Confined turbidite systems

Abstract

Deep-water sedimentation is currently a major focus of both academic research and industrial interest. Recent studies have emphasized the fundamental influence of seafloor topography on the growth and morphology of submarine 'fans': in many turbidite systems and turbidite hydrocarbon reservoirs, depositional system development has been moderately to strongly confined by pre-existing bounding slopes. This publication examines aspects of sediment dispersal and accumulation in deepwater systems where basin-floor topography has profoundly affected deposition, and the associated controls on hydrocarbon reservoir architecture and heterogeneity. The papers herein offer a global perspective which is wide-ranging in terms of both approach and location, including contrasting case studies of outcrop, subsurface, modern and experimental systems.

The thick-bedded tail of turbidite thickness distribution as a proxy for flow confinement: Examples from tertiary basins of central and northern Apennines (Italy)

“…and Lomas, 2004). Interaction with obstacles of size comparable to or larger than the height ofis accomplished computing test statistics (see for example Table 2) that quantify how much the 238 cumulative distribution function of an empirical dataset departs from that of the model distribution 239 and comparing the obtained values to standard tables of critical values compiled in the Easyfit for 240 different significance levels (0.01, 0.05 etc.).…”

Facies Anatomy of a Sand‐Rich Channelized Turbiditic System: The Eocene Kusuri Formation in the Sinop Basin, North‐Central Turkey

“…The channels would thus be in the middle range of sinuous channel dimensions reported from modern and ancient submarine fans (e.g. Flood & Damuth, 1987;Clark et al, 1992;Cronin, 1995;Damuth et al, 1995Damuth et al, , 1998Cronin et al, 2000b;Kolla et al, 2001;Abreu et al, 2003;Posamentier & Kolla, 2003;Lomas & Joseph, 2004). However, the channel depth/width ratios of 1/15 to 1/19 would appear to be lower than the approximate average of 1/10 indicated by a worldwide dataset compiled by Clark & Pickering (1996) and much lower than, for example, the aspect ratio of 1/7.5 reported by Abreu et al (2003) from the offshore Angola channels.…”

“…The westward thinning of facies association 1 and the underlying Atbabı Formation is thought to reflect the basin-floor topography inherited from the Late Cretaceous uplift in the western part of the Sinop-Boyabat Basin and the resulting northeastward advance of a carbonate ramp (Leren et al,this volume,. These early turbidity currents were volumetrically small, and the seafloor topography could render them subject to ponding (Sinclair, 2000;Sinclair & Tomasso, 2002;Lomas & Joseph, 2004). As the foreland foundered under the load of the Central Pontide thrust sheets in Late Paleocene time, the muddy deposits smoothed out the pre-existing relief of a rapidly subsiding basin floor and the basin re-opened to the west.…”

Irregular plate boundary controls on Foreland Basin sedimentation (Miocene, Kahramanmaraş Foreland Basin, SE Turkey)

“…Foreland basins typically contain four subdivisions (wedge-top, foredeep, forebulge and backbulge), and in theory these divisions are parallel to the overlying and underlying plate margins (DeCelles and Giles, 1996;Mutti et al, 2003). The structural properties of the foreland basin control the depocentre geometry, lithological properties and facies differentiation (Lomas and Joseph, 2004;Gül et al, 2011Gül et al, , 2012. However, the oblique collision of plates because of the presence of irregular plate boundaries may cause the development of small wedge-top basins and may include a variety of ponded or otherwise confined turbidite sediments; either single or multiple sourced systems with numerous facies changes (Garciacaro et al, 2011;Gül et al, 2012).…”