The Northwest Atlantic Mid-Ocean Channel of the Labrador Sea. IV. Petrography and provenance of the sediments

1987 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 731-740 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sung Kwun Chough ◽  
Reinhard Hesse ◽  
Jens Müller
Keyword(s):  
Source Rocks ◽  
Coarse Grained ◽  
Labrador Sea ◽  
Bottom Current ◽  
Head Region ◽  
Alkali Basalts ◽  
Northwest Atlantic ◽  
Lower Paleozoic ◽  
Rock Fragments ◽  
Specific Source

The Northwest Atlantic Mid-Ocean Channel (NAMOC) of the Labrador Sea is associated with a 500 m thick sequence of well-bedded turbidites along the axis of the Labrador and Newfoundland basins and extends onto the western Sohm Abyssal Plain. The specific source areas of these terrigenous turbidites on the shelves and landmasses surrounding the Labrador Sea were not known hitherto because the morphological connections in the head region of the NAMOC with canyons on the slope are masked by young ice-rafted and bottom-current-transported sediments.Petrographic analysis of channel sands and gravels suggests a dominant Canadian source for the channel segment north of the confluence with the Imarssuak Mid-Ocean Channel (IMOC) based on the predominance of lower Paleozoic detrital carbonates. The IMOC provides sediment from sources around the West Reykjanes Basin, i.e., the east coast of Greenland and Iceland; however, source-specific minerals or rock fragments from the Tertiary alkali basalts of southwest Greenland were not detected. Anorthosite pebbles imply a Canadian rather than a Greenlandian source, based on the relatively low anorthite content (An25–45) of their plagioclases.In the silt- and clay-sized fractions turbidites are distinctly different from intercalated pelagic oozes by their high detrital carbonate and organic matter contents and low to zero contents of montmorillonite. Organic carbon concentrations (0.8–1.0%) of the muddy spill-over turbidites on the levees of NAMOC are sufficient for hydrocarbon source rocks; their association with coarse-grained channel sediments would make them interesting exploration targets if they occurred in shallower water in the subsurface.

The Northwest Atlantic Mid-Ocean Channel of the Labrador Sea. V. Sedimentology of a giant deep-sea channel

1987 ◽  
Vol 24 (8) ◽  
pp. 1595-1624 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reinhard Hesse ◽  
Sung Kwun Chough ◽  
Allan Rakofsky
Keyword(s):  
Deep Sea ◽  
Coarse Grained ◽  
Labrador Sea ◽  
Turbidity Currents ◽  
Layer By Layer ◽  
Seismic Profiles ◽  
Northwest Atlantic ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Meandering Channel ◽  
History Of

The Northwest Atlantic Mid-Ocean Channel (NAMOC) is one of the largest deep-sea channels of the world's oceans. During the late Cenozoic glacial period, the channel played a major role in the depositional history of the Labrador Sea and northwest Atlantic in controlling sedimentation of a broad (approx. 500 m thick and 200 km wide) lens of turbidites. This sediment sequence interfingers laterally with the acoustically transparent pelagic and contourite facies found in the Labrador Basin. The meandering channel is a depositional–erosional feature formed by submarine mass flows, predominantly turbidity currents.The channel contains a meandering talweg that appears to be associated with a sequence of submarine point bars containing thick-bedded, coarse-grained turbidites and gravel layers (channel-fill facies). Old channel positions on seismic profiles indicate that the channel has migrated laterally up to 30 km both to the west and to the east.Natural levees flank the channel for its entire length, extending laterally into turbidite plains 60–100 km wide. The spill-over facies comprises thin-bedded, fine-grained turbidites dominated by thinly laminated muds. Individual units of parallel-laminated mud, which result from single turbidity currents overtopping the channel banks, average 3 cm in thickness. A layer by layer correlation of a sequence of spill-over turbidites is possible between two adjacent cores 70 km apart. Coarse-grained off-channel sediments recently discovered on both levees at distances up to 55 km from the NAMOC occur in tributary channels.Turbidity current activity in the channel probably started with the onset of glaciation at about mid-Pliocene time and ceased at about 7000 years BP, when deglaciation proceeded rapidly. The sedimentation rate for the last episode of overbank deposition on the levees, which probably occurred between 11 000 and 7000 years BP, is 13 cm/1000 years. Towards the end of glacial episodes the northwestern Labrador Sea was probably covered with sea ice.

Petrology and Sedimentation of Huronian Arenites, South of Espanola, Ontario

1971 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. M. Casshyap
Keyword(s):  
Depositional Environment ◽  
Source Rocks ◽  
Coarse Grained ◽  
Integrated Analysis ◽  
Rock Fragments ◽  
The North ◽  
Potassic Feldspar ◽  
Lithostratigraphic Units ◽  
Near Shore ◽  
Granitoid Rocks

The five arenaceous lithostratigraphic units of the Huronian sequence recognized in the Espanola–Willisville area are the Mississagi, Espanola, Serpent, and the Lorrain Formation, as also the intercalated zone which forms the uppermost subdivision of the Gowganda Formation.The bulk of the Huronian arenites is a mixed assemblage of fine, medium, and coarse subarkose, and arkose which are either poorly sorted, muddy fine-to-medium grained (Mississagi, calcareous Espanola, lower Serpent) and muddy medium-to-coarse grained (lower and middle Lorrain), or, moderately well-sorted, medium-to-coarse grained (middle and upper Serpent and intercalated zone). There is, however, one unit in the upper part of the Huronian sequence (uppermost Lorrain) which is a brilliant white supermature quartzarenite. Among the notable petrographic features are a lower quartz – feldspar ratio, rock fragments of metasedimentary and metavolcanic origin, and occasionally occurring rounded quartz. The feldspathic debris for these arenites was derived largely from the older granitoid rocks similar to the 'Algoman granite' of the Canadian Shield to the north of the study area and partly from the supracrustal rocks infolded in the granitoid terrain. Dominance of plagioclase (oligoclase ?) over potassic feldspar and their overall freshness in the arenites may suggest that the source rocks by and large were not deeply weathered,An integrated analysis of lithologie association and sedimentary characters, including texture and mineralogy of the arenites, possibly indicates a near-shore depositional environment (? fluviatile-deltaic) for several Huronian arenites (Mississagi, Serpent, intercalated zone, and middle and upper Lorrain); some may be deltaic-marine (lower part of lower Lorrain). Calcareous Espanola was perhaps deposited beyond the shoreline partly in deeper waters and partly in shallow turbulent environment. Likewise, clean white quartzarenite of top Lorrain may represent deposition in the turbulent fore-shore zone (beach or shelf).

Developmental modes of the Neoproterozoic-Lower Paleozoic marine hydrocarbon source rocks in China

2007 ◽  
Vol 52 (S1) ◽  
pp. 77-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
BaoMin Zhang ◽  
ShuiChang Zhang ◽  
LiZeng Bian ◽  
ZhiJun Jin ◽  
DaRui Wang
Keyword(s):  
Source Rocks ◽  
Lower Paleozoic ◽  
Hydrocarbon Source Rocks

Evidence for pyroclastic emplacement of the Crowsnest Formation, Alberta

1996 ◽  
Vol 33 (5) ◽  
pp. 715-728 ◽  
Author(s):  
R.N. Adair ◽  
R.A. Burwash
Keyword(s):  
Elevated Temperatures ◽  
Pyroclastic Flows ◽  
Coarse Grained ◽  
Rock Fragment ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Rock Fragments ◽  
Explosive Phase ◽  
Graded Structures ◽  
Textural Evidence ◽  
Charred Wood

The middle Cretaceous Crowsnest Formation west of Coleman, Alberta, is composed of bedded alkaline volcanic deposits containing heterolithic volcanic rock fragments and crystal clasts. Comparison with modern examples of subaerial pyroclastic rocks suggests that pyroclastic flows, surges, fallout of material from vertical eruption columns, and minor mud flows emplaced the deposits. Textural evidence in the form of plastically deformed volcanic fragments, chilled deposit margins, baked rock fragment margins, recrystallization, and the presence of charred wood and charred wood molds indicate emplacement at elevated temperature. Massive deposits containing a fine-grained basal zone are interpreted as the product of pyroclastic flows, whereas deposits characterized by a block-rich base overlain by a thin layer of block-depleted stratified material are interpreted as the product of density-stratified surges. Deposits exhibiting pronounced stratification were emplaced by ash-cloud surges. Thickly bedded breccias exhibiting rheomorphic textures were emplaced as vent-proximal pyroclastic flows. Deposits characterized by parallel beds and graded structures are interpreted as fallout tephra deposits, and deposition by lahars is indicated by coarse-grained beds that lack evidence for emplacement at elevated temperatures. The eruptions of the Crowsnest Formation were cyclical. An initial explosive phase generated deposits by pyroclastic flows, surges, fallout, and lahars. As an eruption progressed, it evolved into a poorly gas-charged effusive stage that emplaced coarsely porphyritic domes, plugs, spines, and vent-proximal lava flows. Subsequent eruptions destroyed the effusive vent facies deposits and produced abundant heterolithic clasts typical of the formation.

scholarly journals A missing link in the peri-Gondwanan terrane collage: the Precambrian basement of the Moroccan Meseta and its lower Paleozoic cover

2018 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominik Letsch ◽  
Mohamed El Houicha ◽  
Albrecht von Quadt ◽  
Wilfried Winkler
Keyword(s):  
Carbonate Platform ◽  
Source Area ◽  
Source Rocks ◽  
Lower Paleozoic ◽  
Northern Margin ◽  
Precambrian Geology ◽  
The North ◽  
Late Cambrian ◽  
Paleozoic Rocks ◽  
Rifted Margin

This article provides stratigraphic and geochronological data from a central part of Gondwana’s northern margin — the Moroccan Meseta Domain. This region, located to the north of the Anti-Atlas area with extensive outcrops of Precambrian and lower Paleozoic rocks, has hitherto not received much attention with regard to its Precambrian geology. Detrital and volcanic zircon ages have been used to constrain sedimentary depositional ages and crustal affinities of sedimentary source rocks in stratigraphic key sections. Based on this, a four-step paleotectonic evolution of the Meseta Domain from the Ediacaran until the Early Ordovician is proposed. This evolution documents the transition from a terrestrial volcanic setting during the Ediacaran to a short-lived carbonate platform setting during the early Cambrian. The latter then evolved into a rifted margin with deposition of thick siliciclastic successions in graben structures during the middle to late Cambrian. The detritus in these basins was of local origin, and a contribution from a broader source area (encompassing parts of the West African Craton) can only be demonstrated for postrifting, i.e., laterally extensive sandstone bodies that seal the former graben. In a broader paleotectonic context, it is suggested that this Cambrian rifting is linked to the opening of the Rheic Ocean, and that several peri-Gondwanan terranes (Meguma and Cadomia–Iberia) may have been close to the Meseta Domain before drifting, albeit some of them seem to have been constituted by a distinctly different basement.

Foxe Platform and Basin Tectono-Sedimentary Element

2021 ◽  
pp. M57-2016-27
Author(s):  
Denis Lavoie ◽  
Nicolas Pinet ◽  
Shunxin Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Black Shales ◽  
Coarse Grained ◽  
Hudson Bay ◽  
Precambrian Basement ◽  
Upper Ordovician ◽  
Lower Paleozoic ◽  
Lower Silurian ◽  
The North ◽  
Marine Carbonate ◽  
Single Well

AbstractThe Foxe Platform and Basin Tectono-Sedimentary Element is an ovoid-shaped, predominantly marine basin located in the Canadian Arctic. The Paleozoic sedimentary succession (Cambrian to Silurian) unconformably overlies the Precambrian basement and reaches a maximum measured thickness of slightly over 500 metres in the only exploration well drilled in this basin. The Lower Paleozoic Foxe Platform and Basin Tectono-Sedimentary Element is surrounded by Precambrian basement and by the Paleozoic Arctic Platform to the north and by the Paleozoic-Mesozoic (?) Hudson Bay Strait Platform and Basin to the south. The Paleozoic succession consists of a Cambrian clastic-dominated interval overlain by Ordovician to lower Silurian predominantly shallow marine carbonate. Other than a single well drilled in the northern part of the basin, no subsurface information is available. Thermally immature Upper Ordovician organic matter rich calcareous black shales have been mapped on the onshore extension of the basin to the southeast. Potential hydrocarbon reservoirs consist of Cambrian porous coarse-grained clastics as well as Upper Ordovician dolostones and reefs.

scholarly journals Petrography and Organic Geochemistry Characterizations of Lower Paleozoic Organic-Rich Shale in the Northwestern Upper Yangtze Plate: Niutitang Formation and Longmaxi Formation, Dabashan Foreland Belt

Minerals ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (10) ◽  
pp. 439 ◽  
Author(s):  
Delu Li ◽  
Rongxi Li ◽  
Di Zhao ◽  
Feng Xu
Keyword(s):  
Gas Chromatography ◽  
Organic Matter ◽  
Organic Geochemistry ◽  
Source Rocks ◽  
Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Mature Stage ◽  
Type I ◽  
Lower Paleozoic ◽  
Longmaxi Formation ◽  
Niutitang Formation

Measurements of total organic carbon, Rock-Eval pyrolysis, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope, maceral examination, gas chromatography, and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry were conducted on the organic-rich shale of Lower Paleozoic Niutitang Formation and Longmaxi Formation in Dabashan foreland belt to discuss the organic matter characteristic, organic matter origin, redox condition, and salinity. The results indicate that the Niutiang Formation and Longmaxi Formation organic-rich shale are good and very good source rocks with Type I kerogen. Both of the shales have reached mature stage for generating gas. Biomarker analyses indicate that the organic matter origin of Niutitang Formation and Longmaxi Formation organic-rich shale are all derived from the lower bacteria and algae, and the organic matter are all suffered different biodegradation degrees. During Niutitang Formation and Longmaxi Formation period, the redox conditions are both anoxic with no stratification and the sedimentary water is normal marine water.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document