Mechanical aspects of sedimentary basin formation: development of integrated models for lithospheric and surface processes

Different assumptions for the thermo-mechanical properties of the lithosphere strongly affect predictions inferred from quantitative sedimentary basin modeling. Examples from various basins, selected as natural laboratories, illustrate the importance of incorporating a finite strength of the extending lithosphere in forward stratigraphic modeling of large-scale basin stratigraphy. Current models can effectively couple erosion at uplifted rift shoulders of extensional basins with the basin fill architecture of the subsiding basin compartments. Modeling of the synrift strata integrates spatial scales characteristic for subbasins, such as the Oseberg field in the North Sea, with large-scale lithospheric properties characterizing the bulk strength of extending lithosphere. Modeling of compressional basins in foreland fold-and-thrust-belt settings can effectively link lithospheric flexure with surface processes. Scales pertinent to short-term spatial and temporal variations in basin fill and basin deformation can now be addressed, allowing the quantitative investigation of consequences of different modes of thrusting for basin fill geometry and facies characteristics.     

Aquatic hydrocarbon distributions in the Seine estuary: Biogenic polyaromatics and n-alkanes

Dissolved and particulate hydrocarbons of biogenic origin were investigated for the first time in surface waters along the Seine River and its estuary. They comprise n-alkanes (n-ALKs) and diagenetic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Samples were collected in three different sections of the estuary: the riverine zone, the mixing zone, and the marine zone. At the river mouth, two mooring stations were used for the collection of samples over tidal cycles. Total particulate n-ALK concentrations ranged from 31 ng 1^?1 to 2,918 ng 1^?1, or 5 μg g^?1 dry ng 1^?1, or 2 μg g^?1 of SM. Concentrations varied with the SM load and could be related to sedimentation and estuarine mixing. The sources of the n-ALKs were different in each zone of the estuary. The dissolved n-ALKs displayed lower concentrations than the particulate phase, varying from 136 ng 1^?1 to 344 ng 1^?1, while biogenic dissolved PAHs were almost absent.     

Retrograde fluids in the Archean Shawmere anorthosite, Kapuskasing Structural Zone, Ontario, Canada

The Archean Shawmere anorthosite lies within the granulite facies portion of the Kapuskasing Structural Zone (KSZ), Ontario, and is crosscut by numerous linear alteration veins containing calcite + quartz ± dolomite ± zoisite ± clinozoisite ± margarite ±paragonite ± chlorite. These veins roughly parallel the trend of the Ivanhoe Lake Cataclastic Zone. Equilibria involving clinozoisite + margarite + quartz ± calcite ± plagioclase show that the vein minerals were stable at T < 600 °C, XCO₂ < 0.4 at P ≈ 6 kbar. The stabilities of margarite and paragonite in equilibrium with quartz are also consistent with T < 600 °C and XCO₂ < 0.4 at 6 kbar. Additional assemblages consisting of calcite + clinochlore + quartz + talc + margarite indicate T < 500 °C with XCO₂ > 0.9. Thus, vein formation, while clearly retrograde, spanned a range of temperatures, and fluid compositions evolved from H₂O-rich to CO₂-rich. The calcite in the retrograde veins has δ¹⁸O values that range from 8.4 to 11.2‰ (average = +9.7 ± 0.9‰) and δ¹³C values that range from −3.9 to −1.6‰ (average = −3.1 ± 0.6‰). These values indicate that the fluids from which calcite precipitated underwent extensive exchange with the anorthosite and other crustal lithologies. The fluids may have been initially derived either from devolatilization of metamorphic rocks or crystallization of igneous rocks in the adjacent Abitibi subprovince. Vein quartz contains CO₂-rich fluid inclusions (final melting T = −57.0 to −58.7 °C) that range in size from 5 to 17 μm. Measured homogenization temperatures (T h) range from −44.0 to 14.5 °C, however for most inclusions (46 of S1), T h = −44.0 to −21.1 °C (ρCO₂ ≈ 1.13 to 1.05 g/cm³). At 400 to 600 °C, these densities correspond to pressures of 3.5 to 7 kbar, which is the best estimate of pressures of vein formation. It has been argued that some high density CO₂-rich fluid inclusions found in the KSZ were formed during peak metamorphism and thus document the presence of a CO₂-rich fluid during peak granulite facies metamorphism (Rudnick et al. 1984). The association of high density CO₂-rich fluid inclusions with clearly retrograde veins documents the formation of similar composition and density inclusions after the peak of metamorphism. Thus, the coincidence of entrapment pressures calculated from fluid inclusion density measurements with peak metamorphic pressures alone should not be considered strong evidence for peak metamorphic inclusion entrapment. All fluid inclusion results are consistent with an initially semi-isobaric retrograde P–T path. Received: 2 April 1996 / Accepted: 15 November 1996     

Climatic significance of natric horizons in Permian (Asselian) palaeosols of north-central Kansas, USA

Columnar structured horizons have been recognized in ancient coastal palaeosols of several Lower Permian (Asselian) stratigraphic units of north-central Kansas. These strongly developed columnar, polygonal-shaped peds are characteristic of sodium-influenced (natric) argillic horizons, and are commonly indicative of semi-arid to arid environments. Evaporite features above and below these palaeosols support the conclusion for a dry palaeoclimate. The columnar peds are typically 3–15 cm in diameter and exhibit domed tops. Fine clay fills the cracks between the columnar peds, and is generally of a darker colour than the peds. Each natric horizon has a low value and chroma colour, apparently the result of carbonate accumulation. The natric horizons in these Permian palaeosols appear to have been partially influenced by sodium-rich groundwaters. Root traces and root moulds are found between peds in all natric horizons, indicating plant succession after columnar ped formation. These sodium-influenced palaeosol profiles occur as part of a spectrum of palaeosol types that indicate cyclical climate change associated with glacioeustatic sea-level fluctuations.     

Deep-sea avulsion and morphosedimentary evolution of the Rhône Fan Valley and Neofan during the Late Quaternary (north-western Mediterranean Sea)

The Petit-Rhône Fan Valley (north-western Mediterranean) is a broad, sinuous, filled valley that is deeply incised by a narrow, sinuous thalweg. The valley fill is differentiated into three seismic subunits on high-resolution seismic-reflection profiles. The lower chaotic subunit probably consists of channel lag deposits that seem to be in lateral continuity with high-amplitude reflections representing levee facies. The intermediate transparent subunit, which has an erosional base and clearly truncates levee deposits, is interpreted to be mass-flow deposits resulting from the disintegration of the fan-valley flanks. The upper bedded subunit shows an overall lens-shaped geometry and the seismic reflections onlap either onto the top of the underlying transparent subunit or onto the Rhône levees. Piston core data show that the upper few meters of this upper subunit consist of thin turbidites, probably deposited by overflow processes. The few available ¹⁴C ages suggest that the upper stratified subunit filled the Petit-Rhône Fan Valley between 21 and 11 kyr BP. The upper bedded subunit is deposited within the Petit-Rhône Fan Valley downslope of a major decrease in slope gradient. This upper subunit and the thalweg are genetically related and represent a small channel/levee system confined within the fan valley. Previous studies interpreted this thalweg to be an erosional feature resulting from a recent avulsion of the major channel course. Our interpretation implies that the thalweg is not a purely erosional feature but a depositional/erosional channel. This small channel/levee system is superimposed on a large muddy channel/levee system after the sediment supply changed from thick muddy flows during the main phase of aggradation of the Rhône Fan levees, to thin, mixed (sand and mud) flows at the end of Isotope Stage 2 (～16–18 ka BP). The pre-existing morphology of the Petit-Rhône Fan Valley played a determinant role in the sediment dispersal leading to the creation of this small and confined channel/levee system. These mixed flows have undergone flow stripping resulting from the changes in the slope gradient along the thalweg course. The finer sediment overflowed from the thalweg and were deposited in the Petit-Rhône Fan Valley. Coarser channelled sediment remaining in the thalweg were deposited as a ‘sandy’lobe (Neofan). As indicated by ¹⁴C dating, sedimentation on this lobe continued until very recently, suggesting a further evolution of the turbidity flows from small mixed flows to small sandy flows. the deposition of this study lobe and the sedimentary fill of the Petit-Rhône Fan Valley may be related to widespread shelf edge and canyon wall failures with a resulting downslope evolution of failed sediment into turbidity currents.     

Evolution of late Triassic rift basin evaporites (Passaic Formation): Newark Basin, Eastern North America

The Passaic Formation of the late Triassic Newark Supergroup is 2700 m thick and was deposited in series of wide, deep to shallow lacustrine environments in the Newark rift basin (eastern North America). The Passaic Formation can be divided into lower, middle, and upper sections based on depositional structures, composition and the distribution and morphology of its evaporites. Evaporites formed as a result of syndiagenetic cementation and/or displacive processes. Evaporitive minerals now include gypsum and anhydrite, although other mineral species, such as glauberite, may have originally existed. Most of the evaporites of the Passaic Formation occur within massive red mudstone and siltstone lithologies in the form of diffuse cements, void-fillings, euhedral crystals, crystal clusters and nodules. These evaporites grew displacively within the fine siliciclastic matrix as a result of changes in the hydrochemical regimes of the rift basin. A well-developed upward increase in the amount of evaporite material is present in the Passaic Formation. This resulted from: (1) long-term, progressive increase in aridity, and (2) significant increase in evaporation surface area of the basin during its tectonic evolution. A nonmarine source for the evaporites is evident from the isotopic data. Sulphate δ³⁴S ranges from 11%. to 3.3%. CDT, while δ¹⁸O ranges from + 15.1%. to + 20.9%. SMOW, indicating derivation from early diagenetic oxidation of organic sulphur and pyrite within the organic-rich, lacustrine deposits. The ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios in sulphate are radiogenic (average 0.71211), showing the interaction of basin waters with detrital components and that the Newark Basin was isolated from the world ocean. Most of the original evaporites show evidence of diagenetic change to polycrystalline and polymineralic pseudomorphs now filled with recrystallized coarse-grained anhydrite (1–3 mm size) and low-temperature albite. Homogenization temperatures of fluid inclusions within the coarse-grained anhydrite indicate crystallization temperatures for anhydrite in the range of 150° to 280°C. Such elevated temperatures resulted from circulation of hot water in the basin. Later exhumation of these rocks caused partial to total replacement of anhydrite by gypsum in the upper part of the section. The resulting increase in volume due to hydration of anhydrite at shallow depths also emplaced non-evaporative satin-spar veins (fibrous gypsum) along bedding planes and in fractures. While the local geology of the Newark rift basin controlled the distribution of facies, the sedimentological development of the Passaic Formation evaporites resulted from the world-wide climatic aridity that prevailed during the late Triassic. because the Newark Basin sequence was only covered with about 3 km of sedimentary overburden that correspond to about 100°C and hence suggests that evaporites have experienced alteration by hot fluids. 5 As the Triassic marks the greatest evaporite formation world-wide and profound sense of parched continentality throughout the world existed before the final break-up of the Pangea, the Passaic Formation evaporites are an example of the influence of these palaeoclimatic conditions at the eastern margin of North America.     

Disequilibrium for Ca during growth of pelitic garnet

Compositional zoning in hundreds of almandine-rich garnets in amphibolite by facies micaceous quartzites from the Picuris Range, north-central New Mexico USA, indicates that although Mn, Mg and Fe achieve chemical equilibrium at hand-sample scale during garnet growth, Ca does not. Instead, Ca concentrations at the surface of growing garnets appear to depend strongly on kinetic factors that govern the local chemical environment, yielding disequilibrium for Ca at scales larger than the region immediately surrounding an individual porphyroblast. Detailed zoning profiles were obtained for 371 garnet crystals in a small volume of a single sample of garnetiferous quartzite, and core analyses were made of 97 additional crystals. Each analysis was made on a section that passed precisely through the morphological centre of the crystal, located by means of 3-D imagery from computed X-ray tomography. The data reveal strong correlations between crystal size and concentrations of Mn, Mg and Fe (but not Ca) in garnet cores; a relationship between crystal size and isolation; rigorous cross-correlations among concentrations of Mn, Mg and Fe (but not Ca); and systematic variations in Ca concentrations as a function of crystal size and core composition that are anomalous in comparison to the behaviour of the other divalent cations. We interpret these observations as the result of thermally accelerated diffusion-controlled garnet growth, in circumstances that promoted rapid intergranular diffusion and thus rock-wide equilibration of Mn, Mg and Fe, but that prevented equilibration at similar scale for Ca because of its more sluggish intergranular diffusion. The anomalous behaviour of Ca is made evident in these garnets by the presence of sharp spikes in Ca concentration, which are demonstrably not a consequence of any simultaneous rock-wide event, such as a change in pressure, temperature, or some other intensive parameter. Instead, Ca concentrations probably reflect the local extent of reaction in the immediate vicinity of each porphyroblast. To the degree that such kinetic factors introduce departures from chemical equilibrium for Ca, thermobarometric estimates that involve grossular contents of pelitic garnet will be in error.     

The Development of Laser Ablation ICP-MS and Calibration Strategies: Examples from the Analysis of Trace Elements in Volcanic Glass Shards and Sulfide Minerals

This contribution presents a review of the recent developments in laser ablation inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. We describe the important developments which have occurred in the laser systems used, leading to a spatial resolution of around 20 (im, and give an overview of the major instrument developments which have affected the geological applications of laser ablation ICP-MS. We describe the calibration of laser ablation for the analysis of trace elements in two different matrices: volcanic glass shards and sulfide minerals. We show how single glass shards can be analysed using the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) glass certified reference materials for calibration and demonstrate the effect of using single spot analyses compared to rastering of the calibration sample. We show the importance of inter-shard variation and demonstrate that averaged single shard analyses produce data which compare well with bulk analyses. The calibration of the laser system for sulfide mineral analysis is discussed and two different strategies are proposed, one using spiked pressed powder pellets of sulfides and the other metal reference materials. We present conclusions and recommendations for the calibration of laser ablation ICP-MS instruments.