贵州罗甸中三叠统边阳组风暴沉积的发现

贵州南部罗甸地区中三叠统发育—套巨厚的砂、泥韵律的海相碎屑沉积,其岩性主要为砂岩、粉砂岩、页岩和泥岩之组合,曾被认为是典型的浊积岩(苟汉成,1985;贺自爱,1986)。这套沉积在该地区命名为边阳组,命名地点在罗甸县边阳。边阳组下伏地层为新苑组(T₂x),上覆地层为把南组(T₃b)。经过对该区较详细的野外观测,发现了丘状交错层理,具蹼状构造的垂直U型潜穴等风暴沉积的证据,表明边阳组并非全为浊积岩,这为重新认识该区的古地理环境提供了信息。     

Advances in genetic mechanism research on hummocky and hummocky-like cross-stratifications

Hummocky and hummocky-like cross-stratification(HCS and HCS-like)as the identification criteria for sedimentary environments have recently become confused because of the little knowledge on their genetic mechanism based on the following facts: HCS and HCS-like are often associated with storm deposits and turbidity current deposits,respectively; the views on HCS produced in shallow water environments and HCS-like produced in deep-water environments have been abandoned recently. According to the detail reviews on structural and morphologic characteristics and vertical sequence of HCS and HCS-like from literatures,here we found that: (1) the special features of HCS include the sharp or erosional basal contact,the internal truncation surface,close relationship with swaley cross-stratification,and the missing zone or amalgamation of HCS in vertical sequence;(2) the special features of HCS-like often include various thickness of individual lamina,hummocky layer interbedded with parallel bedding or small-scale cross-bedding under continuous deposition,and alternating sedimentary structures of upper and lower flow regime in vertical sequence. According to hydrodynamic theory and flume experiment achievements,these results show that the genetic mechanism of HCS and HCS-like could be divided into two parts,hydrodynamic mechanism and depositional mechanism. The hydrodynamic mechanism of HCS and HCS-like is same and could be interpreted by vertical vortex generated by baroclinic wave in nature. However,depositional mechanism of HCS and HCS-like is very different: HCS and HCS-like could be interpreted by erosion suspending sand mechanism and suspending sand settling mechanism,respectively,and the special features in HCS and HCS-like are due to the different sediment suspension concentration and depositional flow energy. The division for hydrodynamic and depositional mechanism of HCS and HCS-like is very significant in determining sedimentary environments from depositional flow evolution perspective.     

A depositional model for a wave‐dominated open‐coast tidal flat,based on analyses of the Cambrian–Ordovician Lagarto and Palmares formations,north‐eastern Brazil

Open‐coast tidal flats are hybrid depositional systems resulting from the interaction of waves and tides. Modern examples have been recognized, but few cases have been described in ancient rock successions. An example of an ancient open‐coast tidal flat, the depositional architecture of the Lagarto and Palmares formations (Cambrian–Ordovician of the Sergipano Belt, north‐eastern Brazil) is presented here. Detailed field analyses of outcrops allowed the development of a conceptual architectural model for a coastal depositional environment that is substantially different from classical wave‐dominated or tide‐dominated coastal models. This architectural model is dominated by storm wave, low orbital velocity wave and tidal current beds, which vary in their characteristics and distribution. In a landward direction, the storm deposits decrease in abundance, dimension (thickness and spacing) and grain size, and vary from accretionary through scour and drape to anisotropic hummocky cross‐stratification beds. Low orbital wave deposits are more common in the medium and upper portion of the tidal flat. Tidal deposits, which are characterized by mudstone interbedded with sandstone strata, are dominant in the landward portion of the tidal flat. Hummocky cross‐stratification beds in the rock record are believed, in general, to represent storm deposits in palaeoenvironments below the fair‐weather wave base. However, in this model of an open‐coast tidal flat, hummocky cross‐stratification beds were found in very shallow waters above the fair‐weather wave base. Indeed, this depositional environment was characterized by: (i) fair‐weather waves and tides that lacked sufficient energy to rework the storm deposits; (ii) an absence of biological communities that could disrupt the storm deposits; and (iii) high aggradation rates linked to an active foreland basin, which contributed definitively to the rapid burial and preservation of these hummocky cross‐stratification deposits.     

Earthquake evidence for compressive stress in the southeast Australian crust

Earthquakes in SE Australia are usually caused by compressive stresses acting in the crust, and are associated with steeply dipping faults. Sometimes the faulting is predominantly strike‐slip, as for the Bowning earthquakes of 1977 and some of the Dalton/Gunning earthquakes; and sometimes it is high‐angle thrust faulting, as for the 1961 Robertson and 1973 Picton earthquakes. No surface expression of the faults associated with any recent earthquakes in SE Australia has been reported.

The directions of the pressure axes, from all the earthquakes for which focal mechanisms have been determined, do not form a consistent pattern. This suggests that the faulting associated with earthquakes in SE Australia is dominated by the geometry of pre‐existing crustal faults or zones of weakness.

In situ stress measurements have not been made near the epicentral areas of the larger recent earthquakes, because of the absence of competent, near‐surface rocks coupled to the crust. However, in the western part of the Lachlan Fold Belt the in situ stress results indicate that the maximum pressure axis is approximately E‐W. The evidence from the focal mechanisms does not preclude the persistence of this stress regime farther to the east, and a regional compressive stress in the crust with an azimuth of about 120° is consistent with most of the earthquake focal mechanisms and the in situ stress measurements throughout SE Australia.     

Hummocky cross-stratification-like structures in deep-sea turbidites: Upper Cretaceous Basque basins (Western Pyrenees, France)

Hummocky cross-stratification is a sedimentary structure which is widely interpreted as the sedimentary record of an oscillatory current generated by energetic storm waves remobilizing surface sediment on the continental shelf. Sedimentary structures named hummocky cross-stratification-like structures, similar to true hummocky cross-stratification, have been observed in the Turonian–Senonian Basque Flysch Basin (south-west France). The bathymetry (1000 to 1500 m) suggests that the observed sedimentary structures do not result from a hydrodynamic process similar to those acting on a continental shelf. The morphology of these three-dimensional structures shares similarities with the morphology of hummocky cross-stratification despite a smaller size. The lateral extent of these structures ranges from a few decimetres to many decimetres; they consist of convex-up domes (hummock) and concave-up swales with a non-erosive base. Four types of hummocky cross-stratification-like geometries are described; they occur in association with structures such as climbing current ripple lamination and synsedimentary deformations. In the Basque Flysch, hummocky cross-stratification-like structures are only found in the Tc interval of the Bouma sequence. Hummocky cross-stratification-like structures are sporadic in the stratigraphic series and observed only in few turbidite beds or bed packages. This observation suggests that hummocky cross-stratification-like structures are linked genetically to the turbidity current but form under a very restricted range of parameters. These structures sometimes show an up-current (upslope) migration trend (antidunes). In the described examples, they could result from standing waves forming at the upper flow interface because of Kelvin–Helmholtz instability.     

Tempestite facies variability and storm-depositional processes across a wide ramp: Towards a polygenetic model for hummocky cross-stratification

The hydrodynamic mechanisms responsible for the genesis and facies variability of shallow-marine sandstone storm deposits (tempestites) have been intensely debated, with particular focus on hummocky cross-stratification. Despite being ubiquitously utilized as diagnostic elements of high-energy storm events, the full formative process spectrum of tempestites and hummocky cross-stratification is still to be determined. In this study, detailed sedimentological investigations of more than 950 discrete tempestites within the Lower Cretaceous Rurikfjellet Formation on Spitsbergen, Svalbard, shed new light on the formation and environmental significance of hummocky cross-stratification, and provide a reference for evaluation of tempestite facies models. Three generic types of tempestites are recognized, representing deposition from: (i) relatively steady and (ii) highly unsteady storm-wave-generated oscillatory flows or oscillatory-dominated combined-flows; and (iii) various storm-wave-modified hyperpycnal flows (including waxing–waning flows) generated directly from plunging rivers. A low-gradient ramp physiography enhanced both distally progressive deceleration of the hyperpycnal flows and the spatial extent and relative magnitude of wave-added turbulence. Sandstone beds display a wide range of simple and complex configurations of hummocky cross-stratification. Features include ripple cross-lamination and ‘compound’ stratification, soft-sediment deformation structures, local shifts to quasi-planar lamination, double draping, metre-scale channelized bed architectures, gravel-rich intervals, inverse-to-normal grading, and vertical alternation of sedimentary structures. A polygenetic model is presented to account for the various configurations of hummocky cross-stratification that may commonly be produced during storms by wave oscillations, hyperpycnal flows and downwelling flows. Inherent storm-wave unsteadiness probably facilitates the generation of a wide range of hummocky cross-stratification configurations due to: (i) changes in near-bed oscillatory shear stresses related to passing wave groups or tidal water-level variations; (ii) multidirectional combined-flows related to polymodal and time-varying orientations of wave oscillations; and (iii) syndepositional liquefaction related to cyclic wave stress. Previous proximal–distal tempestite facies models may only be applicable to relatively high-gradient shelves, and new models are necessary for low-gradient settings.     

Climbing ripple structure and associated storm-lamination from a Proterozoic carbonate platform succession: Their environmental and petrogenetic significance

The Mesoproterozoic Pandikunta Limestone, a shallow water carbonate platform succession in the Pranhita-Godavari Valley, south India, displays well developed climbing ripple lamination and storm deposited structures, such as HCS, wave ripple-lamination, combined-flow ripple-lamination and low angle trough cross-stratification. Different types of stratification developed in calcisiltite with minor amounts of very fine quartz sand and silt. The climbing ripple structures exhibit a complex pattern of superposition of different types (type A, B and S) within cosets pointing to a fluctuating rate of suspension depositionversus bedform migration, and an unsteady character of the flow. Close association of climbing ripple structures, HCS with anisotropic geometry, wavy lamination and combined-flow ripple-lamination suggest that the structures were formed by storm generated combined-flow in a mid-shelf area above the storm wave base. The combined-flow that deposited the climbing ripple structures had a strong unidirectional flow component of variable magnitude. The climbing ripple structure occurs as a constituent of graded stratified beds with an ordered vertical sequence of different types of lamination, reflecting flow deceleration and increased rate of suspension deposition. It is inferred that the beds were deposited from high-density waning flows in the relatively deeper part of the ancient shelf. The structures indicate that the Pandikunta platform was subjected to open marine circulation and intense storm activities. The storm deposited beds, intercalated with beds of lime-mudstone, consist primarily of fine sand and silt size carbonate particles that were hydrodynamically similar to quartz silt. Detrital carbonate particles are structureless and are of variable roundness. The particles were generated as primary carbonate clasts in coastal areas by mechanical disintegration of rapidly lithified beds, stromatolites or laminites, and the finest grade was transported to the offshore areas by storm-generated currents.     

青岛灵山岛下白垩统风暴岩与风暴沉积的发现及意义*

青岛灵山岛中生界下白垩统碎屑岩中发育了很好的风暴岩与风暴沉积,其特点是:(1)丘状、洼状构造及丘状、洼状交错层理经常可见;丘状交错层理呈对称或近对称丘状,一般发育在三角洲前缘暗色薄层状砂泥岩互层中,薄层一般厚1~2,cm,有时也可以更厚;砂岩中常有平行层理或低角度交错层理,也可以发育丘状交错层理;细层较厚,多在1~2,cm,甚至3~4,cm;但砂岩多数呈块状;洼状交错层理相对较少,多不完善;洼状构造则相对多见。(2)冲刷侵蚀面非常发育。多波状起伏或凹凸不平,起伏可达20~30,cm,甚至更大;内部的冲刷侵蚀面常不连续,但底部的冲刷侵蚀面连续性很好。(3)中厚层状砂岩内部的冲刷侵蚀面可以分为多个次级层,但常因冲刷面的不连续而上下合并在一起。(4)砂岩中常含有内碎屑,以暗色泥砾为主,小者直径多在1~2,cm,大者可达10,cm以上,形态多变;长轴多顺层分布;有时集中在砂岩的顶部。(5)以中细砂岩为主,没有真正的砾岩;砂岩的分选性可以较好。(6)发育了大量的多尺度、多类型软沉积物的变形构造。(7)有时候含有炭屑。灵山岛风暴岩和风暴沉积的发现,揭示了这套沉积是在一个相对较浅水的湖泊条件下形成的,而非海洋深水;此外,风暴形成的砂岩下移到三角洲前缘相中,使其更加靠近烃源岩,优化了生储关系,有利于油气成藏。     

丘状和似丘状交错层理成因机制研究进展

丘状交错层理多和风暴沉积相关,似丘状交错层理多和浊流沉积相关,随着研究的深入,早已打破了丘状(似丘状)交错层理分别只存在于浅水(深水)沉积环境中的界线,故近年来丘状(似丘状)交错层理在作为沉积环境判别标志方面出现了很大的争议和混淆,究其原因则在于对丘状交错层理和似丘状交错层理的成因机制缺乏明确的认识。在详细总结丘状(似丘状)交错层理的结构、形态特征和垂向序列的基础上发现: (1)丘状交错层理底界常为剥蚀面,内部削切关系发育且与洼状交错层理关系密切;垂向序列常出现层段缺失和丘状交错层理叠置。(2)似丘状交错层理纹层厚度变化多样;丘状层可镶嵌于平行层理或小型交错层理之中,且为连续沉积;垂向序列往往出现高流态沉积构造与低流态沉积构造交替叠置。依据这些特征并结合水槽实验的相关研究成果,从流体力学角度可将丘状(似丘状)交错层理的形成机制分为水动力机制和沉积机制两部分。两者的水动力机制完全相同,即为立轴漩涡形成,在自然界中一般为斜压波动引起。两者的沉积机制完全不同: 丘状交错层理为剥蚀悬砂沉积机制,而似丘状交错层理则为悬砂降落沉积机制。由于2种沉积机制所形成的沉积物悬浮浓度及其对沉积流体能量的要求不同,故形成丘状和似丘状交错层理各自不同的沉积特征。这对于从流体演化方面判断沉积环境具有非常重要的意义。     

豫西前寒武纪汝阳群和洛峪群中风暴沉积

豫西前寒式纪汝阳群和洛峪群中广泛发育不同类型的风暴岩,主要包括丘状交错层砂岩、洼状交错层砂岩、浅水浊积岩以及与风暴作用有关的硬底、凝缩层和层间砾岩。不同类型风暴署具有不同的岩相组合及形成过程,并且发育在浅海陆棚的不同沉积带中。由洼伏交错层砂岩为主的相组合代表了滨岸带的下部;丘状交错层砂岩相组合指示风暴浪基面以上的内陆棚;而浅水浊积岩相组合则主要发育在外陆棚沉积区。这种风暴岩的沉积模式可用于详细恢复受风暴影响的古陆棚环境。