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.     

Stratigraphy and volcanology of the Türkbükü volcanics: products of a stratovolcano in the Bodrum Peninsula,SW Anatolia

The Middle‐Upper Miocene Bodrum magmatic complex of the Aegean region, southwestern Turkey, is mainly represented by intermediate stocks, lavas, pyroclastic and volcaniclastic deposits. Monzonitic stocks and connected porphyry intrusions and extrusions are the first products of the magmatism. These are followed by a volcanic succession consisting of andesitic‐latitic lavas, autobrecciated lavas, pyroclastic and volcaniclastic deposits. The final stage is represented by basaltic and basaltic andesitic flows and dykes intruded into previous units. The volcanic succession crops out in the northern part of the Bodrum peninsula. In the lower part of this succession are widespread pyroclastic deposits, composed of pyroclastic fall and flow units, alternating with epiclastic deposits. Grain size, volume and thickness of the pyroclastic deposits were mainly controlled by the type, magnitude and intensity of the eruption. Further up the section, there are two horizons of debris avalanche deposits forming the coarsest and thickest deposits of the volcaniclastic succession. The debris avalanche deposits indicate at least two different flank collapses coeval with the volcanism. The stratigraphy and map pattern of these volcanic units imply that the northern part of the Bodrum peninsula was the north‐facing flank of a stratovolcano during the mid‐Late Miocene. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

藏南札达盆地上中新统—上新统托林组介形类群落

笔者在西藏南部札达盆地新生代沉积地层中获得了丰富的介形类化石,根据介形类动物群在地层剖面上的分布规律,建立了两个介形类组合带：(1)Ilyocypris bradyi-Cyclocypris orum-Leucocythere dorsotuberosa组合带;(2)Leucocytherella-Candoniella zadaensis-Leucocythere mirabilis组合带。通过对研究区介形类组合带与国内外其他地区相同层位的介形类组合对比研究,将札达盆地托林组的时代厘定为中新世晚期—上新世最晚期。根据介形类动物群在剖面上的分布规律,自下而上建立了7个介形类群落：Candona-Candoniella群落;Ilyocypris-Cyclocypris群落;Leucocythere-Candona群落;Ilyocypris-Leucocythere群落;Leucocythere-Leucocytherella-Candona群落;Leucocythere mirabilis-Candona群落和Ilyocypris-Leucocytherella群落。通过对介形类群落详细...     

青海西宁盆地三趾马、副板齿犀化石的发现及意义

首次在青海西宁盆地新近纪河湖相沉积地层中发现了三趾马、副板齿犀牙齿化石,对化石的基本特征和埋藏情况进行了描述,三趾马化石经鉴定为东乡三趾马。结合区域和前人资料认为,本次发现化石的岩石地层应该属于咸水河组或以上层位,时代为晚中新世早期。分析前人孢粉资料认为化石形成时的古植被为森林-草原,古气候环境为亚热带干旱气候环境。这一发现为西宁盆地晚新生代河湖相地层格架的建立,提供了古生物学依据,对西宁盆地中新世地层确立起到时序标尺的作用。为青藏高原东北缘盆地的环境演化、地层划分、时代厘定提供了新的资料,对深入研究青藏高原隆升环境效具有重要意义。同时,也为青藏高原东北缘、华北地区、青藏高原三趾马动物群进行对比研究,提供了基础材料。     

Provenance signal variations caused by facies and tectonics: Zircon age and heavy mineral evidence from Miocene sand in the north-eastern North Sea Basin

The provenance of the Danish Miocene sands has been deduced from zircon ages and heavy minerals integrated with an existing detailed stratigraphic model of the fluvio-deltaic sand successions that prograded into the North Sea Basin in large delta lobes. The stratigraphic model allowed interpretation of the depositional ages of the samples, which were used to reconstruct the outline of the river pathway system for each time slice. The contribution from individual source areas to a specific position in the Miocene succession was controlled by depositional environment and tectonics. The major rivers each flowed separately to the sea, so mixing between supplies from different sources could only have occurred in the marine environment, where a wave-induced shallow current and a tidally-induced deeper current transported the sediment along the shore in opposite directions. Changes in grain size parameters and mineral assemblages across Denmark showed that the overall sediment transport direction for southern Scandinavia was to the south-west. They also showed that the sediments are immature with regards to transport length, so the high maturity of the heavy mineral suite suggests that kaolinisation has been a widespread phenomenon in the source areas. Rapid uplift and/or extensive denudation may have been revealed by an apparent eastward migration of the dominating provenance area, which was observed in the zircon age data for two consecutive time spans; the early Miocene first tectonic pulse and the intra-early Miocene tectonic phase. Comparison of the zircon age distributions with age markers defined using the published ages of the Scandinavian basement terranes shows that most of the sand came from several Sveconorwegian source areas in south-eastern Norway and south-western Sweden. Contributions from the Svecofennian Orogen, the Caledonian belt and the Oslo Rift are also found and the presence of Archaean zircon grains suggests that contributions to the river systems came from as far away as Finland.     

青藏米巴勒地区中新世钠质方沸石(霞石)响岩中单斜辉石环带研究:对岩浆-构造演化的启示

在拉萨地块中部米巴勒地区产出的中新世钠质方沸石(霞石)响岩中的单斜辉石发育大量环带结构,环带结构包括正环带、反环带和韵律环带。其中正环带结构从核部到边部Mg^#、MgO、Cr₂O₃呈逐渐降低趋势,而FeO、Na₂O、Al₂O₃、TiO₂呈逐渐升高的趋势,它反映了岩浆正常结晶的历史。反环带结构中Mg^#、MgO、Cr₂O₃从核部到边部呈升高的趋势,FeO、Na₂O、Al₂O₃的含量总体上呈降低趋势,本文认为响岩中单斜辉石的这种环带结构是受到了和它共存的钾质-超钾质火山岩岩浆混合或混染所致,两种岩石应是各自独立的母岩浆的结晶产物。具韵律环带结构的单斜辉石从核部到边部出现成分规律性波动,Na₂O、Al₂O₃、TiO₂、Cr₂O₃含量的变化在正反环带的范围内,Mg^#值的变化范围较小,在正环带斑晶和基质的范围内,它是岩浆多次混合作用的结果。该地区钠质过碱性岩的出现可能指示青藏高原在这套火山岩喷发时(13~12Ma),构造体制发生了显著的改变,进入到一个典型的陆内伸展阶段。     

Terrestrial Mio-Pliocene Boundary in the Linxia Basin, Gansu, China

The Lower Pliocene of the Linxia Basin in Gansu Province is one of only a few representative sections for the Early Pliocene sedimentary records in northern China, and even in East Asia. Recently, abundant mammalian fossils were found from the base of red clays of the Lower Pliocene Hewangjia Formation at Duikang in Guanghe County within this basin. Previously, the Pliocene mammals were sparsely found in China, and most were collected from fluvial and lacustrine deposits in the eastern Loess Plateau. Mammals from the widely distributed Pliocene Hipparion Red Clay are less in number. The known fossils from Duikang include 20 species and belong to the Shilidun Fauna. Their faunal components are similar to the Early Pliocene Gaozhuang Fauna from Yushe, Shanxi. On the other hand, some taxa from Duikang have not been found in the Gaozhuang Fauna, are slightly more primitive in evolutionary level, and appeared mainly in the Late Miocene. As a result, the age of the Duikang fossils may be slightly earlier than that of the Gaozhuang Fauna and closer to the lower boundary of the Pliocene. The Duikang fossiliferous bed is 0.8 m above the top of the Late Miocene Liushu Formation, and the first occurrence of the three-toed horse Hipparion pater can be regarded as a biostratigraphical marker of the Miocene/Pliocene boundary. In conclusion, Duikang is an ideal candidate locality to establish as the stratotype of the lower boundary of the Chinese terrestrial Pliocene.     

西昆仑山前塔里木盆地叶城凹陷中新统震积岩及其地质意义*

通过对6口钻井岩心的详细观察,在塔里木盆地西南缘的西昆仑山前叶城凹陷中新统克孜洛依组和安居安组发现同沉积的软沉积物变形构造,包括液化砂脉、负载及球枕构造、挤入构造、液化卷曲变形、软泥触变变形、液化底劈、软布丁构造及同沉积微断层等,分布广,且重复出现。经与典型的震积岩比较认为,它们都属于地震成因的沉积构造。分析认为,克孜洛依组和安居安组的震积岩可分为4个发育时期,时间跨度大约为5 Ma(16—11 Ma),第1、2期时间较长、构造活动较强烈,第3、4期时间较短、构造活动较弱。这是首次在塔西南地区新近系陆相地层中发现震积岩,震积岩的发育与中新世西昆仑山阶段性隆升、山前逆冲带多条逆冲断层活动引发的周期性地震活动有关。     

Magnetostratigraphy of the Miocene Las Arcas Formation,Santa María Valley,northwestern Argentina

The first magnetostratigraphic study of the Las Arcas Formation (Late Miocene) was carried out in Las Totoritas creek (26º12′S; 65º47′W, NW Argentina), a key place in between of two geological provinces: Northwestern Pampean Ranges and Eastern Cordillera, in northwestern Argentina. This was accompanied by isotopic dating (9.01 ± 0.12 Ma, ⁴⁰Ar–³⁹Ar in amphibole) of the unit, obtained from a 3.4 m thick tuff intercalated at ∼45 m above the base. The Las Arcas Formation is 810 m thick at the sampling locality and it is mainly composed of tabular reddish conglomerates, sandstones and siltstones in both coarsening- and thickening-upward arrangements. The exposed section was sampled at 48 sites, 26 of which are interpreted as carrying primary magnetization. The new magnetostratigraphic column was correlated with the Geomagnetic Polarity Time Scale (GPTS), and suggests that deposition of the Las Arcas Formation strata started at around 9.1 Ma and ended around 6.8 Ma. The paleomagnetic pole obtained for this unit (Dec = 8.7° Inc = −43.9° dp = 14.9 dm 9.3) indicates that this area underwent non-significant rotation (11.0° ± 13.6°) since the Late Miocene.     

Microstratigraphy of a Miocene layered phosphatic pebble from the western margin of South Africa

Detailed microstratigraphy and geochemistry of a single‐layered phosphatic pebble from the Southern Rocky Plateau at the Head of the Cape Canyon on the western margin of South Africa are utilized to reveal a complex interplay between deposition, erosion and authigenesis in the Miocene. The phosphatic pebble has three micrite and carbonate fluorapatite cemented layers separated by Fe‐rich hardground surfaces. The layers contain a diverse grain assemblage of reworked glauconite, phosphorite, detrital quartz and biogenic carbonate. Overlapping Sr‐isotope derived ages of point‐drilled samples from the three layers range from 19·1 to 17·6 Ma, although a single point near the outer edge of the uppermost layer has a Sr age of 12·8 to 10·4 Ma, and a reworked bivalve shell fragment from the middle layer has a Sr age of 26·3 to 24·6 Ma. The microstratigraphy of the phosphatic pebble provides evidence of multiple Baturin cycles, where periods of deposition and carbonate fluorapatite authigenesis are followed by reworking, erosion and precipitation of iron oxide hardground surfaces. The condensed microstratigraphy of the pebble is consistent with the regional depositional history of the area and indicates significant fluctuations in the depositional environment related to changes in sea‐level, sediment supply and upwelling along the western margin of southern Africa during the early to middle Miocene.