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1.
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Although modern wave‐dominated shorelines exhibit complex geomorphologies, their ancient counterparts are typically described in terms of shoreface‐shelf parasequences with a simple internal architecture. This discrepancy can lead to poor discrimination between, and incorrect identification of, different types of wave‐dominated shoreline in the stratigraphic record. Documented in this paper are the variability in facies characteristics, high‐resolution stratigraphic architecture and interpreted palaeo‐geomorphology within a single parasequence that is interpreted to record the advance of an ancient asymmetrical wave‐dominated delta. The Standardville (Ab1) parasequence of the Aberdeen Member, Blackhawk Formation is exposed in the Book Cliffs of central Utah, USA. This parasequence, and four others in the Aberdeen Member, record the eastward progradation of north/south‐trending, wave‐dominated shorelines. Within the Standardville (Ab1) parasequence, distal wave‐dominated shoreface‐shelf deposits in the eastern part of the study area are overlain across a downlap surface by southward prograding fluvial‐dominated delta‐front deposits, which have previously been assigned to a separate ‘stranded lowstand parasequence’ formed by a significant, allogenic change in relative sea‐level. High‐resolution stratigraphic analysis of these deposits reveals that they are instead more likely to record a single episode of shoreline progradation characterized by alternating periods of normal regressive and forced regressive shoreline trajectory because of minor cyclical fluctuations in relative sea‐level. Interpreted normal regressive shoreline trajectories within the wave‐dominated shoreface‐shelf deposits are marked by aggradational stacking of bedsets bounded by non‐depositional discontinuity surfaces. Interpreted forced regressive shoreline trajectories in the same deposits are characterized by shallow incision of fluvial distributary channels and strongly progradational stacking of bedsets bounded by erosional discontinuity surfaces that record enhanced wave‐base scour. Fluvial‐dominated delta‐front deposits most probably record the regression of a lobate delta parallel to the regional shoreline into an embayment that was sheltered from wave influence. Wave‐dominated shoreface‐shelf and fluvial‐dominated delta‐front deposits occur within the same parasequence, and their interpretation as the respective updrift and downdrift flanks of a single asymmetrical wave‐dominated delta that periodically shifted its position provides the most straightforward explanation of the distribution and relative orientation of these two deposit types.  相似文献   

3.
Based on the abundant information from drilling, cores, and logging, the influence of topography, size of rivers and lakes, climate changes and the lake level’s fluctuation on the sandbodies at shallow-water delta front are systematically summarized and the sedimentary dynamic processes are analyzed. The interwell communication among the sandbodies and their planar distribution revealed from the hydrodynamic features of the development wells are integrated during the analysis. The fundamental requirements for the development of the shallow-water delta included flat topography and uniform subsiding rate. The delta plain was connected smoothly with the wide delta front and predelta, without the three-fold structure of topset, foreset, and bottomset as defined in the Gilbert Delta Model. Because of the weak fluvial effect and the lake energy is strong, the small and scattered shallow-water delta is destroyed by the scouring-backwashing, coastal current, and lake wave, resulting in the coastal sheet deposition. As the fluvial effect became stronger and the lake energy became weaker, the shape of the shallow-water deltas transferred from sheets to lumps and then branches.  相似文献   

4.
The Kerinitis Delta in the Corinth Rift, Greece, is a footwall derived, coarse‐grained, Gilbert‐type fan delta deposited in the hangingwall of a linked normal fault system. This giant Gilbert‐type delta (radius 3·8 km, thickness > 600 m) was supplied by an antecedent river and built into a brackish to marine basin. Although as yet poorly dated, correlation with neighbouring deltas suggests that the Kerinitis Delta was deposited during a period of 500 to 800 ka in the Early to early Middle Pleistocene. Facies characterizing a range of depositional processes are assigned to four facies associations (topset, foreset, bottomset and prodelta). The dominantly fluvial topset facies association has locally developed shallow marine (limestone) and fluvial‐shoreface sub‐associations. This delta represents a subsidence‐dominated system in which high fault displacement overwhelmed base‐level falls (creation of accommodation predominantly ≥ 0). Stratal geometries and facies stacking patterns were used to identify 11 key stratal surfaces separating 11 stratal units. Each key stratal surface records a landward shift in the topset breakpoint path, indicating a rapid increase in accommodation/sediment supply. Each stratal unit records a gradual decrease in accommodation/sediment supply during deposition. The cyclic stratal units and key stratal surfaces are interpreted as recording eustatic falls and rises, respectively. A 30 m thick package of foresets below the main delta records the nucleation of a small Proto‐delta probably on an early relay ramp. Based on changes in stratal unit geometries, the main delta is divided into three packages, interpreted as recording the initiation, growth and death of the controlling fault system. The Lower delta comprises stacked, relatively thin, progradational stratal units recording low displacement on the young fault system (relay ramp). The Middle delta comprises vertically stacked stratal units, each recording initial aggradation–progradation followed by progradation; their aggradational component increases up through the Middle delta, which records the main phase of increasing rate of fault displacement. The Upper delta records pure progradation, recording abrupt cessation of movement on the fault. A major erosion surface incising basinward 120 m through the Lower and Middle delta records an exceptional submarine erosion process (canyon or delta collapse).  相似文献   

5.
High-arctic fan delta recording deglaciation and environment disequilibrium   总被引:1,自引:0,他引:1  
Study of a Holocene fan delta in Adventfjorden, Spitsbergen, provides new insight into the nature of high‐arctic coastal sedimentation and deglaciation dynamics. The fjord‐side, gravelly Gilbert‐type fan delta began to form at the local marine limit c. 10 ka BP, supplied seasonally with sediment by meltwater from a cirque glacier left behind by the retreating Late Weichselian ice sheet. Relative sea level had fallen by 63 m, and the fan delta reached a radius of c. 1 km by 6 ka BP, when the relic glacier eventually melted down and fluvial activity declined. A strong influence of marine processes is recorded by the fan‐delta foreset facies, overlain by alluvium. Supplied with sediment by longshore drift, the fan‐delta front continued to advance at a lower rate, while relative sea level fell further by 5 m and ceased to fall around 5·4 ka BP. The following transgression was countered by longshore sediment supply until 4·7 ka BP, when the delta‐front beach aggraded and a spit platform began to climb onto the delta plain, recording a relative sea‐level rise of 4 m. The subsequent regression was initially non‐depositional, with the relative sea level falling by > 4 m in 200 years, outpacing fluvial supply, and the re‐emerging fan delta being swept by longshore currents. A regressive beach began to form c. 4·3 ka BP, while relative sea level gradually reached its present‐day position. The feeder braided stream was wandering across the delta plain during this time, but incised once the fan‐delta shoreline began to retreat by wave erosion and turned into a receding modern escarpment. The stream has since been adjusting its profile by gradually eroding the pre‐existing alluvium and distributing the coarse sediment supplied from catchment slopes by debrisflows and snow avalanches. Modern snowflows have also spread debris onto the abandoned fan surface. The erosional retreat of the fan delta has been accompanied by lateral shoreline accretion on both its sides. The study has important regional implications and demonstrates that Holocene fan deltas can provide a valuable record of the deglaciation history in high‐arctic terrains, where glacial deposits are scarcely preserved on land.  相似文献   

6.
D. Uli&#;ný 《Sedimentology》2001,48(3):599-628
Deposits of coarse‐grained, Gilbert‐type deltas showing varying degrees of reworking of foresets by basinal currents were identified in Middle Turonian to Early Coniacian sandstones of the Bohemian Cretaceous Basin. The progradation of the deltaic packages, earlier interpreted as large‐scale subaqueous dunes, shelf ridges or subaqueous fault‐scarp ‘accumulation terraces’, was controlled by high‐ and low‐frequency, relative sea‐level changes in a relatively slowly subsiding, intracontinental strike‐slip basin. End‐member types of the Bohemian Cretaceous coarse‐grained deltas are deep‐water deltas, characterized by thick (50–80 m) foreset packages with steep (10–30°) foresets, and shallow‐water deltas, which deposited thin (<15 m) packages with foresets typically between 4° and 10°. The differences in thickness and foreset slope angle were controlled predominantly by the accommodation available during progradation. The depositional regime of the deltas was governed by (i) the fluvial input of abundant sand bedload, with a minor proportion of gravel; (ii) gravity flows, most probably caused by liquefaction of the upper part of the unstable foreset slope; and (iii) migration of sandy bedforms on the foreset slopes. The bedform migration was driven by unidirectional currents of possible tidal origin. Individual foreset packages represent systems tracts, or parts of systems tracts, of depositional sequences. A variety of stacking patterns of high‐frequency sequences exists in the basin, caused by low‐frequency relative sea‐level changes as well as by local changes in sediment input. Because of generally low subsidence rates, fluvial or beach topset strata were not preserved in the cases studied. The absence of preserved fluvial facies, which has been one of the main arguments against the fluvio‐deltaic origin of the sandstone bodies, is explained by erosion of the topsets during transgression and their reworking into coarse‐grained lags of regional extent covering ravinement surfaces.  相似文献   

7.
Tide‐dominated deltas have an inherently complex distribution of heterogeneities on several different scales and are less well‐understood than their wave‐dominated and river‐dominated counterparts. Depositional models of these environments are based on a small set of ancient examples and are, therefore, immature. The Early Jurassic Gule Horn Formation is particularly well‐exposed in extensive sea cliffs from which a 32 km long, 250 m high virtual outcrop model has been acquired using helicopter‐mounted light detection and ranging (LiDAR). This dataset, combined with a set of sedimentological logs, facilitates interpretation and measurement of depositional elements and tracing of stratigraphic surfaces over seismic‐scale distances. The aim of this article is to use this dataset to increase the understanding of depositional elements and lithologies in proximal, unconfined, tide‐dominated deltas from the delta plain to prodelta. Deposition occurred in a structurally controlled embayment, and immature sediments indicate proximity to the sediment source. The succession is tide dominated but contains evidence for strong fluvial influence and minor wave influence. Wave influence is more pronounced in transgressive intervals. Nine architectural elements have been identified, and their internal architecture and stratigraphical distribution has been investigated. The distal parts comprise prodelta, delta front and unconfined tidal bar deposits. The medial part is characterized by relatively narrow, amalgamated channel fills with fluid mud‐rich bases and sandier deposits upward, interpreted as distributary channels filled by tidal bars deposited near the turbidity maximum. The proximal parts of the studied system are dominated by sandy distributary channel and heterolithic tidal‐flat deposits. The sandbodies of the proximal tidal channels are several kilometres wide and wider than exposures in all cases. Parasequence boundaries are easily defined in the prodelta to delta‐front environments, but are difficult to trace into the more proximal deposits. This article illustrates the proximal to distal organization of facies in unconfined tide‐dominated deltas and shows how such environments react to relative sea‐level rise.  相似文献   

8.
Lithofacies characteristics and depositional geometry of a sandy, prograding delta deposited as part of the Holocene valley‐fill stratigraphy in the Målselv valley, northern Norway, were examined using morpho‐sedimentary mapping, facies analysis of sediments in exposed sections, auger drilling and ground penetrating radar survey. Various lithofacies types record a broad range of depositional processes within an overall coarsening‐upward succession comprising a lowermost prodelta/bottomset unit, an intermediate delta slope/foreset unit containing steeply dipping clinoforms and an uppermost delta plain/topset unit. Bottomset lithofacies typically comprise sand‐silt couplets (tidal rhythmites), bioturbated sands and silts, and flaser and lenticular bedding. These sediments were deposited from suspension fall‐out, partly controlled by tidal currents and fluvial effluent processes. Delta foreset lithofacies comprise massive, inverse graded and normal graded beds deposited by gravity‐driven processes (mainly cohesionless debris flows and turbidity currents) and suspension fall‐out. In places, delta foreset beds show tidal rhythmicity and individual beds can be followed downslope into bottomset beds. Delta plain facies show an upward‐fining succession with trough cross‐beds at the base, followed by planar, laminated and massive beds indicative of a bedload dominated river/distributary system. This study presents a model of deltaic development that can be described with reference to three styles within a continuum related primarily to water depth within a basin of variable geometry: (i) bypass; (ii) shoal‐water; and (iii) deep‐water deltas. Bypass and deep‐water deltas can be considered as end members, whereas shoal‐water deltas are an intermediate type. The bypass delta is characterized by rapid progradation and an absence of delta slope sediments and low basin floor aggradation due to low accommodation space. The shoal‐water delta is characterized by rapid progradation, a short delta slope dominated by gravity‐flow processes and a prodelta area characterized by rapid sea‐floor aggradation due to intense suspension fallout of sandy material. Using tidal rhythmites as time‐markers, a progradation rate of up to 11 m year?1 has been recorded. The deep‐water delta is characterized by a relatively long delta slope dominated by gravity flows, moderate suspension fall‐out and slow sea‐floor aggradation in the prodelta area.  相似文献   

9.
Well‐exposed Triassic rift strata from the Ischigualasto–Villa Unión Basin (NW Argentina) include a 80 to ca 515 m thick lacustrine‐dominated package that can be correlated across a half‐graben using key stratigraphic surfaces (sequence boundaries, lacustrine flooding surfaces and forced regressive surfaces). The characteristics of the synrift lacustrine fill in different parts of the half‐graben have been examined and the mechanisms controlling sedimentation inferred. A variety of sedimentary environments are recognized including; volcaniclastic floodplain, mildly saline lake and playa lake, offshore lacustrine, delta front to fluvial‐dominated and wave‐dominated deltas, distributary and fluvial channel, and interdistributary bay. The succession can be divided into four stratigraphic sequences (SS1 to SS4), the oldest of which (SS1) contains volcaniclastic, fluvial and saline lake deposits; it is thickest close to the western border fault zone, reflecting more rapid subsidence here. Accommodation exceeded sediment and water input during SS1. The second and third sequences (SS2 and SS3) mark the onset of widespread lacustrine sedimentation, reflecting a balance between accommodation creation and water and sediment fluxes. Sequences SS2 and SS3 are represented by offshore meromictic lacustrine and deltaic deposits, the latter mostly sourced from the flexural and southern axial margins of the half‐graben. The presence of stacked parasequences bound by lacustrine flooding surfaces is related to climatically induced lake‐level fluctuations superimposed on variable rates of subsidence on the controlling rift border fault zone. The youngest sequence (SS4) is represented by the deposits of littoral lacustrine and shallow shelf deltas distinguished by a change in lithofacies, palaeocurrents and sandstone composition, suggesting a switch in sediment supply to the footwall margin to the NW. The change in the sediment source is related to reduced footwall uplift, the possible presence of a relay ramp and/or supply from a captured antecedent drainage network. During SS4, the rate of creation of accommodation was exceeded by the sediment and water discharge. The stratigraphic evolution of lacustrine strata in the half‐graben was mainly controlled by tectonic processes, including subsidence rate and the growth and evolution of the border fault zone, but changing climate (inducing changes in water balance and lake level) and autocyclic processes (delta lobe switching) were also important.  相似文献   

10.
Shelf‐edge deltas are a key depositional environment for accreting sediment onto shelf‐margin clinoforms. The Moruga Formation, part of the palaeo‐Orinoco shelf‐margin sedimentary prism of south‐east Trinidad, provides new insight into the incremental growth of a Pliocene, storm wave‐dominated shelf margin. Relatively little is known about the mechanisms of sand bypass from the shelf‐break area of margins, and in particular from storm wave‐dominated margins which are generally characterized by drifting of sand along strike until meeting a canyon or channel. The studied St. Hilaire Siltstone and Trinity Hill Sandstone succession is 260 m thick and demonstrates a continuous transition from gullied (with turbidites) uppermost slope upward to storm wave‐dominated delta front on the outermost shelf. The basal upper‐slope deposits are dominantly mass‐transport deposited blocks, as well as associated turbidites and debrites with common soft‐sediment‐deformed strata. The overlying uppermost slope succession exhibits a spectacular set of gullies, which are separated by abundant slump‐scar unconformities (tops of rotational slides), then filled with debris‐flow conglomerates and sandy turbidite beds with interbedded mudstones. The top of the study succession, on the outer‐shelf area, contains repeated upward‐coarsening, sandstone‐rich parasequences (2 to 15 m thick) with abundant hummocky and swaley cross‐stratification, clear evidence of storm‐swell and storm wave‐dominated conditions. The observations suggest reconstruction of the unstable shelf margin as follows: (i) the aggradational storm wave‐dominated, shelf‐edge delta front became unstable and collapsed down the slope; (ii) the excavated scars of the shelf margin became gullied, but gradually healed (aggraded) by repeated infilling by debris flows and turbidites, and then new gullying and further infilling; and (iii) a renewed storm wave‐dominated delta‐front prograded out across the healed outer shelf, re‐establishing the newly stabilized shelf margin. The Moruga Formation study, along with only a few others in the literature, confirms the sediment bypass ability of storm wave‐dominated reaches of shelf edges, despite river‐dominated deltas being, by far, the most efficient shelf‐edge regime for sediment bypass at the shelf break.  相似文献   

11.
This study presents a synthesis of the geomorphology, facies variability and depositional architecture of ice‐marginal deltas affected by rapid lake‐level change. The integration of digital elevation models, outcrop, borehole, ground‐penetrating radar and high‐resolution shear‐wave seismic data allows for a comprehensive analysis of these delta systems and provides information about the distinct types of deltaic facies and geometries generated under different lake‐level trends. The exposed delta sediments record mainly the phase of maximum lake level and subsequent lake drainage. The stair‐stepped profiles of the delta systems reflect the progressive basinward lobe deposition during forced regression when the lakes successively drained. Depending on the rate and magnitude of lake‐level fall, fan‐shaped, lobate or more digitate tongue‐like delta morphologies developed. Deposits of the stair‐stepped transgressive delta bodies are buried, downlapped and onlapped by the younger forced regressive deposits. The delta styles comprise both Gilbert‐type deltas and shoal‐water deltas. The sedimentary facies of the steep Gilbert‐type delta foresets include a wide range of gravity‐flow deposits. Delta deposits of the forced‐regressive phase are commonly dominated by coarse‐grained debrisflow deposits, indicating strong upslope erosion and cannibalization of older delta deposits. Deposits of supercritical turbidity currents are particularly common in sand‐rich Gilbert‐type deltas that formed during slow rises in lake level and during highstands. Foreset beds consist typically of laterally and vertically stacked deposits of antidunes and cyclic steps. The trigger mechanisms for these supercritical turbidity currents were both hyperpycnal meltwater flows and slope‐failure events. Shoal‐water deltas formed at low water depths during both low rates of lake‐level rise and forced regression. Deposition occurred from tractional flows. Transgressive mouthbars form laterally extensive sand‐rich delta bodies with a digitate, multi‐tongue morphology. In contrast, forced regressive gravelly shoal‐water deltas show a high dispersion of flow directions and form laterally overlapping delta lobes. Deformation structures in the forced‐regressive ice‐marginal deltas are mainly extensional features, including normal faults, small graben or half‐graben structures and shear‐deformation bands, which are related to gravitational delta tectonics, postglacial faulting during glacial‐isostatic adjustment, and crestal collapse above salt domes. A neotectonic component cannot be ruled out in some cases.  相似文献   

12.
The stratigraphic architecture of shoal‐water deltaic systems developed in low‐accommodation settings is relatively well‐known. In contrast, the features of shoal‐water deltas developed in high‐accommodation settings remain relatively poorly documented, especially when compared with the available data sets for Gilbert‐type deltaic systems developed in the same settings. The lacustrine Valimi Formation (Gulf of Corinth, Greece) provides an opportunity to investigate the facies assemblage and architectural style of shoal‐water deltaic systems developed in high‐accommodation settings. The studied interval accumulated during the Pliocene and Pleistocene and represents part of the early syn‐rift Gulf of Corinth succession. Six facies associations, each described in terms of depositional processes and geometries, have been identified and interpreted to represent a range of proximal to distal deltaic sub‐environments: delta plain, distributary channel, mouth‐bar, delta front, prodelta and open lake. The facies associations and their architectural elements reveal characteristics which are not common in traditionally described shoal‐water deltas. Of note, different facies arrangements are observed in the distributary channels in different sectors of the delta, passing from thick single‐storey channel fills embedded within delta‐plain fines in landward positions, to thin, amalgamated and multi‐storey channels closer to the river mouth. This study proposes a new depositional model for shoal‐water deltas in high‐accommodation settings documenting, for the first time, that shoal‐water delta deposits can form a substantial part of stratigraphic successions that accumulate in these settings. The proposed depositional model provides new criteria for the recognition and interpretation of these deposits; the results of this study have applied significance for reservoir characterization.  相似文献   

13.
14.
Delta asymmetry occurs where there is strong wave influence and net longshore transport. Differences in the morphology and facies architecture between updrift and downdrift sides of asymmetric deltas are potentially significant for exploration and exploitation of resources in this class of reservoirs. Although delta asymmetry has been recognized widely from modern wave‐influenced deltaic shorelines, there are few documented examples in the ancient record. Based on an integrated sedimentological and ichnological study, the along‐strike variability and delta asymmetry within a single parasequence (Ps 6) is documented in continuously exposed outcrops of the Cretaceous Ferron Sandstone Member of the Mancos Shale Formation near Hanksville in southern Utah. Two intra‐parasequence discontinuity surfaces are recognized which allow subdivision of the parasequence into three bedsets, marked as Ps 6‐1 to Ps 6‐3. Four facies successions are recognized: (i) wave/storm‐dominated shoreface; (ii) river‐dominated delta front; (iii) wave/storm‐reworked delta front; and (iv) distributary channel and mouth bar. Dips of cross‐strata within distributary‐mouth bars and shorefaces show a strong downdrift (southward) component. Ps 6‐3 predominantly consists of river‐dominated delta‐front deposits, whereas Ps 6‐1 and Ps 6‐2 show an along‐strike facies change with shoreface deposits in the north, passing into heterolithic, river‐dominated delta‐front successions south to south‐eastward, and wave/storm‐reworked delta‐front deposits further to the south‐east. Trace fossil suites correspondingly show distinct along‐strike changes from robust and diverse expressions of the archetypal Cruziana Ichnofacies and Skolithos Ichnofacies, into suites characterized by horizontal, morphologically simple, facies‐crossing ichnogenera, reflecting a more stressed, river‐dominated environment. Further south‐eastward, trace fossil abundance and diversity increase, reflecting a return to archetypal ichnofacies. The overall facies integrated with palaeocurrent data indicate delta asymmetry. The asymmetric delta consists of sandier shoreface deposits on the updrift side and mixed riverine and wave/storm‐reworked deposits on the downdrift side, similar to that observed in the modern examples. However, in contrast to the recent delta asymmetry models, significant paralic, lagoonal and bay‐fill facies are not documented in the downdrift regions of the asymmetric delta. This observation is attributed to a negative palaeoshoreline trajectory during delta progradation and subsequent transgressive erosion. The asymmetric delta was induced by net longshore transport from north to south. The forced regressive nature of the delta precludes significant preservation of topset mud.  相似文献   

15.
The architectural framework and Holocene evolution of the Zeballos fjord‐head delta on west‐central Vancouver Island was established through a multidisciplinary field‐based study. The Zeballos delta is a composite feature, consisting of an elevated, incised, late Pleistocene delta and an inset Holocene delta graded to present sea level. Both deltas have a classic Gilbert‐type tripartite architecture, with nearly flat topset and bottomset units and an inclined foreset unit. Time domain electromagnetic (TDEM) and ground‐penetrating radar (GPR) surveys, borehole data, and gravel pit exposures provided information on the internal form, lithologies and substrate of both deltas. Both sets of deltaic deposits coarsen upward from silt in the bottomset unit to gravel in the topset unit. The TDEM survey revealed a highly irregular, buried bedrock surface, ranging from 20 m to 190 m in depth, and it delineated saltwater intrusion into the deltaic sediments. Late Quaternary sea‐level change at Zeballos was inferred from delta morphology and the GPR survey. The elevated, late Pleistocene delta was constructed when the sea was about 21 m higher relative to the land than it is today. It was dissected when sea‐level fell rapidly as a result of glacio‐isostatic rebound. Relative sea‐level reached a position about 20 m below the present datum during the early Holocene. Foreset beds that overlap and progressively climb in a seaward direction and topset beds that thicken to 26 m landward imply that the delta aggraded and prograded into Zeballos Inlet during the middle and late Holocene transgression. Sea‐level may have risen above the present datum during the middle Holocene, creating a delta plain at about 4 m a.s.l. Remnants of this surface are preserved along the valley margins. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

16.
The Gojusan fan delta is a coarse‐grained delta complex on the western margin of the Miocene Pohang Basin, SE Korea. The deposits consist of five facies associations (FA): alluvial‐fan conglomerates (FA I), shallow‐marine mouth‐bar sandstones (FA II), fluvial and mouth‐bar conglomerates (FA III), Gilbert‐type foreset conglomerates (FA IV) and hemipelagic mudstones (FA V). Different facies associations characterize the northern, central and southern parts of the delta complex. To the north, FA IV is laterally juxtaposed with FA I or the basement, with scarp‐derived breccias along the contact. Centrally, and to the south, FA I is laterally juxtaposed with FA II, with an abrupt facies change and local inliers of basement rocks along the contact. Early alluvial fan and mouth‐bar deposits are overlain by the topset (FA III) and truncated by the foreset (FA IV) of a Gilbert‐type delta in the central part of the fan delta complex, whereas FA II passes transitionally upward into FA III in the south, with the latter extending basinward into a gently inclined shoal water delta front. Gilbert‐type and shoal‐water geometries are therefore developed in the same delta complex. The composite delta geometry is interpreted as reflecting (1) its development near an extensional transfer zone where the hangingwall relief was variable over short distances along strike, and (2) the operation of intrabasinal faults. This interpretation contrasts with previous studies that viewed the delta complex as having formed along a pull‐apart basin margin.  相似文献   

17.
18.
The Pleistocene Higashikanbe Gravel, which crops out along the Pacific coast of the Atsumi Peninsula, central Japan, consists of well‐sorted, pebble‐ to cobble‐size gravel beds with minor sand beds. The gravel includes large‐scale foreset beds (5–10 m high) and overlying subhorizontal beds (0·5–3 m thick), showing foreset and topset structure, from which the gravel has previously been interpreted as deposits of a Gilbert‐type delta. However, (1) the gravel beds lack evidence of fluvial activity, such as channels in the subhorizontal beds; (2) the foresets incline palaeolandwards; (3) the gravels fill a fluvially incised valley; and (4) the gravels overlie low‐energy deposits of a restricted environment, such as a bay or an estuary. The foresets generally dip towards the inferred palaeoshoreline, indicating landward accretion of gravel. Reconstruction of the palaeogeography of the peninsula indicates that the Higashikanbe Gravel was deposited as a spit similar to that developed at the western tip of the present Atsumi Peninsula, rather than as a delta. According to the new interpretation, the large‐scale foreset beds are deposits on the slopes of spit platforms and accreted in part to the sides of small islets that are fragments of the submerging spit during relative sea‐level rise. The subhorizontal beds include nearshore deposits on the spit platform topsets and deposits of gravel shoals or bars, which are reworked sediments of the spit beach gravels during a transgression. The lack of spit beach facies in the subhorizontal beds results from truncation by shoreface erosion. Dome structure, which is a cross‐sectional profile of a recurved gravel spit at its extreme point, and sandy tidal channel deposits deposited between the small islets were also identified in the Higashikanbe Gravel. The Higashikanbe Gravel fills a fluvially incised valley and occupies a significant part of a transgressive systems tract, suggesting that gravelly spits are likely to be well developed during transgressions. The large‐scale foreset beds and subhorizontal beds of gravelly spits in transgressive systems tracts contrast with the foreset and topset beds of deltas, characteristic of highstand, lowstand and shelf‐margin systems tracts.  相似文献   

19.
The Fraser River Delta exhibits distinct asymmetry in the sedimentological and neoichnological characteristics of the updrift (south) and downdrift (north) sides of the main distributary channel in water depths below storm‐wave base. The asymmetry is the result of net northward tidal flow. Tides erode sediments across the updrift delta front, whereas the downdrift delta front is an area of net deposition. A submarine channel prevents sand eroded from the updrift delta front from reaching the downdrift delta. The updrift delta front and updrift upper prodelta are composed of sand or heterolithic sand and mud that show a low density of burrowing (Bioturbation Index 0 to 3) and are dominated by simple traces. The downdrift delta front and prodelta, and the updrift lower prodelta are composed of homogeneous muds with significantly higher bioturbation intensities (Bioturbation Index 3 to 6), and a more diverse suite of traces akin to Cruziana Ichnofacies. Using the Fraser River Delta as an archetype and comparing the Fraser to the Amazon River Delta, a preliminary model for deep‐water (below storm‐wave base: ca 20 m) asymmetrical deltas is proposed. Firstly, deep‐water asymmetrical deltas are recognized from sediments deposited below storm‐wave base. At these depths, tidal and ocean currents are more likely to impact sediment transport, but wave processes are less effective as a sediment transport mechanism. Sediments deposited below storm‐wave base in deep‐water asymmetrical deltas will display the following: (i) the updrift delta front will be coarser‐grained (for example, sand‐dominated or heterolithic sand and mud), than the downdrift delta front (for example, mud‐dominated); and (ii) the updrift delta front should show low‐diversity suites of simple burrows. Depending on sedimentation rates, the downdrift delta front and prodelta may show either high diversity suites of traces that are dominated by both complex and simple burrows (low sedimentation rates) or low density and diversity suites akin to the updrift delta front (high sedimentation rates).  相似文献   

20.
《Sedimentology》2018,65(4):1132-1169
Clinoform surfaces are routinely used to mark transitions from shallow waters to deep basins. This concept represents a valuable tool for screening potential reservoir intervals in frontier basins where limited data are available. Variations in the character of clinoform geometries and shoreline and shelf‐edge trajectories are indicators of a range of different factors, such as palaeobathymetry, changes in relative sea‐level and sediment supply. Applications of conceptual and generalized models might, however, lead to erroneous assumptions about the supply of coarse‐grained material to the delta front and basin when superficial similarities between clinoform geometries are not treated holistically. The present study examines the mudstone‐dominated Middle Triassic Kobbe Formation – a potential hydrocarbon reservoir interval in the Barents Sea, where prodeltaic to deltaic deposits can be examined in cores, well logs and two‐dimensional and three‐dimensional seismic data. Despite pronounced acoustic impedance contrast to the surrounding shale, channel belt networks are not observed close to the platform edge in seismic datasets, even at maximum regressive stages. However, sub‐seismic prodeltaic deposits observed on the shallow platform indicate that prodeltaic deposits were sourced directly from the delta plain. Clinoform surfaces with different geometries and scale are observed basinward of the palaeoplatform edge of underlying progradational sequences, correlative to mudstone‐dominated prodeltaic core sections. Results indicate that platform‐edge deltas developed at discrete sites in the basin due to normal regression, but the positions of these deltas are not directly relatable to variations in clinoform geometries. Transitions from third‐order to fourth‐order clinoform geometries record discrete transgressive–regressive cycles but are not necessarily good indicators of sandstone deposition. Because of prolonged periods with high accommodation, channel avulsions were frequent and only very fine‐grained sandstone was deposited in heterolithic units at the delta front. Sandstones with good reservoir properties are predominantly found along basin margins.  相似文献   

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