Dolostones and dolomitic mudstones of probable Messinian age subcropping beneath the brine in the northern part of Bannock Basin and Zanclean oozes recorded on the sill separating two narrow and elongate satellite basins along the eastern part of the rim-syncline record a relief inversion during their evolution from cylindric folds to collapse structures.
In particular, the core from the eastern intrabasin sill contains two major unconformities: one separates early Zanclean oozes from late Piacenzian pelagic sediments characterized by winnowed layers, inclined bedding and incipient hardgrounds, and the second separates the latter from Middle Pleistocene pelagic sediments. The deepening is certainly post-late Piacenzian (post-M Pl 6 biozone) because sediments of that age record an actively uplifting structure.
Another argument in favour of the relief inversion, and of the youthful age of the deepening, is derived from a core raised from the northern part of the major western basins (large sill separating Maestro from Borea basins) which contains a coarse turbidite of North African origin representing an upflow turbidite similar to others recorded on the outer slopes of the Mediterranean Ridge. This unique finding in the area of Bannock Basin is preserved in the central part of the collapse basin, whereas in other settings an erosional gap is noticed at the equivalent stratigraphic position. 相似文献
The absence of sapropelic muds in Core 08-GC from the two Holsteinian euxinic cycles, together with the presence of isotopic spikes, suggests that the plateau has risen during the last ca. 200,000 years by ca. 2.5 mm/yr.
The δ180 amplitude of Globigerinoides ruber in eastern Mediterranean cores is only ca. 0.5%. larger than for this species in North Atlantic cores. This suggests that the surface oxygen isotopic composition of both bodies of water followed each other fairly closely during the Late Pleistocene, except during the stagnant phases. 相似文献
The pellicles are 0.5–3 mm thick and dark greenish-grey in colour. They foliate into very small (<1 mm) undulating and anastomosing microlaminae entrapping abundant biogenic and inorganic particles. The amorphous organic matter of the pellicles is most probably produced by bacterial masses linked to mineralization processes of the organic debris. Anaerobic sulphate-reducing bacteria (Desulphovibrio) are abundant and the presence of methane bacteria is likely.
Detailed analyses with the light microscope and scanning electron microscope yielded differences and similarities concerning ultrastructure, content, abundance and morphotypes of the bacterial pellicles from the Bannock area and the Western Strabo Trench. A consistently well-developed ultrastructure comprising thin microlaminae characterizes the Bannock pellicles, whereas the ultrastructure of the Tyro and Poseidon pellicles is usually not organized. Siliceous microfossils are abundant in samples from both sites, but centrate diatoms prevail in the Bannock pellicles whereas pennate diatoms are overwhelmingly dominant in the Tyro and Poseidon pellicles. Calcareous micro- and nannofossils, together with pyrite framboids, are more abundant in samples from the Bannock area. Bacteria are extremely abundant in samples from the Bannock area and three different morphological types have been distinguished. Only one type of bacteria was commonly observed in pellicles from the Western Strabo Trench basins.
Pellicles form at the normal seawater/brine interface, as substantiated by transmittance profiles and bacteriological investigations. Therefore, the term “deep mid-water bacterial mats” is proposed herein for these peculiar layers.
After bacterial mats grow at the interface, they are included within the sediments by following one of two different paths: (a) when pelagic sedimentation prevails, pellicles sink to the basin floor due to the increasing load of biogenic and inorganic detritus, and (b) under a tectonically active regime, turbidity currents and slumps can disrupt the interface and destroy the floating mats. In the latter case, fragments of pellicles are transported to the bottom within the gravity flows. 相似文献
Pyrite is the main phase of inorganic reduced sulphur in the sediments from the Tyro and the Bannock Basins, and it has about the same average level (125 υmoles per gramme dry weight) in the cores recovered from the two areas. However, the distribution of pyrite in the top 100 cm of the two cores differs significantly. In the Bannock Basin a sharp increase is observed with depth, whereas in the Tyro Basin there is a small decrease with depth.
The total amount of reduced inorganic sulphur is less than the total amount of sulphur in the sediments. This indicates that there must be additional sulphur-bearing phases. One of these phases may be gypsum, and indeed, gypsum crystals have been observed in the Bannock Basin.
In neither basin is there a significant correlation between reduced sulphur and organic carbon. The pyrite that occurs in these basins may have been formed syngenetically at the interface of the anoxic brine and oxic seawater. Diagenetic pyrite may have been formed within the sediments of the basins. AVS and total zerovalent sulphur are still observed at depth. We therefore suggest that this may be due to the incomplete transformation of AVS and zerovalent sulphur into pyrite. 相似文献
The clay mineralogy of the sapropels shows remarkable differences compared to the pelagic sediments. The changes observed are dependent on aggressive chemical reaction and on the sudden input of detrital crystalline sediments into the stagnant environment. A climatic curve registers the variable degree of clay mineral hydrolysis in continental areas and exhibits good correspondence with an already published oxygen isotope curve for the area. 相似文献
The sequence boundaries are represented by polygenetic surfaces in the proximal margin, and by monogenetic surfaces in the distal margin and basin. Each polygenetic surface results from the interaction between the sequence boundary with the lowstand erosional truncation surface and the transgressive surface, both developed during the previous sea-level cycle. The monogenetic surfaces correspond to unconformities and their correlative conformities, formed during sea-level lowstands. This pattern of depositional sequences developed in the margin and basin of the northwestern Alboran Sea shows differences with the Exxon Sequence Stratigraphy Model as traditionally applied: sea-level change control is essentially recognized through lowstand systems tracts, and sequence boundary coincides with lowstand erosional truncation surface and transgressive surface, both developed during the previous sea-level cycle. 相似文献
The lower depositional pre-Holocene sequence (B) is characterized by continuous to wavy reflection configurations and how some cyclicity, suggesting coarse, heterogeneous sediments deposited under high energy conditions (fan-deltas) of Plio-Pleistocene age.
The combined interpretation of seismic reflection profiles with the available bore-hole data reveals the existence of a widespread Miocene acoustic basement (A) off the Susanoğlu–Tırtar coasts and Karapınar–Gilindirez rivers mouths. Unusual features in some profiles suggest the escape of coastal freshwater into the accumulating sediment. 相似文献
The investigated area can be subdivided into ten, large-scale clay facies zones with characteristic possible source regions and transport paths. Clay mineral assemblages of the largest part of the South Atlantic, especially of the western basins are dominated by chlorite and illite derived from the Antarctic Peninsula and southernmost South America and supported by advection within the Circumantarctic Deep Water flow. In contrast, the East Antarctic provinces are relatively small. Assemblages of the eastern basins north of 30°S are strongly influenced by African sources, controlled by weathering regimes on land and by a complex interaction of wind, river and deep ocean transport. The strong gradient in clay mineral composition at the Brazilian slope indicate a relatively low contribution of tropically derived assemblages to the western basins. 相似文献
The crusts range in thickness from one to a few centimetres and the fragments of these crusts are irregular in shape. Their surface is always uneven and their colour ranges from white to brownish dark grey. Some slabs are impregnated along one side by ferromanganese sesquioxides, and borings occur in several samples. Serpulid tubes have been observed in one instance. The borings and serpulids suggest formation of the hardgrounds at or close to the sediment/water interface and exposure at the seafloor.
The degree of lithification is generally different on the inferred upper and lower sides of the slabs. An upward increase of lithification across the slabs is reflected by mineralogy, ultrastructure and stable isotope composition of the carbonate. X-ray diffraction analyses indicate high-magnesian calcite as the predominant carbonate with minor amounts of low-magnesian calcite and dolomite. Occasionally, large gypsum crystals are attached to the hardgrounds and sometimes smaller ones are dispersed through the carbonate matrix.
An increase in diagenesis is reflected by the passage from friable, nodular nannofossil chalk to nannofossil limestone and hard xenotopic calcite micrite. Overgrowth of coccoliths and internal cementation of the tests of planktonic foraminifera by high-Mg calcite increase from chalk to limestone. In the hard, fully cemented micrites, coccoliths can no longer be recognised in the xenotopic fabric. Pteropods occur as dissolution moulds with aragonite preserved as only tiny relics.
Carbon and oxygen isotope analyses were performed on different samples. The progressive lithification to chalk and limestone is marked by a shift in the δ18O values from +1.2‰ to +5.4‰ (PDB). This change indicates that precipitation of high-Mg calcite and possibly also recrystallisation of the original biogenic carbonate took place within cold and hypersaline brines which were enriched in 18O. The oxygen isotope data suggest that lithification and gypsum precipitation occurred under identical conditions. The carbon isotope data show progressive diagenetic change from values near +1‰ to values of +3‰. This change may reflect a contribution of methanogenetic CO2 to the hypersaline brine. 相似文献
Tephra layer Y-1 is stiff and usually deformed, and is black to very dark brown in colour. It is mainly composed of highly vesicular micropumice with dark brown and colourless limpid glass and it has a benmoritic chemical composition, which is typical of Mt. Etna material.
Tephra layer Y-5 is composed of soft, limpid vitric shards and subordinate micropumice ranging in composition from alkaliphonolitic trachyte to latite and may be correlated with the Campanian Ignimbrite eruption which occurred about 35,000 years ago in the Phlegrean Fields (the Campanian volcanic area in Italy).
Tephra layer X-2 is olive-grey in colour, and is composed of micropumice and glass shards with a chemical composition ranging from alkali-phonolitic trachyte to latite; its source is probably the Campanian volcanic area.
Tephra layer W-1 is dark grey and made up of micropumice and glass shards with a chemical composition ranging from tephrite-phonolite to alkali-phonolitic trachyte; its source is probably the Roman volcanic area in Italy.
The volcanic layers have been identified in cores of the basin sill, in the central bulge of the basin and on the basin flanks leading up to the “cobblestone topography” of the Mediterranean Ridge; they could not, however, be identified in any core raised from beneath the anoxic hypersaline brines.
Important volcanological results are: (a) an extension of the areal distribution of Y-1, X-2 and W-1, (b) correlation of Y-1 with the Biancavilla Ignimbrite of Mt. Etna dated in previous works at about 14,000 yrs B.P., and (c) determination of the bimodal chemical composition of Y-5 showing that the latter has a composition in accordance with that of the Campanian Ignimbrite in the Phlegrean Fields. 相似文献
Globigerinoides sacculifer shows a significant positive correlation with salinity and a negative correlation with temperature, which reflects its preference for higher salinity and lower temperature of the surface water. Globigerinoides ruber abundances are related to a distinct highly saline Persian Gulf water mass in the eastern Arabian Sea. Neogloboquadrina butertrei shows a strong inverse relationship with surface water salinity in the eastern Arabian Sea. Therefore, the relative abundance variations of N. dutertrei in sediment cores of the southeastern Arabian Sea can be used to reconstruct the past surface water salinity, which varies according to the strength of the northeastern monsoon.
The high diversity of planktonic foraminifera in the offshore is attributable to equitable environmental conditions. The high-salinity surface waters ( > 36‰) and terrigenous dilution in the northeastern Arabian Sea limit the diversification of species in this region. 相似文献
Petrographic study of dredged and submersible-sampled rocks shows that two or more episodes of phosphatization took place intermittent with erosion, grain rounding, reworking and redeposition. Early stages of phosphatization appear to be selective, replacing the more unstable carbonate minerals first, while later stages are nonselective. The origin of most of the phosphorites is the diagenetic replacement of calcium carbonate by francolite.
The karst surface of the upper terrace appears to have been produced by subaerial exposure in the middle to late Miocene as evidenced by shallow-water components in the rocks of the upper terrace plus considerations of local subsidence and eustatic sea-level curves. The erosional lower terrace, 200–300 m deeper than the upper terrace, would have been too deep to have been produced by subaerial or wave erosion. An erosional hiatus of middle Miocene age in JOIDES drill holes on the Blake Plateau indicates that bottom-current velocities in this area increased over this interval. The formation of the lower erosional terrace is related to increased flow of the Gulf Stream system (Florida Current) and bioerosion concurrent with the tectonic uplift and oceanographic closure of the western Caribbean in mid-Miocene time.
The bathymetry, petrology, structure and paleontology of the Miami Terrace, along with correlative data from adjacent areas, argue that a more active Gulf Stream system began as early as the middle Miocene (10.5–16 m.y.B.P.) rather than the early to middle Pliocene (3.5–4.0 m.y.B.P.) as previously suggested. 相似文献
