Albian oceanic anoxic events in northern Tunisia: Biostratigraphic and geochemical insights   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

Moez Ben Fadhel  Mohsen Layeb  Afif Hedfi  Mohamed Ben Youssef 《Cretaceous Research》2011,32(6):685-699

Albian pelagic successions of the Nebeur area in northwestern Tunisia consist of radiolarian-bearing and organic-rich black shale beds, which represent the lower part of the Fahdene Formation. The carbonate content of the organic-rich beds ranges between 40 and 48%. Total organic carbon (TOC) analyses via Rock Eval pyrolysis yielded values ranging between 0.7 and 2.8% and a mixed marine/terrestrial origin. T_max values vary between 424 and 450 °C, indicative of submature to mature organic matter. High resolution planktic foraminiferal and radiolarian biostratigraphy suggest that the black shales beds span the mid- to late Albian, confined to the middle part of the Ticinella primula zone, upper Biticinella breggiensis zone and lower appeninica + buxtorfi zone. Episodes of organic-rich deposition in the “Tunisian Trough” are interpreted as being the sedimentary record of the global oceanic anoxic events OAE1b, c, and d respectively. Age-diagnostic radiolarian assemblages recovered from late Albian organic-rich black shales lie within the UA13–UA14 boundary biochronozones. The abundance of radiolarian and calcispheres (i.e. pithonella) within the black shales suggests high productivity periods and eutrophic conditions probably triggered by upwelling currents.  相似文献   

Assessing waterbird habitat use in coastal evaporative systems using stable isotopes (δC, δN and δD) as environmental tracers     

Francisco Ramírez  Aida Abdennadher  Carola Sanpera  Lluís Jover  Leonard I. Wassenaar  Keith A. Hobson 《Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science》2011

Isotopic patterns of biota across salinity gradients in man-made evaporative systems could assist in determining the use of these habitats by animals. Here we report δ¹³C, δ¹⁵N and δD measurements of a euryhaline fish, the Mediterranean toothcarp (Aphanius fasciatus), inhabiting a range of salinities in the Thyna saltworks near Sfax (Tunisia). The contribution of these salinity niches to egg formation of two typically piscivorous bird species breeding in the area and feeding within saltworks, Little Tern (Sternula albifrons) and Little Egret (Egretta garzetta), was inferred trough a triple-isotope (δ¹³C, δ¹⁵N and δD) Bayesian mixing model. Isotopic trends for fish δ¹⁵N and δD across the salinity gradient followed the equations: δ¹⁵N = e^{(1.1 + 47.68/Salinity)} and δD = −175.74 + Salinity + Salinity²; whereas fish δ¹³C increased as salinity rose (δ¹³C = −10.83 + 0.02·Salinity), after a sudden drop in fish isotopic values for salinities >60 (Practical Salinity Scale) (average fish δ¹³C for salinities <60 = −5.92‰). Both bird species fed largely on low hypersalinity ponds (salinity = 43; average contribution = 37% and 22% for Little Egrets and Little Terns, respectively), although the use of intermediate hypersalinities (salinities 63 and 70) by Little Terns also occurred (16% and 21%, respectively). Isotopic patterns across salinity gradients allow the use of isotopic measurements to inform studies of habitat occupancy within evaporative systems and provide further insights into how wildlife communities interact with them.  相似文献   

Study of a Neogene basin dynamics: The “Bizerte basin”, northeastern Tunisia: relevance to the global Messinian Salinity Crisis     

Salah Harrab  Beya Mannai-Tayech  Mohsen Rabhi  Fouad Zargouni 《Comptes Rendus Geoscience》2013,345(5-6):251-261

The Messinian sediments of northeastern Tunisia were deposited under an active tectonic setting. They are organized in sequences indicating a transitional deposit from margin – littoral to lacustrine – continental facies. These series unconformably overlie the Serravallian–Tortonian silty clays packages, and are overlain by the transgressive Early Pliocene marl (Zanclean). The presence of evaporitic strata points out to the Messinian Salinity Crisis described in the peripheral basins of the western Mediterranean. The Messinian sedimentation was found to have been closely controlled by transtensive tectonics and differential subsidence at a large spatio-temporal scale. It is organized in sequences typical of a depositional environment controlled by eustatism, tectonic and maybe by climate changes. Despite the existence of some local specific sedimentological characteristics, our results corroborate previous findings that pointed out to the Messinian times as a singular period all around the Mediterranean Basin. Field and subsurface seismic profile data helped reconstructing either the sedimentary or tectonic unconformities existing between the studied Messinian series and older Neogene successions.  相似文献   

Spatial scale variability in shoot density and epiphytic leaves of Posidonia oceanica on Kerkennah Island (Tunisia) in relation to current tide effects          下载免费PDF全文

Mounir Ben Brahim  Lotfi Mabrouk  Asma Hamza  Mabrouka Mahfoudhi  Abderahmen Bouain  Lotfi Aleya 《Marine Ecology》2015,36(4):1311-1331

A study was undertaken of the patterns of spatial variability, epiphytic biomass and distribution of epiphytic fauna and flora of Posidonia oceanica. Samples were taken at four stations located approximately 4 km apart, exposed to different current conditions. Stations A and B, situated near the Oued Mimoun tidal channel with its relatively strong bi‐directional flows, were affected by high current tide. The other two stations, North Oued Mimoun (L1) and South Oued Mimoun (L2), were located further from the channel, in low current tide conditions. Sampling was conducted in the Attaya area of Kerkennah Island (Tunisia) in August 2009 at depths between 2 and 3 m, with the results indicating differences among the stations. Shoot density decreased when exposed to high levels of hydrodynamic activity generated by current tides whereas the epiphytic biomass of P. oceanica leaves decreased at sheltered stations located far from the channel. Epiphytic algae such as Heterokontophyta, Rhodophyta and Chlorophyta, and epiphytic fauna represented by Bryozoa, Hydrozoa, Annelida, Porifera and Tunicata, dominated the epiphytic assemblages and were abundant at the station most exposed to high current tide hydrodynamics. Cyanobacteria, however, were dominant in stations exposed to low current tide.  相似文献   

Saltwater intrusion modelling in Jorf coastal aquifer,South‐eastern Tunisia: geochemical,geoelectrical and geostatistical application     

Belgacem Agoubi  Adel Kharroubi  Habib Abida 《水文研究》2013,27(8):1191-1199

Marine intrusion is the most serious problem facing the coastal Jorf shallow aquifer, located in south‐eastern Tunisia on the Mediterranean Sea. Jorf Aquifer is intensively exploited to supply the growing needs of agriculture and domestic sectors. This work proposes a multidisciplinary investigation, involving hydro‐geochemical, geoelectrical survey and geostatistical techniques for modelling the saltwater intrusion. For this purpose, 36 water samples were conducted and analysed. Electric conductivity, pH, total dissolved solids and major ions were measured and analysed. Pie and Durov Diagrams, Q‐mode hierarchical cluster and geostatistical analysis were considered to identify the main groundwater mineralization processes. Results revealed that the Na‐Cl‐Ca‐SO₄ is the dominant water type suggesting that dissolution of halite and gypsum was the main mineralization source of groundwater in the central and southern part of study area. However, saltwater intrusion was shown to control groundwater quality essentially in coastal areas. Variographic analyses were used to select the variographic model that best fits the spatial development of apparent resistivity. Kriged apparent resistivity profiles showed an abnormal decrease of resistivity values in the coastal zone, implying highly saline water because of seawater intrusion. Apparent resistivity values also decrease considerably in the faulted areas, suggesting a contribution of faults to seawater intrusion. Finally, saltwater mixing ratio was computed for each sample, and a refined seawater intrusion map was developed. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

Investigation of the rainfall variability in central Tunisia / Investigations sur la variabilité pluviométrique en Tunisie centrale     

《水文科学杂志》2013,58(3)

Abstract

The decrease in runoff of the Merguellil basin, Tunisia recorded during the decade 1989–1998 led to the study of several time series derived from daily rainfall. It was found that variability characteristics related to daily rainfall greater than 30 mm are significantly different among successive time periods. In addition, the probability distributions of these rains, recorded at different raingauge sites, are significantly different between the period 1976–1989 and the prior and posterior observation periods. Furthermore, the surface covered by daily rains greater than 30 mm decreased between 1976 and 1989. It was also noted that the probability distributions of the surfaces covered changed significantly after 1976. The combination of human action and pluviometric variability (rainfall increase in the period 1989–1998, notably the increase in the number of days of rainfall greater than 30 mm) may explain the decrease in runoff of Merguellil Wadi.  相似文献   

Mesozoic and Cenozoic vertical movements in the Atlas system (Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia): An overview   总被引：5，自引：0，他引：5  

Dominique Frizon de Lamotte  Pascale Leturmy  Sami Khomsi  Omar Saddiqi  André Michard 《Tectonophysics》2009,475(1):9-28

The E-W trending Atlas System of Maghreb consists of weakly shortened, intra-continental fold belts associated with plateau areas (“Mesetas”), extending between the south-westernmost branch of the Mediterranean Alpine Belt (Rif-Tell) and the Sahara Platform. Although the Atlas system has been erected contemporaneously from Morocco to Algeria and Tunisia during the Middle Eocene to Recent, it displays a conspicuous longitudinal asymmetry, with i) Paleozoic outcrops restricted to its western part; ii) highest elevation occurring in the west, both in the Atlas System and its foreland (Anti-Atlas); iii) low elevation corridors (e.g. Hodna) and depressed foreland (Tunisian Chotts and Sahel area) in the east. We analyse the origin of these striking contrasts in relation with i) the Variscan heritage; ii) crustal vertical movements during the Mesozoic; iii) crustal shortening during the Cenozoic and finally, iv) the occurrence of a Miocene-Quaternary hot mantle anomaly in the west. The Maghreb lithosphere was affected by the Variscan orogeny, and thus thickened only in its western part. During the Late Permian-Triassic, a paleo-high formed in the west between the Central Atlantic and Alpine Tethys rift systems, giving birth to the emergent/poorly subsident West Moroccan Arch. During the late Middle Jurassic-Early Cretaceous, Morocco and western Algeria were dominantly emergent whereas rifting lasted on in eastern Algeria and Tunisia. We ascribe the uplift of the western regions to thermal doming, consistent with the Late Jurassic and Barremian gabbroic magmatism observed there. After the widespread transgression of the high stand Cenomanian-Turonian seas, the inversion of the Atlas System began during the Senonian as a consequence of the Africa-Eurasia convergence. Erosion affected three ENE-trending uplifted areas of NW Africa, which we consider as lithospheric anticlines related to the incipient Africa-Europe convergence. In contrast, in eastern Algeria and Tunisia a NW-trending rift system developed contemporaneously (Sirt rifting), normal to the general trend of the Atlas System. The general inversion and orogenesis of the Atlas System occurred during two distinct episodes, Middle-Late Eocene-Oligocene and Late Miocene-Pliocene, respectively, whereas during the intervening period, the Africa-Europe convergence was mainly accommodated in the Rif-Tell system. Inversion tectonics and crustal thickening may account for the moderate uplift of the eastern Atlas System, not for the high elevation of the western mountain ranges (Middle Atlas, High Atlas, Anti-Atlas). In line with previous authors, we ascribe part of the recent uplift of the latter regions to the occurrence of a NE-trending, high-temperature mantle anomaly, here labelled the Moroccan Hot Line (MHL), which is also marked by a strip of late Miocene-Quaternary alkaline magmatism and significant seismicity.  相似文献   

Aptian (Lower Cretaceous) biostratigraphy and cephalopods from north central Tunisia     

Jens Lehmann  Matthias Heldt  Martina Bachmann  Mohamed E. Hedi Negra 《Cretaceous Research》2009,30(4):895-910

Thick Aptian deposits in north central Tunisia comprise hemipelagic lower Aptian, reflecting the sea-level rise of OAE 1a, and an upper Aptian shallow marine environment characterized by the establishment of a carbonate platform facies. Carbon stable isotope data permit recognition of the OAE 1a event in the Djebel Serdj section. Cephalopods are rare throughout these successions, but occurrences are sufficient to date the facies changes and the position of the OAE1a event. Ammonite genera include lower Aptian Deshayesites, Dufrenoyia, Pseudohaploceras, Toxoceratoides and ?Ancyloceras; and upper Aptian Zuercherella, Riedelites and Parahoplites. Correlation of carbon isotope data with those of other Tethyan sections is undertaken together with the integration of planktonic foraminiferal data.  相似文献   

Coniacian-Santonian Planktic Stratigraphy in central Tunisia     

《Cretaceous Research》2017

In this study, we describe a new stratigraphy of three exposed sections in central Tunisia, integrating Coniacian and Santonian planktic foraminifera and calcareous nannoplankton, supported by ammonite and inoceramid bioevents. In the three sections, the Coniacian/Santonian (C/S) boundary lies slightly above the lowest occurrence (LO) of the calcareous nannofossil Lucianorhabdus cayeuxii, which marks nannofossil Zone CC16 and matches well with the LO of the planktic foraminifera Dicarinella asymetrica. It also lies ∼4–7 m below the LO of the inoceramid Platyceramus cycloides and the ammonite Texanites (Texanites) sp. Comparing these marker C/S bioevents with the global stratotype section, the Olazagutia section (Spain) shows that the stratigraphic range of the bioevents are variable. This observation must be taken into consideration when making regional chronostratigraphic correlations.  相似文献   

Tectono-sedimentary events and geodynamic evolution of the Mesozoic and Cenozoic basins of the Alpine Margin,Gulf of Tunis,north-eastern Tunisia offshore     

Fetheddine Melki  Taher Zouaghi  Mohamed Ben Chelbi  Mourad Bédir  Fouad Zargouni 《Comptes Rendus Geoscience》2010,342(9):741-753

The structural pattern, tectono-sedimentary framework and geodynamic evolution for Mesozoic and Cenozoic deep structures of the Gulf of Tunis (north-eastern Tunisia) are proposed using petroleum well data and a 2-D seismic interpretation. The structural system of the study area is marked by two sets of faults that control the Mesozoic subsidence and inversions during the Paleogene and Neogene times: (i) a NE-SW striking set associated with folds and faults, which have a reverse component; and (ii) a NW–SE striking set active during the Tertiary extension episodes and delineating grabens and subsiding synclines. In order to better characterize the tectono-sedimentary evolution of the Gulf of Tunis structures, seismic data interpretations are compared to stratigraphic and structural data from wells and neighbouring outcrops. The Atlas and external Tell belonged to the southernmost Tethyan margin record a geodynamic evolution including: (i) rifting periods of subsidence and Tethyan oceanic accretions from Triassic until Early Cretaceous: we recognized high subsiding zones (Raja and Carthage domains), less subsiding zones (Gamart domain) and a completely emerged area (Raouad domain); (ii) compressive events during the Cenozoic with relaxation periods of the Oligocene-Aquitanian and Messinian-Early Pliocene. The NW–SE Late Eocene and Tortonian compressive events caused local inversions with sealed and eroded folded structures. During Middle to Late Miocene and Early Pliocene, we have identified depocentre structures corresponding to half-grabens and synclines in the Carthage and Karkouane domains. The north–south contractional events at the end of Early Pliocene and Late Pliocene periods are associated with significant inversion of subsidence and synsedimentary folded structures. Structuring and major tectonic events, recognized in the Gulf of Tunis, are linked to the common geodynamic evolution of the north African and western Mediterranean basins.  相似文献