Dolomitization and Hypogenic Dissolution of the Eocene Avanah Formation, Iraqi Kurdistan

A graded river conveys its sediment load without net aggradation or degradation. Grade is thought to represent the equilibrium state of a river system subject to steady allogenic forcing. We address the concept of grade in linked depositional systems through a combination of mathematical modeling and flume experiments. We develop a moving boundary morphodynamic model of fluviodeltaic sedimentation and use it to quantify the conditions necessary for a state of sustained grade in an alluvial‐deltaic system developing on a uniformly sloping shelf. To test our theory, we conducted a series of flume experiments in which we constructed laboratory‐scale fluviodeltaic systems under specific relative sea level histories. On large spatiotemporal scales, our theoretical and experimental results suggest an alternative view of grade as an intrinsically nonequilibrium state that requires a fall in relative sea level. Under conditions of stillstand or rise in relative sea level, the equilibrium (graded) profile does not exist, and the alluvial river will always aggrade. With a steady sediment supply, alluvial grade can be sustained if relative sea level falls with a specific, square‐root‐of‐time dependence. Common sequence‐stratigraphic conceptualizations of alluvial river response to sea level change suggest that rivers aggrade and degrade in response to relative sea level rise and fall, respectively. We show that rivers can remain aggradational if the rate of sea level fall is sufficiently small. The boundary between aggradational and degradational states is the graded state described here: that associated with a relative sea level fall that varies with the square root of time.

The upper 40 m of stratigraphy of the Yellow River (Huang He) subaqueous delta has been well documented, but the nature of the underlying strata is currently unknown at high-resolution. To address this deficiency we used a Geopulse seismic system to image shallow sedimentary deposits up to 120 m deep on the Yellow River delta. High-resolution seismic reflection images were processed with a series of specific techniques (e.g. swelling attenuation, dynamic s/n filter; f-x deconvolution, predictive deconvolution dipscan stack), and used with borehole data to investigate the Quaternary offshore sequences in the Yellow River (Huang He) delta. Repetitive sequences were observed and interpreted as containing layers of transgressive and regressive deposits. Six seismic transgressive and regressive cycles are identified. Unit M6F–C6F correlates with a relative sea-level rise (173–157 ka) and fall (231–173 ka), while Unit M5F–C5F is associated with a relative sea-level rise (124–100 ka) and fall (157–124 ka). Unit M4F–C4F spans a period of sea-level fall at 100–87 ka, followed by a rise at 87–76 ka. Unit M3F–C3F is a transgressive–regressive cycle dated as 76–58 ka. Unit M2F–C2F correlates with relative sea level fall at 58.2–36 ka and subsequent rise at 36–22 ka. Unit M1F–C1F was deposited during relative sea level fall (22–18 ka), followed by a rise, especially since 8.5 ka.

Stratigraphic architecture, palaeogeography and sea-level changes of a third order depositional sequence: The late Turonian–early Coniacian in the northern Iberian Ranges and Central System (Spain)

Relative sea level control of deposition in the Late Permian Newcastle Coal Measures of the Sydney Basin, Australia

Major geologic events of the Cauvery Basin, India and their correlation with global signatures – A review

Effects of relative sea level change on the depositional character of an embayed beach, Bay of Fundy, Canada

Two coarse-grained Gilbert-type deltas in the Lower Badenian deposits along the southern margin of the Western Carpathian Foredeep (peripheral foreland basin) were newly interpreted. Facies characterizing a range of depositional processes are assigned to four facies associations — topset, foreset, bottomset and offshore marine pelagic deposits. The evidence of Gilbert deltas within open marine deposits reflects the formation of a basin with relatively steep margins connected with a relative sea level fall, erosion and incision. Formation, progradation and aggradation of the thick coarse-grained Gilbert delta piles generally indicate a dramatic increase of sediment supply from the hinterland, followed by both relatively continuous sediment delivery and an increase in accommodation space. Deltaic deposition is terminated by relatively rapid and extended drowning and is explained as a transgressive event. The lower Gilbert delta was significantly larger, more areally extended and reveals a more complicated stratigraphic architecture than the upper one. Its basal surface represents a sequence boundary and occurs around the Karpatian/Badenian stratigraphic limit. Two coeval deltaic branches were recognized in the lower delta with partly different stratigraphic arrangements. This different stratigraphic architecture is mostly explained by variations in the sediment delivery and /or predisposed paleotopography and paleobathymetry of the basin floor. The upper delta was recognized only in a restricted area. Its basal surface represents a sequence boundary probably reflecting a higher order cycle of a relative sea level rise and fall within the Lower Badenian. Evidence of two laterally and stratigraphically separated coarse-grained Gilbert deltas indicates two regional/basin wide transgressive/regressive cycles, but not necessarily of the same order. Provenance analysis reveals similar sources of both deltas. Several partial source areas were identified (Mesozoic carbonates of the Northern Calcareous Alps and the Western Carpathians, crystalline rocks of the eastern margin of the Bohemian Massif, older sedimentary infill of the Carpathian Foredeep and/or the North Alpine Foreland Basin, sedimentary rocks of the Western Carpathian/Alpine Flysch Zone).

Sequence stratigraphy, pinning-point relative sea-level curves, and magnetostratigraphy provide the quantitative data necessary to understand how rates of sea-level change and different substrate paleoslopes are dominant controls on accumulation rate, carbonate depositional sequence location, and internal architecture. Five third-order (1-10 my) and fourth-order (0.1-1.0 my) upper Miocene carbonate depositional sequences (DS1A, DS1B, DS2, DS3, TCC) formed with superimposed higher-frequency sea-level cycles in an archipelago setting in SE Spain. Overall, our study indicates when areas of high substrate slope (> 15°) are in shallow water, independent of climate, the location and internal architecture of carbonate deposits are not directly linked to sea-level position but, instead, are controlled by location of gently sloping substrates and processes of bypass. In contrast, if carbonate sediments are generated where substrates of low slope ( 15.6 cm/ky to ~ 2 cm/ky and overall relative sea level rose at rates of 17-21.4 cm/ky. Higher frequency sea-level rates were about 111 to more than 260 cm/ky, producing onlapping, fining- (deepening-) upward cycles. Decreasing accumulation rates resulted from decreasing surface area for shallow-water sediment production, drowning of shallow-water substrates, and complex sediment dispersal related to the archipelago setting. Typical systems tract and parasequence development should not be expected in bypass ramp settings; facies of onlapping strata do not track base level and are likely to be significantly different compared to onlapping strata associated with coastal onlap. Basal and upper DS2 reef megabreccias (indicating the transition from cool to warmer climatic conditions) were eroded from steep upslope positions and redeposited downslope onto areas of gentle substrate during rapid sea-level falls (> 22.7 cm/ky) of short duration. Such rapid sea-level falls and presence of steep slopes are not conducive to formation of forced regressive systems tracts composed of downstepping reef clinoforms. The DS3 reefal platform formed where shallow water coincided with gently sloping substrates created by earlier deposition. Slow progradation (0.39-1.45 km/my) is best explained by the lack of an extensive bank top, progressively falling sea level, and low productivity resulting from siliciclastic debris and excess nutrients shed from nearby volcanic islands. Although DS3 strata were deposited during a third-order relative sea-level cycle, a typical transgressive systems tract is not recognizable, indicating that the initial relative rise in sea level was too rapid (>> 19 cm/ky). Downstepping reefs, forming a forced regressive systems tract, were deposited during the relative sea-level fall at the end of DS3, indicating that relatively slow rates of fall (10 cm/ky or less) over favorable paleoslope conditions are conducive to generation of forced regressive systems tracts consisting of downstepping reef clinoforms. The TCC sequence consists of four shallow-water sedimentary cycles that were deposited during a 400 ky to 100 ky time span. Such shallow-water cycles, typical of many platforms, form only where shallow water intersects gently sloping substrates. The relative thicknesses of cycles (< 2 m to 15 m thick), magnitudes of relative sea-level fluctuations associated with each cycle (25-30 m), high rates of relative sea-level fluctuations (minimum of 25-120 cm/ky), and the widespread distribution of similar TCC cycles in the Mediterranean and elsewhere are supportive of a glacio-eustatic influence. With rates of sea-level change so high, typical systems tracts do not form.

کربنات‌های سازند جهرم به سن ائوسن و سازند آسماری به سن الیگوسن- میوسن، مخازن میدان خشت را در ناحیة فارس واقع در حوضة فورلندی زاگرس تشکیل می‌دهند. در این پژوهش ویژگی‌های مخزنی بخش بالایی سازند جهرم در میدان خشت براساس تلفیق نتایج آنالیز رخساره‌ای و ویژگی‌های دیاژنزی نمونه‌ها در چهارچوب تخلخل و تراوایی بررسی شده است. سازند جهرم در پهنة فارس با لیتولوژی غالب آهکی در یک رمپ کربناته با تغییرات زیاد در ویژگی‌ها و کیفیت مخزنی نهشته شده است. بررسی‌های پتروگرافی به شناسایی پنج ریزرخسارة کربناته منجر شد. پنج گروه سنگی در چاه خشت-2 با در نظر گرفتن کنترل‌کننده‌های اولیه و ثانویه در توزیع نوع و اندازة منافذ شناسایی شد. از گونة سنگی 1 به سمت گونة سنگی 5، کیفیت مخزنی افزایش می‌یابد. دیاژنز به دو صورت افزاینده و کاهندة تخلخل و تراوایی بر کیفیت مخزنی تأثیر گذاشته است. کراس پلات تخلخل و تراوایی همراه با بررسی‌های پتروگرافی مقاطع نازک نشان می‌دهد توسعة سیمان انیدریتی به‌صورت فراگیر و تراکم، بیشترین تأثیر را بر کاهش کیفیت مخزنی داشته‌اند؛ در حالی که دولومیتی‌شدن، شکستگی و انحلال نومولیتس‌ها نقش مهمی در افزایش کیفیت مخزنی ایفا کرده‌اند؛ بنابراین ویژگی‌های کلی مخزن جهرم در میدان خشت، عمدتا با ویژگی‌های دیاژنتیکی شکل گرفته است. استفاده از نرم‌افزار سیکلولاگ در چاه خشت-2 و چاه کمکی خشت-3 به شناسایی دو چرخة رسوبی برای سازند جهرم منجر شد. روند منفی منحنی تغییر طیفی (پایین‌آمدن سطح آب دریا) در چرخة رسوبی دوم دربرگیرندة بخش بالایی سازند جهرم (توالی مطالعه‌شده) است که کیفیت مخزنی متوسط تا بالایی دارد.

The Campanian Hatfield Member of the Haystack Mountains Formation is composed of two well-exposed marine sandstone tongues that extend up to 35 km basinward from their earliest shoreline position into the Western Interior Seaway. Each tongue (H1 and H2) is comprised of two parts that have characteristic architecture, external geometry and facies assemblages. Together, the tongues form a stratigraphic sequence that is formed of four systems tracts and bounded by erosional unconformities. The sequence is interpreted to have been generated over an interval of less than 1 Ma during a fall-to-rise cycle of relative sea level. The earliest and latest systems tracts of the sequence, interpreted as lowstand prograding deltaic wedge and forced regressive shoreface respectively, are distinguished on the basis of their position with respect to the sequence-bounding unconformities, reconstructed shoreline trajectories, and by their component facies that indicate that dominant depositional regime. The mapped basinward shift of the Hatfield 1 lowstand prograding wedge from the previous shoreline deposits and erosional relief on the sequence boundary, indicates a relative sea-level fall prior to its deposition. The lowstand prograding wedge consists of parasequences that are dominated by tidally influenced cross-stratified sandstones and step for more than 30 km basinward, and are readily distinguished from the underlying highstand shoreface facies. Distal aggradational stacking of the lowstand produced a slightly rising shoreline trajectory that in combination with proximal onlap against the underlying erosional unconformity indicates accumulation under conditions of rising relative sea-level with abundant sediment supply. The domination of tidally influenced facies and an estimated relief of at least 20 m in proximal reaches of the underlying sequence boundary suggests that the lowstand wedge was a tidally dominated deltaic system localized and fed through an incised valley. This systems tract resembles other cross-stratified Mancos-type sandstone bodies of the Western Interior Seaway which have been under debate. However, unlike most of these, the Hatfield 1 has great outcrop extent and the updip relationship of the lowstand wedge with the older shoreline deposits can be traced. The overlying retrogradational Hatfield 1 transgressive systems tract has comparable facies to the lowstand wedge and also shows proximal onlap of the sequence boundary, suggesting that it developed within a tidally influenced estuary. As such, the lowstand and transgressive systems tracts form a distinctive cross-bedded tidally influenced lithosome that is readily distinguished from the wave-dominated lithosomes of the preceding Hatfield 1 highstand systems tract and the overlying Hatfield 2 highstand and forced regressive systems tracts. The Hatfield 2 forced regressive systems tract is a wave-dominated shoreface that like the preceding Hatfield 2 highstand shoreface is strongly progradational. However, in contrast to the highstand shoreface from which it builds, the forced regressive shoreface is relatively thin, lacks shaley offshore transitional facies at its base, and displays a downstepping trajectory relative to the underlying MFS. The basal surface of the forced regressive shoreline also has an enrichment of coarse glauconitic grains derived from erosion of the underlying condensed section whereas the upper bounding surface of the systems tract is an erosional unconformity, documenting the maximum fall in relative sea level. There is a clear sedimentological distinction of the lowstand and forced regressive systems tracts because whereas the former has a tidally influenced facies association, forced regressive facies tend to be wave-dominated. Such facies partitioning and style contrast are thought to reflect the less-confined nature of the highstand and forced regressive shorelines in comparison to the incised or embayed nature of the lowstand and transgressive shorelines.

Sequence stratigraphic controls on synsedimentary cementation and preservation of dinosaur tracks: Example from the lower Cretaceous, (Upper Albian) Dakota Formation, Southeastern Nebraska, U.S.A.

Ice-proximal glaciomarine sedimentation and sea-level change in the inverness area, Scotland: A review of the deglaciation of a major ice stream of the British Late Devensian ice sheet

Architecture of the tectonically influenced Sobrarbe deltaic complex in the Ainsa Basin, northern Spain

Contents marine geology volume 109, 1992/1993

ABSTRACTChanges in Holocene (Flandrian) relative sea levels and coastal geomorphology in the lower Cree valley and estuary, SW Scotland, are inferred from detailed morphological and stratigraphical investigations. A graph of relative sea level changes is proposed for the area. Rising relative sea levels during the early Holocene were interrupted at c. 8300–8600 14C years B.P.(c. 9400–9900 calibrated years B.P.), when an extensive estuarine surface was reached at c. −1 m O.D., after which a fluctuating rise culminated at c. 6100–6500 14C B.P. (c. 7000–7500 calibrated years B.P.) in a prominent shoreline and associated estuarine surface measured at 7·7–10·3 m O.D. A subsequent fall in relative sea level was followed by a rise to a shoreline at 7·8–10·1 m O.D., exceeding or reoccupying the earlier shoreline over much of the area after c. 5000 14C B.P. (c. 5,800 calibrated years B.P.), before relative sea level fell to a later shoreline, reached after c. 2900 14C B.P. (c. 3100 calibrated years B.P.) at 5·5–8·0 m O.D., following which relative sea levels fell, ultimately reaching present levels. During these changes, a particular feature of the coastline was the development of a number of barrier systems. The relative sea level changes identified are compared with changes elsewhere in SW Scotland and their wider context is briefly considered.