Plio-Pleistocene Sequence Stratigraphic architecture of the Eastern Niger Delta: Climate Controls, Gravity Driven Deformation and Associated Sedimentary Systems
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Abstract Quantification of allogenic controls in rift basin‐fills requires analysis of multiple depositional systems because of marked along‐strike changes in depositional architecture. Here, we compare two coeval Early‐Middle Pleistocene syn‐rift fan deltas that sit 6 km apart in the hangingwall of the Pirgaki‐Mamoussia Fault, along the southern margin of the Gulf of Corinth, Greece. The Selinous fan delta is located near the fault tip and the Kerinitis fan delta towards the fault centre. Selinous and Kerinitis have comparable overall aggradational stacking patterns. Selinous comprises 15 cyclic stratal units (ca. 25 m thick), whereas at Kerinitis 11 (ca. 60 m thick) are present. Eight facies associations are identified. Fluvial and shallow water facies dominate the major stratal units in the topset region, with shelfal fine‐grained facies constituting ca. 2 m thick intervals between major topset units and thick conglomeratic foresets building down‐dip. It is possible to quantify delta build times (Selinous: 615 kyr; Kerinitis: >450 kyr) and average subsidence and equivalent sedimentation rates (Selinous: 0.65 m/kyr; Kerinitis: >1.77 m/kyr). The presence of sequence boundaries at Selinous, but their absence at Kerinitis, enables sensitivity analysis of the most uncertain variables using a numerical model, ‘Syn‐Strat’, supported by an independent unit thickness extrapolation method. Our study has three broad outcomes: (a) the first estimate of lake level change amplitude in Lake Corinth for the Early‐Middle Pleistocene (10–15 m), which can aid regional palaeoclimate studies and inform broader climate‐system models; (b) demonstration of two complementary methods to quantify faulting and base level signals in the stratigraphic record—forward modelling with Syn‐Strat and a unit thickness extrapolation—which can be applied to other rift basin‐fills; and (c) a quantitative approach to the analysis of stacking patterns and key surfaces that could be applied to stratigraphic pinch‐out assessment and cross‐hole correlations in reservoir analysis.
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Abstract This paper presents the first detailed, outcrop-based sedimentologic investigation of the Pleistocene–Holocene upper Lake Beds succession in the Rukwa Rift Basin, located in the Western Branch of the East African Rift System, southwestern Tanzania. The goal of this investigation is to examine the sedimentary facies and reconstruct the depositional environments of this important archive of Quaternary climate and environmental change. Eleven diagnostic facies associations comprising 24 facies were identified and provide the basis for recognition of three key deposystems: 1) alluvial-to-fluvial channel system; 2) lake delta system; and 3) profundal lacustrine system. Analysis of paleocurrent indicators and sandstone provenance indicate widely dispersed source regions and drainage patterns that were strongly influenced by major border-fault systems and episodic volcanism. Six stratigraphic sequences (A–F), ranging from ∼ 2 to 17 m thick, were identified based on stratal stacking patterns and the development of sequence-bounding unconformities and lacustrine flooding surfaces. Sedimentation processes, facies architecture, and stratigraphic packaging record a complex interplay between Quaternary climate fluctuations and intense episodic volcanism in the nearby Rungwe Volcanic Province, set against large-scale tectonic controls associated with synchronous development of the East African Rift System. Sequence stratigraphic analysis reveals that the Rukwa Rift Basin episodically shifted between a balanced-fill lake basin and an overfilled lake basin. Deep water, basin-wide lake expansion occurred at different times during the late Quaternary. The final depositional sequence preserved in the basin, a fluvial–underfilled lake basin, initiated ∼ 7.9 ka and has persisted to the present day. High-frequency climate change played the key role in sequence development in the upper Lake Beds. However, voluminous, rift-related volcanism and erosion of abundant labile volcanic materials from the Rungwe Volcanic Province, as well as syntectonic evolution of the rift, led to high sedimentation rates and transformation of flash floods and debris flows in the hinterlands (rift margin) to hyperpycnal flows towards the basin depocenter.
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Research Article| May 01, 2011 Controls on active forearc basin stratigraphy and sediment fluxes: The Pleistocene of Hawke Bay, New Zealand Fabien Paquet; Fabien Paquet * 1UMR Geosciences, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université de Rennes 1, Campus de Beaulieu, 35042 Rennes cedex, France3Department of Geological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, New Zealand4Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières Centre Scientifique et Technique, Geology division - Geology of Sedimentary Basins, 3 avenue Guillemin, BP 36009, 45060 Orléans cedex 2, France *E-mail: f.paquet@brgm.fr Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Jean-Noel Proust; Jean-Noel Proust 1UMR Geosciences, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université de Rennes 1, Campus de Beaulieu, 35042 Rennes cedex, France Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Philip M. Barnes; Philip M. Barnes 2National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research (NIWA) Ltd., Private Bag 14-901, 301 Evans Bay Parade, Greta Point, Wellington, New Zealand Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Jarg R. Pettinga Jarg R. Pettinga 3Department of Geological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, New Zealand Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information Fabien Paquet * 1UMR Geosciences, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université de Rennes 1, Campus de Beaulieu, 35042 Rennes cedex, France3Department of Geological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, New Zealand4Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières Centre Scientifique et Technique, Geology division - Geology of Sedimentary Basins, 3 avenue Guillemin, BP 36009, 45060 Orléans cedex 2, France Jean-Noel Proust 1UMR Geosciences, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université de Rennes 1, Campus de Beaulieu, 35042 Rennes cedex, France Philip M. Barnes 2National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research (NIWA) Ltd., Private Bag 14-901, 301 Evans Bay Parade, Greta Point, Wellington, New Zealand Jarg R. Pettinga 3Department of Geological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, New Zealand *E-mail: f.paquet@brgm.fr Publisher: Geological Society of America Received: 05 Jan 2010 Revision Received: 12 Feb 2010 Accepted: 25 Feb 2010 First Online: 08 Mar 2017 Online ISSN: 1943-2674 Print ISSN: 0016-7606 © 2011 Geological Society of America GSA Bulletin (2011) 123 (5-6): 1074–1096. https://doi.org/10.1130/B30243.1 Article history Received: 05 Jan 2010 Revision Received: 12 Feb 2010 Accepted: 25 Feb 2010 First Online: 08 Mar 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation Fabien Paquet, Jean-Noel Proust, Philip M. Barnes, Jarg R. Pettinga; Controls on active forearc basin stratigraphy and sediment fluxes: The Pleistocene of Hawke Bay, New Zealand. GSA Bulletin 2011;; 123 (5-6): 1074–1096. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/B30243.1 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGSA Bulletin Search Advanced Search Abstract Detailed, high-resolution documentation of forearc basin fill is scarce in the literature. In this geological and geophysical study, we investigated the Pleistocene sedimentary rec ord of the tectonically active Hawke Bay forearc domain of the Hikurangi subduction margin of New Zealand. Interpretation of an extensive seismic-reflection data set that is correlated with marine cores and onshore geological maps identifies the detailed stratigraphic architecture of the last ∼1.1 m.y. This analysis reveals the influences and inter actions of tectonic deformation, climate, eustasy, and isostasy on forearc basin sedimentation. Eleven ∼100 k.y. depositional sequences are recognized in the basin fill, thus highlighting the dominance of Pleistocene climate-eustasy on sequence development. The stacking pattern and isopach maps of sequences exhibit an overall retrogradational trend and an arcward migration of depocenters. These trends progressively develop a basinwide diachronous and composite erosion unconformity formed by the lateral succession and landward encroachment of the 12 sequence-bounding unconformities (S12 to S1). Among these, the S5 surface (ca. 430 ka) is an angular unconformity that separates major megasequences of the sedimentary record. The forearc domain evolved from a series of ridge-parallel basins to a succession of connected basins that have progressively developed around major, growing thrust-faulted ridges since ca. 430 ka. This change in basin configuration and associated significant increase of the preserved sediment fluxes occurred synchronous with the reactivation of major out-of-sequence thrusts and the completion of the mid-Pleistocene transition. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.
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Alluvial fan
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Progradation
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Abstract The interaction between sedimentary wedge dynamics and paleo‐fracture zones is investigated offshore western Niger Delta lobe (WNDL) to reconstruct the evolution of the delta from the Cretaceous to present. This was achieved through detailed regional seismic interpretation, calibrated with well data. Our results suggest that high sedimentation rates in the WNDL since the Serravallian–Tortonian triggered the migration of the ‘Oligocene‐Tortonian extensional zone’ and gravity spreading seawards (from a present‐day onshore to a present‐day offshore position), with extensional, translational and contractional deformation. An additional increase in sedimentation rate since the early Pliocene, further accelerated gravity spreading and the development of the present‐day contractional front. A five‐stage tectono‐stratigraphic evolution of the offshore WNDL from the late Cretaceous to present is proposed. Paleo‐topographies formed by the Charcot and Chain Fracture Zones exerted depositional control on the stratigraphic architecture of the offshore WNDL from the Cretaceous to Serravallian. Differential subsidence on both sides of the relict Charcot and Chain transform faults is responsible for the segmentation of gravity‐driven deformation of the eastern and western Niger Delta lobes. In addition, a comparison of the stratigraphic architecture of the eastern Niger Delta lobe (ENDL) and WNDL demonstrates a similar overall progradation and sediment bypass to the deep basin during the Pliocene. During the Pleistocene, the two lobes show a distinct evolution and architecture: the ENDL shows an overall retrogradation and sediment sequestration on the shelf, whereas the WNDL displays an overall progradation and sediment bypass. This study documents long‐term and large‐scale control of delta dynamics and paleo‐topography on gravity‐driven deformation of the offshore eastern and western Niger Delta lobes, and similar analysis could be applied in the reconstruction of other passive margin basins.
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Back-stripping
Alluvial fan
Tectonic subsidence
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Terrigenous sediment
Half-graben
Continental Margin
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