State of stratigraphic knowledge of Quaternary deposits in European Russia: Unresolved issues and challenges for further research

© 2017 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA.The paper is devoted to summary and analysis of the Quaternary stratigraphic investigations and state of the stratigraphic schemes of the different regions of the European part of Russia.The previous summary on the Quaternary of Russia was done in 1984. Thus, this paper presents a brief analysis of the state of the Quaternary investigations in European Russia for the first time since last 30 years. Paper describes history of the Quaternary investigations of the European Russia as well as zoning (structural-facies zones) of the territory in correlation with the conditions of the Quaternary sedimentation. Summary of the Quaternary deposits developed in each zone and validity of stratigraphic units as well as state of the Regional Quaternary schemes is given for each structural-facies zone. Regional schemes are correlated with units of the General Stratgraphic chart of Russia and with International Chart. Analysis of the stratigraphic knowledge on the Quaternary deposits in various structural-facies zones in the European part of Russia has enabled to formulate the unresolved and discussable points and direction for the future investigations of the Quaternary studies. 1. Due to the change of boundary between the Neogene and Quaternary systems and involvement of the Palaeopleistocene stage in the Quaternary, stratigraphic horizons in this interval require additional study, and the most representative sequences should be selected as unit stratotypes for different zones. 2. In the areas of ice cover, various opinions on the age and number of glacial horizons in the Upper-Middle Neopleistocene, their distribution boundaries are still debatable. 3. In some areas and regions (Fore-Caucasus, Caucasus, Urals, Black Sea), differentiation of continental deposits is poorly substantiated by fauna. Their stratification is based on palaeoclimatic reconstructions, geomorphological analysis, and comparison with substantiated by fauna marine sequences of Ponto-Caspian Sea or continental sequences in the Fore-Urals and Western Siberia. Here, the most urgent task is to search for and study sequences in the transitional zone incorporating continental, ingressive, and marine sediments. 4. Development of regional charts for the Quaternary is relevant for the Caucasus, the Black Sea coast regions

Pre-breakup magmatism on the Vøring margin: Insight from new sub-basalt imaging and results from Ocean Drilling program hole 642E

Highlights • Sub-basalt imaging improvement on the Vøring Margin • Definition of a new seismic facies unit: the Lower Series Flows • Significant organic carbon content within the melting crustal segment • Apectodinium augustum marker for the PETM is reworked into the Lower Series Flows • The Lower Series Flows, early Eocene in age, predate the Vøring Margin breakup Abstract Improvements in sub-basalt imaging combined with petrological and geochemical observations from the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Hole 642E core provide new constraints on the initial breakup processes at the Vøring Margin. New and reprocessed high quality seismic data allow us to identify a new seismic facies unit which we define as the Lower Series Flows. This facies unit is seismically characterized by wavy to continuous subparallel reflections with an internal disrupted and hummocky shape. Drilled lithologies, which we correlate to this facies unit, have been interpreted as subaqueous flows extruding and intruding into wet sediments. Locally, the top boundary of this facies unit is defined as a negative in polarity reflection, and referred as the K-Reflection. This reflection can be correlated with the spatial extent of pyroclastic deposits, emplaced during transitional shallow marine to subaerial volcanic activities during the rift to drift transition. The drilled Lower Series Flows consist of peraluminous, cordierite bearing peperitic basaltic andesitic to dacitic flows interbedded with thick volcano-sedimentary deposits and intruded sills. The peraluminous geochemistry combined with available C (from calcite which fills vesicles and fractures), Sr, Nd, and Pb isotopes data point towards upper crustal rock-mantle magma interactions with a significant contribution of organic carbon rich pelagic sedimentary material during crustal anatexis. From biostratigraphic analyses, Apectodinium augustum was found in the The Lower Series Flows. This species is a marker for the Paleocene – Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM). However, the absence of very low carbon isotope values (from bulk organic matter), that characterize the PETM, imply that A.augustum was reworked into the early Eocene sediments of this facies unit which predate the breakup time of the Vøring Margin. Finally, a plausible conceptual emplacement model for the Lower Series Flows facies unit is proposed. This model comprises several stages: (1) the emplacement of subaqueous peperitic basaltic andesitic flows intruding and/or extruding wet sediments; (2) a subaerial to shallow marine volcanism and extrusion of dacitic flows; (3) a proto-breakup phase with intense shallow marine to subaerial explosive volcanism responsible for pyroclastic flow deposits which can be correlated with the seismic K-Reflection and (4) the main breakup stage with intense transitional tholeiitic MORB-type volcanism and large subsidence concomitant with the buildup of the Seaward Dipping Reflector wedge

Characterizing ancient and modern hydrothermal venting systems

Highlights • Ancient and modern hydrothermal venting systems occur offshore mid-Norway and Java. • They can share morphologies, eruptive behavior and develop similarly. • Modern hydrothermal venting systems are relevant analogues for ancient systems. Abstract Ancient hydrothermal vent complexes have released large volumes of greenhouse gases in the past causing global warming, and similar modern vent structures are potential geohazards. In the NE Atlantic, thousands of hydrothermal vent complexes were formed during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum. In Java, Indonesia, the erupting Lusi sediment-hosted geothermal system caused the displacement of 40,000 people. In order to determine how ancient and modern hydrothermal venting systems are related, we map a well-defined buried hydrothermal vent complex offshore mid-Norway using 3D seismic reflection data and then compare it to the active Lusi eruption (since 2006) and the neighboring inactive Porong Structure. These are characterized using 2D seismic reflection data, borehole data and field observations. The venting structures are subcircular in plan-view and a few kilometers in diameter. They are funnel-shaped in profiles, with inward-dipping beds surrounding the conduits. The hydrothermal vent complex offshore mid-Norway reveals five seismically-distinct vent fill facies units. Importantly, two of the facies units are separated by an angular unconformity, clearly indicating that the depositional events within the vent fill were distinct. Hydrothermal fluids are interpreted to have led to the fluidization of mud-rich sediments which were erupted and deposited in and around the vent complex. Interpretation of a seismically transparent body along the conduit of the Norwegian venting structure, and the abrupt widening of the conduit at the Porong Structure, are interpreted to be caused by changes in fluid-flow dynamics as the fluids rise and get released from the host-rock. The hydrothermal venting systems in Java and offshore mid-Norway are found to be morphologically similar and are interpreted to form as the result of the transport and eruption of fluidized sediments

State of stratigraphic knowledge of Quaternary deposits in European Russia: Unresolved issues and challenges for further research

© 2017 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA.The paper is devoted to summary and analysis of the Quaternary stratigraphic investigations and state of the stratigraphic schemes of the different regions of the European part of Russia.The previous summary on the Quaternary of Russia was done in 1984. Thus, this paper presents a brief analysis of the state of the Quaternary investigations in European Russia for the first time since last 30 years. Paper describes history of the Quaternary investigations of the European Russia as well as zoning (structural-facies zones) of the territory in correlation with the conditions of the Quaternary sedimentation. Summary of the Quaternary deposits developed in each zone and validity of stratigraphic units as well as state of the Regional Quaternary schemes is given for each structural-facies zone. Regional schemes are correlated with units of the General Stratgraphic chart of Russia and with International Chart. Analysis of the stratigraphic knowledge on the Quaternary deposits in various structural-facies zones in the European part of Russia has enabled to formulate the unresolved and discussable points and direction for the future investigations of the Quaternary studies. 1. Due to the change of boundary between the Neogene and Quaternary systems and involvement of the Palaeopleistocene stage in the Quaternary, stratigraphic horizons in this interval require additional study, and the most representative sequences should be selected as unit stratotypes for different zones. 2. In the areas of ice cover, various opinions on the age and number of glacial horizons in the Upper-Middle Neopleistocene, their distribution boundaries are still debatable. 3. In some areas and regions (Fore-Caucasus, Caucasus, Urals, Black Sea), differentiation of continental deposits is poorly substantiated by fauna. Their stratification is based on palaeoclimatic reconstructions, geomorphological analysis, and comparison with substantiated by fauna marine sequences of Ponto-Caspian Sea or continental sequences in the Fore-Urals and Western Siberia. Here, the most urgent task is to search for and study sequences in the transitional zone incorporating continental, ingressive, and marine sediments. 4. Development of regional charts for the Quaternary is relevant for the Caucasus, the Black Sea coast regions

State of stratigraphic knowledge of Quaternary deposits in European Russia: Unresolved issues and challenges for further research

© 2017 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA.The paper is devoted to summary and analysis of the Quaternary stratigraphic investigations and state of the stratigraphic schemes of the different regions of the European part of Russia.The previous summary on the Quaternary of Russia was done in 1984. Thus, this paper presents a brief analysis of the state of the Quaternary investigations in European Russia for the first time since last 30 years. Paper describes history of the Quaternary investigations of the European Russia as well as zoning (structural-facies zones) of the territory in correlation with the conditions of the Quaternary sedimentation. Summary of the Quaternary deposits developed in each zone and validity of stratigraphic units as well as state of the Regional Quaternary schemes is given for each structural-facies zone. Regional schemes are correlated with units of the General Stratgraphic chart of Russia and with International Chart. Analysis of the stratigraphic knowledge on the Quaternary deposits in various structural-facies zones in the European part of Russia has enabled to formulate the unresolved and discussable points and direction for the future investigations of the Quaternary studies. 1. Due to the change of boundary between the Neogene and Quaternary systems and involvement of the Palaeopleistocene stage in the Quaternary, stratigraphic horizons in this interval require additional study, and the most representative sequences should be selected as unit stratotypes for different zones. 2. In the areas of ice cover, various opinions on the age and number of glacial horizons in the Upper-Middle Neopleistocene, their distribution boundaries are still debatable. 3. In some areas and regions (Fore-Caucasus, Caucasus, Urals, Black Sea), differentiation of continental deposits is poorly substantiated by fauna. Their stratification is based on palaeoclimatic reconstructions, geomorphological analysis, and comparison with substantiated by fauna marine sequences of Ponto-Caspian Sea or continental sequences in the Fore-Urals and Western Siberia. Here, the most urgent task is to search for and study sequences in the transitional zone incorporating continental, ingressive, and marine sediments. 4. Development of regional charts for the Quaternary is relevant for the Caucasus, the Black Sea coast regions

State of stratigraphic knowledge of Quaternary deposits in European Russia: Unresolved issues and challenges for further research.

Bioarchaeolog

State of stratigraphic knowledge of Quaternary deposits in European Russia: Unresolved issues and challenges for further research

© 2017 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA.The paper is devoted to summary and analysis of the Quaternary stratigraphic investigations and state of the stratigraphic schemes of the different regions of the European part of Russia.The previous summary on the Quaternary of Russia was done in 1984. Thus, this paper presents a brief analysis of the state of the Quaternary investigations in European Russia for the first time since last 30 years. Paper describes history of the Quaternary investigations of the European Russia as well as zoning (structural-facies zones) of the territory in correlation with the conditions of the Quaternary sedimentation. Summary of the Quaternary deposits developed in each zone and validity of stratigraphic units as well as state of the Regional Quaternary schemes is given for each structural-facies zone. Regional schemes are correlated with units of the General Stratgraphic chart of Russia and with International Chart. Analysis of the stratigraphic knowledge on the Quaternary deposits in various structural-facies zones in the European part of Russia has enabled to formulate the unresolved and discussable points and direction for the future investigations of the Quaternary studies. 1. Due to the change of boundary between the Neogene and Quaternary systems and involvement of the Palaeopleistocene stage in the Quaternary, stratigraphic horizons in this interval require additional study, and the most representative sequences should be selected as unit stratotypes for different zones. 2. In the areas of ice cover, various opinions on the age and number of glacial horizons in the Upper-Middle Neopleistocene, their distribution boundaries are still debatable. 3. In some areas and regions (Fore-Caucasus, Caucasus, Urals, Black Sea), differentiation of continental deposits is poorly substantiated by fauna. Their stratification is based on palaeoclimatic reconstructions, geomorphological analysis, and comparison with substantiated by fauna marine sequences of Ponto-Caspian Sea or continental sequences in the Fore-Urals and Western Siberia. Here, the most urgent task is to search for and study sequences in the transitional zone incorporating continental, ingressive, and marine sediments. 4. Development of regional charts for the Quaternary is relevant for the Caucasus, the Black Sea coast regions

Permanent Carbon Sequestration Potential in Offshore Basalt Sequences on the NW European Continental Margins

A dramatic reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions is necessary to achieve climate change targets. Wide ranging measures are required to reduce emissions with carbon capture and storage forming a vital component. Current carbon sequestration occurs in volumes of Mt/a into dominantly sedimentary reservoir rocks. Pilot tests have demonstrated that basalt reservoirs provide an alternative and permanent carbon capture scenario (e.g. Carbfix project). Here, we use 2D and 3D seismic data combined with well data to identify and map potential permanent and safe carbon storage reservoirs in offshore basalt sequences in the NE Atlantic. Well data support the presence of reservoir properties within extrusive basaltic sequences with porous lava flow tops and volcaniclastic lithologies comprising the most prolific sequestration targets. The basalt sequences are overlaid by several hundred meters of Cenozoic sediments with sealing properties, consisting mainly of marine shales and glaciogenic sediments. We hypothesize that offshore CO2 sequestration into porous basaltic lava flows may allow permanent CO2 sequestration of several gigatons per year, however more research and testing is needed to verify this potential