Sequence stacking patterns in the Western Canada foredeep: influence of tectonics, sediment loading and eustasy on deposition of the Upper Cretaceous Kaskapau and Cardium Formations

The Kaskapau and Cardium Formations span Late Cenomanian to Early Coniacian time and were deposited on a low‐gradient foredeep ramp. The studied portion of the Kaskapau Formation spans ca 3·5 Myr and forms a mudstone‐dominated wedge thinning from 700 to <50 m from SW to NE over ca 300 km. In contrast, the Cardium Formation spans about 2·1 Myr, is about 100 m thick, sandstone‐rich and broadly tabular. The Kaskapau and Cardium Formations are divided, respectively, into 28 and nine allomembers, each bounded by marine flooding surfaces. Kaskapau allomembers 1 to 7 show about 200 km of offlap from the forebulge, accompanied by progradation of thin sandstones from the eroded forebulge crest. In contrast, Kaskapau allomembers 8 to 28 and Cardium allomembers C1 to C9 show overall onlap onto the forebulge of about 350 km, and contain no forebulge‐derived sandstones. This broad pattern is interpreted as recording a latest Cenomanian pulse of tectonic loading which led to shoreline back‐step in the proximal foredeep and coeval uplift of the forebulge, leading to erosion. The advance of the sediment wedge after Kaskapau allomember 7 is attributed primarily to the isostatic effect of a distributed sediment load; the advance of the orogenic wedge had a subordinate effect on subsidence of the forebulge. For Kaskapau allomembers 1 to 6, isopachs trend north to south, suggesting a load directly to the west; allomembers 7 to 28 show an abrupt rotation of isopachs to NW–SE, suggesting that the load shifted several hundred kilometres to the south. This re‐orientation might be related to a change from an approximately orthogonal to a dextral transpressive stress regime. Within the longer‐term offlap–onlap cycle recorded by the Kaskapau and Cardium Formations, individual allomembers are grouped into packages reflecting higher‐frequency onlap–offlap cycles, each spanning ca 0·5 to 0·7 Myr. Offlap from the forebulge tends to be accompanied by more pronounced transgression in the foredeep, whereas onlap onto the forebulge is accompanied by progradation of tongues of shoreface sandstone. This relationship suggests that changes in deformation rate in the orogenic wedge modulated proximal subsidence rate, enhancing or suppressing shoreline progradation, and also causing subtle uplift or subsidence of the forebulge region. Wedge‐shaped allomembers in the Kaskapau Formation contain shoreface sandstone and conglomerate that prograded, respectively, <40 and <25 km from the preserved basin margin; progradation of coarse clastics was limited by rapid flexural subsidence. Tabular allomembers of the Cardium Formation imply a low flexural subsidence rate and contain sandy and conglomeratic shoreface deposits that prograded up to ca 180 km from the preserved basin margin. This relationship suggests that low rates of flexural subsidence promoted steeper alluvial gradients, more vigorous gravel transport and more extensive shoreface progradation. Overall, observed stratal geometry and facies distribution is explained readily in terms of current elastic flexural models. Most shoreface sandstones in the proximal foredeep show evidence of forced regression. Eustasy provides the most plausible explanation for relative sea‐level rise–fall cycles on the 125 kyr allomember timescale. Geometric relationships suggest eustatic oscillations of about 10 m. Forced regressive shoreface development was suppressed during Kaskapau allomembers 1 to 10 when the rate of flexural subsidence was at its highest.     

Ramp sedimentation across a middle Albian,Arctic embayment: Influence of subsidence,eustasy and sediment supply on stratal architecture and facies distribution,Lower Cretaceous,Western Canada Foreland Basin

Regional mapping of Middle Albian, shallow‐marine clastic strata over ca 100 000 km² of the Western Canada Foreland Basin was undertaken to investigate the relationship between large‐scale stratal architecture and lithology. Results suggest that, over ca 5 Myr, stratal geometry and facies were dynamically linked to tectonic activity in the adjacent Cordillera. Higher frequency modulation of accommodation is most reasonably ascribed to eustasy. The Harmon and Cadotte alloformations were deposited at the southern end of an embayment of the Arctic Ocean. The Harmon alloformation, forming the lower part of the succession, constitutes a wedge of marine mudstone that thickens westward over 400 km from <5 m near the forebulge to >150 m in the foredeep. Constituent allomembers are also wedge‐shaped but lack distinct clinothems, a rollover point or downlapping geometry. Ubiquitous wave ripples indicate that the sea floor lay above storm wave base. Deposition took place on an extremely low‐gradient ramp, where accommodation was limited by effective wave base. Lobate, river‐dominated deltas fringed the southern margin of the basin. The largest deltas are stacked in the same area, suggesting protracted stability of the feeder river. A buried palaeo‐valley on the underlying sub‐Cretaceous unconformity may have influenced compaction and controlled river location for ca 3 Myr. Adjacent to the western Cordillera, a predominantly mudstone succession is interbedded with abundant storm beds of very fine‐grained sandstone and siltstone that reflect supply from the adjacent orogen. Bioturbation indices in the Harmon alloformation range from zero to six which reflects the influence of stressors related to river‐mouth proximity. Harmon alloformation mudstone grades abruptly upward into marine sandstone and conglomerate of the overlying Cadotte alloformation. The Cadotte is composed of three allomembers ‘CA’ to ‘CC’, that represent the deposits of prograding strandplains 200 × 300 km in extent. Allomembers ‘CA’ and ‘CB’ are strongly sandstone‐dominated, whereas allomember ‘CC’ contains abundant conglomerate in the west. The dominantly aggradational wedge of Harmon alloformation mudstone records flexural subsidence driven by active thickening in the adjacent orogen: the high accommodation rate trapped coarser clastic detritus close to the basin margin. In contrast, the tabular, highly progradational sandstone and conglomerate bodies of the Cadotte alloformation record a low subsidence rate, implying tectonic quiescence in the adjacent orogen. Erosional unloading of the orogen through Cadotte time steepened rivers to the extent that they delivered gravel to the shore. These observations support an ‘anti‐tectonic’ model of gravel supply proposed previously for the United States portion of the Cretaceous foreland basin. Because Cadotte allomembers do not thicken appreciably into the foredeep, accommodation changes that controlled these transgressive–regressive successions were probably of eustatic origin.     

Evaluation of the relative roles of global versus local sedimentary controls on Middle to Late Pleistocene formation of continental margin strata,Canterbury Basin,New Zealand

Determining the relative influence of eustasy versus local sedimentary processes on strata formation is a fundamental challenge in the study of continental margin stratigraphy. In this paper, the relative contribution of these factors on continental margin evolution during the Middle to Late Pleistocene is evaluated using samples from Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 317. Core‐logging, biostratigraphy and quantitative X‐ray diffraction mineralogy are used to delineate continental shelf sedimentary systems. Major lithological unconformities bound stratigraphic sequences that contain recurring compositional patterns and that resemble other examples of Middle to Upper Pleistocene sequences. However, a preliminary chronology suggests that sequence boundary formation cannot be linked ‘one to one’ with eustatic cycles and therefore these sequences can contain multiple ca 100 ka eustatic cycles. Smaller amplitude, higher frequency transitions in sediment composition are interpreted as stratigraphic sequences driven by more rapid perturbations in the interplay of accommodation and sediment supply; their stratigraphy is variable in time and across the shelf, suggesting a strong influence of local sedimentary forcing in their formation. Changes in sediment composition after the Middle Pleistocene Transition indicate that sediment transfer from onshore sources in the glaciated Southern Alps to the middle‐shelf occurred over a single 100 ka glacio‐eustatic cycle, with an additional 100 ka lag before the mineralogical signal was preserved on the outer‐shelf. This phenomenon is coincident with rapid shelf progradation in this basin, suggesting a causal relation between across‐shelf sediment transport and margin progradation. This is one of very few studies that provide insights at the core scale into the processes driving continental margin evolution during the Middle to Late Pleistocene. This work shows that compositional changes in mud‐dominated successions can lead to a sequence stratigraphic interpretation and the identification of high‐frequency sequences, which may not be possible using a conventional stratigraphic approach.     

Sequence stratigraphy in the context of rapid regional uplift and high‐amplitude glacio‐eustatic changes: the Pleistocene Cutro Terrace (Calabria,southern Italy)

The Cutro Terrace is a mixed marine to continental terrace, where deposits up to 15 m thick discontinuously crop out in an area extending for ca 360 km² near Crotone (southern Italy). The terrace represents the oldest and highest terrace of the Crotone area, and it has been ascribed to marine isotope stage 7 (ca 200 kyr bp ). Detailed facies and sequence‐stratigraphic analyses of the terrace deposits allow the recognition of a suite of depositional environments ranging from middle shelf to fluvial, and of two stacked transgressive–regressive cycles (Cutro 1 and Cutro 2) bounded by ravinement surfaces and by surfaces of sub‐aerial exposure. In particular, carbonate sedimentation, consisting of algal build‐ups and biocalcarenites, characterizes the Cutro 1 cycle in the southern sector of the terrace, and passes into shoreface and foreshore sandstones and calcarenites towards the north‐west. The Cutro 2 cycle is mostly siliciclastic and consists of shoreface, lagoon‐estuarine, fluvial channel fill, floodplain and lacustrine deposits. The Cutro 1 cycle is characterized by very thin transgressive marine strata, represented by lags and shell beds upon a ravinement surface, and thicker regressive deposits. Moreover, the cycle appears foreshortened basinwards, which suggests that the accumulation of its distal and upper part occurred during forced regressive conditions. The Cutro 2 cycle displays a marked aggradational component of transgressive to highstand paralic and continental deposits, in places strongly influenced by local physiography, whereas forced regressive sediments are absent and probably accumulated further basinwards. The maximum flooding shoreline of the second cycle is translated ca 15 km basinward with respect to that of the first cycle, and this reflects a long‐term regressive trend mostly driven by regional uplift. The stratigraphic architecture of the Cutro Terrace deposits is the result of the interplay between regional uplift and high amplitude, Late Quaternary glacio‐eustatic changes. In particular, rapid transgressions, linked to glacio‐eustatic rises that outpaced regional uplift, favoured the accumulation of thin transgressive marine strata at the base of the two cycles. In contrast, the combined effect of glacio‐eustatic falls and regional uplift led to high‐magnitude forced regressions. The superposition of the two cycles was favoured by a relatively flat topography, which allowed relatively complete preservation of stratal geometries that record large shoreline displacements during transgression and regression. The absence of a palaeo‐coastal cliff at the inner margin of the terrace supports this interpretation. The Cutro Terrace provides a case study of sequence architecture developed in uplifting settings and controlled by high‐amplitude glacio‐eustatic changes. This case study also demonstrates how the interplay of relative sea‐level change, sediment supply and physiography may determine either the superposition of cycles forming a single terrace or the formation of a staircase of terraces each recording an individual eustatic pulse.     

Long‐term pockmark maintenance by fluid seepage and subsurface sediment mobilization – sedimentological investigations in Lake Neuchâtel

Pockmarks and mud volcanoes from marine and lacustrine environments are thought to be the surface expression of focused fluid flow (gas and/or water). However, the control fluid flow exerts on the sediment dynamics and rates of activity of such features, especially the maintenance and growth of pockmarks, is not well understood. This study suggests that variable fluid flow is the driving process that has maintained two lacustrine pockmarks over thousands of years. In Lake Neuchâtel (western Switzerland), the currently active Chez‐le‐Bart Pockmark (diameter ca 160 m, depth ca 10 m) and the Treytel Pockmark (diameter ca 100 m, depth ca 4 m) indicate ‘quiescent’ fluid flow as well as past, ‘eruptive’, events of subsurface sediment mobilization. This study aims to test the hypothesis that phases of increased fluid flow through the pockmarks have led to the remobilization and spilling of sediment over the pockmark rims, and that different modes of activity phases are responsible for their maintenance and growth. So termed ‘subsurface sediment mobilization deposits’ are visible in seismic profiles and correlate to specific, sedimentary intervals in Kullenberg‐type long piston cores. In a detailed analysis, different modes of transport are recognized, which are attributed to high‐density flows that correspond to multiple pulses of activity. The pockmark morphology, seismic stratigraphy and core correlation with pre‐existing data reveals that the two pockmarks have been maintained throughout the Holocene and underwent several switches between ‘quiescent’ and ‘eruptive’ mode activity.     

The Pleistocene Cape Kidnappers section in New Zealand: orbitally forced controls on active margin sedimentation?

High sedimentation rates in Pleistocene active margin basins can provide a very detailed record of tectonic and climatic controls on sediment preservation. A 500 m thick, Pleistocene rock section exposed in northeastern North Island of New Zealand (Kidnappers Group), provides the opportunity to discuss these controls. The section is composed of conglomerate, sandstones, siltstones and minor shales, interbedded with tephra layers. The sediments were deposited in alluvial to shallow marine environments and preserved in stacks of depositional units decimetres to hundreds of metres thick as a result of base‐level changes through time. The correlation of base‐level changes in the section with the deep sea oxygen isotope stratigraphy shows that the sequences at 10 m and 80 m scales can correlate, respectively, to the 20 and 100 kyr changes in eustatic sea‐level, but that the 80‐m‐thick sequences correlate also to changes in tectonic uplift rates. A major change in the stratigraphical architecture occurs at the Mid‐Pleistocene Transition (MPT) when the 40 kyr ice volume variations shifted to a dominant 100 kyr variation. This change includes an increase in the amplitude of the shifts in depositional environments and an overall simplification of the stacking pattern of the depositional units through the MPT. This study illustrates that active margin basins can record orbitally forced sedimentary cycles and points to a possible leading influence of eustasy on the pattern of sediment preservation in tectonically active areas. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Oxygenation of shallow marine environments and chemical sedimentation in Palaeoproterozoic peritidal settings: Frere Formation,Western Australia

The Palaeoproterozoic Frere Formation (ca 1.89 Gyr old) of the Earaheedy Basin, Western Australia, is a ca 600 m thick succession of iron formation and fine‐grained, clastic sedimentary rocks that accumulated on an unrimmed continental margin with oceanic upwelling. Lithofacies stacking patterns suggest that deposition occurred during a marine transgression punctuated by higher frequency relative sea‐level fluctuations that produced five parasequences. Decametre‐scale parasequences are defined by flooding surfaces overlain by either laminated magnetite or magnetite‐bearing, hummocky cross‐stratified sandstone that grades upward into interbedded hematite‐rich mudstone and trough cross‐stratified granular iron formation. Each aggradational cycle is interpreted to record progradation of intertidal and tidal channel sediments over shallow subtidal and storm‐generated deposits of the middle shelf. The presence of aeolian deposits, mud cracks and absence of coarse clastics indicate deposition along an arid coastline with significant wind‐blown sediment input. Iron formation in the Frere Formation, in contrast to most other Palaeoproterozoic examples, was deposited almost exclusively in peritidal environments. These other continental margin iron formations also reflect upwelling of anoxic, Fe‐rich sea water, but accumulated in the full spectrum of shelf environments. Dilution by fine‐grained, windblown terrigenous clastic sediment probably prevented the Frere iron formation from forming in deeper settings. Lithofacies associations and interpreted paragenetic pathways of Fe‐rich lithofacies further suggest precipitation in sea water with a prominent oxygen chemocline. Although essentially unmetamorphosed, the complex diagenetic history of the Frere Formation demonstrates that understanding the alteration of iron formation is a prerequisite for any investigation seeking to interpret ocean‐atmosphere evolution. Unlike studies that focus exclusively on their chemistry, an approach that also considers palaeoenvironment and oceanography, as well the effects of post‐depositional fluid flow and alteration, mitigates the potential for incorrectly interpreting geochemical data.     

Forebulge dynamics and environmental control in Western Amazonia: The case study of the Arch of Iquitos (Peru)

The Iquitos Arch corresponds to a broad topographic high in the Western Amazonia. Morphostructural and geophysical data and flexural modeling show that the Iquitos Arch is the present-day forebulge of the Northwestern Amazonian foreland basin. A detailed tectono-sedimentary study of the Neogene and Quaternary deposits of the Iquitos area has been carried out in order to circumscribe the timing of the forebulge uplift and its environmental consequences. The Neogene and Quaternary sedimentary succession of the Iquitos Arch consists of six formations that evolved from tidal to fluvial environments. The first three formations exhibit Late Miocene gliding features and synsedimentary normal faults. Such soft-sediment deformations bear witness to tectonic activity ascribed to the growth of the forebulge. Regional erosive surfaces that separate the Neogene and Quaternary formations recorded the progressive forebulge emersion and the evolution of Amazonian drainage system. This uplift is related to an increase in tectonic activity within the Andes, which has provoked the eastern propagation of the orogenic wedge and caused an orogenic loading stage in the Amazonian foreland basin system. The emersion of the forebulge induced the retreat of the Pebas “marine megalake” nearby the Iquitos area and consequently caused important environmental changes in the Amazonian basin. From the end of the Late Miocene to the Pliocene, the forebulge acted as a barrier inducing the deposition of fluvial deposits in the forebulge depozone and the deposition of the “White Sand” deposits in the backbulge depozone. Since about 6 Ma, the forebulge is incised and crossed over by the modern Amazon River. The Iquitos forebulge is still growing as shown by the faulted Holocene terrace deposits.     

Three‐fold nature of coastal progradation during the Holocene eustatic highstand,Po Plain,Italy – close correspondence of stratal character with distribution patterns

Although general trends in transgressive to highstand sedimentary evolution of river‐mouth coastlines are well‐known, the details of the turnaround from retrogradational (typically estuarine) to aggradational–progradational (typically coastal/deltaic) stacking patterns are not fully resolved. This paper examines the middle to late Holocene eustatic highstand succession of the Po Delta: its stratigraphic architecture records a complex pattern of delta outbuilding and coastal progradation that followed eustatic stabilization, since around 7·7 cal kyr bp . Sedimentological, palaeoecological (benthic foraminifera, ostracods and molluscs) and compositional criteria were used to characterize depositional conditions and sediment‐dispersal pathways within a radiocarbon‐dated chronological framework. A three‐stage progradation history was reconstructed. First, as soon as eustasy stabilized (7·7 to 7·0 cal kyr bp ), rapid bay‐head delta progradation (ca 5 m year^?1), fed mostly by the Po River, took place in a mixed, freshwater and brackish estuarine environment. Second, a dominantly aggradational parasequence set of beach‐barrier deposits in the lower highstand systems tract (7·0 to 2·0 cal kyr bp ) records the development of a shallow, wave‐dominated coastal system fed alongshore, with elongated, modestly crescent beaches (ca 2·5 m year^?1). Third, in the last 2000 years, the development of faster accreting and more rapidly prograding (up to ca 15 m year^?1) Po delta lobes occurred into 30 m deep waters (upper highstand systems tract). This study documents the close correspondence of sediment character with stratal distribution patterns within the highstand systems tract. Remarkable changes in sediment characteristics, palaeoenvironments and direction of sediment transport occur across a surface named the ‘A–P surface’. This surface demarcates a major shift from dominantly aggradational (lower highstand systems tract) to fully progradational (upper highstand systems tract) parasequence stacking. In the Po system, this surface also reflects evolution from a wave‐dominated to river‐dominated deltaic system. Identifying the A–P surface through detailed palaeoecological and compositional data can help guide interpretation of highstand systems tracts in the rock record, especially where facies assemblages and their characteristic geometries are difficult to discern from physical sedimentary structures alone.     

Distribution of contourite drifts on convergent margins: Examples from the Hikurangi subduction margin of New Zealand

Contourite drift systems form a significant component of the marine clastic sedimentary record. Although contourites form in all tectonic settings, few studies have described their development along convergent margins; such characterization is needed to underpin oceanographic and palaeoenvironmental studies in active settings. This study is the first to document contourite drift development along the Hikurangi subduction margin of New Zealand. Integration of bathymetric, seismic and well data enables five classes of drift to be recognized around the subduction wedge, occurring in three principal associations: (i) an upper slope drift association of giant elongate mounded (ca 150 km long, 50 km wide and up to 1100 m thick) and plastered drifts (ca 300 km long, 8 km wide and <600 m thick), which occurs upon and inboard of a major intrabasinal thrust‐cored high, whose long axis parallels the coast; shallow bottom currents disperse sub‐parallel to this axis; (ii) a spatiotemporally discontinuous association of confined and mounded hybrid drifts (ca 500 m long, <2 km wide and up to 500 m thick) that occurs along the mid‐to‐outer slope domain of the wedge, recording the interaction of along‐slope and downslope currents within trench‐slope basins; and (iii) a trench fill assemblage that implies the passage of abyssal bottom currents across a 40 km reach of the trench‐axial Hikurangi Channel‐levée, with associated modification of the channel form and of overbank sediment waves. The fundamental presence of contourites along this margin appears to depend on the orientation and strength of oceanographic bottom currents. However, drift type and evolution vary depending on the slope gradient and the presence of irregular seafloor topography created by tectonic structures. The documented drifts are generally smaller, less continuous, and develop more intermittently than similar styles of drifts documented on passive margins; this mode of occurrence may be characteristic of contourite development on convergent margins.     

Fission track data from the Bathurst Batholith: Evidence for rapid mid‐Cretaceous uplift and erosion within the eastern highlands of Australia

Apatite fission track thermochronology reveals that uplift and erosion occurred during the mid‐Cretaceous within the Bathurst Batholith region of the eastern highlands, New South Wales. Apatite fission track ages from samples from the eastern flank of the highlands range between ca 73 and 139 Ma. The mean lengths of confined fission tracks for these samples are > 13 μm with standard deviations of the track length distributions between 1 and 2 μm. These data suggest that rocks exposed along the eastern flank of the highlands were nearly reset as the result of being subjected to palaeotemperatures in the range of approximately 100–110°C, prior to being cooled relatively quickly through to temperatures < 50°C in the mid‐Cretaceous at ca 90 Ma. In contrast, samples from the western flank of the highlands yield apparent apatite ages as old as 235 Ma and mean track lengths < 12.5 μm, with standard deviations between 1.8 and 3 μm. These old apatite ages and relatively short track lengths suggest that the rocks were exposed to maximum palaeotemperatures between approximately 80° and 100°C prior to the regional cooling episode. This cooling is interpreted to be the result of kilometre‐scale uplift and erosion of the eastern highlands in the mid‐Cretaceous, and the similarity in timing of uplift and erosion within the highlands and initial extension along the eastern Australian passive margin prior to breakup (ca 95 Ma) strongly suggests these two occurrences are related.     

Sedimentary characteristics of Cenozoic strata in central-southern Ningxia,NW China: Implications for the evolution of the NE Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau

Cenozoic sedimentary deposits in central-southern Ningxia province, NW China are an important record of Tertiary tectonic events along the evolving Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau’s northeast margin. Shortly after the onset of the Indo-Eurasia collision to the south, a thrust belt and adjoining foreland basin began to form during 40–30 Ma. The Eocene Sikouzi Formation developed in a distal setting to this basin, in normal fault-bound basins that may have formed in a forebulge setting. Subsequent deposition of the Oligocene Qingshuiying Formation occurred during a phase of apparently less intense tectonism and the previous underfilled foreland basin became overfilled. During the Early Miocene, contractional deformation was mainly distributed to the west of the Liupan Shan. This resulted in deformation of the Qingshuiying Formation as indicated by an unconformity with the overlying Miocene Hongliugou Formation. The unconformity occurs proximal to the Haiyuan Fault suggesting that the Haiyuan Fault may have begun movement in the Early Miocene. In the Late Miocene, thrusting occurred west of the southern Helan Shan and an unconformity developed between the Hongliugou and Qingshuiying Formations proximal to the the Cha-Gu Fault. Relationships between the Miocene stratigraphy and major faults in the region imply that during the Late Miocene the deformation front of the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau had migrated to the Cha-Gu Fault along the western Ordos Margin, and the Xiang Shan was uplifted. Central-southern Ningxia was then incorporated into the northeast propagating thrust wedge. The driving force for NE propagation of the thrust wedge was most likely pronounced uplift of the northeastern plateau at the same time. Analysis of the sedimentary record coupled with consideration of the topographic evolution of the region suggests that the evolving fold-and-thrust belt experienced both forward-breaking fold-and-thrust belt development, and out-of-sequence fault displacements as the thrust wedge evolved and the foreland basin became compartmentalised. The documented sedimentary facies and structural relationship also place constraints on the Miocene-Recent evolution of the Yellow River and its tributaries.     

Evolution and architecture of a West Mediterranean Upper Pleistocene to Holocene coastal apron‐fan system

The Quaternary deposits of tectonically stable areas are a powerful tool to investigate high‐frequency climate variations (<10 ka) and to distinguish allogenic and autogenic factors controlling deposition. Therefore, an Upper Pleistocene–Holocene coastal apron‐fan system in north–western Sardinia (Porto Palmas, Italy) was studied to investigate the relations between climate changes, sea‐level fluctuations and sediment source‐supply that controlled its development. The sedimentary sequence records the strong influence of local (wet/dry) and worldwide (sea‐level) environmental variations in the sedimentation and preservation of the deposits. A multi‐disciplinary approach allowed subdivision of the succession into four major, unconformity‐bounded stratigraphic units: U1 U2, U3 and U4. Unit U1, tentatively dated to the warm and humid Marine Isotopic Stage (MIS) 5, consists of sandy, gravelly coastal/beach deposits developed during high sea‐level in low‐lying areas. Unit U2 consists of debris‐flow dominated fan‐deposits (ca 74 ka; MIS 4), preserved as partial fills of small valleys and coves. Unit U2 is mainly composed of reddish silty conglomerate to pebbly siltstones sourced from the Palaeozoic metamorphic inland hills (bedrock), superficially disintegrated during the preceding warm, vegetation‐rich MIS 5. The cold and semi‐arid climate strongly reduced vegetation cover along the valley flanks. Therefore, sediment gravity‐flow processes, possibly activated by rainstorms, led to deposition of debris‐flow dominated fans. Unit U3 consists of water‐flow dominated alluvial‐fan deposits (ca 47 to 23 ka; MIS 3), developed on a slightly inclined coastal plain. Unit U3 is composed of sandstone and sandy conglomerate fed from two main sediment sources: metamorphic inland bedrock and Quaternary bioclastic‐rich shelf‐derived sands. During this cold phase, sea‐level dropped sufficiently to expose bioclastic sands accumulated on the shelf. Frequent climate fluctuations favoured inland aeolian transport of sand during dry phases, followed by reworking of the aeolian bodies by flash floods during wet phases. Bedrock‐derived fragments mixed with water‐reworked, wind‐blown sands led to the development of water‐flow dominated fans. The Dansgaard–Oeschger events possibly associated with sand landward deflation and main fan formations are Dansgaard–Oeschger 13 (ca 47 ka), Dansgaard–Oeschger 8 (ca 39 ka) and Dansgaard–Oeschger 2 (ca 23 ka). No record of sedimentation during MIS 2 was observed. Finally, bioclastic‐rich aeolianites (Unit U4, ca 10 to 5 ka; MIS 1), preserved on a coastal slope, were developed during the Holocene transgression (ca 10 to 5 ka; MIS 1). The studied sequence shows strong similarities with those of other Mediterranean sites; it is, however, one of the few where the main MIS 4 and MIS 3 climatic fluctuations are registered in the sedimentary record.     

Precession‐scale cyclicity in the fluvial lower Eocene Willwood Formation of the Bighorn Basin,Wyoming (USA)

Little is known about controls on river avulsion at geological time scales longer than 10⁴ years, primarily because it is difficult to link observed changes in alluvial architecture to well‐defined allogenic mechanisms and to disentangle allogenic from autogenic processes. Recognition of Milankovitch‐sale orbital forcing in alluvial stratigraphy would provide unprecedented age control in terrestrial deposits, and also exploit models of allogenic forcing enabling more rigorous testing of allocyclic and autocyclic controls. The Willwood Formation of the Bighorn Basin is a lower Eocene fluvial unit distinctive for its thick sequence of laterally extensive lithological cycles on a scale of 4 to 10 m. Intervals of red palaeosols that formed on overbank mudstones are related to periods of relative channel stability when gradients between channel belts and floodplains were low. The intervening drab, heterolithic intervals with weak palaeosol development are attributed to episodes of channel avulsion that occurred when channels became super‐elevated above the floodplain. In the Deer Creek Amphitheater section in the McCullough Peaks area, these overbank and avulsion deposits alternate with a dominant cycle thickness of ca 7·1 m. Using integrated stratigraphic age constraints, this cyclicity has an estimated period of ca 21·6 kyr, which is in the range of the period of precession climate cycles in the early Eocene. Previous analyses of three older and younger sections in the Bighorn Basin showed a similar 7 to 8 m spacing of red palaeosol clusters with an estimated duration close to the precession period. Intervals of floodplain stability alternating with episodes of large‐scale reorganization of the fluvial system could be entirely autogenic; however, the remarkable regularity and the match in time scales documented here indicate that these alternations were probably paced by allogenic, astronomically forced climate change.     

Climatic and eustatic signals in a global compilation of shallow marine carbonate accumulation rates

Two of the most important factors that control the accumulation rate of material in carbonate platform environments on geological time scales are climate and eustasy. Accurately assessing the importance of these inter‐related factors through the study of both modern and ancient carbonate facies, however, is problematic. These difficulties arise from both the complexities inherent in carbonate depositional systems and the demonstrable incompleteness of the stratigraphic record. Here, a new compilation of more than 19 000 global Phanerozoic shallow marine carbonate accumulation rates derived from nearly 300 individual stratigraphic sections is presented. These data provide the first global holistic view of changes in shallow marine carbonate production in response to climate and eustasy on geological time scales. Notably, a clear latitudinal dependence on carbonate accumulation rates is recognized in the data. Moreover, it can also be demonstrated that rates calculated across the last glacial maximum and Holocene track changes in sea‐level. In detail, the data show that globally averaged changes in carbonate accumulation rates lagged changes in sea‐level by ca 3 kyr, reflecting the commonly observed delay in the response of individual carbonate successions to sea‐level rise. Differences between the rates of carbonate accumulation and sea‐level change over the past 25 kyr ostensibly reflect changing accumulation mode, with platform drowning (give‐up mode) pervasive during peak Early Holocene sea‐level rise, followed by a switch to catch‐up mode accumulation from ca 9 ka to the present. Carbonate accumulation rates older than the Quaternary are typically calculated over time spans much greater than 100 kyr, and at these time spans, rates primarily reflect long‐term tectonically mediated accommodation space changes rather than shorter term changes in climate/eustasy. This finding, coupled with issues of stratigraphic incompleteness and data abundance, tempers the utility of this and other compilations for assessing accurately the role of climate and eustasy in mediating carbonate accumulation rates through geological time.     

Storm‐dominated shelf‐edge delta successions in a high accommodation setting: The palaeo‐Orinoco Delta (Mayaro Formation), Columbus Basin,South‐East Trinidad

Pliocene age deposits of the palaeo‐Orinoco Delta are evaluated in the Mayaro Formation, which crops out along the western margin of the Columbus Basin in south‐east Trinidad. This sandstone‐dominated interval records the diachronous, basinwards migration of the shelf edge of the palaeo‐Orinoco Delta, as it prograded eastwards during the Pliocene–Pleistocene (ca 3·5 Ma). The basin setting was characterized by exceptionally high rates of growth‐fault controlled sediment supply and accommodation space creation resulting in a gross basin‐fill of around 12 km, with some of the highest subsidence rates in the world (ca 5 to 10 m ka^?1). This analysis demonstrates that the Mayaro Formation was deposited within large and mainly wave‐influenced shelf‐edge deltas. These are manifested as multiple stacks of coarsening upward parasequences at scales ranging from tens to hundreds of metres in thickness, which are dominated by storm‐influenced and wave‐influenced proximal delta‐front sandstones with extensive, amalgamated swaley and hummocky cross‐stratification. These proximal delta‐front successions pass gradationally downwards into 10s to 100 m thick distal delta front to mud‐dominated upper slope deposits characterized by a wide variety of sedimentary processes, including distal river flood and storm‐related currents, slumps and other gravity flows. Isolated and subordinate sandstone bodies occur as gully fills, while extensive soft sediment deformation attests to the high sedimentation rates along a slope within a tectonically active basin. The vertical stratigraphic organization of the facies associations, together with the often cryptic nature of parasequence stacking patterns and sequence stratigraphic surfaces, are the combined product of the rapid rates of accommodation space creation, high rates of sediment supply and glacio‐eustasy in the 40 to 100 Ka Milankovitch frequency range. The stratigraphic framework described herein contrasts strikingly with that described from passive continental margins, but compares favourably to other tectonically active, deltaic settings (for example, the Baram Delta Province of north‐west Borneo).     

Sedimentary evolution and environmental history of Lake Van (Turkey) over the past 600 000 years

The lithostratigraphic framework of Lake Van, eastern Turkey, has been systematically analysed to document the sedimentary evolution and the environmental history of the lake during the past ca 600 000 years. The lithostratigraphy and chemostratigraphy of a 219 m long drill core from Lake Van serve to separate global climate oscillations from local factors caused by tectonic and volcanic activity. An age model was established based on the climatostratigraphic alignment of chemical and lithological signatures, validated by ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages. The drilled sequence consists of ca 76% lacustrine carbonaceous clayey silt, ca 2% fluvial deposits, ca 17% volcaniclastic deposits and 5% gaps. Six lacustrine lithotypes were separated from the fluvial and event deposits, such as volcaniclastics (ca 300 layers) and graded beds (ca 375 layers), and their depositional environments are documented. These lithotypes are: (i) graded beds frequently intercalated with varved clayey silts reflecting rising lake levels during the terminations; (ii) varved clayey silts reflecting strong seasonality and an intralake oxic–anoxic boundary, for example, lake‐level highstands during interglacials/interstadials; (iii) CaCO₃‐rich banded sediments which are representative of a lowering of the oxic–anoxic boundary, for example, lake level decreases during glacial inceptions; (iv) CaCO₃‐poor banded and mottled clayey silts reflecting an oxic–anoxic boundary close to the sediment–water interface, for example, lake‐level lowstands during glacials/stadials; (v) diatomaceous muds were deposited during the early beginning of the lake as a fresh water system; and (vi) fluvial sands and gravels indicating the initial flooding of the lake basin. The recurrence of lithologies (i) to (iv) follows the past five glacial/interglacial cycles. A 20 m thick disturbed unit reflects an interval of major tectonic activity in Lake Van at ca 414 ka bp . Although local environmental processes such as tectonic and volcanic activity influenced sedimentation, the lithostratigraphic pattern and organic matter content clearly reflect past global climate changes, making Lake Van an outstanding terrestrial archive of unprecedented sensitivity for the reconstruction of the regional climate over the last 600 000 years.     

End-signature of deep-marine basin-fill, as a structurally confined low-gradient clastic system: the Middle Eocene Guaso system, South-central Spanish Pyrenees

The ca 300 m thick Guaso system is the youngest part of the ca 4 km thick deep-marine fill of the Middle Eocene Ainsa basin, Spanish Pyrenees. It is overlain by 150 to 200 m of fine-grained slope, prodelta and deltaic sediments. The ca 25 discrete deep-marine sandbodies within the Ainsa basin accumulated over ca 10 Myr, making eustasy the most likely control for coarse sand deposition (probably the ca 400 kyr Milankovitch mode). The first-order control on basin-scale accommodation, however, was tectonically-driven subsidence. Previously, the Guaso sandbodies were interpreted as linked to deep erosional, canyon-like features, but here it is argued that they are laterally extensive sandbodies, built by lateral-switching of 3 to 10 m deep erosional channels, and confined only by basin structure during deposition. The Guaso system represents the end of deep-marine deposition in a structurally-confined, delta-fed, low-gradient clastic system. The critical end-signature of deep-marine deposition was a phase of differential tectonic uplift above the underlying (Boltaña) thrust creating a narrower and shallower basin morphology, thus allowing sedimentation to create a low-gradient clastic system. Then, the next eustatic sea-level fall was insufficient to permit the cutting of canyons or deeply-incised slope channels, as had been the case earlier when the topographic relief between shelf and basin was at least several hundred metres greater. Such low-gradient clastic systems may characterize the end-signature for the infill of other shallowing-up deep-marine basins where a tectonic driver on subsidence is removed and/or differential uplift/subsidence leads to reduced sea floor gradients, leaving eustasy and sediment flux as the principal control on sediment supply.     

Soft‐sediment deformation structures in a Pleistocene glaciolacustrine delta and their implications for the recognition of subenvironments in delta deposits

The development of soft‐sediment deformation structures in clastic sediments is now reasonably well‐understood but their development in various deltaic subenvironments is not. A sedimentological analysis of a Pleistocene (ca 13·1 to 15 ¹⁰Be ka) Gilbert‐type glaciolacustine delta with gravity‐induced slides and slumps in the Mosty‐Danowo tunnel valley (north‐western Poland) provides more insight, because the various soft‐sediment deformation structures in these deposits were considered in the context of their specific deltaic subenvironment. The sediments show three main groups of soft‐sediment deformation structures in layers between undeformed sediments. The first group consists of deformed cross‐bedding (inclined, overturned, recumbent, complex and sheath folds), large‐scale folds (recumbent and sheath folds) and pillows forming plastic deformations. The second group comprises pillar structures (isolated and stress), clastic dykes with sand volcanoes and clastic megadykes as examples of water‐escape structures. The third group consists of faults (normal and reverse) and extensional fissures (small fissures and neptunian dykes). Some of the deformations developed shortly after deposition of the deformed sediment, other structures developed later. This development must be ascribed to hydroplastic movement in a quasi‐solid state, and due to fluidization and liquefaction of the rapidly deposited, water‐saturated deltaic sediments. The various types of deformations were triggered by: (i) a high sedimentation rate; (ii) erosion (by wave action or meltwater currents); and (iii) ice‐sheet loading and seasonal changes in the ablation rate. Analysis of these triggers, in combination with the deformational mechanisms, have resulted – on the basis of the spatial distribution of the various types of soft‐sediment deformation structures in the delta under study – in a model for the development of soft‐sediment deformation structures in the topsets, foresets and bottomsets of deltas. This analysis not only increases the understanding of the deformation processes in both modern and ancient deltaic settings but also helps to distinguish between the various subenvironments in ancient deltaic deposits.     

Recognizing products of palaeoclimate fluctuation in the fluvial stratigraphic record: An example from the Pennsylvanian to Lower Permian of Cape Breton Island,Nova Scotia

Tectonics and climate are the major extrinsic upstream controls on both the external and internal architectures of fluvial channels. While the role of tectonics has been well‐documented, the role of climate has received less attention. Because both tectonics and climate can produce similar stratigraphic architectures, the ability to recognize and differentiate these has major ramifications for the interpretation of fluvial stratigraphy. The Pennsylvanian to Permian succession of the Maritimes Basin complex on Cape Breton Island is ca 5 km thick, and is composed of predominantly non‐marine strata deposited within a series of depocentres characterized by different subsidence regimes. Basins in the west are transtensional depocentres characterized by episodic fault movement. In contrast, basins in the east were formed during prolonged periods of passive thermal subsidence. The stratigraphy is composed of four second‐order sequences (A to D), each 5 to 10 Myr in duration. These sequences are composed of amalgamated fluvial channel deposits that fine upwards into extensive mud‐dominated floodplain deposits with isolated fluvial channel bodies. A spectrum of fluvial styles is recorded within the study area including perennial, perennial/intermittent and ephemeral. Four stratigraphic intervals (E1 to E4) are recognized in which the deposits of strongly seasonal perennial/intermittent fluvial deposits are predominant. These intervals, 2 to 6 Myr in duration, are correlated across the study area between basins with differing tectonic regimes and do not correlate with a particular position in second‐order sequences. This suggests that climate exerted the dominant influence on the formation of these intervals and can be differentiated from tectonic imprints. While the tectonic regime of a particular basin exerted a fundamental control on the external architecture, a coherent record of climate change is recognized in the internal architecture of fluvial units. This study demonstrates that tectonic and climatic controls can be recognized and differentiated in vertical successions by evaluating the changes in fluvial architecture.