Facies model for a sandy ephemeral stream and clay playa complex; the Middle Devonian Trentishoe Formation of North Devon, U.K.

Sediments in the Trentishoe Formation of the Middle Devonian Hangman Sandstone Group (North Devon, U.K.) provide the basis of a model for sandy ephemeral stream and clay playa deposition. Three types of sequence are found, representing proximal, medial and distal areas on an extensive alluvial plain. The Proximal sequence consists of cross-cutting channel-fill sandstones which represent the deposits of a network of low sinuosity sand bed streams. The Medial sequence comprises upwards coarsening cyclothems which start with relatively distal, thinly bedded sandstone and siltstone flood sheets cut by complexes of silt draped channel-fill sandstones and single channel fill sandstones. The flood sheets coarsen and thicken upwards to more proximal multistorey sheet sandstones. The Distal sequences consist of laminated mudstone and sandstone, cut by desiccation and water escape features, alternating with wave rippled sandstones, and represent playa lakes occasionally incised by high sinuosity channels with laterally accreting sandstones. The three sequence types represent the downslope progression from a low sinuosity channel network which passed into an ephemeral flood deposit complex which in turn drained into clay playas.     

Aspects of the sedimentology,palynology and palaeobotany of the Upper Devonian of southern Kerry Head,Co. Kerry,Ireland

The uppermost 220 m of Upper Devonian sedimentary rocks of southern Kerry Head are described in terms of three lithofacies associations. Facies association 1 (about 49 per cent of succession) comprises fine to medium grained sandstones, with basal erosion surfaces and intraformational breccias, dominantly cross-stratified, and usually displaying a multistorey character. They are interpreted as deposits of laterally migrating and aggrading single-channel rivers, flowing in a southerly direction. Facies association 2 (43 per cent) comprises interbedded fine to very fine grained sandstones and siltstones, displaying a diversity of sedimentary structures, rapid lateral and vertical facies transitions, and occurring as broad sheets or channel-filling sequences. They are interpreted as crevasse, levee, and channel-fill deposits. Association 3 (8 per cent) is dominantly siltstone, with lenses and sheets of very fine sandstone, interpreted as the floodbasin deposits of a semi-arid alluvial plain. Macrofloras and spores occurring in association 2 indicate: (1) major plants (woody seed ferns) grew in areas very close to palaeochannel margins; (2) a phytogeographic location within the Munster Basin comparable with Hook Head; and (3) a Late Devonian age for the succession.     

Eocene fan delta-submarine fan deposition in the Wagwater Trough, east-central Jamaica

ABSTRACT The Wagwater Trough is a fault-bounded basin which cuts across east-central Jamaica. The basin formed during the late Palaeocene or early Eocene and the earliest sediments deposited in the trough were the Wagwater and Richmond formations of the Wagwater Group. These formations are composed of up to 7000 m of conglomerates, sandstones, and shales. Six facies have been recognized in the Wagwater Group: Facies I-unfossiliferous massive conglomerates; Facies II—channelized, non-marine conglomerates, sandstones, and shales; Facies III-interbedded, fossiliferous conglomerates and sandstones; Facies IV—fossiliferous muddy conglomerates; Facies V—channelized, marine conglomerates, sandstones, and shales; and Facies VI—thin-bedded sheet sandstones and shales. The Wagwater and Richmond formations are interpreted as fan delta-submarine fan deposits. Facies associations suggest that humid-region fan deltas prograded into the basin from the adjacent highlands and discharged very coarse sediments on to a steep submarine slope. At the coast waves reworked the braided-fluvial deposits of the subaerial fan delta into coarse sand and gravel beaches. Sediments deposited on the delta-front slope were frequently remobilized and moved downslope as slumps, debris flows, and turbidity currents. At the slope-basin break submarine fans were deposited. The submarine fans are characterized by coarse inner and mid-fan deposits which grade laterally into thin bedded turbidites of the outer fan and basin floor.     

Facies architecture of a submarine fan channel–levee complex: the Juniper Ridge Conglomerate, Coalinga, California

The Upper Cretaceous Juniper Ridge Conglomerate (JRC) near Coalinga, California, provides a rare, high-quality exposure of a submarine channel to overbank transition. The facies architecture of the JRC comprises a thick, predominantly mudstone sequence overlain by a channellized conglomerate package. Conglomeratic bounding surfaces truncate successions of interbedded turbiditic sandstones and mudstones both vertically and laterally. Thick-bedded, massive sandstones are interbedded with conglomerates. Facies architecture, palaeocurrent indicators, slump features, sandstone percentages and sandstone bed thickness trends lead to the interpretation that these elements comprise channel and overbank facies. A vertical sequence with conglomerate at the base, followed by thick-bedded sandstone, and capped by interbedded turbiditic sandstone and mudstone form a fining-upward lithofacies association that is interpreted as a single channel-fill/overbank system. Three similar lithofacies associations can be related to autocyclic processes of thalweg migration and submarine fan aggradation or to allocyclically driven changes in sediment calibre.     

The Marginal Triassic deposits of South Wales: Continental facies and palaeogeography

Marginal Triassic deposits in Glamorgan, South Wales, occur beneath and laterally equivalent to the Keuper Marl. They consist of coarse elastics, locally interbedded with finer sediments, limestones and replaced evaporites. Fluviatile sediments are chiefly sorted conglomerates and cross-bedded sandstones of stream-flood origin. Other conglomerates and sandstones, associated with siltstone and calcrete, are interpreted as the deposits of semi-permanent streams with well-developed floodplains. Ill-sorted breccias accumulated as screes against former cliffs. Matrix-supported conglomerates of mudflow origin are a minor facies. Thin graded beds were deposited from sheet floods and other finer clastic sediments formed on floodplains and playas. Lacustrine shore-zone elastics, limestones and evaporites are also present. The distribution of the various facies is related to the Trassic geomorphology, which was controlled by the structure of the underlying Palaeozoic. The South Wales Coalfield formed an upland area bounded to the south by an escarpment. Stream-flood conglomerates of the Radyr-Llandaff area were part of an alluvial fan which formed at the foot of this escarpment, perhaps at the mouth of a canyon on the site of the present-day Taff gorge. South of the escarpment semi-permanent streams with well-developed floodplains occupied a broad valley, draining eastwards and cut into the axial region of the plunging Cowbridge anticline. South of the anticline, stream-flood and sheet-flood deposits interdigitated with wave-rippled and desiccated siltstones deposited on playas. The latter, together with the shore-zone sediments, were marginal to the lake in which the Keuper Marl accumulated. With rising base-level during the Norian, the Keuper Marl facies spread north and west into the Vale of Glamorgan, covering the Marginal Triassic and inliers of Carboniferous Limestone.     

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.     

Desert sand plain and sabkha deposits from the Bunter Sandstone Formation (L. Triassic) at the northern margin of the German Basin

Facies studies of well cores from the Bunter Sandstone Formation in the Tønder area, Denmark indicate, that the formation is composed of two desert sand plain sequences associated with sabkha and inland basin (lake?) mudstones. The lower desert sand plain sequence consists of subaerial sand flat deposits overlain by aeolian sand sheet and dune facies topped by interbedded aeolian and ephemeral river deposits. The upper desert sand plain sequence consists of ephemeral river deposits partly interbedded with and overlain by sabkha and inland basin mudstones. Two shoreline sandstones occur in the uppermost part. Both sequences are interpreted mainly in terms of tectonic subsidence of the basin and related upheavals of the source regions. The lower sequence represents a rather continuous progradation of the desert sand plain followed by a rapid transgression of the waters from the inland basin. The upper sequence represents brief periods of fluvial progradation followed by a gradual retreat of the river plain. The most distal part of the sand plain was finally reworked by weak wave-action.     

Origin and significance of soft-sediment deformation in the Old Red Sandstone of central South Wales,UK

Vertically oriented water-escape cusps are the most common type of soft-sediment deformation structure in sandstone-rich intervals of the fluvial Brownstones and Senni Formations (Cosheston Subgroup, Daugleddau Group) of the Lower Old Red Sandstone in the central Brecon Beacons and eastern Black Mountains, South Wales. The structures are widely distributed and occur at several stratigraphical levels. They can be divided into two styles. (1) Small-scale (height less than a single bed), isolated water-escape cusps formed when loosely packed sediment deposited rapidly in flood events liquefied in advance of subsequent flood events or pulses, causing localised fluidization due to the escape of excess pore water. Inclined cusps higher in some beds confirm the relationship of this deformation style to active flood events. (2) Horizons of larger-scale (occupying the entire bed thickness), laterally continuous water-escape cusps and fold trains can be traced for hundreds of metres to kilometres and result from widespread liquefaction in response to earthquakes. A lack of overturning indicates that their formation did not coincide with active flow conditions. Further detailed mapping is needed to clarify the continuity and extent of such structures and their relationship to faults that may have been active during sedimentation. The occurrence of triggers capable of causing liquefaction in granular materials provides a greater control on the occurrence of soft-sediment deformation than do lithological controls such as grain size or interbedding of sandstone and mudstone. The findings are broadly consistent with interpretations of soft-sediment deformation in the Cosheston Subgroup in Pembrokeshire, SW Wales.     

Nearshore to offshore facies and depositional history of the Ordovician Daylesford Limestone New South Wales

The Daylesford Limestone is the basal formation of the Ordovician Bowan Park Group of central western New South Wales. The formation contains four main limestone types and minor intercalated terrigenous beds. Limestones are: (1) grain‐stone, (2) grey skeletal wackestone and packstone, (3) dark grey burrowed wackestone and packstone, and (4) dark grey burrowed lime mudstone. Grainstone and grey skeletal wackstone and packstone are dominant in eastern sections; they are laterally equivalent to, and interfinger with, dark grey muddy limestones that dominate western sections. Lithoclasts are abundant in the grainstone but are absent from muddy sections to the west except in thin beds above disconformities. The rock types of the Daylesford Limestone also tend to occur sequentially above some disconformities; the full sequence is: grainstone (or grey skeletal wackestone and packstone) grading up into dark grey burrowed wackestone and packstone and thence into dark grey burrowed lime mudstone. Each sequence is probably trans‐gressive and reflects deepening water.

During deposition of the Daylesford Limestone, an area to the east was uplifted, providing lithoclasts to be reworked into the neighbouring depositional basin. Uplift also produced numerous regressions and subaerial disconformities. Facies patterns were essentially similar throughout the history of the formation. Grainstone accumulated in high‐energy nearshore environments adjacent to the uplifted area, and grey skeletal wackestone and packstone in low‐energy nearshore environments. Dark grey lime mudstone formed in offshore low‐energy environments to the west of the uplifted area; and dark grey wackestone and packstone in intermediate environments. In parts, burrowing organisms kept pace with sedimentation and locally mixed interbedded grainstone and muddy limestone.     

Fluvial sedimentation in the lower carboniferous of Clew Bay,County Mayo,Ireland

A succession of about 300 m of fluvial sediments from the Lower Carboniferous of northwest Ireland is described and interpreted. A lower, mainly red, formation contains fluvial channel deposits dominated by flat laminated sandstone. These are separated by interbedded sandstones and mudrocks with local caliche horizons and abundant mudcracks interpreted as levee and flood basin deposits. An upper, mainly non-red, formation contains fluvial channel deposits with common trough cross-stratification and epsilon cross-stratification also separated by interbedded sandstones and mudrocks. Evidence of desiccation is less common in the uppermost beds which pass transitionally upwards into marine sediments.The change in fluvial channel style is interpreted as due to increasing sinuosity and permanence of flow which may have been partly temporally and partly spatially controlled. The predominance of coarse sediments is thought to be largely controlled by limited subsidence. The Lower Carboniferous transgression was the major overall control of alluviation.     

Tide-dominated offshore sedimentation, Lower Cambrian, north Norway

The Duolbasgaissa Formation, Lower Cambrian, of northern Norway consists of 550 m of mineralogically and texturally mature sandstones with subordinate siltstones, mudstones and conglomerates. Four facies are defined on the basis of grain size, bed thickness and sedimentary structures. Facies 1–3 consist of a variety of erosively-based, cross-stratified and parallel-stratified sandstones interbedded with siltstone and mudstone. Many of these sandstones show evidence of deposition from waning currents. Facies 4 consists of trough cross-bedded sandstones with sets up to 4 m thick. Symmetrical ripples and bioturbation are ubiquitous. Bipolar palaeocurrent distributions are common to all facies and one mode is usually strongly dominant. Lateral facies variations and sedimentary structures suggest that deposition took place in a tide-dominated, offshore, shallow marine environment in which maximum sediment transport probably occurred when storm generated waves enhanced tidal currents. The four facies are thought to represent the deposits of various parts of tidal sediment transport paths such as exist in modern seas around Great Britain. Small scale coarsening upward sequences may represent the superposition of facies independently of changing water depth. Lack of information prevents a detailed palaeogeographic reconstruction. It is suggested that sand body shape is not accurately predictable.     

Cyclicity in the nearshore marine to coastal, Lower Permian, Pebbley Beach Formation, southern Sydney Basin, Australia: a record of relative sea-level fluctuations at the close of the Late Palaeozoic Gondwanan ice age

The Lower Permian (Artinskian to Sakmarian) Pebbley Beach Formation (PBF) of the southernmost Sydney Basin in New South Wales, Australia, records sediment accumulation in shallow marine to coastal environments at the close of the Late Palaeozoic Gondwanan ice age. This paper presents a sequence stratigraphic re‐evaluation of the upper half of the unit based on the integration of sedimentology and ichnology. Ten facies are recognized, separated into two facies associations. Facies Association A (seven facies) comprises variably bioturbated siltstones and sandstones with marine body fossils, interpreted as recording sediment accumulation in open marine environments ranging from lower offshore to middle shoreface water depths. Evidence of deltaic influence is seen in several Association A facies. Facies Association B (three facies) comprises mainly heterolithic, interlaminated and thinly interbedded sandstone and siltstone with some thicker intervals of dark grey, organic‐rich mudstone, some units clearly filling incised channel forms. These facies are interpreted as the deposits of estuarine channels and basins. Throughout the upper half of the formation, erosion surfaces with several metres relief abruptly separate open marine facies of Association A (below) from estuarine facies of Association B (above). Vertical facies changes imply significant basinward shift of environment across these surfaces, and lowering of relative sea level in the order of 50 m. These surfaces can be traced over several kilometres along depositional strike, and are defined as sequence boundaries. On this basis, at least nine sequences have been recognized in the upper half of the formation, each of which is < 10 m thick, condensed, incomplete and top‐truncated. Sequences contain little if any record of the lowstand systems tract, a more substantial transgressive systems tract and a highstand systems tract that is erosionally truncated (or in some cases, missing). This distinctive stacking pattern (which suggests a dominance of retrogradation and progradation over aggradation) and the implied relative sea‐level drop across sequence boundaries of tens of metres are remarkably similar to some other studies of continental margin successions formed under the Neogene icehouse climatic regime. Accordingly, it is suggested that the stratigraphic architecture of the PBF was a result of an Icehouse climate regime characterized by repeated, high‐amplitude cycles of relative sea‐level change.     

Repeated cycles of submarine channel incision, infill and transition to sheet sandstone development in the Alpine Foreland Basin, SE France

The Grès de Champsaur turbidite system, deposited in a distal setting in the Alpine Foreland Basin of south‐eastern France, exhibits a repeated upsection alternation in sand body geometry between incised channels and sheet sands. The channels form symmetric lenticular erosional features, of width 900–1000 m (measured between the lateral limits of incision) and depth 65–115 m, and can be traced axially for up to 5 km. In each case, the channel fill is capped by a laterally persistent sandy sheet‐form interval, which lies upon a fine‐grained substrate beyond the channel margins. No intrachannel elements have been traced into the substrate sequence, suggesting that, before infill, the channels acted as open sea‐floor conduits of essentially the same dimensions as the preserved channel deposits. The channels are vertically stacked, although axial erosion juxtaposes younger channel axis deposits against the fill of older channels and their channel‐capping sheet sandstones to produce an apparently well‐connected composite sandstone body geometry. The predominant channel‐fill facies comprises coarse‐grained, amalgamated sandstones, which are commonly parallel‐ or cross‐stratified. Subsidiary facies of finer grained sandstone–mudstone couplets and clast‐bearing muddy debrites are commonly preserved as erosional remnants, suggesting a complex channel history of aggradation and erosion. The repeated cycles of channel incision, infill and transition to sheet sandstone development indicate repetitive incision and healing of the palaeo‐sea floor. A model is proposed that links incision to the development of relatively steep axial gradients (parallel to the mean dispersal direction) and the return to sheet‐form deposition to the re‐establishment of lower axial gradients, with the repetitive switch between incisional channels and sheet sandstones driven by changes in sediment input rate against a background of ongoing sea‐floor tilting.     

Studies in fluviatile sedimentation: Bars,bar-complexes and sandstone sheets (low-sinuosity braided streams) in the brownstones (L. devonian), welsh borders

The fine to very coarse sandstones, gravelly sandstones and intraformational conglomerates of the mid to upper Brownstones are excellently exposed in large fresh road cuttings near Ross-on-Wye in the southern Welsh Borders. Detailed mapping of the cuttings reveals an hierarchically ordered system of mainly erosional bedding contacts which divide the beds into hierarchically structured packets. The smallest packets, involving cross-bedded or plane-bedded sediments or combinations of these, are consistent with deposition from strongly three-dimensional and often large, loosely periodic to non-repetitive bars. A locally developed facies of trough cross-bedded sandstones points to the infrequent occurrence of fields of three-dimensional dunes. The bar- and dune-related units are grouped into large complexes (related to the storeys of other workers), with an internal geometry consistent with lateral accretion (in places clearly symmetrical) combined with forward accretion on shoals (sand flats) within a braided channel, as in the South Saskatchewan River. In their turn, the complexes are combined into laterally extensive, conglomerate-floored sandstone sheets several metres thick. These seem to express the wandering of a braided channel across a mud-draped floodplain. To judge from the sedimentary structures and textures, the thickness of the lateral accretion deposits, and the size of the major scours, the bankfull discharge of the rivers was a few thousand cumecs each.     

Lithofacies attributes, depositional system and diagenetic properties of the Permian Gharif Formation from Haushi–Huqf area, Central Oman

Over 70 m thick interbedded sandstone, siltstone and claystone of the upper member of the Gharif Formation are exposed in western Huqf area in Oman Interior Sedimentary Basin. The Gharif Formation, particularly its upper member hosts major hydrocarbon reservoir in the subsurface of the Oman Interior Sedimentary Basin. The upper member of the Gharif Formation is comprised of interbedded thick sandstone, siltstone, carbonaceous clays and intraformational conglomerates. The sandstone lithofacies, on average, constitute 10 m thick multistoreyed sequences, which are composed internally of 2–3 m thick and 100 s of metres across vertically and laterally amalgamated sandstone bodies. Two major types of sandstones (types 1 and 2) are identified on the basis of their lithofacies association and internal architecture. The type 1 sandstone constitutes the lower part of the member and is comprised of pebbly to coarse-grained, planar and trough cross-bedded sandstone, plane bedded sandstone and pebble lags at the base of major sandstone bodies. The cross-beds are, on average, 30 cm thick exhibiting a dominant paleoflow direction towards NW (280–300° N). It is interpreted to be deposited by low sinuosity braided streams. The type 2 sandstone constitutes the upper part of the member and is comprised of medium-grained sandstone, trough to low angle plane bedding associated with lateral accretion surfaces. It is commonly interbedded with carbonaceous clays. Silicified plant fragments are commonly distributed in the upper part of the sandstone. Interbedded clays and siltstones are red, mottled and extensively bioturbated due to root burrows. It is interpreted to be deposited by high sinuosity meandering streams. In the uppermost part of the section, several dark grey to black carbonaceous clay/coal beds with plant matter are interbedded with sandstone and red clay indicating development of swampy conditions during onset of the coastal setting in the uppermost part of the formation. About 30 cm thick bioclastic sandstone deposited by the marine coastal bars mark transition from the Gharif Formation to carbonate dominated Khuff Formation. The sandstone of the Gharif Formation is arkosic in composition. Very small amount of cement and negligible compaction of constituent grains in sandstone indicates shallow burial before uplift.     

High‐resolution stratigraphic architecture and lithological heterogeneity within marginal aeolian reservoir analogues

Marginal aeolian successions contain different lithological units with variable geometries, dimensions and spatial distributions. Such variations may result in considerable heterogeneity within hydrocarbon reservoirs developed in successions of this type, which poses a high risk to their efficient development. Here, such heterogeneity is described and characterized at inter‐well (<1 km) scales using two well‐exposed outcrop analogues of ‘end member’ marginal aeolian deposits from the Permian Cedar Mesa Sandstone and Jurassic Page Sandstone of south‐central Utah, USA. The sedimentology and stratigraphic architecture of the Cedar Mesa Sandstone was studied in a 1·2 km² area in the Indian Creek region of southern Utah, where the interval consists of interbedded fluvial and aeolian deposits representative of a fluvial‐dominated erg margin. The Page Sandstone was studied in a 4·3 km² area near Escalante, close to the Utah‐Arizona border, where it consists of interbedded sabkha and aeolian deposits representative of a transitional‐marine erg margin. The three‐dimensional stratigraphic architectures of both reservoir analogues have been characterized, in order to establish the dimensions, geometries and connectivity of high‐permeability aeolian sandstones. Facies architecture of the aeolian‐sabkha deposits is characterized by laterally continuous aeolian sandstone layers of relatively uniform thickness that alternate with layers of heterolithic sabkha deposits. Aeolian sandstones are thus likely to form vertically unconnected but laterally widespread flow units in analogous reservoirs. Facies architecture in the aeolian‐fluvial deposits is more complex, because it contains alternating intervals of aeolian sandstone and fluvial heterolithic strata, both of which may be laterally discontinuous at the studied length‐scales. Aeolian sandstones encased by fluvial heterolithic strata may form small, isolated flow units in analogous reservoirs, although the limited continuity of fluvial heterolithic strata results in vertical connectivity between successive aeolian sandstones in other locations. These architectural templates may be used to condition zonation schemes in models of marginal aeolian reservoirs.     

Architecture of a coarse‐grained channel–levée system: the Rosario Formation,Baja California,Mexico

Seafloor images of coarse‐grained submarine channel–levée systems commonly reveal complex braid‐plain patterns of low‐amplitude bedforms and zones of apparent bypass; however, mechanisms of channel evolution and the resultant channel‐fill architecture are poorly understood. At Playa Esqueleto the lateral relationships between various elements of a deep‐marine slope channel system are well‐exposed. Specifically, the transition from gravel‐dominated axial thalwegs to laterally persistent marginal sandstones and isolated gravel‐filled scours is revealed. Marginal sandstones pass into a monotonous thin‐bedded succession which built to form relatively low‐relief levées bounding the channel belt; in turn, the levées onlap the canyon walls. Three orders of confinement were important during the evolution of the channel system: (i) first‐order confinement was provided by the erosional canyon which confined the entire system; (ii) confined levées built of turbidite sandstones and mudstones formed the second‐order confinement, and it is demonstrated that these built from overspill at thalweg margins; and (iii) third‐order confinement describes the erosional confinement of coarse‐grained thalwegs and scours. Finer‐grained sediment was transported in suspension and largely was unaffected by topography at the scale of individual thalwegs. Facies and clast analyses of conglomerate overlying channel‐marginal scours reveal that they were deposited by composite gravity flows, which were non‐cohesive, grain‐dominant debris flows with more fluidal cores. These flows were capable of basal erosion but were strongly depositional; frictional freezing at flow margins built gravel levées, while the core maintained a more fluidal transport regime. The resultant architecture consists of matrix‐rich, poorly sorted levées bounding better‐sorted, traction‐dominated cores. The planform geometry is interpreted to have consisted of a low‐sinuosity gravel braid‐plain built by accretion around mid‐channel and bank‐attached bars. This part of the system may be analogous to fluvial systems; however, the finer‐grained sediment load formed thick suspension clouds, probably several orders of magnitude thicker than the relief of braid‐plain topography and therefore controlled by the levées and canyon wall confinement.     

An iron-bearing wave-dominated siliciclastic shelf: Facies analysis and palaeogeographic implications (Silurian-Lower Devonian Sierra Grande Formation,Southern Argentina)

The Sierra Grande Formation (Silurian-Early Devonian) consists of quartz arenites associated with clast supported conglomerates, mudstones, shales and ironstones. Eight sedimentary facies are recognized: cross-stratified and massive sandstone, plane bedded sandstone, ripple laminated sandstone, interstratified sandstone and mudstone, laminated mudstone and shale, oolitic ironstone, massive conglomerate and sheet conglomerate lags. These facies are interpreted as shallow marine deposits, ranging from foreshore to inner platform environments. Facies associations, based on vertical relationships among lithofacies, suggest several depositional zones: (a) beach to upper shoreface, with abundant plane bedded and massive bioturbated sandstones; (b) upper shoreface to breaker zone, characterized by multistorey cross-stratified and massive sandstone bodies interpreted as subtidal longshore-flow induced sand bars; (c) subtidal, nearshore tidal sand bars, consisting of upward fining sandstone sequences; (d) lower shoreface zone, dominated by ripple laminated sandstone, associated with cross-stratified and horizontal laminated sandstone, formed by translatory and oscillatory flows; and (e) transitional nearshore-offshore and inner platform zones, with heterolithic and pelitic successions, and oolitic ironstone horizons. Tidal currents, fair weather waves and storm events interacted during the deposition of the Sierra Grande Formation. However, the relevant features of the siliciclastics suggest that fair weather and storm waves were the most important mechanisms in sediment accumulation. The Silurian-Lower Devonian platform was part of a continental interior sag located between southern South America and southern Africa. The Sierra Grande Formation was deposited during a second order sea level rise, in which a shallow epeiric sea flooded a deeply weathered low relief continent.     

陆相含油气盆地中白云岩产出的层序类型及其层序地层学分析——以东营凹陷西部沙河街组三段上部白云岩为例

本文以东营凹陷西部沙河街组三段上部白云岩为例，对白云岩产出的层序类型进行了分析，结果表明区内白云岩在不同钻井中产出的层序特征不同，分别与砂砾岩、粉砂岩、泥岩等互层．在上述基础上，运用层序地层学理论对白云岩层进行了层序地层学分析，其为高水位体系域晚期发展阶段的产物，是进积准层序的组成单元。