Mirdita Zone ophiolites and associated sediments in Albania reveal Neotethys Ocean origin

The Mirdita Ophiolite Zone in Albania is associated with widespread mélanges containing components of up to nappe-size. We dated matrix and components of the mélange by radiolarians, conodonts, and other taxa. The components consist of radiolarites, pelagic limestones and shallow-water limestones, all of Triassic age, as well as ophiolites. Triassic radiolarite as a primary cover of ophiolite material proves Middle Triassic onset of Mirdita ocean-floor formation. The mélange contains a turbiditic radiolarite-rich matrix (“radiolaritic flysch”), dated as Late Bajocian to Early Oxfordian. It formed as a synorogenic sediment during west-directed thrusting of ophiolite and sediment-cover nappes representing ocean floor and underplated fragments of the western continental margin. The tectonic structures formed during these orogenic events (“Younger Kimmeridian or Eohellenic Orogeny”) are sealed by Late Jurassic platform carbonates. The geological history conforms with that of the Inner Dinarides and adjoining areas; we therefore correlate the Mirdita-Pindos Ophiolite Zone with the Vardar Zone and explain its present position by far-distance west-directed thrusting.     

The Middle Jurassic radiolarites and pelagic limestones of the Nieves unit (Rondaide Complex, Betic Cordillera): basin starvation in a rifted marginal slope of the western Tethys

Middle Jurassic radiolarites and associated pelagic limestones occur in the Rondaide Nieves unit of the Betic Cordillera, southern Spain. The Rondaide Mesozoic includes: (a) a thick succession of Triassic platform carbonates, comparable to the Alpine Hauptdolomit and Kössen facies; (b) Lower Jurassic pelagic limestones comparable to the Alpine Hierlatz and Adnet facies; (c) the Middle Jurassic Parauta Radiolarite Formation, described herein; and (d) a thin Upper Jurassic-Cretaceous condensed limestone succession. The Parauta Radiolarite Formation and associated limestones were studied with respect to stratigraphy, petrography, micropalaeontology (radiolarians, calcareous nanno- and microfossils) and facies. Radiolarite sedimentation occurred in the Middle Bathonian in a restricted and dysoxic deep Nieves basin, perched in the distal zone of a continental margin fringing the Tethyan ocean. This margin was adjacent to a young narrow oceanic basin between the South-Iberian margin and a continental block called Mesomediterranean Terrane. The Nieves basin was part of a marine corridor between the Proto-Atlantic and Piedmont-Ligurian basins of the Alpine Tethys. The regional tectonic position, the stratigraphical evolution since the Triassic, the age and the nature of the Mesozoic facies and the palaeogeographic relations to adjacent domains show striking analogies between the Betic Rondaide margin and coeval units of the Alps.     

Gleichzeitige Messungen des Seegangs mit nicht-stabilisierten Beschleunigungsschreibern an Orten mit unterschiedlicher Wassertiefe in der Deutschen Bucht

Zusammenfassung Es werden Ergebnisse von simultanen Seegangsmessungen an sieben Pl?tzen mit verschiedener Wassertiefe im Küstengebiet der Deutschen Bucht behandelt. An Hand einiger Gegenüberstellungen wird dargelegt, in welcher Weise die Windsee mit abnehmender Wassertiefe niedriger und kürzer wird.

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Simultaneous measurements of waves by means of non-stabilized recording accelerometers at various places in the German Bight with different water depths

Summary Treated are the results of simultaneous measurements of waves at seven places in the coastal area of the German Bight with different water depths. A comparison demonstrates the way in which the wind sea is getting lower and shorter with decreasing water depth.

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Mesures simultanées de l'agitation de la mer avec accéléromètres enregistreurs non stabilisés en points de profondeurs différentes de la Baie Allemande

Résumé On a traité les résultats obtenus de mesures simultanées de l'agitation de la mer en sept endroits de profondeurs différentes dans les eaux c?tières de la Baie Allemande. En utilisant quelques comparaisons on expose de quelle manière la mer due au vent diminue de hauteur et de longueur en même temps que la profondeur.

     

Intrusion versus inversion—a 3D density model of the southern rim of the Northwest German Basin

An unsolved problem of regional importance for both the evolution and structure of the Northwest German Basin is the existence or non-existence of the so-called Bramsche Massif. Explaining the nature of this massif and the cause of a related strong, positive Bouguer anomaly (Bramsche Anomaly) is critical. In the study described here, we tested an existing “intrusion model” against a newer “inversion model” in the southern Northwest German Basin. In the intrusion model, the strongly-positive Bouguer anomaly represents the gravity effect of an intrusion at depths between 6 and 10 km. More recent interpretations invoke tectonic inversion rather than intrusion to explain increased burial and the low level of hydrocarbon maturity found in boreholes. We tested these different interpretations by constructing 3D forward density models to 15 km depth. The intrusion model was updated and adjusted to incorporate recent data and we also modelled pre-Zechstein structures using different scenarios. The final model has a very good fit between measured and modelled gravity fields. Based on currently available seismic and structural models, as well as borehole density measurements, we show that the positive Bouguer anomaly cannot be modeled without a high-density, intrusive-like body at depth. However, further in-sight into the crustal structures of the Bramsche region requires more detailed investigations. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Paleoenvironment and sea-level change in the early Cretaceous Barents Sea—implications from near-shore marine sapropels

The late Volgian (early "Boreal" Berriasian) sapropels of the Hekkingen Formation of the central Barents Sea show total organic carbon (TOC) contents from 3 to 36 wt%. The relationship between TOC content and sedimentation rate (SR), and the high Mo/Al ratios indicate deposition under oxygen-free bottom-water conditions, and suggest that preservation under anoxic conditions has largely contributed to the high accumulation of organic carbon. Hydrogen index values obtained from Rock-Eval pyrolysis are exceptionally high, and the organic matter is characterized by well-preserved type II kerogen. However, the occurrence of spores, freshwater algae, coal fragments, and charred land-plant remains strongly suggests proximity to land. Short-term oscillations, probably reflecting Milankovitch-type cyclicity, are superimposed on the long-term trend of constantly changing depositional conditions during most of the late Volgian. Progressively smaller amounts of terrestrial organic matter and larger amounts of marine organic matter upwards in the core section may have been caused by a continuous sea-level rise.     

The pre-weichselian glaciations of North-West Europe

In North-West Europe no evidence has been found for glaciations older than the Elsterian. The Elsterian seems to consist of at least two separate ice advances with a minor interval in between. During the Elsterian in the area south of the Baltic Sea over 400 m deep channels were cut into the underlying substratum by a combination of glacial erosion and meltwater activity. The channels were active until the Late Elsterian and were subsequently filled with meltwater deposits and glaciolacustrine silt and clay. During the Saalian no comparative channels were being formed. Three different ice advances can be distinguished within the Saalian, the stratigraphical correlation of which is to be discussed. No convincing evidence was found for any interglacial within the Saalian sequence. There are good reasons to assume that the ice advances were only separated from each other by minor ice-free intervals.     

Cretaceous transformation from passive to active continental margin in the Western Carpathians as indicated by the sedimentary record in the Infratatric unit

The Cretaceous orogen of the Western Carpathians comprises fragments of the destructed northern Centrocarpathian domain, which is defined as Infratatric unit and formed a continental margin facing the Penninic Ocean in Jurassic and Cretaceous times. The breakup event and opening of the Penninic Ocean occurred in the Early Jurassic (Pliensbachian), which is recorded by an abrupt deepening event from shallow-water sediments to deep-water nodular limestone in the Infratatric sediment succession. The transformation of the passive into an active continental margin by the onset of subduction of the Penninic oceanic crust occurred in Santonian times and is reflected by the beginning of flysch deposition in the Infratatric Belice domain, which took the position of a forearc basin in the convergent margin setting. The forearc basin was supplied by clastic material from the more internal part of the Infratatric unit, which experienced nappe stacking, metamorphism, and subsequent exhumation in Late Cretaceous times. In the frontal part of the forearc basin an accretionary wedge was built up, which formed an outer-arc ridge and delivered detrital material into the forearc basin in Maastrichtian time. Final collision between the European and the Adriatic plate occurred in the Eocene period and is responsible for weak metamorphism in the Infratatric unit.     

Conventional and ion-microprobe U-Pb dating of detrital zircons of the Tentudía Group (Serie Negra,SW Spain): implications for zircon systematics,stratigraphy, tectonics and the Precambrian/Cambrian boundary

Conventional multi-grain and ion-microprobe dating of detrital zircons from a very low grade metagraywacke of the Tentudía Group (upper part of the Serie Negra, Ossa-Morena Zone, SW Spain) reveals an uppermost Vendian age for the deposition of the metagraywacke. The youngest detrital zircon grain provides a maximum depositional age of about 565 Ma. Thus, these data contradict earlier Middle to Upper Riphean (ca. 1350-850 Ma) estimates on the age of the Tentudía Group and favour a Precambrian/Cambrian boundary falling into the range of 540 to 530 Ma. The presence of about 20% of Pan-African detrital zircons ranging from about 700 to 550 Ma indicates the derivation from Gondwana. From the upper intercept ages of the fan-shaped data field defined by conventionally determined zircon fractions, it can be deduced that 2.1 Ga old zircons as well as Archean zircons existed in the provenance(s) of the Serie Negra sediments. This mixing of crustal components of different ages is in line with the Nd crustal residence age of 1.9 Ga. The latter value, as well as other model ages of the Iberian Massif, indicates unusually high amounts of ancient crust to be present in the strata. This is different to other (meta)sediments of the European Hercynides and suggests that the Iberian strata of uppermost Precambrian age may contain the detritus of more internal, older parts of Gondwana than other European strata of comparable ages. Geochemical data on the analysed sample and further metagraywackes of the Tentudía Group argue for a deposition in an arc environment. Such a scenario would conform with the syn- to post-orogenic shallow marine deposition of the studied sediments. Furthermore, an upper time limit for the pre-Lower Cambrian deformational history, including two phases of regional deformation, is given by the maximum age of deposition, implying a very short time interval for deposition and deformation of the Tentudía Group. Concerning the U-Pb systematics of detrital zircon fractions, it is probable that numerous, previously published conventional multi-grain zircon data on (meta)sedimentary rocks of the European Hercynides readily can be explained by the presence of up to 20% of Pan-African detrital zircons and later Phanerozoic lead loss during metamorphic transformation of the sedimentary protoliths. Moreover, this implies that such metasediments originated from post-Pan-African sedimentary precursors.     

Résultats préliminaires sur la sédimentation pélagique de l'Atlantique tropical au Crétacé et au Tertiaire (plateau de Demerara,Leg ODP 207)

Five sites located on a bathymetric transect of the distal Demerara Rise were studied by ODP Leg 207. Albian sediments of essentially terrigenous nature (clay, siltstone, sandstone) are the oldest drilled stratigraphic levels and form apparently the top of the synrift sequence. They are overlain by Cenomanian to Santonian finely laminated black shales, rich in organic matter of marine origin, which accumulated on a thermally subsiding ramp. Early Campanian hiatuses are thought to be the result of final disjunction of Demerara Rise (South America) from Africa and the onset of deep water communication between the two Atlantic basins (south and central). The overlying Uppermost Cretaceous–Oligocene chalk includes rich and diversified calcareous plankton assemblages, as well as two radiolarian-rich intervals (Late Campanian and Middle Eocene). A complex erosional surface developed during the Late Oligocene–Early Miocene. Sedimentation was impeded since then on the intermediate and deep sites of Demerara Rise, possibly due to the action of deep submarine currents. To cite this article: T. Danelian et al., C. R. Geoscience 337 (2005).