Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7fkt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T23:00:10.389Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Integrating heavy-mineral, geochemical and biomarker analyses of Plio-Pleistocene sandy and silty turbidites: a novel approach for provenance studies (Indus Fan, IODP Expedition 355)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 August 2019

S Andò Open the ORCID record for S Andò [Opens in a new window] ,
S Aharonovich ,
A Hahn ,
SC George ,
PD Clift Open the ORCID record for PD Clift [Opens in a new window]  and
E Garzanti Open the ORCID record for E Garzanti [Opens in a new window]
S Andò*
Affiliation:
Laboratory for Provenance Studies, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Milano- Bicocca, 20126 Milano, Italy
S Aharonovich
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences and MQMarine, Macquarie University, Sydney, 2109, Australia
A Hahn
Affiliation:
MARUM Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany
SC George
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences and MQMarine, Macquarie University, Sydney, 2109, Australia
PD Clift
Affiliation:
Department of Geology and Geophysics, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, 70803, USA
E Garzanti
Affiliation:
Laboratory for Provenance Studies, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Milano- Bicocca, 20126 Milano, Italy
*
Author for correspondence: S Andò, Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

A multidisciplinary mineralogical, geochemical and biomarker study of Indus Fan sediments cored during International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 355 to the Laxmi Basin was carried out to define the different compositional signatures of sand, silt and clay. Upper Pliocene – lower Pleistocene turbidites from sites U1456 and U1457 were selected as the best candidates for this study. The integrated dataset presented here was obtained by coupling traditional and innovative bulk-sediment and single-mineral techniques on the same samples. Turbiditic deposits mostly consist of medium to fine silt, including rich and diverse heavy-mineral assemblages. Such a fine grain size forced us to push the limits of high-resolution quantitative heavy-mineral analysis down to as low as 5 μm. Heavy-mineral analysis allowed us to establish a Himalayan origin of the detritus in the studied turbidites. Heavy-mineral concentrations are higher in channel-fill than in overbank deposits. Mineralogical and geochemical data concur in revealing that fast-settling ultradense minerals such as zircon are preferentially concentrated in channel-fill deposits, whereas the top of overbank deposits are notably enriched with slow-settling platy phyllosilicates. Biomarker analysis represents a most suitable complementary technique that is able to investigate the provenance signature of the finer sediment fraction, largely consisting of clay. This technique allowed us to identify a largely terrigenous origin of organic matter at Site U1456 and an open marine origin at Site U1457. The latter site lies closer to the Laxmi Ridge, where thermal maturity increases with depth to reach the early oil window (127°C at c. 320 m below the seafloor).

Keywords

JOIDES ResolutionArabian Seagrain size and hydraulic-sorting controls
Type
Original Article
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 157 , Special Issue 6: Climate-tectonic interactions in the eastern Arabian Sea , June 2020 , pp. 929 - 938
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Albaigés, J, Grimalt, J, Bayona, J, Risebrough, R, De Lappe, B and Walker, W (1984) Dissolved, particulate and sedimentary hydrocarbons in a deltaic environment. Organic Geochemistry 6, 237–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Andò, S and Garzanti, E (2014) Raman spectroscopy in heavy-mineral studies. In Sediment Provenance Studies in Hydrocarbon Exploration and Production (eds Scott, RA, Smyth, HR, Morton, AC and Richardson, N), pp. 395–412. Geological Society of London, Special Publication no. 386.Google Scholar
Bourbonniere, R and Meyers, P (1996) Anthropogenic influences on hydrocarbon contents of sediments deposited in eastern Lake Ontario since 1800. Environmental Geology 28, 22–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bray, E and Evans, E (1961) Distribution of n-paraffins as a clue to recognition of source beds. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 22, 2–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clift, PD, Giosan, L, Carter, A, Garzanti, E, Galy, V, Tabrez, AR, Pringle, M, Campbell, IH, France-Lanord, C, Blusztajn, J and Allen, C (2010) Monsoon control over erosion patterns in the western Himalaya: possible feed-back into the tectonic evolution. In Monsoon Evolution and Tectonics–Climate Linkage in Asia (eds Clift, PD, Tada, R and Zheng, H), pp. 185–218. Geological Society of London, Special Publication no. 342.Google Scholar
Clift, PD, Lee, JI, Hildebrand, P, Shimizu, N, Layne, GD, Blusztajn, J, Blum, JD, Garzanti, E and Khan, AA (2002) Nd and Pb isotope variability in the Indus River System: implications for sediment provenance and crustal heterogeneity in the Western Himalaya. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 200, 91–106.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clift, PD, Shimizu, N, Layne, GD, Blusztajn, JS, Gaedicke, C, Schlüter, HU, Clark, MK and Amjad, S (2001) Development of the Indus Fan and its significance for the erosional history of the Western Himalaya and Karakoram. GSA Bulletin 113, 1039–51.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davies, TA, Kidd, RB and Ramsay, ATS (1995) A time-slice approach to the history of Cenozoic sedimentation in the Indian Ocean. Sedimentary Geology 96, 157–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Didyk, B, Simoneit, B, Brassell, ST and Eglinton, G (1978) Organic geochemical indicators of palaeoenvironmental conditions of sedimentation. Nature 272, 216–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Falkowski, PG, Schofield, O, Katz, ME, Van de Schootbrugge, B and Knoll, AH (2004) Why is the land green and the ocean red? In Coccolithophores – From Molecular Processes to Global Impact (eds Thierstein, HR and Young, JR), pp. 429–53. Amsterdam: Elsevier.Google Scholar
Gabriel, KR (1971) The biplot graphic display of matrices with application to principal component analysis. Biometrika 58, 453–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gagosian, RB (1976) A detailed vertical profile of sterols in the Sargasso Sea. Limnology and Oceanography 21, 702–10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Galehouse, JS (1971) Point counting. In: Procedures in Sedimentary Petrology (ed. Carver, RE), pp. 385–407. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Garzanti, E and Andò, S (2007) Heavy mineral concentration in modern sands: implications for provenance interpretation. In Heavy Minerals in Use (eds Mange, Maria A and Wright, David T), pp. 517–45. Elsevier, Developments in Sedimentology no. 58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garzanti, E, Andò, S, France-Lanord, C, Censi, P, Vignola, P, Galy, V and Lupker, M (2011) Mineralogical and chemical variability of fluvial sediments 2. Suspended-load silt (Ganga–Brahmaputra, Bangladesh). Earth and Planetary Science Letters 302, 107–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garzanti, E, Andò, S, France-Lanord, C, Vezzoli, G, Censi, P, Galy, V and Najman, Y (2010) Mineralogical and chemical variability of fluvial sediments: 1. Bedload sand (Ganga–Brahmaputra, Bangladesh). Earth and Planetary Science Letters 299, 368–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garzanti, E, Andò, S and Vezzoli, G (2008) Settling equivalence of detrital minerals and grain-size dependence of sediment composition. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 273, 138–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garzanti, E, Andò, S and Vezzoli, G (2009) Grain-size dependence of sediment composition and environmental bias in provenance studies. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 277, 422–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garzanti, E, Baud, A and Mascle, G (1987) Sedimentary record of the northward flight of India and its collision with Eurasia (Ladakh Himalaya, India). Geodinamica Acta 1, 297–312.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garzanti, E, Vezzoli, G, Andò, S, Paparella, P and Clift, PD (2005) Petrology of Indus River sands: a key to interpret erosion history of the Western Himalayan Syntaxis. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 229, 287–302.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gelin, F, Damsté, JSS, Harrison, WN, Maxwell, JR and De Leeuw, JW (1995) Molecular indicators for palaeoenvironmental change in a Messinian evaporitic sequence (Vena del Gesso, Italy): III. Stratigraphic changes in the molecular structure of kerogen in a single marl bed as revealed by flash pyrolysis. Organic Geochemistry 23, 555–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Govin, A, Holzwarth, U, Heslop, D, Keeling, LF, Zabel, M, Mulitza, S, Collins, JA and Chiessi, CM (2012) Distribution of major elements in Atlantic surface sediments (36°N–49°S): Imprint of terrigenous input and continental Weathering. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 13, 1–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grantham, PJ and Wakefield, LL (1988) Variations in the sterane carbon number distributions of marine source rock derived crude oils through geological time. Organic Geochemistry 12, 61–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grossi, V, Hirschler, A, Raphel, D, Rontani, J-F, De Leeuw, J and Bertrand, J-C (1998) Biotransformation pathways of phytol in recent anoxic sediments. Organic Geochemistry 29, 845–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hahn, A, Miller, C, Andò, S, Bouimetarhan, I, Cawthra, HC, Garzanti, E, Green, AN, Radeff, G, Schefuß, E and Zabel, M (2018) The provenance of terrigenous components in marine sediments along the east coast of southern Africa. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 19, 1946–62. doi:10.1029/2017GC007228.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hay, WW (1998) Detrital sediment fluxes from continents to oceans. Chemical Geology 145, 287–323.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hu, X, Garzanti, E, Moore, E and Raffi, I (2015) Direct stratigraphic dating of India-Asia collision onset at the Selandian (middle Paleocene, 59 ± 1 Ma). Geology 43, 1–4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huang, WY and Meinschein, WG (1979) Sterols as ecological indicators. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 43, 739–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kodner, RB, Pearson, A, Summons, RE and Knoll, AH (2008) Sterols in red and green algae: quantification, phylogeny, and relevance for the interpretation of geologic steranes. Geobiology 6, 411–20.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kolla, V and Coumes, F (1987) Morphology, internal structure, seismic stratigraphy, and sedimentation of Indus Fan. AAPG Bulletin 71, 650–77.Google Scholar
Komar, PD (2007) The entrainment, transport and sorting of heavy minerals by waves and currents. In Heavy Minerals in Use (eds Mange, MA and Wright, D.T.), pp. 3–48. Elsevier, Developments in Sedimentology no. 58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kretz, R (1983) Symbols for rock-forming minerals. American Mineralogist 68, 277–9.Google Scholar
Krishna, KS, Rao, DG and Sar, D (2006) Nature of the crust in the Laxmi Basin (14°-20°N), western continental margin of India. Tectonics 25, doi:10.1029/2004TC00174.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kulhanek, DK, Lyle, M and Bowen, MG (2018) Data Report: X-ray Fluorescence scanning of Exp 355 Site U1456 sediments, Laxmi Basin, Arabian Sea. In Proceedings of the International Ocean Discovery Program (eds Pandey, DK, Clift, PD, Kulhanek, DK and the Expedition 355 Scientists). College Station, Texas, volume 355.Google Scholar
Lao, Y, Korth, J, Ellis, J and Crisp, P (1989) Heterogeneous reactions of 1-pristene catalysed by clays under simulated geological conditions. Organic Geochemistry 14, 375–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lyle, M, Kulhanek, DK, Bowen, MG and Hahn, A (2018) Data Report: X-ray Fluorescence scanning of Exp 355 Site U1457 sediments, Laxmi Basin, Arabian Sea. In Proceedings of the International Ocean Discovery Program (eds Pandey, DK, Clift, PD, Kulhanek, DK and the Expedition 355 Scientists). College Station, Texas, volume 355.Google Scholar
Meadows, A and Meadows, P (1999) The Indus River—Biodiversity, Resources, Humankind. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 441 pp.Google Scholar
Middleton, G (1993) Sediment deposition from turbidity currents. Annual Review Earth Planetary Sciences 21, 89–114.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Milliman, JD and Farnsworth, KL (2011) River Discharge to the Coastal Ocean ‐ A Global Synthesis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 394 pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Minshull, TA, Lane, CI, Collier, JS and Whitmarsh, RB (2008) The relationship between rifting and magmatism in the northeastern Arabian Sea. Nature Geoscience 1, 463–7, doi:10.1038/ngeo228.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moldowan, JM, Seifert, WK and Gallegos, EJ (1985) Relationship between petroleum composition and depositional environment of petroleum source rocks. AAPG Bulletin 69, 1255–68.Google Scholar
Moldowan, JM, Sundararaman, P and Schoell, M (1986) Sensitivity of biomarker properties to depositional environment and/or source input in the Lower Toarcian of SW-Germany. Organic Geochemistry 10, 915–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Najman, Y, Jenks, D, Godin, L, Boudagher-Fadel, M, Millar, I, Garzanti, E, Horstwood, M and Bracciali, L (2017) The Tethyan Himalayan detrital record shows that India–Asia terminal collision occurred by 54 Ma in the Western Himalaya. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 459, 301–10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ourisson, G, Albrecht, P and Rohmer, M (1984) The microbial origin of fossil fuels. Scientific American 251, 44–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pandey, K, Clift, PD, Kulhanek, DK, Andò, S, Bendle, JAP, Bratenkov, S, Griffith, EM, Gurumurthy, GP, Hahn, A, Iwai, M, Khim, B-K, Kumar, A, Kumar, AG, Liddy, HM, Lu, H, Lyle, MW, Mishra, R, Radhakrishna, T, Routledge, CM, Saraswat, R, Saxena, R, Scardia, G, Sharma, GK, Singh, AD, Steinke, S, Suzuki, K, Tauxe, L, Tiwari, M, Xu, Z and Yu, Z (2016) Expedition 355 summary. In Proceedings of the International Ocean Discovery Program, Vol. 355 (eds Pandey, DK, Clift, PD, Kulhanek, DK and the Expedition 355 Scientists, Arabian Sea Monsoon). College Station, TX: International Ocean Discovery Program. doi:10.14379/iodp.proc.355.101.2016Google Scholar
Radhakrishna, T, Routledge, CM, Saraswat, R, Saxena, R, Scardia, G, Sharma, GK, Singh, AD, Steinke, S, Suzuki, K, Tauxe, L, Tiwari, M, Xu, Z and Yu, Z (2016) Expedition 355 summary. In Proceedings of the International Ocean Discovery Program, Vol. 355 (eds Pandey, DK, Clift, PD, Kulhanek, DK and the Expedition 355 Scientists, Arabian Sea Monsoon). College Station, TX: International Ocean Discovery Program. doi:10.14379/iodp.proc.355.101.2016Google Scholar
Peters, KE, Walters, CC and Moldowan, JM (2005) The Biomarker Guide, 2nd edition. Cambridge: Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge, 471 pp.Google Scholar
Powell, T and McKirdy, D (1973) Relationship between ratio of pristane to phytane, crude oil composition and geological environment in Australia. Nature Physical Science 243, 37–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rontani, J-F, Nassiry, M, Michotey, V, Guasco, S and Bonin, P (2010) Formation of pristane from α-tocopherol under simulated anoxic sedimentary conditions: A combination of biotic and abiotic degradative processes. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 74, 252–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rowland, S (1990) Production of acyclic isoprenoid hydrocarbons by laboratory maturation of methanogenic bacteria. Organic Geochemistry 15, 9–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ryan, WBF, Carbotte, SM, Coplan, JO, O’Hara, S, Melkonian, A, Arko, R, Weissel, RA, Ferrini, V, Goodwillie, A, Nitsche, F, Bonczkowski, J and Zemsky, R (2009) Global multi-resolution topography synthesis. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 10, Q03014.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Saliot, A, Denant, V and Bigot, M (1998) Organic matter in large Chinese rivers and their estuaries: the Changjiang River and the Huanghe River. In Land-Sea Interaction in Chinese Coastal Zones (ed. Zhang, J.), pp. 176–91. Beijing: Ocean Press.Google Scholar
Seifert, WK and Moldowan, JM (1978) Applications of steranes, terpanes and monoaromatics to the maturation, migration and source of crude oils. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 42, 77–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Seifert, WK and Moldowan, JM (1986) Use of biological markers in petroleum exploration. Methods in Geochemistry and Geophysics 24, 261–90.Google Scholar
Sofer, Z, Regan, RD and Muller, DS (1993) Sterane isomerization ratios of oils as maturity indicators and their use as an exploration tool, Neuquén Basin, Argentina. In Proceedings of XII Congreso de Geológico Argentino y II Congreso de Exploración de Hidrocarburos Actas I, 407–11. Mendoza, 10–15 October 1993.Google Scholar
Talwani, M and Reif, C (1998) Laxmi Ridge: a continental sliver in the Arabian Sea. Marine Geophysical Research 20, 259–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
ten Haven, HL, de Leeuw, JW, Rullkötter, J and Sinninghe Damsté, JS (1987) Restricted utility of the pristane/phytane ratio as a palaeoenvironmental indicator. Nature 330, 641–3.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thomson, J, Croudace, IW and Rothwell, RG (2006) A geochemical application of the ITRAX scanner to a sediment core containing eastern Mediterranean sapropel units. In: New Techniques in Sediment Core Analysis (ed. Rothwell, RG), pp. 65–77. Geological Society of London, Special Publication no. 267.Google Scholar
Tissot, BP and Welte, DH (1978) Petroleum Formation and Occurrence. A New Approach to Oil and Gas Exploration. Berling, Heidelberg, New York: Springer-Verlag, 538 pp.Google Scholar
Volkman, JK (1986) A review of sterol markers for marine and terrigenous organic matter. Organic Geochemistry 9, 83–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Volkman, JK (2005) Sterols and other triterpenoids: source specificity and evolution of biosynthetic pathways. Organic Geochemistry 36, 139–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weltje, GJ, Bloemsma, MR, Tjallingii, R, Heslop, D, Röhl, U and Croudace, IW (2015) Prediction of geochemical composition from XRF core scanner data: a new multivariate approach including automatic selection of calibration samples and quantification of uncertainties. In Micro-XRF Studies of Sediment Cores (eds Croudace, I & Rothwell, R), pp. 507–34. Dordrecht: Springer, Developments in Paleoenvironmental Research no. 17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weltje, GJ and Tjallingii, R (2008) Calibration of XRF core scanners for quantitative geochemical logging of sediment cores: Theory and application. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 274, 423–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wójcik-Tabol, P and Ślączka, A (2015) Are Early Cretaceous environmental changes recorded in deposits of the western part of the Silesian Nappe? A geochemical approach. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 417, 293–308.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Xing, L, Zhang, H, Yuan, Z, Sun, Y and Zhao, M (2011) Terrestrial and marine biomarker estimates of organic matter sources and distributions in surface sediments from the East China Sea shelf. Continental Shelf Research 31, 1106–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Andò et al. supplementary material

Andò et al. supplementary material 1

Download Andò et al. supplementary material(File)
File 705.5 KB