Search results for " depositional environment"
showing 10 items of 129 documents
Inner vs. outer wedge-top depozone “sequences” in the Late Miocene (late Tortonian–early Messinian) Sicilian Foreland Basin System; new data from the…
2012
Abstract The wedge-top depozone belongs to the innermost portion of a Foreland Basin System (FBS) ( DeCelles and Giles, 1996 ) and includes all sediments, typically coarse-grained proximal facies, that bury the active frontal part of a fold and thrust belt. The Terravecchia Formation ( Flores, 1959 , Schmidt Di Friedberg, 1962 , Schmidt Di Friedberg, 1964 , Catalano, 1979 ) is a composite lithostratigraphic unit widespread in Sicily (southern Italy) which has been recently considered ( Gugliotta, 2010 ) as a part of the stratigraphic record of the Late Miocene (late Tortonian to early Messinian) Sicilian wedge-top depozone and represent the main object of this paper. Two end-member wedge-to…
Middle Jurassic tracks of sauropod dinosaurs in a deep karst cave in France.
2019
14 pages; International audience; Although the deep galleries of natural underground cavities are difficult to access and are sometimes dangerous, they have the potential to preserve trace fossils. Here, we report on the first occurrence of sauropod dinosaur tracks inside a karstic cave. Three trackways are preserved on the roof of the Castelbouc cave 500 m under the surface of the Causse Méjean plateau, southern France. The tracks are Bathonian in age (ca. 168–166 Ma), a crucial but still poorly known time interval in sauropod evolution. The three trackways yield sauropod tracks that are up to 1.25 m long and are therefore amongst the largest known dinosaur footprints worldwide. The trackm…
First record of Mesopithecus (Cercopithecidae, Colobinae) from the Miocene of the Iberian Peninsula
2015
We report dental remains of the extinct colobine monkey Mesopithecus from the Turolian (MN13, Late Miocene, ca. 6.23 Ma) locality of Venta del Moro (Valencia, Spain). They include most of the deciduous dentition and the unerupted germs of the first molars of a single infantile individual, as well as two lower left lateral incisors from two additional individuals. On the basis of morphometric comparisons, mainly based on the Ms, these remains are attributed to the Late Miocene species Mesopithecus pentelicus. They represent a significant addition to the knowledge of the deciduous dentition of this taxon, much less well-known than the permanent dentition. Although this genus was widely distri…
Facies and facies association of the siliciclastic Brak River and carbonate Gemsbok formations in the Lower Ugab River valley, Namibia, W. Africa
2007
Abstract The Neoproterozoic Zerrissene Turbidite Complex of central-western Namibia comprises five turbiditic units. From the base to the top they are the Zebraputs Formation (greywacke and pelite), Brandberg West Formation (marble and pelite), Brak River Formation (greywacke and pelite with dropstones), Gemsbok River Formation (marble and pelite) and Amis River Formation (greywacke and pelites with rare carbonates and quartz-wacke). In the Lower Ugab River valley, five siliciclastic facies were recognised in the Brak River Formation. These are massive and laminated sandstones, classical turbidites (thick- and thin-bedded), mudrock, rare conglomerate and breccia. For the carbonate Gemsbok R…
Breccias of the Adnet Formation: indicators of a Mid-Liassic tectonic event in the Northern Calcareous Alps (Salzburg/Austria)
1995
Stratigraphy, lithology and depositional structures of Liassic red limestone-breccias of the Adnet Formation, including the ‘Adnet Scheck’, were studied at several outcrops of the Northern Calcareous Alps (NCA) south-east of Salzburg. A four-fold lithostratigraphic division is proposed for the Adnet Formation of the Osterhorn Mountains: the hemipelagic Schmiedwirt (Sinemurian) and Kehlbach (Carixian) members are separated from the pelagic Saubach Member (Toarcian) by a layer of amalgamated breccias (Scheck Member, probably Domerian to early Toarcian). Several other breccia beds occur locally from the base of the Kehlbach Member up to the lower Saubach Member. Although the sediments overlyin…
Settlement down again patterns of a carbonated platform following up a sedimentary crisis : example of the middle-late Jurassic boundary in the south…
2004
Abstract Following a sedimentary crisis which begins in the late Lower Callovian and spans all the early Oxfordian, the settlement down patterns of a platform with carbonated sedimentation are analysed in a southeastern area of the Paris Basin (fig. 1). Ten lithostratigraphic units (reefal formations, associated bioclastic facies and marly distal lateral facies ; fig. 2) are defined (fig. 3). New ammonite and brachiopod faunas, collected in situ, allow to date accurately the sedimentary units with a precision matching an ammonite subzone of the standard bio-chronostratigraphic scale (fig. 4) of the middle-late Oxfordian (from the Parandieri Subzone, at the base of the Transversarium Zone, t…
The “chimney forest” of the deep Montenegrin margin, south-eastern Adriatic Sea
2015
A spectacular field of columnar carbonates has been discovered on the Montenegrin margin in the southern Adriatic Sea at a depth of about 450 m. The site exposes many columnar carbonates protruding from the substrate or abated on the bottom. Such carbonates attain maximum visible lengths of ca. 60 cm with diameters up to 20 cm; display an annular growth, and are either hollow or plugged by indurated sediment. Petrographic and geochemical analyses document the pervasive presence of dolomite, and delta C-13 values as low as -30%(0) VPDB. These 'chimneys' are therefore interpreted as former conduits related to hydrocarbon expulsion in this sector of the Adriatic basin. However, available data …
Reconstruction of the Holocene palaeoenvironmental conditions accordingly to the multiproxy sedimentary records from Lake Pilvelis, Latvia
2015
Abstract Reconstruction of the Holocene palaeoenvironment conditions in Southeastern Latvia is based on multiproxy records from Lake Pilvelis: pollen, plant macrofossil and microfossil analysis; loss-on-ignition (LOI) measurements; 14 C dating; humic substances content; humification index; and elemental composition of gyttja organic mass. The data complex obtained in the result of multiproxy studies of sediments in Lake Pilvelis indicates significant changes in the depositional environment during the lake development. Data from Lake Pilvelis show that the start of organic-rich sediments formation before approximately 9750 cal BP, when birch–pine forest dominated in the surrounding landscape…
Deep-water stromatolites andFrutexites Maslov from the early and Middle Jurassic of S-Germany and Austria
1993
Despite extensive discussions during the last 20 years stromatolites are still used by many geologists as unequivocal indicators of very shallow-water conditions. We investigated four stratigraphic units from the Lower and Middle Jurassic of southern Germany (Posidonien-Schiefer, Amaltheen-Ton) and of the Northern Calcareous Alps (Adneter Kalk, Klauskalk), which were formerly interpreted as shallow marine sediments by some authors due to the occurrence of stromatolites. Our interpretations of the macro-, micro- and ultrafacies of these sediments are not compatible with shallow-water settings. We therefore propose a deep-marine, aphotic origin of these stromatolites. Former interpretations o…
Using high-resolution stratigraphy and structural analysis to constrain a “polyphase” tectonics in wedge-top basins. Inferences from the Late Tortoni…
2012
Abstract The present paper aims to show, both from a stratigraphic and structural points of view, the main features of a wedge-top syntectonic basin which evolved recording polyphase and non-coaxial tectonics. The study area is the Scillato Basin ( SB ), a roughly N–S-oriented structural depression located in the central-northern sector of the Sicililian Maghrebides. There, an approximately 1300 m-thick upper Serravallian to upper Tortonian succession of clastic units outcrops as a portion of the Neogene syntectonic covers of the Sicilian fold and thrust belt. Within the outcropping succession the upper Tortonian Terravecchia Fm represents the main topic of this paper. A multidisciplinary a…