Abstract
AbstractWorld‐class examples of fault‐controlled growth basins with associated syn‐kinematic sedimentary fill are developed in Upper Triassic prodelta to delta‐front deposits exposed at Kvalpynten, SW Edgeøya in East Svalbard. They are interpreted to have interacted with north‐westerly progradation of a regional delta system. The syn‐kinematic successions consist of 4 to 5 coarsening‐upward units spanning from offshore mudstones to subtidal heterolithic bars and compound tidal dunes, which were blanketed by regional, post‐kinematic sandstone sheets deposited as laterally continuous, subaqueous tidal dune fields. The rate of growth faulting is reflected in the distribution of accommodation, which governs sedimentary architecture and stacking patterns within the coarsening‐upward units. Fully compartmentalized basins (12, 200–800 m wide and c. 150 m high grabens and half grabens) are characterized by syn‐kinematic sedimentary infill. These grabens and half‐grabens are separated by 60–150 m high horsts composed of pro‐delta to distal delta‐front mudstones. Grabens host tabular tidal dunes (sandwaves), whereas half‐grabens bound by listric faults (mainly south‐dipping) consist of wedge‐shaped, rotated strata with erosive boundaries proximal to the uplifted fault block crests. Heterolithic tidal bars (sand ridges) occur in narrow half‐grabens, showing migration oblique to the faults, up the dipslope. Structureless sandstone wedges and localized subaqueous slumps that formed in response to collapse of the block crests were only documented in half‐grabens. Late‐kinematic deposition during the final stages of faulting occurred in partly compartmentalized basins, filled with variably thick sets of continuous sandstone belts (compound tidal dunes).
Highlights
31 are south‐dipping and 21 are north‐dipping (Figure 3d). They can be divided into three categories based on their relationships to adjacent basins: (i) Twenty three mainly south‐dipping listric growth faults with vertical offsets exceeding 100 m that bound teen half‐grabens
Coarsening‐upward sections consist of a basal mudstone wedge, overlain by soft sediment deformed interval and lenticular tidal bar(s) with lateral accretion surfaces. These lenticular tidal bars are overlain by laterally restricted tidal dune complex(es), which are eventually capped a by structureless sandstone wedge (Figure 11c)
This study documents the impact of growth faulting on the deposition of coarsening‐upward units in the 400‐m‐high and 9‐km‐long cliffs of Kvalpynten, SW Edgeøya, Svalbard
Summary
Syn‐sedimentary growth faults are often associated with deltas discharging sediments into shallow seas, as recognized in: (a) foreland basins (Bhattacharya & Davies, 2001; Bouroullec et al, 2004; Braathen, Midtkandal, et al, 2018; Fielding, 2015; Shultz & Hubbard, 2005), (b) extensional basins (Martinsen, 1989; Wignall & Best, 2004), (c) epicontinental seas This study analyses the sedimentary architecture encountered in the growth‐faulted, tidally‐influenced, deltaic deposits of Kvalpynten, on Edgeøya, East Svalbard (Figure 1a,b) It targets the growth units, which consists of Upper Triassic mudstones and sandstones (Braathen, Midtkandal, et al, 2018; Edwards, 1976; Maher et al, 2017; Ogata et al, 2018; Osmundsen et al, 2014). The resultant high‐resolution digital elevation model was draped with the detailed outcrop photographs,
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