Collaborative Research:A Test of Macrofloral and MicrofloralBiofacies in a Peat-Accumulating Delta, Sarawak, Malaysia

煤炭勘探模式从一个光谱 在过去的30年里，另一个极端。 当密西西比河 三角洲被认为是典型的沉积体系， 厚厚的泥炭堆积（煤类似物），所有的注意力都集中在 着重于三角洲的识别和划界 岩相 当人们证明， 密西西比三角洲不是厚泥炭堆积的前兆， 生成了海岸模型，其中厚泥炭被限制 到邻近一个或多个三角洲的沿海平原。 不再 三角洲是勘探的目标。 在现代泥炭堆积中 东南亚的政权确实存在两个极端，但中间 条件也占上风。 此前，PI已经确定了五个 受潮汐影响的碎屑岩植物埋藏相 印度尼西亚加里曼丹东部的马哈坎河三角洲。 在这 唯一遇到的泥炭是碎屑， 沿三角洲前缘沿着堆积。 本项目 是为了测试是否有相同的大型植物相 是一个同时期三角洲的特征， 三角洲，砂拉越（在婆罗洲岛的对面），在 形成的泥炭沼泽。 该项目乃设计 在相同的碎屑沉积环境中恢复振动核 之前在马哈坎河三角洲取样， 确定三角洲生物相是否适用于整个 同一气候条件下三角洲类型的梯度。 此外，该项目还提供了评估 孢粉相，并确定是否比例 孢粉碎屑实际上可以用来区分 环境，或者如果花粉和孢子的系统亲和力 是应用孢粉相特征作为辅助手段的必要数据 在环境解释中。 此外，macrofloral 生物相将被用来测试是否倾向于 原地泥炭堆积更多的是基于植被 社区继承（反映在普遍存在的 土壤条件）比其他物理参数。

Coal exploration models have vacillated from one spectrum extreme to another during the past 30 years. When the Mississippi delta was believed to be the stereotypical depositional regime for thick peat accumulations (coal analogues), all attention was focused on the identification and delimitation of deltaic lithofacies. When it was demonstrated that conditions in the Mississippi delta were not precursors to thick peat accumulation, coastal models were generated in which thick peats were restricted to coastal plain sites adjacent to one or more deltas. No longer were deltas the exploration target. In modern peat accumulating regimes of southeast Asia both extremes do occur but intermediate conditions also prevail. Previously, the PI has identified five phytotaphonomic facies in the clastic-dominated, tide-influenced Mahakam River delta of eastern Kalimantan, Indonesia. In this system the only peat that has been encountered is detrital in origin, accumulating along the delta front. The present project is designed to test whether or not the same macrofloral biofacies are characteristic of a contemporaneous delta, the Rajang River delta, Sarawak (on the opposite side of the island of Borneo), in which ombrogenous peat swamps have formed. The project is designed to recover vibracores in the same clastic sedimentary environments as was previously sampled in the Mahakam River delta in order to determine if deltaic biofacies are applicable throughout the gradient of deltaic types occurring in the same climatic regime. In addition, the project offers the opportunity to assess palynofacies and determine whether or not proportions of palynodebris actually can be used to differentiate sedimentary environments, or if the systematic affinities of pollen and spores are necessary data to apply palynofacies characteristics as an aid in environmental interpretation. Additionally, macrofloral biofacies will be used to test whether the predisposition for autochthonous peat accumulation is based more on the vegetational community succession (as reflected in differences in prevailing edaphic conditions) than on other physical parameters.