Climbing‐ripple successions in turbidite systems: depositional environments,sedimentation rates and accumulation times

Climbing‐ripple cross‐lamination is most commonly deposited by turbidity currents when suspended load fallout and bedload transport occur contemporaneously. The angle of ripple climb reflects the ratio of suspended load fallout and bedload sedimentation rates, allowing for the calculation of the flow properties and durations of turbidity currents. Three areas exhibiting thick (>50 m) sections of deep‐water climbing‐ripple cross‐lamination deposits are the focus of this study: (i) the Miocene upper Mount Messenger Formation in the Taranaki Basin, New Zealand; (ii) the Permian Skoorsteenberg Formation in the Tanqua depocentre of the Karoo Basin, South Africa; and (iii) the lower Pleistocene Magnolia Field in the Titan Basin, Gulf of Mexico. Facies distributions and local contextual information indicate that climbing‐ripple cross‐lamination in each area was deposited in an ‘off‐axis’ setting where flows were expanding due to loss of confinement or a decrease in slope gradient. The resultant reduction in flow thickness, Reynolds number, shear stress and capacity promoted suspension fallout and thus climbing‐ripple cross‐lamination formation. Climbing‐ripple cross‐lamination in the New Zealand study area was deposited both outside of and within channels at an inferred break in slope, where flows were decelerating and expanding. In the South Africa study area, climbing‐ripple cross‐lamination was deposited due to a loss of flow confinement. In the Magnolia study area, an abrupt decrease in gradient near a basin sill caused flow deceleration and climbing‐ripple cross‐lamination deposition in off‐axis settings. Sedimentation rate and accumulation time were calculated for 44 climbing‐ripple cross‐lamination sedimentation units from the three areas using TDURE, a mathematical model developed by Baas et al. (2000) . For T_c divisions and T_bc beds averaging 26 cm and 37 cm thick, respectively, average climbing‐ripple cross‐lamination and whole bed sedimentation rates were 0·15 mm sec^?1 and 0·26 mm sec^?1 and average accumulation times were 27 min and 35 min, respectively. In some instances, distinct stratigraphic trends of sedimentation rate give insight into the evolution of the depositional environment. Climbing‐ripple cross‐lamination in the three study areas is developed in very fine‐grained to fine‐grained sand, suggesting a grain size dependence on turbidite climbing‐ripple cross‐lamination formation. Indeed, the calculated sedimentation rates correlate well with the rate of sedimentation due to hindered settling of very fine‐grained and fine‐grained sand–water suspensions at concentrations of up to 20% and 2·5%, respectively. For coarser grains, hindered settling rates at all concentrations are much too high to form climbing‐ripple cross‐lamination, resulting in the formation of massive/structureless S₃ or T_a divisions.     

Channelized debris‐flow deposits and their impact on turbidity currents: The Puchkirchen axial channel belt in the Austrian Molasse Basin

Deposits of submarine debris flows can build up substantial topography on the sea floor. The resulting sea floor morphology can strongly influence the pathways of and deposition from subsequent turbidity currents. Map views of sea floor morphology are available for parts of the modern sea floor and from high‐resolution seismic‐reflection data. However, these data sets usually lack lithological information. In contrast, outcrops provide cross‐sectional and lateral stratigraphic details of deep‐water strata with superb lithological control but provide little information on sea floor morphology. Here, a methodology is presented that extracts fundamental lithological information from sediment core and well logs with a novel calibration between core, well‐logs and seismic attributes within a large submarine axial channel belt in the Tertiary Molasse foreland basin, Austria. This channel belt was the course of multiple debris‐flow and turbidity current events, and the fill consists of interbedded layers deposited by both of these processes. Using the core‐well‐seismic calibration, three‐dimensional lithofacies proportion volumes were created. These volumes enable the interpretation of the three‐dimensional distribution of the important lithofacies and thus the investigation of sea floor morphology produced by debris‐flow events and its impact on succeeding turbidite deposition. These results show that the distribution of debris‐flow deposits follows a relatively regular pattern of levées and lobes. When subsequent high‐density turbidity currents encountered this mounded debris‐flow topography, they slowed and deposited a portion of their sandy high‐density loads just upstream of morphological highs. Understanding the depositional patterns of debris flows is key to understanding and predicting the location and character of associated sandstone accumulations. This detailed model of the filling style and the resulting stratigraphic architecture of a debris‐flow dominated deep‐marine depositional system can be used as an analogue for similar modern and ancient systems.     

Chemical compositions of Kilauea east-rift lava, 1968-1971

The major element chemical compositions of lava from four eruptionson the east rift zone of Kilauea between August 1968 and October1971 reflect three petrologic processes:

1. Production of chemically distinct batches of magma in the mantle.
2. Separation of olivine, augite, and plagioclase from liquidduringflow in the rift-zone conduits.
3. Mixing of differentmagmas during ascent to the surface.

Chemically none of the four Kilauea east-rift eruptions matchesthe preceding summit eruption in Halemaumau that ended in July1968. The Mauna Ulu eruption, May 1969 to October 1971 (thelast of flie east-rift eruptions), can be divided into fiveolivine-controlled and chemically distinct variants. Three ofthese characterize the first seven months of the eruption andare closest in composition to the 1967–8 Halemaumau eruption.Variants 4 and 5 were erupted later and have compositions thatare distinctly different from that of the 1967–8 eruption.Major differences are higher Al₂O₃ (0?15–0?23 per cent),and lower K₂O (0?07–0?10 per cent) and TiO₂ (0?12–0?23per cent) in variants 4 and 5 at the same MgO content. Somelavas from eruptions in August and October 1968 and February1969, have olivine-controlled magma compositions that are identicalto mixtures of Mauna Ulu variants 1–3 and the 1967–8composition. This observation fits an hypothesis advanced earlierby T. L. Wright and R. S. Fiske that magmas in the central magmachamber become mixed with magmas in the rift zone and can beidentified as mixing components of rift eruption magmas beforethey appear as distinctive magmas in summit eruptions. Lavas representing mixing of olivine-controlled magma with differentiatedmagma were erupted in October 1968, February 1969, and in Mayand December 1969. The changes in amount of K₂O and TiO₂ during the latter partof the 1969–71 Mauna Ulu eruption are the reverse of theoverall secular change in composition of Kilauea summit lavasfrom pre-1750 through 1967–8. The K₂O and TiO₂ contentsof the latest overflows during the 1969–71 Mauna Ulu eruption(April 1971) are comparable to that of lava erupted at Kilaueasummit prior to 1750. The changing chemistry of Kilauea magma is found to be of useas a ‘tracer’ in the complex Kilauea conduit system.Application of these data to older lava sequences is difficulbecause of the complexity of the processes controlling lavacomposition and the absence of detailed information about thetime-space chemical variation during individual eruptions.     

Water escape structures in coarse-grained sediments

Three processes of water escape characterize the consolidation of silt-, sand-and gravel-sized sediments. Seepage involves the slow upward movement of pore fluids within existing voids or rapid flow within compact and confined sediments. Liquefaction is marked by the sudden breakdown of a metastable, loosely packed grain framework, the grains becoming temporarily suspended in the pore fluid and settling rapidly through the fluid until a grain-supported structure is re-established. Fluidization occurs when the drag exerted by moving pore fluids exceeds the effective weight of the grains; the particles are lifted, the grain framework destroyed, and the sediment strength reduced to nearly zero. Diagenetic sedimentary structures formed in direct response to processes of fluid escape are here termed water escape structures. Four main types of water escape structures form during the fluidization and liquefaction of sands: (1) soft-sediment mixing bodies, (2) soft-sedimsnt intrusions, (3) consolidation laminations, and (4) soft-sediment folds. These structures represent both the direct rearrangement of sediment grains by escaping fluids and the deformation of hydroplastic, liquefied, or fluidized sediment in response to external stresses. Fundamental controls on sediment consolidation are exerted by the bulk sediment properties of grain size, packing, permeability, and strength, which together determine whether consolidation will occur and, if so the course it follows, and by external disturbances which act to trigger liquefaction and fluidization. The liquefaction and fluidization of natural sands usually accompanies the collapse of loosely packed cross-bedded deposits. This collapse is commonly initiated by water forced into the units as underlying beds, especially muds and clays, consolidate. The consolidation of subjacent units is often triggered by the rapid deposition of the sand itself, although earthquakes or other disturbances are probably influential in some instances. Water escape structures most commonly form in fine- to medium-grained sands deposited at high instantaneous and mean sedimentation rates; they are particularly abundant in cross-laminated deposits but rare in units deposited under upper flow regime plane bed conditions. Their development is favoured by upward decreasing permeability within sedimentation units such as normally graded turbidites. They are especially common in sequences made up of alternating fine-(clay and mud) and coarse-grained (sand) units such as deep-sea flysch prodelta, and, to a lesser extent, fluvial point bar, levee, and proximal overbank deposits.     

Petrography and provenance of silicified early Archaean volcaniclastic sandstones, eastern Pilbara Block, Western Australia

Intense post-depositional alteration has profoundly affected sandstones in the volcanic portions of Early Archaean (3·5–3·3 Ga) greenstone belts. The mineralogy and bulk compositions of most grains have been completely destroyed by pervasive metasomatism, but grain textures are commonly well preserved. Consequently, microtextural information coupled with present alteration compositions as determined petrographically can be used to estimate original framework modes. Silicified Early Archaean volcaniclastic sandstones assigned to the Panorama Formation and Duffer Formation, Warrawoona Group, eastern Pilbara Block, Western Australia, were originally composed of volcanic (VRF) and sedimentary (SRF) rock fragments, volcanic quartz, feldspar, traces of ferromagnesian minerals and pumice. Only volcanic megaquartz remained stable during alteration. All other primary components were replaced by granular microcrystalline quartz (GMC) and sericite. In most areas, the sandstones were composed of dacitic to rhyolitic VRFs, now totally replaced by sericite-poor GMC and recognized by preserved microporphyritic textures. In a few areas, quartz-poor dacitic to andesitic(?) VRFs dominated the detrital assemblage. Minor SRFs and mafic VRFs, now replaced by GMC, are recognized on the basis of colour, internal structures, and internal textures, including skeletal, possible spinifex textures. Detrital feldspar is represented by blocky, sericite-rich grain pseudomorphs. A semi-quantitative point-count scheme, developed for the analysis of heavily altered sandstones, indicates the following primary detrital-mode ranges for Panorama arenites: quartz, 0–28%; feldspar, 0–28%, VRFs, 58–86%, and SRFs 0–25%. In about half the point-counted samples, feldspar could not be distinguished from rock fragments. In such cases, both were counted as one grain type, Lv', which makes up from 84 to 100% of the framework modes of these rocks. These sands were derived from a terrane composed largely of fresh felsic volcanic rocks and sediments, but locally including minor mafic, ultramafic, and sedimentary rocks. Much, but not all, of the felsic volcaniclastic sand represents reworked pyroclastic debris. There is no evidence for contributions from plutonic or metamorphic sources. The Panorama modal assemblage represents a provenance that is lithologically more restricted than that of Archaean greywackes and other siliciclastic units common in the sedimentary portions of these same Early Archaean greenstone belts and younger greenstone belts (3·0–2·7 Ga).     

Crystallization Conditions of the Sybille Monzosyenite, Laramie Anorthosite Complex, Wyoming

The Sybille Monzosyenite, associated with the Laramie AnorthositeComplex, consists of rocks ranging in composition from monzogabbroto monzosyenite. There is a continuous range of mineral compositionswith plagioclase varying from An₄₅ to An₂₅ and olivine fromFa₇₅ to Fa₉₈ Strongly ternary (Or, Ab, An all > 10 mol%)feldspars–presently mesoperthites–are found in allrock types and define a continuous trend also in the feldsparternary system. The mineral compositions suggest that the rocktypes of the Sybille Monzosyenite could be part of a singledifferentiation sequence; contamination of the later units byassimilation of, or admixture of partial melts from, countryrock is also likely. Original magmatic temperatures of approximately950–1050?C are indicated by estimated original compositionsfor pyroxenes and feldspars; pressure was near 3 kb, as indicatedby the most magnesian olivine that coexists with quartz. Oxygenfugacity of crystallization is estimated as 1.5 to 2.0 log unitsbelow FMQ by using the displaced equilibrium: SiO₂ + 2Fe₂TiO₃= 2FeTiO₃ + Fe₂SiO₄. Such oxygen fugacities are consistent withthe occurrence of graphite and CO₂-rich fluid inclusions, whichsuggest that crystallization took place in the presence of aCO₂ vapor phase. Temperatures indicated by the present mineralassemblages show that all geothermometers used were reset duringcooling, first by intergrain and then by intragrain processes.     

Sedimentology, mineralogy and isotopic analysis of Pellet Lake, Coorong region, South Australia

ABSTRACT Gravity cores of Holocene sediments from a shallow ephemeral lake in the Coorong region (Pellet Lake, southeastern coastal Australia) show a mineral assemblage and sequence particular to its hydrology. The mineralogical sequence above an initial dolomitic siliciclastic sand reflects conditions of increasing salinity in the lower portions of the core (i.e. organic-rich aragonite to magnesite + hydromagnesite + aragonite) followed by a relative decrease in salinity (i.e. magnesite + aragonite + hydromagnesite to aragonite + hydromagnesite) in the upper portions of the core. This sequence is capped by ? 0.4 m of micritic dolomite and minor amounts of hydromagnesite, with the relative abundance of dolomite increasing upwards. Three stratigraphically and spatially distinct dolomite units (upper, lower and margin) are recognized using stable carbon and oxygen isotope data, unit cell calculations and MgCO₃ mole per cent data of the dolomite. Detailed X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses of samples with more than 80% dolomite shows that the dolomite is ordered. Average unit cell parameters, calculated from the XRD patterns, indicate that the upper dolomite unit has crystal lattices expanded in the c_o direction (c_o= 16.09 Å) relative to ideal dolomite (c_o= 16.02 Å) and contracted in the a_o direction (a_o= 4.796 Å) relative to ideal dolomite (a_o= 4.812 Å). The mol fraction of MgCO₃ in the upper dolomite shows up to 4.0 ±M 2.0 mole per cent excess Mg in the dolomite crystal lattice (calculated from XRD). This unusual dolomite crystal chemistry is probably generated by rapid precipitation from solutions which have greatly elevated Mg/Ca ratios. Transmission electron microscopy reveals that the upper dolomite has a heterogeneous microstructure which also suggests rapid precipitation from solution. The modulated microstructure found in calcium-rich dolomite is completely lacking. Dolomite ordering reflections are present in electron diffraction patterns, but are weak. Stable oxygen and carbon isotope values of the upper dolomite are tightly grouped (ave. δ¹⁸O ～+ 7.55%_o, δ¹³C ～+ 4.10%_o), yet show three upward-lightening oxygen cycles. The oxygen cycles correlate with three upward decreases in the calculated Mg content of the dolomite zone. These cycles may indicate the increased importance of rain-water dilution of the brine at times when the water in the lake was at its shallowest levels. Analyses of the lower dolomite and the margin dolomite suggest that these units precipitated more slowly from less evaporitic brines than the upper dolomite unit. The lower dolomite is close to stoichiometric, has less evaporitic stable isotope values than the upper dolomite, and has only a slightly expanded c_o-axis. The margin dolomite is Ca-rich, has a more homogeneous microstructure, and has expanded a_o and c_o axes. The abundance of relatively soluble Mg-bearing phases, such as hydromagnesite and magnesite, may supply additional magnesium for the dolomitization of aragonite and calcite during subsequent diagenesis and burial of the sediment. This process may leave a finely laminated dolomicrite deposit which retains little, if any, evidence of evaporite minerals.