Alberto Sáez

Late Neogene lacustrine record and palaeogeography in the Quillagua–Llamara basin, Central Andean fore-arc (northern Chile)

Abstract The Cenozoic Quillagua–Llamara basin (northern Chile, Central Andes) is an asymmetrical, intramassif fore-arc basin with a relatively wide northern sector separated from a narrower southward extension by a basement threshold. The northern sector was characterised by a noticeable Oligocene?–late Neogene alluvial-fan and lacustrine dominated deposition which resulted in sequences up to 900 m thick, whereas the southern sector was often a bypass zone with thinner fluvial and lacustrine sediment accumulation. The basin infill includes two third-order alluvial–lacustrine unconformity-bounded units which include other higher-frequency (4th to 5th order) sequences. The evolution of the Late Miocene–Pliocene lacustrine episodes in the Quillagua–Llamara basin was not only controlled by the regional variations from arid to hyperarid palaeoclimate conditions, due to the combined influence of the Pacific high pressure cell, the rain shadow effect exerted by the rising Andes and the northward flowing cold oceanic currents, but also by: (a) the extensional tectonics and evolution and uplift of the fore-arc region which defined the location and size of the depocentres; (b) the resulting basement palaeorelief which affected sediment thickness and facies distribution during the late basin-infill episodes; and (c) the tectonic modifications of watersheds, water divides and drainage networks in the Precordillera which caused considerable changes of water income in the lacustrine systems. Understanding of this regional tectonosedimentary evolution is a necessary first step before analysing of the low- to high-order lacustrine sequence changes in the region. Lacustrine water supply was very sensitive to tectonics; even gentle tectonic tilting and uplifting in critical water-divide zones could result in changes in water balance in the lacustrine basins and trigger variations in the depositional record. The very conspicuous, lacustrine regime changes recorded in the Quillagua–Llamara basin infill cannot be considered in themselves conclusive proof of an exclusive climatic forcing, since they took place close to either major regional drainage changes or to gentle but noticeable tectonic reactivation in the fore-arc region.

Statistical grid-based facies reconstruction and modelling for sedimentary bodies. Alluvial-palustrine and turbiditic examples

The geological community is increasingly aware of the importance of geological heterogeneity for managing subsurface activities. In sedimentary bodies, facies distribution is an important factor constraining geological heterogeneity. Statistical grid-based sedimentary facies reconstruction and modelling methods (FRM methods) can be used to provide accurate representations (reconstructions or models) of facies distribution at a variety of scales, which can be conditioned to hard and soft data. These representations enable geological heterogeneity to be quantified; and therefore, serve as important inputs to manage projects involving subsurface activities. FRM methods are part of a general workflow comprising the construction of a surface-based framework, which is used to build the modelling grid in which these methods operate. This paper describes this workflow and provides an overview, classification, description and illustration of the most widely used FRM methods (deterministic and stochastic). Among others, two selected datasets comprising alluvial-palustrine and turbiditic deposits are used for illustration purposes. This exercise enables critical issues when using FRM methods to be highlighted and also provides some recommendations on their capabilities. For deterministic facies reconstruction, the main choice of the method to be used is between that employing a continuous or a categorical method. For stochastic facies modelling, choosing between the different techniques must be based on the scale of the problem, the type and density of available data, the objective of the model, and the conceptual depositional model to be reproduced. Realistic representations of facies distribution can be obtained if the available methods are applied appropriately.

Coal deposition in carbonate rich shallow Lacustrine systems: The Calaf and Mequinenza sequences (Oligocene, eastern Ebro Basin, NE Spain)

Two main coal-bearing sequences developed during the Oligocene in the Tertiary Ebro Basin, the Calaf (early Oligocene) and Mequinenza (late Oligocene) coal basins. Coal deposition took place in shallow marsh-swamp-lake complexes which sometimes became closed and evolved under warm climatic conditions with fluctuating humidity. These shallow lacustrine systems are closely interrelated with the terminal parts of the distributive fluvial systems which spread from the tectonically active Ebro basin margins. Laterally extensive lignite-bearing sequences, including rather thin, lenticular autochthonous and/or hypautochthonous coal seams with high ash and sulphur contents, characterized coal deposition in the shallow lacustrine systems. Coal seam geometry, which makes them nearly subeconomic, resulted from the tectonic instability during basin margin evolution and the sometimes closed, arid conditions under which the lacustrine systems evolved. High ash and sulphur contents resulted from the inadequate isolation of peat forming environments from clastic influx and from the very low acidity and sometimes high sulphate contents of the lacustrine waters. Coal exploration in shallow lacustrine sequences similar to those described here must take into account that the spread of coal-forming environments and maxima of coal deposition are usually coincident with lake expansions and retraction or shifting of the terminal fluvial zones interrelated with the lacustrine areas.

Interpolation algorithm ranking using cross-validation and the role of smoothing effect. A coal zone example

For a property measured at several locations, interpolation algorithms provide a unique and smooth function yielding a locally realistic estimation at any point within the sampled region. Previous studies searching for optimal interpolation strategies by measuring cross-validation error have not found consistent rankings; this fact was traditionally explained by differences in the distribution, spatial variability and sampling patterns of the datasets. This article demonstrates that ranking differences are also related to interpolation smoothing, an important factor controlling cross-validation errors that was not considered previously. Indeed, smoothing in average-based interpolation algorithms depends on the number of neighbouring data points used to obtain each interpolated value, among other algorithm parameters. A 3D dataset of calorific value measurements from a coal zone is used to demonstrate that different algorithm rankings can be obtained solely by varying the number of neighbouring points considered (i.e. whilst maintaining the distribution, spatial variability and sampling pattern of the dataset). These results suggest that cross-validation error cannot be used as a unique criterion to compare the performance of interpolation algorithms, as has been done in the past, and indicate that smoothing should be also coupled to search for optimum and geologically realistic interpolation algorithms.

Tectonic–palaeoenvironmental forcing of clay-mineral assemblages in nonmarine settings: the Oligocene–Miocene As Pontes Basin (Spain)

Two small, alluvial-lacustrine subbasins developed during the early restraining overstep stages of the Oligocene–Miocene As Pontes strike-slip Basin (NW Spain). Later, the basin evolved into a restraining bend stage and an alluvial-swamp-dominated depositional framework developed. The palaeobiological record demonstrates that the Oligocene–Miocene palaeoclimate in NW Spain was subtropical, warm and humid to subhumid. The metamorphic and igneous basin catchment yielded clay assemblages made up by kaolinite, illite and Al-smectite. Illite occurred as an original mineral in the source rock area, whereas kaolinite and Al-smectite resulted mainly from weathering of feldspar and clinochlore, respectively. This detrital primary clay assemblage remained preserved in the colluvial, alluvial fan and shallow lacustrine facies, whose early diagenesis was influenced by diluted, poorly evolved pore waters with neutral to slightly alkaline pH. The original clay assemblage was mildly to strongly transformed under early diagenetic conditions in the lacustrine and swampy environments where significant hydrochemical and Eh–pH changes took place. A fibrous magnesium-rich clay mineral-dominated assemblage (palygorskite and sepiolite) formed in shallow, saline lakes and palustrine zones under the influence of magnesium-rich, alkaline waters. Moreover, kaoliniteenriched assemblages formed in deep lacustrine, swamp and swamp-related alluvial zones under the influence of slightly to highly acidic pore waters. Pore water acidic conditions, characterising environments with organic matter accumulation, led to early diagenetic transformation of Al-smectite into kaolinite. This process was relatively limited in some environments such as organic matter-rich bottoms in meromictic lacustrine zones, whereas it was pervasive in peat-forming swamp zones. The stratigraphic relationships between the diverse clay mineral assemblages in the As Pontes Basin fill demonstrate the coeval development of rather diverse clay compositions. This clearly reflects the influence on clay assemblages of palaeoenvironmental changes forced by the morphological and tectonic evolution of the catchment–basin system. The interplay between climate and tectonic processes in the source areas did not result in major variations of the clay minerals fed into the basin. Conversely, this tectonic-sedimentation interplay influenced the evolution of the drainage and the water balance in the depositional zones, causing a complex environmental–hydrochemical evolution to occur. As a consequence, drastic early

Challenging Easter Island"s collapse: the need for interdisciplinary synergies

The reigning paradigm holds that Easter Island suffered a socio-ecological collapse (ecocidal or not) sometime in the last millennium, prior to European contact (AD 1720). We discuss some novel paleoecological and archaeological evidence that challenges this assumption. We use this case study to propose a closer collaboration between archaeology and paleoecology. This collaboration allows us to unravel historical trends in which both environmental changes and human activities might have acted, alone or coupled, as drivers of ecological and social transformations. We highlight a number of particular points in which scholars from disparate disciplines, working together, may enhance the scope and the soundness of historical inferences. These points are the following: (1) the timing of the initial Easter Island colonization and the origin of the settlers, (2) the pace of ecological and social transformations since that time until the present, and (3) the occurrence of potential climate-human synergies as drivers of socio-ecological shifts.

Lake-level and salinity reconstruction from diatom analyses in Quillagua formation (late Neogene, Central Andean forearc, northern Chile)

Abstract A sedimentary and micropaleontological study of the Quillagua Formation provides a detailed paleohydrological reconstruction of the lacustrine system which occupied the present-day hyperarid Quillagua–Llamara fore-arc Basin (Northern Chile) from lattermost Miocene (5.8±0.4 Ma) to Early Pliocene times. Diatom and lithofacies analyses were carried out in two correlated stratigraphic sections of the lacustrine system. The Quebrada Temblor section is located at the southern margin of the ancient lake and is directly influenced by the freshwater inputs of a northward flowing fluvial system draining the Precordillera and Calama regions. The Cerro Mogote section occupies a western marginal location in the northern zone sheltered from direct fluvial inputs from the south but subjected to the activity of the alluvial fan systems of the Coastal Range. A mostly shallow oligosaline waterbody occupied the basin during the interval studied, though with fluctuations in salinity and the extent of the inner, open waters. The southern margin sector — represented by Quebrada Temblor — had, in general terms, a palustrine oligosaline character with almost freshwater conditions during certain periods, which favoured the establishment of semi-permanent to permanent freshwater plumes overlying a saline waterbody. Development of shoreline facies subjected to desiccation events was also characteristic at the top of this section. The innermost shallow lacustrine areas — represented by Cerro Mogote — maintained more homogeneous oligosaline characteristics and more persistent open waters. They were also subjected to freshwater pulses mediated in this case by the activity of the terminal alluvial fan zones. Paleohydrological evolution of the basin was strongly conditioned not only by shifts in the climatic–tectonic system but by variations in the local hydrological parameters. Four hierarchical orders of variability in the lake level of the basin were distinguished both by stratigraphic analysis of lithofacies and from changes undergone by the diatom record. Strong intrasample mixing of diatoms of incompatible salinity spectra and the presence of fine laminated lacustrine facies in some terms define the highest order short-term intra- or inter-annual pulses experienced by the lacustrine system (higher than 6th order). Diatom-based punctuated interruptions of the minor order bathymetrical trends highlight the high frequency variability in the basin (probably 6th order, 0.001–0.01 Ma), while the deepening/shallowing facies defined by the arrangement of the decimetre thick lithological sequences revealed a lower order of variability (5th order, 0.01–0.1 Ma). Combined lithofacies and diatom analyses delineate the lowest order of variability (4th order, 0.1–1 Ma) allowing the reconstruction of two well-established highstand and lowstand situations which implied the existence of a regressive trend between two transgressive trends. This order of variability is related to the interplay of tectonic events in the Calama Basin, and the regional climatic evolution during late Neogene to Pliocene times.

Relación de aguas superficiales y subterráneas en el área del lago Chungará y lagunas de Cotacotani, norte de Chile: un estudio isotópico

El lago Chungara y las lagunas de Cotacotani corresponden a cuerpos de aguas superficiales localizados al noroeste de la Cuenca del Lauca, en el Altiplano del norte de Chile. Todas las aguas superficiales y subterraneas tienen una salinidad baja a moderada con conductividades electricas variables entre 48,7 y 3090 µS/cm. Los lagos estan conectados a acuiferos situados en los flancos de los edificios volcanicos proximos, asi como en los depositos de brechas de avalancha del volcan Parinacota. Las composiciones isotopicas de d18O y dD y su relacion con las concentraciones de cloruro de las aguas del lago Chungara, lagunas de Cotacotani, manantiales afluentes y del rio Chungara, demuestran que: a. las aguas del lago Chungara presentan una composicion quimica e isotopica homogenea tanto en la horizontal como en la vertical, lo que indica una buena mezcla de las aguas en el lago; b. una parte importante de la recarga hidrica que alimenta las lagunas de Cotacotani procede de aguas del lago Chungara, canalizada a traves de un flujo lateral subterraneo y c. el agua subterranea que da origen a los manantiales de la zona tiene su recarga principal en las precipitaciones que se registran durante los meses de primavera-verano (octubre-marzo). Los altos contenidos de tritio (3H) medidos en las aguas de los manantiales del sector indican que existe una recarga actual (durante los ultimos decenios) al sistema acuifero. La aplicacion de modelos de parametro agregado para la interpretacion del tiempo de residencia del agua en el acuifero indica que el modelo de flujo de piston es el que mejor se ajusta a las caracteristicas isotopicas de estas aguas subterraneas.

Paleoenvironmental significance of a new species of freshwater sponge from the Late Miocene Quillagua Formation (N Chile)

This paper reports the first fossil (Tertiary) occurrence of freshwater sponges of the genus Ephydatia in the southern hemisphere. The sponges appear in diatomite lacustrine sediments of Late Miocene Quillagua Formation (Chile, Atacama region). The investigated specimens represent a new species, Ephydatia chileana sp. nov., which is close to the Recent cosmopolitan E. fluviatilis. On the basis of sedimentological and diatom assemblage data, sponge-bearing diatomites have been interpreted as deposited in open offshore shallow lacustrine conditions with slightly alkaline waters. The sponges show malformations, similar to some diatoms and probably caused by high heavy metal concentrations in a lake water. These concentrations are related to hydrothermal activity, which favored the leaching of volcanic rocks that outcrop extensively in the catchment. q 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

The coal-bearing, Cenozoic As Pontes basin (northwestern Spain) : geological influence on coal characteristics

Lignite deposits in the Cenozoic As Pontes strike-slip basin (northwestern Spain) were formed as a function of specific paleoclimatic conditions and tectonic evolution of the basin. During the early evolutionary stages, the presence of active normal faults and thrusts inside the basin resulted in two subbasins with distinct differences in sedimentary records, with respect to lignite seam occurrence, thickness, area1 extent and lithotype development. In contrast, during the late evolutionary stages the basin was not split and a more homogeneous sedimentary record in terms of coal seam occurrence and lithotype characteristics developed. A total of 26 lignite samples, distributed along the basin infill, were analyzed by organic petrography and geochemistry. All are lignite B (ASTM). The lignites deposited during lower basin infill sedimentation (units 1 and 2) are dark, matrix-rich, mainly huminitic brown coals, with minor bright, liptinitic-rich coal lithotypes. The dark huminitic coals in these units show sedimentological and paleontological evidence of lacustrine influence. Persistent, relatively moderate to low Tissue Preservation Index (TPI) values and high average Gelification Index (GI) values are characteristic of these limno-telmatic coals. Lignites in the upper basin infill (Unit 4) are almost exclusively matrix-rich, huminitic brown coals. Persistent, widespread, low TPI values and variable, but low, average GI values are also characteristic of these telmatic coals. The overall coal petrological data trend (TPI, GI and widespread development or absence of liptiniteenriched lignite layers) recorded from the lower to the upper basin infill units agrees with the stratigraphic and sedimentological data, which show a trend of increasingly drier conditions. Development of bright, liptinite-enriched lignite layers was widespread during the early basin evolutionary stages and was influenced by punctuated water-table oscillations. Sedimentological, petrological and organic geochemical data point to the conclusion that, although the paleoenvironments where peat deposition took place did not undergo dramatic changes, they were affected by distinguishable