Albitisation related to the Triassic unconformity in igneous rocks of the Morvan Massif (France)

The Carboniferous Morvan Massif, in the northern part of the French Massif Central, consists of granite and some rhyolite. A Triassic erosional unconformity has developed on the massif which is covered by Mesozoic sediments of the Paris Basin. The igneous rocks of the Morvan Massif show a strong alteration with pseudomorphic replacement of the primary plagioclases into albite, pseudomorphic replacement of primary biotite into chlorite and minor precipitation of neogenic minerals like albite, chlorite, apatite, haematite, calcite and titanite. The geometry and arrangement of these alterations give significant constraints about their development. Some of the altered facies develop in a pervasive manner; others are restricted to centimetric to metric-wide joints that imply fluid-flow phenomena. Moreover, the alteration facies are arranged in a clear succession with strongly altered facies at the top and weakly altered facies towards the depth, which point to a genetic relationship with the Triassic unconformity. Regional distribution of the alterations, which affect the Carboniferous igneous and volcanic formations beneath the Jurassic sedimentary cover, also leads to associate these alterations with the Triassic unconformity. Dating of the alterations provides even a further constraint, alterations are of Triassic age, that means the same age as the unconformity. Taking into account all these geological constraints, it is proposed that albitisation of the Morvan Massif was developed under low temperature subsurface conditions in relation to the Triassic palaeosurface.     

Sizing up the sub-Tommotian unconformity in Siberia

Sedimentary rocks in the western Anabar region, northwestern Siberia, preserve an exceptional record of evolution and biogeochemical events near the Proterozoic-Cambrian boundary. Carbon isotopic data on petrographically and geochemically screened samples collected at 1 to 2 m intervals support correlation of the lower Anabar succession (Staraya Reckha and lower Manykai Formations) with sub-Tommotian carbonates of the Ust'-Yu-doma Formation in southeastern Siberia. In contrast, the upper Manykai and most of the overlying Medvezhya Formation appear to preserve a sedimentary and paleontological record of an evolutionary important time interval represented in southeastern Siberia only by the sub-Tommotian unconformity. Correlation of the Anabar section with other northern Siberian successions that contain well-dated volcanic rocks permits the estimate that the sub-Tommotian unconformity in southeastern Siberia spans approximately 3 to 6 m.y. Diverse small shelly fossils (but not archaeocyathans) previously thought to mark the base of the Tommotian Stage evolved sequentially throughout this earlier interval.     

Barite–silica mineralization at the inter-Ordovician unconformity in southwestern Sardinia (Italy): a fluid inclusion study

Summary ?Data from secondary fluid inclusions in barite and quartz occurring in strongly silicified lithologies (“Quarzite”) along the inter-Ordovician unconformity in SW Sardinia suggest that two distinct fluids are recorded in the mineral phases. (A), a high temperature (250–360 °C) – low salinity (0–6% NaCl equiv.) fluid, measured in quartz, (B), a high salinity (6–20% NaCl equiv.) – low temperature (<80–200 °C) fluid, measured in barite. Fluid (B), though less abundant than A, has also been recorded in quartz, whereas traces of fluid (A) were found in barite. The characteristics of fluid (B) make it akin to the well known saline formation waters responsible for the deposition of the post-Variscan barite and galena ores in SW Sardinia. It is inferred that at least two distinct post-depositional hydrothermal events took place, with fluids circulating along the inter-Ordovician unconformity. Fluid (A) is related to the last phases of Variscan tectonics, whereas the timing of the second hydrothermal event (fluid B) spans the interval from Permian to Mesozoic. Due to the lack of measurable primary inclusions and to the ubiquitous evidence for the stratigraphic control of the silicification, as well as to the marked deformation of the “Quarzite” horizon, it cannot be excluded that at least part of this hydrothermal event could have taken place in pre-Variscan (Silurian?) times. An alternative model is to consider the deposition of the “Quarzite” to be unrelated to pre-Variscan hydrothermal events, but to fluid circulation along Late-Variscan structures. Received July 12, 2001; revised version accepted March 11, 2002     

松辽盆地北部姚家组底部不整合面的发育特征及形成机制初探

松辽盆地北部姚家组底部的不整合面（T_1-1界面）为区域性不整合面,这一不整合面标志的隆升事件不仅控制了地层分布和层序划分,而且把盆地的坳陷阶段分为湖侵特征各不相同的两个亚阶段.姚一段的剥蚀区主要见于松辽盆地的东部和北部,反映造成这一隆升的挤压应力场来自其东南,与东亚大陆边缘移置地体的拼贴有关.松辽盆地是一个与燕山造山作用耦合发育的内陆盆地,坳陷（裂后热沉降）阶段的盆地发育受制于两个造山作用：西侧大兴安岭的热隆升和其东的东亚大陆边缘的地体拼贴引起的斜向汇聚-剪切造山作用.     

Palaeo-yardangs: wind-scoured desert landforms at the Permo-Triassic unconformity

In Canyonlands National Park, south-east Utah, at least 29 partly exhumed, aligned sandstone ridges trending generally N20°W occur at the upper unconformable surface of the Lower Permian (Leonardian) White Rim Sandstone. The ridges are at least 1·5 km long, 250 m wide and have up to 14 m of vertical relief (mean of 9 m). A thin lag of coarse sandstone that contains wind-ripple laminae and granule ripples directly overlies the ridges. Angular blocks of sandstone within the lag and sand-filled fissures immediately below the lag, within the ridges, attest to early cementation of the ridge-forming material. SE-dipping aeolian cross-strata within the White Rim Sandstone and within the lag closely parallel the ridge trend. The ridges are interpreted as wind-sculpted desert landforms (yardangs) that developed on the lithified upper surface of the White Rim Sandstone during an extended period of hyperaridity towards the end of the Permian.     

Phosphate-rich deposits associated with the Mio-Pliocene unconformity in south-east Australia

Phosphates are present on the surface of the Mio-Pliocene unconformity in the Otway, Port Phillip and Gippsland basins of south-east Australia. The phosphates occur as lenticular lag deposits and include reworked phosphatic intraclasts, vertebrate bone and teeth. In situ phosphatized burrows are also found in sediments of Late Miocene and Early Pliocene age. The phosphatic intraclasts on the unconformity are interpreted as reworked phosphatized burrows derived from latest Miocene sediments (6 to 5 Ma). The phosphatization of these intraclasts is temporally related to the unconformity. The timing of phosphogenesis coincides with a period of transgression across the south-east Australian margin following Late Miocene uplift. This transgression is responsible for initial marine erosion of the underlying Miocene sequence, creation of a period of very slow sedimentation that was favourable to phosphate formation and subsequent deposition of the latest Miocene through to Pliocene sediments. The continental weathering of the uplifted highlands adjacent to the sedimentary basins, global phosphorus enrichment in the Late Miocene oceans and localized upwelling may all have contributed to phosphatization in south-eastern Australia.     

桂西右江裂谷的伸展作用和伸展不整合

桂西地区普遍发育的下-中三叠统浊积岩系与古生界碳酸盐岩系之间的所谓“不整合接触关系”是一个重要的又有争议的地质问题。通过对这类接触关系的深入细致调查和分析,笔者发现它是由中二叠世末开始持续大规模拉张的右江裂谷因拉张伸展运动使局部层位缺失所致,为伸展不整合。右江裂谷的伸展作用始于泥盆纪初,在中二叠世末至中三叠世最为强烈,于三叠纪晚期裂谷抬升成陆时才结束,其特点为发生的空间规模大、持续时间长,由此形成的古潜山构造在后期构造发展及成矿作用中具有重要意义。     

A new look at an old unconformity: field and geochemical data from James Hutton's original unconformity on the Isle of Arran, Scotland

In the year 1787, while visiting the Isle of Arran in southwestern Scotland, James Hutton made the initial discovery of what is now called an angular unconformity. In his example, Dalradian (Neoproterozoic - Cambrian) metasedimentary rocks are overlain by Early Carboniferous (Dinantian) sedimentary rocks of fluvial origin. The exact position of the plane of unconformity has been uncertain because of the presence of a resistant carbonate-rich zone (cornstone) on the Dalradian paleosurface. Whereas the unconformity was previously placed in an erosional re-entrant beneath the prominent carbonate-rich layer, it should be located at the contact between the Dalradian metasedimentary rocks, including those affected by cornstone formation, and overlying Dinantian pebbly sandstones. A prominent set of joints in the Dalradian rocks is sub-parallel to bedding in the overlying Carboniferous rocks and has contributed to ambiguity concerning placement of the plane of unconformity. A second exposure of Hutton's unconformity, at the SW end of the same small Carboniferous outlier on the Arran coast, displays the contact relationships unambiguously. Geochemical investigation of samples from the new locality shows that the cornstones are enriched in CaO, volatiles (LOI), MgO, and MnO. Formation of the cornstone involved replacement of siliciclastic Dalradian metasediments by dolomite. Relative to the fresh Dalradian rocks, the cornstones are depleted in most trace elements, but display enrichment in Sr, Y, Cu, and REE. The cornstone is enriched in REE in a systematic fashion, with a particularly strong concentration of MREE. A mirror-image pattern in the associated Dalradian rocks suggests that the REE enrichment observed in the cornstone is a result of leaching from the country rocks by groundwater, followed by evaporative concentration.     

Reduction of U(VI) to U(IV) on the surface of magnetite

To increase the understanding of uranium transport in the environment and in the presence of steel corrosion products, the interaction of U(VI) with natural magnetite has been studied. Sorption studies have been carried out using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS). The XPS results clearly indicate the reduction of U(VI) to U(IV) on the surface of magnetite facilitated by electron transfer between the Fe and U, leading to a coupled oxidation of Fe(II) to Fe(III).     

The characteristics of unconformity surface at the bottom of the Paleogene and its significance in hydrocarbon migration in the Sikeshu Sag of the Junggar Basin, Northwest China

The unconformity surface at the bottom of the Paleogene, located in the Sikeshu Sag of the Junggar Basin, Northwest China, is one of the most important hydrocarbon migration pathways and characterized by 3 layers of upper coarse clastic rock, lower weathering crust and leached zone. The upper coarse clastic rock displays features of higher density, lower SDT and gamma-ray logging while the weathering crust in the lower part displays opposite features. The formation water is of NaHCO 3 type but at lower mineralization degree. The QGF indices are generally between 2.19 and 3.77 and the GOI parameters vary from 1% to 5%. From the southeast to the northwest of the sag, the content of saturated hydrocarbon increases from 30.81% to 53.74% while that of non-hydrocarbon and asphaltene decreases. The Pr/nC 17 decreases from 0.65 to 0.47 while the Ph/nC 18 decreases from 0.66 to 0.27, and the content of benzo[c] carbazole declines while the benzo[a] carbazole amount and (alkyl carbazole)/(alkyl+benzo carbazole) ratio both increase. These revealed that the hydrocarbons migrated from the sag to the ramp region along the unconformity surface.     

南阳凹陷西大岗露头区核桃园组裂离不整合的发现及其地质意义

本文重点解剖南阳凹陷唐河低凸起西大岗露头区核桃园组二段中亚段（E2h2^2）与上亚段（E2h2^1）的接触界。通过实测剖面,结合室内岩石薄片鉴定、粒度分析、X衍射和地球化学分析,确认该接触界面实为裂离不整合,不同于前人认识的“古暴露面”,系由北东向控盆断裂一曲洼断裂强烈的伸展作用所造成,代表了南阳凹陷以南部控盆断裂为主向以东部控盆断裂为主的转变。     

塔中地区志留系柯坪塔格组内不整合的微观证据

在前人研究的基础上,通过钻井资料、地震资料和岩心资料分析相结合的方法,识别出了塔中地区志留系柯坪塔格组上二亚段与上一亚段之间可能存在一不整合面;又通过薄片和地球化学等微观手段证实了这一不整合面存在的合理性。研究结果表明:1)塔中地区志留系柯坪塔格组上三亚段和上二亚段中的黄铁矿发生了褐铁矿化作用,并且这种氧化作用在横向上具有可追踪性;2)上三亚段中具有收缩缝的沥青是早期生成的成熟度较低的油气在运移至构造高部位过程中遭受氧化作用而形成的;3)上三亚段和上二亚段中的碳酸盐胶结物主要是在淡水或混合水环境中形成的;上一亚段和石炭系中的碳酸盐胶结物主要是在海水环境中形成的。这些微观证据相互印证了该区在上二亚段与上一亚段之间存在一不整合面。这对该区层序的划分及后期油气勘探具有重要意义。     

Dynamic stratigraphy of composite peripheral unconformity in a foredeep basin

This study employs facies analysis and basic principles of sequence stratigraphy to correlate isolated outcrop sections and reveal the depositional history of the Chmielnik Formation – a prominent mid‐Serravalian clastic wedge formed on the basinward forebulge flank of the Polish Carpathian Foredeep. The coarse‐grained clastic wedge, up to 30 m thick and spanning ca 1·1 Ma within biozone NN6, consists of fluvio‐deltaic, foreshore and shoreface deposits with a range of large littoral sand bars, all enveloped in muddy offshore‐transition deposits. Its dynamic stratigraphy indicates rapid shoreline shifts and environmental changes due to the interplay of forebulge tectonism, sediment supply and third‐order eustatic cycles. A similar interplay of tectonism and eustasy is recognizable in the whole middle Miocene sedimentary succession deposited on the forebulge flank, demonstrating an extreme case of an accommodation‐controlled shelf and indicating tectonic cycles of the forebulge uplift and subsidence spanning ca 800 to 900 ka. The episodes of forebulge uplift correlate with the main pulses of orogen thrusting. The resulting composite peripheral unconformity differs markedly from the idealized model of a ‘steady‐state’ stepwise onlap driven by forebulge continuous retreat. It is concluded that the foredeep peripheral unconformities, instead of being simplified in accordance with this idealized model, should rather be studied in detail because they bear a valuable high‐resolution record of regional events and give unique insights into the local role of tectonics, eustasy and sediment supply.     

青海玉树地区三叠纪地层之下角度不整合面的发现及意义

在2003年1：25万玉树县幅区域地质调查中，发现玉树地区三叠纪地层呈角度不整合覆盖于石炭纪-二叠纪地层之上，从而为确定西金乌兰-金沙江洋的封闭时代提供了确切的地层学依据，进一步证明了西金乌兰-金沙江带是华力西造山带。这一发现对认识古特提斯洋-陆转化过程具有重要意义。     

Adatom Fe(III) on the hematite surface: Observation of a key reactive surface species

The reactivity of a mineral surface is determined by the variety and population of different types of surface sites (e.g., step, kink, adatom, and defect sites). The concept of "adsorbed nutrient" has been built into crystal growth theories, and many other studies of mineral surface reactivity appeal to ill-defined "active sites." Despite their theoretical importance, there has been little direct experimental or analytical investigation of the structure and properties of such species. Here, we use ex-situ and in-situ scanning tunneling microcopy (STM) combined with calculated images based on a resonant tunneling model to show that observed nonperiodic protrusions and depressions on the hematite (001) surface can be explained as Fe in an adsorbed or adatom state occupying sites different from those that result from simple termination of the bulk mineral. The number of such sites varies with sample preparation history, consistent with their removal from the surface in low pH solutions.     

桂西北晚古生代地层中的毗连不整合研究

桂西北右江地区广泛发育碳酸盐岩孤立台地,台地边缘发育大量沉积岩脉、角砾岩体、台地边缘同沉积正断层、及局部地层缺失造成的特殊界面,各要素之间的成因关系一直有争论。毗连不整合是指因同沉积断层作用使平坦地形变成强烈起伏的陡坡地形,粗碎屑物质快速沉积于地形凹处,新沉积的地层与早先坡下的较老基岩横向相接,因此造成新老地层之间的不整合,多形成于构造不稳定地区。国外地质学家最初将其识别为普通的角度不整合、陆架边缘不整合或者台地边缘不整合等等,国内地质学家也注意到了这类特殊界面,但在一些野外露头上观察其为断层面,而在另一些露头上观察其为侵蚀间断（不整合）面,由此产生争论：这类特殊界面是断层还是不整合？并产生很多名称：同构造沉积不整合、碳酸盐岩台地边缘围限断裂带、角度不整合接触带、陡崖式假不整合、事件沉积不整合、超覆不整合、构造窗和飞来峰等等,迄今为止没有统一。笔者等在研究广西晚古生代孤立碳酸盐岩台地边缘沉积岩脉和角砾岩体的过程中,发现特殊界面与沉积岩脉和角砾岩体关系密切,并发现如果将这些特殊界面归类于传统不整合面,均有与地质事实相矛盾的地方,因而认为其应重新归类。随着研究的深入：笔者等在凤山剖面的同一露头上观察到关键地质现象：特殊界面下部具断层特征,上部具溶蚀间断特征,因此认为其是遭受溶蚀的同沉积断层面。其成因是：同沉积构造十分活跃,使同沉积断层面上部来不及被新沉积物掩埋而遭受水下溶蚀,从而形成巨大地形起伏,造成新老地层横向相接,与Davis毗连不整合概念吻合,据此将这类特殊界面统一命名为毗连不整合。随即发现桂西北晚古生代地层内部广泛发育毗连不整合,并且发现晚古生代地层与下伏寒武系、及上覆三叠系之间也是毗连不整合接触,这是桂西北晚古生代地层及相关寒武系和三叠系的基本特色,由于毗连不整合代表区域地质构造活动强烈,表明桂西北地质构造从古生代到中生代一直处于活动状态,地层—构造活动记录与古特提斯域特征相似,属古特提斯洋的东沿部分。从而结束特殊界面是断层还是不整合的争论,为桂西北地层与构造的深入研究及其大地构造归属提供了新证据。     

结构面剪切流变及其长期强度试验研究

针对某电站典型代表性的岩层,进行室内岩石剪切流变试验,对岩块在剪切变形过程中的流变特性进行深入研究,选取扩展的Burgers模型建立流变方程,用MATLAB工具函数fminsearch拟合试验得到的μ - t非线性函数流变曲线,确定岩体结构面的流变参数,并根据剪切流变试验确定其长期剪切强度。相对瞬时剪切强度,用长期强度进行设计更能保证工程的安全。     

塔河油田不整合结构类型及输导演化研究

塔河油田受多期构造运动变形叠加,形成了中～下奥陶统顶面、奥陶系顶面、东河塘组顶面和古生界顶面等四期主要不整合面。不整合面的微观结构为典型的“三层结构”,其中底砾岩中连通孔隙和半风化岩石中的卸荷～风化裂缝系统,是构成不整合面侧向油气输导的双重通道。同时,根据不整合界面上、下地层岩性、渗透性,以及接触关系,识别出八种结构类型,其中Ⅰ型和Ⅴ型对油气运移最有利,并详细分析研究区不整合面平面展布特征和空间演化过程,讨论其继承性和差异性,指出T7^4和T5^0不整合面是油气侧向运移、调整,并最终成藏的重要输导通道。     

不整合面下隐伏逆冲断层反射地震成像模拟研究

针对不整合界面下的逆冲断层进行反射地震勘探的可行性问题,进行了一项波动方程正演模拟数值试验。勘探的地质目标包括断层的断面形态,以及附近几个厚度仅仅为几米的地质透镜体。根据掌握的地质资料建立地震参数模型,用波动方程正演模拟技术模仿地震勘探观测系统的施工方式,滚动放炮合成了38炮地震数据,然后按照生产资料处理流程对这些数据进行处理,最后得到地震波速度模型剖面、地震数据叠加剖面以及偏移剖面等图像成果。试验结果表明,如果采用较高频率的震源信号,反射勘探地震成像方法可以有效地揭示不整合面下隐伏逆冲断层的空间展布形态,辨识地质透镜体存在。研究表明,选用主频为150Hz的高频率震源信号,可以使勘探达到最佳的分辨效果。