PALEOCURRENT ANALYSIS AND ITS BEARING ON BASIN EVOLUTION

Santanu Banerjee, Department of Earth Sciences, IIT Bombay, Powai, Mumbai-400076

Introduction: Paleocurrent data provide information on the direction of sediment transportation of the past. Importance of paleocurrent study was first realized by Sorby as early as 1852. Paleocurrent analysis involves use of sedimentary structures and a host of other attributes to determine the direction of flow like that of a river, a group of streams within a basin, the direction of oceanic currents and even wind direction in a region. The technique has now become a routine component of basin analysis. Paleocurrent analysis can provide following important clues relevant to basin analysisa) the direction of local or regional paleoslope, b) the pattern of sediment dispersal, c) the depositional environment, d) paleoshoreline orientation in case of marine basins, e) location of the source area of the sediments, f) the geometry and trend of lithologic units. Types of Paleocurrent indicators: A variety of observations can contribute the paleocurrent data and these may be grouped into two classes: a) Properties, which acquire directional significance only when mapped regionally. These consist of (i) attributes- presence /absence of some distinctive feature such as boulder type or mineral assemblage, (ii) scalars magnitude of some property such as grain size, roundness or unit thickness. b) Properties, which provide some directional information at the point of observation, although much informations can be obtained by presenting the observations in map form. These directional properties can indicate either (i) the sense or the line of

sediment movement, cannot provide the specific direction of sediment movement include parting lineation, groove casts, gutter cast, bounce marks, skim marks, channels, symmetrical wave ripples, or (ii) a unique direction of flow like prod marks, chevron marks, current crescent, imbricated pebbles, current ripples and cross stratification. Other less used paleocurrent indicators are axes of inclined stromatolites, oriented shells, inclined flame structures. Anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS fabrics) is the most effective method for paleocurrent analysis of shales as the interbedded sandstones or limestones may not provide the true data (Schieber and Ellwood, 1993). The orientations of the paleocurrent indicator are mostly parallel to the flow (e.g. groove cast, parting lineation, groove cast and prod marks), but they may be perpendicular (like current ripple). The paleocurrent indicators are mostly oriented down current, but in a few cases they may be oriented up current (e.g. pebble imbrication). Variability and bedform hierarchy: Structures that form at a higher flow velocity, like parting lineation and current crescent yields directional readings of low variance. Channels, scours and gutter casts are also very reliable paleocurrent indicators. Measurements from fluvial, deltaic and shallow marine deposits are most representative of the dominant flow when cross bedding is used. Sedimentary structures show a hierarchical arrangement such that no one sedimentary structure fully specifies a complex flow system. For different example parts of a fluvial system can be considered as different orders or ranks (Miall, 1974; Fig. 1). In general, the smaller structures in the hierarchy tend to be more variable because the currents forming them are controlled both by the overall transport direction and local deviations caused by larger bedforms. Small ripples in this environment may show wide directional variability as they develop at a very low flow velocity and may generate from secondary flows and naturally deviate from the direction of interest. For turbidites and tempestite best paleocurrent data are obtained from the sole marks. A turbidity current or a storm generated flow is apt to wander when they are

slowing down so that measurements from ripples and cross laminations within the bed may differ from the sole structures. Presentation of data: Paleocurrent observations should be recorded in the field along with other relevant informations like- a) precise position in a stratigraphic section, b) type of structure, c) scale of structure and d) dip and strike of the bed containing the paleocurrent indicator. Thus data collected from different facies should be treated separately. Sufficient numbers of readings (several hundreds to thousands) are necessary for a thorough basin analysis purpose. Its a common practice to represent the directional data by current rose diagram, which is a histogram converted to a circular distribution. The compus is divided into 20, 30, 40 or 45o segments, and the rose is drawn with the segment radius proportional to number of readings. 20o class interval is most frequently used. A visually more correct picture is to obtain by drawing the radius promotional to the square root of reading so that segment area is proportional to the number of readings (Miall, 2000). The class interval with the most observations is the modal class. The paleocurrent distributions may produce a single dominant mode (unimodal), although some have two, three or more subequal modes (bimodal, trimodal and polymodal) (Fig. 2). Each reflects a particular style of sediment dispersion. In the case of structures which indicate only the sense of sediment movement, each measurement is represented by two opposite azimuth values (e.g. 40o and 220o). The resulting current rose consists of two reflected halves (Fig.2). Measurements made from several different structures may be plotted on a single composite rose diagram giving different fills within the rose. For unimodal data it is possible to calculate the mean direction of sediment transport. But it would not make any sense to calculate the mean direction in case of bimodal population, particularly one with a bipolar pattern. As because directional data are distributed around a circle so that 360o=0o, calculation of mean cannot be a matter of simple averaging. For example, the mean of two data 20o and 340o gives 180o by simple averaging, which is exactly opposite to the actual mean 360o=0o. Its a common practice to treat the data as vectors and resolve the vector component to give a vector mean by applying the

formula tan= Sin /Cos , where = vector mean and Sin and Cos are the sums of sines and cosines of the individual readings. Details of the vector mean derivation is given in Fig.3. In such calculations, it is important to take account of the sign of trigonometric functions (Fig. 3). Direction of local or regional paleoslope: One of the main problems of Paleocurrent interpretation is the relationship between Paleocurrent and paleoslope. In some environment the flow system is slope controlled and in others they are not. In the first case, paleocurrent analysis can provide significant clues related to paleogeography and basin evolution. In the second case it cannot. Paleocurrent is slope controlled in fluvial, deltaic and deep marine environments (e.g. turbidites, debris flows). Usually unimodal paleocurrent pattern is found in all these environments. Very gentle slope give rise to unimodal pattern with wide variability. On the contrary moderate slopes gives rise to unimodal pattern with low variability. Again, sharp slope breaks cause fanning of the data, almost covering 180o (e.g. alluvial fan). Paleocurrents are not related to slope in case of shallow marine and tidal setting. Eolian deposits, for example, are wholly controlled by wind direction and may not maintain any relationship with the paleoslope. Before attempting an interpretation of the paleoslope therefore, the nature of the depositing media (like water, air, gravity) and the depositional environment must be ascertained by other criteria. While measuring paleoslope direction from ancient fluvial deposits more emphasis should be given on trough cross beds (Miall, 2000). Planar cross beds show greater directional variance and may be even oriented at a high angle to the average flow of the river. Cant and Walker (1976) compared a modern river deposit with an ancient counterpart to explain the fact. Trough cross beds in the Devonian battery Point formation (which is considered as the ideal fluvial facies model) show consistent current direction towards WNW direction and were interpreted as the product of 3-D dunes migrating down the deeper channels. Planar cross beds are oriented at high angles to this trend as a result of deposition from large, lobate bars (2-D dunes) migrating across the channel. In high sinuosity river migrating point bars give rise to gently inclined epsilon cross stratification which are oriented at high angles to the channel trend. In this case the

paleocurrent pattern helps to recognize the ancient point bar deposit (and also as meandering river deposit). Interpretation of the paleoslope gives the idea of tectonic subsidence pattern. This, in turn, is helpful to infer the nature of sedimentary basin. In case of half graben basin one can expect two distinct trends in paleocurrent pattern related to the oppositely directed slopes of the basin. In such settings the footwall scarp face is the steeper side and the hanging wall dip slope face is gentler, covering most parts of the basin. Alluvial fans derived from the footwalls, however, are limited in aerial extent. In case of foreland basins, paleocurrent remains always unidirectional and is directed away from the orogenic belt. In case of strike-slip basins one should expect abundant fans from various directions. Sediment dispersal pattern: Sediment dispersal pattern within a basin is easily understood with help paleocurrent analysis (Table-1). Sediment dispersal is controlled either by paleoslope (in case of delta, river, turbidite, alluvial fan) or by the sediment transporting agent unrelated to paleoslope (like wind circulation pattern, storm circulation pattern, tidal current, long shore current). Coastal regions where rivers debouch into an area affected by waves and tides can give rise to very complex paleocurrent patterns (Potter and Pettijohn, 1977). Bimodal, trimodal and polymodal paleocurrent patterns are commonly found. Wave oscillation causes to-and fro movement of sediment particles in foreshore zone. Within the same wave ripple train one can identify the bimodal bipolar paleocurrent pattern from the asymmetric wave ripples. Coriolis force plays considerable role in veering the sediment transport route in case of storm generated flows. The effect of the Coriolis force is commonly manifested by the shore-parallel orientation of the tool marks at the base of storm beds in the lower shore face region (Sarkar et al., 2002). It should be remembered always that tidal deposits may not show bimodal-bipolar paleocurrent pattern as the route and also the magnitude of flood and ebb tides should be same to develop herring bone cross stratification and related bimodal- bipolar pattern. On the contrary, bimodal-bipolar pattern (involving herring bone cross stratification) gives the unique interpretation of tidal effect in sediment dispersal. Bi-directional cross strata without any planar erosional surface in

between the two cross sets (chevron cross bedding) reflects sediment dispersal by waves in shallow marine setting. Fluvial deposits typically yield unimodal paleocurrent patterns on an outcrop scale indicating unidirectional sediment dispersal. On a larger scale they may show more complex patterns, for example centripetal patterns may be found which indicates internal drainage. Rust (1981) recorded bimodal patterns with two modes at 90o and occurring at different lithofacies assemblages. One of these two modes correspond to alluvial fans prograding transversely out of the basin margin and the other corresponding to interbedded sandstones reflecting the main river system draining longitudinally. Submarine fan and other deep marine deposits may show following kind of sediment dispersal patterns. a) Individual submarine fans prograde out from the continental slope and, therefore, show radial paleocurrent patterns with vector mean directions oriented perpendicular to the regional basin strike (Stow and Holbrook, 1984). b) Contour currents flow parallel to continental margins and generate paleocurrent patterns oriented parallel to the basin margin (Stow and Holbrook, 1984). Interpretation of depositional environment: Although the paleocurrent study may not lead to unique interpretation of depositional environment it provides an important clue to interpret the depositional processes. Combined with lithofacies and biofacies data paleocurrent pattern can be used to interpret the depositional environment. The interpretation of depositional environment based on paleocurrent data and directional structures has been given in Table-1. Paleoshoreline orientation: Although the waves are generated by winds and in the deep sea they may be diversely oriented. But as these waves approach the coastline the wave crests become parallel to the shore. Wave ripple crests are aligned parallel to the shore and wave ripple data can be used to construct the paleoshoreline (e.g. Bose et al., 1997). Large numbers of data are required for this purpose, as one can see much variability of wave ripple crests in any modern beach. Parting lineation trends, collected from the same area should be perpendicular to this trend.

Current crescent, being perpendicular to the shoreline gives the direction of open ocean. In wave dominated shallow marine regime current reversals give rise to distinctive wave ripple laminations. This can also be used to infer the direction of wave propagation and the paleoshoreline. Closure of the paleoshoreline can help to distinguish lake deposits from the marine ones. Removal of tectonic effects: It is the original current direction at the time of deposition that is required for interpretation. Data collected from the folded or tilted sedimentary succession must be corrected to restore the bedding to its horizontal position. Rotating a line or plane about a horizontal axis using stereographic projection does this. Neglect of tectonic modification introduces error into the resultant information. If the structural dip is less than 35o, the measured azimuth of linear structures needs no correction as they result in errors only 2-3o. However, the foreset dip orientation of the cross beds are significantly affected by structural dip wherever it exceeds 25o. If the dip exceeds 30 then effects of tilting must be removed. This can be done with a stereonet as shown in Fig.4. In structurally folded beds further complexities arise while restoring the depositional paleocurrent data. Orientation and inclinations of the original foresets are modified depending on the position in the fold limb. In flexural folding there is generally a systematic increase in angle between the cross bedding on one fold limb and a decrease in angle in the other limb (Fig. 5). Where flexural folding is accompanied by compression normal to the axial plane the angle of the inclination is further modified. Abnormally high and low cross bedding inclinations are produced on both folded limbs. Most complex modifications are produced due to combination of shear folding and compression. Ramsay (1961) discussed the procedures of tilt correction for a) simple flexural folds with horizontal axis, b) Plunging folds, c) flexural folding accompanied by significant compression. Tilt-correction is a laborious and time-consuming process and applications of computer techniques provide easy solutions. References: Bose, P.K., Banerjee, S. and Sarkar, S., 1997. Slope-controlled seismic deformation and 7

tectonic framework of deposition of Koldaha Shale, India. Tectonophysics, v. 269, p. 151-169. Cant, D.J. and Walker, R.G., 1976. Development of a braided-fluvial facies model for the Devonian Battery Point Sandstone, Quebec. Can. Jour. Earth Sci., 13: 102-119 Friend and Moody, 1978. Miall, A.D., 1974. Plaeocurrent analysis of alluvial sediments, discussion of directional variance and vector magnitude. Jour. Sed. Pet., 44: 1174-1185. Miall, A.D., 2000. Principles of Sedimentary Basin Analysis. 3rd Edition SpringerVerlag, 616pp. Potter, P.E. and Pettijohn, F.J., 1977. Paleocurrents and Basin Analysis. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg, 420pp. Sarkar, S., Banerjee, S., Chakraborty, S. and Bose, P.K., 2002. Shelf storm flow dynamics: insight from the Mesoproterozoic Rampur Shale, central India. Sed. Geol., v. 147, p. 89-104. Schieber, J. and Ellwood, B. B. 1993. Determination of basinwide paleocurrent patterns in a shale succession from AMS: A case study of the mid-Proterozoic Newland Formation, Montana. Jour. Sed. Pet., 63: 874-880. Ramsay, J.G., 1961. The effects of folding upon orientation of sedimentary structures. Jour. Geol., 69: 84-100. Rust, B.R., 1981. Alluvial deposits and tectonic style: Devonian and Carboniferous successions in eastern Gaspe, in Miall, A.D. ed., Stratigraphic Oil and Gas Fields: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Memoir 16: 49-76. Storw, D.A.V. and and Holbrook, J.A., 1984. North Atlantic contourites: an overview, in Stow, D.A.V. and Piper, D.J.W., eds., Fine-grained Sediments: Deep water processes and Facies: Geological Society of London Special Publication, 15: 245-256.

Depositional environments, directional structures and Paleocurrent pattern

Depositional Sedimentary structures Sediment dispersal pattern

environment alluvial fan braided river

trough cross bedding, pebble unimodal with a wide span covering 180o. imbrication tabular and bedding, trough cross unimodal with low variability ripples, with high variability, Bimodal

current

meandering river

scours, parting lineation tabular and trough cross unimodal bedding, current scours large-scale cross bedding of dunes, wind ripples

ripples, Paleocurrent may appear if epsilon cross bedding is not ignored unimodal in barchan type dunes (indicates

eolian

paleowind direction), bimodal in seif dunes, polymodal in complex seifs. wind ripples generally show broad unimodal pattern indicating the paleowind circulation cross unimodal pattern directed offshore.

deltaic

tabular

and

trough

Marine

bedding, current ripples tidal flat current ripple,

processes (tide, wave and storm) may complicate

the pattern wave-cum commonly polymodal covering 360o range, rarely

current ripple, herring bone bimodal-bi polar beach fore shore shore face cross bedding current crescent, quasi-planar unimodal, offshore directed lamination cross bedding, current ripples, commonly bimodal to polymodal, complicated by wave-cum-current ripples prod marks, chevron marks, cross bedding waves, tides and storms. bipolar paleocurrent pattern by the prod marks in tempestite succession, cross beddings may be directed offshore ward, may even be parallel to the offshore to deep marine shore because of Coriolis effect. current ripples, prod marks, unimodal pattern in case of cross bedding contourites turbidites and

Practical Q.1. Given below a data set of paleocurrent data. Find out the vector mean and prepare rose diagram taking 10o class interval. 27, 172, 68, 112, 50, 123, 100, 137, 160, 111, 118, 146, 80, 96, 77, 37, 182, 78, 122, 60, 133, 110, 147, 170, 121, 128, 156, 90, 106, 87, 17, 162, 58, 102, 40, 113, 90, 127, 150, 101, 108, 136, 70, 86, 67 9

Q.2. Given below a paleocurrent data of a linear sedimentary structure on a tilted bedding plane. Find out the depositional paleocurrent data for the same structure. Bedding dip = 50o Dip direction = 320o i.e. attitude of the bed is 050/50NW rake of the linear structure 40o, azimuth is 260o Q.3. Given below a field data set for reorientation of a cross bedding. Find out the original dip and dip direction of the cross bed. Bedding = 040/40SE Cross bedding = 010/48SE Q.4. Given below a data set for reorientation of a groove cast on a bedding plane. Find out the original paleocurrent data of the groove cast. Bedding 055/60 SE Groove marks pitch 85o SW on bedding. Intersection lineation pitches 30o NE on bedding.

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