Biostratigraphic and aminostratigraphic constraints on the age of the Middle Pleistocene glacial succession in north Norfolk,UK

Considerable debate surrounds the age of the Middle Pleistocene glacial succession in East Anglia following some recent stratigraphical reinterpretations. Resolution of the stratigraphy here is important since it not only concerns the glacial history of the region but also has a bearing on our understanding of the earliest human occupation of north‐western Europe. The orthodox consensus that all the tills were emplaced during the Anglian (Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 12) has recently been challenged by a view assigning each major till to a different glacial stage, before, during and after MIS 12. Between Trimingham and Sidestrand on the north Norfolk coast, datable organic sediments occur immediately below and above the glacial succession. The oldest glacial deposit (Happisburgh Till) directly overlies the ‘Sidestrand Unio‐bed’, here defined as the Sidestrand Hall Member of the Cromer Forest‐bed Formation. Dating of these sediments therefore has a bearing on the maximum age of the glacial sequence. This paper reviews the palaeobotany and describes the faunal assemblages recovered from the Sidestrand Unio‐bed, which accumulated in a fluvial environment in a fully temperate climate with regional deciduous woodland. There are indications from the ostracods for weakly brackish conditions. Significant differences are apparent between the Sidestrand assemblages and those from West Runton, the type site of the Cromerian Stage. These differences do not result from contrasting facies or taphonomy but reflect warmer palaeotemperatures at Sidestrand and a much younger age. This conclusion is suggested by the higher proportion of thermophiles at Sidestrand and the occurrence of a water vole with unrooted molars (Arvicola) rather than its ancestor Mimomys savini with rooted molars. Amino acid racemisation data also indicate that Sidestrand is significantly younger than West Runton. These data further highlight the stratigraphical complexity of the ‘Cromerian Complex’ and support the conventional view that the Happisburgh Till was emplaced during the Anglian rather than the recently advanced view that it dates from MIS 16. Moreover, new evidence from the Trimingham lake bed (Sidestrand Cliff Formation) above the youngest glacial outwash sediments (Briton's Lane Formation) indicates that they also accumulated during a Middle Pleistocene interglacial – probably MIS 11. All of this evidence is consistent with a short chronology placing the glacial deposits within MIS 12, rather than invoking multiple episodes of glaciation envisaged in the ‘new glacial stratigraphy’ during MIS 16, 12, 10 and 6. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Alluvial architecture of the Holocene Rhine–Meuse delta (the Netherlands)

Ancient fluvial successions often act as hydrocarbon reservoirs. Sub‐surface data on the alluvial architecture of fluvial successions are often incomplete and modelling is performed to reconstruct the stratigraphy. However, all alluvial architecture models suffer from the scarcity of field data to test and calibrate them. The purposes of this study were to quantify the alluvial architecture of the Holocene Rhine–Meuse delta (the Netherlands) and to determine spatio‐temporal trends in the architecture. Five north–south orientated cross‐sections, perpendicular to the general flow direction, were compiled for the fluvial‐dominated part of the delta. These sections were used to calculate the width/thickness ratios of fluvial sandbodies (SBW/SBT) and the proportions of channel‐belt deposits (CDP), clastic overbank deposits (ODP) and organic material (OP) in the succession. Furthermore, the connectedness ratio (CR) between channel belts was calculated for each cross‐section. Distinct spatial and temporal trends in the alluvial architecture were found. SBW/SBT ratios decrease by a factor of ca 4 in a downstream direction. CDP decreases from ca 0·7 (upstream) to ca 0·3 (downstream). OP increases from less than 0·05 in the upstream part of the delta to more than 0·25 in the downstream delta. ODP is approximately constant (0·4). CR is ca 0·25 upstream, which is approximately two times larger than in the downstream part of the delta. Furthermore, CDP in the downstream Rhine–Meuse delta increases after 3000 cal yr BP. These trends are attributed to variations in available accommodation space, floodplain geometry and channel‐belt size. For instance, channel belts tend to narrow in a downstream direction, which reduces SBW/SBT, CDP and CR. Tectonics cause local deviations in the general architectural trends. In addition, the positive correlation between avulsion frequency and the ratio of local to regional aggradation rate probably influenced alluvial architecture in the Rhine–Meuse delta. The Rhine–Meuse data set can be a great resource when developing more sophisticated models for alluvial architecture simulation, which eventually could lead to better characterizations of hydrocarbon reservoirs. To aid such usage of the Rhine–Meuse data set, constraints for relevant parameters are provided at the end of the paper.     

川西前陆盆地中—新生代沉积迁移与构造转换

川西前陆盆地中—新生代各构造层的残余厚度展布和沉积特征分析发现,四川克拉通周缘的前陆盆地在晚三叠世时期发育于龙门山山前,明显属于龙门山褶皱逆冲构造载荷所形成的前渊凹陷;侏罗纪早期的沉积地层呈面状分布,没有表现出显著的挠曲沉降,指示了一个构造相对平静的阶段;中侏罗世早期前渊凹陷迁移至龙门山北段和米仓山山前,前渊沉积从晚三叠世的北东向转换为近东西向,广泛的湖泊相沉积预示了前陆盆地的欠充填状态;中侏罗世中晚期,川西盆地沉降中心又迁移到大巴山山前,相应的挠曲变形又从近东西向转化为北西向,构成了大巴山的前渊凹陷;晚侏罗世—早白垩世时期,沉降中心再次回到米仓山山前,巨厚的前渊凹陷沉积指示了米仓山冲断带的主要活动时期;白垩纪末—古近纪的前渊凹陷则跃迁至雅安—名山地区。川西前陆盆地的同造山沉降中心以四川盆地中心为核心在西部和北部呈弧形迁移,沉积序列不断更替和叠加。中生界各构造层底界构造图显示现今的构造低部位位于川西北地区和川西南地区,在川西北地区均有东西走向的等值线分布,而川西南地区等值线走向则为北东-南西向。因此分析认为,晚侏罗世至早白垩世的构造变形可能控制了川西盆地现今的地层变形,形成了川西北地区的南北向构造挤压结构,而晚期的新生代构造变形则主要体现在川西盆地的西南部,形成北东-南西向的地层展布特征。     

沿海城市海水入侵问题研究

近年来，沿海城市的海水入侵问题逐渐成为人们关心的焦点之一。文章通过资料搜集与整理，对沿海城市的海水入侵状况作了全面描述与分析。系统地总结了海水入侵的若干特点及海水入侵的成因分析与规律，较为详细的分析了海水入侵的基本事实、基本矛盾和各发展阶段的发展原因，在此基础上总结了海水入侵的基本理论。为进一步的研究打下良好的基础。     

山溪性可冲性强潮河口曹娥江高水位初步研究

应用多年的实测资料 ,分析了曹娥江河口高水位成因 ,结果表明 ,曹娥江河口洪水位具有山溪性和可冲性的特点 ,人类活动对高水位有较大影响。应用统计分析法和成因分析法推求 1 %设计高水位 ,讨论了成因分析法中上、下边界条件的选取 ,其选取原则对其他潮汐河口确定设计高水位具有借鉴意义     

镇泾地区延长组河流相砂体分布与圈闭形成的关系研究

鄂尔多斯盆地镇泾地区侏罗系地层以三角洲-湖泊沉积体系为主,研究区范围内主要发育主河道和部分分流河道砂体。研究区构造平缓,主要为单斜地层、在东南部存在大型鼻状构造。通过对主要储层段(长6、8油层组)砂体分布及与构造之间关系进行研究,分析砂体走向与构造线方向的关系认为在构造单斜地区,当两者相交时(交角β≠0)是形成圈闭的关键因素之一,在大型鼻状构造地区因构造线的弯曲与河道砂体组合可以形成圈闭。根据研究区砂体分布和构造线组合出4种地层-岩性及岩性圈闭。利用构造图与砂体分布图对主要储层段存在的圈闭确定出长6、8油层组10个层圈闭。     

相控建模技术在羊二庄油田的应用

羊二庄油田的明馆储层非均质性严重,高含水、高开发后期的剩余油分布比较复杂,第一次油藏描述中应用传统的确定性建模方法已经不能满足剩余油挖潜的需要.采用RMS相控建模软件,通过构造建模、沉积微相建模、储层物性建模,建立羊二庄油田三维可视化相控地质模型,并实现了与数模软件的无缝接口.     

UKF算法及其在GPS卫星轨道短期预报中的应用

分析了GPS卫星预报星历,在比较分析EKF和UKF优缺点的基础上,将UKF引入GPS卫星轨道预报研究中.数值模拟和结果分析表明,UKF方法预报更稳定,能有效地提高轨道预报精度和稳定性.     

Pelagic records from the Equatorial Ninetyeast Ridge and significant environmental events during the past 3.5 Ma

This paper presents pelagic records of planktic foraminifera, as well as data of stable isotope stratigraphy and carbonate stratigraphy since 3.5 Ma B.P. from site ODP758 in the Ninetyeast Ridge of the Indian Ocean. Based on these data, manifestations and related mechanisms of major tectonic and environmental events such as the rapid uplift of the Himalaya Mountains, “middle Pleistocene climatic transition” and “mid-Brunhes dissolution event” in the region are discussed. According to the analysis and comparison of various indices and changes in terms of foraminifera assemblage, paleotemperature, paleosalinity and themocline from site ODP758, the authors deduce that the paleoclimatic changes might correlate with the mid-Pleistocene transition at 1.4–1.7 Ma B.P. The changes of CaCO₃, mass accumulation rates (MAR) of CaCO₃ and non- CaCO₃ MAR indicate that the loaded terrigenous sediments increased at 1.7 Ma, which is in agreement with the uplift history of the Qinghai-Tibet plateau as shown by the available data. The last two changes coincide with the uplift of the Qinghai-Tibet plateau, hence they are called “Qinghai-Tibet movement” (1.7 Ma), and the “Kunlun-Yellow River movement” (1.2–0.6 Ma). The changes of the CaCO₃ content, coarse fraction (> 150 μm) content and planktonic foraminifera biostratigraphy show that strong dissolution of abyssal CaCO₃ occurred in the study region during 0.5–0.4 Ma. The event was consistent with the “mid-Brunhes dissolution event” in the sedimentary records of the Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean and Nansha sea area of the South China Sea. __________ Translated from Geological Bulletin of China, 2007, 26(12): 1627–1632 [译自: 地质通报]     

Dynamics of the mid-ocean ridge plate boundary: Recent observations and theory

The global mid-ocean ridge system is one of the most active plate boundaries on the earth and understanding the dynamic processes at this plate boundary is one of the most important problems in geodynamics. In this paper I present recent results of several aspects of mid-ocean ridge studies concerning the dynamics of oceanic lithosphere at these diverging plate boundaries. I show that the observed rift valley to no-rift valley transition (globally due to the increase of spreading rate or locally due to the crustal thickness variations and/or thermal anomalies) can be explained by the strong temperature dependence of the power law rheology of the oceanic lithosphere, and most importantly, by the difference in the rheological behavior of the oceanic crust from the underlying mantle. The effect of this weaker lower crust on ridge dynamics is mainly influenced by spreading rate and crustal thickness variations. The accumulated strain pattern from a recently developed lens model, based on recent seismic observations, was proposed as an appealing mechanism for the observed gabbro layering sequence in the Oman Ophiolite. It is now known that the mid-ocean ridges at all spreading rates are offset into individual spreading segments by both transform and nontransform discontinuities. The tectonics of ridge segmentation are also spreading-rate dependent: the slow-spreading Mid-Atlantic Ridge is characterized by distinct bulls-eye shaped gravity lows, suggesting large along-axis variations in melt production and crustal thickness, whereas the fast-spreading East-Pacific Rise is associated with much smaller along-axis variations. These spreading-rate dependent changes have been attributed to a fundamental differences in ridge segmentation mechanisms and mantle upwelling at mid-ocean ridges: the mantle upwelling may be intrinsically plume-like (3-D) beneath a slow-spreading ridge but more sheet-like (2-D) beneath a fast-spreading ridge.