Confined turbidite basins are a common feature of many structurally complex continental slopes, but their depositional history has never been characterized using outcrop data. A synthesis of outcrop data from Tertiary Alpine basins with subsurface data from the Gulf of Mexico indicates that the progressive infill of confined turbidite basins can be characterized by four phases: (1) Flow ponding, where incoming flows are totally trapped, depositing thick, sheet-like sand-mud couplets. (2) Flow stripping, where the finer, more dilute portion of the flow is able to escape over the confining topography to be deposited elsewhere, causing increased sand/mud ratio within the basin. (3) Flow bypass, either by flows traversing over the filled basin or by switching of feeder channels away from the basin; the former resulting in incision, the latter in abandonment. (4) Blanketing, of the basin and surrounding topography due to base-level rise; this usually takes the form of meandering channel-levee complexes with low sand/mud ratios. Confined basin sequences may be stacked during the episodic growth of the confining topography to a basin, and may appear similar to sea-level-induced depositional sequences.

Post-depositional normal faults within the turbidite sequence of the Late Miocene Mount Messenger Formation of the Taranaki Basin, New Zealand are characterized by granulation and cataclasis of sands and by the smearing of clay beds. Clay smears maintain continuity for high ratios of fault throw to clay source bed thickness (c. 8), but are highly variable in thickness, and gaps occur at any point between the clay source bed cut-offs at higher ratios. Although cataclastic fault rock permeabilities may be appreciably lower (c. two orders of magnitude) than host rock sandstone permeabilities, the occurrence of continuous clay smears, combined with low clay permeabilities (10s to 100s nD) means that the primary control on fault rock permeability is clay smear continuity. A new permeability predictor, the Probabilistic Shale Smear Factor (PSSF), is developed which incorporates the main characteristics of clay smearing from the Taranaki Basin. The PSSF method calculates fault permeabilities from a simple model of multiple clay smears within fault zones, predicting a more heterogeneous and realistic fault rock structure than other approaches (e.g. Shale Gouge Ratio, SGR). Nevertheless, its averaging effects at higher ratios of fault throw to bed thickness provide a rationale for the application of other fault rock mixing models, e.g. SGR, at appropriate scales.

Sinuous channels are common bathymetric features on Earth's continental margins. Until now, the 3D stratigraphy of these features has primarily been inferred from 3D seismic studies and from limited 2D outcrop exposures of ancient successions. The Beacon Channel Complex of the Permian upper Brushy Canyon Formation is an exceptionally wellexposed example of a 3D exposure of a sinuous slope channel system. The Beacon Channel Complex crops out on five cliff facies in an area of approximately 1 km 2 (0.625 mi 2 ). Nearly one complete wavelength of sinuosity is recorded in the outcrop.An integrated data set was used to evaluate the high-resolution, 3D stratigraphy of the Beacon Channel Complex. The stratigraphy of the Beacon Channel Complex is grouped into a hierarchical framework: one channel complex, two channel elements, and five channel stories. Each hierarchical level is empirically related to internal trends of erosional/ depositional energy, thickness, aspect ratio, and amalgamation ratio. Detailed field mapping reveals that the Beacon Channel Complex laterally migrated by both sweep and swing which temporally affected channel sinuosity. Phases of increasing sinuosity are related to channel downcutting, increasing swing, and basinward sweep, whereas phases of decreasing sinuosity are associated with channel filling, decreased swing, and landward sweep. Cross sections at various positions through the sinuous channel reveal patterns associated with facies and architectural asymmetry, reservoir connectivity, cross-sectional area, and preservation potential.The Beacon Channel Complex is an excellent reservoir and outcrop analog to many of Earth's sinuous slope channels on the basis of sinuosity, stratigraphic architecture, and grain size of its fill. This study provides additional knowledge of the 3D stratigraphy and processes of sinuous slope channels and offers a unique perspective that complements studies based on 3D seismic images of subsurface systems and nearseafloor studies of modern systems.