Internal structure of the 85°E ridge,Bay of Bengal: Evidence for multiphase volcanism

The 85°E Ridge, located in the Bay of Bengal of the northeastern Indian Ocean is an enigmatic geological feature as it possesses unusual geophysical signatures. The ridge's internal structure and mode of eruptions are unknown due to lack of deep seismic reflection and borehole data control. Here, we analyze 10 km of long-streamer seismic reflection data to unravel the ridge's internal structure, and thereby to enhance the understanding of how the ridge was originated and grew over a geologic time. Seismic facies analysis reveals the ridge structure consisting of volcanic vent and several stratigraphic units including packs of prograding clinoforms. The clinoform sequences are interpreted as volcanic successions, and led to the formation of lava-delta fronts. Interpreted features of lava-fed deltas and intervening erosional surfaces, and mass flows along ridge flanks suggest that the 85°E Ridge is a volcanic construct, and was built by both subaqueous and multiphase sub-marine volcanism during the Late Cretaceous (approximately from 85 to 80 Ma). At later time, from Oligocene-Miocene (∼23 Ma) onwards the ridge was buried under the thick sediments of the Bengal Fan system.     

Ichnology of prodeltaic hyperpycnite–turbidite channel complexes and lobes from the Upper Cretaceous Prairie Canyon Member of the Mancos Shale,Book Cliffs,Utah, USA

The Upper Cretaceous Prairie Canyon Member of the Mancos Shale, Book Cliffs, Utah, contain outstanding examples of prodeltaic turbidity and hyperpycnal flow deposits. Sandstone‐rich, heterolithic and mudstone‐rich channel fills occur near the north‐west entrance to Tusher Canyon, Gunnison Butte and Bootlegger Wash. Mudstone‐rich and heterolithic‐rich hyperpycnal channel deposits are mostly unbioturbated, locally displaying a few specimens of Phycosiphon incertum, Protovirgularia dichotoma, Rosselia socialis, Schaubcylindrichnus coronus and Palaeophycus tubularis. Sandstone‐rich channel deposits consist of wave‐reworked turbidites and hyperpycnites, containing Helminthoidichnites tenuis, Lockeia siliquaria, Phycodes isp., Phycosiphon incertum, Protovirgularia dichotoma, Rosselia socialis, Skolithos linearis and Fugichnia. Scolicia isp. and Chondrites isp. occur locally. Strata along the south‐west entrance of Tusher Canyon record deposition in a prodelta turbidite lobe, but far from its axis. With the exception of a few specimens of Ophiomorpha isp., bioturbation is restricted to the top of the succession, where Curvolithus simplex, Gyrochorte comosa, Lockeia siliquaria, Palaeophycus tubularis and Ptychoplasma excelsum occur. Strata at Hatch Mesa record deposition in a hyperpycnal lobe, near to its axis. Sandstone beds include Curvolithus simplex, Gyrochorte comosa, Ophiomorpha nodosa, Palaeophycus tubularis, Phycosiphon incertum, Protovirgularia dichotoma, Ptychoplasma excelsum, Schaubcylindrichnus freyi, Skolithos linearis, large specimens of Rosselia socialis and indeterminate crustacean burrows. Chondrites isp. is present in the mudstone. High rates of both episodic and sustained sedimentation, degree of substrate consolidation, freshwater discharge and water turbidity are the most important stress factors in both channels and lobes. Taxonomic composition, uneven distribution of bioturbation through the successions, and overall low ichnodiversity help to distinguish these prodeltaic deposits from bathymetrically equivalent offshore strata in the same basin. Hyperpycnal flow deposits are formed in a wide variety of environmental settings, therefore displaying high ichnological variability. Such variability is summarized by characterising ichnofaunas from four different depositional settings: (i) lakes; (ii) shelf deltas; (iii) shelf‐edge deltas; and (iv) deep‐marine systems.     

Shelf-edge deltas and drowned barrier–island complexes on the northwest Florida outer continental shelf

A high-resolution multibeam survey of the northwest Florida shelf mapped six relict shelf-edge deltas, each with a drowned barrier–island system developed on its south and southwestern rims. The deltas appear to have formed during periods of sea-level stasis that occurred between 58,000 and 28,000 years ago. The barrier islands formed on the deltas during periods of slow regression during this same time interval. Large fields of asymmetric dunes are found on the delta surfaces as well as on the south and southwestern flanks of the deltas. The asymmetry and orientation of the dunes suggest that a northward-flowing current was sheared by the presence of the delta topography, and as a result, the upper layer of the flow continued to the north, whereas the lower layer was steered by the topography. The topographic steering accelerated the northward flow around the south and southwestern flanks with speeds adequate to form large dunes. The flow slowed after rounding southwestern flank but accelerated again as it encountered the next delta flank to the north. The age of the dune formation is unknown, and no northward-flowing geostrophic flow has been reported in the literature from this area.     

Neogene marine sediments and biota encapsulated between lava flows on Santa Maria Island (Azores,north-east Atlantic): An interplay between sedimentary,erosional and volcanic processes

Sedimentary rocks are rarely preserved on reefless volcanic oceanic islands because their sediments are mostly exported from coastal areas towards the deep sea and such islands typically undergo subsidence. In contrast, the exceptional geological record of the uplifted Santa Maria Island (Azores) provides a unique opportunity to gain insight on such coastal systems. This study focuses on a locality at Ponta do Cedro (eastern Santa Maria Island), which features a series of marine fossiliferous sediments wedged between steep lava deltas. As demonstrated by local structure, these sediments correspond to clinoforms deposited on the steep submarine slope of an active volcanic island, implying transport from shallow waters to greater depths and subsequent colonization by benthic communities. Rapid volcanic progradation eventually sealed the deposits, allowing for their preservation and providing a rare snapshot of the ecology during those intervals, in addition to insights on sedimentary dynamics along submarine island slopes. This study reveals spatial relationships between wedges of sedimentary bodies encapsulated by lavas in the Ponta do Cedro section, and interprets depositional processes preserved in those strata based on sedimentological and palaeontological data. The dynamics of the environment are mostly related to relative sea-level changes, intense volcanic activity and regional uplift during the Neogene.     

The geometry of fan‐deltas and related turbidites in narrow linear basins

The sediment distribution in three narrow, linear basins, two modern and one ancient, in Greece and Italy, was studied and related to changes in basin configuration. The basins are the Plio‐Quaternary Patras–Corinth graben, the Pliocene–Quaternary Reggio–Scilla graben and the middle Tertiary Mesohellenic piggy‐back basin. These basins were formed at different times and under different geodynamic conditions, but in each case, the tectonic evolution produced a narrow area in the basin where the water depth decreased dramatically, forming a strait with a sill. This strait divided the basin into major and minor sub‐basins, and the strait has a similar impact on sedimentary environments in all three basins, even though different depositional environments were formed along the initial basin axis. Predictions for the development of depositional environments in the two modern basins, especially in their straits, are based on the studied ancient basin. In the straits, powerful tidal flows will transport finer sediments to sub‐basins and trapezoidal‐type fan‐deltas will gradually fill up and choke the strait through time. In sub‐basins, according to basin depth, either deltaic (in the shallow minor sub‐basin) or turbiditic (in the deep major sub‐basin) deposits may accumulate. Moreover, an extensive shelf is likely to develop between the strait and major sub‐basin. This shelf will be cross‐cut by canyons and characterized by thin fine‐ to coarse‐grained deposits. These sediment models could be applied to analogous basin geometries around the world. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Quantifying faulting and base level controls on syn‐rift sedimentation using stratigraphic architectures of coeval,adjacent Early‐Middle Pleistocene fan deltas in Lake Corinth,Greece

Quantification of allogenic controls in rift basin‐fills requires analysis of multiple depositional systems because of marked along‐strike changes in depositional architecture. Here, we compare two coeval Early‐Middle Pleistocene syn‐rift fan deltas that sit 6 km apart in the hangingwall of the Pirgaki‐Mamoussia Fault, along the southern margin of the Gulf of Corinth, Greece. The Selinous fan delta is located near the fault tip and the Kerinitis fan delta towards the fault centre. Selinous and Kerinitis have comparable overall aggradational stacking patterns. Selinous comprises 15 cyclic stratal units (ca. 25 m thick), whereas at Kerinitis 11 (ca. 60 m thick) are present. Eight facies associations are identified. Fluvial and shallow water facies dominate the major stratal units in the topset region, with shelfal fine‐grained facies constituting ca. 2 m thick intervals between major topset units and thick conglomeratic foresets building down‐dip. It is possible to quantify delta build times (Selinous: 615 kyr; Kerinitis: >450 kyr) and average subsidence and equivalent sedimentation rates (Selinous: 0.65 m/kyr; Kerinitis: >1.77 m/kyr). The presence of sequence boundaries at Selinous, but their absence at Kerinitis, enables sensitivity analysis of the most uncertain variables using a numerical model, ‘Syn‐Strat’, supported by an independent unit thickness extrapolation method. Our study has three broad outcomes: (a) the first estimate of lake level change amplitude in Lake Corinth for the Early‐Middle Pleistocene (10–15 m), which can aid regional palaeoclimate studies and inform broader climate‐system models; (b) demonstration of two complementary methods to quantify faulting and base level signals in the stratigraphic record—forward modelling with Syn‐Strat and a unit thickness extrapolation—which can be applied to other rift basin‐fills; and (c) a quantitative approach to the analysis of stacking patterns and key surfaces that could be applied to stratigraphic pinch‐out assessment and cross‐hole correlations in reservoir analysis.     

沉积体系非均质性对致密油气储集层控制及其定量评价方法

以鄂尔多斯盆地延长组长8-长6致密储集层为例,采用地质统计数学(Levy Sim)和沉积地层正演模拟对沉积非均质性进行研究。结果表明,地质统计学Levy函数能够有效地表征非均质性参数,不仅可以表征油藏尺度(岩心、露头和测井曲线尺度),而且也可以有效刻画岩石微观尺度的非均质性。而三维正演地层模拟方法 Sedsim则能够有效地模拟浅水三角洲砂体的空间展布。沉积地层正演模拟与非传统地质统计学相结合,能够更真实地定量刻画不同尺度的沉积非均质性,该方法不仅有效地解决了不同尺度沉积储集层、烃源岩及盖层非均质性定量表征的难题,而且为非常规油气成藏研究提供了新思路与新的定量评价方法。     

松辽盆地新立-新北地区嫩江组三段浅水三角洲水下分流河道砂体半定量解剖

 利用松辽盆地新立-新北地区井间距约200 m的1800余口探井及开发井资料,在岩性观察和测井相识别的基础上,编制嫩江组三段I砂组砂岩等厚图和连井剖面图。对砂体进行半定量统计分析发现,目的层段为浅水三角洲前缘沉积,水下分流河道砂体是最主要的骨架砂体类型,在平面上延伸20 km以上,向三角洲前缘末端演化出3种类型:水下曲流河道砂体,呈长豆荚状,宽600~900 m,延伸8~10 km分叉;水下分汊河道砂体,呈短豆荚状,分叉呈“人”字形或菱形,宽500~900 m,延伸2~3 km分叉;水下网结河道砂体,分叉呈网状展布,宽300~500 m,直线延伸0.5~1 km分叉。     

Karst subsidence as a control on the accumulation and preservation of aeolian deposits: A Pleistocene example from a proglacial outwash setting,Ebro Basin,Spain

Meltwater flows emanating from the Pyrenees during the Pleistocene constructed a braided outwash plain in the Ebro Basin and led to the karstification of the Neogene gypsum bedrock. Synsedimentary evaporite dissolution locally increased subsidence rates and generated dolines and collapses that enabled the accumulation and preservation of outwash gravels and associated windblown deposits that were protected from erosion by later meltwater flows. In these localized depocentres, maximum rates of wind deceleration resulted from airflow expansion, enabling the accumulation of cross‐stratified sets of aeolian strata climbing at steep angles and thereby preserving up to 5 m thick sets. The outwash plain was characterized by longitudinal and transverse fluvial gravel bars, channels and windblown facies organized into aeolian sand sheets, transverse and complex aeolian dunes, and loess accumulations. Flat‐lying aeolian deposits merge laterally to partly deformed aeolian deposits encased in dolines and collapses. Synsedimentary evaporite dissolution caused gravels and aeolian sand deposits to subside, such that formerly near‐horizontal strata became inclined and generated multiple internal angular unconformities. During episodes when the wind was undersaturated with respect to its potential sand transporting capacity, deflation occurred over the outwash plain and coarse‐grained lags with ventifacts developed. Subsequent high‐energy flows episodically reached the aeolian dune field, leading to dune destruction and the generation of hyperconcentrated flow deposits composed in part of reworked aeolian sands. Lacustrine deposits in the distal part of the outwash plain preserve rhythmically laminated lutites and associated Gilbert‐type gravel deltas, which developed when fluvial streams reached proglacial lakes. This study documents the first evidence of an extensive Pleistocene proglacial aeolian dune field located in the Ebro Basin (41˙50° N), south of what has hitherto been considered to be the southern boundary of Pleistocene aeolian deposits in Europe. A non‐conventional mechanism (evaporite karst‐related subsidence) for the preservation of aeolian sands in the stratigraphic record is proposed.