长江三角洲南部地区晚更新世年代地层和海水进退

根据长江三角洲晚第四纪4个钻孔详细的测年和微体古生物分析结果,对该区约110kaBP来的地层进行了年代学划分,并且重建了晚更新世海侵海退过程。研究发现,形成于120～110kaBP的蓝灰色硬土是本区晚更新世底界的标志,而晓更新世顶界的标志是形成于17～10kaBP的暗绿色或棕黄色硬土。晚更新世早期110～60kaBP间,本区主要发育河流相的含砾砂,但其中100～80kaBP间发生一次较弱海侵,以溺谷相沉积为主。晚更新世中期60～22kaBP,沉积物经历粗—细—粗3个阶段,分别是60～40、40～34和34～22kaBP。其中第2阶段在西部地区出现硬土层,而中东部地区60～22kaBP期间海侵层连续,且在43～40和34～22kaBP出现两次较高海面。     

黄河、长江和珠江三角洲沉积物中碎屑矿物的组合特征

黄河、长江和珠江三角洲沉积物中碎屑矿物的组合特征,分别反映了碱性、弱酸性,酸性的物源环境及比较温凉干旱、温暖湿润和炎热多雨的气候特点。 从黄河沉积物的特征矿物是方解石、珠江沉积物的特征矿物是β石英可看出轻矿物在确定沉积物的物源方面也具有重要意义。     

现行黄河口水下三角洲海底形貌及不稳定性

高分辨力的声学仪器调查表明,现行黄河口水下三角洲海底的形貌十分复杂,由于高浓度巨量黄河泥沙快速沉积的结果,使河口底坡出现了大量的不稳定性现象,如塌陷冲沟,高密度沉积物重力流,切割—充填结构海底,V形水下河谷、滑塌等。根据海底扰动程度作了分区,划分了地形单元,并对不同的海底形态的成因作了分析。比较了1985和1986年两个航次考查结果的变动,分析了原因。     

Seasonal air temperature variations retrieved from a Geladaindong ice core, Tibetan Plateau

A 70-year history of precipitation δ18O record has been retrieved using an ice core drilled from a plat portion of the firn area in the Guoqu Glacier (33o34′37.8″ N, 91o10′35.3″ E, 5720 m a.s.l.) on Mt. Geladaindong (the source region of Yangtze River) during October and November, 2005. Based on the seasonality of δ18O records and the significant positive rela-tionships between monsoon/non-monsoon δ18O values and summer/spring air temperature from the nearby meteorological stations, the history of summer and spring air temperature have been reconstructed for the last 70 years. The results show that both summer and spring air temperature variations present similar trends during the last 70 years. Regression analysis indicates that the slope of the temperature-δ18O relationship is 1.3℃/‰ for non-monsoon δ18O values and spring air temperature, and 0.4℃/‰ for monsoon δ18O values and summer air temperature. Variation of air temperature recorded in the ice core is consistent with that in the Northern Hemisphere (NH), however, the warming trend in the Geladaindong region is more intense than that in the NH, reflecting a higher sensitivity to global warming in the high elevation regions. In addition, warming trend is greater in spring than in summer.     

湖盆三角洲沉积坡度带特征及其与滑塌浊积岩分布关系的初步探讨

三角洲前缘滑塌浊积岩是分布于深水环境中一种重要的储集砂体,也是陆相湖盆中一种重要的岩性油气藏。三角洲沉积体系一般存在三个地形坡度转折点,即顶积层与前积层之间的转折点、三角洲前缘斜坡与前三角洲沉积之间的转折点、三角洲沉积体系与正常湖泊沉积作用之间的转折点,其中前缘斜坡的地形坡度最大。前缘斜坡地形坡度是控制滑塌作用和形成滑塌浊积岩的关键因素之一,滑塌作用一般发生于前缘斜坡的上部,而滑塌浊积岩主要分布于前缘斜坡的根部和前三角洲外侧,这些地区是三角洲沉积体系中地形坡度的转折点。前缘斜坡的坡度决定了前三角洲外侧坡度转折点的位置,坡度越大,转折点越靠近前缘斜坡带,结合东营三角洲的精细解剖分析,建立了两者之间的定量关系式。     

An Appraissal of the Performance of Geosta as a Stabilising Agent for Deltaic Laterite in Sub-Base Construction

This study was prompted by the massive and unprecedented failure experienced within a very short time after construction of “Ada-George Road” which had deltaic lateritic sub-base stabilised with undisclosed but most probably uncontrolled (scientifically) proportions of cement and geosta (a relatively new chemical stabiliser). Samples of the deltaic laterite were taken from two of the borrow-pits within Port Harcourt metropolis from which materials were quarried for the construction of the sub-base. The results showed that although geosta addition to deltaic laterite mixed with cement gives considerable improvement on the strength of the resulting mixture, this stabilisation is only effective at very low geosta content not exceeding 2% depending on the optimum geosta content (OGC) which in turn is a function of the percentage of fines of the soil. But the Ada George road project appeared to be politically rather than scientifically motivated. Consequently, the OGC must have been grossly exceeded in the construction of this geosta stabilised sub-base. As a result, the as-built CBR must have been much lower than expected hence the massive failure that resulted. Even for 2% geosta content, this composite stabilisation was also found to be most effective at 4% cement content.     

Evolution of a Holocene delta driven by episodic sediment delivery and coseismic deformation, Puget Sound, Washington, USA

Episodic, large‐volume pulses of volcaniclastic sediment and coseismic subsidence of the coast have influenced the development of a late Holocene delta at southern Puget Sound. Multibeam bathymetry, ground‐penetrating radar (GPR) and vibracores were used to investigate the morphologic and stratigraphic evolution of the Nisqually River delta. Two fluvial–deltaic facies are recognized on the basis of GPR data and sedimentary characteristics in cores, which suggest partial emplacement from sediment‐rich floods that originated on Mount Rainier. Facies S consists of stacked, sheet‐like deposits of andesitic sand up to 4 m thick that are continuous across the entire width of the delta. Flat‐lying, highly reflective surfaces separate the sand sheets and comprise important facies boundaries. Beds of massive, pumice‐ and charcoal‐rich sand overlie one of the buried surfaces. Organic‐rich material from that surface, beneath the massive sand, yielded a radiocarbon age that is time‐correlative with a series of known eruptive events that generated lahars in the upper Nisqually River valley. Facies CF consists of linear sandbodies or palaeochannels incised into facies S on the lower delta plain. Radiocarbon ages of wood fragments in the sandy channel‐fill deposits also correlate in time to lahar deposits in upstream areas. Intrusive, sand‐filled dikes and sills indicate liquefaction caused by post‐depositional ground shaking related to earthquakes. Continued progradation of the delta into Puget Sound is currently balanced by tidal‐current reworking, which redistributes sediment into large fields of ebb‐ and flood‐oriented bedforms.     

Origin and formation pathways of kerogen-like organic matter in recent sediments off the Danube delta (northwestern Black Sea)

The chemical structure, source(s), and formation pathway(s) of kerogen-like organic matter (KL) were investigated in recent sediments from the northwestern Black Sea, off the Danube delta. Three sections from a sediment core collected at the mouth of the Sulina branch of the delta, under an oxic water column, were examined: S₀ (0–0.5 cm bsf), S₁₀ (10–13 cm bsf), and S₂₀ (20–25 cm bsf). The bulk geochemical features of these sediments (total organic carbon, organic C/N atomic ratio, δ¹³C_org) were determined. Thereafter, KL was isolated from the samples, as the insoluble residue obtained after HF/HCl treatment. KL chemical composition was investigated via spectroscopic (FTIR, solid state ¹³C and ¹⁵N NMR) and pyrolytic (Curie point pyrolysis–gas chromatography–mass spectrometry) methods, and the morphological features were examined by scanning and transmission electron microscopy. Similar morphological features and chemical composition were observed for the three KLs and they suggested that the selective preservation of land-plant derived material as well as of resistant aliphatic biomacromolecules (probably derived from cell walls of freshwater microalgae) was the main process involved in KL formation. Besides, some melanoidin-type macromolecules (formed via the degradation-recondensation of products mainly derived from proteinaceous material) and/or some encapsulated proteins also contributed to the KL chemical structure.     

A Method to Estimate Length Distributions from Outcrop Data

Dimensions of shales and other geologic bodies that affect fluid flow through reservoirs and aquifers are often estimated from analogous deposits exposed in outcrops. Shale lengths observed in outcrops are biased because the finite length of outcrops truncates longer shales and long shales tend to be overrepresented in the sample. Shale length distributions can be modeled using an Erlangian probability density function based on termination frequency. Termination frequency can be calculated from outcrop observations even if the shales are incompletely exposed. Termination frequency is unbiased regardless of underlying shale length distribution and outcrop size and shape. Complex length distributions can be represented by a weighted sum of Erlangian models, each with a distinct termination frequency. The proportions and termination frequencies of the component models can be estimated using Bayes' theorem. Subsamples of the outcrop area can be analyzed to quantify spatial trends in termination frequency and thus shale length. These methods can be applied to estimate length distributions of any geologic object exposed in outcrops or other spatially limited samples. In many cases estimated termination frequency is normally distributed, and its variance can be estimated using closed-form expressions. Shale length distributions for the Frewens Sandstone were modeled using one- and two-component Erlangian probability density functions. The Frewens Sandstone is a tide-influenced deltaic sandstone body within the Cretaceous-age Frontier Formation, exposed in central Wyoming, USA. Length observations and Erlangian models agree reasonably well. Because the models correct for the effects of shale truncation in limited outcrop exposures, predicted means and proportions of long shales are substantially greater than observed values. There is a vertical trend and pronounced vertical cyclicity in termination frequency, indicating that shales become shorter upward and intervals of longer and shorter shales alternate. Along strike, termination frequency decreases away from the sandstone-body axis, reflecting greater preserved shale lengths toward sandstone-body margins. No correlation was observed between distance along dip and termination frequency. Termination frequencies and histograms of shale length for adjacent, perpendicular walls are similar, indicating that there is no anisotropy in shale length.     

A gravel lobe deposit in the prodelta of the Doumsan fan delta (Miocene), SE Korea

The Doumsan fan-delta system in the Pohang Basin (Miocene), SE Korea comprises tripartite components of Gilbert-type topset, foreset, and bottomset environments with an extended prodelta in the deeper part (a few hundred metres deep). The present study documents sedimentologic features and origin of a gravel body (here interpreted as a gravel lobe) formed in the prodelta region of the Doumsan fan delta. The gravel lobe lies on sandy mud deposits and is capped by a thick massive sand bed. It extends for more than 1.5 km with a height of up to 30 m and shows a narrow tongue-like geometry. Eight sedimentary facies have been distinguished to describe characteristic features of the gravel lobe and the associated deposits. Of these, three types of gravelly sedimentary facies are important with regard to volumetric contribution and depositional processes: (1) crudely stratified pebble-grade conglomerate; (2) disorganized, clast-rich pebble(-to-cobble)-grade conglomerate; and (3) matrix-rich, bimodal cobble-grade conglomerate. The former two types dominate the central part of the lobe where they are not accompanied by sand beds, whereas the latter, as subordinate units, is prevalent in the fringe which otherwise is dominated by thick sandy mud deposits. The stacked successions of crudely stratified pebble-grade conglomerate are representative of the active aggradational phases of the gravel lobe, whereas the occurrence of channels within the lobe reflects that the gravel lobe prograded under the influence of subaqueous channel systems. The gravel lobe resulted from catastrophic disturbance (slumping) on the foreset region that further caused the development of channel systems, promoting efficient transport of gravelly sediments. This type of deposit may represent an important additional category of low-efficiency subaqueous fans.