Stromatolites and sabkha cycles from the Lower Fars Formation (Miocene) of Iraq

Stromatolites and cryptalgal laminites are described from the Lower Fars Formation of Middle Miocene age from northern Iraq. The Lower Fars is comprised of many cycles of the sequence marl, limestone, gypsum. The microstructures of the stromatolites are described and compared with those of Recent algal mats. An intertidal depositional environment is indicated by the features of the cryptalgal limestones and by the presence of calcite pseudomorphs after gypsum. The significance of this interpretation in terms of Lower Fars sedimentation is discussed. It is concluded that the sulphate horizons formed in a supratidal setting and that the cycles resulted from repeated sabkha progradation.

---

Zusammenfassung Charakteristisch für die untere Fars-Formation (Mittel-Miozän) im Nord-Irak sind Stromatolithe und kryptoalgische Plättchen. Das untere Fars wird aus zahlreichen Zyklen von Mergel, Kalk und Gips aufgebaut. Die Mikrostrukturen der Stromatolithe werden mit heutigen Algenrasen verglichen. Ein Ablagerungsraum in der intertidalZone ist durch die Merkmale des kryptoalgischen Kalkes und die Kalzit-Pseudomorphosen nach Gips angedeutet. Der Schluß folgt, daß die Sulphat-Horizonte im Supratidal entstanden und daß die Zyklen durch wiederholtes Sabkhawachstum entstanden sind.

---

Résumé Sont décrites ici les stromatolites et les laminites cryptalgaires de la formation du Fars Inférieur d'âge Miocène Moyen du nord de l'Irak. Les Fars Inférieur comprend beaucoup de cycles formés de marne, calcaire, gypse. Les microstructures des stromatolites sont décrites et comparées avec celles des mattes algaires récentes. Un milieu de depôt intertidal est indiqué par les caractères des calcaires cryptalgaires et par la présence de pseudomorphoses de gypse en calcite. On discute l'importance de cette interprétation en termes de sédimentation du Fars Inférieur. En conclusion: les horizons sulfatés sont formés dans un emplacement supratidal et les cycles sont le résultat d'une progradation répétée de sabkha.

---

, , . , . , c . , , . , , sabkha.

     

Tectonic style of the Appalachian allochthonous zone of southern Quebec: Seismic and gravimetric evidence

An integrated interpretation of seismic reflection and gravity results yields an image of the structural units (nappes, overthrust sheets and underthrust slabs) of the Cambrian-Ordovician metasedimentary and metavolcanic sequences of the Appalachian province of southern Quebec at depth and the relative position of the underlying Precambrian crystalline basement. The tectonics related to crystalline Precambrian basement may be correlated with four interpretations and combinations of these. A décollement of Paleozoic sedimentary and volcanic piles over a rigid crystalline basement is most probable considering the interpretation of gravity and especially seismic data. The tectonic style at depth is rather unresolved from surface geological information. The elaboration of a two-dimensional model is constrained by physical properties of rocks, maximum depth extents of individual bodies and seismic reflectors in addition to surface geology. Finally, a minimum of 1500 km of shortening and Iapetan closing is suggested.     

Unravelling the microfacies signatures of parasequences using computer-optimized similarity matrices

The microfacies of a Lower Cretaceous carbonate drillcore from Oman are characterized using optimizing matrices of Jaccard's similarity coefficients of community. Other than systems tract boundaries, there is no obvious evidence of individual parasequences in the core. However, diagnostic patterns in microfossil distribution identify environmental gradients recording changes in water depth. These gradients are used to define individual parasequences, parasequence sets, stacking patterns and key surfaces. The patterns suggest that deposition was controlled by successive fourth‐ to fifth‐order (high‐frequency) relative sea‐level cycles superimposed on an underlying third‐order relative sea‐level rise. Although the correlation of these depositional subunits to systematic changes in water depth and the rate of carbonate accumulation alone is not incontrovertible proof of such a sea‐level control, concurrent multiorder relative sea‐level cyclicity provides by far the most likely explanation. A microfacies deposited when the water depth was shallowing is characterized by a relay of microfossils with affinities that shallow upwards. Conversely, a microfacies that records a gradual increase in water depth has a relay of microfossils with affinities that deepen upwards. Microfacies characterized by an assemblage of microfossils with similar affinities record deposition when the benthic environmental conditions remained stable, either because of an equilibrium between shallow water carbonate deposition and rising sea level, or in deeper water where sediment composition was relatively insensitive to changes of water depth. Microfacies characterized by mixed affinity assemblages record syndepositional reworking. During periods of embedded multiorder sea‐level changes, individual parasequences within systems tracts are shown to record more complex environmental gradients than simply the repetition of successive shallowing‐up units as traditionally represented in carbonate sequence stratigraphic models. The microfacies of an individual parasequence may shallow up, or may record both deepening‐up and shallowing‐up depositional phases, as well as periods of sedimentation when benthic environments remained stable. Individual parasequence boundaries may be submarine or subaerial unconformities, or be conformable, as part of a predictable stratigraphic pattern related to the temporal position of an individual parasequence within the underlying third‐order cycle of relative sea‐level change. The hitherto ubiquitous use of assemblages to describe carbonate microfacies, coupled with the widespread use of the metre‐scale shallowing‐up template to identify parasequences, may have led to such complexities previously being overlooked.     

Mid-Cretaceous uplift and erosion on the northern margin of the Ligurian Tethys deduced from thermal history reconstruction

The paleogeography during Early Cretaceous of the northern margin of the Ligurian Tethys is poorly constrained because of deformation and erosion during Pyrenean and Alpine orogenic phases. The present-day limit between Lower Cretaceous sediments in the South–East basin, located at the northwestern margin of the Ligurian Tethys, and basement rocks is the consequence of a protracted erosion history. Lower Cretaceous sediments observed today in the basin, even close to the present-day outcropping border, are characteristic of pelagic environments. A larger extent of a Lower Cretaceous cover on the basement must then be considered. This study focuses on the western part of this margin (the Causses basin), in the South of the Massif Central (France), using several thermochronometers and geothermometers to decipher the former extent of the sedimentary cover. Apatite fission track thermochronology on basement rocks surrounding the Causses basin suggests that these rocks cooled from temperatures higher than 110°C during the mid-Cretaceous. Average fluid inclusion homogenisation temperatures between 94°C and 108°C are recorded in calcite veins from outcropping Toarcian and Aalenian shales. In the shales, Tmax values, temperature obtained by Rock–Eval pyrolysis of organic matter, are in agreement with these elevated temperatures. Different explanations for these relatively high temperatures, which cannot be explained by the present-day sedimentary serie in the basin, have been tested using a 1D thermal modelling procedure (Genex). For a 95±10-mW/m² paleoflux, thick sedimentary deposits (2.5±0.3 km) including 1.3±0.3 km of Lower Cretaceous sediments cover the South of the Massif Central; these formations have been subsequently eroded from mid-Cretaceous time onwards. This study confirms that the South of the Massif Central was a site of marine sedimentation during the Early Cretaceous where a thick sedimentary sequence was once deposited.     

New insights into the hydrogeology of a basaltic shield volcano from a comparison between self-potential and electromagnetic data: Piton de la Fournaise, Indian ocean

In order to investigate aquifers, several geophysical surveys have been carried out in the Baril area of the southern flank of Piton de la Fournaise volcano on Reunion in the Indian Ocean using audiomagnetotelluric (AMT), very-low-frequency (VLF) and self-potential (SP) methods. We present the results with emphasis on a comparison between SP data and the findings of geoelectric surveys. AMT soundings have indicated, from the surface downward, three layers: (i) resistive volcanic rocks, (ii) an intermediate resistivity layer, and (iii) a conductive basement attributed to a seawater-bearing aquifer. VLF measurements allow the mapping of the first layer apparent resistivity, and therefore its bottom, when the true resistivity is supposed to be isotropic and homogenous. When this assumption does not hold, only the SP method permits the mapping of this bottom. Because of the good agreement between the SP and electromagnetic results, we propose the SP method as the first tool that should be used in studying shallow hydrogeological structures in volcanic areas.     

The end of moai quarrying and its effect on Lake Rano Raraku, Easter Island

We reconstruct aspects of the history of Easter Island over the last 4-5 centuries based on the study of a core from Rano Raraku Lake, situated in the crater that contains the quarry of the island's giant statues or moai. We use microfossils of plants and animals to identify five zones. The last three of these are separated by waves of immigration from South America and from the subantarctic. We argue that the first or South American wave, dated to the second half of the 14th century, may represent a visit by South American Indians. Magnetic information, pollen, diatoms, chrysophyte stomatocysts and fossil plant pigments reveal a synchronism between the South American contact and the cessation of moai quarrying. We therefore suggest that Amerindians contributed to the cultural collapse of the island. The second or subantarctic wave may reflect an early European visit to the island, possibly by Cpt. James Cook in 1774, or by Jacob Roggeveen in 1722.