Facies model for a coarse‐grained,tide‐influenced delta: Gule Horn Formation (Early Jurassic), Jameson Land,Greenland

Tide‐dominated deltas have an inherently complex distribution of heterogeneities on several different scales and are less well‐understood than their wave‐dominated and river‐dominated counterparts. Depositional models of these environments are based on a small set of ancient examples and are, therefore, immature. The Early Jurassic Gule Horn Formation is particularly well‐exposed in extensive sea cliffs from which a 32 km long, 250 m high virtual outcrop model has been acquired using helicopter‐mounted light detection and ranging (LiDAR). This dataset, combined with a set of sedimentological logs, facilitates interpretation and measurement of depositional elements and tracing of stratigraphic surfaces over seismic‐scale distances. The aim of this article is to use this dataset to increase the understanding of depositional elements and lithologies in proximal, unconfined, tide‐dominated deltas from the delta plain to prodelta. Deposition occurred in a structurally controlled embayment, and immature sediments indicate proximity to the sediment source. The succession is tide dominated but contains evidence for strong fluvial influence and minor wave influence. Wave influence is more pronounced in transgressive intervals. Nine architectural elements have been identified, and their internal architecture and stratigraphical distribution has been investigated. The distal parts comprise prodelta, delta front and unconfined tidal bar deposits. The medial part is characterized by relatively narrow, amalgamated channel fills with fluid mud‐rich bases and sandier deposits upward, interpreted as distributary channels filled by tidal bars deposited near the turbidity maximum. The proximal parts of the studied system are dominated by sandy distributary channel and heterolithic tidal‐flat deposits. The sandbodies of the proximal tidal channels are several kilometres wide and wider than exposures in all cases. Parasequence boundaries are easily defined in the prodelta to delta‐front environments, but are difficult to trace into the more proximal deposits. This article illustrates the proximal to distal organization of facies in unconfined tide‐dominated deltas and shows how such environments react to relative sea‐level rise.     

Enhanced bioturbation on the down‐drift flank of a Turonian asymmetrical delta: Implications for seaway circulation,river nutrients and facies models

Extant models predict delta front environments down‐drift of river mouths as unfavourable for organisms because of the physico‐chemical stresses caused by sediment and fresh water influx. This study, however, finds evidence for near‐optimal living conditions down‐drift of contemporaneous mouth bars and distributary channels, as well as at the tops of abandoned lobes, in part of the asymmetrical ‘Notom Delta’ complex of the Ferron Sandstone (Turonian, south‐eastern Utah, USA). Presented herein is a sedimentological and ichnological model using thirty‐two detailed measured sections along a 16 km transect through two continuously exposed, ca 10 m thick allomembers containing delta front, mouth bar and distributary channel facies. Azimuths from sedimentary structures show south‐eastward deflection of near‐shore palaeocurrents relative to the inferred north–south shoreline, as well as minor reversal of flow. Two end‐member trace fossil suites are recognized in delta front sandstones: (i) a stressed suite of low abundance, low diversity, diminutive traces reflecting mobile deposit feeding, resting and locomotion behaviours; and (ii) a comparatively unstressed, high abundance, moderate diversity suite with a regular, heterogeneous distribution of deep, vertical or U‐shaped suspension‐feeding burrows which, in places, thoroughly homogenize the sandstones. The down‐drift side of the delta was colonized by suspension feeders during seasonal reversal of the seaway gyre when mud plumes were swept northward or when river‐derived nutrients were sufficiently concentrated relative to fresh water and sediment input. During normal seaway circulation, very high sedimentation rates and mud‐laden, wave‐dampened waters down‐drift of the river mouths heightened the preservation potential of the pervasively bioturbated facies. Up‐drift of the river mouths, these bioturbated facies were either not preserved or not developed until the lobe was abandoned. This alternative model for delta planform asymmetry contributes to the refinement of facies models for deltaic systems and provides a framework for predicting the distribution of bioturbation‐enhanced porosity and permeability in lobe‐deflected deltas.     

Shoal‐water deltas in high‐accommodation settings: Insights from the lacustrine Valimi Formation (Gulf of Corinth,Greece)

The stratigraphic architecture of shoal‐water deltaic systems developed in low‐accommodation settings is relatively well‐known. In contrast, the features of shoal‐water deltas developed in high‐accommodation settings remain relatively poorly documented, especially when compared with the available data sets for Gilbert‐type deltaic systems developed in the same settings. The lacustrine Valimi Formation (Gulf of Corinth, Greece) provides an opportunity to investigate the facies assemblage and architectural style of shoal‐water deltaic systems developed in high‐accommodation settings. The studied interval accumulated during the Pliocene and Pleistocene and represents part of the early syn‐rift Gulf of Corinth succession. Six facies associations, each described in terms of depositional processes and geometries, have been identified and interpreted to represent a range of proximal to distal deltaic sub‐environments: delta plain, distributary channel, mouth‐bar, delta front, prodelta and open lake. The facies associations and their architectural elements reveal characteristics which are not common in traditionally described shoal‐water deltas. Of note, different facies arrangements are observed in the distributary channels in different sectors of the delta, passing from thick single‐storey channel fills embedded within delta‐plain fines in landward positions, to thin, amalgamated and multi‐storey channels closer to the river mouth. This study proposes a new depositional model for shoal‐water deltas in high‐accommodation settings documenting, for the first time, that shoal‐water delta deposits can form a substantial part of stratigraphic successions that accumulate in these settings. The proposed depositional model provides new criteria for the recognition and interpretation of these deposits; the results of this study have applied significance for reservoir characterization.     

Sedimentological and ichnological signatures of changes in wave,river and tidal influence along a Neogene tropical deltaic shoreline

Analysis of Neogene cores from the Eastern Venezuela Basin along 65 km of a west–east trending shoreline allows characterization of the sedimentological and ichnological signatures of wave, river and tidal processes. The area displays deltas prograding northward from the Guyana Shield. Twenty‐three facies are defined and grouped into four categories (wave‐influenced, river‐influenced, tide‐influenced and basinal). Wave‐dominated deltaic deposits occur mostly in the Tácata Field. The delta plain was characterized by tide‐influenced distributary channels separated by interdistributary bays. Fluvial discharge in the delta front and prodelta was repeatedly interrupted by storm‐wave reworking and suspended sediment fallout. Delta‐front and prodelta deposits contain some ichnotaxa that typically do not occur in brackish water (for example, Chondrites and Phycosiphon). Amalgamated storm deposits are unburrowed or contain vertical Ophiomorpha. Lateral (especially on the updrift side) to the river mouths, waves caused nearly continuous accretion of the associated strandplains. These deposits are the most intensely bioturbated, and are dominated by the estenohaline echinoid‐generated ichnogenus Scolicia. River‐dominated deltaic deposits are present in the Santa Bárbara, Mulata, Carito and El Furrial Fields. Low‐sinuosity rivers characterized the alluvial plain, whereas the subaerial delta plain was occupied by higher‐sinuosity rivers. The subaqueous delta plain includes distributary channels and tide‐influenced interdistributary bays. Further seaward, successions are characterized by terminal distributary‐channel and distributary mouth‐bar deposits, as well as by delta‐front and prodelta deposits showing evidence of sediment gravity‐flow and fluid‐mud emplacement. Delta‐front and prodelta deposits are unbioturbated to sparsely bioturbated, suggesting extreme stress, mostly as a result of high fluvial discharge and generation of sediment gravity flows. Tidal influence is restricted to interdistributary bays, lagoons and some distributary channels. From an ichnological perspective, and in order of decreasing stress levels, four main depositional settings are identified: river‐dominated deltas, tide‐influenced delta plains, wave‐dominated deltas and wave‐dominated strandplain–offshore complexes.     

Evaluating delta asymmetry using three‐dimensional facies architecture and ichnological analysis,Ferron ‘Notom Delta’, Capital Reef,Utah, USA

Delta asymmetry occurs where there is strong wave influence and net longshore transport. Differences in the morphology and facies architecture between updrift and downdrift sides of asymmetric deltas are potentially significant for exploration and exploitation of resources in this class of reservoirs. Although delta asymmetry has been recognized widely from modern wave‐influenced deltaic shorelines, there are few documented examples in the ancient record. Based on an integrated sedimentological and ichnological study, the along‐strike variability and delta asymmetry within a single parasequence (Ps 6) is documented in continuously exposed outcrops of the Cretaceous Ferron Sandstone Member of the Mancos Shale Formation near Hanksville in southern Utah. Two intra‐parasequence discontinuity surfaces are recognized which allow subdivision of the parasequence into three bedsets, marked as Ps 6‐1 to Ps 6‐3. Four facies successions are recognized: (i) wave/storm‐dominated shoreface; (ii) river‐dominated delta front; (iii) wave/storm‐reworked delta front; and (iv) distributary channel and mouth bar. Dips of cross‐strata within distributary‐mouth bars and shorefaces show a strong downdrift (southward) component. Ps 6‐3 predominantly consists of river‐dominated delta‐front deposits, whereas Ps 6‐1 and Ps 6‐2 show an along‐strike facies change with shoreface deposits in the north, passing into heterolithic, river‐dominated delta‐front successions south to south‐eastward, and wave/storm‐reworked delta‐front deposits further to the south‐east. Trace fossil suites correspondingly show distinct along‐strike changes from robust and diverse expressions of the archetypal Cruziana Ichnofacies and Skolithos Ichnofacies, into suites characterized by horizontal, morphologically simple, facies‐crossing ichnogenera, reflecting a more stressed, river‐dominated environment. Further south‐eastward, trace fossil abundance and diversity increase, reflecting a return to archetypal ichnofacies. The overall facies integrated with palaeocurrent data indicate delta asymmetry. The asymmetric delta consists of sandier shoreface deposits on the updrift side and mixed riverine and wave/storm‐reworked deposits on the downdrift side, similar to that observed in the modern examples. However, in contrast to the recent delta asymmetry models, significant paralic, lagoonal and bay‐fill facies are not documented in the downdrift regions of the asymmetric delta. This observation is attributed to a negative palaeoshoreline trajectory during delta progradation and subsequent transgressive erosion. The asymmetric delta was induced by net longshore transport from north to south. The forced regressive nature of the delta precludes significant preservation of topset mud.     

Gilbert‐type deltas recording short‐term base‐level changes: Delta‐brink morphodynamics and related foreset facies

Gilbert‐type deltas are sensitive recorders of short‐term base‐level changes, but the delta‐front record of a base‐level rise tends to be erased by fluvial erosion during a subsequent base‐level fall, which renders the bulk record of base‐level changes difficult to decipher from the delta‐front deposits. The present detailed study of three large Pleistocene Gilbert‐type deltas uplifted on the southern coast of the Gulf of Corinth, Greece, indicates a genetic link between the delta‐front morphodynamic responses to base‐level changes and the delta‐slope sedimentation processes. Sigmoidal delta‐brink architecture signifies a base‐level rise and is accompanied by a debrite‐dominated assemblage of delta foreset deposits, thought to form when the aggrading delta front stores sediment and undergoes discrete gravitational collapses. Oblique delta‐brink architecture tends to be accompanied by a turbidite‐dominated assemblage of foreset deposits, which are thought to form when the delta‐front accommodation decreases and the sediment carried by hyperpycnal effluent bypasses the front. This primary signal of the system response to base‐level changes combines further with the secondary ‘noise’ of delta autogenic variation and possible allogenic fluctuations in fluvial discharge due to regional climatic conditions. Nevertheless, the evidence suggests that the facies trends of delta foreset deposits may be used to decipher the delta ‘hidden’ record of base‐level changes obliterated by fluvial topset erosion. Early‐stage bayhead deltas may be an exception from the hypothetical model, because their narrow front tends to be swept by river floods irrespective of base‐level behaviour and their subaqueous slope deposits are thus mainly turbidites.     

Transition from storm wave‐dominated outer shelf to gullied upper slope: The mid‐Pliocene Orinoco shelf margin,South Trinidad

Shelf‐edge deltas are a key depositional environment for accreting sediment onto shelf‐margin clinoforms. The Moruga Formation, part of the palaeo‐Orinoco shelf‐margin sedimentary prism of south‐east Trinidad, provides new insight into the incremental growth of a Pliocene, storm wave‐dominated shelf margin. Relatively little is known about the mechanisms of sand bypass from the shelf‐break area of margins, and in particular from storm wave‐dominated margins which are generally characterized by drifting of sand along strike until meeting a canyon or channel. The studied St. Hilaire Siltstone and Trinity Hill Sandstone succession is 260 m thick and demonstrates a continuous transition from gullied (with turbidites) uppermost slope upward to storm wave‐dominated delta front on the outermost shelf. The basal upper‐slope deposits are dominantly mass‐transport deposited blocks, as well as associated turbidites and debrites with common soft‐sediment‐deformed strata. The overlying uppermost slope succession exhibits a spectacular set of gullies, which are separated by abundant slump‐scar unconformities (tops of rotational slides), then filled with debris‐flow conglomerates and sandy turbidite beds with interbedded mudstones. The top of the study succession, on the outer‐shelf area, contains repeated upward‐coarsening, sandstone‐rich parasequences (2 to 15 m thick) with abundant hummocky and swaley cross‐stratification, clear evidence of storm‐swell and storm wave‐dominated conditions. The observations suggest reconstruction of the unstable shelf margin as follows: (i) the aggradational storm wave‐dominated, shelf‐edge delta front became unstable and collapsed down the slope; (ii) the excavated scars of the shelf margin became gullied, but gradually healed (aggraded) by repeated infilling by debris flows and turbidites, and then new gullying and further infilling; and (iii) a renewed storm wave‐dominated delta‐front prograded out across the healed outer shelf, re‐establishing the newly stabilized shelf margin. The Moruga Formation study, along with only a few others in the literature, confirms the sediment bypass ability of storm wave‐dominated reaches of shelf edges, despite river‐dominated deltas being, by far, the most efficient shelf‐edge regime for sediment bypass at the shelf break.     

中国东部箕状断陷湖盆扇三角洲与辫状河三角洲对比研究

中国东部箕状断陷湖盆短轴方向,常常发育扇三角洲和辫状河三角洲,二者均可形成良好的油气储集体,但在岩芯以及地球物理资料的识别上常常容易混淆。通过对它们沉积特征、地球物理资料特征、含油气性和控制因素的对比研究和分析认为:扇三角洲是陡坡带冲积扇直接入湖形成,地震反射特征为楔形前积,沉积物成分成熟度和结构成熟度均低于辫状河三角洲,沉积特征反映重力流和牵引流双重作用;辫状河三角洲是缓坡带辫状河入湖形成的三角洲,向湖盆方向推进较远,地震反射特征为叠瓦前积,沉积特征反映牵引流作用。扇三角洲易形成构造-岩性油气藏和岩性油气藏,有利相带为扇三角洲前缘水下分流河道、席状砂以及前扇三角洲容易发育的滑塌浊积扇;辫状河三角洲易形成地层-岩性油气藏和岩性油气藏,有利相带为辫状河三角洲平原辫状分流河道,辫状河三角洲前缘水下分流河道、河口坝、席状砂以及半深湖中的浊积岩体。古气候变化、构造-古地貌以及湖平面变化速率三者共同作用于扇三角洲和辫状河三角洲的沉积特征,其中构造-古地貌是主控因素。结合二者沉积特征差异,建立了中国东部箕状断陷湖盆扇三角洲和辫状河三角洲沉积模式图,以期能对相似构造背景下扇三角洲和辫状河三角洲的分析与研究提供一定的指导作用。     

Wave-influenced deltas: geomorphological implications for facies reconstruction

ABSTRACT A process‐based facies model for asymmetric wave‐influenced deltas predicts significant river‐borne muds with potentially lower quality reservoir facies in prodelta and downdrift areas, and better quality sand in updrift areas. Many ancient barrier‐lagoon systems and ‘offshore bars’ may be better reinterpreted as components of large‐scale asymmetric wave‐influenced deltaic systems. The proposed model is based on a re‐evaluation of several modern examples. An asymmetry index A is defined as the ratio between the net longshore transport rate at the mouth (in m³ year^?1) and river discharge (in 10⁶ m³ month^?1). Symmetry is favoured in deltas with an index below ≈ 200 (e.g. Tiber, lobes of the Godavari delta, Rosetta lobe of the Nile, Ebro), whereas deltas with a higher index are asymmetric (e.g. Danube – Sf. Gheorghe lobe, Brazos, Damietta lobe of the Nile). Periodic deflection of the river mouth for significant distances in the downdrift direction occurs in extreme cases of littoral drift dominance (e.g. Mahanadi), resulting in a series of randomly distributed, quasi‐parallel series of sand spits and channel fills. Asymmetric deltas show variable proportions of river‐, wave‐ and tide‐dominated facies both among and within their lobes. Bayhead deltas, lagoons and barrier islands form naturally in prograding asymmetric deltas and are not necessarily associated with transgressive systems. This complexity underlines the necessity of interpreting ancient depositional systems in a larger palaeogeographic context.     

Facies characteristics and architecture related to palaeodepth of Holocene fjord–delta sediments

Lithofacies characteristics and depositional geometry of a sandy, prograding delta deposited as part of the Holocene valley‐fill stratigraphy in the Målselv valley, northern Norway, were examined using morpho‐sedimentary mapping, facies analysis of sediments in exposed sections, auger drilling and ground penetrating radar survey. Various lithofacies types record a broad range of depositional processes within an overall coarsening‐upward succession comprising a lowermost prodelta/bottomset unit, an intermediate delta slope/foreset unit containing steeply dipping clinoforms and an uppermost delta plain/topset unit. Bottomset lithofacies typically comprise sand‐silt couplets (tidal rhythmites), bioturbated sands and silts, and flaser and lenticular bedding. These sediments were deposited from suspension fall‐out, partly controlled by tidal currents and fluvial effluent processes. Delta foreset lithofacies comprise massive, inverse graded and normal graded beds deposited by gravity‐driven processes (mainly cohesionless debris flows and turbidity currents) and suspension fall‐out. In places, delta foreset beds show tidal rhythmicity and individual beds can be followed downslope into bottomset beds. Delta plain facies show an upward‐fining succession with trough cross‐beds at the base, followed by planar, laminated and massive beds indicative of a bedload dominated river/distributary system. This study presents a model of deltaic development that can be described with reference to three styles within a continuum related primarily to water depth within a basin of variable geometry: (i) bypass; (ii) shoal‐water; and (iii) deep‐water deltas. Bypass and deep‐water deltas can be considered as end members, whereas shoal‐water deltas are an intermediate type. The bypass delta is characterized by rapid progradation and an absence of delta slope sediments and low basin floor aggradation due to low accommodation space. The shoal‐water delta is characterized by rapid progradation, a short delta slope dominated by gravity‐flow processes and a prodelta area characterized by rapid sea‐floor aggradation due to intense suspension fallout of sandy material. Using tidal rhythmites as time‐markers, a progradation rate of up to 11 m year^?1 has been recorded. The deep‐water delta is characterized by a relatively long delta slope dominated by gravity flows, moderate suspension fall‐out and slow sea‐floor aggradation in the prodelta area.     

准噶尔盆地南缘上三叠统黄山街组辫状河三角洲沉积

准噶尔盆地南缘上三叠统黄山街组主要为砾岩、含砾砂岩、砂岩、粉砂岩和泥岩构成的一套碎屑岩组合,野外沉积特征研究确定为典型的辫状河三角洲沉积。通过对沉积相、亚相、微相的详细研究,认为辫状河三角洲具有类似曲流河三角洲的层序结构和微相类型,但两者间也存在很大的差别。与曲流河三角洲相比,辫状河三角洲的三角洲平原亚相不仅沉积物的粒度较粗,而且辫状河道沉积较发育,河道间洪泛平原沉积不发育。辫状河三角洲前缘亚相也可以识别出水下分流河道、河口坝、席状砂和水下分流河道间等微相,水下分流河道沉积为主体。根据野外露头的追索研究,建立了准噶尔盆地南缘上三叠统黄山街组辫状河三角洲的沉积模式。从沉积物的岩性特征看,辫状河三角洲砾岩和含砾粗砂岩体具有分布较稳定、展布较广、储集物性较好的特点。     

扇三角洲沉积体系及其与油气聚集关系

扇三角洲沉积体系是断陷盆地中极为发育的一种沉积体系,主要由扇三角洲平原组合、扇三角洲前缘组合和前三角洲沉积构成,可识别出9种成因相。受沉积物供给速率、可容空间增长速率及盆缘断裂产状等因素控制可划分出退积型、加积型、前积型、陡坡型和缓坡型5种扇三角洲类型。位于扇三角洲平原的辫状分流河道砂体及其位于扇三角洲前缘的与之有成因联系的水下分流河口坝、洪水型重力流砂体等物性好,可以构成优质储层。含油性勘探成果亦证实各主力油层段平面上主要分布于扇三角洲前缘及分流间湾区,小部分位于扇三角洲平原区。受埋藏深度和成岩场的影响,不同地区、不同层位主力油层段的物性与岩性相关性各异。因此,应用沉积体系分布与油气聚集规律挖掘剩余油层及进行远景区预测是有效的与可行的。     

The role of tidal,wave and river currents in the evolution of mixed‐energy deltas: Example from the Lajas Formation (Argentina)

Many modern deltas show complex morphologies and architectures related to the interplay of river, wave and tidal currents. However, methods for extracting the signature of the individual processes from the stratigraphic architecture are poorly developed. Through an analysis of facies, palaeocurrents and stratigraphic stacking patterns in the Jurassic Lajas Formation, this paper: (i) separates the signals of wave, tide and river currents; (ii) illustrates the result of strong tidal reworking in the distal reaches of deltaic systems; and (iii) discusses the implications of this reworking for the evolution of mixed‐energy systems and their reservoir heterogeneities. The Lajas Formation, a sand‐rich, shallow‐marine, mixed‐energy deltaic system in the Neuquén Basin of Argentina, previously defined as a tide‐dominated system, presents an exceptional example of process variability at different scales. Tidal signals are predominantly located in the delta front, the subaqueous platform and the distributary channel deposits. Tidal currents vigorously reworked the delta front during transgressions, producing intensely cross‐stratified, sheet‐like, sandstone units. In the subaqueous platform, described for the first time in an ancient outcrop example, the tidal reworking was confined within subtidal channels. The intensive tidal reworking in the distal reaches of the regressive delta front could not have been predicted from knowledge of the coeval proximal reaches of the regressive delta front. The wave signals occur mainly in the shelf or shoreface deposits. The fluvial signals increase in abundance proximally but are always mixed with the other processes. The Lajas system is an unusual clean‐water (i.e. very little mud is present in the system), sand‐rich deltaic system, very different from the majority of mud‐rich, modern tide‐influenced examples. The sand‐rich character is a combination of source proximity, syndepositional tectonic activity and strong tidal‐current reworking, which produced amalgamated sandstone bodies in the delta‐front area, and a final stratigraphic record very different from the simple coarsening‐upward trends of river‐dominated and wave‐dominated delta fronts.     

Facies model of a fine‐grained,tide‐dominated delta: Lower Dir Abu Lifa Member (Eocene), Western Desert,Egypt

Existing facies models of tide‐dominated deltas largely omit fine‐grained, mud‐rich successions. Sedimentary facies and sequence stratigraphic analysis of the exceptionally well‐preserved Late Eocene Dir Abu Lifa Member (Western Desert, Egypt) aims to bridge this gap. The succession was deposited in a structurally controlled, shallow, macrotidal embayment and deposition was supplemented by fluvial processes but lacked wave influence. The succession contains two stacked, progradational parasequence sets bounded by regionally extensive flooding surfaces. Within this succession two main genetic elements are identified: non‐channelized tidal bars and tidal channels. Non‐channelized tidal bars comprise coarsening‐upward sandbodies, including large, downcurrent‐dipping accretion surfaces, sometimes capped by palaeosols indicating emergence. Tidal channels are preserved as single‐storey and multilateral bodies filled by: (i) laterally migrating, elongate tidal bars (inclined heterolithic strata, 5 to 25 m thick); (ii) forward‐facing lobate bars (sigmoidal heterolithic strata, up to 10 m thick); (iii) side bars displaying oblique to vertical accretion (4 to 7 m thick); or (iv) vertically‐accreting mud (1 to 4 m thick). Palaeocurrent data show that channels were swept by bidirectional tidal currents and typically were mutually evasive. Along‐strike variability defines a similar large‐scale architecture in both parasequence sets: a deeply scoured channel belt characterized by widespread inclined heterolithic strata is eroded from the parasequence‐set top, and flanked by stacked, non‐channelized tidal bars and smaller channelized bodies. The tide‐dominated delta is characterized by: (i) the regressive stratigraphic context; (ii) net‐progradational stratigraphic architecture within the succession; (iii) the absence of upward deepening trends and tidal ravinement surfaces; and (iv) architectural relations that demonstrate contemporaneous tidal distributary channel infill and tidal bar accretion at the delta front. The detailed facies analysis of this fine‐grained, tide‐dominated deltaic succession expands the range of depositional models available for the evaluation of ancient tidal successions, which are currently biased towards transgressive, valley‐confined estuarine and coarser grained deltaic depositional systems.     

Planform evolution of deltas with graded alluvial topsets: Insights from three‐dimensional tank experiments,geometric considerations and field applications

The profile of a river that conveys sediment without net deposition and net erosion is referred to as ‘graded’ with respect to vertical aggradation of the river segment. Three experimental series, designed in terms of the autostratigraphic view of alluvial grade, were conducted to clarify the diagnostic spatial behaviour of graded alluvial–deltaic rivers: an ‘R series’, which utilized a moving boundary setting with a stationary base level; an ‘F series’ in a fixed boundary setting with a stationary base level to produce ‘forced grade’; and an ‘M series’ in a moving boundary setting with constant base‐level fall to produce ‘autogenic grade.’ The results of the three experimental series, combined with geometrical modelling of the effects of basin water depth and other experimental data, suggest the following: (i) in a graded alluvial–deltaic system, lateral shifting and avulsing of active distributary channels are suppressed regardless of whether the downstream boundary of the deltaic system is fixed; (ii) in a delta with a downstream‐fixed boundary, the graded streams are stabilized within a valley that is incised in the axial part of the delta plain, whereby the alluvial plain outside the valley is abandoned and terraced; (iii) in moving boundary settings, the graded river simply extends basinward as a linearly elongated channel and lobe system without cutting a valley; and (iv) a modern forced‐graded alluvial river is most likely to be found in a valley incised into a fan delta in front of very deep water, and the stratigraphic signal of fossil autogenic‐graded rivers will be found in deltaic successions that accumulated in the outer to marginal areas of deltaic continental shelves during sea‐level falls. This renewed autostratigraphic view of alluvial grade suggests a thorough reconsideration of the conventional understanding that an alluvial river feeding a progradational delta is graded with a stationary base level.     

东营凹陷永安镇油田砂体沉积特征研究

运用岩心观察、粒度分析、地震及测井曲线形态分析等资料,结合单井相、剖面相分析,对永安镇油田沙三段上亚段一沙二段下亚段沉积特征进行系统研究,确定其发育河流一三角洲相沉积和湖泊相沉积。三角洲相沉积在该地区发育三角洲平原亚相和三角洲前缘亚相。湖泊相发育滑塌沉积。系统研究了储集砂体的时空演化、展布规律及砂体发育的控制因素,分流河道微相和河口坝微相是该区最有利的储集砂体,对下一步石油地质勘探研究具有重要的地质意义。     

Anatomy of falling‐stage deltas in the Turonian Ferron Sandstone of the western Henry Mountains Syncline,Utah: Growth faults,slope failures and mass transport complexes

Falling‐stage deltas are predicted by sequence stratigraphic models, yet few reliable criteria are available to diagnose falling‐stage deltaic systems in surface exposures. Recent work on the Upper Cretaceous (Turonian) Ferron Sandstone in the western Henry Mountains Syncline of south‐central Utah has established its environment of deposition as a series of modest‐sized (5 to 20 km wide), probably asymmetrical, mixed‐influence deltas (‘Ferron Notom Delta’) that dispersed sediment eastwards from the rising Sevier orogenic hinterland into the Western Cordilleran Foreland Basin. Analysis of sandstone body stacking patterns in a 67 km long, depositional strike‐parallel (north–south) transect indicates that the growth of successive deltas was strongly forced by synsedimentary growth of a long wavelength (ca 100 km), 50 m amplitude fold structure. Herein, two discrete areas within this transect, superbly exposed in three dimensions, are documented in order to determine the details of stratal stacking patterns in the depositional dip direction, and thereby to assess the stratigraphic context of the Ferron Notom Delta. In the two study areas, dip transects expose facies representing river mouth bar to distal delta front environments over distances of 2 to 4 km. Key stratal packages are clinothems that offlap, downlap, and describe descending regressive trajectories with respective to basal and top datums; they are interpreted as the product of relative sea‐level fall. The vertical extent of clinoforms suggests that deltas prograded into <30 m of water. Furthermore, these deltaic successions preserve abundant evidence of delta front slope failure, growth faulting, and incision and filling of deep (<15 m) slope gullies. Gully fills are composed of chaotic intraformational breccia and/or massive sandstone, and constitute linear, ‘shoestring’ sandbodies in the distal portions of individual palaeodelta systems. They are interpreted to have been cut and filled during the late falling‐stage and lowstand of relative sea‐level cycles. The north–south distribution of the stratal style described above seems to be focused on the flanks of the growth anticline, and so the numerous falling‐stage systems tracts preserved within the Ferron Notom Delta probably owe their origin to synsedimentary structural growth, and the unstable fluid pressure regime that this growth imposed on the sea floor and shallow subsurface.     

Intra‐parasequence architecture of an interpreted asymmetrical wave‐dominated delta

Although modern wave‐dominated shorelines exhibit complex geomorphologies, their ancient counterparts are typically described in terms of shoreface‐shelf parasequences with a simple internal architecture. This discrepancy can lead to poor discrimination between, and incorrect identification of, different types of wave‐dominated shoreline in the stratigraphic record. Documented in this paper are the variability in facies characteristics, high‐resolution stratigraphic architecture and interpreted palaeo‐geomorphology within a single parasequence that is interpreted to record the advance of an ancient asymmetrical wave‐dominated delta. The Standardville (Ab1) parasequence of the Aberdeen Member, Blackhawk Formation is exposed in the Book Cliffs of central Utah, USA. This parasequence, and four others in the Aberdeen Member, record the eastward progradation of north/south‐trending, wave‐dominated shorelines. Within the Standardville (Ab1) parasequence, distal wave‐dominated shoreface‐shelf deposits in the eastern part of the study area are overlain across a downlap surface by southward prograding fluvial‐dominated delta‐front deposits, which have previously been assigned to a separate ‘stranded lowstand parasequence’ formed by a significant, allogenic change in relative sea‐level. High‐resolution stratigraphic analysis of these deposits reveals that they are instead more likely to record a single episode of shoreline progradation characterized by alternating periods of normal regressive and forced regressive shoreline trajectory because of minor cyclical fluctuations in relative sea‐level. Interpreted normal regressive shoreline trajectories within the wave‐dominated shoreface‐shelf deposits are marked by aggradational stacking of bedsets bounded by non‐depositional discontinuity surfaces. Interpreted forced regressive shoreline trajectories in the same deposits are characterized by shallow incision of fluvial distributary channels and strongly progradational stacking of bedsets bounded by erosional discontinuity surfaces that record enhanced wave‐base scour. Fluvial‐dominated delta‐front deposits most probably record the regression of a lobate delta parallel to the regional shoreline into an embayment that was sheltered from wave influence. Wave‐dominated shoreface‐shelf and fluvial‐dominated delta‐front deposits occur within the same parasequence, and their interpretation as the respective updrift and downdrift flanks of a single asymmetrical wave‐dominated delta that periodically shifted its position provides the most straightforward explanation of the distribution and relative orientation of these two deposit types.     

分异流体河口作用

鄂尔多斯盆地QW地区湖泊三角洲沉积特征与常规三角洲有所不同。水下分流河道砂体发育,在分流河道和水下分流河道的末端分别沉积有不同的河口砂坝复合体,它们共同构成三角洲前缘骨架。本文在对三角洲河口作用的研究作简要回顾的基础上,对比其它研究实例,对该区三角洲的形成机理进行了探讨,提出了分异流体河口作用的概念,并对其沉积体特征进行了分析。分异流体的主要特征是入注流体纵向上的载荷和速度差异分布,气候和沉积物供给是其主要影响因素。水下分流河道砂体发育和同期不同空间位置存在不同的河口砂坝是分异流体河口作用的重要沉积响应之一。