Submarine Mass Movements and Their Consequences

On the architecture of intra-formational Mass-Transport Deposits: Insights from the carbonate slopes of Great Bahama Bank and the Apulian Carbonate Platform

“…Important deformation also occurs at the base of MTDs forming a décollement plane or basal shear surface (Varnes, 1978;Bull et al, 2009;Sobiesiak et al, 2018) or zone (Ogata et al, 2014a). Direct observation of these processes in nature remains problematic, as is the reproduction of massive failures in laboratory setups due to scaling issues (Yamada et al, 2010(Yamada et al, , 2012. The result is a knowledge gap between mass-transport kinematics and the interpretation of emplacement mechanisms of MTDs and sedimentary mélanges (Bull et al, 2009;Sobiesiak et al, 2018).…”

Mélanges: 100th anniversary of the inception of the term and concept

“…The classical descriptive and non-genetic definition of a "mélange" refers to a mappable unit (at 1:25,000 or smaller scale) or body of internally disrupted and mixed rocks in, or rarely without, a pervasively deformed matrix (see Berkland et al, 1972;Wood, 1974;Silver and Beutner, 1980;Raymond, 1984;Cowan, 1985). Nonetheless this definition is largely accepted by "mélange workers", the occurrence of a large number of different types of chaotic rock unit worldwide formed by different processes (tectonic, gravitational, diapiric and their mutual interplay and superposition), and the lack of agreement on its formal implementation (e.g., Rast and Horton Jr., 1989;Silver and Beutner, 1980;also compare Şengör, 2003 with Cowan andPini, 2001;Pini, 1999;Festa et al, 2010;Wakabayashi, 2011), have led to some confusion and misinterpretations in the literature.…”

Fluid flow and pore pressure development throughout the evolution of a trough mouth fan, western Barents Sea

“…The results from the models indicate that the sedimentary architecture developed throughout TMF progradation during glacial stages led to the development of focused fluid flow towards the uppermost slope and allowed modest to high overpressures to be maintained during the first 1,000 years during the following deglaciation. It is indeed during deglaciations when most of the landslides identified in the Storfjorden and Kveithola TMFs seem to have occurred Lucchi et al, 2012). Since the factors driving overpressure in our models are common to all high-latitude continental margins, a similar pattern of overpressure build-up during glaciations and cyclic landslide occurrence might exist in all sedimentary wedges of these margins.…”

“…GDF: Glacigenic Debris Flows. pore pressure, weak layers and subsequent slope failure of high-latitude continental margins has already been highlighted (Urlaub, Talling, & Masson, 2013;Vanneste et al, 2012). However, here the modelled fluid flow only considers the interstitial water.…”

“…Trough Mouth Fans are characterised by uneven sedimentation rates (high during glacial maxima, low during the interglacials) (Laberg, Andreassen, Knies, Vorren, & Winsborrow, 2010) and contrasting sedimentary deposits, both in terms of facies and physical properties (Llopart et al, 2014). High density and high shear strength glacigenic debris flows (GDF) are interbedded with low-density, low shear strength meltwater plume sediments (plumites) deposited during deglaciation periods (Hesse, Khodabakhsh, Klaucke, & Ryan, 1997;Landvik et al, 1998;Lucchi et al, 2012). During interglacial periods, hemipelagic sediment drapes, sedimentation by contour currents and dense shelf water-related turbidity currents may reshape the margin morphology (Ó Cofaigh et al, 2002).…”