Reservoir quality of subsurface sandstones depends on the composition, texture and grain size of the initial sediments. These factors are a function of hinterland processes: tectonic setting, provenance, climate and depositional environment, and sediment transportation processes. This study focuses on a modern, dryland, fluvial deposition system from source-to-sink that aims to provide a quantitative dataset analogue to facilitate forward modelling for prediction of subsurface compositions, grain size and textures of reservoir sandstones. Umbum Creek, in the western Lake Eyre Basin of Central Australia, was selected as a small river network (~ 100km²) in order to study source-to-sink sedimentation. The provenance area was analysed using isopach maps derived from a 783 drill-hole dataset, which included stratigraphy and lithology information. Subsequently forty-three samples of different provenance lithotypes from the Umbum Creek catchment were collected for petrographic thin-section analysis. Recent sediments were then sampled from 90 strategically located stream confluences along Umbum Creek and tributaries (proximal, medial and distal subsets). A quantitative textural and compositional dataset was subsequently generated from 34 selected samples. With half-phi sieve analysis (4mm to 32 microns), and an associated petrographic description recognising 72 categories of grain composition was undertaken for each sample. The provenance analysis using isopach maps demonstrated that Palaeozoic and Mesozoic sedimentary basin evolution in the study area was controlled by northeast and northwest-trending structural elements. The regional uplift of the Peake and Denison Inliers that occurred during the Cenozoic had a significant impact on the evolution of the Lake Eyre Basin, causing changes in the provenance of Late Neogene sedimentation and on through to the present. The sink area represents a shallow intracratonic basin whereby a thin veneer of fluvial/lacustrine sediments is accumulating adjacent to a basement uplift. This study has highlighted the importance of multiple sediment provenances. Five different provenance lithotype grains were identified in the Umbum Creek modern sediments: the Gawler Craton plutonic / basement provenance (recycled) the Peake and Denison Inliers Proterozoic volcanic provenance (recycled), the Davenport Ranges metamorphic provenance, the Mesozoic sedimentary provenance and the Cenozoic sedimentary provenance. Whereas a downstream fining of grain size was expected, a general trend of downstream coarsening of grain size was noted being the result of aeolian deflation of fines and intra-basinal coarse-grained sediment contributions. In the sink area, modern sediments from the terminal splay complex comprise 70-80% quartz, 10-20% lithic fragments (of which ~ 7% are ductile lithic grains), < 3% feldspar, and clay (<2%). Grains are sub-angular to well-rounded and moderately well sorted. The compositional and textural maturity of the terminal splay sediments is attributed to reworked plutonic quartz grains, the dissolution and disintegration of feldspar and carbonate grains during transportation, along with the breakdown of lithic fragments due to fluvio-aeolian interactions and subsequent mechanical/ chemical weathering processes. These data were used to build a predictive forward model for modal sandstone analysis that achieved a fair to good correlation between predicted and observed grain lithotypes and provenance categories. These results illustrate that the character of sands in the Umbum Creek catchment are governed by a multiplicity of controls such as tectonic setting, provenance lithotype analysis, climate, regional topographic gradient, hinterland transport distance, basin subsidence rate and depositional environment. The fluvio-aeolian depositional environment along with the current arid to semi-arid playa climatic conditions of Umbum Creek catchment facilitate the growth of clay coatings, however accounts for a low clay matrix within the deposits. In addition, the playa environment also facilitates the alteration of infiltrated detrital clay to kaolinite, the formation of evaporites (gypsum, halite and anhydrite) and the formation of authigenic clays. These factors are all significant in determining the ultimate reservoir quality of reservoir sandstones, emphasising the importance of this study as an analogue for modelling ‘buried’ dryland depositional systems. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1337211 / Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, Australian School of Petroleum, 2008

Le plateau sud-africain (ou Kalahari) est le plateau anorogénique le plus grand au monde. Sa très grande longueur d’onde (×1000 km) et son altitude moyenne élevée (1000-1500 m) impliquent des processus mantelliques. La cinétique et l’origine de ce relief sont mal comprises. D’un côté, les études géomorphologiques le considèrent comme un relief mis en place à la fin de l’intervalle Cénozoïque (<30 Ma). A l’inverse, les données thermochronologiques montrent deux phases de dénudation pendant l’intervalle crétacé, corrélées à des phases d’accélération du flux silicoclastique sur les marges, qui suggèrent qu’il s’agirait d’un relief plus ancien hérité du Crétacé supérieur. Peu d’études ont porté sur l’évolution du système terre-mer depuis le bassin versant en érosion aux marges en sédimentation. Ce travail de thèse repose donc sur une double approche : une analyse géomorphologique des formes du relief (surfaces d’aplanissement) à terre, basée sur leur (i) cartographie, (ii) chronologie relative, (iii) relation avec les profils d’altération et (iv) datation au moyen des placages sédimentaires et du volcanisme datés qui les fossilisent ; une analyse stratigraphique de l’intervalle post-rift des marges, basée sur l’interprétation de données de sub-surface (lignes sismiques et puits), réévaluées en âge (biostratigraphie), pour (i) identifier, dater et mesurer les déformations des marges et de leur relief amont , (ii) mesurer les flux silicoclastiques, produits de l’érosion continentale. Un calendrier et une cartographie des déformations ont été obtenus sur les marges et mis en relation avec les différentes générations de surfaces d’aplanissement étagées qui caractérisent le relief du plateau sud-africain. Au moins deux périodes de déformation ont été identifiées au Crétacé supérieur (92-70 Ma) et à l’Oligocène (30-15 Ma). L’évolution est la suivante : 100 - 70 Ma (Cénomanien à Campanien) : plateau à très grande longueur d’onde, peu élevé (0-500 m), bordé à l’est par des reliefs plus hauts et plus anciens le long des marges indiennes, qui agissent comme une ligne de partage des eaux entre l’océan Atlantique et l’océan Indien. La déformation est initiée à l’est avec une flexuration brève, à grande longueur d’onde, des marges indiennes aux alentours de ~92Ma. Cette première surrection marque un paroxysme d’érosion enregistré par la mise en place d’un delta géant sur la marge atlantique (delta de l’Orange). La déformation migre ensuite vers l’ouest avec la croissance du bourrelet marginal atlantique entre 81 et 70 Ma. Le relief acquiert sa configuration actuelle comme l’indique une diminution du flux silicoclastique sur la marge atlantique qui traduit un changement majeur du système de drainage ; 70-30 Ma (Crétacé terminal-Paléogène) : période d’apparente non déformation. Le relief est fossilisé et intensément altéré (latérites) ; 30-15 Ma (Oligocène - Miocène inférieur) : deuxième surrection du plateau sud-africain qui acquière sa topographie actuelle. La déformation semble plus importante à l’est du plateau - flexure des marges nord indiennes initiée à ~25 Ma qui alimente les grands deltas de l’océan Indien (Zambèze, Limpopo, Tugela) ; le relief est fossilisé à partir du Miocène moyen, synchrone d’une aridification majeure de l’Afrique australe. / The South African (Kalahari) Plateau is the world's largest non-orogenic plateau. It forms a large-scale topographic anomaly (×1000 km) which rises from sea level to > 1000 m. Most mechanisms proposed to explain its elevation gain imply mantle processes. The age of the uplift and the different steps of relief growth are still debated. On one hand, a Late Cretaceous uplift is supported both by thermochronological studies and sedimentary flux quantifications. On the other hand, geomorphological studies suggest a Late Cenozoic uplift scenario (<30 Ma). However few attentions were paid to the evolution of the overall geomorphic system, from the upstream erosional system to the downstream depositional system. This study is based on two different approaches : onshore, on the mapping and chronology of all the macroforms (weathering surfaces and associated alterites, pediments and pediplains, incised rivers, wave-cut platforms) dated by intersection with the few preserved sediments and the volcanics (mainly kimberlites pipes) ; offshore, on a more classical dataset of seismic lines and petroleum wells, coupled with biostratigraphic revaluations (characterization and dating of vertical movements of the margins - sediment volume measurement). The main result of this study is that the South African Plateau is an old Upper Cretaceous relief (90-70 Ma) reactivated during Oligocene (30-15 Ma) times. Its evolution can be summarized as follows : 100-70 Ma (Cenomanian to Campanian): low elevation plateau (0-500 m) with older and higher reliefs located along the Indian side, acting as a main divide between the Atlantic and the Indian Oceans. First uplift occurred in the east at ~92 Ma, with a fast flexuration of the Indian margins. This initiates a paroxysm of the erosion (90-80 Ma) with the growth of a large delta along the Atlantic margin (Orange delta). Deformation migrated progressively westward and resulted on the growth of the Atlantic marginal bulge between 81 and 70 Ma. Most of the present-day relief was probably created at this time. This is supported by the decrease of the sedimentary flux which suggests a reorganisation of the interior drainage pattern ; 70-30 Ma (Uppermost Cretaceous-Paleogene): most of the relief is fossilized and weathered - relative tectonic quiescence ; 0-15 Ma (Oligocene-Early Miocene): second period of the South African Plateau uplift. Most of the deformation took place along the Indian side of the Plateau (strike flexure) feeding the Zambezi, Limpopo and Tugela deltas ; since at least Middle Miocene times, all those reliefs have been fossilized, with very low erosion rates (x1m/Ma), in response to the major aridification of southern Africa.

Les déchets plastiques et les produits issus de leurs fragmentations (microplastiques ou « MP », <5mm) représentent une menace globale et persistante pour l'ensemble des écosystèmes marins, du fait de leur facilité d'ingestion par une grande diversité d'espèces marines. La mer Méditerranée, de part sa nature semi-fermée et son littoral anthropisé, est très impactée par cette pollution. Cette thèse a pour objectif de mieux comprendre l'origine et le devenir des MP en mer, et ce, par la mise en place d'une stratégie d’échantillonnage le long du continuum terre-mer, i.e. des sources continentales aux récepteurs marins finaux. Cette approche holistique a été appliquée à l'échelle locale du golfe du Lion (Nord-Ouest de la Méditerranée) à l’ensemble des compartiments côtiers. Les MP ont été retrouvés dans toutes les matrices étudiées (eau, sédiment, dépôtatmosphérique et tissus biologiques) dans des quantités très variables à la fois dans les compartiments et entre les compartiments. Aucune sélection qualitative (forme, taille, polymère et couleur) majeure ne semble s'opérer lors du transfert des MP d'un compartiment à l'autre, et la majorité des MP sont des fibres. Quantitativement, la concentration des MP varie à des échelles temporelles et spatiales très courtes (<1 heure et <1 kilomètre). Si aucune relation claire entre les concentrations en MP et les forçages environnementaux (e.g. précipitation, débit des fleuves, vents, etc.) n'a été observée, les événements de précipitation semblent influencer grandement les quantités de MP transférées entre les compartiments. En extrapolant nos résultats aux bassins-versants du golfe du Lion, 30 ± 20 tonnes de MP se déposeraient via l'atmosphère sur les zones urbainescôtières et 7 ± 10 tonnes de MP seraient transportées par les fleuves vers la Méditerranée, chaque année. L'extrapolation des quantités de MP dans les compartiments marins, semble indiquer que la surface de la mer et les plages ne sont que des compartiments transitoires (< 1 tonne), tandis que les sédiments et la colonne d'eau sont potentiellement plus impactés (jusqu'à 350 tonnes pour les sédiments). De nouvelles données sont nécessaires pour la colonne d'eau et les sédiments pourconfirmer cette hypothèse, mais les résultats laissent penser qu'ils pourraient avoir un rôle majeur dans le stockage des MP. / Anthropogenic litter, particularly plastic litter and their fragments (microplastics or “MPs”; < 5 mm) represent a highly pervasive and persistent global threat to marine ecosystems, as they can be ingested by a wide range of marine species. As a landlocked sea with a high population density, the Mediterranean Sea is highly exposed to marine litter pollution. This thesis aims tounderstand the origin and the future of marine MPs thanks to a holistic approach from terrestrial sources to marine sinks. This strategy was applied at the regional scale of the Gulf of Lion (Northwestern Mediterranean Sea) on all coastal compartments. MPs were observed in every studied matrices (water, sediment, atmospheric fallout) with a high variability within and betweenthe different compartments. No significant qualitative trend seems to occur during the transfer of MPs between compartments and fibers were the most abundant shape found in samples. MP concentrations changed at a short spatial and temporal scale (< 1 hour and < 1 kilometer), overlaying other variabilities (i.e. seasonal or between sites). If no obvious relationship betweenexternal forcing (e.g. precipitations, river flow rates, winds) and MP concentrations was observed, rainfall events seemed to have an important impact on the amount of MPs transferred into the sea. Extrapolating our results to the whole Gulf of Lion watersheds, 30 ± 20 tons of MPs would settle on urban areas and 7 ± 10 tons would be supplied by rivers into the Mediterranean Sea every year. The extrapolation of MP quantities within marine environments seems to indicate that the sea surface and beaches are only transitory compartments (<1 ton) whereas sea floor and water column couldbe more impacted (up to 350 tons for marine sediment). New data on water column and marine sediments are needed to confirm this hypothesis, but those results suggest that both latter compartments could be major sinks for marine MPs.

For decades the Upper Cretaceous Lower Tuscaloosa Formation of the U.S. Gulf Coast has been considered an onshore hydrocarbon play with no equivalent offshore deposits. A better understanding of the Lower Tuscaloosa sequence stratigraphic and paleogeographic framework, source-to-sink depositional environments, magnitude of fluvial systems, regional trends in reservoir quality, and structural influences on its deposition along with newly acquired data from offshore wells has changed this decades-long paradigm of the Lower Tuscaloosa as simply an onshore play. The mid-Cenomanian unconformity, underlying the Lower Tuscaloosa, formed an extensive regional network of incised valleys. This incision and accompanying low accommodation allowed for sediment bypass and deposition of over 330 m thick gravity-driven sand-rich deposits over 400 km from their equivalent shelf edge. Subsequently a transgressive systems tract comprised of four fluvial sequences in the Lower Tuscaloosa Massive sand and an overlying estuarine sequence (Stringer sand) filled the incised valleys. Both wave- and tide-dominated deltaic facies of the Lower Tuscaloosa are located at the mouths of incised valleys proximal to the shelf edge. Deltaic and estuarine depositional environments were interpreted from impoverished trace fossil suites of the Cruziana Ichnofacies and detailed sedimentological observations. The location and trend of valleys are controlled by basement structures. Lower Tuscaloosa rivers were 3.8m – 7.8m deep and 145m – 721m wide comparable to the Siwalik Group outcrop and the modern Missouri River. These systems were capable of transporting large amounts of sediment indicating the Lower Tuscaloosa was capable of transporting large amounts of sediments to the shelf edge for resedimentation into the deep offshore. Anomalously high porosity (>25%) and permeability (>1200md) in the Lower Tuscaloosa at stratigraphic depths below 20,000 ft. are influenced by chlorite coating the detrital grains. Chlorite coatings block quartz nucleation sites inhibiting quartz cementation. Chlorite coats in the Lower Tuscaloosa are controlled by the presence and abundance of volcanic rock fragments supplying the ions needed for the formation of chlorite. Chlorite decrease to the east in sediments derived from the Appalachian Mountains. An increase in chlorite in westward samples correlates with an increase of volcanic rock fragments derived from the Ouachita Mountains. / text

Les lacs piègent des particules sédimentaires au fil du temps de manière à former des archives sédimentaires. Tracer l’origine des particules archivées avec une résolution stratigraphique particulièrement détaillée conduit à reconstituer une ou des informations paléoenvironnementales permettant d’identifier les changements environnementaux passés. Afin de décrypter ces informations, les techniques d’analyse des carottes sédimentaires nécessitent d’identifier des marqueurs de leur composition à haute résolution. L’imagerie l’hyperspectrale demeure une des rares techniques capables de représenter ces marqueurs en deux dimensions pour caractériser les variations de la composition du sédiment et les structures stratigraphiques les plus fines. Dans ce mémoire, le potentiel de l’imagerie est mis en valeur à travers l’étude de plusieurs cas. L’objectif est de reconstituer des changements environnementaux à partir de l’origine des matières organiques (MO) sédimentaires à hauterésolution rapidement et sans destruction des archives. Plusieurs marqueurs hyperspectraux permettant de comprendre l’origine des MO sont développés sur deux sites d’étude choisis pour leur potentielle signature organique sédimentaire. Dans un environnement méditerranéen, les apports en MO détritique dans les sédiments du lac Bresson tracent les épisodes d'incendie du couvert forestier alors que les variations de carbone organique total (COT) dans une série d’archives sédimentaires reconstruisent les fluctuations de l’érosion glaciaire dans un lac arctique. Dans ces deux cas, la MO d’origine détritique est tracée pour la première fois par une méthode non-destructive et le traçage de la MO issue de la productivitéprimaire aquatique (plus classique) est amélioré par un nouvel indice spectroscopique. Ces marqueurs sont validés par des méthodes utilisées en routine (HPLC, comptage des particules de charbon, pyrolyse Rock-Eval 6) puis calibrés par ces techniques pour reconstruire des concentrations en COT à haute résolution. L’imagerie hyperspectrale permet donc de tracer lacomposition sédimentaire, voire des variations géochimiques, pour quantifier l'origine des apports organiques. Ces résultats apparaissent comme prometteurs et fournissent les bases essentielles pour développer l'utilisation en routine de cette nouvelle technique afin de reconstituer finement les changements environnementaux passés. / Over time, lakes trap sedimentary particles that form sedimentary reserves. Tracing the origin of those particles with a precise stratigraphic resolution, involves reconstituting one or more paleo environmental information thus allowing the identification of past environmental changes. Decrypting that information requires a sedimentary carrot analysis technic to identify their high resolution composition indicators. Hyperspectral imagery remains one of the rare technics capable of showing those indicators in a two dimensional form so as to characterize the variations in the composition of the sediment as well as the finer stratigraphic structures. In comparison to the methods used routinely, hyperspectral imagery is a highresolution (nanometers resolution) technic that does not destroy the core of the sediment and is time efficient (1 hour per meter of sediment). In this thesis, the potential of the high resolution imagery is highlighted through the study of several case studies. The aim is to reconstitute environmental changes based on the origin of high resolution sedimentary organic matter (OM) quickly whilst preserving their history. Several hyperspectral indicators have been developed on two carefully chosen study sites to understand the origins of those OM. Those sites were chosen based on their potential sedimentary organic signature. In a Mediterranean environment, detrital OM inputs in the Bresson lake give a history of the various forest fires whereas the organic carbon variations in a series of reserve sediments, reconstruct the fluctuations of glacier erosion in an artic lake. In both cases, the OM of detrital origin is traced for the first time through a non-destructive method. Tracing OM issued from Primary aquatic production is improved with a new spectroscopic index. These indicators are validated by the methods routinely used (HPLC and RE6) then are calibrated by these technics in order to rebuilt high resolution COT concentrations. Hyperspectral imagery allows to trace the sedimentary composition and to see geo chemical variations in order to quantify the origin of organic inputs. Those results seem promising and bring essential foundations to develop the routine use of this new technic in order to reconstitute accurately past environmental changes.