No abstract

Compensational stacking, the tendency for sediment transport systems to preferentially fill topographic lows through deposition, is a concept widely used in the interpretation of the stratigraphic record. We propose a metric to quantify the degree of compensation by comparing observed stacking patterns in subsiding basins to what would be expected from uncorrelated random stacking. This method uses the rate of decay of spatial variability in sedimentation between picked depositional horizons with increasing vertical stratigraphic averaging distance. We present data from six sedimentary basins where this decay can be measured. The depositional environments range from river deltas to deep-water minibasins, and scales range from meters to 1.5 km in thickness. The decrease in standard deviation of sedimentation divided by subsidence with increasing vertical averaging distance is well described by a power law in each study basin. We term the exponent in this power law the compensation index, k; its value is 0.5 for uncorrelated random stacking and 1.0 for perfect compensational stacking. Values less than 0.5 indicate anti-compensation, i.e., a tendency of depositional units to stack on top of one another. Parameters controlling the magnitude of k include the frequency of system-scale avulsions and the temporal variability in deposition rates. Data describing the decay in the standard deviation of sedimentation/subsidence from the six studied basins collapse approximately onto a single power-law trend with k = 0.75 when the measurement window is standardized by the mean channel depth of each system. Channel depth thus emerges as a fundamental length scale in stratigraphic architecture across environments. Although further study will likely reveal measurable variability in k between depositional environments, the overall power-law collapse presented here suggests that a stacking behavior midway between purely random and perfect compensation is a good starting point in quantitatively estimating the stratigraphic arrangement of sedimentary deposits.

We present results from a laboratory experiment documenting the evolution of a sinuous channel form via sedimentation from 24 turbidity currents having constant initial conditions. The initial channel had a sinuosity of 1.32, a wavelength of 1.95, an amplitude of 0.39 m, and three bends. All currents had a densimetric Froude number of 0.53 and an initial height equal to the channel relief at the start of the experiment. Large superelevation of currents was observed at bend apexes. This superelevation was 85%-142% greater than the value predicted by a balance of centrifugal and pressure-gradient forces. An additional contribution to the superelevation was the runup of the current onto the outer banks of bends. This runup height is described by a balance between kinetic and potential energy. Runup resulted in deposition of coarse particles on levee crests that were indistinguishable from those deposited on the channel bottom. Deposit thickness and composition showed a strong cross-channel asymmetry. Thicker, coarser, steeper levees grew on the outer banks relative to the inner banks of bends. Zones of fl ow separation were observed downstream from bend apexes along inner banks and affected sedimentation patterns. Sedimentation from currents caused the channel to aggrade with almost no change in planform.However, channel relief decreased throughout the experiment because deposition on the channel bottom always exceeded deposition at levee crests. The fi rst bend served as a fi lter for the properties of the channelized current, bringing discharge at the channel entrance into agreement with the channel cross-sectional area. Excess discharge exited the channel at this fi ltering bend and was lost to the overbank surface.

Recent studies show that paleoenvironmental (allogenic) signals preserved in the stratigraphic record may be contaminated or overprinted by internally generated (autogenic) sedimentation. This is problematic, but it is unclear over what temporal and spatial scales autogenic patterns are most prevalent. We propose that scale breaks in basin-fi lling trends can be used to identify the transition between allogenic and autogenic stratigraphy. Using data from numerical and

Internally generated, or autogenic, terrestrial and marine sediment-transport dynamics can produce depositional patterns similar to those associated with climatic, tectonic, or sea level changes. A central challenge in accurately interpreting the sedimentary archive is determining what scales and types of deposits reflect autogenic controls on sedimentation in different environments. Autogenic sediment-transport dynamics commonly result from intermittent sediment storage in transient landforms, which produces episodic, spatially discontinuous sedimentation across a basin. The transition from localized, variable sedimentation to even, basin-wide sedimentation marks the shift from stochastic landscape dynamics to deterministic deposition responding to the long-term balance between sediment supply and the creation of space to accommodate sediment. This threshold can be measured in a wide variety of stratigraphic successions and has important bearing on whether climatic, tectonic, or sea level signals can be recognized in physical sedimentary deposits.

Climate, tectonics, and life influence the flux and caliber of sediment transported across Earth's surface. These environmental conditions can leave behind imprints in the Earth's sedimentary archive, but signals of climate, tectonic, and biologic change are not always present in the stratigraphic record. Deterministic and stochastic surface dynamics collectively act as a stratigraphic filter, impeding the burial and preservation of environmental signals in sedimentary deposits. Such impediments form a central challenge to accurately reconstructing environmental conditions through Earth's history. Emergent and self‐organized length and timescales in landscapes, which are themselves influenced by regional environmental conditions, define spatial and temporal sedimentation patterns in basins and fundamentally control the likelihood of environmental signal preservation in sedimentary deposits. Properly characterizing these scales provides a key avenue for incorporating the known “imperfections” of the stratigraphic record into paleoenvironmental reconstructions. These insights are necessary for answering both basic and applied science questions, including our ability to reconstruct the Earth system response to prior episodes of climate, tectonic, or land cover change.

No abstract

Sadler's (1981) analysis of how measured sedimentation rate decreases with timescale of measurement quantified the vanishingly small fractional time preservation—completeness—of the stratigraphic record. Generalized numerical models have shown that the Sadler effect can be recovered, through the action of erosional clipping and time removal (the “stratigraphic filter”), from even fairly simple topographic sequences. However, several lines of evidence suggest that most of the missing time has not been eroded out but rather represents periods of inactivity or stasis. Low temporal completeness could also imply that the stratigraphic record is dominated by rare, extreme events, but paleotransport estimates suggest that this is not generally the case: The stratigraphic record is strangely ordinary. It appears that the organization of the topography into a hierarchy of forms also organizes the deposition into concentrated events that tend to preserve relatively ordinary conditions, albeit for very short intervals. Our understanding of time preservation would benefit from insight about how inactivity is recorded in strata; better ways to constrain localized, short-term rates of deposition; and a new focus on integrated time–space dynamics of deposition and preservation.