Paleogene evolution and demise of the proto‐Paratethys Sea in Central Asia (Tarim and Tajik basins): Role of intensified tectonic activity at ca. 41 Ma

The proto‐Paratethys Sea covered a vast area extending from the Mediterranean Tethys to the Tarim Basin in western China during Cretaceous and early Paleogene. Climate modelling and proxy studies suggest that Asian aridification has been governed by westerly moisture modulated by fluctuations of the proto‐Paratethys Sea. Transgressive and regressive episodes of the proto‐Paratethys Sea have been previously recognized but their timing, extent and depositional environments remain poorly constrained. This hampers understanding of their driving mechanisms (tectonic and/or eustatic) and their contribution to Asian aridification. Here, we present a new chronostratigraphic framework based on biostratigraphy and magnetostratigraphy as well as a detailed palaeoenvironmental analysis for the Paleogene proto‐Paratethys Sea incursions in the Tajik and Tarim basins. This enables us to identify the major drivers of marine fluctuations and their potential consequences on Asian aridification. A major regional restriction event, marked by the exceptionally thick (≤ 400 m) shelf evaporites is assigned a Danian‐Selandian age (ca. 63–59 Ma) in the Aertashi Formation. This is followed by the largest recorded proto‐Paratethys Sea incursion with a transgression estimated as early Thanetian (ca. 59–57 Ma) and a regression within the Ypresian (ca. 53–52 Ma), both within the Qimugen Formation. The transgression of the next incursion in the Kalatar and Wulagen formations is now constrained as early Lutetian (ca. 47–46 Ma), whereas its regression in the Bashibulake Formation is constrained as late Lutetian (ca. 41 Ma) and is associated with a drastic increase in both tectonic subsidence and basin infilling. The age of the final and least pronounced sea incursion restricted to the westernmost margin of the Tarim Basin is assigned as Bartonian–Priabonian (ca. 39.7–36.7 Ma). We interpret the long‐term westward retreat of the proto‐Paratethys Sea starting at ca. 41 Ma to be associated with far‐field tectonic effects of the Indo‐Asia collision and Pamir/Tibetan plateau uplift. Short‐term eustatic sea level transgressions are superimposed on this long‐term regression and seem coeval with the transgression events in the other northern Peri‐Tethyan sedimentary provinces for the 1st and 2nd sea incursions. However, the 3rd sea incursion is interpreted as related to tectonism. The transgressive and regressive intervals of the proto‐Paratethys Sea correlate well with the reported humid and arid phases, respectively in the Qaidam and Xining basins, thus demonstrating the role of the proto‐Paratethys Sea as an important moisture source for the Asian interior and its regression as a contributor to Asian aridification.     

Salt thickness and composition influence rift structural style,northern North Sea,offshore Norway

“Salt” giants are typically halite‐dominated, although they invariably contain other evaporite (e.g. anhydrite, bittern salts) and non‐evaporite (e.g. carbonate, clastic) rocks. Rheological differences between these rocks mean they impact or respond to rift‐related, upper crustal deformation in different ways. Our understanding of basin‐scale lithology variations in ancient salt giants, what controls this and how this impacts later rift‐related deformation, is poor, principally due to a lack of subsurface datasets of sufficiently regional extent. Here we use 2D seismic reflection and borehole data from offshore Norway to map compositional variations within the Zechstein Supergroup (ZSG) (Lopingian), relating this to the structural styles developed during Middle Jurassic‐to‐Early Cretaceous rifting. Based on the proportion of halite, we identify and map four intrasalt depositional zones (sensu Clark et al., Journal of the Geological Society, 1998, 155, 663) offshore Norway. We show that, at the basin margins, the ZSG is carbonate‐dominated, whereas towards the basin centre, it becomes increasingly halite‐dominated, a trend observed in the UK sector of the North Sea Basin and in other ancient salt giants. However, we also document abrupt, large magnitude compositional and thickness variations adjacent to large, intra‐basin normal faults; for example, thin, carbonate‐dominated successions occur on fault‐bounded footwall highs, whereas thick, halite‐dominated successions occur only a few kilometres away in adjacent depocentres. It is presently unclear if this variability reflects variations in syn‐depositional relief related to flooding of an underfilled presalt (Early Permian) rift or syn‐depositional (Lopingian) rift‐related faulting. Irrespective of the underlying controls, variations in salt composition and thickness influenced the Middle Jurassic‐to‐Early Cretaceous rift structural style, with diapirism characterising hangingwall basins where autochthonous salt was thick and halite‐rich and salt‐detached normal faulting occurring on the basin margins and on intra‐basin structural highs where the salt was too thin and/or halite‐poor to undergo diapirism. This variability is currently not captured by existing tectono‐stratigraphic models largely based on observations from salt‐free rifts and, we argue, mapping of suprasalt structural styles may provide insights into salt composition and thickness in areas where boreholes are lacking or seismic imaging is poor.     

Strain analysis of a seismically imaged mass‐transport complex,offshore Uruguay

Strain style, magnitude and distribution within mass‐transport complexes (MTCs) are important for understanding the process evolution of submarine mass flows and for estimating their runout distances. Structural restoration and quantification of strain in gravitationally driven passive margins have been shown to approximately balance between updip extensional and downdip contractional domains; such an exercise has not yet been attempted for MTCs. We here interpret and structurally restore a shallowly buried (c. 1,500 mbsf) and well‐imaged MTC, offshore Uruguay using a high‐resolution (12.5 m vertical and 15 × 12.5 m horizontal resolution) three‐dimensional seismic‐reflection survey. This allows us to characterise and quantify vertical and lateral strain distribution within the deposit. Detailed seismic mapping and attribute analysis shows that the MTC is characterised by a complicated array of kinematic indicators, which vary spatially in style and concentration. Seismic‐attribute extractions reveal several previously undocumented fabrics preserved in the MTC, including internal shearing in the form of sub‐orthogonal shear zones, and fold‐thrust systems within the basal shear zone beneath rafted‐blocks. These features suggest multiple transport directions and phases of flow during emplacement. The MTC is characterised by a broadly tripartite strain distribution, with extensional (e.g. normal faults), translational and contractional (e.g. folds and thrusts) domains, along with a radial frontally emergent zone. We also show how strain is preferentially concentrated around intra‐MTC rafted‐blocks due to their kinematic interactions with the underlying basal shear zone. Overall, and even when volume loss within the frontally emergent zone is included, a strain difference between extension (1.6–1.9 km) and contraction (6.7–7.3 km) is calculated. We attribute this to a combination of distributed, sub‐seismic, ‘cryptic’ strain, likely related to de‐watering, grain‐scale deformation and related changes in bulk sediment volume. This work has implications for assessing MTCs strain distribution and provides a practical approach for evaluating structural interpretations within such deposits.     

The timing of salt structure growth in the Southern Permian Basin (Central Europe) and implications for basin dynamics

In this paper, a literature‐based compilation of the timing and history of salt tectonics in the Southern Permian Basin (Central Europe) is presented. The tectono‐stratigraphic evolution of the Southern Permian Basin is influenced by salt movement and the structural development of various types of salt structures. The compilation presented here was used to characterize the following syndepositional growth stages of the salt structures: (a) “phase of initiation”; (b) phase of fastest growth (“main activity”); and (c) phase of burial’. We have also mapped the spatial pattern of potential mechanisms that triggered the initiation of salt structures over the area studied and summarized them for distinct regions (sub‐basins, platforms, etc.). The data base compiled and the set of maps produced from it provide a detailed overview of the spatial and temporal distribution of salt tectonic activity enabling the correlation of tectonic phases between specific regions of the entire Southern Permian Basin. Accordingly, salt movements were initiated in deeply subsided graben structures and fault zones during the Early and Middle Triassic. In these areas, salt structures reached their phase of main activity already during the Late Triassic or the Jurassic and were mostly buried during the Early Cretaceous. Salt structures in less subsided sub‐basins and platform regions of the Southern Permian Basin mostly started to grow during the Late Triassic. The subsequent phase of main activity of these salt structures took place from the Late Cretaceous to the Cenozoic. The analysis of the trigger mechanisms revealed that most salt structures were initiated by large‐offset normal faults in the sub‐salt basement in the large graben structures and minor normal faulting associated with thin‐skinned extension in the less subsided basin parts.     

Normal fault growth influenced by basement fabrics: The importance of preferential nucleation from pre‐existing structures

Reactivation of pre‐existing intra‐basement structures can influence the evolution of rift basins, yet the detailed kinematic relationship between these structures and overlying rift‐related faults remains poorly understood. Understanding the kinematic as well as geometric relationship between intra‐basement structures and rift‐related fault networks is important, with the extension direction in many rifted provinces typically thought to lie normal to fault strike. We here investigate this problem using a borehole‐constrained, 3D seismic reflection dataset from the Taranaki Basin, offshore New Zealand. Excellent imaging of intra‐basement structures and a relatively weakly deformed, stratigraphically simple sedimentary cover allow us to: (a) identify a range of interaction styles between intra‐basement structures and overlying, Plio‐Pleistocene rift‐related normal faults; and (b) examine the cover fault kinematics associated with each interaction style. Some of the normal faults parallel and are physically connected to intra‐basement reflections, which are interpreted as mylonitic reverse faults formed during Mesozoic subduction and basement terrane accretion. These geometric relationships indicate pre‐existing intra‐basement structures locally controlled the position and attitude of Plio‐Pleistocene rift‐related normal faults. However, through detailed 3D kinematic analysis of selected normal faults, we show that: (a) normal faults only nucleated above intra‐basement structures that experienced late Miocene compressional reactivation, (b) despite playing an important role during subsequent rifting, intra‐basement structures have not been significantly extensionally reactivated, and (c) preferential nucleation and propagation of normal faults within late Miocene reverse faults and folds appears to be the key genetic relationship between contractionally reactivated intra‐basement structures and rift‐related normal faults. Our analysis shows that km‐scale, intra‐basement structures can control the nucleation and development of newly formed, rift‐related normal faults, most likely due to a local perturbation of the regional stress field. Because of this, simply inverting fault strike for causal extension direction may be incorrect, especially in provinces where pre‐existing, intra‐basement structures occur. We also show that a detailed kinematic analysis is key to deciphering the temporal as well as simply the spatial or geometric relationship between structures developed at multiple structural levels.     

Clinoform architecture and along‐strike facies variability through an exhumed erosional to accretionary basin margin transition

Exhumed basin margin‐scale clinothems provide important archives for understanding process interactions and reconstructing the physiography of sedimentary basins. However, studies of coeval shelf through slope to basin‐floor deposits are rarely documented, mainly due to outcrop or subsurface dataset limitations. Unit G from the Laingsburg depocentre (Karoo Basin, South Africa) is a rare example of a complete basin margin scale clinothem (>60 km long, 200 m‐high), with >10 km of depositional strike control, which allows a quasi‐3D study of a preserved shelf‐slope‐basin floor transition over a ca. 1,200 km² area. Sand‐prone, wave‐influenced topset deposits close to the shelf‐edge rollover zone can be physically mapped down dip for ca. 10 km as they thicken and transition into heterolithic foreset/slope deposits. These deposits progressively fine and thin over tens of km farther down dip into sand‐starved bottomset/basin‐floor deposits. Only a few km along strike, the coeval foreset/slope deposits are bypass‐dominated with incisional features interpreted as minor slope conduits/gullies. The margin here is steeper, more channelized and records a stepped profile with evidence of sand‐filled intraslope topography, a preserved base‐of‐slope transition zone and sand‐rich bottomset/basin‐floor deposits. Unit G is interpreted as part of a composite depositional sequence that records a change in basin margin style from an underlying incised slope with large sand‐rich basin‐floor fans to an overlying accretion‐dominated shelf with limited sand supply to the slope and basin floor. The change in margin style is accompanied with decreased clinoform height/slope and increased shelf width. This is interpreted to reflect a transition in subsidence style from regional sag, driven by dynamic topography/inherited basement configuration, to early foreland basin flexural loading. Results of this study caution against reconstructing basin margin successions from partial datasets without accounting for temporal and spatial physiographic changes, with potential implications on predictive basin evolution models.     

Response of the western North Pacific subtropical ocean to the slow-moving super typhoon Nanmadol

Based on in-situ observation, satellite and reanalysis data, responses of the western North Pacific subtropical ocean(WNPSO) to the slow-moving category 5 super typhoon Nanmadol in 2011 are analyzed. The dynamical response is dominated by near-inertial currents and Ekman currents with maximum amplitude of 0.39 m/s and 0.15 m/s, respectively. The near-inertial currents concentrated around 100 m below the sea surface and had an e-folding timescale of 4 days. The near-inertial energy propagated both upward and downward, and the vertical phase speed and wavelength were estimated to be 5 m/h and 175 m, respectively. The frequency of the near-inertial currents was blue-shifted near the surface and redshifted in ocean interior which may relate to wave propagation and/or background vorticity. The resultant surface cooling reaches -4.35℃ and happens when translation speed of Nanmadol is smaller than 3.0 m/s.When Nanmadol reaches super typhoon intensity, the cooling is less than 3.0℃ suggesting that the typhoon translation speed plays important roles as well as typhoon intensity in surface cooling. Upwelling induced by the slow-moving typhoon wind leads to typhoon track confined cooling area and the right-hand bias of cooling is slight. The mixed layer cooling and thermocline warming are induced by wind-generated upwelling and vertical entrainment. Vertical entrainment also led to mixed layer salinity increase and thermocline salinity decrease, however, mixed layer salinity decrease occurs at certain stations as well. Our results suggest that typhoon translation speed is a vital factor responsible for the oceanic thermohaline and dynamical responses, and the small Mach number(slow typhoon translation speed) facilitate development of Ekman current and upwelling.     

Effects of stocking density on the growth and immunity of Atlantic salmon salmo salar reared in recirculating aquaculture system (RAS)

Atlantic salmon reared in recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) may lead to inappropriately high stocking density, because fish live in a limited space. Finding the suitable stocking density of Atlantic salmon reared in RAS is very important for RAS industry. In this paper, the influence of stocking density on growth and some stress related physiological factors were investigated to evaluate the effects of stocking density. The fish were reared for 220 days at five densities (A: 24 kg/m³; B: 21 kg/m³; C: 15 kg/m³; D: 9 kg/ m³ and E: 6 kg/m³ ). The results show that 30 kg/m³ might be the maximum density which RAS can afford in China. The stocking densities under 30 kg/m³ have no effect on mortality of Atlantic salmon reared in RAS. However, the specific growth rate (SGR), final weight and weight gain in the high density group were significantly lower than the lower density groups and middle density groups. Moreover, feed conversion rate (FCR) had a negative correlation with density. Plasma hormone T₃ and GH showed significant decrease with the increase of the stocking density of the experiment. Furthermore, thyroid hormone (T₃), GH (growth hormone) activities were decreased with stocking density increase. However, plasma cortisol, GOT (glutamic oxalacetic transaminase) and GPT (glutamic pyruvic transaminase) activities were increase with stocking density increase. And the stocking density has no effects on plasma lysozyme of Atlantic salmon reared in RAS. These investigations would also help devise efficient ways to rear adult Atlantic salmon in China and may, in a way, help spread salmon mariculture in China.

     

Developing a comprehensive evaluation method for Interconnected River System Network assessment: A case study in Tangxun Lake group

Journal of Geographical Sciences - The Interconnected River System Network (IRSN) plays a crucial role in water resource allocation, water ecological restoration and water quality improvement. It...     

Simulating runoff generation and its spatial correlation with environmental factors in Sancha River Basin: The southern source of the Wujiang River

Journal of Geographical Sciences - Runoff generation is an important part of water retention service, and also plays an important role on soil and water retention. Under the background of the...