The Makganyene Formation forms the base of the Postmasburg Group in the Transvaal Supergroup in the Griqualand West Basin. It consists of diamictites, sandstones, banded iron-formations (BIFs), shales, siltstones and carbonates. It is generally accepted that the Makganyene Formation rests on an erosive regional unconformity throughout the Northern Cape Province. However this study demonstrates that this stratigraphic relationship is not universal, and conformable contacts have been observed. One of the principal aims of this study is to identify the nature of the Makganyene basal contact throughout the Griqualand West Basin. Intensive fieldwork was carried out from Prieska in the south, to Danielskuil in the north. In the Sishen and Hotazel areas, only borehole material was available to assess the stratigraphy. The Griquatown Fault Zone delimits the boundary between the deep basin and platform facies. The Koegas Subgroup is only present south of the Griquatown Fault Zone, where it pinches out. However, the transition Griquatown BIFs-Koegas Subgroup occurs in lacustrine deposits on the Ghaap platform (Beukes, 1983). The Griquatown Fault Zone represents the edge of the basin, which corresponds to a hinge rather than a fault zone. The Makganyene Formation rests with a conformable contact on the Koegas Subgroup south of the Griquatown Hinge Zone, and north of it the Makganyene Formation lies unconformably on the Asbestos Hills Subgroup. The Makganyene Formation displays lateral facies changes that reflect the paleogeography of the Griqualand West Basin, and the development of ice sheets/shelves. The Ghaap platform is characterised by coarse immature sand interbedded with the diamictites. The clasts in this area contain local Asbestos Hills material and no dropstones are present. Such settings are typical of sediments that are being deposited below a grounded ice mass. At the Griquatown Hinge Zone, the sandstone lenses are smaller, and the clasts consist of chert, of which a great number are striated and faceted. In the Matsap area, the presence of dropstones is strong evidence for the presence of a floating ice shelf that released its material by basal melting. Further south, the Makganyene Formation contains stromatolitic bioherms that only form if clastic contamination is minimal and therefore the ice that transported the detritus to the basin did not extend far into open sea conditions. The base of the Hotazel Formation also contains diamictite levels. Dropstones have been identified, implying a glacial origin. The Hotazel diamictites are interbedded with hyaloclastites and BIFs. The Makganyene glacial event, therefore, was not restricted to the Makganyene Formation, but also included the Ongeluk Formation, through to the base of the Hotazel Formation. Petrographic studies of the Makganyene Formation and the base of the Hotazel Formation reveal mineral assemblages that are diagnostic of early to late diagenetic crystallisation and of low-grade metamorphism not exceeding the very low green-schist facies. The facies identified display the same sense of basin deepening, from shallow high-energy Hotazel area on the Ghaap platform, to the deep basin in the Matsap area. Whole-rock geochemical analyses reveal that the elemental composition of the Makganyene Formation is very similar to that of the Asbestos Hills BIFs, which were the most important source of clastic detritus for the Makganyene Formation. However, minor amounts of carbonates of the Campbellrand Subgroup, as well as a felsic crustal input from the Archean granitoid basement, made contributions. On the Ghaap platform, the Makganyene diamictite is enriched in iron, calcium, and magnesium, while in the deeper parts of the basin the diamictites are enriched in detrital elements, such as titanium and aluminium, which occur in the fine clay component. The Hotazel diamictite displays a distinct mafic volcanic input, related to the extrusion of the Ongeluk basaltic andesites, which was incorporated in the glacial sediments. Sequence stratigraphy is based on the recognition of contacts separating the different systems tracts that compose a depositional sequence. However, because the basal contact of the Makganyene Formation has not been properly identified in previous work, no correct model has been proposed so far. Therefore correlations between the Griqualand West and the Transvaal basins, based on lithostratigraphic similarities and extrapolations of unconformities, have to be reviewed, especially since the publication of new radiometric ages contradict all previously proposed correlations. It is proposed here that the Transvaal Supergroup in the Griqualand West Basin represents a continuous depositional event that lasted about 200 Ma. The Makganyene glacial event occurred during changing conditions in the chemistries of the atmosphere and ocean, and in the continental configuration. A Snowball Earth event has been proposed as the causative process of such paleoenvironmental changes. However, evidence presented here of less dramatic glacial conditions, with areas of ice-free waters, implies an alternative to the Snowball Earth event. The paleoenvironmental changes are thought to represent a transition from an anaerobic to aerobic atmosphere, that was responsible for the global cooling of the surface of the Earth, Such a glacial event may have aided in the large-scale precipitation of iron and manganese in areas of intense upwellings.

This diploma thesis presents first systematic geochemical a petrographical research of clastic bands in the lower-miocene Main Coal of the Most Basin. The main target of the thesis is evaluation of proxy analyses (EDXRF) of clastic bands and ash yield from coal. This method allows for identification of paleogeographic information about provenance of clastics derived from two different sources. The first source area represents weathered Tertiary volcanoclastics and the second is derived from crystalline basement in southwest part of the Bohemian Massif. Different geochemical signal of these two source areas detected in clastic bands allowed to constrain the switching of provenance into the lower part of the middle bench of the Main Coal in the Bílina open-cast mine whereas in the Doly Nástup-Tušimice mine this change occurs below the Main Coal. This result corresponds with idea of gradual changing of provenance across basin. Anomalous geochemical composition characterised by apparently increased content of Sr-Ba-P-Ca elements in one of clastic bands in the lower part of the Main Coal exposed in the Doly Nástup-Tušimice open-cast mine is related to presence of phosphate group minerals florencite and woodhouseite minerals as confirmed by RTG diffraction. This assemblage suggests possible admixture of...

This dissertation thesis is a summary of five studies published in peer- reviewed, impacted scientific journals. All of the publications are taxonomic revisions of previously unknown or little known collections of fossil cephalopods from the Early Paleozoic strata of Bohemia, Estonia and Sweden. Paleogeogra- phical and stratigraphical distributions of the respective taxa were summarized, refined and compared with contemporary fossil assemblages known from other regions. Implications on the paleoecology of the cephalopods and original envi- ronmental conditions were made. The text of the thesis is divided into three main parts. In the first part, the morphology of cephalopods is explained, stressing out the most important diagnostic characters used for their descriptions. The current systematics of the Cephalopoda is overviewed and the main cephalopod groups during the Ordovician are briefly introduced. The second part of the thesis describes the geological development and settings of the regions, from which the studied fossil cephalopods originate. The third and final part of the thesis provides a discussion and interpretation of the results of the published studies in the context of the previously published research. The genus Bactroceras Holm, 1898 and some members of the order Litui- tida were studied...

The latest Eocene and Oligocene was a time of marked paleoenvironmental change in Taranaki Basin, involving a transition from the accumulation of coal measures and inner shelf deposits to the development of upper bathyal environments. Up until the end of the Early Oligocene (Lower Whaingaroan Stage) Taranaki Basin had an extensional tectonic setting. Marine transgression culminated in the accumulation of condensed facies of the Matapo Sandstone Member of the lower part of the Ngatoro Group. During the Late Oligocene (Upper Whaingaroan Stage) Taranaki Basin's tectonic setting changed to one of crustal shortening with basement overthrusting westward into the basin on Taranaki Fault. The major part of the Ngatoro Group in thickness, including the Tariki Sandstone Member, Otaraoa Formation, Tikorangi Formation and Taimana Formation, accumulated in response to this change in tectonic setting. Various methods of stratigraphic and sedimentological characterisation have been undertaken to evaluate the stratigraphy of the Ngatoro Group. Wireline log records have been calibrated through particle sizing and carbonate digestion of well cuttings. A suite of wireline motifs have been defined for formations and members of the Ngatoro Group. The integration with other lithological and paleoenvironmental data sources has helped to better define the Late Eocene - Oligocene stratigraphy and sedimentary facies for eastern Taranaki Basin margin. U-Pb geochronology by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) has been used to determine detrital ages for over 350 zircons from 13 samples of Late Eocene - Oligocene sandstone samples in eastern Taranaki Basin and correlative onshore North Island units. The spread of ages (1554 - 102 Ma) and the proportion of ages in particular age bands integrated with modal petrography data have aided provenance evaluation. A range of source rocks contributed to the Late Eocene - Oligocene sedimentary units analysed, mainly the Waipapa Terrane (Early Permian to Late Jurassic) as shown by 206Pb/238U zircon ages and the abundance of fine-grained sedimentary rock fragments observed in samples. The Median Batholith (i.e. Darran/Median Suite and Separation Point Suite) is also identified as a significant source, indicated by Early Triassic to Early Jurassic and Early Cretaceous 206Pb/238U zircon ages and an abundance of quartz in samples. Other minor sources identified include Murihiku and Caples Terranes, Rakaia Sub-terrane and possibly the Karamea Batholith. The Tariki Sandstone and the Hauturu Sandstone have the same source, with the main 206Pb/238U zircon ages of aggregated samples (124 - 116 Ma and 121 Ma, respectively) consistent with a Separation Point Suite/Median Batholith (124 - 116 Ma) source. Derivation of sediments from a landmass that existed to the east and southeast of the Wellington area has been inferred for the Late Eocene - Oligocene units, with subsequent migration of sediments northward into Taranaki Basin and the Waikato Region (i.e. Te Kuiti Group depocentre) via longshore drift. New provenance data have been used to revise understanding about the development of eastern Taranaki Basin margin through the Late Eocene to earliest Miocene. Three new paleogeography maps are presented for the Runangan (Late Eocene), Lower Whaingaroan (Early Oligocene) and Upper Whaingaroan (early-mid-Oligocene). New paleogeography interpretations illustrate a dramatic change in the basin development between Matapo Sandstone (Lower Whaingaroan) and Tariki Sandstone (Upper Whaingaroan) deposition, consistent with an Upper Whaingaroan age for the start of reverse movement on Taranaki Fault.

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Cette thèse présente la première étude Source-to-Sink de la marge Atlantique Equatoriale africaine au Méso-Cénozoïque. Nous avons dans un premier temps produit, à partir d'une nouvelle méthode intégrant les limites d'érosion des dépôts préservés dans les bassins et leur extension initiale minimum, une nouvelle reconstruction paléogéographique et structurale couplant pour la première fois le continent ouest africain et l'Atlantique Equatoriale au cours du Méso-Cénozoïque. Ceci nous permet de suivre l'évolution depuis 200 Ma des domaines en érosion (sources) et en sédimentation (puits) à l'échelle continentale. Nous montrons en particulier qu'au Crétacé supérieur la zone correspondait à un grand bassin intracratonique Saharien qui exportaient ses sédiments à la fois vers la Téthys et vers l'Atlantique Equatoriale. La fragmentation de ce bassin a eu lieu à l'Oligocène par le soulèvement du bouclier du Hoggar qui a isolé les petits dépôt-centres résiduels actuels. Le développement de cette topographie particulière est issu de la superposition de différentes longueurs d'onde de déformation à l'échelle continentale combinant les bourrelets marginaux longeant la marge équatoriale et un bombement de type " point chaud ".Nous avons ensuite caractérisé, à partir de l'interprétation des données sismiques et des puits, la segmentation de la marge continentale équatoriale en segments transformants et divergents et l'architecture stratigraphique post-rift du prisme stratigraphique associée au Crétacé Supérieur. Nous montrons que les parties proximales (dépôts de plateforme et pente continentale) des prismes stratigraphiques du Crétacé Supérieur ne sont préservés que le long des segments divergents de la marge, et pas le long des segments transformants. Nous interprétons cette différence de préservation comme résultant de mouvements verticaux post-rift plus importants dans les domaines proximaux des segments transformants empêchant la préservation des termes proximaux des systèmes sédimentaires. La caractérisation des architectures stratigraphiques post-rifts a ensuite permis la quantification des volumes sédimentaires préservés dans ces bassins de marges passives. En parallèle, de nouvelles données de thermochronologie basse-température (AFTA et (U-Th-Sm/He sur apatite) acquises à l'Université de Glasgow sur les échantillons de trois profils perpendiculaires à la marge équatoriale ont permis de quantifier l'histoire de l'érosion et les volumes dénudés sur le domaine continental au cours du Méso-Cénozoïque. Ces données montrent que le seul événement thermique majeur enregistré correspond au refroidissement lié à la dénudation d'une topographie syn-rift le long de la marge. Le bilan d'érosion et d'accumulation montre que les ordres de grandeur des volumes dénudés et accumulés sont comparables à l'échelle de la marge équatoriale au cours du Méso-Cénozoïque. Certaines périodes (Crétacé Supérieur et depuis le Miocène Supérieur), montrent cependant un excès d'accumulation qui pourrait être associé à la remobilisation de sédiments précédemment stockés dans des bassins intracontinentaux ou sur la plateforme de la marge. / This PhD thesis presents the first source-to-sink study of the African Atlantic Equatorial margin. We established new Meso-Cenozoic paleogeographic and structural reconstructions, integrating the West African sub-continent and the Equatorial Atlantic Ocean, based on a new mapping method defining both erosion limits of preserved deposits and their minimum original extension. We show the evolution over 200 Myrs of the eroding (sources) and accumulating domains (sinks) at continental scale. We demonstrate in particular that during the Cretaceous, a large Saharan intracratonic basin was exporting sediments toward both the Tethys and the future Atlantic Equatorial Ocean. The fragmentation of this basin occurred in the Oligocene, by the growth of the Hoggar swell that isolated the present-day small residual depot-centers. The development of this specific "basin and swell" topography results from the superimposition of various deformation wavelength at continental scale combining a marginal upwarp along the equatorial margin and a hot spot swell. We then characterized, from the interpretation of seismic data and well logs, the segmentation of the Equatorial Atlantic passive margin and the stratigraphic architecture of the post-rift Upper Cretaceous sedimentary wedge. We show that the proximal parts of the Late Cretaceous sedimentary wedge are only preserved along divergent segments of the margin and not along transform segments. We interpret this differential preservation as the result of a greater uplift, during the early post-rift, in the proximal parts of the transform segments preventing the preservation of the proximal terms of the sedimentary systems. The transform segments are associated with narrow necking zone, resulting in greater flexural uplift than divergent segments showing wider necking zones, in particular during the early post-rift. The characterization of the stratigraphic architecture of the post-rift sedimentary wedge then allowed for the quantification of accumulation history in the passive margin basins. New low-temperature thermochronological data (AFTA and Apatite (U-Th-Sm)/He) acquired at the University of Glasgow on the samples of three regional transects perpendicular to the margin allowed for the quantification of the denudation history and eroded volume on the continental domain. These data shows that the major thermal event recorded by those samples is the cooling phase related to the erosion of a rift-related topography along the margin. Erosion and accumulation budgets fall within the same order of magnitude. During some given periods (Late Cretaceous and since the Late Miocene), excess in accumulation may be associated with the reworking of sediments previously stored within intracontinental basins or on the shelf of the margin.

The Karoo Basin of South Africa holds an estimated 906 billion to 11 trillion cubic meters of unconventional shale gas within the shales of the Whitehill and Collingham formations of the Ecca Group. Evaluation of this potential resource has been limited due to the lack of exploration and a scarcity of existing drill core data. In order to circumnavigate this problem this study was undertaken to evaluate the potential target horizons exposed in outcrops along the southern portion of the Karoo Basin, north of Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape Province. Detailed field logging was done on the exposed Whitehill and Collingham formations as well as a possible conventional sandstone (turbidite) reservoir, the Ripon Formation, along road cuttings of the Ecca Pass. Palaeocurrent data, jointing directions and fossil material were also documented. Samples were analysed for mineralogy, porosity, permeability, and total organic carbon content (TOC). The extensively weathered black shales of the Whitehill Formation contain a maximum TOC value of 0.9% and the Collingham Formation shales contain a maximum TOC value of 0.6%. The organic lithic arkose sandstones of the Ripon Formation are classified as ‘tight rock’ with an average porosity of 1% and an average permeability of 0.05 mD. The Whitehill Formation in the southern portion of the Karoo Basin has experienced organic matter loss due to low grade metamorphism as well as burial to extreme depths, thus reducing shale gas potential. The Ripon Formation is an unsuitable conventional reservoir along the southern basin boundary due to extensive cementation and filling of pore spaces.

La caractérisation géochimique et isotopique des eaux souterraines de la « zone minéralisée de l’Entre-Deux-Mers » indique une origine commune de la minéralisation, directement liée à la minéralogie des formations captées par les forages.La géochimie montre que les interactions eau-roche sont majoritairement influencées par la présence d’évaporites, mais que d’autres interactions mettant en jeu des carbonates, des silicates et des argiles existent. Un modèle géochimique d’acquisition de la minéralisation reconstitue parfaitement la chimie des eaux souterraines à l’échelle de la zone d’étude. Ce modèle, construit en se basant sur la géochimie des eaux et sur la minéralogie des formations tertiaires du nord du Bassin aquitain, met à l’équilibre des eaux avec des formations carbonatées et évaporitiques. Afin de mieux comprendre la distribution latérale et verticale des formations tertiaires et leur minéralogie, une approche paléogéographique et sédimentologique a permis de localiser les différents horizons riches en sulfates et/ou en fluorures, mais aussi de comprendre leur origine de dépôt. En se basant sur l’hydrogéologie, la paléogéographie, la minéralogie et la géochimie, des hypothèses de répartition de la minéralisation à l’échelle du forage ont pu être testées. Les résultats de la modélisation couplée hydrodynamique–transport reconstituent la chimie des eaux prélevées par les forages de la « zone minéralisée de l’Entre-Deux-Mers ». Au vu de ces résultats, un modèle avec obturation des horizons riches en sulfates et en fluorures a été testé et les résultats obtenus ouvrent des perspectives pour des futures recherches. Ce travail a donc permis de comprendre l’origine de la minéralisation des eaux de « la zone minéralisée de l’Entre-Deux-Mers », mais aussi de proposer des améliorations et des perspectives pour une meilleure gestion d’une des principales ressources en eau potable de la Gironde. / Geochemical and isotopic characterizations of groundwaters in the "mineralized Entre-Deux-Mers area" indicate a common origin of the mineralization, directly linked to the mineralogy of the formations abstracted by drilling.Geochemistry shows that water-rock interactions are mainly influenced by the presence of evaporites, and that but that other interactions involving carbonates, silicates and clays exist. A geochemical model based on the water geochemistry and mineralogy of the Tertiary formations of northern Aquitaine Basin fix waters in equilibrium with evaporitic and carbonated formations. This model reconstitutes perfectly the groundwaters’ chemistry across the study area and explains the mineralization acquisition. Improving the understanding of the lateral and vertical distribution of tertiary formations and their mineralogy requires a sedimentological and paleogeographical approach. This approach allowed to locate the different layers rich in sulphates and/or fluoride and to understand also their origin.Based on hydrogeology, paleogeography, mineralogy and geochemistry, the distribution of the mineralization has been tested at the borehole scale. The results of this coupled hydrodynamic-transport modeling reconstitute the chemistry of the groundwaters in the "mineralized Entre-Deux-Mers area." A model, that considers the sealing of sulphates- and fluorides-rich layers has been tested and its results highlights future research perspectives. This work has allowed understanding the origin of the mineralization of the waters "of the mineralized Entre-Deux-Mers area" and also suggests improvements and prospects for sustainable management of a major drinking water resource in Gironde.

<p dir="ltr">The Intermontane terranes represent one of the largest composite accreted terranes that built the northern Cordillera. To better understand the interactions between the continental margin of Laurentia and the Intermontane terranes, this study analyzes twelve detrital zircon samples (n=3232) from a Neoproterozoic (?) to Cretaceous metasedimentary stratigraphic section exposed in central Alaska. Distinct detrital zircon populations have been identified and are interpreted to represent four stages in the geologic development of this part of western North America. Stage 1 extends from the Neoproterozoic (?) to the Early Paleozoic, and is characterized by Proterozoic and Archean detrital zircon populations that correlate with Laurentian sources of sediment. We interpret Stage 1 to represent deposition along the northwestern continental margin of Laurentia. Stage 2 extends from the Silurian (?) to the Devonian and is characterized by a dominant Devonian and Silurian detrital zircon population. We interpret Stage 2 to have been deposited in a backarc basin coeval with active volcanism as the Yukon-Tanana terrane was rifted away from the Laurentian continental margin as the Slide Mountain Ocean opened. Stage 3 extends from the Mississippian to the Jurassic and records a shift back to sediment sources with abundant Proterozoic and Archean zircon. We interpret this stage to represent deposition of Laurentian detritus along the eastern margin of the Slide Mountain Ocean basin. Stage 4 is represented by the Lower Cretaceous strata of the Manley basin that contain one major Late Triassic to Early Jurassic detrital zircon population. We interpret this population to be sourced from the syn-collisional and post-collisional Late Triassic to Early Jurassic plutons and related sedimentary basins of the Intermontane terranes that were exhumed and eroded during the closure of the Slide Mountain Ocean and the subsequent collision with the Laurentian continental margin. We interpret the Manley basin as a syn- to post-collisional extensional basin associated with regional detachment faults that formed because of crustal thickening in the collisional zone. From a regional perspective, an extensive clastic wedge prograded northward away from the zone of crustal thickening and can be identified in a series of Mesozoic sedimentary basins that are discontinuously exposed over 1500 km in southern Alaska. Results of our study better delineate the tectonic processes that set the framework for the construction of the Late Mesozoic and Cenozoic Cordilleran orogen.</p>

La pétroarchéologie du silex s’attache à définir les origines des silex retrouvés dans les sites archéologiques. Auvu des avancées méthodologiques récentes (définition toujours plus précise des faciès, vision dynamique duparcours du silex dans son environnement - chaîne évolutive -, mise en place d’une cartographie précise desdomaines minéraux siliceux) il est aujourd’hui possible de préciser non seulement le lieu de formation du silex(gîte primaire) mais également son lieu de collecte (gîte primaire ou secondaire).L’étude exhaustive des silex de collections archéologiques du sud du Massif central à plusieurs moments-clés duPaléolithique supérieur (Gravettien récent et final : Le Blot et Le Rond-de-Saint-Arcons ; Badegoulien : Le Ronddu-Barry et La Roche-à-Tavernat ; et Magdalénien supérieur : Sainte-Anne II) a permis la mise en évidence d’unediversité insoupçonnée de matériaux représentatifs d’un vaste litho-espace (espace géographique comprenantl’ensemble des matériaux considérés). Nous proposons donc un modèle de représentation de l’origine et del’acquisition des matières premières retrouvées sur un site archéologique, non plus sous une forme sito-centrée(en étoile), mais sous la forme d’un réseau de lieux, plus en accord avec les données issues des observationsethnographiques et géographiques. La représentation des différents types de matériaux au sein des industrieslithiques, ainsi que leurs modes d’introduction sur le site, permettent de distinguer les choix opérés par leshommes et les contraintes naturelles subies, autorisant dès lors l’inscription sémantique du litho-espace dans unessai de reconstruction du paléo-espace social. / The petroarchaeology of flint tries to define the origin of flints found in archaeological sites. In view of the recentmethodological advances (definition of the facies always more precise, dynamic vision of the route of the flint inher environment - “evolutionary chain” concept -, precise mapping of the siliceous mineral domains) it isnowadays possible to distinguish not only the formation place of the flint (primary outcrop) but also its retrievalplace (primary or secondary outrcrop).The exhaustive study of archaeological flint collections from the South of the Massif Central of France at varioustimes of the Upper Palaeolithic (recent and final Gravettian: Le Blot and Le Rond-de-Saint-Arcons; Badegoulian:Le Rond-du-Barry and La Roche-à-Tavernat; and Upper Magdalenian: Sainte-Anne II) have permitted thehighlighting of an unexpected diversity of material representative of a huge litho-espace (geographical spaceincluding all the regarded materials). In this respect, we developed a new figuration model of the origin of the rawmaterial discovered in the archaeological site, either in a sito-centred form (like a star), but like a network ofplaces, more in agreement with the ethnographic and geographic data. The presence of different types of flint inthe lithic industries correlated to their introducing pattern on site, allow to distinguish the choices made by theancient men versus the natural constraints they undergone, authorizing consequently the semantic inscription ofthe litho-espace in an attempt of reconstruction of the palaeo-social-space.