Challenge the future

Delft
University of
Technology
M.E. Donselaar
Lacustrine deposits

2
Sedimentary environments
Continental: fluvial (braided, meandering)
aeolian
lacustrine
Coastal: deltas
linear (clastic, carbonate)
Marine: shelf
deep marine sands
pelagic
3
Outline
Introduction
Water circulation
Lake sedimentation

4
Lakes general characteristics
From peri-glacial to tropic
Permanent lakes: humid climate
Ephemeral lakes: arid climate
Freshwater to saltwater and evaporite lakes
Water source:
precipitation
surface run-off
groundwater

5
Lake types
Volcanic origin
Fluvial (ox-bow lakes)
Glaciation
Proglacial
Ice damming
Tectonic origin:
Active strike-slip (Dead Sea Valley) or extensional rift valleys
(East Africa, Baikal)
Slowly subsiding sags in cratonic areas (Lake Chad, Lake Eyre)
6
Volcanic lakes
http://www.kleins-wanderreisen.de/wandern_images/EIFEL.JPG
7
Oxbow lake
http://www.marietta.edu/~biol/biomes/images/lakes/oxbowlake3.jpg
8
Glacial lake
Glacial valleys with end-
moraine damming the
downstream end
http://www.ersdac.or.jp/ASTERimage/Image/085_Como.jpg
9
East African & Dead Sea rift valleys
9
http://www.linkdirectory.com/paulillsley/satellite/
http://www.marekinc.com/GeoOverviewGreatRift.html
10
100 km
Lake Baikal rift valley
http://marine.usgs.gov/fact-sheets/baikal/
11
Ephemeral lake in cratonic sag:
Lake Chad
Satellite images of Lake Chad
taken in 1973, top, and 1997,
below, show how dramatically
the body of water has shrunk

http://www.cnn.com/2001/TECH/science/02/27/shrinking.lakechad/
12
Lakes!
13
Relationship water circulation and
sedimentation
Lake water circulation may be limited to upper part of water
column
Stratification of lake water properties:
Temperature
Density
Oxygen content
Stratification has impact on preservation of lake sediment
14
15
Variation in thermal stratification
Water circulation by winds blowing
over lake surface:
Spring & autumn: mixing of water
due to strong winds
Winter: ice sheet prevents water
circulation
Summer: quiet conditions, water
circulation limited to upper part of
water column
http://www.poemsinc.org/oceano/currents.htm
16
Lake water stratification (summer)
Epilimnion
Warm
Light (penetration of sun
light)
Well oxygenated
Thermocline
Rapid temperature change
Hypolimnion
Cold
Dark
Poorly oxygenated

17
Oxygen depletion in hypolimnion of
productive lake
Upper part of lake:
Rich in life
Photosynthesis
O
2
diffusion through air

Deeper part of lake: depletion of
dissolved O
2
Absence of photosynthesis
No diffusion through air

Anoxia
Detritus, dead plankton, faeces
rain down into hypo-limnion
http://www.csuchico.edu/~pmaslin/limno/solubility.html
18
Thermal stratification and hydrocarbons
Hypolimnion: anoxic conditions
Organic matter not oxidized
Source rock for sulfur-rich hydrocarbons, e.g.:
Butyl mercaptan CH
3
- CH
2
- CH
2
- CH
2
SH
Dimethyl disulfide CH
3
S S - CH
3

Additional reading:
Blackboard: Oil chemistry.pdf


19
20
Lake sedimentation
Sediment fining from lake margin to basin center
Peat (coal) on lake shores
Lake infill by delta progradation (clastic) or carbonate
platform outbuilding, hence coarsening up sequence
10 km
21
Clastic lake Powder River Basin
Lake size: 90 x 300 km
Basin filled by prograding
deltas
Lake center: mudstone
Lake margin: coal swamps

Ayers (1986)


22
Lacustrine
sequence
Stemmerik et al. (1990)
23
Lake sedimentation: Examples
Clastic: Gilbert-type deltas
Carbonate: Littlefield Lake (Recent, Michigan)
Salt lakes
24
Lacustrine Gilbert-type deltas
In tectonically active basins
Coarse-grained
Extensive, simple steep giant foresets overlain by flat
topsets
Recorded foreset heights up to 100 m high!
25
Gilbert-type delta example 1
Peyto Lake delta - Canada
http://zsylvester.blogspot.com/2008/07/internal-structure-of-peyto-lake-delta.html
Flat top sets (braided river influx)
Steep foresets
(25
O
)
Finer-grained
bottomsets
26
Gilbert-type delta example 2
Lake Bonneville (Pleistocene)
Giant foresets
Lower angle x-bedding (middle): wave reworking of delta front
Additional reading: Blackboard: Gilbert-type delta.pdf


Smith & Jol (1992)
27
Carbonate lake
Facies distribution from lake margin to center


Murphy & Wilkinson (1980)
28
Carbonate lake: progradational sequence
Platt & Wright (1991)
29
Salt lakes
30
31
Salt lakes - 1
Initial phase salt formation:
NaCl boats float in
water
32
Salt lakes - 2
End phase salt
formation:
boats have grown
and sunk to the
bottom
33
Salt lakes - 3
Salt production
34
Salt lakes - 4
Sedimentary
structures: Ridges
35
Salt lakes - 5
After flood period: salt surface
dries out
Formation of shrinkage cracks
Upward capillary draw of salt
brine through cracks
Evaporation of brine water
Precipitation of brine salts fills
shrinkage cracks
36
Salt lakes - 6
Sedimentary structures:
Clay-salt laminations
37
Compulsory reading
Chapter 10:
10.1 Lakes and Lacustrine environments
10.1.1 Lake formation
10.2 Freshwater lakes
10.3 Saline lakes