Basin modelling of a lignite‐bearing salt rim syncline: insights into rim syncline evolution and salt diapirism in NW Germany

The Helmstedt‐Staßfurt salt wall is 70 km long, 6–8 km wide and one of the most important diapiric structures in northern Germany, based on the economically significant lignite‐bearing rim synclines. The analysed Schöningen rim syncline, located on the southwestern side of the Helmstedt‐Staßfurt structure, is 8 km long and 3 km wide. The basin‐fill is up to 366 m thick and characterized by 13 major lignite seams with thicknesses between 0.1 and 30 m. The key objectives of this article were to expand on the classical cross‐section based rim syncline analysis by the use of 3D models and basin simulations. Cross‐sections perpendicular to the basin axis indicate that the basin‐fill has a pronounced lenticular shape. This shape varies from more symmetric in the NW to clearly asymmetric in the SE. Isopach maps imply a two‐fold depocentre evolution. The depocentre migrated over time towards the salt wall and also showed some distinct shifts parallel to the salt wall. The basin modelling part of the study was carried out with the software PetroMod^®, which focused on the burial history of the rim syncline. Modelling results also show the progressive migration of the rim syncline depocentre towards the salt wall. The present‐day asymmetry of the basin‐fill was already developed in the early phases of rim syncline evolution. The extracted geohistory curve shows initial rapid subsidence between 57 and 50 Ma and more moderate subsidence from 50 to 34 Ma. This pattern is interpreted to reflect salt evacuation from the source layer into the salt wall. The initial salt‐withdrawal rate was rapid, but later decreased probably due to depletion of the source layer.     

Effects of the Herbicide Metazachlor on Phytoplankton and Periphyton Communities in Outdoor Mesocosms

The effects of the chloroacetanilide herbicide metazachlor have been investigated in outdoor artificial mesocosms. Decreasing phytoplankton densities were caused by the application, however, the communities recovered after 30 to 35 days. Periphyton growth was found to be affected not only by the herbicide application but by the presence of species with different ability to grow on artificial substrates. Zooplankton diversity was small due to low density of ingestible algae species. Oxygen saturation was found to be correlated with the dosage levels of the herbicide in the second half of the study.     

Sequence stratigraphy of a Paleogene coal bearing rim syncline: interplay of salt dynamics and sea‐level changes,Schöningen,Germany

Salt rim synclines contain important hydrocarbon and coal resources in central Europe. The Schöningen salt rim syncline is filled with >300 m of Early to Middle Eocene unconsolidated clastics with interbedded lignitic coal seams that are mined at the surface. In this study, 357 lithologic logs are integrated with measured outcrop sections and paleo‐botanical data to interpret the depositional environments and sequence stratigraphic framework of the rim syncline fill. As salt withdrew, it generated an elongate mini‐basin that mimicked an incised valley. The sustained accommodation and slow broadening of the syncline affected the stratigraphic architecture and contributed to the preservation of coal units. The clastic units in the syncline filled in seven depositional stages: (1) tidally influenced fluvial estuarine channels; (2) mixed tide‐ and wave‐ dominated estuaries; (3) prograding wave dominate deltas; (4) transgressive shoreline deposits; (5) braided fluvial channels; (6) estuaries; and (7) prograding tide‐dominated channels. The succession defines four 3rd order sequences and several higher order sequences that are possibly related to Milankovitch cycles. The higher order sequences are dominantly characterized by stacked transgressive cycles of thick, lowstand coals overlain by estuarine sands. The nearly continuous warm and wet Eocene climate was conducive to continuous peat production with a climatic overprint recorded in the mire type: ombrotrophic mires developed in wetter times and rheotrophic mires developed in relatively drier conditions pointing to the presence of orbitally controlled seasonality. Both mire types were impacted by the interplay of subsidence and base‐level. The continuous dropping of the mires below base‐level via subsidence protected the mires against erosion and may account for the absence of coals outside of the rim synclines in the region.     

Middle Pleistocene (Saalian) lake outburst floods in the Münsterland Embayment (NW Germany): impacts and magnitudes

During the late Saalian Drenthe glaciation ice-damming of the Upper Weser Valley led to the formation of glacial Lake Weser. The lake drained catastrophically into the Münsterland Embayment as the western ice dam failed, releasing up to 110 km³ of water with a calculated peak discharge of 2.5 × 10⁵ m³/s to 1.3 × 10⁶ m³/s. Geographic information systems (GIS) and high-resolution digital elevation models (DEM) were used to map streamlined landforms and channel systems in front of lake overspills. Geological maps, 2450 boreholes and the DEM were integrated into the 3D modeling program GOCAD to reconstruct the distribution of flood-related deposits, palaeotopographic surfaces and the internal facies architecture of streamlined hills. The drainage pathways are characterized by the occurrence of deep plunge pools, channels, streamlined hills and 4 km long and 12 m deep V-shaped megaflutes. Plunge pools are deeply incised into Mesozoic basement rocks and occur in front of three major overspill channels. The plunge pools are up to 780 m long, 400 m wide and 35 m deep. Approximately 1–10.5 km downslope of the overspill channels fan shaped arrays of streamlined hills are developed, each covering an area of 60–130 km², indicating rapid flow expansion. The hills commonly have quadrilateral to elongated shapes and formed under submerged to partly submerged flow conditions, when the outburst flood entered a shallow lake in the Münsterland Embayment. Hills are up to 4300 m long, 1200 m wide, 11 m high and have characteristic average aspect ratios of 1:3.3. They are separated by shallow, anabranching channels in the outer zones and up to 30 m deep channels in the central zones. Hills partly display V-shaped chevron-like bedforms that have apices facing upslope, are 1.6–2.5 km long, 3–10 m high, 0.8–1.2 m from limb to limb, with limb separation angels of 20–35°. These bedforms are interpreted as mixed erosional depositional features. It is hypothesized that the post-Saalian landscape evolution of the Münsterland Embayment has considerably been influenced by catastrophic floods of glacial Lake Weser, creating large and deep valleys, which subsequently became the new site of river systems. The outburst floods probably followed the east-west-trending Saalian Rhine-Meuse river system eventually flowing into the North Sea, the Strait of Dover and the Bay of Biscay. It is speculated that the Hondsrug ice stream may have been enhanced or even triggered by the formation and outburst of glacial lakes in the study area.     

Paleostress pattern and salt tectonics within a developing foreland basin (north-western Subhercynian Basin, northern Germany)

Analysing the paleostress field in sedimentary basins is important for understanding tectonic processes and the planning of drilling campaigns. The Subhercynian Basin of northern Germany is a perfect natural laboratory to study the paleostress field in a developing foreland basin. The simple layer-cake geometry of the basin-fill is dominated by several piercing and non-piercing salt structures. We derived the paleostress field from the orientation of fracture sets, faults, slickensides and stylolites. On a regional scale, the basin-fill is characterized by a horizontal compressional paleostress vector that is mainly NNE-SSW-oriented, which reflects the Late Cretaceous inversion phase in Central Europe. We show that the local paleostress field is distinctly perturbated due to the salt structures. Along the edge of the salt pillows, the maximum horizontal paleostress vector is deflected by up to 90° from the regional trend. In the case of the Elm salt pillow, it forms a radial pattern. Restoration of balanced cross-sections demonstrates at least 9 % of the shortening of the north-western part of the Subhercynian Basin was achieved by folding. The salt structures in the north-western Subhercynian Basin are the result of varying stress conditions. Initial extension in the Triassic caused first salt movements that prevailed during the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous. Most important is the Late Cretaceous contractional phase that shortened the diapirs and led to the formation of the salt pillows between diapirs due to detachment folding. We derive four main controlling factors for such salt-dominated contractional basins: (1) the wedge-shape basin-fill is the product of the dynamic load at the southern margin of the basin, (2) a basal salt layer fed the diapirs and acted as a detachment horizon during the later shortening, (3) detachment folding was the dominating deformation mechanism during contraction, and (4) the pre-existing diapirs controlled the position of the detachment folds.     

Refractory calcium‐aluminum‐rich inclusions and aluminum‐diopside‐rich chondrules in the metal‐rich chondrites Hammadah al Hamra 237 and Queen Alexandra Range 94411

Abstract— The metal‐rich chondrites Hammadah al Hamra (HH) 237 and Queen Alexandra Range (QUE) 94411, paired with QUE 94627, contain relatively rare (<1 vol%) calcium‐aluminum‐rich inclusions (CAIs) and Al‐diopside‐rich chondrules. Forty CAIs and CAI fragments and seven Al‐diopside‐rich chondrules were identified in HH 237 and QUE 94411/94627. The CAIs, ～50–400 μm in apparent diameter, include (a) 22 (56%) pyroxene‐spinel ± melilite (+forsterite rim), (b) 11 (28%) forsterite‐bearing, pyroxene‐spinel ± melilite ± anorthite (+forsterite rim) (c) 2 (5%) grossite‐rich (+spinel‐melilite‐pyroxene rim), (d) 2 (5%) hibonite‐melilite (+spinel‐pyroxene ± forsterite rim), (e) 1 (2%) hibonite‐bearing, spinel‐perovskite (+melilite‐pyroxene rim), (f) 1 (2%) spinel‐melilite‐pyroxene‐anorthite, and (g) 1 (2%) amoeboid olivine aggregate. Each type of CAI is known to exist in other chondrite groups, but the high abundance of pyroxene‐spinel ± melilite CAIs with igneous textures and surrounded by a forsterite rim are unique features of HH 237 and QUE 94411/94627. Additionally, oxygen isotopes consistently show relatively heavy compositions with Δ¹⁷O ranging from ?6%0 to ?10%0 (1σ = 1.3%0) for all analyzed CAI minerals (grossite, hibonite, melilite, pyroxene, spinel). This suggests that the CAIs formed in a reservoir isotopically distinct from the reservoir(s) where “normal”, ¹⁶O‐rich (Δ¹⁷O < ?20%0) CAIs in most other chondritic meteorites formed. The Al‐diopside‐rich chondrules, which have previously been observed in CH chondrites and the unique carbonaceous chondrite Adelaide, contain Al‐diopside grains enclosing oriented inclusions of forsterite, and interstitial anorthitic mesostasis and Al‐rich, Ca‐poor pyroxene, occasionally enclosing spinel and forsterite. These chondrules are mineralogically similar to the Al‐rich barred‐olivine chondrules in HH 237 and QUE 94411/94627, but have lower Cr concentrations than the latter, indicating that they may have formed during the same chondrule‐forming event, but at slightly different ambient nebular temperatures. Aluminum‐diopside grains from two Al‐diopside‐rich chondrules have O‐isotopic compositions (Δ¹⁷O ? ?7 ± 1.1 %0) similar to CAI minerals, suggesting that they formed from an isotopically similar reservoir. The oxygen‐isotopic composition of one Ca, Al‐poor cryptocrystalline chondrule in QUE 94411/94627 was analyzed and found to have Δ¹⁷O ? ?3 ± 1.4%0. The characteristics of the CAIs in HH 237 and QUE 94411/94627 are inconsistent with an impact origin of these metal‐rich meteorites. Instead they suggest that the components in CB chondrites are pristine products of large‐scale, high‐temperature processes in the solar nebula and should be considered bona fide chondrites.     

Climatic response of Quaternary alluvial deposits in the upper Kali Gandaki valley (West Nepal)

The terraces at the confluence of Kali Gandaki and Miristi Khola (West Nepal) consist of coarse-grained deposits which are considered to be Late Pleistocene to Holocene in age. The stacking pattern of lithofacies is characterised by an alternation of fluvial and debris flow deposits. These periodic changes in sedimentation processes are attributed to climatic variations.Deposits of extended, highly mobile, braided rivers most probably developed under glacial conditions and reflect high sediment supply and high water discharge rates. Deposits of small, only moderately braided river systems evolved during a warmer climate with comparatively low sediment supply and water discharge rates. The mobilisation and redeposition of morainic material by enormous debris flows predominately occurred at the beginning of a warm period and was triggered by earthquakes, glacier lake outburst floods or strong monsoonal rain.