Modeling uncertainty in the three-dimensional structural deformation and stratigraphic evolution from outcrop data: Implications for submarine channel knickpoint recognition

Digital outcrop models help to constrain the interactions of stratigraphic and structural heterogeneity on ancient depositional systems. This study uses a stochastic approach that incorporates stratigraphic and structural modeling to interrogate the three-dimensional morphology of deep-water channel strata outcropping on Sierra del Toro in the Magallanes Basin of Chile. This approach considers the relative contributions, and associated uncertainty, of erosional downcutting versus post-depositional structural folding and small-offset faulting on the present-day configuration of the submarine channel complexes. Paleodepositional channel-belt gradients were modeled using a combination of three-dimensional visualization, stochastic surface modeling, palinspastic restoration, and decompaction modeling that are bound with errors constrained by stratigraphic and structural uncertainty. Modeling results indicate that at least 100 m of downcutting occurs over 6 km, and the resultant thalweg gradient of 64–125 m/km (decompacted) suggests that the Cerro Toro axial channel belt is an out-of-grade depositional system. Furthermore, the presence of steeper segments (100–175 m/km decompacted) suggests the preservation of one or more knickpoints that are similar in magnitude to tectonically-induced knickpoints on the modern seafloor. The interpreted knickpoints are correlated with a decreasing channel width-depth ratio and an increase of channel depth. These results indicate that stochastic surface modeling using digital outcrop models can constrain stratigraphic interpretations and post-depositional structural heterogeneity.     

尚未完成的地质年代表--第四纪悬而未决的前程

第四纪是以气候变化、人类出现和现生生物物种占优势为特征的最新地质时期。第四纪的地层多以松散沉积物为主,是人类赖以生存居住的主要场所。鉴于第四纪研究对地质学,地球系统科学和全球变化科学的贡献,近几十年来学术界和公众对其产生极大兴趣和更加重视。为了回应2 0 0 4年春国际地层委员会提出的“国际地层表”( 2 0 0 4 ) ,详细地介绍了国际第四纪联合会为争取第四纪在地质年表中的合理地位所作的努力以及目前争论的结果:今年比利时最终定论。呼吁我国广大的第四纪工作者积极加入到支持国际第四纪联合会保留第四系作为独立地层单元的行列中。同时简略地介绍了第四纪(系)术语的来由,国内外关于第四纪下限研究的历史和现状     

准噶尔盆地火山岩分类研究与应用

岩石分类一直是人们长期探索的课题。由于油气勘探的需要,针对储层研究的盆地火山岩分类已经成为火成岩研究的重要新方向。在综合分析国内外火山岩分类研究的基础上,根据3条野外剖面和21口钻井岩心岩屑的观察描述、岩石薄片鉴定和化学成分分析等资料,依照结构-成分-成因分类原则,建立了适于储层评价的准噶尔盆地石炭系火山岩及其他岩类的岩性分类体系和识别标准。将本区火山岩划分为火山熔岩、火山碎屑熔岩、火山碎屑岩、沉火山碎屑岩等4大类;同时将盆地内与火山岩共生的其他岩类也进行分类和识别,共划分出8大类45种基本类型。与我国东部的中新生代盆地火山岩不同,本区古生代火山岩普遍遭受较长期风化改造和蚀变作用,常见有绿泥石化、碳酸盐化和黏土矿化。这些蚀变会影响到TAS图解岩性判别的结果,因此笔者探讨了蚀变条件下的岩石识别和定名方法。本文分类体系针对火山岩储层研究,结果显示,基于该分类体系岩性与储集空间的类型及其变化规律呈现明显相关性,不同岩性的储集空间类型、组合方式和发育程度存在差异,由此可指导火山岩油气勘探。     

New zircon U-Pb ages of the pre-Sturtian rift successions from the western Yangtze Block,South China and their geological significance

ABSTRACT

The Neoproterozoic Kaijianqiao Formation is one of the most important pre-Sturtian rift successions in South China and there has long been a lack of reliable geochronological constraints for its minimum depositional age. In this study, new zircon U-Pb ages of volcaniclastic rocks from the topmost Kaijianqiao Formation are presented. The youngest SHRIMP and LA-ICP-MS zircon ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U weighted mean ages of the tuff sample are 715.0 ± 9.8 and 718.8 ± 9.4 Ma, respectively. The youngest LA-ICP-MS zircon ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U weighted mean age of the tuffaceous siltstone sample is 720.8 ± 7.4 Ma and represents the maximum depositional age of the topmost Kaijianqiao Formation. The results show that the minimum depositional age of the Kaijianqiao Formation in the western Yangtze Block should be ca. 715 Ma, consistent with other pre-Sturtian rift successions in South China, such as the Banxi Group, Chengjiang, and Liantuo formations. Together with the published zircon U-Pb ages, it is demonstrated that the Sturtian glaciation in South China (Jiangkou glaciation) most likely initiated around 715 Ma. In other Rodinia blocks, like Laurentia and Arabia, the Sturtian glaciation probably started between 712 and 717 Ma, thus our new results further support that the Sturtian glaciation was a rapid and globally synchronous event. Other ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U zircon ages display five distinct peaks at ca. 751, 780, 799, 819, and 848 Ma, which corresponded to the tectonic-magmatic events related to the break-up of Rodinia.     

塔里木盆地西北缘奥陶系碳酸盐岩中两种来源热流体的地质与地球化学证据

塔里木盆地西北缘西克尔-巴楚-柯坪地区处于巴楚-柯坪断隆带活动区,构造活动强烈.该区出露的中下奥陶统鹰山组发育大量的热液蚀变现象,既有溶蚀形成的大小孔洞、疏松灰岩层,也有各类充填的脉体,如萤石矿、硫磺石膏矿等.通过野外露头观察和采样,并对受热流体作用的样品进行了包裹体测温测盐、微量元素和硫同位素分析.结果显示研究区主要有两种流体来源:岩浆热液和地层热液.研究表明:(1)岩浆热液主要影响研究区南西段,形成萤石、重晶石、方铅矿等矿物,流体包裹体盐度低(0.5％ ～7.5％ NaCleqv)、均一化温度相对较高(142 ～ 283℃);地层热液作用范围则主要位于研究区北东段,生成白云石、方解石、石英等矿物,流体包裹体盐度高(16％ ～ 23.3％ NaCleqv)、均一化温度低(70～ 138℃);而研究区中段同时受到两种来源热液的混合作用,包裹体盐度(7.5％～18.3％ NaCleqv)和均一化温度(142 ～ 163℃)介于前两者之间;(2)热液硬石膏、硫磺的硫同位素富含32S,δ4S平均为-9.57％,说明硬石膏是H2S气体与灰岩反应的产物,硫化氢很可能来自有机物的热裂解.     

时频技术在砂砾岩体沉积期次划分中的应用方法初探

砂砾岩体为近物源、快速堆积近岸水下扇沉积,扇体厚度大,横向变化快,巨厚砂砾岩体内部精细地层划分对比为勘探难点.通过三维地震资料时频分析技术,砂砾岩体内幕岩性划分结果与岩心资料、成像资料吻合率较高,为该区厚层砂砾岩体内部地层精细划分与对比提供可靠地质依据,对隐蔽油气藏勘探具良好实用性及应用前景.     

Application of portable X-ray fluorescence analyses to metabasalt stratigraphy,Plutonic Gold Mine,Western Australia

Stratigraphy, structure and host-rock chemistry are dominant controls on the location of Au in Archaean greenstone-hosted Au deposits, but the stratigraphy in such deposits is seldom obvious due to the monotonous nature of the host rocks or pervasive alteration associated with Au mineralisation. Portable, hand-held, X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) spectrometry provides a method to rapidly collect large amounts of whole-rock geochemical data that can yield new insights into both stratigraphy and Au localisation. Here we present results of pXRF analyses of samples from a representative section through Au-mineralised amphibolite-facies metabasaltic rocks at Plutonic Gold Mine, Western Australia. These data illustrate a geochemical stratigraphy in which individual lava flows can be identified on the basis of element concentrations. The most evolved basalts are at the structural base of the succession, and the least evolved at the top of the sequence, confirming previous geochemical interpretations and textural evidence that the sequence is overturned, and demonstrating for the first time that the presented section does not involve significant structural repetition. In conjunction with Au assay data, the pXRF data reveal that Au commonly occurs along basalt flow boundaries. The elemental concentration data clearly demonstrates for the first time the stratigraphic control on Au mineralisation that is not readily apparent at the macroscopic level. The methods described in this paper are readily applied, and have the potential to enhance the understanding of otherwise unclear stratigraphy and its control on mineralisation in many different types of deposits worldwide.     

巴里坤盆地晚古生代火山岩年代学及构造演化

与周缘相邻的含油气盆地相比,前人对巴里坤盆地的研究少之又少,对其认识也不够完善;特别是由于缺乏化石及年代学资料,对研究基础的地层划分方案也一直存在争议.本文通过LA-ICP-MS单颗粒锆石U-Pb同位素测年方法对盆内Bal井岩心取样的凝灰岩进行了年代学测定,依据测定结果并结合地震反射同相轴特征对巴里坤盆地的地层重新进行...     

Defining the concept of stratigraphic grade and applying it to stratal (reservoir) architecture and evolution of the slope-to-basin profile: An outcrop perspective

Stratigraphic grade is the similarity of the morphology of successive slope-to-basin profiles in a genetically related depositional system. In this article we use data collected from regional cross-sections of six depositional systems, stratal architecture derived from outcrops of the Lewis Shale (Wyoming, USA), and the Ross Sandstone (Ireland), and supplementary outcrop and subsurface data from other depositional systems to determine how stratigraphic grade relates to stratal (reservoir) architecture in deepwater systems.Four methods are developed that collectively define stratigraphic grade: (1) regional stacking patterns of fourth-order stratigraphic surfaces, (2) the relationship between the trajectory of the shelf edge (T_se) and the trajectory of the depocenter (T_d) for fourth-order stratigraphic units, (3) morphology of the slope-to-basin profiles of fourth-order stratigraphic surfaces, and (4) the similarity of the morphologies of slope-to-basin profiles of fourth-order surfaces in a system (σ_s, σ_r). Several characteristics of stratigraphic (reservoir) architecture of fourth-order stratigraphic cycles are related to stratigraphic grade: (1) longitudinal distribution of sandstone in fourth-order cycles, (2) location of maximum sandstone relative to the depocenter of fourth-order cycles, (3) lengths of fourth-order submarine fans, and (4) longitudinal and vertical distribution of architectural elements. Stratigraphic grade is thus a predictor of reservoir architecture and can thereby be used to reduce the uncertainty in the interpretation of subsurface data.The concept of stratigraphic grade is useful in understanding the stratigraphic evolution of deepwater systems. Most deepwater systems analyzed in this study initiated as out-of-grade and temporally evolved to graded systems over a time span of millions of years. Systems rarely evolve from graded to out-of-grade. First-order controls on stratigraphic grade are determined to be angle of slope, tectonically forced changes in angle of slope during deposition, and sediment supply.     

The transgressive infill of an inherited-valley system: The Springhill Formation (lower Cretaceous) in southern Austral Basin, Argentina

The Berriasian-Valanginian Springhill Formation of the Austral Basin of southern South America comprises fluvial to marine deposits. In order to interpret depositional systems and unravel the stratigraphic architecture of this unit in the southern region of the basin (Tierra del Fuego Province, Argentina), 500 m of cores combined with well-log data from 41 wells were studied. Facies associations corresponding to fluvial (A1-A6), estuarine (B1-B5) and open-marine (C1-C4) depositional environments were identified. These facies associations succeed each other vertically across the entire study area (6800 km²) forming a ∼120-m-thick transgressive succession. This unit filled a north-south-oriented valley system, developed in the underlying Jurassic volcanic complex.Lowstand fluvial deposits of the first stage of the valley-system fill occur in downdip segments of the system above a sequence boundary (SB). These fluvial deposits are overlain by coastal-plain and tide-dominated estuarine strata across an initial transgressive surface (ITS). In the northern sector the earliest valley infill is characterized by a transgressive fluvial succession, overlying a merged SB/ITS that is probably time-equivalent of marginal-marine deposits of the southern sector. The fluvial strata in the north are overlain by wave-dominated estuarine deposits. A drastic change to open-marine conditions is marked by a marine flooding surface, with local evidence of marine erosion (FS-RS). Open-marine strata are thin (<10 m) and dominated by lower-shoreface and offshore-transition deposits. They are capped by a younger flooding surface (FS), which represents the onset to offshore conditions across the study area due to a continuous long-term transgression that persisted until the Barremian.Although the interpreted depositional systems and stratigraphic architecture of the Springhill Formation resemble transgressive incised-valley-fill successions, the greater thickness and larger size of the Springhill valleys suggest inherited rift topography rather than valley development during a relative sea-level fall.