Systematically variable geometry and architecture of incised-valley fills controlled by orbital forcing: A conceptual model from the Pennsylvanian Breathitt Group (Kentucky,USA)

Incised-valley fills preserved within ancient coastal to shallow-marine successions represent important archives of environmental and sea-level change. Most current knowledge about the origin of incised valleys stems from Quaternary case studies; however, research on pre-Quaternary examples can shed light on valley formation and evolution across longer timespans. This article describes different types of incised-valley fills from Lower to Middle Pennsylvanian fluvio-deltaic successions of the Breathitt Group (eastern Kentucky), accumulated in the Central Appalachian Foreland under prevalent glacioeustatic forcing driven by Gondwanan glaciations. Based on well-established criteria for their recognition, numerous incised-valley fills were identified from outcrop and subsurface data through more than 300 m of clastic successions consisting of fourth-order stratigraphic sequences stacked into third-order composite sequences. Incised-valley fills were categorized into three archetypes based on lateral extent and aspect ratio (relatively wide versus narrow valley fills), nature of infill (fully continental versus mixed marine and continental facies associations) and relationships to underlying coal zones (truncating versus non-truncating). The systematic occurrence of each incised-valley fill type at specific stratigraphic positions within every third-order sequence suggests control by a periodic allogenic factor. Valley-fill archetypes are interpreted in terms of variable accommodation-supply ratios driven by variable duration of formative base-level cycles. For example, relatively wide incised-valley fills with alluvial infill evolved during long-lived cycles whose prolonged base-level drawdown maintained low accommodation/supply ratios. Deeper valleys with low aspect ratios and mixed marine-continental infills were generated by short-lived base-level drawdown that forced higher accommodation/supply ratios. Available chronological data for the studied successions consent to estimate base-level cycles spanning 10^4–5 years that were likely modulated by interference patterns of orbital parameters (obliquity and eccentricity) via global climate and glacioeustatic fluctuations. This conceptual model, relating incised-valley fill morphometry and internal architecture to orbital forcing patterns, provides a possible approach to predicting and interpreting incised-valley fill variability through successions accumulated during icehouse conditions.     

Signatures of climate vs. sea-level change within incised valley-fill successions: Quaternary examples from the Texas GULF Coast

The passive margin Texas Gulf of Mexico Coastal Plain consists of coalescing late Pleistocene to Holocene alluvial–deltaic plains constructed by a series of medium to large fluvial systems. Alluvial–deltaic plains consist of the Pleistocene Beaumont Formation, and post-Beaumont coastal plain incised valleys. A variety of mapping, outcrop, core, and geochronological data from the extrabasinal Colorado River and the basin-fringe Trinity River show that Beaumont and post-Beaumont strata consist of a series of coastal plain incised valley fills that represent 100 kyr climatic and glacio-eustatic cycles.

Valley fills contain a complex alluvial architecture. Falling stage to lowstand systems tracts consist of multiple laterally amalgamated sandy channelbelts that reflect deposition within a valley that was incised below highstand alluvial plains, and extended across a subaerially-exposed shelf. The lower boundary to falling stage and lowstand units comprises a composite valley fill unconformity that is time-transgressive in both cross- and down-valley directions. Coastal plain incised valleys began to fill with transgression and highstand, and landward translation of the shoreline: paleosols that define the top of falling stage and lowstand channelbelts were progressively onlapped and buried by heterolithic sandy channelbelt, sandy and silty crevasse channel and splay, and muddy floodbasin strata. Transgressive to highstand facies-scale architecture reflects changes through time in dominant styles of avulsion, and follows a predictable succession through different stages of valley filling. Complete valley filling promoted avulsion and the large-scale relocation of valley axes before the next sea-level fall, such that successive 100 kyr valley fills show a distributary pattern.

Basic elements within coastal plain valleys can be correlated with the record offshore, where cross-shelf valleys have been described from seismic data. Falling stage to lowstand channelbelts within coastal plain valleys were feeder systems for shelf-phase and shelf-margin deltas, respectively, and demonstrate that falling stage fluvial deposits are important valley fill components. Signatures of both upstream climate change vs. downstream sea-level controls are therefore interpreted to be present within incised valley fills. Signatures of climate change consist of the downstream continuity of major stratigraphic units and component facies, which extends from the mixed bedrock–alluvial valley of the eroding continental interior to the distal reaches, wherever that may be at the time. This continuity suggests the development of stratigraphic units and facies is strongly coupled to upstream controls on sediment supply and climate conditions within hinterland source regions. Signatures of sea-level change are critical as well: sea-level fall below the elevation of highstand depositional shoreline breaks results in channel incision and extension across the newly emergent shelf, which in turn results in partitioning of the 100 kyr coastal plain valleys. Moreover, deposits and key surfaces can be traced from continental interiors to the coastal plain, but there are downstream changes in geometric relations that correspond to the transition between the mixed bedrock–alluvial valley and the coastal plain incised valley. Channel incision and extension during sea-level fall and lowstand, with channel shortening and delta backstepping during transgression, controls the architecture of coastal plain and cross-shelf incised valley fills.     

Spatial variability of palaeosols across Cretaceous interfluves in the Dunvegan Formation, NE British Columbia, Canada: palaeohydrological, palaeogeomorphological and stratigraphic implications

A basic sedimentological and palaeopedological framework is now in place for non-marine sequence models. The variability of interfluve palaeosols has not, however, been systematically documented, nor have the stratigraphic implications of that variability been incorporated into sequence models. Interfluve palaeosol variability in the deltaic Dunvegan Formation, NE British Columbia, Canada, is investigated, for which a detailed allostratigraphic and palaeogeographic framework has been developed, based on abundant well (> 2300 logs) and outcrop (> 60 sections) control. Regionally extensive valley fills and interfluves have been mapped in coastal plain deposits over an area of about 50 000 km². This palaeogeographic framework permits interfluve surfaces exposed in outcrop to be located in terms of distance from the margins of coeval valleys. The micromorphological, geochemical and mineralogical characteristics of five representative sequence-bounding palaeosols located from 250 m to more than 15 km from coeval valley margins are described. These interfluve palaeosols are similar to modern Alfisols and all record (i) aggradation on an alluvial/coastal plain; (ii) a subsequent static and/or degradational phase related to valley incision, non-deposition and soil thickening; and (iii) a final aggradational phase related to valley filling and renewed sedimentation across the coastal plain. Within this overall template, however, variations in palaeosol thickness, redoximorphic features, illuvial clay content and geochemistry suggest developmental control by hydrological characteristics that were influenced by both the nature of the underlying alluvial sediments and distance from the valley margin. The presence of mature interfluve palaeosols with complex developmental histories suggests that landscape dissection may have been related to terrace development associated with valley incision. Palaeosols closer to valley margins are thicker, contain more illuvial clay and display characteristics suggesting better drained conditions relative to those palaeosols that developed further from valley margins. Subsequent deposition on interfluves also reflects distance from valleys, with those sites close to valleys accumulating cumulic soils with evidence of brackish groundwater, whereas far from valleys (> 10–15 km), groundwater was fresh and clastic supply minimal, encouraging peat formation. Variations in drainage and palaeotopography during landscape dissection resulted in different palaeosol development styles on interfluve surfaces that can be shown, on the basis of physical correlation, to have the same geomorphic age. These observations support the concept of the soil-forming interval as a basis for pedostratigraphic correlation in ancient terrestrial deposits. Palaeosol variability on interfluves is to be expected, and recognition and documentation of this variability is an important prerequisite to palaeogeomorphological, palaeoclimatic and sequence stratigraphic interpretations.     

Late‐glacial to Holocene depositional architecture of the Ombrone palaeovalley system (Southern Tuscany,Italy): Sea‐level,climate and local control in valley‐fill variability

The Ombrone palaeovalley was incised during the last glacial sea‐level fall and was infilled during the subsequent Late‐glacial to Holocene transgression. A detailed sedimentological and stratigraphic study of two cores along the palaeovalley axis led to reconstruction of the post‐Last Glacial Maximum valley‐fill history. Stratigraphic correlations show remarkable similarity in the Late‐glacial to early‐Holocene succession, but discrepancy in the Holocene portion of the valley fill. Above the palaeovalley floor, about 60 m below sea‐level, Late‐glacial sedimentation is recorded by an unusually thick alluvial succession dated back to ca 18 cal kyr bp . The Holocene onset was followed by the retrogradational shift from alluvial to coastal facies. In seaward core OM1, the transition from inner to outer estuarine environments marks the maximum deepening of the system. By comparison, in landward core OM2, the emplacement of estuarine conditions was interrupted by renewed continental sedimentation. Swamp to lacustrine facies, stratigraphically equivalent to the fully estuarine facies of core OM1, represent the proximal expression of the maximum flooding zone. This succession reflects location in a confined segment of the valley, just landward of the confluence with a tributary valley. It is likely that sudden sediment input from the tributary produced a topographic threshold, damming the main valley course and isolating its landward segment from the sea. The seaward portion of the Ombrone palaeovalley presents the typical estuarine backfilling succession of allogenically controlled incised valleys. In contrast, in the landward portion of the system, local dynamics completely overwhelmed the sea‐level signal, following marine ingression. This study highlights the complexity of palaeovalley systems, where local morphologies, changes in catchment areas, drainage systems and tributary valleys may produce facies patterns significantly different from the general stratigraphic organization depicted by traditional sequence‐stratigraphic models.     

A tectono-stratigraphic record of an extensional basin: the Lower Jurassic Ab-Haji Formation of east-central Iran

The Lower Jurassic Ab-Haji Formation consists of siliciclastic strata which are widespread and superbly exposed across the Tabas and Lut blocks of east-central Iran. The formation records the geodynamic history of central Iran during the Early Jurassic in the aftermath of the main Cimmerian event (near the Triassic–Jurassic boundary) through its sedimentary facies and stratigraphic architecture and allows palaeogeographic and palaeoenvironmental reconstructions. We measured and studied three well-exposed outcrop sections and identified lithofacies and facies associations (fluvial plain, delta plain, delta front, prodelta, and shallow-marine siliciclastic shelf). The integration of all geological, stratigraphic, and sedimentological data shows a west-to-east continental-to-marine gradient within the Ab-Haji Formation. Based on thickness variations, lateral facies changes, palaeocurrent patterns, and changes in the nature of the basal contact of the Ab-Haji Formation on the Tabas and Lut blocks, we locate the fault-bounded Yazd Block in the west and the Shotori Swell at the eastern edge of the Tabas Block as provenance regions. The pattern of thickness variations, rapid east–west facies changes, and provenance is best explained by a tectonic model invoking large tilted fault blocks in an extensional basin. The basal unit shows distinct increase in grain size at the base of the Ab-Haji Formation, similar to the Shemshak Group of the Alborz Mountains (the base of the Alasht Formation) and the non-marine time-equivalent succession of the Binalud Mountains of northeastern Iran. This grain size pattern may have been caused by rapid source area uplift due to slab break-off of the subducted Iran plate in the course of the Cimmerian collision in east-central Iran.     

华北板块西南缘义马盆地中侏罗世沉积相及古地理

义马盆地位于华北板块西南缘,是河南省境内唯一可采的中生代煤田,位置特殊。为了揭示其中侏罗世阿林期-巴柔期的沉积相及其古地理演化特征,运用矿物岩石学、地球化学、沉积学及岩相古地理等方法,以义马盆地中侏罗世含煤岩系为例,进行地层划分及沉积相和古地理研究。研究结果表明,研究区中侏罗世含煤岩系属阿林期-巴柔期,该时期主要发育冲积扇、辫状河、三角洲、湖泊等4种沉积相。利用单因素分析多因素综合作图法,以成煤期为节点,定量恢复了阿林期-巴柔期的古地理特征,从成煤期前到成煤期后,各优势古地理单元变化明显,具有冲积扇-三角洲-湖泊的变化规律,整体上是一个退积过程。     

Preservation of cross-sets due to migration of current ripples over aggrading and non-aggrading beds: comparison of experimental data with theory

An experimental study of the preservation of cross-sets during the migration of current ripples under aggrading and non-aggrading conditions was conducted in order to test the modified Paola–Borgman theory for distribution of cross-set thickness as a function of distribution of bed-wave height. In a series of flume experiments, the geometry and migration characteristics of the ripples did not vary systematically with aggradation rate and are comparable to other flume and river data.
Mean cross-set thickness/mean formative bed-wave height is less than 0·4, and mean cross-set thickness/mean bed-wave height is less than 0·53. In the present experiments, the primary control of cross-set thickness is the variability of ripple height. Aggradation rate accounts for only 1–7% of the total cross-set thickness.
A two-parameter gamma density function was fitted to histograms of ripple height to determine the value of parameter a needed for the modified Paola–Borgman model. This model underestimates cross-set thickness because of its assumption that bed-form height spreads evenly above and below the mean bed level, which is not the case in reality. Mean cross-set thickness is predicted quite well if the model constant is increased to 1·3.     

中国河口三角洲地区晚第四纪下切河谷层序特征和形成*

应用800多口钻孔及文献资料,讨论了中国沿海滦河扇三角洲、长江三角洲和珠江三角洲及钱塘江河口湾4个地区的下切河谷体系,这些皆为丰沙河流形成的河口三角洲。这些河口三角洲地区的下切河谷为长形或扇形,长数十至数百千米,宽数十千米,深40～90 m。河口三角洲地区的下切河谷相序可分为4种类型,即FS-Ⅰ,FS-Ⅱ,FS-Ⅲ和FS-Ⅵ。可以将这4类相序自海向陆排成一个理想序列：FS-Ⅰ位于海岸线附近,FS-Ⅳ位于河口三角洲的顶部,显示海的影响逐渐减弱,陆相作用逐渐增强。下切河谷层序可分为海侵和海退序列。海侵序列的厚度占下切河谷层序的50％以上,体积占60％～70％。海侵序列是在海平面上升过程中,溯源堆积依次叠置而成的,其下部的河床相是在溯源堆积能到达、而涨潮流未能到达的下游河段产生的,往往不含海相微体化石和潮汐沉积构造。在海侵序列中未见区域上可对比的侵蚀面,表明冰后期海平面上升速率的变化、甚至小幅下降也未留下统一的侵蚀记录。下切河谷中的海退序列由河口湾充填及三角洲进积而成,其进程是各不相同的：长江古河口湾先被强潮河口湾相、后由三角洲相所充填,河口湾也经历了由强潮型向中潮型的转变;滦河扇三角洲和珠江三角洲,其古河口湾则被河流相和三角洲相所充填;钱塘江河口湾正被强潮河口湾相所充填。     

A sequence stratigraphic framework for a narrow,current-swept continental shelf: The Durban Bight,central KwaZulu-Natal,South Africa

High resolution seismic lines from the inner and mid-shelf of the Durban Bight reveal an unprecedented view of the seismic stratigraphy of the central KwaZulu-Natal uppermost continental margin. Seven units are recognised from the shelf on the basis of their stratal architecture and bounding unconformities. These comprise four incompletely preserved sequences consisting of deposits of the highstand systems tract (Unit B), falling stage systems tracts (Unit C), the transgressive systems tract (Units A, D and G) and lowstand systems tracts (early fill of the incised valleys and strike diachronous prograding reflectors of Unit A). Seismic facies recognised as incised valley fills correspond to the lowstand and transgressive systems tracts. When integrated with published accounts of onshore and offshore lithostratigraphy and local sea level curves, we recognise an Early Santonian transgression (Unit A to Unit B), superimposed by uplift-induced pulses of forced regression. A Late Campanian relative sea level fall (Unit C) followed. Sediments of the Tertiary period are not evident on the Durban Bight shelf except for isolated incised valley fills of Unit D lying within incised valleys of Late Pliocene age. Overlying these are two stages of Pleistocene shoreline deposits of indeterminate age. Erosion concurrent with relative sea level fall towards the last glacial maximum shoreline carved a third set of incised valleys within which sediments of the Late Pleistocene/Holocene have infilled.     

江苏南通地区晚第四纪下切河谷沉积与环境演变

采用层序地层学基本原理,以海平面升降旋回为主线,根据钻井岩芯、古生物、测年和分析化验等资料,探讨了江苏南通地区晚第四纪地层层序、层序界面、沉积特征及沉积环境的演变。结果表明,研究区晚第四纪发育三期下切河谷,形成了三套沉积层序,自下而上三个层序的地质时代分别相当于晚第四纪早期、晚第四纪中期和晚第四纪晚期。由于后期河流的强烈下切破坏,早期沉积层序往往被剥蚀殆尽,仅残留下部的河床相粗粒沉积,造成不同期河床相的叠置;相对而言,晚第四纪晚期形成的下切河谷沉积层序以不同的沉积相组合被保存下来,自下而上划分为河床、河漫滩、河口湾、浅海和三角洲5种沉积相类型,表现为一个较完整的沉积层序。晚第四纪晚期下切河谷底界面,是末次冰期海面下降,河流下切形成的侵蚀面,与河间地古土壤层顶面的沉积间断面同属一个地史期的产物,一起构成区域不整合面,界面上下岩性突变,其上的冰后期地层属同一个海平面变化旋回,可互相对比,因而具有年代地层学意义。三期下切河谷层序的套叠结构表明,晚第四纪以来,研究区存在三次"低海面-海侵-高海面-海退"周期性海面变化。     

Facies relationships in the Upper Devonian-Lower Carboniferous of southwest Ireland and adjacent regions

In southwest Ireland 2,500 m of Upper Famennian to basal Namurian marine sandstones and mudstones, the Cork Beds, overlie rocks of Old Red Sandstone facies. Coastal exposures of the Cork Beds are interpreted as showing gradual upward change from alluvial strata, through thick subtidal and shelf sediments to pyritic muds. A review of recent palaeontological evidence shows that the thick shallow marine part of the Cork Beds is older than the major development of lime-stones north of the Cork Harbour—Kenmare Une, whose equivalents to the south are in the condensed basinal sediments. The Lower Carboniferous portion of the Cork Facies is shown to be thicker in South Cork than in West Cork. In Lower Carboniferous times a positive area–the Glandore High–separated two sub-basins with different depositional histories. Six palaeogeographic maps are used to demonstrate the progressive shift of facies belts as Lower Carboniferous marine transgression progressed. Finally, brief comparison is made with rocks of the same age in southwest England.     

珠江口盆地东部珠江组层序岩相古地理特征

在层序地层学和沉积学理论指导下,以油气勘探为目标,根据岩芯观察、岩石薄片鉴定分析、测井资料、地震资料,确定珠江口盆地（东部）珠江组主要发育：（1）碎屑岩沉积体系一三角洲、滨岸和浅海相;（2）碳酸盐岩沉积体系一开阔台地、台地边缘及台地前缘斜坡相。通过暴露标志、岩性岩相组合、生物组合及测井为主的层序界面识别,将珠江组划分为4个三级层序。在此基础上,对珠江口盆地（东部）珠江组取三级层序体系域或三级层序为成图单元,进行层序岩相古地理编图,详细探讨了珠江口盆地（东部）珠江组古地理特征及演化。结合各相带储集物性特征,认为珠江组SQ1-HST、SQ2-HST及SQ3晚期形成的台缘、台内礁滩沉积是寻找有利储集层的重要储集相带。     

Examining the geometry,age and genesis of buried Quaternary valley systems in the Midland Valley of Scotland,UK

Buried palaeo‐valley systems have been identified widely beneath lowland parts of the UK including eastern England, central England, south Wales and the North Sea. In the Midland Valley of Scotland palaeo‐valleys have been identified yet the age and genesis of these enigmatic features remain poorly understood. This study utilizes a digital data set of over 100 000 boreholes that penetrate the full thickness of deposits in the Midland Valley of Scotland. It identified 18 buried palaeo‐valleys, which range from 4 to 36 km in length and 24 to 162 m in depth. Geometric analysis has revealed four distinct valley morphologies, which were formed by different subglacial and subaerial processes. Some palaeo‐valleys cross‐cut each other with the deepest features aligning east–west. These east–west features align with the reconstructed ice‐flow direction under maximum conditions of the Main Late Devensian glaciation. The shallower features appear more aligned to ice‐flow direction during ice‐sheet retreat, and were therefore probably incised under more restricted ice‐sheet configurations. The bedrock lithology influences and enhances the position and depth of palaeo‐valleys in this lowland glacial terrain. Faults have juxtaposed Palaeozoic sedimentary and igneous rocks and the deepest palaeo‐valleys occur immediately down‐ice of knick‐points in the more resistant igneous bedrock. The features are regularly reused and the fills are dominated by glacial fluvial and glacial marine deposits. This suggests that the majority of infilling of the features happened during deglaciation and may be unrelated to the processes that cut them.     

Geological controls on the geometry of incised‐valley fills: Insights from a global dataset of late‐Quaternary examples

Incised valleys that develop due to relative sea‐level change are common features of continental shelves and coastal plains. Assessment of the factors that control the geometry of incised‐valley fills has hitherto largely relied on conceptual, experimental or numerical models, else has been grounded on case studies of individual depositional systems. Here, a database‐driven statistical analysis of 151 late‐Quaternary incised‐valley fills has been performed, the aim being to investigate the geological controls on their geometry. Results of this analysis have been interpreted with consideration of the role of different processes in determining the geometry of incised‐valley fills through their effect on the degree and rate of river incision, and on river size and mobility. The studied incised‐valley fills developed along active margins are thicker and wider, on average, than those along passive margins, suggesting that tectonic setting exerts a control on the geometry of incised‐valley fills, probably through effects on relative sea‐level change and river behaviour, and in relation to distinct characteristics of basin physiography, water discharge and modes of sediment delivery. Valley‐fill geometry is positively correlated with the associated drainage‐basin size, confirming the dominant role of water discharge. Climate is also inferred to exert a potential control on valley‐fill dimensions, possibly through modulations of temperature, peak precipitation, vegetation and permafrost, which would in turn affect water discharge, rates of sediment supply and valley‐margin stability. Shelves with slope breaks that are currently deeper than 120 m contain incised‐valley fills that are thicker and wider, on average, than those hosted on shelves with breaks shallower than 120 m. No correlation exists between valley‐fill thickness and present‐day coastal‐prism convexity, which is measured as the difference in gradient between lower coastal plains and inner shelves. These findings challenge some concepts embedded in sequence stratigraphic thinking, and have significant implications for analysis and improved understanding of ‘source to sink’ sediment route‐ways, and for attempting predictions of the occurrence and characteristics of hydrocarbon reservoirs.     

Sequence stratigraphic controls on reservoir characterization and architecture: case study of the Messinian Abu Madi incised-valley fill, Egypt

Understanding sequence stratigraphy architecture in the incised-valley is a crucial step to understanding the effect of relative sea level changes on reservoir characterization and architecture. This paper presents a sequence stratigraphic framework of the incised-valley strata within the late Messinian Abu Madi Formation based on seismic and borehole data. Analysis of sand-body distribution reveals that fluvial channel sandstones in the Abu Madi Formation in the Baltim Fields, offshore Nile Delta, Egypt, are not randomly distributed but are predictable in their spatial and stratigraphic position. Elucidation of the distribution of sandstones in the Abu Madi incised-valley fill within a sequence stratigraphic framework allows a better understanding of their characterization and architecture during burial. Strata of the Abu Madi Formation are interpreted to comprise two sequences, which are the most complex stratigraphically; their deposits comprise a complex incised valley fill. The lower sequence (SQ1) consists of a thick incised valley-fill of a Lowstand Systems Tract (LST1)) overlain by a Transgressive Systems Tract (TST1) and Highstand Systems Tract (HST1). The upper sequence (SQ2) contains channel-fill and is interpreted as a LST2 which has a thin sandstone channel deposits. Above this, channel-fill sandstone and related strata with tidal influence delineates the base of TST2, which is overlain by a HST2. Gas reservoirs of the Abu Madi Formation (present-day depth ～3552 m), the Baltim Fields, Egypt, consist of fluvial lowstand systems tract (LST) sandstones deposited in an incised valley. LST sandstones have a wide range of porosity (15 to 28%) and permeability (1 to 5080mD), which reflect both depositional facies and diagenetic controls. This work demonstrates the value of constraining and evaluating the impact of sequence stratigraphic distribution on reservoir characterization and architecture in incised-valley deposits, and thus has an important impact on reservoir quality evolution in hydrocarbon exploration in such settings.     

Sedimentary facies of a glacially influenced continental succession in the Pennsylvanian Jericho Formation, Galilee Basin, Australia

Recent work on the Late Palaeozoic Ice Age in eastern Australia has shown the Joe Joe Group in the eastern Galilee Basin, Queensland, to be of critical importance as it is one of few records of Pennsylvanian glacial activity outside South America. This paper presents detailed sedimentological data, from which the Late Palaeozoic environment of the region is reconstructed and which, consequently, allows for robust comment on the broader Gondwanan glaciation. The Jericho Formation, in the lower Joe Joe Group, was deposited in an active extensional basin in lacustrine to fluvial environments, during the mid‐Namurian to early Stephanian. The region experienced a cool climate during this time, and polythermal mountain or valley‐type glaciers periodically advanced into the area from highlands to the north‐east. The Jericho Formation preserves a suite of proglacial to terminal glacial facies that is characterized by massive and stratified diamictites deposited from debris flows, massive and horizontally laminated conglomerates and sandstones deposited from hyperconcentrated density flows, laminated siltstones with outsized clasts and interlaminated siltstone/conglomerate deposited through ice‐rafting into lakes, and sedimentary dykes and breccias deposited through overpressurization of groundwater beneath permafrost. Non‐glacial facies are dominated by fluvial sandstones and lacustrine/overbank siltstones. The glacigenic rocks of the Jericho Formation are confined to discrete packages, recording three separate glacial advances during the latest Namurian to late Westphalian. This arrangement is consistent with the temporal distribution of glacigenic rocks from around the remainder of Australia and Gondwana, which supports the theory that glacial deposits occurred in discrete intervals. The Joe Joe Group is a key succession in the world in this context as, at this time, eastern Australia provides the only unequivocal evidence of a Namurian/Westphalian glaciation outside South America. The continuous record of sedimentation through the Pennsylvanian and Early Permian is indicative of significant warming between glacial intervals, which is difficult to reconcile with the development of long‐lived, cold‐based ice sheets across the supercontinent.     

Sequence stratigraphy of the upper Millstone Grit (Yeadonian,Namurian), North Wales

The upper Millstone Grit strata (Yeadonian, Namurian) of North Wales have been studied using sedimentological facies analysis and sequence stratigraphy. These strata comprise two cyclothems, each containing prodelta shales (Holywell Shale) that pass gradationally upwards into delta‐front and delta‐plain deposits (Gwespyr Sandstone Formation). The deltas formed in shallow water (<100 m), were fluvial‐dominated, had elongate and/or sheet geometries and are assigned to highstand systems tracts. Two delta complexes with distinctive sandstone petrographies are identified: (1) a southerly derived, quartzose delta complex sourced locally from the Wales‐Brabant Massif, and (2) a feldspathic delta complex fed by a regional source(s) to the north and/or west. The feldspathic delta complex extended further south in the younger cyclothem. A multistorey braided‐fluvial complex (Aqueduct Grit, c. 25 m thick) is assigned to a lowstand systems tract, and occupies an incised valley that was eroded into the highstand feldspathic delta complex in the younger cyclothem. A candidate incised valley cut into the highstand feldspathic delta complex in the older cyclothem is also tentatively identified. Transgressive systems tracts are thin (<5 m) and contain condensed fossiliferous shales (marine bands). The high‐resolution sequence stratigraphic framework interpreted for North Wales can be readily traced northwards into the Central Province Basin (‘Pennine Basin’), supporting the notion that high‐frequency, high‐magnitude sea‐level changes were the dominant control on stratigraphic architecture. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

高精度古地貌恢复技术及应用——以辽西凸起南段东营组二段下段为例

辽西凸起南段东营组二段下段发育大型岩性-超覆圈闭,储层发育程度以及分布范围是本区油气富集的主控因素。以油组为单位在低勘探程度区开展高精度古地貌恢复,通过剥蚀量恢复,结合埋深和地震响应特征对原始地层厚度进行了压实恢复,并运用岩性、沉积相以及地震响应特征等对该地区进行古水深校正。通过对研究区沟谷的横截面积及延伸长度定量分析,下切沟谷沿地貌形态和地形坡度由高至低,依次发育V型、U型、W型,其发育横截面积和输砂能力依次降低,且不同时期沟谷形态和发育位置的迁移控制了沉积体系发育特征。精细刻画了不同时期储层分布和沉积体系演化特征。     

The application of high-resolution sequence stratigraphy to fluvial systems: a case study from the Upper Carboniferous Breathitt Group, eastern Kentucky, USA

The Pennsylvanian Pikeville, Hyden and Four Corners formations of the Breathitt Group in eastern Kentucky, USA, contain six major facies associations along with a number of subassociations. These facies associations are offshore siltstone, rhythmically bedded mouthbar heteroliths, predominantly fine-grained floodplain deposits, minor channel fills, major distributary channels and major, stacked fluvial bodies. The stacked fluvial bodies are incised into a variety of open marine and delta plain deposits, have widths of several kilometres and exhibit a range of sandy fill types. These fluvial complexes are interpreted as incised valley fills. Parasequences and parasequence sets are not identifiable. Nonetheless, it is possible to identify systems tracts on the basis of sequential position, facies associations and systematic changes in architectural style and sediment body geometries. The studied portion of the Breathitt Group comprises stacked 4th-order sequences, which occur in lowstand, transgressive and highstand sequence sets related to the development of a lower frequency base level cycle. In the lowstand sequence set, incision associated with successive 4th-order sequence boundaries has commonly removed all the HST and TST of the underlying sequences, such that succeeding 4th-order incised valley fills are amalgamated. Within the transgressive sequence set, incision is at a minimum and incised valley fills tend to stack discretely with the maximum amount of fine-grained TST and HST between them. The highstand sequence set is transitional between the lowstand and transgressive sequence sets in terms of the amount of transgressive and highstand deposits preserved. Incised valley fills tend to stack discretely.     

Allogenic and autogenic controls on facies and stratigraphic architecture of the Lower Jurassic Mashabba Formation,Gebel Al-Maghara,North Sinai,Egypt

The Lower Jurassic Mashabba Formation crops out in the core of the doubly plunging Al-Maghara anticline, North Sinai, Egypt. It represents a marine to terrestrial succession deposited within a rift basin associated with the opening of the Neotethys. Despite being one of the best and the only exposed Lower Jurassic strata in Egypt, its sedimentological and sequence stratigraphic framework has not been addressed yet. The formation is subdivided informally into a lower and upper member with different depositional settings and sequence stratigraphic framework. The sedimentary facies of the lower member include shallow-marine, fluvial, tidal flat and incised valley fill deposits. In contrast, the upper member consists of strata with limited lateral extension including fossiliferous lagoonal limestones alternating with burrowed deltaic sandstones. The lower member contains three incomplete sequences (SQ1-SQ3). The depositional framework shows transgressive middle shoreface to offshore transition deposits sharply overlain by forced regressive upper shoreface sandstones (SQ1), lowstand fluvial to transgressive tidal flat and shallow subtidal sandy limestones (SQ2), and lowstand to transgressive incised valley fills and shallow subtidal sandy limestones (SQ3). In contrast, the upper member consists of eight coarsening-up depositional cycles bounded by marine flooding surfaces. The cycles are classified as carbonate-dominated, siliciclastic-dominated, and mixed siliciclastic-carbonate. The strata record rapid changes in accommodation space. The unpredictable facies stacking pattern, the remarkable rapid facies changes, and chaotic stratigraphic architecture suggest an interplay between allogenic and autogenic processes. Particularly syndepositional tectonic pulses and occasional eustatic sea-level changes controlled the rate and trends of accommodation space, the shoreline morphology, the amount and direction of siliciclastic sediment input and rapid switching and abandonment of delta systems.