Morphodynamics and sedimentary structures of bedforms under supercritical‐flow conditions: New insights from flume experiments

Supercritical‐flow phenomena are fairly common in modern sedimentary environments, yet their recognition and analysis remain difficult in the stratigraphic record. This fact is commonly ascribed to the poor preservation potential of deposits from high‐energy supercritical flows. However, the number of flume data sets on supercritical‐flow dynamics and sedimentary structures is very limited in comparison with available data for subcritical flows, which hampers the recognition and interpretation of such deposits. The results of systematic flume experiments spanning a broad range of supercritical‐flow bedforms (antidunes, chutes‐and‐pools and cyclic steps) developed in mobile sand beds of variable grain sizes are presented. Flow character and related bedform patterns are constrained through time‐series measurements of bed configurations, flow depths, flow velocities and Froude numbers. The results allow the refinement and extension of some widely used bedform stability diagrams in the supercritical‐flow domain, clarifying in particular the morphodynamic relations between antidunes and cyclic steps. The onset of antidunes is controlled by flows exceeding a threshold Froude number. The transition from antidunes to cyclic steps in fine to medium‐grained sand occurs at a threshold mobility parameter. Sedimentary structures associated with supercritical bedforms developed under variable aggradation rates are revealed by means of combining flume results and synthetic stratigraphy. The sedimentary structures are compared with examples from field and other flume studies. Aggradation rate is seen to exert an important control on the geometry of supercritical‐flow structures and should be considered when identifying supercritical bedforms in the sedimentary record.     

超临界浊流之地貌动力学和沉积特征

超临界流在现代沉积环境中几乎无处不在,但相关沉积物却极少从地层记录中被辨识出来,这是当前沉积学研究所面临的一个困境,文中称之为“超临界流沉积问题”。按弗劳德数增大顺序,超临界流可依次形成稳定逆行沙丘、不稳定逆行沙丘、急滩—深潭及周期阶坎等底形,相应的地貌动力学也从同相位体制(逆行沙丘)逐渐过渡为水跃体制(急滩—深潭和周期阶坎)。相对于明渠流,浊流因折算密度低而更易成为超临界流。超临界浊流底形的长波长、低幅度、逆流(坡)迁移特性,决定了其沉积物发育特征的后积层理、近平行—低角度交错层理、与水跃有关的快速堆积及冲刷—充填和建造—充填构造。超临界浊流沉积可以通过沉积体的几何形态(包括波长/波高比、平面和剖面形态等)和内部沉积特征(包括波脊逆坡迁移、沉积构造、粒度变化趋势及沉积相组合等)的综合分析加以鉴别。露头、岩心分析与高分辨率地震、浅剖、多波束测深等地球物理资料的综合,是准确鉴别超临界浊流沉积单元的重要途径。本文对超临界浊流地貌动力学研究进展进行综述,并对地层记录中超临界浊流沉积的鉴别标志及相关问题进行探讨。     

Hummocky cross-stratification-like structures in deep-sea turbidites: Upper Cretaceous Basque basins (Western Pyrenees, France)

Hummocky cross-stratification is a sedimentary structure which is widely interpreted as the sedimentary record of an oscillatory current generated by energetic storm waves remobilizing surface sediment on the continental shelf. Sedimentary structures named hummocky cross-stratification-like structures, similar to true hummocky cross-stratification, have been observed in the Turonian–Senonian Basque Flysch Basin (south-west France). The bathymetry (1000 to 1500 m) suggests that the observed sedimentary structures do not result from a hydrodynamic process similar to those acting on a continental shelf. The morphology of these three-dimensional structures shares similarities with the morphology of hummocky cross-stratification despite a smaller size. The lateral extent of these structures ranges from a few decimetres to many decimetres; they consist of convex-up domes (hummock) and concave-up swales with a non-erosive base. Four types of hummocky cross-stratification-like geometries are described; they occur in association with structures such as climbing current ripple lamination and synsedimentary deformations. In the Basque Flysch, hummocky cross-stratification-like structures are only found in the Tc interval of the Bouma sequence. Hummocky cross-stratification-like structures are sporadic in the stratigraphic series and observed only in few turbidite beds or bed packages. This observation suggests that hummocky cross-stratification-like structures are linked genetically to the turbidity current but form under a very restricted range of parameters. These structures sometimes show an up-current (upslope) migration trend (antidunes). In the described examples, they could result from standing waves forming at the upper flow interface because of Kelvin–Helmholtz instability.     

Architectural analysis of a volcaniclastic jökulhlaup deposit, southern Iceland: sedimentary evidence for supercritical flow

The 1918 eruption of the glacially capped Katla volcano, southern Iceland, generated a violent jökulhlaup, or glacial outburst flood, inundating a large area of Mýrdalssandur, the proglacial outwash plain, where it deposited ca 1 km³ of volcaniclastic sediment. The character of the 1918 jökulhlaup is contentious, having been variously categorized as a turbulent water flow, a hyperconcentrated flow or as a debris flow, based on localized outcrop analysis. In this study, outcrop‐based architectural analyses of the 1918 deposits reveal the presence of lenticular and tabular bedsets associated with deposition from quasi‐stationary antidunes and down‐current migrating antidunes, and from regular based bedsets, associated with transient chute‐and‐pool bedforms, all of which are associated with turbulent, transcritical to supercritical water flow conditions. Antidune wavelengths range from 24 to 96 m, corresponding to flow velocities of 6 to 12 m sec^?1 and average flow depths of 5 to 19 m. This range of calculated flow velocities is in good agreement with estimates made from eyewitness accounts. Architectural analysis of the 1918 jökulhlaup deposits has led to an improved estimation of flow parameters and flow hydraulics associated with the 1918 jökulhlaup that could not have been achieved through localized outcrop analysis. The observations presented here provide additional sedimentological and architectural criteria for the recognition of deposits associated with transcritical and supercritical water flow conditions. The physical scale of sedimentary architectures associated with the migration of bedforms is largely dependent on the magnitude of the formative flow events or processes; sedimentary analyses must therefore be undertaken at the appropriate physical scale if reliable interpretations, regarding modes of deposition and formative flow hydraulics, are to be made.     

Cross-strata and bedforms of probable transitional dune to upper-stage plane-bed origin from a Late Precambrian fluvial sandstone, northern Norway.

A Late Precambrian fluvial sandstone sequence in northern Norway is dominated by large-scale cross-sets that show either lenticular or tabular geometries in the streamwise sections. The lenticular sets interdigitate and in places show nearly symmetrical formsets. The tabular sets are in places solitary, but are mainly grouped in cosets. In both cross-set types, the cross-strata range from concave-up to sigmoidal in shape, with the latter variety comprising subhorizontal to gently inclined topset strata (with parting lineation) that merge uninterruptedly downflow into the steeper (10–2°) foresets. Within the cross-sets the geometry and dip azimuths of the foresets are conspicuously consistent, although the concave-up and sigmoidal strata commonly alternate downcurrent. The cross-strata characteristics suggest flood stage deposition from relatively high velocity steady currents heavily laden with suspended sand. Both cross-set types are interpreted as representing bedforms generated by flow in the dune to upper-stage plane-bed transition. The lenticular cross-sets probably represent periodic dunes, but it is far less clear whether the long bedforms represented by the tabular sets should be classified as dunes, or rather as solitary to quasi-periodic bars.     

鄂尔多斯盆地徐庄组碳酸盐岩风暴沉积发育特征及其地质意义

鄂尔多斯盆地寒武系徐庄组发育碳酸盐岩风暴沉积现象。风暴沉积主要包括侵蚀底面、风暴砾屑层、丘状和洼状层理等沉积构造。沉积构造在不同的条件下会形成不同的沉积序列,理想的沉积序列包括5个沉积单元,从下到上依次为：A侵蚀底面及砾屑段,代表风暴高峰期和衰减期的沉积作用,底面有突变的底界及特殊的沉积构造;B粒序段,为风暴减弱时沉积物从下向上变细的层段;C平行纹层段;D丘状纹层段,为风暴衰减期流体性质逐渐由密度流变为牵引流时形成的产物;E水平层理泥岩和泥晶灰岩段,为风暴停息期晴天条件下的产物。经野外考察发现研究区共可识别出5种不同类型的沉积序列组合,每种序列组合有不同的沉积特点,代表的沉积环境也不同。研究区寒武系徐庄组碳酸盐岩风暴沉积的发现和研究,对于古板块演化与古纬度恢复、鄂尔多斯盆地古地理研究具有重要的意义。     

Gravel-topped offshore bar sequences in the Lower Carboniferous of southern Ireland

Within the Kinsale Formation (Lower Carboniferous) of southern Ireland are pebbly sandstones and conglomerates contained in what is known locally as the Garryvoe conglomerate facies. In this facies there are three main groups of lithologies: (a) heterolithic mudrocks and sandstones characterized by a wide variety of wave-produced structures; (b) sandstones dominated by swaley cross-stratification (SCS), parallel lamination, and rare hummocky cross-stratification (HCS); and (c) pebbly sandstones and conglomerates occurring as discrete beds or as gravel clasts dispersed through SCS sets. Successions of the facies comprise units of heterolithic mudrock and rippled sandstone alternating repeatedly with coarsening-upward units of SCS pebbly sandstone capped by top-surface granule and pebble lags. The Garryvoe conglomerate facies accumulated in a system of offshore bars on a muddy shallow-marine shelf that was dominated by waves and currents generated by storms. Sands and gravels were bypassed from a contemporaneous northerly coastal zone to the shelf, where they were moulded by the storm-generated flow into low, broad, sand ridges (offshore bars). The elongate bars were spaced kilometres apart, oriented obliquely to the coast, and separated by muddy interbar troughs. Their surfaces were largely covered by hummocky and swaley forms. Long-term, gradual seaward migration of the offshore bars concentrated gravels on landward flanks from the dispersed pebbly sands that were on the crests and seaward flanks. Exceptionally intense storms could form laterally extensive winnowed gravel lags above thinned bar sequences. Such storms could also flush gravel-bearing turbidity currents into muddy interbar trough areas.     

The origin of bounding surfaces in ancient aeolian sandstones

Three orders of aeolian bounding surface are arranged in a hierarchy based on their extent and regularity. First order surfaces are the most extensive. They are flat-lying bedding planes cutting across all other aeolian structures and are attributed to the passage of the largest aeolian bedforms—draas—across an area. First order surfaces cut across second order surfaces, which are gentle to moderately dipping surfaces bounding sets of cross-strata. Second order surfaces are attributed to the passage of dunes across draas, or to longitudinal dunes migrating across the lower ice slopes of draas. Third order surfaces bound bundles of laminae within coscts of cross laminae and are due either to local fluctuations in wind direction and velocity or to changes in airflow patterns caused by configurational changes in dune patterns. All these bounding surfaces could be explained by wind variations and dune migration, but the rates of dune migration relative to probable sediment deposition rates are incompatible with this general explanation of the form and spacing of the bounding surfaces. The concept of climbing bedforms of different hierarchical order together with subsidence provides a better explanation. Analogous bounding surfaces in aqueous bedforms have already been attributed to climbing bedforms of differing hierarchical order.     

Bedform spurs: a result of a trailing helical vortex wake

The formative conditions for bedform spurs and their roles in bedform dynamics and associated sediment transport are described herein. Bedform spurs are formed by helical vortices that trail from the lee surface of oblique segments of bedform crest lines. Trailing helical vortices quickly route sediment away from the lee surface of their parent bedform, scouring troughs and placing this bed material into the body of the spur. The geometric configuration of bedform spurs to their parent bedform crests is predicted by a cross‐stream Strouhal number. When present, spur‐bearing bedforms and their associated trailing helical wakes exert tremendous control on bedform morphology by routing enhanced sediment transport between adjacent bedforms. Field measurements collected at the North Loup River, Nebraska, and flume experiments described in previous studies demonstrate that this trailing helical vortex‐mediated sediment transport is a mechanism for bedform deformation, interactions and transitions between two‐dimensional and three‐dimensional bedforms.     

Tsunami-induced large-scale scour-and-fill structures in Late Albian to Cenomanian deposits of the Grajaú Basin, northern Brazil

Late Albian to Cenomanian upper shoreface deposits from the Grajaú Basin, northern Brazil, consist of well‐sorted, very fine‐ to fine‐grained sandstones with swaley, trough, tabular and minor hummocky cross‐stratification. A striking feature of these deposits is the abundance of large‐scale scour‐and‐fill structures, which consist of regularly spaced, repetitive, very shallow swales with either symmetrical or asymmetrical profiles, arranged along an undulose surface or as a succession of superimposed troughs. The sediment filling these scours is characterized by very fine‐grained sandstone with gently undulose, near‐parallel lamination to very low‐angle dipping cross‐stratification intergraded with swaley and hummocky cross‐stratification. The nature of the scours and the sedimentary structures of their fills reveal the action of combined flows, which are hydrodynamically similar to those developed during storms. However, it is speculated that the combined flows responsible for the genesis of these structures were formed by tsunami waves enhanced by tsunami‐induced ebb currents and/or tidal currents. This interpretation is proposed on the basis of several lines of reasoning: (1) palaeogeographic reconstructions of the study area during the late Cretaceous show that it was outside the belt favourable for the development of storms; (2) comparison of the scour‐and‐fill structures with stratigraphically correlatable deposits exposed north of the study area, where similar features occur in association with abundant seismically induced, soft‐sediment deformation structures; and (3) the presence of several styles of soft‐sediment deformation features (i.e. convolute lamination, bed collapse, large‐scale folds, massive bedding, sand‐filled fractures and diastasis cracks) are suggestive of synsedimentary seismic activity in Cretaceous deposits located in and near to the study area. This study proposes that episodic, high‐amplitude tsunami waves, enhanced by tsunami‐induced ebb currents, develop powerful flows capable of producing complex patterns of erosion and sedimentation, which may be represented by scour‐and‐fill structures similar to those described here.     

Interpreting flash flood palaeoflow parameters from antidunes and gravel lenses: An example from Montserrat,West Indies

The wavelength of stationary water‐surface waves and their associated antidune bedforms are related to the mean velocity and depth of formative flow. In past published sand‐bed flume experiments, it was found that lens structures were preserved during antidune growth and change, and the dimension of the lenses was empirically related to antidune wavelength, and thus could be used to estimate flow velocity and depth. This study is the first to compare observations of formative flow conditions and resulting sedimentary structures in a natural setting, testing the previously published relationship at a field‐scale. Trains of stationary and upstream migrating water‐surface waves were prevalent during the flash flood in October 2012 in the Belham Valley, Montserrat, West Indies. Wave positions and wavelengths were assessed at 900 sec intervals through the daylight hours of the event within a monitored reach. The wave data indicate flow depths up to 1·3 m and velocity up to 3·6 m sec^?1. Sedimentary structures formed by antidune growth and change were preserved in the event deposit. These structures include lenses of clast‐supported gravel and massive sand, with varying internal architecture. The lenses and associated low‐angle strata are comparable to sand‐bed structures formed from stationary and upstream migrating waves in flume experiments, confirming the diagnostic value of these structures. Using mean lens length in the event deposit underestimated peak flow conditions during the flood and implied that the lenses were preserved during waning flow.     

Jurassic aeolian oolite on a palaeohigh in the Sundance Sea, Bighorn Basin, Wyoming

Aeolian limestones are widespread in the Quaternary record and have been identified in outcrops and cores of late Palaeozoic strata. These rocks have been interpreted as a low latitude signal of glacio-eustatic sea level fluctuations and have not been previously reported from the Mesozoic or from other episodes of earth history generally believed to have been non-glacial. Numerous lenticular bodies of cross-stratified oolite lie near the contact between the lower and upper members of the mudstone-dominated lower Sundance Formation (Middle and Upper Jurassic) in the Bighorn Basin of north-central Wyoming, USA. The lenses, up to 12 m thick, contain sedimentary structures diagnostic of aeolian deposition. Inversely graded laminae within thick sets of cross-strata were deposited by climbing wind ripples. Adhesion structures and evenly dispersed lag granules are present in flat-bedded strata at the bases of several of the oolite bodies. Thin sections reveal abundant intergranular micrite of vadose origin. The lenses appear to represent virtually intact, isolated aeolian bedforms that migrated across a nearly sand-free deflation surface. When the Sundance Sea transgressed the dunes, a thin (<1 m thick), wave-rippled, oolite veneer formed on the upper surface of the aeolianite. Previous workers, primarily on the basis of sedimentary structures in the veneer, interpreted the oolite lenses as tidal sand bodies. The dunes provide clear evidence of widespread subaerial exposure on the crest and north flank of the Sheridan Arch. This structural high was delineated by previous workers who demonstrated thinning of pre-upper-Sundance Formation strata and localized development of ooid shoals. Ooids that formed in shoals on the windward (southern) side of the palaeohigh were exposed and deflated during lowstand. Thin, scour-filling ooid grainstone lenses that crop out in the southern part of the study area represent remnants of the marine beds that sourced the aeolianites. Farther north (down-wind), oolitic dunes prograded over thinly laminated lagoonal silts. When relative sea level began to rise, the uncemented dunes were buried under fine-grained marine sediment as the lee side of a low-relief island was inundated.     

青岛灵山岛下白垩统湖泊风暴沉积与风暴作用

灵山岛背来石剖面发育了非常典型的湖泊风暴岩和风暴作用。非常典型的丘、洼状构造发育在火山岩底部的砂页岩中。丘状构造呈典型的丘状,规模不一,小者高数厘米,宽数十厘米;大者高2. 4m,宽12. 48m;具有典型的二元结构：底部为灰色或浅灰色的砂砾岩或砂岩;顶部为深灰色 黑色泥岩、页岩或薄层砂岩互层。砂砾岩分选磨圆均很差,砾石主要为片麻岩,直径多在数毫米到3~4cm,呈悬浮式胶结。砾岩底部为凹凸不平的侵蚀面,砾岩向丘状构造两翼变薄甚至尖灭,与下部侵蚀面呈典型的角度交切。丘状构造的上部的细粒层有四个要素：①上凸形态;②丘状交错层理;③下细上粗的二元结构;④底部具侵蚀面。洼状构造也具有典型的洼状,规模也不一,小者高数厘米,宽十余厘米;大者高2. 4m,宽18. 70m,具有下细上粗的（反)二元结构,但底部多为深灰 灰黑色、甚至黑色的泥岩、页岩或夹薄层砂岩,上部多为砂岩、砂砾岩或砾岩。完整的洼状构造也有四个要素：①下凹形态;②或有洼状交错层理;③下细上粗的（反)二元结构;④底部具侵蚀面。丘状构造与洼状构造在空间上相邻共生,但不是同时形成的,一个连续的完整序列是丘状构造形成在先,洼状构造形成在后,其间由一个粒度较细的薄层分隔开（风暴最高水位时的“静”水沉积)。基于实验和丘洼构造参数计算了风暴浪的相关参数。     

STRUCTURES OF DUNES AT WHITE SANDS NATIONAL MONUMENT,NEW MEXICO (AND A COMPARISON WITH STRUCTURES OF DUNES FROM OTHER SELECTED AREAS)1

The type, scale, and relative abundance of sedimentary structures in four kinds of dunes at White Sands National Monument, New Mexico, were determined by examination of vertical sections on walls of trenches cut through the dunes both in a windward direction and at right angles to this direction. Analysis of cross-stratification in all dunes examined indicated certain common features: sets of cross-strata mostly are medium- to large-scale; nearly all laminae dip downwind at high angles (not uncommonly at 30°-34°); most bounding surfaces between sets of cross-strata are nearly horizontal on the upwind side, but have progressively steeper dips to lee, downwind; and individual sets of cross-strata tend to be thinner and the laminae flatter near the top than at the bottom of a dune in vertical section. Sparse but distinctive structural features that are characteristic of the four types of dunes are varieties of contorted bedding, rare ripple laminae, and either local scour-and-fill bedding, or festoon bedding. Other structures, apparently limited to either one or two types of dunes, are the concave-downward foresets in some parabolic dunes; the low-angle reverse dips of upwind strata on high transverse dunes; and the almost horizontal laminae which represent apparent dip in sections normal to wind direction in dome-shaped and transverse dunes. Describing cross-stratification in terms of three dimensions, dune structure at White Sands consists dominantly of the tabular planar sets, with units thickest near the dune base, thinner above. To a lesser extent the sets are of simple (non-erosion) tabular form and relatively uncommonly, of the trough type. Wedge planar forms are scarce. The planar forms characteristically are of two classes in nearly equal proportions: those in which bounding surfaces are virtually horizontal and those in which they dip at moderate to high degree. A brief comparison is made between the structures of dunes that are characteristic of one effective wind direction, as at White Sands, and certain others formed by winds of two or more directions. Seif dunes of Libya, reversing dunes of the San Luis Valley, Colorado, and star dunes in Saudi Arabia are discussed as examples of complex dunes formed by multi-directional winds.     

Ripple/dune to upper stage plane bed transition: Some observations from the ancient record

In two Proterozoic sandstones, of the Indian shield cross-stratification and cross-lamination are observed to grade continuously into parallel-laminations often bearing parting lineations. These are interpreted as having resulted from a gradual transition from ripple/dune to upper stage plane bed structures. During the transition the inclination of the cross-strata diminishes and their shape changes from concave-up to sigmoidal. The sigmoidal cross-strata are characterized by well defined topsets, foresets and toesets and the topsets bear parting lineations. In the course of the transition sigmoidal cross-strata may give way either to horizontal parallel-lamination or inclined parallel-lamination. In the former the toesets of the successive sigmoidal cross-strata thicken and the thickness of the cross-strata beyond the brink point (the junction between the topset and foreset) tends to become uniform until a plane-bed state is reached and horizontal parallel-laminations are formed. In the latter the topset of the successive sigmoidal cross-strata increases in length at the expense of the foreset and toeset until the brink point ceases to exist so that only the topset laminations prevail and appear as inclined parallel-laminations. These transitions presumably result from a gradual increase in flow intensity beyond the stability limits of ripples/dunes. The progressive morphological changes of the cross-stratification over the transition are attributed to changing fallout patterns on the lee face of the bedforms in response to increasing flow intensity. Preservation of the records of such transitions suggests an abundant supply of sand grade sediments from suspension during the transition, shaping the sediment concentration profile over the bedforms and facilitating turbulence suppression. The variation in the pattern of transition from sigmoidal cross-stratification to parallel-lamination may be the result of different rates of sediment feed from the prevailing suspended sediment load in the two instances.     

Flow conditions of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami in Thailand,inferred from capping bedforms and sedimentary structures

The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami deposited a sheet of sand with surficial bedforms at the Andaman coast of Thailand. Here we show the recognition of bedforms and the key internal sedimentary structures as criteria of the tsunami supercritical flow condition. The presence of well‐preserved capping bedforms implied a dominant tsunami inflow. Sets of internal sedimentary structures including parallel lamination, seaward and landward inclined‐laminations, and downstream dipping laminae indicated antidune structures that were generated by a supercritical flow current in a depositional stage during the inflow. A set of seaward dipping cross‐laminations containing sand with mud drape on the surface of one depositional layer are a unique indication of an outflow structure. A majority of deposits show normal grading, but in some areas, localized reverse grading was also observed. The recognition of these capping bedforms and determination of the internal sedimentary structures provides new key criteria to help derive a better understanding of tsunami flow conditions.     

论震积作用和震积岩

地震是一种灾害性的地质事件。地震及其引发的海啸、重力流可以形成震积岩、海啸岩和震浊积岩。在地震过程中,震积作用可以形成特殊的构造标志(地震断裂层、地裂缝、微同沉积断裂、微褶皱纹理、重力断层等)、沉积和成岩标志(砂岩脉、泥岩脉、泥晶脉,即磨牙(molar tooth)构造、枕状层、砂火山、泥火山、同沉积变形构造、丘状层理等)。地震沉积组合包括原地震积岩(A,包括震裂岩、震褶岩、自碎屑角砾岩、内碎屑副角砾岩等)、海啸岩(B,由具丘状层理、平行层理的碎屑岩或内碎屑灰岩组成)、震浊积岩(C,由具块状层理、递变层理或玻马序列的粗碎屑岩或碎屑灰岩组成)及背景沉积(D)4个单元,它们组合成A-B-C-D、A-B-D、A-C-D、A-D、B-D、C-D等6种类型的沉积序列。     

Algodones dune field of southeastern California: case history of a migrating modern dune field

The Algodones dune field of southeastern California is one of the largest active dune fields in North America. The dune field is migrating in an easterly direction, oblique to the resultant sand flow direction (S 24° E). The migration of the Algodones results from an interaction between regional winds and the dune field. This interaction generates a localized secondary flow that has caused the dune field to migrate in a direction oblique to the resultant sand flow direction. Four lines of evidence suggest that the Algodones has migrated in an easterly direction: (1) A ramp, interpreted as the trailing edge of the dune field, 35 m thick and 500 m wide composed of aeolian deposits that borders the western edge of the dune field. No similar deposits are found on the eastern (leading edge) margin of the dune field. (2) Leading-edge sand-sheet deposits are exposed in interdune areas within the dune field. These deposits are west of the modern leading-edge sand sheet. (3) Across the breadth of the dune field sands are consistently coarser and more poorly sorted in the west and finer and better sorted in the east. This observation suggests that sand is transported from west to east. (4) Eastward migration of a large compound-complex crescentic dune. If the dune field continues to migrate it will deposit a vertical sequence consisting of: a basal sand-sheet deposit consisting of wind and water-ripple laminae, small-scale aeolian cross-strata, and ephemeral stream (wadi) deposits; aeolian dune deposits consisting of medium-scale aeolian compound cross-strata; small-scale simple sets of aeolian cross-strata with highly variable dip directions; a sand sheet containing low-angle wind-ripple cross-strata capped by a coarse sand lag super bounding surface.     

川南柏香田地区早志留世石牛栏组风暴沉积的发现及意义

通过野外实测剖面和镜下薄片观察,于通过野外实测剖面和镜下薄片观察,在川南柏香田剖面早志留世石牛栏组下部发现一套风暴沉积,具有侵蚀底面、砾屑层、粒序层理、丘-洼状交错层理、沙纹层理以及风暴与平静天气形成的沉积物互层等风暴沉积特征。理想风暴沉积序列由6个沉积单元组成,根据剖面不同沉积单元间的排列组合,将其划分为4种风暴沉积序列,各序列间存在一定继承性,由下向上表现为远源型风暴向近源型风暴的转变、风暴强度逐渐增强的过程。结合更靠扬子东南缘的深水剖面重力流沉积的缺乏,可以推断早志留世石牛栏期研究区的沉积模式为碳酸盐缓坡。结合风暴的形成机制以及石牛栏组风暴沉积的发育特征可知（尤其是正粒序层理和典型丘状交错层理）：研究区早志留世处于中低纬度的古地理位置,可为上扬子区古气候及古扬子海盆演化提供依据;上扬子区早志留世同期异相地层存有争议,风暴沉积特征为石牛栏组、小河坝组、罗惹坪组等地层提供等时性对比标尺;川南早志留世石牛栏组沉积环境意见不一,风暴沉积为其碳酸盐岩缓坡环境提供证据资料。通过总结前人对风暴岩物性认识,结合上扬子区同期地层油气地质条件,可提供油气勘探新途径。川南柏香田剖面早志留世石牛栏组下部发现一套风暴沉积,发育侵蚀底面、砾屑层、粒序层理、丘-洼状交错层理、沙纹层理以及风暴与平静天气形成的沉积物互层等风暴沉积特征。理想风暴沉积序列由6个沉积单元组成,根据剖面不同沉积单元间的排列组合,将其划分为4种风暴沉积序列,各序列间存在一定继承性,由下向上表现为远源型风暴向近源型风暴的转变、风暴强度逐渐增强的过程。结合更靠扬子东南缘的深水剖面中重力流沉积的缺乏,可以推断早志留世石牛栏期研究区的沉积模式为碳酸盐缓坡。结合风暴的形成机制以及石牛栏组风暴沉积的发育特征可知（尤其是正粒序层理和典型丘状交错层理）：研究区早志留世存于中低纬度的古地理位置,可为上扬子区古气候及古扬子海盆演化提供依据;上扬子区早志留世同期异相地层存有争议,风暴沉积特征为石牛栏组、小河坝组、罗惹坪组等地层提供等时性对比标尺;川南早志留世石牛栏组沉积环境意见不一,风暴沉积为其碳酸盐岩缓坡环境提供证据资料;总结前人对风暴岩物性认识,结合上扬子区同期地层油气地质条件,提供油气勘探新途径。