Hydrochemistry and sediment characteristics of polar periglacial lacustrine environments on Fisher Island and Broknes Peninsula,East Antarctica

Fisher Island and Broknes Peninsula in the Larsemann Hills constitute part of a polar lowland periglacial environment between marine and glacial ecosystems. The landscape is characterized by gently rolling hills and broad valleys interspersed with lakes formed in glacially scoured basins. We analyzed the physieochemical parameters and the ionic constituents of water samples from 10 lakes in each of these two locations. Our results showed considerable differences between the two regions and demon- strated the influence of lithology and processes including weathering, evaporation, and atmospheric precipitation. All major cations and anions in the lake waters showed positive correlations indicating balanced ionic concentrations. Unconsolidated sediments were sparsely distributed and scattered over glacial deposits, valley fills, and occasional moraine ridges. The type and rate of sedi- mentation was mainly controlled by surface run-off and aeolian influx. The sediment samples from lake beds and the catchment area on Fisher Island were immature and poorly to very poorly sorted, consisting of gravelly sand with negligible silt and finer fractions. Sediments had a polymodal grain size distribution with the two major populations lying between -2 and 1 phi and be- tween 0 and 1.5 phi. The sediments were lithic arenite to arkosic in composition and the microtextures imprinted over quartz grains were dominated by mechanical textures resulting from several stages of glacial crushing and grinding. The presence of deep disso- lution cavities, cryptocrystalline precipitation, and euhedral crystal growth signified the effect of chemical activity after the deposition of grains in the lacustrine environment.

Depositional Environment of Es_4~u and Es_3~l Shales Based on Biomarkers from the Boxing Sag of Dongying Depression, East China

The Boxing Sag is located in the southwest of Dongying Depression, southern Bohai Bay Basin of East China. It is one of the main petroliferous sags in the Dongying Depression, and has two major source rocks, namely the upper 4th Member （Es4u） and lower 3rd Member （Es31） shales of Eocene Shahejie Formation, which are the new exploration targets in recent years. In this study, 16 core samples were collected from Es4u and Es31 shales in the Boxing Sag, and the saturate hydrocarbons were analyzed by gas chromatography （GC） and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry （GC-MS）, respectively. The results show that Es4u shale has obvious phytane and gammacerane predominance, higher concentration of tricyclic terpanes and regular steranes, and very low concentration of 4- methly steranes; Es31 shale has pristane predominance, lower concentration of tricyclic terpanes, gammacerane and regular steranes, and higher concentration of 4-methly steranes. The Es4u shale can be further divided into two types based on the distribution of n-alkanes in gas chromatograms： normal distribution and double peak pattern. The biomarker characteristics and sedimentary facies distribution show that Es4u shale was deposited in the saline-hypersaline semi-deep （Type A Es4u shale, sag center） to shallow （Type B Es4u shale, sag edge） lacustrine environments, Es31 shale was deposited in the freshwater-brackish semi-deep-deep lacustrine environments, and the former sedimentary facies maps of Es4u and Es31 in the Boxing Sag are further modified.

Lacustrine Record of 1954 Flood Event on Begnas and Rupa Lake, Central Nepal

In recent decades, there have been discussions and predictions regarding the impact of climate on floods, due to its socioeconomic and environmental consequences. For accurate prediction of future flood events and their impacts, it is crucial to have an improved understanding on past flood events. Lacustrine sediments have been used as a natural archive to study the past flood events. Here, we study the impact of 1954 flood event on the lacustrine environment of Bengas and Rupa Lake in central Nepal based on X-ray fluorescence spectrometry(XRF) element analysis, magnetic susceptibility(MS), total organic carbon(TOC) and the biomarker molecular compositions. Results showed that 1954 flood event had significant impacts on the two lakes in terms of detrital input, organic matter deposition and aquatic production. Before the flood event, both two studied lakes had relatively lower catchment erosion rate, lower organic matter deposition and aquatic production. During the flood event, catchment erosion and aquatic production increased in both lakes due to mass transport deposits and the increased nutrition loading attributed to flood event. Following the flood event, Begnas Lake showed the sharp increase in organic matter deposition, whereas in the Rupa Lake organic matter deposition showed minor changes. The difference in organic matter deposition in lakes during flooding event is likely due to detrital material brought and deposited by the flood activity. Overall our results suggest that lacustrine sediments are sensitive to the extreme event and would be an ideal archive for the reconstruction of flood events.

Palaeogeographical development of two merging delta systems(Eocene Shahejie Formation)in the Bohai Bay Basin,E China and implications for hydrocarbon exploration

Two deltas developed simultaneously during the Eocene on the eastern side of a large lake that existed in the Dongying Sub-basin,which forms part of the Bohai Bay Basin in eastern China.The rivers that built the deltas had different catchment areas,which resulted in sediments with different permeability and porosity,due to differences in sorting and mud content.Both deltas prograded,and mass flows that originated frequently on their fronts formed lobes that expanded laterally.This eventually led to merging of both deltas,a feature that has rarely been described from ancient deposits thus far.Core analysis and seismic reflection data show that the merging of the two deltas took place in nine phases,determined by phases of slower progradation or even temporary retrogradation in between.The alternation of sediments from both deltas and their eventual mixing makes the architecture of the merged deltas much more complex than that of'classical'single deltas.This affects the predictability of the spatial distribution of possible reservoir characteristics significantly,but detailed core analysis shows that the best hydrocarbon reservoirs consist of sand bodies formed in distributary channels on the delta plains,and of sandy turbidites formed in the deep-lacustrine environment in front of the merged deltas.