Flow processes and sedimentation in unidirectionally migrating deep‐water channels: From a three‐dimensional seismic perspective

Three‐dimensional seismic data were used to infer how bottom currents control unidirectional channel migration. Bottom currents flowing towards the steep bank would deflect the upper part of sediment gravity flows at an orientation of 1° to 11° to the steep bank, yielding a helical flow circulation consisting of a faster near‐surface flow towards the steep bank and a slower basal return flow towards the gentle bank. This helical flow model is evidenced by the occurrence of bigger, muddier (suggested by low‐amplitude seismic reflections) lateral accretion deposits and gentle channel wall with downlap terminations on the gentle bank and by smaller, sandier (indicated by high‐amplitude seismic reflectors) channel fills and steep channel walls with truncation terminations on the steep bank. This helical flow circulation promotes asymmetrical depositional patterns with dipping accretion sets restricted to the gentle bank, which restricts the development of sinuosity and yields unidirectional channel migration. These results aid in obtaining a complete picture of flow processes and sedimentation in submarine channels.     

Control of syntectonic erosion and sedimentation on kinematic evolution of a multidecollement fold and thrust zone: Analogue modeling of folding in the southern subandean of Bolivia

Several analogue modeling studies have been conducted during the past fifteen years with the aim to discuss the effects of sedimentation and erosion on Foreland Fold and Thrust Belt, among which a few have analyzed these processes at kilometric scale (Malavieille et al., 1993; Nalpas et al., 1999; Barrier et al., 2002; Pichot and Nalpas, 2009). The influence of syn-deformation sedimentation and erosion on the structural evolution of FFTB has been clearly demonstrated. Here, we propose to go further in this approach by the study of a more complex system with a double decollement level. The natural study case is the Bolivian sub-Andean thrust and fold belt, which present all the required criteria, such as the double decollement level. A set of analogue models performed under a CT-scan have been used to test the influence of several parameters on a fold and thrust belt system, among which: (i) the spatial variation of the sediment input, (ii) the spatial variation of the erosion rate, (iii) the relative distribution of sedimentation between foreland and hinterland. These experiments led to the following observations:

• 1. The upper decollement level acts as a decoupling level in case of increased sedimentation rate: it results in the verticalization of the shallower part (above the upper decollement level), while the deeper parts are not impacted.
• 2. Similarly, the increase of the erosion rate involves the uplift of the deeper part (below the upper decollement level), whereas the shallower parts are not impacted.
• 3. A high sedimentation rate in the foreland involves a fault and fold vergence reversal, followed by a back-thrusting of the shallower part.
• 4. A high sedimentation rate in the hinterland favours thrust development toward the foreland in the shallower parts.

     

北部湾沉积物粘土矿物分布特征及其环境意义

本文以南海北部湾SO-31沉积柱为研究对象,研究了14C年代学和粘土矿物学特征,并对部分全球气候事件进行了对比,为古环境、古气候的恢复提供基础资料,也为全球重大气候事件在该区域的响应提供信息。结果显示全新世以来地层沉积正常,平均沉积速率为0.57mm/a。粘土成分主要由蒙脱石、伊利石、高岭石和绿泥石组成,组合类型为蒙脱石-伊利石-高岭石-绿泥石型。全新世以来环境气候演变可划分为五个阶段:低温期阶段、干湿交替的寒冷气候阶段、逐渐升温阶段、干旱温暖气候阶段、湿热阶段。气候在每个阶段背景下还存在一些次级波动,总体趋势为干湿交替,温度逐渐上升。由于海域环境及矿物指标的影响,北部湾SO-31沉积柱粘土矿物记录的降温事件时间比其他指标记录的新仙女木降温事件发生时间滞后500~800a。     

Exhumation history of the Peake and Denison Inliers: insights from low-temperature thermochronology

Multi-method thermochronology applied to the Peake and Denison Inliers (northern South Australia) reveals multiple low-temperature thermal events. Apatite fission track (AFT) data suggest two main time periods of basement cooling and/or reheating into AFT closure temperatures (～60–120°C); at ca 470–440 Ma and ca 340–300 Ma. We interpret the Ordovician pulse of rapid basement cooling as a result of post-orogenic cooling after the Delamerian Orogeny, followed by deformation related to the start of the Alice Springs Orogeny and orocline formation relating to the Benambran Orogeny. This is supported by a titanite U/Pb age of 479 ± 7 Ma. Our thermal history models indicate that subsequent denudation and sedimentary burial during the Devonian brought the basement rocks back to zircon U–Th–Sm/He (ZHe) closure temperatures (～200–150°C). This period was followed by a renewal of rapid cooling during the Carboniferous, likely as the result of the final pulses of the Alice Springs Orogeny, which exhumed the inlier to ambient surface temperatures. This thermal event is supported by the presence of the Mount Margaret erosion surface, which indicates that the inlier was exposed at the surface during the early Permian. During the Late Triassic–Early Jurassic, the inlier was subjected to minor reheating to AFT closure temperatures; however, the exact timing cannot be deduced from our dataset. Cretaceous apatite U–Th–Sm/He (AHe) ages coupled with the presence of contemporaneous coarse-grained terrigenous rocks suggest a temporally thermal perturbation related with shallow burial during this time, before late Cretaceous exhumation cooled the inliers back to ambient surface temperatures.     

Reaction time scales for sulphate reduction in sediments of acidic pit lakes and its relation to in-lake acidity neutralisation

Sulphate reduction is a key reaction to remove acidity from water bodies affected by acid mine drainage. In this study, ³⁵SSO₄²⁻ reduction rates determined in sediments from a variety of acidic lignite pit lakes have been compiled. The rates decreased with pH and are strongly dependent on carbon substrate. The rates were fitted to a Monod model adapted to the specific conditions of acidic pit lakes (APL) sediments: i) sulphate reduction rate is independent from sulphate concentration due to the high concentration typically observed in APL systems (10–30 mM), ii) the observed pH dependency of sulphate reduction was accounted for by an inhibition function F_inihibt which considers the occurrence of low cell numbers of sulphate reducing bacteria at pH values < 4.75. Simulated steady-state sulphate reduction rates are predicting measured rates at carbon substrate concentrations of <10 μM. Estimated steady-state reaction time scales range between 2.4 h at pH 7 and 41 h at pH 3 at a carbon half-saturation constant of K_C−S = 100 μM and are increasing with increasing K_C−S values. Time scales at low pH are too long to allow for significant generation of alkalinity during the time of residence of groundwater passing through the top and hence most reactive zone of APL sediments which has important implications for the remediation of acidic pit lakes.     

东北大三江盆地群早白垩世存在统一湖盆的沉积学证据

大三江盆地群位于黑龙江省东部,中生代以来经历了多期构造运动,形成现今各自分割的10余个残余盆地。由于缺乏关键性证据,前人对大三江地区早白垩世是否存在统一湖盆存在争议。本次研究通过野外地质调查和钻井岩心观察,认为盆地总体缺乏边缘相沉积,并且主要以三角洲平原亚相和滨浅湖亚相为主。古水流恢复和重矿物特征显示,研究区主要存在西部和西北部、东部以及东南部三大物源体系,并且平面上具有由四周向中心汇聚的特征。地震资料反射特征显示下白垩统具有典型的断陷-坳陷复合结构,坳陷时期地层由各盆地中心至边部未出现明显的地层减薄现象,现今的盆地边界断裂多为后期对盆地进行改造、破坏的逆冲断裂。这些证据都是对大三江地区早白垩世存在统一湖盆的有力支撑。本研究不仅能为大三江盆地群原型盆地的恢复提供重要依据,也将为东北盆地群油气资源远景评价和进一步的勘探部署提供参考。     

Influence of anthropogenic pressure and seasonal upwelling on coral reefs in Nha Trang Bay (Central Vietnam)

The growing coastal development, dredging and dumping activities, overfishing and expansion of marine cage culture in Nha Trang Bay (NTB) of Central Vietnam since the beginning of the 2000s have resulted in a dramatic decrease of live coral cover. Surveys conducted in April–May 2013 and the same period in 2014 revealed that with an increase in distance from the outer part of the bay towards the mainland, the rivers’ influxes and dredged areas, coral cover decreased from 75% to 0.6% and species richness from 63 to 5, while the abundance of macroalgae increased from 0% to 56%. These changes correlate with differences in the concentration of suspended sediments on the same gradient. The abundance of the crown‐of‐thorns starfish Acanthaster planci and of the echinoid Diadema setosum significantly increased between the first estimation in 1998 and the survey in 2014, from 0 to 1.7 individuals (ind.) per 100 m^?2 and from 50.8 to 94.5 ind. per 100 m^?2, respectively, contributing to coral loss and intensive bioerosion of the reef framework in the bay. The large sizes of adult colonies of tabulate Acropora on the remote stations with negligible sedimentation and eutrophication loads were inconsistent with the assumptions that temperature‐induced coral bleaching or cyclones could be the major impacts in Nha Trang Bay. Analysis of the 16‐year thermal history of the bay did not reveal any instances in which the coral thermal bleaching threshold had been exceeded up to the present study. Seasonal upwelling, which occurs annually in the vicinity of Central Vietnam, may contribute to mitigation of thermal anomalies within NTB and to the maintenance of healthy coral communities on the remote reefs with relatively low anthropogenic impact.     

曹妃甸近岸及周边海区碎屑矿物组成特征及其环境意义

为探讨曹妃甸近岸及周边海区沉积物碎屑矿物组成特征以及曹妃甸大规模围填海工程对其影响,作者对2013年10月采自曹妃甸及周边海区的表层沉积物样品采用轻重矿物分离的方法进行了鉴定。结果表明:大规模围填海工程在改变曹妃甸岸线形态的同时也改变了其冲淤环境,使得碎屑矿物组分在大规模围填海前后发生一定变化。研究区的沉积物整体以轻矿物为主,平均含量为97.83%,其中曹妃甸近岸平均含量为95.57%;重矿物平均含量为2.17%,其中曹妃甸近岸平均含量为4.43%。研究区的重矿物优势矿物主要有普通角闪石、绿帘石和自生黄铁矿,其中普通角闪石所占比例在曹妃甸近岸达到最高值(36.41%);轻矿物的优势矿物主要有石英、斜长石和风化碎屑,其中石英所占比例也在曹妃甸近岸达到最高值(62.72%)。研究发现,曹妃甸近岸沉积物碎屑矿物相对含量增加而重矿物基本不变,这在一定程度上揭示了大规模人工围填海工程对曹妃甸近岸及周边海区沉积环境的影响。     

走滑断裂古地震探槽选址范例

探槽选址直接决定了古地震研究的质量,且理想探槽位置具有稀缺性。在收集82篇国内外走滑断裂古地震研究论文的基础上,分析了长序列古地震探槽选址和同震位移探槽选址的构造地貌共性特征。长序列古地震探槽一般布设在断塞塘、拉分盆地、小型湖盆、闸门脊汇水一侧及比较平缓的冲洪积扇或大型冲洪积扇末端等地貌位置。这些地貌位置的共同特征是位于连续的、较高沉积速率的沉积环境,且通常富集14C测年物质。在探槽选址的过程中,不仅要对现今沉积环境,也要对其古地理环境进行评价。然而以发掘古地震同震位移为目的的探槽选址则不同,成功的研究点往往较频繁发生侵蚀和下切事件,其中冲沟是最常见的地貌标志。探槽布设以垂直和平行探槽为主,采取逐次掘进或相间平行排列的方式开挖。由于理想探槽位置的稀缺性,所以在这些优质的探槽点一定要开展长期详细地深入研究,最大限度获得古地震事件的长序列,同时也要注意新技术和新方法的应用。     

Effects of Column Diameter on Setting Behavior of Dredged Slurry in Sedimentation Experiments

This article investigates the influence of dimensions of a settling column on the settling mode and the settling rate. End conditions of the settling stage in the hindered settling were also analyzed. It was found that the settling mode in a column with a smaller diameter tends to be consolidation settling. The effect of a settling column wall decreases with increasing column diameter, and it can be ignored provided the column diameter is larger than 14.5 centimeters. For the difference in initial water content, the settling behavior of the slurry develops a different sensitivity to the diameter effect. The influence of column diameter reduces as the initial water content of the slurry becomes higher. It is suggested that the internal diameter of the column used in a sedimentation experiment should be 14.5 centimeters.