a mid-crustal decoupling level to the W where asymmetrical fault-basin patterns are dominant (Magadi–Natron and Mbulu), whereas a component of dynamical uplift is suspected to have caused the topographic elevation of the Pangani range in relation with possible far-travelled mantle melts produced at depth further N.     

Hydrological changes during the Roman Climatic Optimum in northern Tuscany (Central Italy) as evidenced by speleothem records and archaeological data

Study of the climate in the Mediterranean basin during different historical periods has taken on a particular importance, particularly regarding its role (together with other factors) in the evolution of human settlement patterns. Although the Roman age is traditionally considered a period with a favourable climate, recent studies have revealed considerable complexity in terms of regional climate variations. In this paper, we compare the hydrological change from speleothem proxy records with flood reconstructions from archaeological sites for Northern Tuscany (central Italy). We identify a period of oscillating climatic conditions culminating in a multidecadal dry event during the 1st century bc , followed by a century of increased precipitation at the beginning of the Roman Empire and subsequently a return to drier conditions in the 2nd century ad. The period of rainfall increase documented by the speleothems agrees with both the archaeological flood record as well as historical flood data available for the Tiber River, ca. 300 km to the south. These data also suggest a return to wetter conditions following the 3nd and 4rd centuries ad.     

华北平原晚更新世以来岩石地层、生物地层及气候地层

前人对华北平原晚更新世以来的地层虽有较多的研究,但由于历史的原因,其所采的样品均过稀(一般为1个样品/2 m),所以,其地层界线的划分不够精细,争论也很大。对华北平原的HG1孔和HN1孔进行了加密采样(HG1孔1个样品/0.20 m,HN1孔1个样品/0.07 m),对HN1孔还加大了其微量14C年龄的测定数量(共测试17个样品),并对HG1孔的有孔虫进行了详细鉴定,对HN1孔的有孔虫进行了高分辨率鉴别。在此基础上,对华北平原晚更新世以来的岩石地层、生物地层及气候地层进行了进一步的研究,厘定了华北平原全新世与晚更新世地层的年龄界线。与此同时,结合前人的研究成果,建立了华北平原第四纪地层的标准模式地层层系。