Temperate mixed carbonate-siliciclastic sediments and authigenic minerals are the current surficial deposits at shelf and slope depths (30-1015 m water depth) on the north Kaipara continental margin (NKCM) in northern New Zealand. This is the first detailed study of these NKCM deposits which are described and mapped from the analysis of 54 surficial sediment samples collected along seven shorenormal transects and from three short piston cores. Five surficial sediment facies are defined from the textural and compositional characteristics of this sediment involving relict, modern or mixed relict-modern components. Facies 1 (siliciclastic sand) forms a modern sand prism that extends out to outer shelf depths and contains three subfacies. Subfacies 1a (quartzofeldspathic sand) is an extensive North Island volcanic and basement rock derived sand deposit that occurs at less than 100-200 m water depth across the entire NKCM. Subfacies 1b (heavy mineral sand) occurs at less than 50 m water depth along only two transects and consists of predominantly local basaltic to basaltic andesite derived heavy mineral rich (gt30%) deposits. Subfacies 1c (mica rich sand) occurs at one sample site at 300 m water depth and contains 20-30% mica grains, probably sourced from South Island schists and granites. Facies 2 (glauconitic sand) comprises medium to fine sand with over 30% and up to 95% authigenic glauconite grains occurring in areas of low sedimentation on the outer shelf and upper slope (150-400 m water depth) in central NKCM. Facies 3 (mixed bryozoan-siliciclastic sand) consists of greater than 40% bryozoan skeletal material and occurs only in the northern half of the NKCM. Facies 4 (pelletal mud) occurs on the mid shelf (100-150 m water depth) in northern NKCM and comprises muddy sediment dominated by greater than c. 30% mixed carbonatesiliciclastic pellets. Facies 5 (foraminiferal mud and sand) contains at least 30% foraminifera tests and comprises two subfacies. Subfacies 5a consists of at least 50% mud sized sediment and occurs at gt400 m water depth in southern NKCM while subfacies 5b comprises gt70% sand sized sediment and occurs at mid to outer shelf and slope depths in the northern NKCM. vi A number of environmental controls affect the composition and distribution of NKCM sediments and these include: (1) variable sediment inputs to the NKCM dominated by inshore bedload sources from the south; (2) northerly directed nearshore littoral and combined storm-current sediment transport on the beach and shelf, respectively; (3) offshore suspended sediment bypassing allowing deposition of authigenic minerals and skeletal grains; (4) exchange between the beach and shelf producing similar compositions and grain sizes at less than 150 m water depth; and (5) the episodic rise of sea level since the Last Glaciation maximum approximately 20 000 years ago which has resulted in much sediment being left stranded at greater depths than would otherwise be anticipated. Sedimentation models developed from other wave-dominated shelves generally do not appear to apply to the NKCM sediments due to their overall relative coarseness and their mosaic textural characteristics. In particular, the NKCM sediments do not show the expected fining offshore trends of most wavedominated shelf models. Consequently, sandy sediments (both siliciclastic and authigenic) are most typical with mud becoming a dominant component in southern NKCM sediments only at greater than 400 m water depth, over 350 m deeper than most models suggest, a situation accentuated by the very low mud sediment supply to the NKCM from the bordering Northland landmass.

The first Isaac carbonate (FIC) is a mixed siliciclastic-carbonate base-of-slope succession in the Neoproterozoic Windermere Supergroup (WSG). Outstanding outcrop exposure at three study areas provided an excellent opportunity to observe the stratigraphic and isotopic evolution of an ancient deepwater mixed turbidite system. Based on lithological and stratal dimensions, the FIC can be subdivided into lower and upper parts suggesting temporal changes in patterns of sediment transport and deposition. δ13Ccarb also changes from -5.2‰ at the base of the FIC to 2.5‰ in the middle and then decreases to -6.3‰ at the top. Notably, the δ13Ccarb of primary cement in FIC strata is substantially more positive than most other Neoproterozoic deep-marine sections, suggesting the retention of their original shallow-marine isotopic signature. Nevertheless, this trend potentially correlates with the EN2 excursion in China and therefore the Gaskiers glaciation (~580 Ma), although better age control of WSG is needed to corroborate this correlation.

The sequence stratigraphic development of the subsurface Paleogene, Albemarle Basin, North Carolina, was defined using well cuttings and wireline logs tied into largely published biostratigraphic and available seismic data. Facies include: silty and shelly sands and shell beds (estuarine/lagoon/protected inner shelf facies); clean quartz sands and sandy mollusk-fragment grainstones (shoreface/shallow shelf); phosphatic hardgrounds (current and wave-swept shoreface and shallow shelf); bryozoan and echinoderm grainstones/packstones (storm reworked middle shelf); and fine skeletal wackestones and planktonic marls (slightly storm-winnowed to sub-wave base, deeper shelf). Paleogene deposition on this high-energy, open-shelf was characterized by a distinctive shelf profile of inner shelf and inner shelf break, deep shelf and continental shelf/slope break. The successive positions of terminal supersequence inner-shelf-breaks parallel the modern day continental margin and its onshore arches. Thickness trends were strongly controlled by more rapid subsidence within the Albemarle Basin. The Paleocene supersequence is dominated by deep shelf marl and developed following flooding after the latest Cretaceous low-stand. Major shallowing occurred at the end of the Early Paleocene and near the end of the Late Paleocene. The Eocene supersequence developed following lowstand deposition (evident on seismic) just off the terminal Paleocene depositional shelf break. With flooding, a major transgressive sediment body developed (Pamlico spur), that formed a 50 km wide by 50 m high promontory at the inner shelf break, followed by HST progradation of quartzose and bryozoan-echinoderm open shelf carbonates that filled in the laterally adjacent shelf topography. This was followed by ancestral Gulf Stream incision of the southeast-trending, shallow shelf to the south, and deep shelf further northeast. Late Eocene-Oligocene deposition was initiated with localized lowstand sedimentation off the earlier terminal inner shelf break, followed by thin regional marl deposition and widespread highstand inner shelf, quartz sands and quartzose carbonates. Localized Late Oligocene lowstand deposition occurred along the earlier Oligocene terminal inner shelf break, followed by widespread deposition of quartzose facies over the shallow shelf. Oligocene units on the deep shelf were modified by highstand Gulf Stream scour. / Ph. D.

Cores, quarry exposures, and exploratory wells in the Paleogene Albemarle Basin, North Carolina sample the transition between the southern carbonate and northern siliciclastic provinces of the eastern U.S. continental shelf succession. The study area includes the relatively positive Cape Fear Arch on the Onslow Block to the south, and the slowly subsiding (1.5 cm/ky) Albemarle Block to the north. The Paleogene supersequence set boundary is a hardground on Cretaceous shoreface/shallow-shelf mollusk facies. It is overlain by a thin Paleocene sequence of deeper offshore, glauconitic fine sands to deep marine silt-shale. Five regionally mappable, vertically stacked Eocene sequences are 0 to 30 m thick and contain coastal sands, shoreface sandy-mollusk rudstones, offshore bryozoan grainstone-packstones and subwave base fine wackestone-packstone and marl. The Eocene sequences commonly are bounded by hardgrounds, overlain by thin local lowstand sands and consist of a thin transgressive unit (commonly absent), overlain by an upward shallowing highstand marine succession. On the arch, lowstand and transgressive units may be condensed into lags. The Lower Oligocene succession on the arch has a single marl to fine foram sand dominated sequence whereas downdip, two to three sequences are developed, capped by nearshore sandy molluscan facies. The Upper Oligocene is dominated by possibly three sequences composed of basal, thin sands up into variably sandy mollusk rudstone. Sequence development was influenced by differential movement of the basement blocks, coupled with increasing 3rd order eustatic sea level changes during global cooling. This was coupled with swell-wave and current sweeping of the shelf that effectively decreased available accommodation by 20 to 30 m, and generated the distinctive hardgrounds on sequence boundaries, and variable development of lowstand and transgressive system tracts. The well developed highstands reflect maximum accommodation allowing deposition of an upward shallowing succession that terminated at the depth of wave abrasion on the open shelf. The sequence stratigraphic development contrasts markedly with that from tropical shelves. / Master of Science

This study uses a new integrated outcrop data and airborne lidar from Slaughter Canyon, New Mexico, to quantitatively characterize the cycle-scale facies architecture within the G23-G26 high frequency sequences of the Yates Formation. High frequency cycle-scale mapping of these sequences shows sedimentological evidence for accommodation reduction associated with the Permain composite sequence (CS) 13 highstand (G23-G25). Development of the G26 HFS additionally demonstrates the isochronous balance of mixed carbonate-siliciclastic deposition across the Yates-Capitan reef-rimmed shelf during the initial CS-scale transgression following significant exposure and bypass of sand across the shelf. This sequence framework is quantitatively analyzed using progradation to aggradation (P/A) ratios, facies proportions, facies tract dip width, and facies tract bedding angles to evaluate the interplay of eustacy and syndepositional deformation as drivers of stratigraphic architecture. The sequences defined here developed in response to both eustacy and syndepositional deformation, but individual facies distributions and cycle stacking patterns were largely controlled by eustacy; while facies, cycle, and sequence thicknesses as well as facies bedding angles were locally influenced by syndepositional faulting. A reconstruction of each high frequency sequence and stepwise documentation of post-depositional fault displacement and HFS basinward rotation was generated using the lidar data. This analysis shows that the G23-G26 HFS developed basinward-dipping depositional topography from the shelf crest to the shelf margin reef. This geometry was largely unaltered by syndepositional faults during individual HFS deposition, but was rotated basinward shortly thereafter by younger fault movement. The accommodation trends recorded in this largely shelf crest to shelf margin window can be additionally projected into the middle shelf producing zones of the prolific Yates-aged reservoirs on the Northwest Shelf and Central Basin Platform. / text

L’évolution des systèmes sédimentaires jurassiques (Pliensbachien-Bajocien) dans le secteur de Zaouiat-Ahançal (Haut Atlas, Maroc) est localement influencée par des mouvements diapiriques associés à la ride du Jbel Azourki. Cette structure tectonique complexe suit un tracé en baïonnette d’orientation globale OSO-ENE sur près de 60 kilomètres, ponctué par six affleurements de matériel diapirique triasique. L’objectif de cette thèse est de caractériser l’impact du diapirisme sur la géométrie des dépôts et sur la distribution des faciès au sein de trois systèmes de dépôt successifs : (1) un système carbonaté de plate-forme peu profonde (Formations d’Aganane, de Jbel Choucht et d’Assemsouk) (2) des systèmes de rampe mixte silicoclastique et carbonatée (Formations de Tamadout, d’Amezraï, de Tafraout et d’Aguerd-n-Tazoult), (3) et un système carbonaté oolitique (Formation de Bin-El-Ouidane). Une cartographie détaillée des unités stratigraphiques et des unités de faciès, ainsi qu’une série de quatorze coupes géologiques de la ride diapirique du Jbel Azourki ont ainsi été réalisées. L’étude des interactions entre sédimentation et diapirisme révèle un enregistrement continu de la déformation diapirique sur l’ensemble de la série sédimentaire, et a permis d’établir une chronologie de l’activité diapirique dans le secteur de Zaouiat-Ahançal. L’unité des calcaires inférieurs (1) enregistre une déformation polyphasée marquée par le développement localisé, au sein de la plate-forme, de bassins d’extension kilométrique caractérisés par une sédimentation hémipélagique et gravitaire (rim basins). Ces bassins circonscrits aux diapirs sont limités par des bordures de plate-forme bioconstruites à Lithiotis, de type aggradant ou érosif. À partir du Pliensbachien terminal, les déformations syndiapiriques se manifestent dans les unités mixtes (2), d’une part à l’échelle plurikilométrique avec l’accumulation de plusieurs milliers de mètres de dépôts, contrôlée par la variation latérale du taux de subsidence entre et au sein des compartiments nord et sud de la ride, et d’autre part à l’échelle hectométrique de la bordure du diapir avec des géométries caractéristiques et des variations de faciès (micro plates-formes à oolites et coraux). La ride diapirique perce en surface pendant le dépôt des unités mixtes, puis est recouverte par l’unité transgressive peu déformée des calcaires supérieurs (3) à l’Aalénien terminal. Les paramètres de contrôle de la géométrie des dépôts et de la distribution des faciès autour de la ride diapirique du Jbel Azourki correspondent aux variations locales de subsidence liées aux mouvements de la couche de sel en profondeur, au taux de sédimentation et à leur rapport relatif. Ils s’inscrivent dans un contexte tectonique régional, et climatique global, qui définit l’accommodation générale et le type de remplissage sédimentaire du bassin atlasique. Le type de sédimentation, carbonatée ou mixte, joue un rôle prépondérant dans ces manifestations tectono-sédimentaires. / The evolution of the Jurassic sedimentary systems (Pliensbachian-Bajocian) in Zaouiat-Ahançal area (High Atlas, Morocco) is locally controlled by diapiric movements related to the Jbel Azourki ridge. This nearly-60-kilometer-long complex tectonic structure follows an overall WSW-ENE “bayonet-shape” outline, punctuated by six Triassic diapiric outcrops. The aim of this thesis is to characterize the role of diapirism on depositional geometries and facies distribution in three successive sedimentary systems: (1) a shallow-carbonate platform system, (2) mixed siliciclastic- and carbonate-ramp systems and (3) an oolitic-carbonate system. Therefore, a detailed geological map with the stratigraphic and facies units has been realized, as well as a set of fourteen geological sections across the Jbel Azourki diapiric ridge. The analysis of the interactions between sedimentation and diapirism has revealed a continuous recording of diapiric deformation by the entire sedimentary succession, allowing the establishment of a chronology of diapiric activity in the Zaouiat-Ahançal area. The lower-carbonate unit (1) records a polyphase deformation with the development of localized kilometer-scale basins within the platform, characterized by hemipelagic and gravity-flow deposits (rim basins). These basins are confined around the diapirs and bounded by Lithiotis-bioconstructed platform margins, which can be aggradational or erosional. From the late Pliensbachian, the mixed units (2) were affected firstly by syn-diapiric deformations at a pluri-kilometer scale, with the accumulation of several thousand-meter-thick deposits, controlled by lateral variations of the subsidence rate in and between the northern and southern flanks of the ridge, and secondly by syn-diapiric deformations at a hectometer- “diapir-edge” scale, with characteristic geometries and facies variations (oolite- and coral-rich micro platforms). The diapiric ridge reached the surface during the deposition of the mixed units and was finally capped by slightly deformed transgressive upper-carbonate unit (3) in the late Aalenian. The controlling factors on depositional geometries and facies distribution around the Jbel Azourki diapiric ridge are the local variations of the subsidence rate related to salt-movement, the sedimentation rate, and their relative ratio. They are part of the regional tectonic and global climate settings which defined the overall accommodation rate and the sedimentary filling of the atlasic basin. The type of sedimentation, carbonate- or mixed-dominated, played a major role in these tectonic-sedimentary responses.