Stylolite-controlled layering in an homogeneous limestone: pseudo-bedding produced by burial diagenesis

It is often assumed that layering in many shelf and platform limestones at weathered outcrop is always bedding: the layers always beds, and the surfaces always bedding planes. Recognition of bedding is fundamental to facies and basin analysis. Examination of part of the Lower Carboniferous High Tor Limestone of the Gower, South Wales, shows that a totally diagenetic layering (pseudo-bedding) resembling, and parallel to primary depositional layering (true bedding), has been produced by the generation of parallel, more or less evenly-spaced stylolite surfaces during burial diagenesis. These stylolite surfaces are picked out by weathering at outcrop and resemble bedding planes. Evidence that the stylolite surfaces do not mark original bedding planes includes: a cross-cutting relationship of a stylolite surface to a primary bedding surface; lack of lithological change across, or sedimentary structures associated with, a stylolite surface; original bedding that is not coincident with stylolite surfaces and has not suffered pressure-dissolution; and lack of sedimentological evidence that the layers defined by the stylolite surfaces are true primary depositional beds. The generation of parallel and more or less evenly-spaced stylolite surfaces could be explained by a mathematical-kinetic model based on the relationship between pressure-dissolution, diffusion, and reprecipitation. Recognition of true bedding depends upon presence of lithological changes and/or sedimentary structures. It is suggested that pseudo-bedding could be confused with true bedding in some open platform/shelf lagoon facies where lithological changes or sedimentary structures are scarce or absent.     

东濮凹陷沙三段的风暴沉积

东濮凹陷下第三系沙三段发育风暴沉积,主要特征有:(1)具重力流沉积特征的变形构造;(2)反映风暴作用的丘状交错层理、冲刷-充填构造(渠模)、浪成沙纹层理、和震荡波痕;(3)与风浪作用相关的生物活动,包括潜穴、钻孔和生物逃逸现象;(4)可与海相风暴岩对比的“似鲍马层序”以及(5)多变的砂层顶面形态。根据风暴砂层的性质,可将风暴岩系划分为三个微相:(1)水道充填沉积;(2)漫溢沉积微相;(3)末稍沉积微相。     

Complex interplay between depositional and petrophysical environments in Holocene tidal carbonates (Al Ruwais,Qatar)

Carbonate rocks can be classified in terms of those properties relating to the pore system of lithified sediments, so‐called ‘petrophysical rock types’, or ‘depositional rock types’ which are categorized based on characteristics directly reflecting their original depositional environment. Whereas petrophysical rock types are typically used to identify and distribute rock bodies within a reservoir with similar flow characteristics, depositional rock types ignore pore types and capture sedimentary structures, lithology and fossils. Both classification systems are extensively used to describe reservoir rocks, but the degree of plurality between them remains poorly understood and is the motivation for this study. To examine the degree of congruency between the two classification schemes, a field assessment was conducted for a 175 km² area situated offshore Al Ruwais, northern Qatar, encompassing depositional environments spanning supratidal, intertidal, shallow subtidal and open marine conditions. A total of 350 surficial sediment samples were collected along 24 shore‐normal transects. Each sample was assigned a ‘petrophysical rock type’ class based on analysis of sedimentary texture (grain size and sorting). ‘Depositional rock type’ classes, by contrast, were defined with reference to faunal content and, in turn, classes of mineralogy were delimited by weighting this content against the mineralogy of each faunal category. Of course, the samples studied correspond to unconsolidated sediments and not to indurated rocks. However, considering only primary porosity and permeability preservation, it is reasonable to assume that the classified sediments would become petrophysical rock types and depositional rock types when consolidated, following their primary grain size, sorting and grain type distribution. Therefore, the term ‘rock type’ is retained here for ease of terminology but, for clarity, these are sediment samples. The discrete samples were interpolated into continuous surfaces describing the distribution of depositional rock types, petrophysical rock types and mineralogy, and spatial correspondence between those surfaces was statistically evaluated. In order to link these parameters with environment of deposition, their correlation with water depth (as audited from airborne light detection and ranging) and ecological habitat (mapped from DigitalGlobe satellite imagery) was also assessed. The data reveal that spatial distributions of sedimentary faunal, petrographic and mineralogical properties do not show exactly congruent patterns. Other meaningful trends do exist, however. For example, the occurrence of certain depositional rock types is indicative of particular petrophysical rock types, and vice versa. Further, connections between petrophysical rock types and mineralogy are emphasized and offer insight as to how the evolution of matrix porosity might be predicted via diagenetic models tuned to specific sediment textures. Useful relationships are also identified between the occurrence of petrophysical rock types and depositional rock types, and both ecological habitat and water depth. The potential of such dualities is two‐fold. Firstly, they can be applied to more realistically distribute petrophysical rock types and depositional rock types by environment of deposition in reservoir models and, secondly, the use of modern carbonate systems as subsurface analogues might be enhanced.     

Limitations of sequence stratigraphic correlation between marine and continental deposits: a 3D experimental study of unconformity-bounded units

Experiments have been carried out in a model basin 16 × 1·2 × 0·9 m to address the effect of base‐level and discharge changes on actively growing alluvial‐shoreline wedges. Two distinct types of erosive surfaces were investigated: one produced by base‐level fluctuations in the coastal zone and the other by discharge and supply fluctuations in the upstream alluvial basin. In the first experiment, three similar base‐level cycles were simulated keeping sediment supply and basin tilting constant within each cycle, and changing discharge from one cycle to the next. In the second experiment, rises and falls of base level were instantaneous and discharge changes were in phase (high discharge linked to high water levels in the basin). In the third experiment, base level and discharge changed gradually, at different rates and they were out of phase, resembling a typical glacio‐eustatic cycle in which sea‐level rises and falls are linked to increased and decreased discharge, respectively. The resulting stratigraphy of the alluvial to deltaic sedimentary wedge was analysed in terms of the development of unconformities and the evolving depositional geometry. An intervening decoupled zone between parts of the model basin dominated by alluvial processes and that at the coastal zone is identified. Within this decoupled zone, unconformities in the alluvial succession tend to vanish basinward, and base‐level generated coastal unconformities disappear landward. The two types of unconformity can be generated at different times during a glacio‐eustatic cycle, and it is thus erroneous to correlate them, even though they may appear to form a continuous surface. Unconformities within the modelled stratigraphy do not constitute time lines nor do they consistently separate younger from older beds, as they require a significant time to form and they have thick sedimentary packages as depositional correlatives. The experiments also support a fourfold division of sequences, showing the development of a significant sedimentary package during base‐level falls.     

Relationships among sedimentology, stratigraphy, and diagenesis in the Proterozoic Thelon Basin, Nunavut, Canada: implications for paleoaquifers and sedimentary-hosted mineral deposits

The Thelon Basin, Nunavut, Canada, is host to unconformity-type uranium mineralisation and has the potential to host other economic deposits. The Thelon Formation (ca. 1750 Ma) is composed of thick (meters to tens of meters), poorly sorted, trough cross-bedded conglomerate and coarse-grained lithic arenite beds, and to a lesser extent, well-sorted, medium- to coarse-grained quartz arenite beds. Relatively rare, 1–12 cm thick, clay-rich siltstones to fine-grained sandstone layers punctuate the coarser lithofacies. Based on regional analysis of drill cores and outcrops, multiple unconformity-bounded sequences are defined in this fluvial-dominated sedimentary succession. Stratigraphic correlations are based on detailed lithofacies analysis, distinct changes in fining-upward cycle thickness, and intraformational surfaces (unconformities, transgressive surfaces, and paleosols).Diagenetic and paragenetic relationships vary systematically with sedimentology and stratigraphy of the Thelon and provide a framework for understanding the evolution of fluid-flow systems in the context of basin hydrostratigraphy. Stratigraphic units with well-sorted textures, which lacked clay and unstable framework grains, originally were aquifers (depositional aquifers) during early basin evolution. However, pervasive, early quartz cementation radically reduced the porosity and permeability of these units, occluding pore throats and transforming them into aquitards. Proximal fluvial and alluvial fan lithofacies that contained detrital, mechanically infiltrated, and diagenetic clay minerals and/or unstable detrital grains originally had low permeabilities and only experienced minor quartz cementation. In the deep burial setting (2–7 km), these units retained sufficient permeability to allow diagenetic fluid flow (diagenetic aquifers) as suggested by feldspar dissolution, quartz dissolution, and formation and recrystallization of illite and other diagenetic reactions. Tracing potential diagenetic aquifer and aquitard units across the study area allowed development of a hydrostratigraphic model. In this model, diagenetic aquifers onlap onto, and focused basinal fluids into basement rocks to the east in the Thelon Basin (in the vicinity of the Kiggavik uranium deposit).     

沉积体系域控矿机制讨论——以华南泥盆纪某些沉积层控矿床为例

七十年代末期,由于地震地层学的扩展,层序地层学应运而生并已成为沉积地质学研究领域的前沿学科,也是全球沉积地质计划(GSGP)的重要内容之一和第十三届国际沉积学大会的中心议题之一,由此可见地质工作者对进行层序地层研究的热衷程度。七·五期间,在刘宝珺教授领导的《中国南方岩相古地理及沉积、层控矿产远景预测》项目中,运用层序地层学的理论和方法对中国南方震旦纪至二叠纪的沉积层序进行了研究,并建立了离散型被动大陆边缘、汇聚型挤压盆地和板内盆地中的沉积层序模式和海平面升降曲线。在进行《湖南     

四川资阳地区灯影组滩相沉积及储集性研究

一般认为,高能沉积体是储层形成的有利相带之一,但对于碳酸盐岩来说,高能沉积相带仅是储层发育的基本条件之一,后期的成岩改造可能更为明显,它可将原生孔隙发育的高能沉积体转变为致密岩体。因此,碳酸盐岩储层的预测研究应将沉积相与成岩作用研究相结合。本文根据区内灯影组钻井岩芯的宏观、微观特征,结合物性资料,研究了滩相类型、特征、所经历的主要成岩类型及对储集性的影响,认为浅色的内碎屑滩、绵层状藻砂屑滩和鲕粒滩是有利于储层形成与演化的沉积相带,它们多分布于以资3、7井、资4井和资5井为中心的区块内,向其周边井区,这些有利滩相沉积体变薄、储集性变差。     

Asymmetry and basin migration in the dead sea rift

The Dead Sea depression sensu stricto, forms the deepest continental part of the Dead Sea rift, a transfer which separates the Levanthine and Arabian plates. It is occupied by three distinct sedimentary bodies, deposited in basins whose depocenters are displaced northward with time. They are: the continental red beds of the Hazeva Formation (Miocene), the Bira-Lido-Gesher marls and the exceptionally thick rocksalt of the Sedom Formation (Pliocene—Early Pleistocene), and the successive Amora, Lisan and Dead Sea evaporites and clastics (Early Pleistocene—Recent). Lengthwise and crosswise asymmetries of these sedimentary basins and their respective depocenters are due to: leftlateral shear combined with anticlockwise rotation of the Arabian (eastern) plate; steeper faulting of the crustal eastern margin than of the western sedimentary margin, and modification of depositional pattern by twice filling up of basins, by Hazeva red beds during Late Miocene pause of shear and by Sedom rocksalt during Pliocene marine ingression.     

东海盆地西湖凹陷天台区始新世平湖组风暴岩的发现及其地质意义

风暴岩对于古地理和古环境具有良好的指相意义。东海盆地西湖凹陷天台区始新世平湖组发育典型的风暴岩。通过详细的岩心观察,发育的风暴沉积标志主要有冲刷-充填构造、风暴撕扯构造和丘状-洼状交错层理构造等。根据风暴岩垂向上的组合特征及沉积构造差异,识别出了近源和远源两种风暴沉积类型,分别指示了不同的沉积背景：近源风暴岩表现为不完整的风暴岩垂向沉积序列,呈风暴砾屑层段（A）+泥岩段（E）叠加,为潮坪潮下带沉积;远源风暴岩具完整和不完整的风暴岩垂向沉积序列,以粒序段（B）+平行层理段（C）+丘状（洼状）层理段（D）叠加为特征,属浅海陆棚沉积。风暴层序自下而上沉积环境为浅海陆棚→潮坪,风暴岩的分布差异表明形成环境向上变浅的沉积特征。该发现为本区古环境的演变提供了重要依据。     

地震沉积学探讨

地震沉积学是用地震手段研究沉积岩及其形成过程的学科,其研究手段主要有90°相位转换和地层切片技术等。90°相位转换使地震相位具有了岩性地层意义,可以用于高频层序地层的解释;地层切片是指对某一层位内进行等比例内插切片之后用来研究各个等时地层单元的沉积体系（相）的平面展布。文章认为：①由于受地震分辨率的限制,地震沉积学目前主要应用于研究宏观的地层、岩石、沉积史和沉积体系,还没有达到全面研究沉积岩及其形成过程的程度,因此,目前的地震沉积学是利用地震手段结合井资料研究宏观的地层、岩石、沉积史和沉积体系的一门学科,它还需要进一步的发展才有可能继地震地层学、层序地层学之后真正成为一门研究沉积岩及其形成过程的新学科;②相位转换技术中转换的角度并不一定局限于90°,可以是其它角度的相位转换,这要根据层位标定的具体情况而定;③地层切片比时间切片和沿层切片更加合理,但是目前的地层切片技术还没有考虑地层的沉积速率随时间的变化,因此,地层切片还不是严格意义上等时的。     

SCOUR RIPPLES IN THE LUDLOVIAN OF SOUTH RADNORSHIRE, WALES

Calcareous siltstone beds in the sub-littoral marine sedimentary rocks of the highest Ludlovian (Upper Whitcliffian) in south Radnorshire display symmetrical ripples with wave lengths around 30 cm. These structures are interpreted as having been formed by the deposition of calcareous silt layers in conformity with bottom surfaces previously scoured into a pattern of symmetrical, gently-rounded, crests and troughs; hence, they are termed scour ripples. There is some evidence of a longitudinal relationship between the scour ripples and the scouring and depositing currents involved in their formation.     

Shallow-water gravity-flow deposits, Chapel Island Formation, southeast Newfoundland, Canada

A remarkable suite of shallow-water, gravity-flow deposits are found within very thinly-bedded siltstones and storm-generated sandstones of member 2 of the Chapel Island Formation in southeast Newfoundland. Medium to thick siltstone beds, termed unifites, range from non-graded and structureless (Type 1) to slightly graded with poorly developed lamination (Type 2) to well graded with lamination similar to that described for fine-grained turbidites (Type 3). Unifite beds record deposition from a continuum of flow types from liquefied flows (Type 1) to turbidity currents (Type 3). Calculations of time for pore-fluid pressure dissipation support the feasibility of such transitions. Raft-bearing beds consist of siltstone with large blocks or‘rafts’ of thinly bedded strata derived from the underlying and adjacent substrate. Characteristics suggest deposition from debris flows of variable strength. Estimates of debris strength and depositional slope are calculated for a pebbly mudstone bed using measurable and assumed parameters. An assumed density of 2.0 g cm^-1 and a compaction estimate of 50% gives a strength estimate of 79.7 dyn cm^-2 and a depositional slope estimate of 0.77°. The lithologies and sedimentary structures in member 2 indicate an overall grain-size distribution susceptible to liquefaction. Inferred high sediment accumulation rates created underconsolidated sediments (metastable packing). Types of sediment failure included in situ liquefaction (‘disturbed bedding’), sliding and slumping. Raft-bearing debrites resulted from sliding and incorporation of water. Locally, hummocky cross-stratified sandstone directly overlies slide deposits and raft-bearing beds, linking sediment failure to the cyclical wave loading associated with large storms. The gravity flows of the Chapel Island Formation closely resemble those described from the surfaces of modern, mud-rich, marine deltas. Details of deltaic gravity-flow deposition from this and other outcrop studies further our understanding of modern deposits by adding a third dimension to studies primarily carried out with side-scan sonar.     

贵州盘县新民地区关岭组中三叠世盘县动物群产出层段碳酸盐岩微相分析和古环境恢复

通过野外观察和显微镜下碳酸盐岩薄片微相分析,以颗粒类型、颗粒基质含量对比、沉积组构、化石生物组合、化石埋藏学特征作为主要微相类型的划分依据,贵州中三叠世盘县动物群产出地层78-91层及上覆地层92层和下伏地层77层共识别出10种微相类型,在垂向上归纳为三种向上变浅的沉积相序列：开阔台地、局限台地、潮道环境。按照水深及水...     

Significance of interdune deposits and bounding surfaces in aeolian dune sands

Bounding surfaces and interdune deposits provide keys for detailed interpretations of the development, shape, type, wavelength and angle of climb of aeolian bedforms, as well as overall sand sea conditions. Current alternate interpretations of bounding surfaces require very different, but testable models for sand sea deposition. Two perpendicular traverses of Jurassic Entrada Sandstone, Utah, reveal relations among cross-strata, first-order bounding surfaces, and horizontal strata. These field relations seem explicable only as the deposits of downwind-migrating, climbing, enclosed interdune basins (horizontal strata) and dune bodies consisting of superimposed smaller crescentic dunes (cross-stratified deposits). A 1.7 km traverse parallel to the palaeowind direction provides a time-transgressive view showing continuous cosets of cross-strata, first-order bounding surfaces and interdune deposits climbing downwind at an angle of a few tenths of a degree. Changes occur in the angle of climb, cross-strata structure, and interdune deposits; these reflect changes in depositional conditions through time. A 1.5 km traverse perpendicular to the palaeowind direction provides a view at an instant in geological time showing first-order bounding surfaces and interdune deposits forming flat, laterally discontinuous lenticular bodies. The distribution of interdune sedimentary structures in this traverse is very similar to that of some modern interdune basins, such as those on Padre Island, Texas. Hierarchies of bounding surfaces in an aeolian deposit reflect the bedform development on an erg. The presence of three orders of bounding surfaces indicates dune bodies consisting of smaller, super-imposed dunes. The geometry of first-order bounding surfaces is a reflection of the shape of the inter-dune basins. Second-order bounding surfaces originate by the migration of the superimposed dunes over the larger dune body and reflect individual dune shape and type. Third-order bounding surfaces are reactivation surfaces showing stages in the advance of individual dunes. The presence of only two orders of bounding surfaces indicates simple dunes. Modern and Entrada interdune deposits show a wide variety of sediment types and structures reflecting deposition under wet, damp, and dry conditions. Interdune deposits are probably the best indicators of overall erg conditions and commonly show complex vertical sequences reflecting changes in specific depositional conditions.     

Tidal influence in Cretaceous fluvial strata from Utah, USA: a key to sequence stratigraphic interpretation

Detailed models already exist that outline physical and temporal relationships in marine and marginal marine strata. Such models are still in their infancy in alluvial deposits. Recognition of tidal and estuarine influence in fluvial strata is critical to the development of high resolution sequence stratigraphic correlations between marine and non-marine strata. Strata that have previously been interpreted as low energy meandering river deposits contain sedimentary and biogenic structures that suggest a tidal influence. These structures include sigmoidal bedding, paired mud/silt drapes, wavy and lenticular bedding, shrinkage cracks, multiple reactivation surfaces, inclined heterolithic strata, complex compound cross-beds, bidirectional cross-beds, and trace fossils including Teredolites, Arenicolites and Skolithos. Although none of these structures is unique to tidal processes, the preponderance of data suggests that fluvial systems have been affected by tidal processes well inland of coeval shoreline deposits. These deposits rarely form a significant proportion of a depositional sequence; however, their occurrence allows time significant surfaces to be extended for tens or even hundreds of kilometres inland from coeval shoreline deposits. In Turonian through Campanian strata exposed in the Kaiparowits Plateau of southern Utah, tidally influenced facies are recognized within at least two distinct stratigraphic levels that were deposited during periods of relatively rapid base level rise. These strata form part of an alluvial transgressive systems tract. Landward of each of the marine transgressive maxima, tidal facies are present in fluvial channels that are completely encased in non-marine strata at distances up to 65 km inland from a coeval palaeoshoreline. Our work suggests that such deposits may have gone unrecognized in the past, but they form a significant component of alluvial strata in many depositional sequences. Although these tidally influenced fluvial deposits may be difficult to recognize, they are temporally equivalent to marine maximum flooding surfaces and provide a chronostratigraphic correlation between alluvial and nearshore marine deposits.     

泌阳凹陷东南缘下第三系杂砾岩的沉积学特征

摘要：本文首次对区内杂砾岩（又称红层）的沉积学特征进行研究。据成因之不同,把杂砾岩区分为６类：泥石流、颗粒流、泥流、冲刷砾石层、河道及片流沉积。讨论了各类沉积之特点,尤其是砾石的粒度分布特征。结果表明,不同成因的杂砾岩砾石的粒度分布曲线形态,尤其是量化粒度参数存在明显差异。     

陕北地区延长组标志层特征及形成机制

运用传统沉积学方法及层序地层学理论,在大量的钻井、野外露头资料基础上,系统分析陕北地区延长组地层划分标志层的岩性、电性特征,表明区域性油页岩标志层形成于延长组5个3级层序的最大湖泛期,具有"凝缩段"的特征,而凝灰岩标志层为火山喷发物质。这些标志层受沉积相横向变化的影响,主要分布在深湖亚相,部分分布在浅湖亚相。在不同沉积相形成的标志层的岩性特征、电性特征及平面分布均有一定的差异。地层划分对比过程中可用标志层控制、邻井对比并参考厚度原则的方法来确保划分的合理性。     

Possible indicators of microbial mat deposits in shales and sandstones: examples from the Mid-Proterozoic Belt Supergroup, Montana, U.S.A.

It has been suspected for some time that microbial mats probably colonized sediment surfaces in many terrigenous clastic sedimentary environments during the Proterozoic. However, domination of mat morphology by depositional processes, post-depositional compaction, and poor potential for cellular preservation of mat-building organisms make their positive identification a formidable challenge. Within terrigenous clastics of the Mid-Proterozoic Belt Supergroup, a variety of sedimentary structures and textural features have been observed that can be interpreted as the result of microbial colonization of sediment surfaces. Among these are: (a) domal buildups resembling stromatolites in carbonates; (b) cohesive behaviour of laminae during soft-sediment deformation, erosion, and transport; (c) wavy–crinkly character of laminae; (d) bed surfaces with pustular–wrinkled appearance; (e) rippled patches on otherwise smooth surfaces; (f) laminae with mica enrichment and/or randomly oriented micas; (g) irregular, curved–wrinkled impressions on bedding planes; (h) uparched laminae near mud-cracks resembling growth ridges of polygonal stromatolites; and (i) lamina-specific distribution of certain early diagenetic minerals (dolomite, ferroan carbonates, pyrite). Although in none of the described examples can it irrefutably be proven that they are microbial mat deposits, the observed features are consistent with such an interpretation and should be considered indicators of possible microbial mat presence in other Proterozoic sequences.     

山东黄河北煤田石炭—二叠系太原组地层沉积特征

为了研究黄河北煤田的沉积特征,查清研究区内太原组地层的岩性类型、沉积构造、粒度分布特征,并进一步明确其沉积体系及沉积相的特征和沉积演化,本文根据野外露头的观察和室内岩心的描述、薄片分析,结合钻井、测井资料,运用沉积学、古生物地层学、层序地层学、岩石粒度分析等方法,对研究区的太原组地层沉积特征进行了详细的研究.结果表明:研究区石炭-二叠系的含煤地层太原组沉积物中砂岩、粉砂岩、泥岩、石灰岩及煤岩均较发育,常见的含铁矿物主要是褐铁矿、黄铁矿、菱铁矿等;主要层理构造有水平层理、平行层理、交错层理、波状层理、韵律层理等,生物扰动构造非常发育;主要的生物化石发育于台地相灰岩中,包括蜓类、牙形石等个体较大化石;主要发育植物化石有轮叶、科达木、宽带羊齿等;太原组沉积环境比较动荡,为河流相或者浅海相环境,其陆表海盆地层序及内部单元的典型界面有最大海泛面、区域性海退界面和最大海退面,并依据其不同界面,进行了沉积相划分和层序地层分析;研究区内晚石炭世的太原组地层为陆表海沉积序列,其沉积环境演化主要是由海陆交互相沉积向陆相沉积的转换.     

陆相湖盆深水重力流混合事件层沉积及沉积学意义

重力流混合事件层在陆相湖盆广泛发育,其形成和分布对理解重力流沉积演化过程及重力流沉积常规与非常规油气勘探开发意义重大.以涠西南凹陷流沙港组一段和鄂尔多斯盆地延长组7段重力流沉积为研究对象,分析湖盆重力流混合事件层的沉积特征、类型、成因及沉积模式,并进一步探讨其地质意义.湖盆主要发育滑动、滑塌重力驱动块体搬运沉积和砂质碎屑流、泥质碎屑流、高密度浊流和低密度浊流等重力流流体沉积,同时广泛发育重力流混合事件层沉积.湖盆重力流混合事件层包含多层结构、双层结构和频繁互层三种大的类型;其中,双层结构的重力流混合事件层进一步根据上下两个沉积单元厚度的差异可细分为两个亚类.多层结构的混合事件层主要为流体侵蚀或砂体液化成因,多发育于混合事件层沉积近端;双层结构与频繁互层结构的混合事件层主要为流体减速膨胀、泥质碎屑流中碎屑颗粒的差异沉降成因,多发育于混合事件层沉积远端.相同沉积单元组成的沉积层在垂向上的规律叠置是岩芯中识别重力流混合事件层沉积的可靠依据;在未明确其沉积过程的情况下可能会导致沉积信息的错误解读.同时,重力流混合事件层的发育会导致重力流沉积非均质性增强,不利于常规油气的储集;但是,重力流混合事件层形成的细粒沉积物是非常规油气"甜点"区发育的优势沉积岩相组合类型.