Detailed 3-D depositional architecture of Late Jurassic carbonate–anhydrite cycles (Brightling Mine,Weald Basin,UK)

Quantifying the geometries of evaporite deposits at a <1 km scale is critical in our understanding of similar ancient depositional systems, but is challenging given evaporite mineral dissolution at surface conditions. A high-resolution stratigraphic study of the basal Purbeck Beds in Brightling Mine, UK, provides insight into the three-dimensional architecture, lateral continuity and vertical heterogeneity within an evaporite seal. We conducted a field mapping study, combined with X-ray diffraction, petrographic microscopy, and δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O isotope analysis. The stratigraphic interval contains five facies. In stratigraphic order, these include supratidal porphyritic nodular evaporite, shallow subtidal peloidal packstone with evaporite and two overlying rhythmic sequences of intertidal microbial laminite, subtidal shale, and subtidal laminar marl, capped by nodular anhydrite. The interpreted environment of deposition is a supratidal sabkha subject to periodic flooding in which intertidal (tidal flat) facies and subtidal (shallow marine) facies laterally passed into the evaporative sabkha. The cycles are interpreted as meter-scale shoaling-upward sequences, likely controlled by localized high-frequency changes in relative sea level and/or sabkha hydrology. Spatial patterns in the geometries of key stratigraphic surfaces reveal a subtle depression towards the central western region of the mine seam. The variation in stratal geometries is interpreted as paleotopography and is a function of individual or composite processes related to dissolution, eolian processes, and coastal erosion. These observations indicate a similar mode of deposition to the modern-day sabkha of the Persian Gulf. We conclude that the dynamic process of evaporite deposition led to subtle stratigraphic heterogeneities and changes in bed thicknesses, but largely continuous lateral bedding at an interwell-scale.     

中国三叠纪钾盐沉积——以四川为例

中国三叠系蒸发岩分布于华南,面积超过100×10⁴km²,发现硫酸钾盐及富钾卤水,钾盐矿物有杂卤石、无水钾镁矾、硫锶钾石及多钙钾石膏等,富钾卤水矿化度255~382g/l,含钾量4~49g/l。蒸发盆地的发展受控于古构造及古地理,经历了开放台地一局限台地一堰塞湖一盐湖的发展阶段。钾盐沉积后,经历多阶段的复杂演变。富钾卤水中的钾主要来自硫酸钾盐的深滤,其次来自蒸发浓缩卤水及火山灰吸附钾的释放。杂卤石与富钾卤水的钾同位素测年值分别为210~150Ma及264~150Ma,说明固液相钾盐同源。从地质背景及成矿环境预测,三叠系的钾盐类型只能是硫酸钾盐,主要目的层为T₁j^5~2及T₂l^4~2,主要成矿带为构造分异及钾异常明显的四川盆地东、西部,富钾卤水的储集取决于蒸发岩地层的含钾性、碳酸盐夹层的裂隙发育程度及构造控矿条件。找矿模型应是油气钾卤兼探。     

Connections between Evaporite Deposition and Glacial Periods since the Middle Pleistocene in Salt Lakes in the Western Qaidam Basin, China

The Quaternary was the main evaporite deposition period in the Qaidam Basin (QB), but the correlation between the evaporite deposition period and the glacial period is still unclear. In this study, the research objects are primarily evaporite-bearing strata in a 461.58 m-long drill core in the QB. X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were applied to study the evaporite minerals, U-Th dating being applied to construct the 230Th geochronological framework. Evaporite deposition from Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 15 to MIS 4 in the borehole was reconstructed via mineralogical and geochronological data. The evaporite minerals are mainly halite (NaCl), mirabilite (Na2SO4·10H2O), thenardite (Na2SO4) and gypsum (CaSO4·2H2O). A total of 9 effective 230Th data points, ranging from 492.5 ± 43.0 ka to 62.0 ± 11.9 ka, were obtained. The depositional age of the earliest halite layer in the borehole is 592.5–563.0 ka. There were mirabilite deposits in the QB during the cold glacial environment of MIS 6. During MIS 4, the study area desiccated, with mirabilite and halite being deposited. This study suggests that mirabilite is an indicator mineral for the glacial environment in the QB, while halite deposition does not correspond well to glaciation.     

陆相盆地含煤、油页岩和蒸发盐地层单元沉积演化

陆相盆地地层单元在沉积过程中往往呈现一定的规律性,主要显示为地层单元的沉积相（岩相）组合、沉积建造、地层叠加样式和古生物群的渐进演化,对应着煤、油页岩和蒸发盐等经济矿产的潜在沉积。利用含煤、油页岩和蒸发盐特征性地层单元区分辽宁抚顺盆地、河南桐柏盆地和美国绿河盆地充填演化过程中不同地层单元的差异和潜在经济矿产的沉积,并且这些地层单元的沉积演化受气候和构造的联合控制。气候和构造控制了进入盆地中沉积物与水体供给速率以及盆地潜在可容纳空间的变化,造成盆地充填在过补偿、平衡补偿和欠补偿状态之间演化,引起地层单元岩性组合、沉积建造和古生物群的改变,能够合理解释煤、油页岩和蒸发盐的沉积。此外,不同类型盆地中气候和构造条件的差异也可能引起煤、油页岩或者蒸发盐的缺失。     

The application of GPR and ERI in combination with exposure logging and retrodeformation analysis to characterize sinkholes and reconstruct their impact on fluvial sedimentation

This work illustrates the practicality of investigating sinkholes integrating data gathered by ground penetrating radar (GPR), electrical resistivity imaging (ERI) and trenching or direct logging of the subsidence‐affected sediments in combination with retrodeformation analysis. This mutidisciplinary approach has been tested in a large paleosinkhole developed during the deposition of a Quaternary terrace on salt‐bearing evaporites. The subsidence structure, exposed in an artificial excavation, is located next to Puilatos, a village that was abandoned in the 1970s due to severe subsidence damage. Detailed logging of the exposure revealed that the subsidence structure corresponds to an asymmetric sagging and collapse paleosinkhole with no clear evidence of recent activity. The sedimentological and structural relationships together with the retrodeformation analysis indicate that synsedimentary subsidence controlled channel location, the development of a palustrine environment and local changes in the channel pattern. GPR profiles were acquired using an array of systems with different antenna frequencies, including some recently developed shielded antennas with improved vertical resolution and penetration depth. Although radargrams imaged the faulted sagging structure and provided valuable data on fault throw, they did not satisfactorily image the complex architecture of the fluvial deposit. ERI showed lower resolution but higher penetration depth when compared to GPR, roughly capturing the subsidence structure and yielding information on the thickness of the high‐resistivity alluvium and the nature of the underlying low‐resistivity karstic residue developed on top of the halite‐bearing evaporitic bedrock. Data comparison allows the assessment of the advantages and limitations of these complementary techniques, highly useful for site‐specific sinkhole risk management. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

昌都地区晚侏罗达孜剖面粘土矿物组合特征及其成岩环境意义

昌都地区位于西藏东部,区内有蒸发岩大范围分布。本文通过对昌都地区晚侏罗含膏盐达孜剖面粘土矿物类型及其组合特征进行深入研究,对成岩环境进行了分析,可为进一步探讨蒸发岩对青藏高原演化的响应关系提供一定的线索和依据。主要得到如下4点认识：(1)达孜剖面粘土矿物以伊利石为主,伊利石/蒙脱石混层次之,高岭石、绿泥石和绿泥石/蒙脱石混层含量均较低。(2)ISⅡ型有序伊/蒙混层矿物中,每隔9～19个伊利石晶层才有蒙脱石晶层出现,表明蒙脱石伊利石化程度高,受成岩作用影响较大。(3)达孜剖面呈晚成岩阶段的特征,其成岩温度大于190℃,沉积环境和成岩环境具有弱碱性的特征,同时这一时期物源区呈干燥、弱水解作用的特征。(4)高含量的Na_⁺、K_⁺、Al_³⁺和低含量的Fe_²⁺、Mg_²⁺碱性介质对蒙脱石-蒙脱石/伊利石-伊利石这一转化过程有一定的促进作用,但同时抑制了埋藏过程后期绿泥石的大量生成。     

Depositional environments of the Mediterranean “Lower Evaporites” of the Messinian salinity crisis: Constraints from quantitative analyses

We use simple quantitative analyses to evaluate controversial water level scenarios for the Mediterranean “Lower Evaporites” of the Messinian salinity crisis. Our results indicate that a shallow-water scenario for the Lower Gypsum units – with Mediterranean water level lower than the sill at Gibraltar – would imply unrealistic salt thicknesses on the order of 3 km. Some outflow to the open ocean must have persisted, implying that the Mediterranean was a deep-water basin during Lower Gypsum formation. Since glacio-eustatic fluctuations do not seem to have had a major influence on Lower Gypsum deposits, Mediterranean water level was even substantially higher than the Gibraltar sill. Our analyses furthermore show that precessional changes in the freshwater budget may explain the observed cyclic lithological changes of gypsum and non-evaporitic sediments. Potential precipitation of gypsum in the deep Mediterranean basins would have critically depended on the availability of oxygen and thus on the stratification of the water column. Finally, our results indicate that the deep Mediterranean halite units could have been deposited under shallow conditions, assuming that they correspond to the ~ 70 kyr time interval between glacials TG12 and TG14, when Mediterranean outflow to the Atlantic was blocked.     

Distribution patterns of gypsum and kalistrontite in a dry lake basin of the southwestern Kalahari (Omongwa pan,Namibia)

The deposits of the Omongwa pan, southwestern Kalahari, Namibia, are partly gypsiferous and locally contain small amounts of kalistrontite. The distribution patterns of gypsum (CaSO₄.2H₂O) and kalistrontite (K₂Sr(SO₄)₂) are mainly determined by groundwater depth and by the lithological composition of the deposits. The latter determines the hydraulic conductivity for saturated and unsaturated flow and therefore controls the depth of the interval within the deposits where evaporation and mineral precipitation can take place. Other factors that affect the distribution of the evaporite minerals are the patterns of groundwater flow within the basin and the occurrence of a redistribution of salts during short flooding stages. Gypsum occurs as crystals of four distinct morphological types, which each developed in different conditions: prismatic crystals formed both as subaqueous precipitates and as crystals that developed within the sediment matrix of a brine-saturated surface layer; sub/euhedral tabular crystals formed within brine-filled macropores; hemi-bipyramidal crystals formed in a nearly permanently brine-saturated part of a subsurface horizon (phreatic zone), as the product of recrystallization of an older gypsum occurrence; and lenticular crystals formed by intrasediment growth in the vadose zone. The development of these morphological types of gypsum crystals is marked by differences in the differential inhibition of growth of the various crystal forms. The further growth of lenticular crystals, which are most strongly affected by differential growth inhibition, is still characterized by a difference in degree of inhibition between the {1 11} and {1 03} forms, expressed as a change in orientation of the plane of flattening. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

含盐前陆充填变形前缘盐上层构造样式

本文从盐层及盐上层碎屑岩厚度出发,讨论了在盐(蒸发岩)参入变形条件下,前陆区变形前缘盐上层构造样式。盐层及盐上层相对厚度决定着盐上层基本变形样式——褶皱或断裂。当盐上层背斜虚脱空间面积小于或等于变形前相应长度盐层所对应的盐面积时,盐上层形成完整背斜;反之,盐上层发生断裂。在发生断裂条件下,相背断层的交切情况决定着盐上层的构造样式：当交切点在盐上层下部外面时,形成突起构造;当交切点在盐上层内部时,则形成上部突起构造与下部三角带相叠加的情况或形成鱼尾构造;当交切点在盐上层外面时,则形成三角带构造。交切点的位置主要决定于岩上层的厚度。