A critical review of the glaciomarine model for Irish sea deglaciation: evidence from southern Britain,the Celtic shelf and adjacent continental slope

In support of their ‘glaciomarine’ model for the deglaciation of the Irish Sea basin, Eyles and McCabe cited the occurrence of distal glaciomarine mud drapes onshore in the Isles of Scilly and North Devon, and of arctic beach‐face gravels and sands around the shores of the Celtic Sea. Glacial and sea‐level data from the southern part of the Irish Sea in the terminal zone of the ice stream and the adjacent continental slope are reviewed here to test this aspect of the model. The suggestion that the glacial sequences of both the Isles of Scilly and Fremington in North Devon are glaciomarine mud drapes is rejected. An actively calving tidewater margin only occurred early in the deglacial sequence close to the terminal zone in the south‐central Celtic Sea. Relative sea‐levels were lower, and therefore glacio‐isostatic depression less, than envisaged in the glaciomarine model. Geochronological, sedimentological and biostratigraphical data indicate that the raised beach sequences around the shores of the Celtic Sea and English Channel were deposited at, or during regression soon after, interglacial eustatic highstands. Evidence for ice‐rafting at a time of high relative sea‐levels is restricted to a phase(s) earlier than the Late Devensian. These data indicate that the raised beach sequences have no bearing on the style of Irish Sea deglaciation. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Early growth of the last Cordilleran ice sheet deduced from glacio-isostatic depression in southwest British Columbia, Canada

Relative sea level at Vancouver, British Columbia rose from below the present datum about 30,000 cal yr B.P. to at least 18 m above sea level 28,000 cal yr B.P. In contrast, eustatic sea level in this interval was at least 85 m lower than at present. The difference in the local and eustatic sea-level positions is attributed to glacio-isostatic depression of the crust in the expanding forefield of the Cordilleran ice sheet during the initial phase of the Fraser Glaciation. Our findings suggest that about 1 km of ice was present in the northern Strait of Georgia 28,000 cal yr B.P., early during the Fraser Glaciation.     

Earthquake-related soft-sediment deformation structures in Palaeogene on the continental shelf of the East China Sea

Earthquake, as disastrous events in geological history, can be recorded as soft-sediment deformation. In the Palaeogene of the East China Sea shelf, the soft-sediment deformation related to earthquake event is recognized as seismic micro-fractures, micro-corrugated laminations, liquefied veins, ‘vibrated liquefied layers’, deformed cross laminations and convolute laminations, load structures, flame structures, brecciation, slump structures and seismodisconformity. There exists a lateral continuum, the wide spatial distribution and the local vertical continuous sequences of seismites including slump, liquefaction and brecciation. In the Palaeogene of East China Sea shelf, where typical soft-sediment deformation structures were developed, clastic deposits of tidal-flat, delta and river facies are the main background deposits of Middle-Upper Eocene Pinghu Formation and Oligocene Huagang Formation. This succession also records diagnostic marks of event deposits and basinal tectonic activities in the form of seismites.     

Microstratigraphy of a Miocene layered phosphatic pebble from the western margin of South Africa

Detailed microstratigraphy and geochemistry of a single‐layered phosphatic pebble from the Southern Rocky Plateau at the Head of the Cape Canyon on the western margin of South Africa are utilized to reveal a complex interplay between deposition, erosion and authigenesis in the Miocene. The phosphatic pebble has three micrite and carbonate fluorapatite cemented layers separated by Fe‐rich hardground surfaces. The layers contain a diverse grain assemblage of reworked glauconite, phosphorite, detrital quartz and biogenic carbonate. Overlapping Sr‐isotope derived ages of point‐drilled samples from the three layers range from 19·1 to 17·6 Ma, although a single point near the outer edge of the uppermost layer has a Sr age of 12·8 to 10·4 Ma, and a reworked bivalve shell fragment from the middle layer has a Sr age of 26·3 to 24·6 Ma. The microstratigraphy of the phosphatic pebble provides evidence of multiple Baturin cycles, where periods of deposition and carbonate fluorapatite authigenesis are followed by reworking, erosion and precipitation of iron oxide hardground surfaces. The condensed microstratigraphy of the pebble is consistent with the regional depositional history of the area and indicates significant fluctuations in the depositional environment related to changes in sea‐level, sediment supply and upwelling along the western margin of southern Africa during the early to middle Miocene.     

Hyperpycnal delivery of sand to the continental shelf: Insights from the Jurassic Lajas Formation,Neuquén Basin,Argentina

Hyperpycnal currents are river‐derived turbidity currents capable of transporting significant volumes of sediment from the shoreline onto the shelf and potentially further to deep ocean basins. However, their capacity to deposit sand bodies on the continental shelf is poorly understood. Shelf hyperpycnites remain an overlooked depositional element in source to sink systems, primarily due to their limited recognition in the rock record. Recent discoveries of modern shelf hyperpycnites, and previous work describing hyperpycnites deposited in slope or deep‐water settings, provide a valuable framework for understanding and recognizing shelf hyperpycnites in the rock record. This article describes well‐sorted lobate sand bodies on the continental shelf of the Neuquén Basin, Argentina, interpreted to have been deposited by hyperpycnal currents. These hyperpycnites of the Jurassic Lajas Formation are characterized by well‐sorted, medium‐grained, parallel‐laminated sandstones with hundreds of metre extensive, decimetre thick beds encased by organic‐rich, thinly laminated sandstone and siltstone. These deposits represent slightly obliquely‐migrating sand lobes fed by small rivers and deposited on the continental shelf. Hyperpycnites of the Lajas Formation highlight several unique characteristics of hyperpycnal deposits, including their distinctively thick horizontal laminae attributed to pulsing of the hyperpycnal currents, the extraction of coarse gravel due to low flow competence, and the extraction of mud due to lofting of light interstitial fluid. Recognition of shelf hyperpycnites in the Lajas Formation of the Neuquén Basin allows for a broader understanding of shelf processes and adds to the developing facies models of hyperpycnites. Recognizing and understanding the geometry and internal architecture of shelf hyperpycnites will improve current understanding of sediment transfer from rivers to deeper water, will improve palaeoenvironmental interpretations of sediment gravity‐flow deposits, and has implications for modelling potentially high‐quality hydrocarbon reservoirs.     

Characteristics and evaluation of Mesozoic source rocks in the southeastern East China Sea continental shelf

Source rocks are the material basis of oil and gas generation and determine the potential resources of exploration blocks and have important research value. This paper studies the lithology, thickness, and geochemistry of Mesozoic source rocks in the southeastern East China Sea continental shelf. The results show that the Mesozoic source rocks are mainly dark mudstone and coal-bearing strata. The total thickness of Lower–Middle Jurassic source rocks ranges from 100 m to 700 m, and that of Lower Cretaceous source rocks ranges from 50 m to 350 m. The overall thickness of Mesozoic source rocks is distributed in the NE direction and their thickness center is located in the Jilong Depression. The Lower–Middle Jurassic source rocks are mainly developed shallow marine dark mudstone and transitional coal measure strata. Those of the Lower Cretaceous are mainly mudstone of a fan delta front. Lower–Middle Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous hydrocarbon source rocks are dominated by type III kerogen, with Lower–Middle Jurassic hydrocarbon source rocks having high organic matter abundance and being medium–good hydrocarbon source rocks, while Lower Cretaceous hydrocarbon source rocks have relatively poor quality. From northwest to southeast, the vitrinite reflectance Ro of Mesozoic source rocks increases gradually. Source rocks in the study area are divided into three types. The first hydrocarbon-generating area is mainly located in the southeastern region of the study area, and the Jilong Depression is the hydrocarbon-generating center. The results of this study can provide a basis for exploration of Mesozoic oil and gas resources in the southeastern East China Sea continental shelf.© 2019 China Geology Editorial Office.     

Comparison of tropical,carbonate and temperate,siliciclastic tidally dominated sedimentary deposits: Examples from the Australian continental shelf

Surficial deposits of the tidally influenced Australian shelf seas exhibit a variation in fades related to energy gradient. These deposits comprise a high energy gravelly facies, a mobile sand sheet facies and a low energy muddy sand facies. Such a facies distribution conforms generally with the existing model of continental shelf tidal sedimentation, derived for the west European tidal seas. However, the carbonate rich and mainly warm water deposits of the Australian shelf differ from the mainly quartzose and temperate cold‐water deposits of the European type case in terms of: (i) the role of seagrasses in trapping fine‐grained sediment; and (ii) the relative importance of the production of carbonate mud by mechanical erosion of carbonate grains. Seagrasses in Spencer Gulf, Gulf of St Vincent and Torres Strait are located in regions of strong tidal currents, associated with bedforms and gravel lag deposits. Thus, in the case of tropical carbonate shelves, seagrass deposits containing fine‐grained and poorly sorted sediments are located in close proximity to high energy gravel and mobile sand facies. In contrast, the European model (for temperate, siliciclastic shelves) places facies in a regional gradient with a wide separation (in the order of 50–100 km).

Of the locations reviewed, the Gulf of St Vincent, Bass Strait, southern Great Barrier Reef, Torres Strait and Gulf of Carpentaria exhibit zones of carbonate mud accumulation. The production and winnowing of carbonate mud from the mobile sand facies is a factor that must be taken into account in the assessment of a sediment budget for this facies, and which is of relatively greater importance for carbonate shelves. Insufficient data are presently available from the macrotidal North West Shelf to test the applicability of the model to this region.     

长江口外泥沙向南输运速率的变化探讨——以朱家尖岛附近海域为例

采用浅地层剖面测量、沉积物柱样测年和海图水深计算对比相结合的方法,探讨位于长江入海泥沙向南输送通道上的朱家尖岛海域的泥质沉积速率的历史变化,并通过水文泥沙测量和沉积物取样分析寻找长江入海泥沙向南输送的佐证。结果表明:朱家尖岛海域全新世海平面上升以来泥质沉积厚度为5~20m,相当于沉积速率0.06~0.25cm/yr;1840~1960年区域平均沉积速率为1.4cm/yr,近60年沉积速率仅为此前120年沉积速率的一半左右。据此推断:全新世后期以来该海域泥质沉积速率先后经历了一个长期(千年尺度)缓慢的增大阶段和一个短期(年代尺度)迅速的减小阶段,与长江流域人类活动和河口湾充填作用共同造成的入海泥沙通量的总体变化趋势相吻合。     

A 7000-year record of environmental change,including early farming impact,based on lake-sediment geochemistry and pollen data from County Sligo,western Ireland

Detailed, chronologically tightly constrained, lake-sediment-based geochemical and pollen records have enabled local changes in soil erosion, woodland cover and composition, and prehistoric farming impact to be reconstructed in considerable detail. The profile opens shortly after 7800 BC when tall canopy trees were well-established and presumably in equilibrium with their environment. A distinct perturbation that involved an increase in pine and birch, a decrease in oak and a minor opening-up of the woodland is regarded as the local expression of the 8.2 ka climate anomaly. Lack of response in the geochemical erosional indicators is interpreted as evidence for drier conditions. A short-lived, over-compensation in climate recovery followed the 8.2 ka event. Neolithic farming impact is clearly expressed in both the pollen and geochemical data. Both datasets indicate that Neolithic impact was concentrated in the early Neolithic (3715–3440 BC). In the interval 3000–2700 BC there appears to have been a break in farming activity. The pollen data suggest substantially increased farming impact (both arable and pastoral) in the Bronze Age, with maximum farming and woodland clearances taking place in the late Bronze Age (1155–935 BC). These developments are poorly expressed in the geochemical record, possibly due to within-lake changes.     

Late Pleistocene–Holocene deposits of the Rhône inner continental shelf (France): detailed mapping and correlation with previous continental and marine studies

Very-high-resolution seismic data acquired on the Rhône continental shelf were used to address the detailed morphology of Late Pleistocene and post-glacial units (from 18 000 yr BP to the present). Two groups of units can be distinguished. (1) Lower units that are mainly the product of variations in relative sea level. They comprise the last Pleistocene regressive deposits made of alluvial sheets (U0, U1) and, above, transgressive deposits that can be divided into: backstepping transgressive units (U3 and U4a), deposited during the landward retreat of the river mouth and transgressive units (U4b, U4c) laid down during the inundation of the shelf. A prograding littoral/lagoon system (U5/U6) indicating a fluctuation during the rise in sea level caps the transgressive units. This work has emphasized the complexity of these depositional environments, mainly related to a river system situated near the current Petit-Rhône. (2) Upper units that make up the recent Rhône delta and correspond to the current highstand systems tract (HST) developed since the stabilization of relative sea level. Seven prodeltaic lobes have been identified (U7–U13). Two of them are bilobate (U7 and U8) and date from a period when the delta was split as a result of the fluviatile system being progressively divided into several channels. Other prodeltaic lobes (U9, U10) are stacked in front of the distributary's outlet, recording several periods of outflow. The results show a strong correlation with studies on land. The distribution of recent prodeltaic lobes was constrained by canalization of the Rhône river to prevent the effects of climatic crises or other natural disasters.     

南海北部陆架海域表层沉积物黏土矿物分布特征及物源分析

应用X射线衍射(XRD)对南海北部陆架海域225个站位表层沉积物黏土组分进行分析,结果表明,研究区黏土矿物总体以伊利石和绿泥石为主,高岭石和蒙脱石质量分数少,绿泥石、高岭石与蒙脱石质量分数呈明显的负相关关系。根据南海北部陆架海域表层沉积物中黏土矿物空间分布特征,结合邻近河流的黏土矿物组分以及洋流搬运作用,雷州半岛东部海域伊利石主要来源于广东沿海河流和珠江,绿泥石来自台湾岛,蒙脱石主要由吕宋河流提供,高岭石则由广东沿海河流和海南岛入海河流提供;雷州半岛西部海域伊利石来源于珠江,绿泥石和高岭石由红河提供,蒙脱石可能受广西入海河流携带的沉积物影响。     

南黄海大陆架科学钻探CSDP-02井钻探施工技术

本文介绍了南黄海大陆架科学钻探工程CSDP-02井施工概况以及采用的关键技术。主要有:海域岩心钻探钻井施工平台的建设;超前卡簧座加拦簧技术;高密实度砂层钻头内径镶合金保径技术;底喷式钻头技术;三层管钻具和MBM盐水泥浆技术。通过对以上难点的解决,取得了很多重要成果。钻井井深2843.18m(钻台至海底33.30m),实际进尺2809.88m,并完成了测录井等重要工作。为地质钻探在海洋钻探方面迈出重大一步。     

东海陆架全新统高分辨率层序地层学研究

在高分辨率14C测年、岩石、生物、化学、同位素、气候及磁性地层学研究成果基础上,通过不同沉积背景典型钻孔的沉积学分析,运用层序地层学理论,对东海陆架全新统进行了高分辨率层序划分及对比;建立了全新世层序地层格架及海平面变化过程;提出了相应的层序成因模式。研究结果表明,东海陆架全新统相当于一个发育中的六级（1~10ka）层序,可进一步划分为3个七级（0.1~1ka）层序和若干个更次级层序。代表1个六级或3个七级周期相对海平面变化过程中叠加有若干更次级的海平面波动,它们与地球旋回谱系中的太阳带、历法带密切相关。七级层序具有与三级层序相近的内部构型和成因格架。在东海陆架全新世沉积演化过程中,长江三角州至少有3次不同程度地越过东海陆架进入冲绳海槽,并滞留有至少3层海侵改造"残积砂"沉积。在东海陆架全新世海平面变化期间,最大海平面时期为约距今6~5ka,大致高于现今海平面2~4m,最低海平面在距今10ka左右,大约低于现今海平面130m。目前,由于温室效应的影响,海平面仍呈小幅度波浪式上升。事实证明,层序地层学不仅丰富了现代海洋沉积学的内容,而且解决了许多海洋沉积学未能解决的问题.     

Vegetation and fire history since the last glacial maximum in an inland area of the western Mediterranean Basin (Northern Iberian Plateau,NW Spain)

We reconstructed vegetation responses to climate oscillations, fire and human activities since the last glacial maximum in inland NW Iberia, where previous paleoecological research is scarce. Extremely sparse and open vegetation composed of steppic grasslands and heathlands with scattered pioneer trees suggests very cold and dry conditions during the Oldest Dryas, unsuitable for tree survival in the surroundings of the study site. Slight woodland expansion during the Bølling/Allerød was interrupted by the Younger Dryas cooling. Pinewoods dominated for most of the early Holocene, when a marked increase in fire activity occurred. Deciduous trees expanded later reaching their maximum representation during the mid-Holocene. Enhanced fire activity and the presence of coprophilous fungi around 6400–6000 cal yr BP suggest an early human occupation around the site. However, extensive deforestation only started at 4500 cal yr BP, when fire was used to clear the tree canopy. Final replacement of woodlands with heathlands, grasslands and cereal crops occurred from 2700 cal yr BP onwards due to land-use intensification. Our paleoecological record can help efforts aimed at restoring the natural vegetation by indicating which communities were dominant at the onset of heavy human impact, thus promoting the recovery of currently rare oak and alder stands.     

鄂西地区中二叠统栖霞组下部烃源岩形成机理

中二叠统柄霞组下部烃源岩广泛发育于扬子地台台内盆地和台地边缘.多种古环境参数V/(V+Ni)、V/Cr、Cu、Ni、Zn、Hf、Nb、自生U含量和烃类百分含量的研究表明,栖霞组烃源岩周期性变化的有机质埋藏量主要受控于海洋表层初级生产力,而生产力的变化受气候引起的海平面变化的影响.海平面的上升带来丰富的营养物质,提高海洋...     

鄂西地区中二叠统栖霞组下部烃源岩形成机理

中二叠统栖霞组下部烃源岩广泛发育于扬子地台台内盆地和台地边缘。多种古环境参数V/(V+Ni)、V/Cr、Cu、Ni、Zn、Hf、Nb、自生U含量和烃类百分含量的研究表明,栖霞组烃源岩周期性变化的有机质埋藏量主要受控于海洋表层初级生产力,而生产力的变化受气候引起的海平面变化的影响。海平面的上升带来丰富的营养物质,提高海洋初级生产力,导致大量有机质在海底堆积。细菌分解有机质对氧的消耗以及盆地水体循环的减弱促使底水贫氧。海平面变化是栖霞组有机质富集的最终因素。     

Messinian palaeoclimate and palaeo-environment in the western Mediterranean realm: insights from the geochemistry of continental deposits of NW Sardinia (Italy)

To evaluate the palaeo-environmental parameters of a portion of the Sardinia–Corsica microplate during the Messinian drop in sea level, we examined the chemistry and mineralogy of upper Tortonian–lower Messinian (late Miocene) clayey continental deposits from NW Sardinia. Differences exist between the uppermost part of the succession, which is devoid of carbonate phases, and the lower part, reflecting changes in provenance and climate. The carbonate-free samples were probably derived from quartzite of the metamorphic basement and were deposited under a climate characterized by alternating dry and relatively wet periods. The other samples were derived from basement phyllite and were deposited under a warm, dry climate that promoted the capillary rise of Ca²⁺ and bicarbonate from a shallow water table, and therefore, the precipitation of carbonate. This part of the succession contains both calcite and dolomite. The presence of barite indicates an important concentration of SO₄ ^2? in the solution from which the CaMg(CO₃)₂ precipitated. The formation of dolomite under hypersaline conditions may be explained by bacterial degradation of organic matter, which produced CO₂ and ammonia, thereby increasing the solution alkalinity. The succession formed in an oxic environment, except for a calcite-rich level that formed under relatively reducing conditions. For this level, the large amount of calcite and the lack of dolomite indicate an alkaline environment and a very low Mg²⁺/Ca²⁺ ratio in the soil solution. These observations, coupled with the reducing conditions, indicate the availability of large amounts of degraded organic matter, probably related to a period typified by a wetter climate.