Facies and sequence stratigraphic architecture of the Mural Limestone (Albian), Arizona: Carbonate response to global and local factors and implications for reservoir characterization

This study documents the detailed facies and sequence stratigraphic architecture of a multi-cyclic patch-reef and its associated ramp interior facies that formed during Oceanic Anoxic Event 1b in the Mural Limestone, Arizona, USA. Ramp interior facies are comprised of bedded wackestone/packstone, rudist build-up and coral–algal patch-reef facies located north of Bisbee, Arizona, at the Grassy Hill locality. The larger multi-cyclic patch-reef that developed coevally ca 5 km to the south of Grassy Hill consists of a high-angle windward margin with a narrow ca 70 m long reef frame containing vertically zonated Microsolena, Actinastrea, diverse branching coral and rudist assemblages, and an 870 m long low-angle leeward margin comprised of reef debris rudstone and grainstone shoal facies. Similar reef geomorphology and orientation is documented across the Gulf of Mexico and reflects the shelf-wide north to north-east-trending prevailing wind and current energies. Controls affecting reef formation and growth patterns include changes in accommodation space associated with low-amplitude global sea-level rise and regional thermotectonic subsidence, local accommodation space and nutrient fluctuations associated with the inner shelf depositional setting within a humid and siliciclastic-rich environment. Four aggradational to retrogradational high-frequency sequences are documented in Arizona: High-frequency sequences 1 and 2 represent the first pulse of patch-reef development in an overall second-order marine transgression over the Sonora/Bisbee Shelf. These sequences correlate to δ¹³C signatures associated with Oceanic Anoxic Event 1b across the Gulf of Mexico and suggest that carbonate reefs persisted on the ramp interior during this time. High-frequency sequences 3 and 4 record a second brief transgression and backstepping of reef facies followed by the final regression of shallow shelf carbonates that correlates to more robust patch-reef development in Sonora, Mexico. The patch-reef at Paul Spur is an excellent outcrop analogue for productive patch-reefs in the Maverick Basin (Comanche Shelf) of Texas. Detailed facies mapping of this outcrop analogue shows that the greatest reservoir potential is contained within the backreef grainstone shoals where primary porosity of up to 15% is observed.     

Biostratigraphy,sedimentology and sequence stratigraphy of the Tournaisian–Viséan transitional strata in South China (Guangxi)

The biostratigraphy and sedimentological evolution of the Tournaisian–Viséan (T–V) transitional strata in South China (Guangxi) have been investigated. The sediments were deposited on a carbonate platform and in slope and basinal environments. In the T–V transitional strata, six foraminiferal associations have been distinguished which allow correlation between the shallow and deep water deposits. A careful examination of the evolutionary stages of the foraminifer Eoparastaffella provides a more accurate criterion for the definition of the T–V boundary, but does not significantly modify the historical one. The distinction of two morphotypes is based on the elevation of the last whorl and the peripheral outline. Tournaisian specimens of Eoparastaffella have a well rounded periphery (morphotype 1) contrasting with the subangular periphery of younger Viséan specimens (morphotype 2). A coefficient can be deduced from simple biometric measurements for more precisely defining the T–V boundary. The sequence stratigraphy of the T–V strata in South China has been reconstructed by combining biostratigraphical and sedimentological data. It allowed the correlation of the T–V transitional strata between the platform area and the slope and basinal locations. Late Tournaisian strata were deposited during a highstand systems tract. Near the end of the Tournaisian, a major drop in relative sea-level led to the development of an unconformity in the platform area. Lowstand deposits formed during latest Tournaisian time in the basin where a detailed biostratigraphic framework has been devised. Sediments deposited during the ensuing transgressive systems tract overlie the late Tournaisian highstand sediments in the platform area and the latest Tournaisian lowstand deposits in the basin. A major drop in relative sea-level near the end of the Tournaisian has been recognized worldwide. Therefore, the possibility of using the sequence stratigraphy of the T–V strata in South China for worldwide correlations should be investigated. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Roaches and Ashover Grits: sequence stratigraphic interpretation of a ‘turbidite-fronted delta’ system

A single Upper Carboniferous fluvio-deltaic cycle (Namurian, R₂b5) in the south part of the Pennine Basin of northern England has been reinterpreted using a sequence stratigraphic approach. In upward succession the deposits comprise basinal mudstones, localized thick density current deposits, delta slope deposits and delta-top sandstones, followed abruptly by basinal mudstones. Earlier interpretations linked these elements with a single, mainly regressive, cycle, referred to as a turbidite-fronted delta. Recent evidence for strong glacio-eustatic sea-level fluctuations in the Namurian suggests that it is unlikely that the previous simple model can explain the spatial arrangement of all the lithological units. This paper attempts to identify elements of the Exxon sequence stratigraphic model, in which changes of sea level are an essential part. The basinal mudstones represent deep-water deposition and imply a highstand of sea level. Thick density current deposits are now known to be localized close to the basinward limit of delta progradation, so cannot be seen as a ubiquitous component of the depositional system. They may form a detached fan, or a fan located at the foot of the delta slope. Slope siltstones include turbidite-like sandstones, but these are interbedded with tractional sandstones and Pelecypodichnus trace fossils, giving no clear indication of water depth. The delta-top sandstones, some coarse and pebbly, can in places be shown to consist of two parts separated by a significant erosion surface now regarded as a type 1 sequence boundary. The erosion surface is locally incised about 80 m into the delta deposits, forming a major palaeovalley. Giant cross-beds (foresets 20 m thick) forming part of the palaeovalley fill are restricted to the basinward end of this feature. A curve of relative sea level inferred for the R₂b5 interval suggests a fourth-order cycle in which two sharp rises are separated by a gradual fall. Possible minor (fifth-order) rises and falls may be superimposed. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Are carbonate barrier islands mobile? Insights from a mid to late-Holocene system,Al Ruwais,northern Qatar

Barrier islands are important landforms in many coastal systems around the globe. Studies of modern barrier island systems are mostly limited to those of siliciclastic realms, where the islands are recognized as mobile features that form on transgressive coastlines and migrate landward as sea-level rises. Barrier islands of the ‘Great Pearl Bank’ along the United Arab Emirates coast are the best-known carbonate examples. These Holocene islands, however, are interpreted to be anchored by older deposits and immobile. The mid-Holocene to late-Holocene depositional system at Al Ruwais, northern Qatar, provides an example of a mobile carbonate barrier island system, perhaps more similar to siliciclastic equivalents. Sedimentological and petrographic analyses, as well as ¹⁴C-dating of shells and biogenic remains from vibracored sediments and surface deposits, show that after 7000 years ago a barrier system with a narrow back-barrier lagoon formed along what is now an exposed coastal zone, while, contemporaneously, a laterally-extensive coral reef was forming immediately offshore. After 1400 years ago the barrier system was forced to step ca 3 km seaward in response to a sea-level fall of less than 2 m, where it re-established itself directly on the mid-Holocene reef. Since that time, the barrier has retreated landward as much as 1000 m to its current position, exposing previously-deposited back-barrier lagoonal sediment at the open-coast shoreline. In modern neritic warm-water carbonate settings mobile barrier island systems are rare. Their construction and migration may be inhibited by reef formation, early cementation, and the relative inefficiency of sourcing beach sediments from open carbonate shelves. Carbonate barrier island systems likely formed more commonly during geological periods when ramps and unrimmed shelves predominated and in calcite seas, when meteoric cementation was minimized as a result of initial calcitic allochem mineralogy. As with their siliciclastic analogues, however, recognition of the influence of these transient landforms in the rock record is challenging.     

深时全球海平面变化重建方法的回顾与展望

全球海平面变化对古地理、古生物、古气候演化以及能源矿产分布具有重要的控制作用。然而,目前学界对深时海平面变化的驱动机制尚不清楚,部分归因于缺乏高精度全球海平面变化的恢复。文章回顾了全球海平面变化研究的起始与发展过程,归纳出五种类型的深时海平面变化重建方法和技术,即地层学、沉积学、洋盆动力学、同位素地球化学方法和大数据技术。并总结了上述研究方法的原理、优势和不足,并以白垩纪全球海平面重建为实例,讨论了当前深时全球海平面重建的难点和争议点,并对未来深时全球海平面变化重建进行了展望。     

2017年四川九寨沟MS7.0地震及余震定位研究

采用特定震源台站校正定位方法对九寨沟M_S7.0地震及其余震进行了精定位研究,结果显示九寨沟地震主震深度为19km左右,余震主要分布于5~15km深度范围;与单事件定位方法相比,其余震展布和断层的线性特征更吻合,更具有平面特征;与双差定位法相比,精定位事件覆盖范围更广。精定位结果显示,断层整体为虎牙断裂西北向的延伸,根据余震分布和特定震源区的校正项分布,认为此发震断层应分南、北两段;余震区长度为40km左右,西北段宽度为10km左右,东南段宽度为6.5km左右。     

沧东断裂第四纪活动性探测结果

根据人工地震探测结果,分别在天津东丽区山岭子村北、大港区中塘村和宁河县北淮淀村布设了三条钻孔剖面,对沧东断裂开展了钻孔勘探工作。经微体古生物鉴定和地层年代测试,确定了各钻孔第一、第二、第三和第四海相层的位置。通过以海相层为标志层的地层对比并结合中塘村BZ1孔古地磁测试结果,对沧东断裂的活动性进行了分析研究。结果表明,沧东断裂晚更新世以来没有发现活动的迹象,其最新活动年代可能在中更新世。如果以海河断裂为界,从位于沧东断裂北部的北淮淀钻孔剖面和位于南部的中塘钻孔剖面的地层对比发现,沧东断裂北段、南段活动性差异不大。同时,已有的一些研究表明,海相层的观测可能对地震信息反映较好。除沧东断裂探测外,天津南、北断裂、海河断裂对21口钻孔进行了海相层鉴定,目前开展的蓟运河断裂探测也将对海相层位置进行确定,这些结果,对利用咸水层观测地震信息的层位选择有很大帮助。     

2020年2月3日四川青白江5.1级地震总结

针对2020年2月3日四川青白江5.1级地震发生前的地震活动和地球物理观测异常、构造背景、震源物理参数,以及地震序列特征等进行系统总结。结果表明,青白江5.1级地震发生前存在小震调制比高值、地磁低点位移、重力固体潮高噪声等中短期异常;地震序列活动特征显示,此次地震为一次孤立型地震序列,序列参数计算结果与当前余震活动水平基本相符。另外,青白江地震发生在龙泉山断裂带上,震源机制计算结果显示为一次逆冲型破裂事件,与龙泉山断裂构造性质一致。同时,此次地震发生在四川盆地的少震弱震区,对于川滇及川滇藏交界地区后续7级以上地震的发生具有一定预测意义。     

利用断裂带首波分析甘孜—玉树断裂带拉张盆地结构特征

对断裂带及附近区域地层精细结构的描述是理解地震孕育和发生过程的基础.不同板块或块体边界在构造或区域应力作用下,常常会形成速度间断面和低速的断裂带,间断面和低速带的存在会产生特殊的断裂带地震波,比如断裂带首波和围陷波,并会影响地震的物理过程、破裂速度和破裂方向等.本文主要利用2010年4月14日M_W6.9玉树地震后布设的流动地震台站,对沿着甘孜—玉树断裂带传播的断裂带首波进行识别和分析.分析结果表明,在甘孜—玉树断裂带的不同区域均观测到了断裂带首波,在西段的结隆拉张盆地附近的3个台站沿断裂带界面的平均纵波速度差异值在5%～8%,而其他区域的平均速度差异为1%～3%.通过台站位置分布和断裂带首波特征关系,初步分析了断裂带拉张盆地的结构,结果显示结隆盆地的长度为～40km,宽度为5.35～5.97km,深度不超过5km,在地表浅层形成了一个低速区,分别与巴颜喀拉块体(NE)和羌塘块体(SW)产生了两个物性差异界面,但没有延伸到主震和余震区震源深度.我们的结果表明结合密集台阵资料,通过断裂带首波特征分析可以为断裂带精细结构及几何特征提供一种新的技术方法和途径.     

用单纯形法和PTD法对2016年新疆阿克陶M_S6.7地震序列的震源深度测定分析

用单纯形法计算了阿克陶M_S6.7主震的震源深度,结果为7.5 km,但单纯形法对设定的初始深度依赖值过高,震源深度值不一定可靠。用PTD法计算了阿克陶M_S6.7主震的震源深度,结果为9.4 km,且用了44个台站的震相数据共组成99个有效样本数参与了计算,不仅样本数多,而且震源深度样本数的集中度也比较符合高斯分布的特征,所以震源深度值可信度高,也非常接近国内和国外地震研究机构给出的此次地震的震源深度。当主震的震源深度已知且适合单纯形法设定的初值时,用单纯形法来计算地震序列的震源深度,不仅残差小,而且软件实现简单,确保了地震序列的按时提交。再用PTD法来检验该地震序列震源深度的准确性,结果显示,2种方法得到的震源深度差值不超过10 km,符合中国地震台网对震源深度误差的要求。