Deep-water massive sands: facies, processes and channel

ELSEVIER
Sedimentary Geology 127 (1999) 111–118
Discussion
Deep-water massive sands:
facies, processes and channel geometry in the Numidian Flysch, Sicily
— comment
Olivier Parize a,Ł , Bemard Beaudoin a , Gérard Friès b
a
École Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Paris, CGES–Sédimentologie, 35 rue Saint-Honoré, 77300 Fontainebleau,France
b Elf-Aquitaine, Tour Elf, 92078 Paris–la Défense, France
Received 12 June 1998; accepted 25 January 1999
For the last 15 years, sedimentologists have been
trying to find outcrop analogues for subsurface deepwater massive sands. The recent paper by Johansson
et al. (1998) in Sedimentary Geology appears to be
very stimulating: it deals with massive sandstones
of the Sicilian Numidian Flysch, part of a formation
which crops out throughout the southern border of
the Western Mediterranean Sea (cf. fig. 1 of Johansson et al., 1998, taken from Hoyez, 1989).
However, we feel that the conclusions of the paper
are based on incomplete field observations and seem
to show that the authors remain unaware of recent
contributions on the subject. After some methodological comments, we will discuss successively the
feeding of the Numidian basin, the Numidian gravity
deposits, in particular massive sands, and at the end
the importance of the Numidian massive sands as
analogues for subsurface massive sands.
Johansson et al. (1998) write, as a postulate, that
in Sicily “there has been very little published on
the detailed sedimentology since the early papers
of Broquet (1970) and Wezel (1970a,b)”. They cite
Hoyez (1989), but ignore other significant contributions such as recent work by Geiss (1992), a student
of J.C. Faugères, and detailed works on the Numidian sandy dykes and sills and the paleogeography of
the basin which were published 10 years ago (see
Ł Corresponding
author. E-mail: [email protected]
reference lists in Hoyez, 1989 and Geiss, 1992, etc.):
Parize (1988), Parize and Beaudoin (1986a,b); Parize
and Beaudoin (1988) reported that sandy dykes and
sills in the Numidian are connected to channelized
massive sands and genetically associated with deposition of high-density flows.
1. The analysis of the turbiditic systems
The analysis of turbiditic systems is generally
based on a study of geometry of sandy bodies and
facies analysis. The 3D setting is essentially deduced
from the sole marks which indicate base and top of
beds, up- and down-current directions (e.g. Dzulynski and Walton, 1965; Lanteaume et al., 1967). The
first sedimentological analyses of flysch were based
on systematic measurements of sole marks (Crowell,
1955; Kuenen et al., 1957; Stanley, 1961; Hoyez,
1975, etc.). Today this type of analysis does not
suffice, but is still a prerequisite for any serious analysis of turbiditic systems (e.g. Bouma et al., 1985;
Mutti and Normark, 1987; Mutti, 1992; Pickering
et al., 1995). Sole mark analysis allows not only
the determination of the polarity of a bed, but also
the identification of two outcrops of the same age:
up-slope and down-slope, axial and lateral; it also
enables to determine whether the feeding of the sedimentary trap is transverse or longitudinal (Scott and
0037-0738/99/$ – see front matter  1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 0 3 7 - 0 7 3 8 ( 9 9 ) 0 0 0 1 9 - 6
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Discussion / Sedimentary Geology 127 (1999) 111–118
Tillman, 1981). Johansson et al. (1998), however, did
not use sole marks in their analysis.
Two examples cited by Johansson et al. (1998)
are troublesomely unclear. The first one, the Pollina
Gorge panorama (their fig. 12, redrawn from Geiss,
1992) is not paleogeographically situated and therefore cannot be used for the Numidian basin analysis.
The second example, the Ponte Finale panorama
(their fig. 9) and the detailed correlations (their fig.
10, redrawn from Geiss, 1992) are perpendicular to
each other and are presented as channels: it is most
unlikely that there are two perpendicular turbiditic
channel directions in such a small localized area.
Time control is the second important issue in
any basin analysis. Johansson et al.’s description
of the sequence is missing some fundamental data
which induce erroneous correlations: they assigned
a more distal pattern to the Internal Numidian deposits than to the External zones. Biostratigraphic
data by Courme and Mascle (1988) indicate that the
Internal Numidian is not younger than the Middle
Oligocene and the Suprapanormide External Numidian extend from the uppermost Oligocene to the
Middle Miocene (Broquet, 1970; Courme and Mascle, 1988; Faugères et al., 1992). Therefore a distal=
proximal comparison of the two formations is not
justified; it would be like comparing the well known
Grès d’Annot Formation with the Alpine Miocene
Molasse!
Johansson et al. (1998) used stratigraphic data
to quantify sedimentation rate (ibid., p. 262) or to
compare a sequence succession with a eustatic chart.
However, the time constraints they give in their paper
are contradicting; e.g. Suprapanormide External Numidian outcrops dated as Early Miocene sensu lato
are related by Johansson et al. (1998) to the Chattian
sea-level drop.
Finally, Johansson et al. (1998, p. 251) distinguished “macro-, meso- and microsequences” which
are the sedimentary discontinuities never mentioned
on the logs. Such a hierarchy is however essential
(e.g. Mutti and Normark, 1987, 1991; Pickering et
al., 1995). The tectonic, eustatic, autocyclic, allocyclic phenomena (Johansson et al., 1998, p. 251)
remain undocumented in the paper: it is unclear
which criteria the authors used in order to recognise
these discontinuities.
2. The Numidian basin and its feeding
The feeding of the Numidian basin has been a
matter of intense debate as some authors worked on
sole marks and others on petrographic origin.
Gottis (1960) proposed northern feeding of
the Tunisian Numidian based on current direction
records. The detritic supply is firstly transverse and
then the sedimentary load is redistributed longitudinally east- or southeastward in the External Numidian of Sicily (Broquet, 1964, 1971–1972).
Later on, the southern feeding of the Numidian
basin was proposed. This idea found many followers
because it fitted well in the cylindric plate tectonics model (Wezel, 1970a; Durand-Delga, 1980). The
arguments for a Saharan source are based on granulometric and petrographic analyses of Numidian sandstones (Wezel, 1968, 1970b; Lancelot et al., 1977;
Hoyez, 1989, etc.). It is important to note that these
types of analyses are not conclusive (Coiffait, 1972)
and can even lead to contradicting conclusions (Caire
and Coiffait, 1970; Cassan et al., 1973, etc.). In this
respect, the paper of Johansson et al. (1998) adds to
the confusion.
Parize et al. (1986, citation in Hoyez, 1989 and
in Geiss, 1992) reported in the first paper on the
External Numidian of Geraci Siculo (Sicily) and the
Tunisian Numidian that the sole marks indicate the
northern provenance of the sandy material (some
observations near Geraci Siculo were made as close
as 100 m to fig. 18e of Johansson et al., 1998).
Since then, the same current directions were measured in many places of Tunisia (El Maherssi, 1992),
Morocco (El Khanchoufi and Beaudoin, 1990) or
Algeria (Laval, 1988) where locally a southern direction was measured by Vila et al. (1995). Two
IAS field-trips were devoted to these outcrops (El
Khanchoufi and Beaudoin, 1993; El Maherssi and
Beaudoin, 1996). The Numidian turbiditic systems
are channelizing, close to fan-deltas (El Maherssi,
1992). Johansson et al. (1998) appear unaware of
these recent works and their sedimentological and
petrographical implications (Fig. 1).
Discussion / Sedimentary Geology 127 (1999) 111–118
113
Fig. 1. Current directions (sole marks) in the Numidian sandstones, after Parize et al. (1986), Laval (1988), El Maherssi (1992), El
Khanchoufi and Beaudoin (1993) and El Maherssi and Beaudoin (1996). Main outcrops of Numidian flysch from Hoyez (1989).
3. The Numidian gravity flow deposits
The analysis of gravity flowdeposits and massive
sandstones by Johansson et al. (1998) poses two
questions: (1) on the relevance of the descriptions,
and (2) on the geometry of the depositional systems.
The Numidian thick sandstones were early interpreted as gravity flow for deposits (e.g. Gottis, 1960;
Wezel, 1968, 1970a,b; Hoyez, 1975, 1989), and not
only simple turbidites; in Sicily contourites were
also described in the shaly intervals (Wezel, 1970b;
Geiss, 1992; Faugères et al., 1992).
Our own observations enabled us to identify different facies (Parize and Beaudoin, 1986a,b; Parize,
1988). Johansson et al. (1998) have recognized turbidites, slumps and massive sandstones. Another
facies (‘fluxoturbidite’ in Wezel, 1970a,b, El Maherssi, 1992, El Khanchoufi and Beaudoin, 1993 and
El Maherssi and Beaudoin, 1996; analogous to ‘heterogeneous turbidites’ in Stanley, 1982 and Crémer,
1983) shows the continuous evolution from massive
or graded sandstones, coarse or not, to sandstones
with shaly or sandy–shaly clasts, to shaly–sandy
bodies organized or not in blocks, cut by sandy septa
which connect the sandy sole and roof of that sedi-
mentary body (Parize and Beaudoin, 1986b; Parize,
1988). This type of facies (Fig. 2) corresponds to the
sequence S7 of Geiss (1992) and cannot be simply
considered as ‘shale–clast conglomerates” (Johansson et al., 1998, p. 237) or simply divided into
sandstones and slumps according to the dominant
lithology.
All the Numidian sandy injections (including
the sandy septa) have been grouped by Johansson et al. (1998) as liquefaction features, due to
post-depositional and per-ascensum processes after
burial (Diller, 1889: discussion in Parize, 1988).
These oblique sandy objects (Gottis, 1953; Colaccichi, 1959; Beaudoin et al., 1984) have in fact to
be separated into three groups: septa (Fig. 2), perdescensum sills and dykes and per-ascensum dykes;
the last are only rarely found.
Detailed analysis of per-descensum sandy sills
and dykes reveals hundreds of these objects which
constitute true sedimentary bodies (Fig. 3). Dykes
are a few centimeters to a few decimeters thick,
penetrate the sediment over hundreds of meters, and
extend horizontally some hundreds of meters to one
kilometer. The majority of dykes are associated with
sedimentary sills. The sills are massive, without any
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Discussion / Sedimentary Geology 127 (1999) 111–118
Fig. 2. Numidian heterogeneous turbidite (after Parize and Beaudoin, 1986b).
Fig. 3. Examples of Numidian clastic sills and dykes (from Parize, 1988): 1 D faults; 2 D clastic dykes; 3 D clastic sills.
Discussion / Sedimentary Geology 127 (1999) 111–118
primary sole marks (but with frequent frondescent
casts on the lower surface), and may be up to ten
meters thick. They extend laterally over a few square
kilometers. All these injections are related to massive
sandstone feeder channels, and took place from the
channel banks during sedimentation (Parize, 1988).
They are in fact a downstream facies of the channelizing massive sandstones (Parize et al., 1995, 1997).
The demonstration by Johansson et al. (1998)
of the channel character of the Numidian ‘barres’
and sandstone bodies does not seem rigorous. The
non-identification of the sandstone sills and heterogeneous turbidites questions their interpretation
of some of the so-called type A or type B channels. A part of the massive sandstones interpreted
as true deposits are probably injections, whereas
some sandstone lenses may not be erosive channel fillings but sandy envelopes of heterogeneous
turbidites. The geometry of the C type channels
is less constrained; these deep-water channels with
a massive filling are described in the jurassic Hareelv Formation in Greenland (Surlyk, 1987) or in
the Apto–Albian ‘Marnes Bleues’ of southeastern
France (Parize, 1988; Parize et al., 1995, 1997), in
relation to synsedimentary sandy injections (Beaudoin et al., 1983; Friès, 1987).
4. Deposition processes and the interest of the
Numidian as outcrop analogue
In the subsurface, the massive sands, without
any primary structure, can reach up to 400 ft (120
m) in thickness (Shanmugam et al., 1995; Imbert
et al., 1995a, etc.). In the abstract, Johansson et
al. (1998) highlight the “excellent examples of deepwater massive sands, i.e. very thick (4–25 m) units of
structureless sandstone”. These massive sands seem
to be correctly described only in the Contrada-diRomano area (ibid., p. 259) where their maximum
thickness is 25 m and these beds correspond to, in
fact, the amalgamation of “individual beds generally
1–4 m in thickness”, whose internal organization is
affected by post-depositional liquefaction. This leads
to some confusion: when were these sands massive?
Is this character due to post-depositional liquefaction
(Johansson et al., 1998, p. 259)? Were the sands
related to high-density current deposits and thus al-
115
ready massive when deposited (ibid., p. 264)? Or
“perhaps the most likely (is : : : ) gradual aggradation
beneath steady or near steady flows” (ibid., p. 264).
According to Johansson et al. (1998, p. 264),
“post-depositional liquefaction and partial remobilisation of thick sandstones bodies has led to sandstone injection”. Our observations indicate that the
main sandy injections are synsedimentary (Parize,
1988; Parize and Beaudoin, 1988) and they would be
related to the depositional processes of the massive
sands which are, in fact, feeding these injections.
The lack of primary structures in the subsurface
massive sands is the main cause of debate (e.g. Shanmugam et al., 1994, 1995, 1997; Shanmugam and
Moiola, 1995, 1997; Slatt et al., 1997; Lowe, 1997;
Coleman, 1997; Bouma et al., 1997; D’Agostino and
Jordan, 1997; Hiscott et al., 1997). The first question
about them would be: why are they massive? To
solve this simple question, it is necessary to compare
them with the sand source, which is difficult to find
in the foredeep basins. In spite of the lack of data, Johansson et al. (1998, p. 264) proposed “high density
turbidity currents associated with probable slumps
and debris flows” as a transport mechanism already
evoked by Shanmugam et al. (1994, 1995). However,
they did not answer the basic question concerning
the massive sands: why are they massive?
Before the paper by Johansson et al. (1998), massive sands were a subject of a debate, partly due to
the lack of outcrop analogues. We think that Johansson et al. (1998) give few original elements for the
understanding of massive sands and their paper may
spread confusion because of the lack of dynamic perception of turbiditic systems. However, we remain
confident that better analogues for massive sands
will be found perhaps in the Aptian–Albian outcrops
of southeastern France (Imbert et al., 1995b, 1997;
Parize et al., 1995, 1997).
Acknowledgements
G.P. Allen† (TOTAL, then Brisbane University)
has encouraged us to discuss the Johansson et al.’s
paper. We thank E. Mutti (Parma University) for
bringing to our attention Numidian deposit regional
setting, and B. Geiss and J.L. Rubino (TOTAL)
for their helpful comments. The study on Numidian
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Discussion / Sedimentary Geology 127 (1999) 111–118
and Vocontian clastic dykes and sills was funded
by ANDRA and Gis GénéBass (ELF, TOTAL and
CNRS). The recent studies on Vocontian massive
sands (OP) were supported by TOTAL.
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