Sedimentary environments and depositional characteristics of the Middle to Upper Eocene whale‐bearing succession in the Fayum Depression,Egypt     

ZAKI A. ABDEL‐FATTAH  MURRAY K. GINGRAS  MICHAEL W. CALDWELL  S. GEORGE PEMBERTON 《Sedimentology》2010,57(2):446-476

The discovery of whale fossils from Eocene strata in the Fayum Depression has provoked interest in the life and lifestyle of early whales. Excellent outcrop exposure also affords the dataset to develop sedimentological and stratigraphic models within the Eocene strata. Previous work generally asserts that the thick, sand‐rich deposits of the Fayum Depression represent shoreface and barrier island successions with fine‐grained lagoonal and fluvial associations capping progradational successions. However, a complete absence of wave‐generated sedimentary structures, a preponderance of thoroughly bioturbated strata and increasingly proximal sedimentary successions upwards are contrary to accepted models of the local sedimentological and stratigraphic development. This study considers data collected from two Middle to Upper Eocene successions exposed in outcrop in the Wadi El‐Hitan and Qasr El‐Sagha areas of the Fayum Depression to determine the depositional affinities of Fayum strata. Based on sedimentological and ichnological data, five facies associations (Facies Association 1 to Facies Association 5) are identified. The biological and sedimentological characteristics of the reported facies associations indicate that the whale‐bearing sandstones (Facies Association 1) record distal positions in a large, open, quiescent marine bay that is abruptly succeeded by a bay‐margin environment (Facies Association 2). Upwards, marginal‐marine lagoonal and shallow‐bay parasequences (Facies Association 3) are overlain by thick deltaic distributary channel deposits (Facies Association 4). The capping unit (Facies Association 5) represents a transgressive estuarine depositional environment. The general stratigraphic evolution resulted from a regional, tectonically controlled second‐order cycle, associated with northward regression of the Tethys. Subordinate cycles (i.e. third‐order and fourth‐order cycles) are evidenced by several Glossifungites‐ichnofacies demarcated discontinuities, which were emplaced at the base of flooding surfaces. The proposed depositional models recognize the importance of identifying and linking ichnological data with physical–sedimentological observations. As such – with the exception of wave‐generated ravinement surfaces – earlier assertions of wave‐dominated sedimentation can be discarded. Moreover, this study provides important data for the recognition of (rarely reported) completely bioturbated sand‐dominated offshore to nearshore sediments (Facies Association 1) and affords excellent characterization of bioturbated inclined heterolithic stratification of deltaic deposits. Another outcome of the study is the recognition that the whales of the Fayum Depression are restricted to the highstand systems tracts, and lived under conditions of low depositional energy, low to moderate sedimentation rates, and (not surprisingly) in fully marine waters characterized by a high biomass.  相似文献   

Active synsedimentary tectonism on a mixed carbonate–siliciclastic continental margin: third‐order sequence stratigraphy of a ramp to basin transition,lower Sekwi Formation,Selwyn Basin,Northwest Territories,Canada     

KELLY A. DILLIARD  MICHAEL C. POPE  MARIO CONIGLIO  STEPHEN T. HASIOTIS  BRUCE S. LIEBERMAN 《Sedimentology》2010,57(2):513-542

The lower part of the Early Cambrian Sekwi Formation in the Selwyn Basin of the Northwest Territories, Canada, is composed of two regional, unconformity‐bounded sequences, S0 and S1, which record the first widespread carbonate deposition during the initial Palaeozoic transgression onto the western margin of Laurentia. These Early Cambrian sequences are unique to the western North American Cordillera, representing the only record of primarily deep‐water deposition on a tectonically active, mixed carbonate–siliciclastic ramp during this period. More specifically, the geometry of the Sekwi ramp changed during deposition of S0 and S1, from a shallowly dipping homoclinal ramp during the S0 transgressive systems tract to a steeply dipping tectonically modified ramp during the early highstand systems tract of S0. The steeply dipping ramp profile of S0 was preserved into the early transgressive systems tract of S1. The Sekwi ramp returned to a gently sloping ramp during the late highstand systems tract of S1 and remained so throughout the remainder of Sekwi deposition. The evolving shape of the Sekwi ramp is attributed to syndepositional ‘down to the basin’ faulting during deposition of both S0 and S1 and is recorded by: (i) the westward thickening, irregular geometries of S0 and S1; (ii) geographical restriction of deep‐water facies (including sediment gravity flow deposits); (iii) the presence of large allochthonous blocks; and (iv) the clast composition of sediment gravity flow deposits. Sediment gravity flow deposits play an unusually important role in the sequence stratigraphic interpretation of the lower Sekwi Formation, as they delineate depositional packages, including the maximum flooding zone, the transitions between portions of systems tracts, and the inferred locations of syntectonic extensional faults. Syntectonic faults increased accommodation basinward of an extensive ooid‐shoal complex that developed along the Sekwi ramp crest, greatly influencing sequence geometry and initiating the downslope motion of sediment gravity flows. The syndepositional faulting probably was a continuation of extension that began during the latest Neoproterozoic rifting of western Laurentia. The composition of sediment gravity flow deposits track changing accommodation space on the lower Sekwi ramp and can be used to differentiate systems tracts that probably were related more to tectonism than eustasy.  相似文献   

Late Quaternary palaeoenvironment of northern Guatemala: evidence from deep drill cores and seismic stratigraphy of Lake Petén Itzá     

ANDREAS D. MUELLER  FLAVIO S. ANSELMETTI  DANIEL ARIZTEGUI  MARK BRENNER  DAVID A. HODELL  JASON H. CURTIS  JAIME ESCOBAR  ADRIAN GILLI  DUSTIN A. GRZESIK  THOMAS P. GUILDERSON  STEFFEN KUTTEROLF  MICHAEL PLÖTZE 《Sedimentology》2010,57(5):1220-1245

Long sediment cores were collected in spring 2006 from Lake Petén Itzá, northern Guatemala, in water depths ranging from 30 to 150 m, as part of an International Continental Scientific Drilling Program project. The sediment records from deep water consist mainly of alternating clay, gypsum and carbonate units and, in at least two drill sites, extend back >200 kyr. Most of the lithostratigraphic units are traceable throughout the basin along seismic reflections that serve as seismic stratigraphic boundaries and suggest that the lithostratigraphy can be used to infer regional palaeoenvironmental changes. A revised seismic stratigraphy was established on the basis of integrated lithological and seismic reflection data from the basin. From ca 200 to ca 85 ka, sediments are dominated by carbonate‐clay silt, often interbedded with sandy turbidites, indicating a sediment regime dominated by detrital sedimentation in a relatively humid climate. At ca 85 ka, an exposure horizon consisting of gravels, coarse sand and terrestrial gastropods marks a lake lowstand or partial basin desiccation, indicating dry climate conditions. From ca 85 to ca 48 ka, transgressive carbonate‐clay sediments, overlain by deep‐water clays, suggest a lake level rise and subsequent stabilization at high stage. From ca 48 ka to present, the lithology is characterized by alternating clay and gypsum units. Gypsum deposition correlates with Heinrich Events (i.e. dry climate), whereas clay units coincide with more humid interstadials.  相似文献   

GENERALS,GUERRILLAS, DRUGS,AND THIRD WORLD WAR‐MAKING     

MICHAEL K. STEINBERG 《Geographical review》2000,90(2):260-267

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AN INTEGRATED APPROACH TO MODELLING HYDROLOGY AND WATER QUALITY IN GLACIERIZED CATCHMENTS     

KEITH RICHARDS  MARTIN SHARP  NEIL ARNOLD  ANGELA GURNELL  MICHAEL CLARK  MARTIN TRANTER  PETER NIENOW  GILES BROWN  IAN WILLIS  WENDY LAWSON 《水文研究》1996,10(4):479-508

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Clay-mineral distribution in surface sediments of the Eurasian Arctic Ocean and continental margin as indicator for source areas and transport pathways — a synthesis   总被引：2，自引：0，他引：2  

MONIKA WAHSNER  CLAUDIA MÜLLER  RUEDIGER STEIN  GENNADIJ IVANOV  MICHAEL LEVITAN  EKATERINA SHELEKHOVA  GENADY TARASOV 《Boreas: An International Journal of Quaternary Research》1999,28(1):215-233

Clay-mineral distributions in the Arctic Ocean and the adjacent Eurasian shelf areas are discussed to identify source areas and transport pathways of terrigenous material in the Arctic Ocean. The main clay minerals in Eurasian Arctic Ocean sediments are illite and chlorite. Smectite and kaolinite occur in minor amounts in these sediments, but show strong variations in the shelf areas. These two minerals are therefore reliable in reconstructions of source areas of sediments from the Eurasian Arctic. The Kara Sea and the western part of the Laptev Sea are enriched in smectite, with highest values of up to 70% in the deltas of the Ob and Yenisey rivers. Illite is the dominant clay mineral in all the investigated sediments except for parts of the Kara Sea. The highest concentrations with more than 70% illite occur in the East Siberian Sea and around Svalbard. Chlorite represents the clay mineral with lowest concentration changes in the Eastern Arctic, ranging between 10 and 25%. The main source areas for kaolinite in the Eurasian Arctic are Mesozoic sedimentary rocks on Franz-Josef Land islands. Based on clay-mineral data, transport of the clay fraction via sea ice is of minor importance for the modern sedimentary budget in the Arctic basins.  相似文献   

Radar signatures and structure of an avulsed channel: Rhône River,Aoste, France     

MICHAEL C. ROBERTS  JEAN-PAUL BRAVARD  HARRY M. JOL 《第四纪科学杂志》1997,12(1):35-42

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Relative and radiocarbon chronology of two former glaciers in the Chilean Lake District     

MICHAEL J. BENTLEY 《第四纪科学杂志》1997,12(1):25-33

This paper investigates the relative importance of climatic and topographic factors on the fluctuations of two adjacent palaeoglaciers in the Chilean Lake District. Geomorphological mapping of the landforms around two lakes occupied by the palaeoglaciers has identified a series of intersecting moraine limits and ice-marginal meltwater channels, which allow the relative timing of glacier fluctuations to be established. The broad pattern of advance and retreat is the same in the two basins, with at least one synchronous major advance sometime after 19 500 yr BP, but there is also evidence of discordant behaviour, with one glacier advancing less often and lagging the other glacier during retreat. Seventeen radiocarbon dates suggest a similar chronology to other palaeoglaciers in the Chilean Lake District, but the advance after 19 500 yr BP may have been 1500 ¹⁴C yr later than major advances of palaeoglaciers situated immediately south. The empirical evidence of differential behaviour can be simulated by a glaciological model, which suggests that the differences in glacier response are due to contrasts in basin topography. Contrasts of this magnitude between the timing of some glacier advances has important implications for regional and interhemispheric correlation of Chilean Lake District glacier chronologies to other climate proxy records. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献