Sedimentary facies during early stages of flooding in an extensional basin: the Brèche Rouge de Carboneras (Late Miocene, Almería/SE Spain)

The intramontane basins of the Betic Cordilleras (SE Spain) formed subsequent to the main phase of orogenic deformation during the middle Miocene in a close genetic relation to the Trans-Alboran Shear zone. Left lateral movements along a local branch (Carboneras fault zone, CF; strike NE–SW) of this zone played a major role in controlling the formation and dynamics of the Nijar-Carboneras Basin. To the south of the fault, a major phase of strike-slip faulting is recorded during the late Tortonian. The expression of this event is the Brèche Rouge de Carboneras (BRC), which seals a deep denudational surface on top of dislocated fault blocks formed by volcanics of the Cabo de Gata complex and early Tortonian shallow marine calcarenite. The sedimentary facies of this widely distributed unit in the Carboneras-Subbasin mirror the submarine topography and the distribution of the fault zones. Along strike-slip fault zones, autoclastic breccias and neptunian dikes preferentially oriented NW–SE and NE–SW occur, which are interpreted to represent the near-surface expression of the faults. Red limestone forms the groundmass of the autoclastic breccia and infills of neptunian dikes, which exhibit multiple phases of opening of fissures, gravitational sedimentary infill, lithification, and renewed creation of cracks. Steep relief, probably along fault scarps, was mantled by epiclastic volcanic conglomerate with a red carbonate matrix. Well-lithified coarse skeletal limestone rich in planktonic foraminifera formed pavements along sediment starved rocky surfaces in deep water. Laterally, within topographic depressions, the pavement limestone grades into thick accumulations of skeletal rudstone composed of fragmented azooxanthellate corals and stylasterid hydrozoans, which were concentrated by powerful bottom currents and gravitiy flows. Within the shallow water zone of dip slope ramps, cross-bedded calcarenite and calcirudite formed. Based on textures, fabrics and biota, rocks of the BRC were grouped into nine genetic lithofacies which document cryptic, deep-aphotic and shallow-photic environments typical of a sediment starved extensional basin.     

Estimating palaeowind strength from beach deposits

Abstract The geological record of past wind conditions is well expressed in the coarse gravel, cobble and boulder beach deposits of Quaternary palaeolakes in the Great Basin of the western USA and elsewhere. This paper describes a technique, using the particle‐size distribution of beach deposits, to reconstruct palaeowind conditions when the lakes were present. The beach particle technique (BPT) is first developed using coarse beach deposits from the 1986–87 highstand of the Great Salt Lake in Utah, combined with instrumental wind records from the same time period. Next, the BPT is used to test the hypothesis that wind conditions were more severe than at present during the last highstand of Lake Lahontan (≈ 13 ka), which only lasted a decade or two at most. The largest 50 beach clasts were measured at nine beach sites located along the north, west and south sides of Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake, all of which formed in 1986–87. At these sites, the largest clast sizes range from 10 to 28 cm (b‐axis), and fetch lengths range from 25 to 55 km. Nearshore wave height was calculated by assuming that the critical threshold velocity required to move the largest clasts represents a minimum estimate of the breaking wave velocity, which is controlled by wave height. Shoaling transformations are undertaken to estimate deep‐water wave heights and, ultimately, wind velocity. Wind estimates for the nine sites, using the BPT, range from 6·5 to 17·4 m s^?1, which is in reasonable agreement with the instrumental record from Salt Lake City Airport. The same technique was applied to eight late Pleistocene beaches surrounding the Carson Sink sub‐basin of Lake Lahontan, Nevada. Using the BPT, estimated winds for the eight sites range from 9·7 to 27·1 m s^?1. The strongest winds were calculated for a cobble/boulder beach with a fetch of 25 km. Instrumental wind records for the 1992–99 period indicate that wind events of 9–12 m s^?1 are common and that the strongest significant wind event (≥ 9 m s^?1 for ≥ 3 h) reached an average velocity of 15·5 m s^?1. Based on this preliminary comparison, it appears that the late Pleistocene western Great Basin was a windier place than at present, at least for a brief time.     

Provenance analysis and tectonic setting of the Ordovician clastic deposits in the southern Puna Basin, NW Argentina

Provenance studies on Early to Middle Ordovician clastic formations of the southern Puna basin in north-western Argentina indicate that the sedimentary detritus is generally composed of reworked crustal material. Tremadoc quartz-rich turbidites (Tolar Chico Formation, mean composition Q_t89 F7 L4) are followed by volcaniclastic rocks and greywackes (Tolillar Formation, mean Q_t33 F42 L25). These are in turn overlain by volcaniclastic deposits (mean Q_t24 F30 L46) of the Diablo Formation (late Arenig–early Llanvirn) that are intercalated by lava flows. All units were deformed in the Oclóyic Orogeny during the Middle and Late Ordovician. Sandstones of the Tolar Chico Formation are characterized by Th/Sc ratios > 1, La/Sc ratios ≈ 10, whereas associated fine-grained wackes show slightly lower values for both ratios. LREE (light rare earth elements) enrichment of the arenites is ≈ 50× chondrite, Eu/Eu* values are between 0·72 and 0·92, and flat HREE (heavy rare earth elements) patterns indicate a derivation from mostly felsic rocks of typical upper crustal composition. The ε_{Nd(t = sed)} values scatter around −11 to −9. The calculated Nd-T_DM residence ages vary between 1·8 and 2·0 Ga indicating contribution by a Palaeoproterozoic crustal component. The Th/Sc and La/Sc ratios of the Tolillar Formation are lower than those of the Tolar Chico Formation. Normalized REE (rare earth elements) patterns display a similar shape to PAAS (post-Archaean average Australian shale) but with higher abundances of HREEs. Eu/Eu* values range between 0·44 and 1·17, where the higher values reflect the abundance of plagioclase and feldspar-bearing volcanic lithoclasts. Average ε_{Nd(t = sed)} values are less negative at −5·1, and Nd-T_DM are lower at 1·6 Ga. This is consistent with characteristics of regional rocks of upper continental crust composition, which most probably represent the sources of the studied detritus. The rocks of the Diablo Formation have the lowest Th/Sc and La/Sc ratios, lower LREE abundances than the average continental crust and are slightly enriched in HREEs. Eu/Eu* values are between 0·63 and 1·17. The Nd isotopes (ε_{Nd(t = sed)} = −3 to −1; T_DM = 1·2 Ga) indicate that one source component was less fractionated than both the underlying Early Ordovician and the overlying Middle Ordovician units. Synsedimentary vulcanites in the Diablo Formation show the same isotopic composition. Our data indicate that the sedimentary detritus is generally composed of reworked crustal material, but that the Diablo Formation appears to contain ≈ 80% of a less fractionated component, derived from a contemporaneous continental volcanic arc. There are no data indicating an exotic detrital source or the accretion of an exotic block at this part of the Gondwana margin during the Ordovician.     

Cretaceous deformation history of the middle Tan-Lu fault zone in Shandong Province, eastern China

Based on field analysis of fault-slip data from different rock units of the Cretaceous basins along the middle part of the Tan-Lu fault zone (Shandong Province, eastern China), we document polyphase tectonic stress fields and address the changes in sense of motion of the Tan-Lu fault zone during the Cretaceous. The Cretaceous deformation history of the Tan-Lu fault zone can be divided into four main stages. The first stage, during the earliest Cretaceous, was dominated by N-S extension responsible for the formation of the Jiaolai basin. We interpret this extension to be related to dextral strike-slip pull-apart opening guided by the Tan-Lu fault zone. The second stage, during the middle Early Cretaceous, was overwhelmingly rift-dominated and characterized by widespread silicic to intermediate volcanism, normal faulting and basin subsidence. It was at this stage that the Tan-Lu-parallel Yi-Shu Rift was initiated by E-W to WNW-ESE extension. The tectonic regime then changed during the late Early Cretaceous to NW-SE-oriented transpression, causing inversion of the Early Cretaceous rift basin and sinistral slip along the Tan-Lu fault zone. During the Late Cretaceous, dextral activation of the Tan-Lu fault zone resulted in pull-apart opening of the Zhucheng basin, which was subsequently deformed by NE-SW compression. This deformation chronology of the Tan-Lu fault zone and the associated Cretaceous basins allow us to constrain the regional kinematic models as related to subduction along the eastern margin of Asia, or related to collision in the Tibet region.     

Pull-down basin in the central part of Japan due to subduction-induced mantle flow

The driving force for the basin subsiding against isostatic balance in and around Lake Biwa in the Kinki district, Japan is discussed. The lake region is characterized by strong negative Bouguer anomalies, especially by a steep horizontal gradient zone of gravity anomaly running along the western margin of the lake. The large negative anomaly (>50 mgal) cannot be explained by low-density sediments beneath it. A down-warping structure extending to the Moho depth should be taken into account. This conjecture has been strongly supported by a short-period receiver function imaging, which shows a clear offset of about 8 km for the Moho discontinuity under the steep gravity gradient zone.A question arises as to what is the driving force to create such a large down-warping structure. We consider that the subduction of the shallow-dipping slab under the region (Philippine Sea Slab) may cause crustal deformation by dragging the viscous mantle downward. In order to verify this model, we simulated the induced mantle flow due to the subduction of the Philippine Sea Slab and the pressure distribution on the crust–mantle boundary. This numerical experiment showed that the induced flow makes a strong negative pressure zone under the lake region if the slab has a vertical offset along the direction of subduction. This offset of the slab is consistent with plate models deduced from hypocentral distributions and Sp phases of the deep-focus earthquakes.     

A biogenic-silica δO record of climatic change during the last glacial–interglacial transition in southwestern Alaska

Despite growing evidence for environmental oscillations during the last glacial–interglacial transition from high latitude, terrestrial sites of the North Pacific rim, oxygen-isotopic records of these oscillations remain sparse. The lack of data is due partially to the paucity of lakes that contain carbonate sediment suitable for oxygen-isotopic analysis. We report here the first record of oxygen-isotopic composition in diatom silica (δ¹⁸O_Si) from a lake in that region. δ¹⁸O_Si increases gradually from 19.0 to 23.5‰ between 12,340 and 11,000 ¹⁴C yr B.P., reflecting marked climatic warming at the end of the last glaciation. Around 11,000 ¹⁴C yr B.P., δ¹⁸O_Si decreases by 1.7‰, suggesting a temperature decrease of 3.5–8.9 °C at the onset of the Younger Dryas (YD) in southwestern Alaska. Climatic recovery began ca. 10,740 ¹⁴C yr B.P., as inferred from the increase of δ¹⁸O_Si to a maximum of 23.9‰ near the end of the YD. Our data reveal that a YD climatic reversal in southwestern coastal areas of Alaska occurred, but the YD climate did not return to full-glacial conditions.     

Age and paleoclimatic significance of late Holocene lakes in the Carson Sink, NV, USA

New dating in the Carson Sink at the termini of the Humboldt and Carson rivers in the Great Basin of the western United States indicates that lakes reached elevations of 1204 and 1198 m between 915 and 652 and between 1519 and 1308 cal yr B.P., respectively. These dates confirm Morrison's original interpretation (Lake Lahontan: Geology of the Southern Carson Desert, Professional Paper 40, U.S. Geol. Survey, 1964) that these shorelines are late Holocene features, rather than late Pleistocene as interpreted by later researchers. Paleohydrologic modeling suggests that discharge into the Carson Sink must have been increased by a factor of about four, and maintained for decades, to account for the 1204-m lake stand. The hydrologic effects of diversions of the Walker River to the Carson Sink were probably not sufficient, by themselves, to account for the late Holocene lake-level rises. The decadal-long period of increased runoff represented by the 1204-m lake is also reflected in other lake records and in tree ring records from the western United States.     

新疆西达里亚T-II油藏储层三维建模研究

在新疆西达里亚T-Ⅱ油气藏的储层表征研究中,首先进行了地质及测井解释,在此基础上应用地质统计学方法进行了三维储层地质建模,建模过程中采用先建立砂层格架,再建立属性参数的“两步建模”研究思路,理论上减少了砂体与属性参数的解释矛盾与误差,提高了属性模型精确度.通过实际生产动态对属性模型进行检验,证明建模结果是正确的.     

Regional Fault Systems of Qaidam Basin and Adjacent Orogenic Belts

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the regional fault systems of Qaidam basin and ad-jacent orogenic belts. Field investigation and seismic interpretation indicate that five regional fault sys-tans occurred in the Qaidam and adjacent nment.qin belts, controlling the development and evolution of the Qaidam basin. These fault systems are: (1)north Qaidam-Qilian Mountain fault system; (2) south Qaidam-East Kunhm Mountain fault system;（3）Altun strike-slip fault system; (4) Elashan strike-slip fault system, and (5) Gansen-Xiaochaidan fault system. It is indicated that the fault systems controlled the orientation of the Qaidam basin, the formation and distribution of secondary faults within the basin,the migration of depocenters and the distribution of hydrocarbon accmnulation belt.     

Late Holocene climates of the Near East deduced from Dead Sea level variations and modern regional winter rainfall

The Dead Sea is a terminal lake of one of the largest hydrological systems in the Levant and may thus be viewed as a large rain gauge for the region. Variations of its level are indicative of the climate variations in the region. Here, we present the decadal- to centennial-resolution Holocene lake-level curve of the Dead Sea. Then we determine the regional hydroclimatology that affected level variations. To achieve this goal we compare modern natural lake-level variations and instrumental rainfall records and quantify the hydrology relative to lake-level rise, fall, or stability. To quantify that relationship under natural conditions, rainfall data pre-dating the artificial Dead Sea level drop since the 1960s are used. In this respect, Jerusalem station offers the longest uninterrupted pre-1960s rainfall record and Jerusalem rains serve as an adequate proxy for the Dead Sea headwaters rainfall. Principal component analysis indicates that temporal variations of annual precipitation in all stations in Israel north of the current 200 mm yr⁻¹ average isohyet during 1940–1990 are largely synchronous and in phase (70% of the total variance explained by PC1). This station also represents well northern Jordan and the area all the way to Beirut, Lebanon, especially during extreme drought and wet spells. We (a) determine the modern, and propose the past regional hydrology and Eastern Mediterranean (EM) climatology that affected the severity and length of droughts/wet spells associated with multiyear episodes of Dead Sea level falls/rises and (b) determine that EM cyclone tracks were different in average number and latitude in wet and dry years in Jerusalem. The mean composite sea level pressure and 500-mb height anomalies indicate that the potential causes for wet and dry episodes span the entire EM and are rooted in the larger-scale northern hemisphere atmospheric circulation. We also identified remarkably close association (within radiocarbon resolution) between climatic changes in the Levant, reflected by level changes, and culture shifts in this region.