A sequence stratigraphic model for the Lower Coal Measures (Upper Carboniferous) of the Ruhr district, north-west Germany

Upper Carboniferous Coal Measures strata have been interpreted traditionally in terms of cyclothems bounded by marine flooding surfaces (marine bands) and coal seams. Correlation of such cyclothems in an extensive grid of closely spaced coal exploration boreholes provides a robust stratigraphic framework in which to study the Lower Coal Measures (Namurian C–Westphalian A) of the Ruhr district, north-west Germany. Three distinct types of cyclothem are recognized, based on their bounding surfaces and internal facies architecture. (1) Type 1 cyclothems are bounded by marine bands. Each cyclothem comprises a thick (30–80 m), regionally extensive, coarsening-upward delta front succession of interbedded shales, siltstones and sandstones, which may be deeply incised by a major fluvial sandstone complex. The delta front succession is capped by a thin (<1 m), regionally extensive coal seam and an overlying marine band defining the top of the cyclothem. (2) Type 2 cyclothems are bounded by thick (≈1 m), regionally extensive coal seams with few splits. The basal part of a typical cyclothem comprises a thick (15–50 m), widespread, coarsening-upward delta front or lake infill succession consisting of interbedded shales, siltstones and sandstones. Networks of major (>5 km wide, 20–40 m thick), steep-sided, multistorey fluvial sandstone complexes erode deeply into and, in some cases, through these successions and are overlain by the coal seam defining the cyclothem top. (3) Type 3 cyclothems are bounded by regionally extensive coal seam groups, characterized by numerous seam splits on a local (0·1–10 km) scale. Intervening strata vary in thickness (15–60 m) and are characterized by strong local facies variability. Root-penetrated, aggradational floodplain heteroliths pass laterally into single-storey fluvial channel-fill sandstones and coarsening-upward, shallow lake infill successions of interbedded shales, siltstones and sandstones over distances of several hundred metres to a few kilometres. Narrow (<2 km) but thick (20–50 m) multistorey fluvial sandstone complexes are rare, but occur in a few type 3 cyclothems. Several cyclothems are observed to change character from type 1 to type 2 and from type 2 to type 3 up the regional palaeoslope. Consequently, we envisage a model in which each cyclothem type represents a different palaeogeographic belt within the same, idealized delta system, subject to the same allogenic and autogenic controls on facies architecture. Type 1 cyclothems are dominated by deltaic shorelines deposited during a falling stage and lowstand of sea level. Type 2 cyclothems represent the coeval lower delta plain, which was deeply eroded by incised valleys that fed the falling stage and lowstand deltas. Type 3 cyclothems comprise mainly upper delta plain deposits in which the allogenic sea-level control was secondary to autogenic controls on facies architecture. The marine bands, widespread coals and coal seam groups that bound these three cyclothem types record abandonment of the delta system during periods of rapid sea-level rise. The model suggests that the extant cyclothem paradigm does not adequately describe the detailed facies architecture of Lower Coal Measures strata. Instead, these architectures may be better understood within a high-resolution stratigraphic framework incorporating sequence stratigraphic key surfaces, integrated with depositional models derived from analogous Pleistocene–Holocene fluvio-deltaic strata.     

冰后期以来长江水下三角洲层序地层特征及沉积环境演化*

长江水下三角洲层序地层学研究有助于全面了解长江三角洲地层特征和沉积环境演化模式。通过对长江水下三角洲下切河谷区YD0901和YD0903孔岩心的详细沉积物粒度、特征元素比值(Cl/Ti和Zr/Rb)、沉积相对比分析,恢复了冰后期以来长江水下三角洲层序地层格架。研究区冰后期以来自下而上依次出现河流相、潮汐河流相、河口湾相、浅海相和三角洲相的沉积相序。末次冰期海平面下降,古长江形成下切河谷,古河间地发育硬黏土层,构成五级Ⅰ型层序界面。之后海平面回升,分别于15 cal ka BP和8.0 cal ka BP形成最大海退和最大海侵界面,水下三角洲区域最大海侵发生时间略滞后于平原区,约为7.5 cal ka BP。据此3个层序界面将冰后期地层划分为低位体系域、海侵体系域和高位体系域。钻孔岩心记录揭示了14.8 cal ka BP海侵到达研究区;14.8~13 cal ka BP期间,受MWP-1A冰融水事件影响海平面快速上升,海岸线向陆推进速率可达71.9,km/ka;海退期间各钻孔沉积速率较低,直至2 cal ka BP开始,沉积速率明显增加。     

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.     

鄂尔多斯盆地上三叠统瓦窑堡组层序地层及聚煤特征研究

利用钻孔岩心数据等资料及层序地层学的有关理论、方法,对鄂尔多斯盆地上三叠统瓦窑堡组进行了层序地层学和聚煤作用的研究。识别出区域不整合面、河流下切谷、地层颜色、岩性突变界面等4个层序界面,并划分出了3个三级层序及相应的低位、湖侵及高位体系域。从时间上看含煤性以层序3最好,层序2次之,层序1较差,煤层主要形成于三级层序的湖侵体系域,其次为高位体系域,厚煤层（5煤层）主要发育于三级层序最大湖泛面附近。综合研究区沉积环境、层序地层、岩相古地理等研究成果,得出了主要煤层（5煤层）形成于湖侵过程中湖湾沼泽、三角洲平原间湾沼泽和曲流河泛滥平原沼泽的结论。     

河流沉积占优势地层中高频层序地层——以贵州盘县西部龙潭组为例

贵州西部龙潭组主要含有6种沉积相组合:即浅海沉积、细粒滨岸平原沉积、溢岸沉积、小型河道砂体、叠置河道砂体和煤层。多层叠置砂体一般10-25m厚,2-10km宽,常含海绿石,切入下伏的三角洲平原、滨岸平原和浅海沉积中,被认为是下切谷充填。在龙潭组中共识别出广泛发育的10个层序界面,由此所限定的层序大致相当于4级旋回层序。在这些层序中,准层序或准层序组识别不出,然能识别体系域,层序几乎全由海进体系域(TST)和高位体系域(HST)组成,低位体系域(LST)发育不好。在垂向上,它们又可叠置成3级复合层序,并由低位、海进和高位层序组组成。在低位层序组中,河道下切常冲刷掉下伏层序的全部HST和部分TST,致使其与下伏层序的下切谷充填重合。在海进层序组中,下切作用最弱,具最小砂/泥比值,下切谷充填侧向孤立。高位层序组是低位和海进层序的过渡类型,下切谷充填也趋于孤立。     

河流沉积占优势地层中高频层序地层——以贵州盘县西部龙潭组为例

 贵州西部龙潭组主要含有6种沉积相组合:即浅海沉积、细粒滨岸平原沉积、溢岸沉积、小型河道砂体、叠置河道砂体和煤层。多层叠置砂体一般10-25m厚,2-10km宽,常含海绿石,切入下伏的三角洲平原、滨岸平原和浅海沉积中,被认为是下切谷充填。在龙潭组中共识别出广泛发育的10个层序界面,由此所限定的层序大致相当于4级旋回层序。在这些层序中,准层序或准层序组识别不出,然能识别体系域,层序几乎全由海进体系域(TST)和高位体系域(HST)组成,低位体系域(LST)发育不好。在垂向上,它们又可叠置成3级复合层序,并由低位、海进和高位层序组组成。在低位层序组中,河道下切常冲刷掉下伏层序的全部HST和部分TST,致使其与下伏层序的下切谷充填重合。在海进层序组中,下切作用最弱,具最小砂/泥比值,下切谷充填侧向孤立。高位层序组是低位和海进层序的过渡类型,下切谷充填也趋于孤立。     

右江盆地层序格架中的生储盖组合特征及勘探意义

在层序地层研究基础上,结合右江盆地油气勘探成果,建立了右江盆地层序地层格架与油气生储盖组合之间的关系模型。具体是以南盘江凹陷及十万大山地区为重点,通过泥盆纪-中三叠世层序地层中生储盖组合的研究,阐述相应的不同级别层序格架 (二级及三级 )中储集体的成因类型及时空分布规律,进而探讨不同成因层序中有利储集体的发育模式。     

Sequence stratigraphy of the Lower Cenomanian Bahariya Formation, Bahariya Oasis, Western Desert, Egypt

The Lower Cenomanian Bahariya Formation corresponds to a second-order depositional sequence that formed within a continental shelf setting under relatively low-rate conditions of positive accommodation (< 200 m during 3–6 My). This overall trend of base-level rise was interrupted by three episodes of base-level fall that resulted in the formation of third-order sequence boundaries. These boundaries are represented by subaerial unconformities (replaced or not by younger transgressive wave ravinement surfaces), and subdivide the Bahariya Formation into four third-order depositional sequences.

The construction of the sequence stratigraphic framework of the Bahariya Formation is based on the lateral and vertical changes between shelf, subtidal, coastal and fluvial facies, as well as on the nature of contacts that separate them. The internal (third-order) sequence boundaries are associated with incised valleys, which explain (1) significant lateral changes in the thickness of incised valley fill deposits, (2) the absence of third-order highstand and even transgressive systems tracts in particular areas, and (3) the abrupt facies shifts that may occur laterally over relatively short distances. Within each sequence, the concepts of lowstand, transgressive and highstand systems tracts are used to explain the observed lateral and vertical facies variability.

This case study demonstrates the usefulness of sequence stratigraphic analysis in understanding the architecture and stacking patterns of the preserved rock record, and helps to identify 13 stages in the history of base-level changes that marked the evolution of the Bahariya Oasis region during the Early Cenomanian.     

Stacked fluvial and tide-dominated estuarine deposits in high-frequency (fourth-order) sequences of the Eocene Central Basin, Spitsbergen

Eighteen coastal-plain depositional sequences that can be correlated to shallow- to deep-water clinoforms in the Eocene Central Basin of Spitsbergen were studied in 1 × 15 km scale mountainside exposures. The overall mud-prone (>300 m thick) coastal-plain succession is divided by prominent fluvial erosion surfaces into vertically stacked depositional sequences, 7–44 m thick. The erosion surfaces are overlain by fluvial conglomerates and coarse-grained sandstones. The fluvial deposits show tidal influence at their seaward ends. The fluvial deposits pass upwards into macrotidal tide-dominated estuarine deposits, with coarse-grained river-dominated facies followed further seawards by high- and low-sinuosity tidal channels, upper-flow-regime tidal flats, and tidal sand bar facies associations. Laterally, marginal sandy to muddy tidal flat and marsh deposits occur. The fluvial/estuarine sequences are interpreted as having accumulated as a series of incised valley fills because: (i) the basal fluvial erosion surfaces, with at least 16 m of local erosional relief, are regional incisions; (ii) the basal fluvial deposits exhibit a significant basinward facies shift; (iii) the regional erosion surfaces can be correlated with rooted horizons in the interfluve areas; and (iv) the estuarine deposits onlap the valley walls in a landward direction. The coastal-plain deposits represent the topset to clinoforms that formed during progradational infilling of the Eocene Central Basin. Despite large-scale progradation, the sequences are volumetrically dominated by lowstand fluvial deposits and especially by transgressive estuarine deposits. The transgressive deposits are overlain by highstand units in only about 30% of the sequences. The depositional system remained an estuary even during highstand conditions, as evidenced by the continued bedload convergence in the inner-estuarine tidal channels.     

山东黄县盆地古近系李家崖组含煤岩系沉积相特征及演化

山东黄县盆地是中国东部一个重要的煤和油页岩共生盆地,古近系李家崖组是盆地主要的含煤岩系发育层段。根据层序地层学理论,建立了古近系层序地层格架;依据钻测井、岩心资料划分了李家崖组的沉积相类型,编制了分体系域的沉积相图。主要结论如下:(1)李家崖组发育湖泊、辫状河三角洲以及扇三角洲3种沉积相类型。(2)层序Ⅰ低水位体系域以辫状河三角洲相为主,湖扩展体系域以扇三角洲相和湖泊相为主,高水位体系域以扇三角洲相为主;层序Ⅱ低水位体系域以辫状河三角洲相为主,湖扩展体系域以扇三角洲相和湖泊相为主,高水位体系域以湖泊相为主。(3)层序Ⅰ发育时期: 低水位期盆地初始形成—湖扩展期盆地扩张—高水位期盆地萎缩;层序Ⅱ发育时期: 低水位期盆地再次缓慢扩张—湖扩展期盆地加速扩张—高水位期盆地萎缩消亡。     

The upper Hawkesbury River, New South Wales, Australia: a Holocene example of an estuarine bayhead delta

Holocene deposits of the Hawkesbury River estuary, located immediately north of Sydney on the New South Wales coast, record the complex interplay between sediment supply and relative sea-level rise within a deeply incised bedrock-confined valley system. The present day Hawkesbury River is interpreted as a wave-dominated estuarine complex, divisible into two broad facies zones: (i) an outer marine-dominated zone extending 6 km upstream from the estuary mouth that is characterized by a large, subtidal sandy flood-tidal delta. Ocean wave energy is partially dissipated by this flood-tidal delta, so that tidal level fluctuations are the predominant marine mechanism operating further landward; (ii) a river-dominated zone that is 103 km long and characterized by a well developed progradational bayhead delta that includes distributary channels, levees, and overbank deposits. This reach of the Hawkesbury River undergoes minor tidal level fluctuations and low fluvial runoff during baseflow conditions, but experiences strong flood flows during major runoff events. Fluvial deposits of the Hawkesbury River occur upstream of this zone. The focus of this paper is the Hawkesbury River bayhead delta. History of deposition within this delta over the last c. 12 ka is interpreted from six continuous cores located along the upper reaches of the Hawkesbury River. Detailed sedimentological analysis of facies, whole-core X-ray analysis of burrow traces and a chronostratigraphic framework derived from 10 C-14 dates reveal four stages of incised-valley infilling in the study area: (1) before 17 ka BP, a 0–1 m thick deposit of coarse-grained fluvial sand and silt was laid down under falling-to-lowstand sea level conditions; (2) from 17 to 6·5 ka BP, a 5–10 m thick deposit composed of fine-grained fluvial sand and silt, muddy bayhead delta and muddy central-basin deposits developed as the incised valley was flooded during eustatic sea-level rise; (3) during early highstand, between 6·5 and 3 ka BP, a 3–8 m thick bed of interbedded muddy central-basin deposits and sandy river flood deposits, formed in association with maximum flooding and progradation of sandy distributary mouth-bar deposits commenced; (4) since 3 ka BP, fluvial deposits have prograded toward the estuary mouth in distributary mouth-bar, interdistributary-bay and bayhead-delta plain environments to produce a 5–15 m thick progradational to aggradational bayhead-delta deposit. At the mouth of the Hawkesbury estuary subaqueous fluvial sands interfinger with and overlie marine sands. The Hawkesbury River bayhead-delta depositional succession provides an example of the potential for significant variation of facies within the estuarine to fluvial segment of incised-valley systems.     

杭州湾地区15000a以来层序地层学初步研究

本文从杭州湾地区末次冰期以来的地质背景入手，分析了该区晚第四纪地层层序、深切河谷形成和演化等。末次冰期低海平面时河流侵蚀切割老地层，在本区形成４０－１１０ｍ深的河谷，谷底为区域不整合面，自海向陆方向和平行海岸线方向均为一不等时面，是Ｉ类层序边界。冰后期地层为一个完整的Ｉ类层序，但存在多个小的间断面。初始海泛面也是穿时的，在深切谷地带是滞流沉积物与溯源堆积物之间的界面，在河间地则为古土壤层的顶界面；     

从常规体系域到非常规体系域——河流相层序地层学研究的一个重要进展

在与海平面变化存在联系的近滨线河流相地层中,源于海岸碎屑沉积体系的层序地层学概念得到了较好的应用,从而在河流相地层中产生了低水位体系域(LST)、与海侵体系域类似的水进体系域(TST)及高水位体系域(HST)等常规体系域下的河流相层序地层划分方案。由于源于海岸沉积体系的早期体系域划分存在着概念体系的不协调,故常规体系域划分在河流相层序中的使用也就存在着概念体系的不协调。非常规体系域(低可容纳空间体系域,LAST;高可容纳空间体系域,HAST)的提出可避免这种概念体系的不协调,并为研究复杂的河流沉积过程和提取地层记录规律提供重要的线索和思路。     

二连盆地吉尔嘎朗图凹陷下白垩统赛汉塔拉组层序地层及聚煤特征

二连盆地吉尔嘎朗图凹陷是一个陆相断陷聚煤盆地,下白垩统赛汉塔拉组是其主要含煤地层,作者利用岩心、钻孔资料对其岩相类型、沉积相、层序地层及聚煤作用特征进行研究。(1)赛汉塔拉组主要由砂砾岩、砂岩、粉砂岩、泥岩、碳质泥岩及厚层褐煤组成,发育扇三角洲平原相、扇三角洲前缘相、辫状河三角洲平原相、辫状河三角洲前缘相、滨浅湖相,分别属于扇三角洲沉积体系、辫状河三角洲沉积体系和湖泊沉积体系。(2)识别出2种层序界面:不整合面和下切谷冲刷面,将赛汉塔拉组划分为2个三级层序。从层序Ⅰ到层序Ⅱ,煤层厚度逐渐增大,聚煤作用逐渐增强。(3)在滨浅湖环境下厚煤层主要形成于湖侵体系域早期,在扇/辫状河三角洲环境下厚煤层主要形成于湖侵体系域晚期,煤层厚度在凹陷中部最大,向西北和东南方向均变小。聚煤作用明显受基底沉降作用影响,可容空间增加速率与泥炭堆积速率相平衡,从而形成了区内巨厚煤层。     

塔里木盆地塔中-塔北志留系层序地层

随着近年来塔里木盆地勘探开发的逐步深入,志留系地层已经成为众多学者的研究热点。本文应用层序地层研究方法,利用钻井、测井、地震及实验分析资料,通过对岩石地层、测井地层、生物地层、地震地层等资料的综合分析,将塔里木盆地志留系地层划分为3个三级层序,SQ1对应柯坪塔格组下段,SQ2对应柯坪塔格组中上段,SQ3对应塔塔埃尔塔格组。每个层序由海侵体系域和高位体系域组成,不发育低位体系域。对层序格架内的沉积类型和沉积相展布进行分析,认为主要发育扇三角洲相-有障壁潮坪相-浅海相。     

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.     

Evidence for relative sea-level falls during deposition of the Upper Carboniferous Millstone Grit,South Wales

Detailed sedimentological facies analysis of the fluvio-deltaic Millstone Grit succession (Upper Carboniferous) of South Wales reveals that a number of cyclothems bounded by marine flooding surfaces (marine bands) in these strata exhibit facies architectures that represent erosion, non-deposition and/or deposition during periods of falling relative sea-level. A major fluvial complex below the Subcrenatum Marine Band, the Farewell Rock, lies within an incised valley, with a regional unconformity (sequence boundary) at its base. This unconformity is marked by deep erosional relief, an identifiable time gap and an angular discordance in bedding. The Cumbriense Quartzite, a correlative unit containing several mature palaeosols, records a depositional hiatus on a terrace-like interfluve that lay beyond the margins of the coeval Farewell Rock valley. Cyclothems in the underlying Middle Shales contain additional surfaces and units of subtler character. Beneath the Cancellatum Marine Band, a thin (15 cm), calcareous siltstone bed (the ‘Amroth Granule Bed’) that directly overlies prodelta shales contains reworked bioclasts, bored phosphorite clasts and quartz granules. Quartz granules in this bed are interpreted to represent relict lowstand, fluviatile? deposits, which were reworked during later transgression. Three further cyclothems contain sharp-based, storm-reworked mouth bars that record an abrupt lowering of wave base, most probably during periods of falling relative sea-level. One of these cyclothems also contains a distributary channel complex, which records an abrupt influx of coarse-grained sediment of ambiguous origin. The significance of these subtle surfaces and units for intracyclothem stratigraphy has rarely been considered; their prevalence in the Middle Shales provides evidence for numerous, high-frequency relative sea-level falls, which were previously unrecognized. These relative sea-level falls appear to alternate coherently with the widespread sea-level rises recorded by the marine bands, suggesting that glacio-eustasy is their most likely driving mechanism. The notion of glacio-eustatic sea-level falls is supported by the correlation of the basal Farewell Rock sequence boundary with sequence boundaries documented in adjacent basins. The angular unconformity and a change in sediment provenance at the base of the Farewell Rock, however, suggest an additional tectonic control on stratigraphic architecture here, namely a short-lived phase of rifting or inversion prior to widespread fluvial incision. Copyright © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Nature,origin and evolution of a Late Pleistocene incised valley‐fill,Sunda Shelf,Southeast Asia

Understanding the stratigraphic fill and reconstructing the palaeo‐hydrology of incised valleys can help to constrain those factors that controlled their origin, evolution and regional significance. This condition is addressed through the analysis of a large (up to 18 km wide by 80 m deep) and exceptionally well‐imaged Late Pleistocene incised valley from the Sunda Shelf (South China Sea) based on shallow three‐dimensional seismic data from a large (11 500 km²), ‘merge’ survey, supplemented with site survey data (boreholes and seismic). This approach has enabled the characterization of the planform geometry, cross‐sectional area and internal stratigraphic architecture, which together allow reconstruction of the palaeo‐hydrology. The valley‐fill displays five notable stratigraphic features: (i) it is considerably larger than other seismically resolvable channel forms and can be traced for at least 180 km along its length; (ii) it is located in the axial part of the Malay Basin; (iii) the youngest part of the valley‐fill is dominated by a large (600 m wide and 23 m deep), high‐sinuosity channel, with well‐developed lateral accretion surfaces; (iv) the immediately adjacent interfluves contain much smaller, dendritic channel systems, which resemble tributaries that drained into the larger incised valley system; and (v) a ca 16 m thick, shell‐bearing, Holocene clay caps the valley‐fill. The dimension, basin location and palaeo‐hydrology of this incised valley leads to the conclusion that it represents the trunk river, which flowed along the length of the Malay Basin; it connected the Gulf of Thailand in the north with the South China Sea in the south‐east. The length of the river system (>1200 km long) enables examination of the upstream to downstream controls on the evolution of the incised valley, including sea‐level, climate and tectonics. The valley size, orientation and palaeo‐hydrology suggest close interaction between the regional tectonic framework, low‐angle shelf physiography and a humid‐tropical climatic setting.     

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.     

Controls on large‐scale patterns of fluvial sandbody distribution in alluvial to coastal plain strata: Upper Cretaceous Blackhawk Formation,Wasatch Plateau,Central Utah,USA

Current models of alluvial to coastal plain stratigraphy are concept‐driven and focus on relative sea‐level as an allogenic control. These models are tested herein using data from a large (ca 100 km long and 300 m thick), continuous outcrop belt (Upper Cretaceous Blackhawk Formation, central Utah, USA). Many channelized fluvial sandbodies in the Blackhawk Formation have a multilateral and multistorey internal character, and they generally increase in size and abundance (from ca 10% to ca 30% of the strata) from base to top of the formation. These regional, low‐resolution trends exhibit much local variation, but are interpreted to reflect progressively decreasing tectonic subsidence in the upper Blackhawk Formation and overlying Castlegate Sandstone. The trend may also incorporate progressively more frequent channel avulsion during deposition of the lower Blackhawk Formation. Laterally extensive coal zones formed on the coastal plain during shallow‐marine transgressions, and define the high‐resolution stratigraphic framework of the lower Blackhawk Formation. Large (up to 25 m thick and 1 to 6 km wide), multistorey, multilateral, fluvial channel‐complex sandbodies that overlie composite erosion surfaces occur at distinct stratigraphic levels, and are interpreted as fluvial incised valley fills. Low amplitude (<30 m) relative sea‐level variations are interpreted as the dominant control on stratigraphic architecture in the lower Blackhawk Formation, which was deposited up to 50 km inland from the coeval shoreline. In contrast, the high‐resolution stratigraphy of the upper Blackhawk Formation is poorly defined, and channelized fluvial sandbodies are poorly organized. Vertical and laterally offset stacking of a small proportion (<10%) of sandbodies produced ‘clusters’ that are not confined by ‘master’ erosion surfaces. Avulsion is interpreted to dominate the stratigraphic architecture of the upper Blackhawk Formation. This data‐driven analysis indicates that alluvial to coastal plain stratigraphic architecture reflects a combination of various allogenic controls and autogenic behaviours. The relative sea‐level control emphasized in sequence stratigraphic models is only rarely dominant.