Topographic Controls On the Development of Contemporaneous but Contrasting Basin-Floor Depositional Architectures

Bell, Daniel A.; Stevenson, C. J.; Kane, Ian A.; Hodgson, David M.; Poyatos‐Moré, Miquel

doi:10.2110/jsr.2018.58

Cited by 41 publications

(61 citation statements)

References 133 publications

(311 reference statements)

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“…Beautiful examples of this are shown from the Marnoso‐arenacea, Italy, where grooves show an enhanced variability relative to flutes, which is interpreted to be a result of topographic interaction (Muzzi Magalhaes & Tinterri, , fig. 20; Tinterri & Muzzi Magalhaes, ; Bell et al., ). However, in other examples of interaction with topography, flutes and grooves show similar palaeocurrents (Tinterri et al., ; Cunha et al., ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

An integrated process‐based model of flutes and tool marks in deep‐water environments: Implications for palaeohydraulics, the Bouma sequence and hybrid event beds

et al. 2020

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Flutes and tool marks are commonly observed sedimentary structures on the bases of sandstones in deep-water successions. These sole structures are universally used as palaeocurrent indicators but, in sharp contrast to most sedimentary structures, they are not used in palaeohydraulic reconstructions or to aid prediction of the spatial distribution of sediments. Since Kuenen's famous 1953 paper, flutes and tool marks in deep-water systems have been linked to turbidity currents, as reflected in the standard Bouma sequence taught to generations of geologists. Yet, these structures present a series of unaddressed enigmas. Detailed field studies in the 1960s and early 1970s observed that flutes are typically associated with thicker, more proximal beds, whilst tools are generally prevalent in thinner, more distal, beds. Additionally, flutes and tool marks are rarely observed on the same surfaces, and flutes are seen to change downstream from larger wider parabolic to smaller narrower spindle-shaped forms. No model has been proposed that explains these field-based observations. This contribution undertakes a radical reexamination of the formative flow conditions of flutes and tool marks, and demonstrates that they are the products of a wide range of sediment gravity flows, from turbulent flows, through transitional clay-rich flows, to debris flows. Flutes are not solely the product of turbulent flows, but can continue to form in transitional flows. Grooves are shown to be formed by debris flows, slumps and slides, not turbidity currents, and in many cases the debris flows are linked to the debritic component of hybrid flows. Discontinuous tool marks, including skim (bounce) marks, prod marks and skip marks, are shown to be formed by transitional mud-rich flows. Consequently, the observed spatial distribution of flutes and tool marks can be explained by a progressive increase in flow cohesivity downstream. This model of flutes and tool marks dovetails with models of hybrid flows that predict such a longitudinal increase in flow cohesivity. However, some deposits show grooves preferentially associated with Bouma T A beds, and these are likely formed by flows transforming from higher to lower cohesion, and are present 1601 in basins where hybrid beds are absent or rare. The recognition that sole structures may have no genetic link to the later overlying turbidity current deposits, and can be formed by a wide range of flow types, indicates that the existing pictorial description of the Bouma sequence is incorrect. A modified Bouma sequence is proposed here that addresses these points. In utilizing the advances in fluid dynamics since Kuenen's pioneering research, this study demonstrates that it is possible to use flutes and tool marks to interpret flow type at the point of formation, the nature of flow transformations, and the mechanics of the basal layer. These advances suggest that it is then possible to predict the nature of deposit type down-dip. This new understanding, in combination with further testing in outcrop of t...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

An integrated process‐based model of flutes and tool marks in deep‐water environments: Implications for palaeohydraulics, the Bouma sequence and hybrid event beds

et al. 2020

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“…Confined basins have previously been associated with sheet-like deposition, where incoming flows are entirely confined by the basin margins, resulting in tabular stratigraphy with little or no autogenic compensational stacking (e.g., Sinclair and Tomasso, 2002). Numerical studies (Dorrell et al 2018), subsurface studies (e.g., Beaubouef and Friedmann, 2000), and outcrop studies (e.g., Spychala et al 2016;Bell et al 2018b;Liu et al 2018), however, have shown the stacking-pattern complexity that may arise in basins that display variable degrees of confinement. This study uses data from the lowermost member of the Grès d'Annot, the Le Ray member (Figs 5, 6), to build on these studies.…”

Section: Le Raymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recent field-based studies on the spatial and temporal evolution of unconfined submarine lobes have used the longitudinal evolution of flows and their associated facies to establish criteria for differentiating lobe sub-environments at the bed scale (e.g., Prélat et al 2009;Grundvag et al 2014;Spychala et al 2017). The applicability of these facies associations to confined lobes and the complex system-scale stacking patterns that they may produce is only recently being investigated (e.g., Marini et al 2015;Spychala et al 2015Spychala et al , 2017Bell et al 2018b;Fonnesu et al 2018;Liu et al 2018). Previous flowdependant onlap models mainly focussed on end-member geometries (e.g., McCaffrey and Kneller, 2001;Smith, 2004b;Smith and Joseph, 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The stratigraphic evolution of onlap in siliciclastic deep-water systems: Autogenic modulation of allogenic signals

Soutter¹,

Kane²,

Fuhrmann³

et al. 2019

Preprint

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Seafloor topography affects the sediment gravity flows that interact with it. Understanding this interaction is critical for accurate predictions of sediment distribution, paleogeography, and structural reconstructions of deep-water basins. The effects of seafloor topography can be seen from the bed scale, through facies transitions toward intra-basinal slopes, to the basin scale, where onlap patterns reveal the spatial evolution of deep-water systems. Basin-margin onlap patterns are typically attributed to allogenic factors, such as sediment supply signals or subsidence rates, with few studies emphasizing the importance of predictable spatio-temporal autogenic flow evolution. This study aims to assess the autogenic controls on onlap by documenting onlap styles in the confined Eocene-to-Oligocene deep-marine Annot Basin of SE France. Measured sections, coupled with architectural observations, mapping, and paleogeographical interpretations, are used to categorize onlap styles and place them within a generic stratigraphic model. These observations are compared with a simple numerical model. The integrated stratigraphic model predicts that during progradation of a deep-water system into a confined basin successive onlap terminations will be partially controlled by the effect of increasing flow concentration. Initially thin-bedded low-density turbidites of the distal lobe fringe are deposited and drape basinal topography. As the system progrades these beds become overlain by hybrid beds and other deposits of higher-concentration flows developed in the proximal lobe fringe. This transition is therefore marked by intra-formational onlap against the underlying and lower-concentration lobe fringe that drapes the topography. Continued progradation results in deposition of lower-concentration deposits in the lobe off-axis, resulting in either further intra-formational onlap against the lobe fringe or onlap directly against the hemipelagic basin margin. Basinal relief is gradually reduced as axial and higher-volume flows become more prevalent during progradation, causing the basin to become a bypass zone for sediment routed down-dip. This study presents an autogenic mechanism for generating complex onlap trends without the need to invoke allogenic processes. This has implications for sequence-stratigraphic interpretations, basin subsidence history, and forward modeling of confined deep-water basins.

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“…Some outcrops have a narrow palaeocurrent dispersal pattern (e.g. In addition, a number of palaeocurrent measurements have a southerly component, opposite to the regional trend, which could indicate flow reflection and deflection from local topography (Potter and Pettijohn, 1977;Kneller et al, 1991;Lomas and Joseph, 2004;Bell et al, 2018). Others have multiple palaeocurrent directions between beds (e.g.…”

Section: Fa 4a: Deep Water Bottomsetsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Locality X, Figure 6) implying both Kerinitis and Selinous fan delta sources ( Figure 6). In addition, a number of palaeocurrent measurements have a southerly component, opposite to the regional trend, which could indicate flow reflection and deflection from local topography (Potter and Pettijohn, 1977;Kneller et al, 1991;Lomas and Joseph, 2004;Bell et al, 2018). Barrett et al (2019) previously classified the shallow water bottomset (FA 4b) as coarse (sand to gravel-grade) sediments with multiple and diverse sedimentary structures, such as symmetrical and asymmetrical ripple laminations, wavy and planar laminations, dune-scale gravel cross-beds and soft-sediment deformation, indicating sediment gravity flows and wave reworking operating at the base of slope in shallow water.…”

Section: Fa 4a: Deep Water Bottomsetsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Syn‐rift delta interfan successions: Archives of sedimentation and basin evolution

Barrett

Gawthorpe

Collier

et al. 2019

The Depositional Record

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Models that aim to capture the interactions between sediment supply, base level and tectonism recorded in fan delta successions in rift basins have not considered the stratigraphic archive preserved in interfan areas; yet interfan stratigraphy can provide a complementary record to the fan delta axes. The exhumed Early-Middle Pleistocene Kerinitis and Selinous fan deltas, in the hangingwall of the Pyrgaki-Mamoussia (P-M) Fault, Corinth Rift, Greece, offer an ideal laboratory for the assessment of interfan architecture. Furthermore, using the geometry of adjacent present-day fan deltas, interfans are classified into three end-members. The classification is based on their lateral separation, which determines the degree of interfingering of topset, foreset and bottomset deposits. Qualitative (facies, stratal geometries, nature of key surfaces) and quantitative (stratigraphic thickness, bedding dip, palaeocurrents, breakpoint trajectories) data were collected in the field and from unmanned aerial vehicle photogrammetry-based 3D outcrop models of the exhumed fan delta successions. The ancient Kerinitis-Selinous interfan architectures record: (a) initial westward progradation of the Kerinitis fan delta into the interfan area (Phase 1), (b) subsequent progradation of the Selinous fan delta into the interfan area and asymmetric growth of both fan deltas eastward (Phase 2), (c) stratal interfingering of foresets from both systems (Phase 3), and (d) relative base-level fall, erosion and reworking of sediments into the interfan area (Phases 4 and 5). The Kerinitis-Selinous interfan evolution is linked to initial net subsidence of the P-M Fault (Phases 1-3) and subsequent net uplift (Phases 4 and 5) resulting from a northward shift in fault activity. Theinterfan area provides a more complete stratigraphic record than the proximal axial areas of the fan deltas of the early stages of basin uplift, through higher preservation potential and protracted submergence. Therefore, for the most comprehensive insight into basin evolution, interfan analysis should be undertaken in concert with analysis of the fan delta axes. K E Y W O R D SBasin evolution, fan delta, interfan, stratigraphy, syn-rift. |

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Topographic Controls On the Development of Contemporaneous but Contrasting Basin-Floor Depositional Architectures

Abstract: This is a repository copy of Topographic controls on the development of contemporaneous but contrasting basin-floor depositional architectures.

Cited by 41 publications

References 133 publications

An integrated process‐based model of flutes and tool marks in deep‐water environments: Implications for palaeohydraulics, the Bouma sequence and hybrid event beds

An integrated process‐based model of flutes and tool marks in deep‐water environments: Implications for palaeohydraulics, the Bouma sequence and hybrid event beds

The stratigraphic evolution of onlap in siliciclastic deep-water systems: Autogenic modulation of allogenic signals

Syn‐rift delta interfan successions: Archives of sedimentation and basin evolution

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