Late Cenozoic sea-level changes and the onset of glaciation: impact on continental slope progradation off eastern Canada

Late Cenozoic sedimentation from four varied sites on the continental slopes off southeastern Canada has been analysed using high-resolution airgun multichannel seismic profiles, supplemented with some single channel data. Biostratigraphic ties are available to exploratory wells at three of the sites. Uniform, slow accumulation of hemipelagic sediments was locally terminated by the late Miocene sea-level lowering, which is also reflected in changes in foraminiferan faunas on the continental shelf. Data are very limited for the early Pliocene but suggest a return to slow hemipelagic sedimentation. At the beginning of the late Pliocene, there was a change in sedimentation style marked by a several-fold increase in accumulation rates and cutting of slope valleys. This late Pliocene cutting of slope valleys corresponds to the onset of late Cenozoic growth of the Laurentian Fan and the initiation of turbidite sedimentation on the Sohm Abyssal Plain. Although it corresponds to a time of sea-level lowering, the contrast with the late Miocene lowstand indicates that there must also have been a change in sediment delivery to the coastline, perhaps as a result of increased rainfall or development of valley glaciers. High sedimentation rates continued into the early Pleistocene, but the extent of slope dissection by gullies increased. Gully-cutting episodes alternated with sediment-draping episodes. Throughout the southeastern Canadian continental margin, there was a change in sedimentation style in the middle Pleistocene that resulted from extensive ice sheets crossing the continental shelf and delivering coarse sediment directly to the continental slope.     

Facies and architecture of a tide-dominated segment of the Late Pliocene Orinoco Delta (Morne L'Enfer Formation) SW Trinidad

Exceptionally high shelf-subsidence rates (0.8–6.0+ mm/yr), a marked basinward stepping (to east and northeast) of the paleo-Orinoco shelf prism and post-Pliocene uplift of Trinidad all allow the sedimentary facies, process regime and the evolution of the Late Miocene Orinoco Delta to be evaluated from extensive outcrops along the southwest, and south coasts of Trinidad. The ca. 200 km easterly growth (late Miocene to present) of the Orinoco shelf-margin was generated by repeated cross-shelf, regressive–transgressive transits of the Orinoco Delta system. The studied Late Pliocene segment of this shelf-margin prism allows insight to how this margin was built. The Morne L'Enfer Formation (Late Pliocene) along Cedros Bay and Erin Bay in SW Trinidad, provides a window into the facies and process regime of the ca. 850 m-thick deltaic succession at an inner-shelf location some 100 km landward of the coeval shelf edge. Regressive facies associations include tide-influenced delta-front to prodelta deposits (FA1) within upward coarsening units, shoreface to offshore deposits, possibly with prograding mud cape deposits (FA2), and fluvial distributary channel infills (FA3), as well as muddy sediments of floodbasins and coastal embayments between the distributary channels (FA4), and tide-influenced bay-head delta deposits (FA5). Transgressive facies associations show an overall upward fining of grain size and include inner estuary distributary channels with minimal brackish-water or tidal influence (FA6), transition zone fluvial-tidal distributary channels (FA7), tide-dominated mid-outer estuary channel-bars (FA8), and intertidal to supratidal flat units (FA9). The tidal signals in both deltaic and estuarine units include bi-directional paleocurrents (channels), frequent mud drapes within stacked sets of cross-strata (delta-front), fluid mud layers, flaser, wavy and lenticular bedding, and ubiquitous spring-neap stratal bundling. The tide dominated nature of the paleo-delta in SW Trinidad was likely due to its location within an embayed proto-Columbus Channel, though by analogy with the modern Orinoco Delta, it is predicted that the same succession becomes wave dominated to the east as the delta emerged to the open ocean and approached the outer shelf and shelf-edge region. It is difficult to estimate how much of the abundant mud in the Pliocene deltaic sequences was derived from inner-shelf littoral currents with suspended Amazon River mud. The studied Late Pliocene Morne L'Enfer succession contains some 17 high-frequency transgressive–regressive sequences, each ca. 40–60 m thick, estimated to have an average time duration of 90–120 Ky. By analogy, the last glacial cycle on the Orinoco shelf saw the delta prograding across the 200 km-wide shelf to the shelf edge in ca. 100 Ky, then transgressing back to its present position in 20 Ky. A predicted model of the linkage between the study succession on SW Trinidad and its eastward continuation offshore towards the outer shelf and shelf edge in the Columbus Basin is suggested.     

Siliciclastic influx and burial of the Cenozoic carbonate system in the Gulf of Papua

An extensive carbonate system in the Gulf of Papua (GoP), developed in the late Oligocene–middle Miocene, was buried by huge influx of siliciclastics originated from Papua New Guinea. Major episodes of siliciclastic influx in the carbonate system are related to tectonic activity in the fold and thrust belt during the Oligocene Peninsular Orogeny, late Miocene Central Range Orogeny, and late Pliocene renewed uplift and exhumation of peninsular region. Siliciclastics did not influence the carbonate deposition during the late Oligocene–middle Miocene, since they were accumulated in the Aure Trough, proximal foreland basin protecting the carbonate system. The most significant burial of the carbonate system started during the late Miocene–early Pliocene in the result of the Central Range Orogeny. However, the largest influx was related to the renewed uplift of the Papuan Peninsula during the early late Pliocene. The shelf edge prograded ∼150 km and formed more than 80% of the modern shelf. This high siliciclastic influx was also enhanced by the “mid” Pliocene global warmth period and intensified East Asian monsoons at 3.6–2.9 Ma. Although many publications exist on carbonate–siliciclastic mixing in different depositional environments, this study helps understand the carbonate–siliciclastic interactions in space and time, especially at basinal scale, and during different intervals of the carbonate system burial by siliciclastic sediments.     

Genesis of the Northern Adriatic Sea (Northern Italy) since early Pliocene

The Northern Adriatic Sea is a shallow and very flat shelf area located between the northern Apennines, the southern Alps and the Dinarides; its present day physiography is the result of the filling of a relatively deep Quaternary foredeep basin, developed due to the northeastward migration of the Apennine chain. Multichannel seismic profiles and well data have allowed documenting the stratigraphic architecture, the depositional systems and the physiographic evolution of the Northern Adriatic sea since early Pliocene time. In particular, three main depositional sequences bounded by regional unconformities were recognized. The Zanclean Sequence 1 documents first the drowning of late Messinian incised valleys and then the southward progradation of a shelf-slope system, which is inferred to be related to a tectonic phase of the Apenninic front. The Piacenzian-Gelasian Sequence 2 records a relatively rapid transgressive episode followed by minor southward progradation; the top of the sequence is associated with a major late Gelasian drowning event, linked to the NE-ward migration of the Apennine foredeep. The Calabrian to upper Pleistocene Sequence 3 testifies the infilling of accommodation previously created by the late Gelasian drowning event, and it initially accumulated in deep-water settings and then in shallow-water to continental settings. The upper part of Sequence 3, consisting of the paleo-Po deltaic system, is composed of seven high-frequency sequences inferred to record late Quaternary glacio-eustatic changes. These high-frequency sequences document the stepwise filling of the remaining accommodation, resulting in the development of the modern shelf.     

Analysis of Antarctic glaciations by seismic reflection and refraction tomography

The Eastern Basin in the Ross Sea (Antarctica) contains a sedimentary sequence that is a direct record of advance and retreat of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet.We analyzed a sedimentary section ranging from the upper Miocene to present.The joint tomographic inversion of refracted and reflected arrivals of pre-stack multi-channel seismic data revealed in this area the presence of layers with anomalous high velocity. These anomalies are correlated with sediments that were eroded and compacted by the load of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet during its expansion on the continental shelf.The deepest and stronger velocity anomaly correspond to a basin-wide seismic unconformity (RSU2, Late Miocene–Early Pliocene in age). This anomaly is interpreted as evidence of a major advance of the West Antarctic ice sheet on the continental shelf that resulted in high velocity and low porosity in sediment immediately above the unconformity.     

晚新生代西太平洋古海洋环境演化过程与机制

晚新生代西太平洋通过水文循环和碳循环两类关键过程,对区域乃至全球气候变化产生深刻的影响。本文从上新世以来西太暖池及其主流系演化、晚第四纪北太平洋中层水演化和白令海峡开合、第四纪中国东部陆架环境演化以及新生代亚太沉积物源-汇过程与碳埋藏等方面,综述了西太平洋古海洋环境演化过程与机制。上新世以来西太暖池与印尼贯穿流的演化过程伴随构造运动而阶段性地发生,但其在轨道时间尺度上演化的细节过程并不清晰,尚未形成系统性认识。北太平洋中层水以及白令海峡开合等关键高纬过程在冰期旋回中发生了显著变化,并与低纬过程之间存在遥相关。第四纪中国东部陆架环境演化主要受控于海平面变化以及与低纬过程相关联的热量与物质传输,在此背景下,中国东部陆架形成了富有机碳的泥质沉积体系。构造隆升和亚洲季风驱动下的亚洲大陆与邻洋的沉积物源-汇过程具有显著的碳汇效应,可能在大气CO₂浓度（${p_{{\rm{C}}{{\rm{O}}_2}}} $）冰期旋回和新生代气候变冷中发挥重要作用。就西太平洋古海洋环境演化过程与机制中若干关键科学问题开展深入和系统研究,不仅可为建立气候变化的低纬驱动理论提供支撑,也可为更好认识我国陆架环境变化规律以及碳汇潜力提供科学依据。     

Morpho-tectonic evolution of the ?anakkale Basin (NW Anatolia): evidence for a recent tectonic inversion from transpression to transtension

Onshore and offshore seismic and geologic-morphologic evidence from the wider region of the ?anakkale Basin indicates that this area has been widely exposed to transpressional tectonism, which already commenced in the Pliocene. During this transpressional tectonism, the Gelibolu Fault and the Anafartalar Shear Zone on the Gelibolu Peninsula, as well as the Bozcaada-Biga Shear Zone on the Biga Peninsula were activated. As a consequence, the northern part of the Gelibolu Peninsula, and a broad zone between Bozcaada Island and the Karaburun Peninsula were uplifted to form the northern and southern boundaries of the ?anakkale Basin, respectively. This remained a low-elevation intermontane basin between these two highlands. The original morphology of the ?anakkale Basin may have developed as a coastal and shelf section of the large extensional Marmara Sea Basin at the end of the Late Miocene. This tectonic phase was followed in the Pliocene by the transpressional tectonism of the North Anatolian Fault Zone, which destroyed the initial morphology and formed the present V-shaped basin. The activity of the Gelibolu Fault and the Anafartalar Shear Zone along the northern boundary of the ?anakkale Basin ended in the late Pleistocene with the initiation of the northern segment of the North Anatolian Fault Zone. The tectonism along the northern boundary of the ?anakkale Basin thus shifted from a transpressional to a transtensional regime. Seismic data indicate that the Bozcaada-Biga Shear Zone continues to be active to the present day.     

Late Pleistocene–Holocene seismic stratigraphy of Nha Trang shelf,central Vietnam

The late Pleistocene–Holocene stratigraphic architecture on the steep and narrow shelf off Nha Trang, central Vietnam has been explored by high resolution seismic profiles integrated with sediment core data. Sequence stratigraphic results reveal five major seismic units and three bounding surfaces which are composed of two distinctive sequences. Those sequences are bounded by two regional unconformities (SB1, SB2) which have been formed in respond to different sea-level regimes. The revealed relict beach–ridge deposits at water depth of about ∼130 m below the present water depth indicate that the Last Glacial Lowstand (LGM) sea-level in this area was lower than in neighboring areas and it probably resulted from subsidence due to high sedimentation rate and/or neotectonic movements of the East Vietnam Fault System. The late Pleistocene high amplitude of sea-level change during a long fourth-order and superimposed by shorter fifth-order cycle is the principal factor in reorganizing the formation of the Nha Trang continental shelf sequence. Other local controlling factors as fluctuations in sediment supply, morphological variations of the LGM surface, subsidence rate and hydrodynamic conditions provided the distinctive features of the Nha Trang shelf sequence stratigraphic model in comparison with neighboring other areas.     

Paleomagnetic records and mineral-magnetic properties of deep-sea sediments in the NW pacific: Paleoenvironmental implication

The paleomagnetic records and mineral-magnetic properties of unconsolidated core sediment from the east Mariana Basin of the western Pacific have been analyzed to trace the time-dependent variations in sedimentary environments. Progressive alternating field demagnetization effectively extracts a stable remanent magnetization showing both normal and reverse polarities. Comparison of successive polarity changes, recorded in the sediment core, with reference magnetic polarity time-scale, reveals that the recovered sediment column was deposited since the late Pliocene. From the sediment age model, calculated sedimentation rate during the late Pliocene was 9.8 times higher than that during the Pleistocene. Considering the oceanic environments and geologic setting in the study area, the anomalous high sediment flux during the late Pliocene was probably caused by enhanced current flows, such as North Equatorial Current, associated with atmospheric circulation as well as by debris flows from adjacent sea mounts. In addition, the systematic variation of mineral-magnetic properties indicates periodical fluxes of coarse and magnetically stable particles, on the fine-grained dominant sedimentary environments. Such influxes, however, would not be related to syn-volcanic activities, because the summits of seamounts were totally blanketed by biogenic Pliocene-Pleistocene sediments. It is, hence, reasonable to interpret that paleomagnetic and mineral-magnetic data probably reflect drastic paleoenvironmental changes at the boundary between the Pliocene and Pleistocene, where strong current and atmospheric circulations decreased.     

Oligocene to Lower Pliocene deposits of the Norwegian continental shelf,Norwegian Sea,Svalbard, Denmark and their relation to the uplift of Fennoscandia: A synthesis

This study provides the results of the first integrated study of Oligocene–Pliocene basins around Norway.Within the study area, three main depocentres have been identified where sandy sediments accumulated throughout the Oligocene to Early Pliocene period. The depocentre in the Norwegian–Danish Basin received sediments from the southern Scandes Mountains, with a general progradation from north to south during the studied period. The depocentre in the basinal areas of the UK and Norwegian sectors of the North Sea north of 58°N received sediments from the Scotland–Shetland area. Because of the sedimentary infilling there was a gradual shallowing of the northern North Sea basin in the Oligocene and Miocene. A smaller depocentre is identified offshore northern Nordland between Ranafjorden (approximately 66°N) and Vesterålen (approximately 68°N) where the northern Scandes Mountains were the source of the Oligocene to Early Pliocene sediments. In other local depocentres along the west coast of Norway, sandy sedimentation occurred in only parts of the period. Shifts in local depocentres are indicative of changes in the paleogeography in the source areas.In the Barents Sea and south to approximately 68°N, the Oligocene to Early Pliocene section is eroded except for distal fine-grained and biogenic deposits along the western margin and on the oceanic crust. This margin was undergoing deformation in a strike-slip regime until the Eocene–Oligocene transition. The Early Oligocene sediments dated in the Vestbakken Volcanic Province and the Forlandssundet Basin represent the termination of this strike-slip regime.The change in the plate tectonic regime at the Eocene–Oligocene transition affected mainly the northern part of the study area, and was followed by a quiet tectonic period until the Middle Miocene, when large compressional dome and basin structures were formed in the Norwegian Sea. The Middle Miocene event is correlated with a relative fall in sea level in the main depocentres in the North Sea, formation of a large delta in the Viking Graben (Frigg area) and uplift of the North and South Scandes domes. In the Norwegian–Danish Basin, the Sorgenfrei-Tornquist Zone was reactivated in the Early Miocene, possibly causing a shift in the deltaic progradation towards the east. A Late Pliocene relative rise in sea level resulted in low sedimentation rates in the main depositional areas until the onset of glaciations at about 2.7 Ma when the Scandes Mountains were strongly eroded and became a major source of sediments for the Norwegian shelf, whilst the Frigg delta prograded farther to the northeast.     

The sedimentary, magmatic and tectonic evolution of the southwestern South China Sea revealed by seismic stratigraphic analysis

The southwestern South China Sea represents an area of continental crust frozen immediately before the onset of seafloor spreading. Here we compile a grid of multichannel seismic reflection data to characterize the continent-ocean transition just prior to full break-up. We identify a major continental block separated from the shelf margin by a basin of hyperextended crust. Oligocene-Early Miocene rifting was followed by mild compression and inversion prior to 16 Ma, probably linked to collision between the Dangerous Grounds, a continental block to the east of the study area, and Borneo. The timing of inversion supports models of seafloor spreading continuing until around 16 Ma, rather than becoming inactive at 20 Ma. The off-shelf banks experienced uplift prior to 16 Ma in an area, which had previously been a depocenter. The off-shelf banks continued to extend after this time when the rest of the region is in a phase of thermal subsidence. Post-rift magmatism is seen in the form of scattered seamounts (~5–10 km across) within or on the edge of the deeper basins, and are dated as Late Miocene and Pliocene. They are not clearly linked to any phase of tectonic activity. Further inversion of the off-shelf banks occurred in the Pliocene resulting in a major unconformity despite the lack of brittle faulting of that age. We speculate that this is part of a wider pattern of scattered magmatism throughout the South China Sea at this time. Prograding clinoforms are seen to build out from the shelf edge in the south of the study area during the Pliocene, after 5.3 Ma, and then more towards the north and east during the Pleistocene. At the same time a trough south of the off-shelf banks is filled with >1.35 km of mostly Pleistocene sediment. While we expect the bulk of the sediment to come from the Mekong River, we also suggest additional sediment supply from Borneo and the Malay Peninsula via the Molengraaff River and its predecessors.     

Are Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet grounding events manifest in sedimentary cycles on the adjacent continental rise?

The direct record of Late Miocene–Early Pliocene Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet expansions from a previously published seismostratigraphic study of the outer shelf at Ocean Drilling Program Site 1097 is compared to the glacial history we deduced from published proxy evidence within coeval sections on the adjacent continental rise. The proxies are sedimentary structures (laminated vs. massive/bioturbated facies) and clay minerals (predominantly smectite and chlorite contents) from Ocean Drilling Program Site 1095 located on the distal part of a large drift. The comparison shows that more sedimentary cycles are evident on the continental rise for three of the four diatom biozones we considered. This indicates that the continental-rise sedimentology may indeed be related to local or regional paleoenvironmental variability, including Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet grounding events on the adjacent outer continental shelf. If correct, this would be a promising result because unlike the outer continental shelf sequences drilled thus far, the continental rise record is relatively continuous and can be dated using paleomagnetic and biostratigraphic data. However, our study also shows that no objective criteria provide direct linkages between the glacial history we deduced from the two continental rise proxies and that previously derived from the continental-shelf seismic stratigraphy. Furthermore, the two sedimentologic proxies on the continental rise do not always provide a consistent picture of glacial history when compared against each other.     

3D architecture of Quaternary sediment along the NW Atlantic Moroccan Rharb continental shelf: A stratal pattern under the dual control of tectonics and climatic variations

This study focuses on the evolution of the Atlantic NW Moroccan Rharb continental shelf during the Neogene and Quaternary. This region is part of a foreland basin bounded by the Rif mountain belt and thus provides an interesting geological setting to study the interactions between eustasy and tectonics and the driving mechanisms controlling stratigraphic patterns. The results are supported by an interpretation of new data including high-resolution seismic lines coupled with an interpretation of industrial seismic lines and detailed logs of industrial wells completed by micropaleontologic analysis of cuttings. The stratigraphy reveals a succession of three mega sequences related to the transition from an underfilled to an overfilled stage reflecting the long-term evolution of the foreland system. Moreover, evidence of cyclical sea-level changes are visible in the upper megasequence composed of three depositional sequences assumed to be fourth-order sequences generated in response to the most recent 100-ka glacio–eustatic cycles. This study also shows the peripheral deformation of the Rharb shelf responsible for changes in the geometry of the deposits and thicknesses of the sedimentary fill during the Pliocene and Pleistocene. The most important change was triggered by the uplift of the Lallah Zahra Ridge corresponding to a major Quaternary kinematic boundary and the broad uplift of the southern shelf interpreted as a flexural uplift of the forebulge domain. The deformation-controlled sediment dispersal pattern consists of a progressive growth of the shelf accompanied with a progressive shift of depocenters from the North East to the South West and a general progradation to the North West along the southern border. This progressive filling has led to the confinement of the Rharb paleo-valley across the continental shelf. The complete filling of the palaeo-valley was followed by the development of a more than 70-m thick prodeltaic lobe at the front of the Oued Sebou river mouth during the Holocene.     

Pliocene to Recent shallow-water contourite deposits on the shelf and shelf edge off south-western Mallorca, Spain

This paper presents evidence for the presence of shallow-water contourite drifts on the south-western shelf and shelf edge off Mallorca in water depths between 150 and 275?m. These are called the Mallorca contourite depositional system (CDS). The elongate-mounded shallow-water CDS in this area is ascribed to an offshoot of the Balearic Current, which flows north to south through the Mallorca Channel as part of the overall thermohaline circulation in the Mediterranean Sea. Drift geometry suggests that the north?Csouth current is deflected into an east?Cwest flow pattern by interaction with a marked seafloor bathymetry, associated with major fault displacement. Four seismic units separated by three prominent discontinuities can be identified. The three internal discontinuities are correlated to large-scale basin-wide events: the lower Pliocene revolution (4.2?Ma), the upper Pliocene revolution (2.4?Ma) and the mid-Pleistocene revolution (0.9?Ma). The Plio-Quaternary succession has been deposited on top of a Miocene reef, which serves as an acoustic basement and is affected by a large fault, offsetting the basement on average by 150?m. Marked erosional features throughout and further incision of the Sant Jordi Channel along the basement fault in the Pleistocene deposits indicate stronger currents in this period. The Pleistocene deposits also show a pronounced cyclicity, which is tentatively ascribed to climatic variations and the effects of eustatic sea-level fluctuation over the south-western Mallorca shelf at that time.     

Vast amount of accommodation space controlled evolution of a continuous Pliocene–Pleistocene mixed cool-water carbonate-siliciclastic prograding wedge in the Bay of Oran (Western Mediterranean)

The Bay of Oran is part of the northern Algerian continental margin, located in the Western Mediterranean Sea between Europe and northern Africa. A regional terrace in ca. 320 m water depth described in earlier studies and a second deeper located one (∼1200 m water depth) provide an unusually vast amount of accommodation space for an observed prograding wedge. Seismo-stratigraphic interpretation of high-resolution reflection seismic data show different phases of mixed cool-water carbonate-siliciclastic deposition: (Ia) Initial aggradation with low dipping foreset deposition during early-Pliocene relative sea-level highstand. (Ib) Deposition transitions to progradation when aggradation reaches the base level. (IIa) Once progradation reaches the shelf break, terrace deposition is reduced to coarse fraction foreset deposits until it ceases entirely. (IIb) Finer sediments are bypassed and start to aggrade on the lower slope terrace until deposits reach the shelf terrace depth. (III) Due to accommodation space prolongation progradation recommences. Phase IIa and phase III deposits are separated by a hiatus. A drop in mean sea-level during the mid-Pleistocene will have caused the base level to fall below the upper strata, hence causing some reworking and redeposition. However, sea-level variations are not considered to be a main controlling factor of the depositional sequences. The evolution of this continuous Pliocene–Pleistocene mixed cool-water carbonate-siliciclastic prograding wedge is instead attributed to the controlling factor of this unusually vast amount of accommodation space. In closest proximity to the sea-floor, sparse recent sedimentation in form of 5–10 m thick sediment lobes can be observed in subbottom profiler data only. From a tectonic point of view, a prolongation of the Yusuf Fault into the survey area though expected by other authors could not be supported with the available dataset.     

Seismo-stratigraphic evidences for deep base level control on middle to late Pleistocene drift evolution and mass wasting along southern Levant continental slope (Eastern Mediterranean)

Since early Pliocene, a counterclockwise surface gyre transported Nile derived silt and clay northeastwards along the Levant coast, where a basinward prograding plastered drift emerged. Based on high-resolution seismic reflection data we develop a middle to late Pleistocene sequence stratigraphic scheme for this plastered drift. For creating stacked sections of the seismic data we used the common reflection surface (CRS) stack technology which enhanced lateral reflection continuity and visibility of deep reflections. The shelf comprises stratigraphic sequences which show classical, systems tract like stacking patterns of sea level controlled sequences such as offlapping forced regression deposits or diachronous ravinement surfaces which formed during base level rise. On the slope, base level was periodically located well below the wave base and thus rather controlled by hydrodynamics, presumably by high-velocity contour currents. Hence, the term ‘deep base level’ is introduced. The deep base level controlled especially down and backstepping slope deposits. This example shows that care has to be taken when interpreting subsurface data containing typical systems tract like seismic sequences, since such geometries do not necessarily imply shallow water deposition of the sediments. A chronostratigraphic analysis based on the seismic stratigraphy indicates that base level fluctuations were related to eccentricity driven glacio-eustatic fluctuations. Periodic mass wasting, facilitated by foreset over-steepening and possibly triggered by salt tectonics or erosion by the contour current occurred during late base level fall or early base level rise.     

晚更新世末期南黄海中部陆架古地貌特征

晚更新世末期(12000-25000a BP)为玉木冰期最盛时期,气候寒冷而干燥,极地冰流的扩展使世界海面大幅度下降,我国东部沿海海面下降约130-160m,黄海、东海陆架裸露成陆。在寒冷干燥的气候条件下,陆架沉积物不仅受到强烈的机械风化作用,而且受到来自北方强大干冷气流的吹扬作用,陆架沉积物在这些外力因素的作用下破坏解体,形成一系列的风沙地貌和风沙沉积,反映出晚更新世末期南黄海陆架沙漠化景观。根据本区浅地层测量断面分析研究的结果,并结合柱状岩芯及钻孔资料,初步揭示了本地区晚更新世末期的古地貌特征。     

Nepheloid layer distribution in the Benguela upwelling area offshore Namibia

The distribution of nepheloid layers across the outer shelf and upper continental slope off Namibia was studied during a cruise with R.V. Meteor in late austral summer 2003. Optical measurements, carried out with a transmissometer and a backscattering fluorometer, are correlated with suspended particulate matter (SPM) and particulate organic carbon (POC) values from water sample filtration. Conductivity-temperature-depth and oxygen data are used to relate the nepheloid layers to hydrographic structures. The particle content of surface water at the continental slope is controlled primarily by the offshore extension of highly productive upwelling filaments. A pronounced bottom nepheloid layer (BNL) covers the entire area of study with maximum intensity above the outer shelf and at the shelf break—an area where erosional forces dominate. The detachment of this BNL at the shelf break feeds a major intermediate nepheloid layer (INL) at 25.5°S. This INL is positioned at 250–400 m depth, at the lower boundary of an oxygen minimum zone, and is likely connected to the poleward flow of South Atlantic Central Water (SACW) across the shelf break. Together, these strong subsurface nepheloid layers are indicators of intensive lateral particle transport from the outer shelf towards a depocenter of organic matter on the upper continental slope.     

Sand bodies and incised valleys within the Late Quaternary Sanaga–Nyong delta complex on the middle continental shelf of Cameroon

Seismic data and sediment cores collected offshore from the Sanaga River and Nyong River mouths were used to analyse a loose mantle of yellow to reddish sandy gravel with a range of fluvial and deltaic characteristics cropping out in the middle part (25–65 m water depth) of the continental shelf of Cameroon. Contrary to most of the Atlantic shelves, where the lowstand systems tract was destroyed by erosion, we found 80–120 ms (60–90 m) of sediment mainly in the middle part of the shelf, which correspond credibly to MIS 2–4. Fluvial paleodrainage systems are preserved beneath the shelf and individual filled channels with planar infillings were mapped that cross the shelf along two surfaces of erosion. These incisions suggested westerly and northwesterly drainage shifts during presumed lowered base level. The presence of closely spaced channel fills suggests repeated avulsion of a single stream during a long-lasting sub-aerial erosion period. The seismic facies of these Pleistocene deposits distinguish themselves clearly from well-stratified older strata showing deformation (Pliocene) or intense folding (Miocene). The orientation of the paleovalleys appears strongly controlled by the N60°E trending cross faults within Mesozoic–Cenozoic strata.     

上新世——早更新世青藏高原北缘隆升的磁性地层学证据

对新疆叶城剖面西域砾岩及下伏第三纪地层的磁性地层学研究表明 ,西域砾岩的沉积时代为晚上新世至早更新世 ,磁性地层年龄为 3.5至 <1.8Ma。阿图什组沉积于早上新世 ,古地磁年龄为 4 .6～ 3.5 Ma。阿图什组以砂岩和粉砂岩为主夹薄层砾岩 ,为河流相及冲积扇前缘相。西域砾岩以厚层砾岩为主夹风成粉砂岩 ,为典型洪积—冲积扇堆积。西域砾岩的沉积反映了青藏高原北缘晚上新世至早更新世强烈的隆起和剥蚀