Contourite drifts, moats and channels in the Upper Cretaceous chalk of the Danish Basin

During the Late Cretaceous, high global sea‐level meant that most of the NW European craton was flooded by the deep epeiric ‘chalk sea’. The classical paradigm for chalk deposition envisages a quiet rain of minute skeletal debris of coccolithophorid algae and other pelagic organisms deposited as horizontal, flat‐lying pelagic oozes with local redeposition by slumps, slides and debris flows along faults and other structural features. Seismic data from the Danish Basin and elsewhere necessitate a revision of this paradigm. These demonstrate that the chalk sea floor had a considerable relief, commonly of more than a hundred metres amplitude, comprising moats, drifts, mounds and channels. Seismic sections from the Kattegat sea illustrate the development in the Maastrichtian of a deep moat adjacent to a topographic ridge formed over the inverted NW–SE‐trending Sorgenfrei–Tornquist Zone. The moat was up to 120 m deeper than its SW flank which was formed by an internally complex elongate drift, up to 20 km wide with an estimated length of ca 200 km. Smaller mound‐like features, channels and clinoform beds are superimposed on the large‐scale relief. The sea floor relief is interpreted to have formed in response to persistent bottom currents, flowing parallel to bathymetric contours. The initial build‐up of the broad, gently convex‐up sheeted drift was controlled by relatively low‐velocity bottom currents. The region of highest current velocity was gradually shifted NE‐wards towards the inversion zone ridge, resulting in the formation of the deep moat flanked by the elongate drift. The current is interpreted to have flowed from the SE towards NW on the basis of the internal architecture of the elongate drift and the NW‐ward branching and decrease in moat relief. The architecture and morphology of the moat drift and other features of the chalk sea floor are in all aspects similar to contourite systems of modern continental margins. It is accordingly proposed that the fundamental physical oceanographic concept – contour currents and their resulting contourite drifts – is extended to include the deep epeiric seas which covered NW Europe during the Late Cretaceous.     

Neogene palaeoceanographic changes recorded in a carbonate contourite drift (Santaren Channel,Bahamas)

The Santaren Drift between the Great Bahama Bank and Cay Sal Bank (Bahamas) is closely linked to the development of the Gulf Stream and its shape and geometry record the local to global oceanographic, climatic and tectonic events since the Miocene. High‐resolution multichannel seismic data from the Santaren Channel allow detailed insight into the growth phases of the contourite drift, and by using the stratigraphic information from Ocean Drilling Program Site 1006 to infer its sedimentation rates. The results bring new understanding to this region and to interpretation of carbonate drifts. The data document that the signatures of a bottom current flow in the Santaren Channel initiated about 12·3 Ma, as indicated by the first occurrence of sheeted drifts and moat development at the northern part of the Santaren Channel. Narrowing and steepening of moat flanks as well as the pronounced upslope migration of the moat reflects a sustained current acceleration of the bottom currents until 5·5 Ma, associated with a transformation into mounded elongated drifts. Between 5·5 Ma and 3·1 Ma, bottom current intensity reached its maximum probably caused by the final closure of the Central American Seaway. The last 3·1 Myr were characterized by a marked increase in volume through flow reaching a maximum during the past 900 kyr. Drift growth was driven by the combined sources of export from the shallow‐water carbonate factory and by pelagic rain. The Middle Miocene channel‐related sheeted drift of the inner Santaren Channel is characterized by low accumulation rates, but a rapid increase of accumulation rates occurred during the Early Pliocene. The contourite drift buildup was disturbed by minor erosional phases with narrow moats in the Late Pliocene due to increasing bottom‐current velocities forced by strengthened Atlantic Ocean ventilation. The Early Pleistocene was dominated by increased periplatform sedimentation and margin progradation facilitated by a reduction in along‐slope current flow speed and a concurrent widening and flattening of the moats.     

Contour current imprints and contourite drifts in the Bahamian archipelago

New data collected along the slopes of Little and Great Bahama Bank and the abyssal plain of the Bahama Escarpment provides new insights about contour current‐related erosive structures and associated deposits. The Bahamian slope shows abundant evidence of bottom current activity such as furrows, comet‐like structures, sediment waves and drifts. At a seismic scale, large erosion surfaces and main periods of drift growth resulted from current acceleration related to plate tectonic processes and progressive opening and closure of gateways and long‐term palaeoclimate evolution. At present‐day, erosion features and contourite drifts are either related to relatively shallow currents (<1000 m water depth) or to deep currents (>2500 m water depth). It appears that the carbonate nature of the drifts does not impact the drift morphology at the resolution addressed in the present study. Classical drift morphologies defined in siliciclastic environments are found, such as mounded, plastered and separated drifts. In core, contourite sequences show a bi‐gradational trend that resembles classical contourite sequences in siliciclastic deposits showing a direct relationship with a change in current velocity at the sea floor. However, in a carbonate system the peak in grain size is associated with increased winnowing rather than increased sediment supply as in siliciclastic environments. In addition, the carbonate contourite sequence is usually thinner than in siliciclastics because of lower sediment supply rates. Little Bahama Bank and Great Bahama Bank contourites contain open‐ocean input and slope‐derived debris from glacial episodes. Inner platform, platform edge and open ocean pelagic input characterize the classical periplatform ooze during interglacials. In all studied examples, the drift composition depends on the sea floor topography surrounding the drift location and the type of sediment supply. Carbonate particles are derived from either the slope or the platform in slope and toe of slope drifts, very deep contourites have distant siliciclastic sources of sediment supply. The recent discovery of the importance of a large downslope gravitary system along Bahamian slopes suggests frequent interactions between downslope and along‐slope (contour currents) processes. The interlayering of mass flow deposits and contourites at a seismic scale or the presence of surface structures associated with both contour currents and mass flow processes shows that both processes act at the same location. Finally, contour currents have an important impact on the repartition of deep‐water coral mounds. Currents can actively interact with mounds as a nutrient and oxygen supplier or have a passive interaction, with mounds solely being obstacles orienting erosion and deposition.     

南海北部陆坡高速堆积体的构造成因

南海北部陆坡是南海海域沉积活动最为活跃的地区之一,发育着迄今为止所发现的南海最高沉积速率堆积体。构成该堆积体的沉积物究竟来自何方,仍是南海沉积学研究中未解决的问题之一。通过对南海北部多道地震剖面的解释和海底底流观测资料的分析,指出南海北部中新统披覆层是南海北部断陷阶段结束后开始沉积的一套地层,直到上新世开始前,该地层在很大一个区域内是保持水平的;上新世后,由于构造抬升,中新统披覆层随之隆起,并在东沙隆起的部位遭受很大程度的剥蚀,其剥蚀量和南海北部珠江、韩江以及台湾西南部高屏溪和曾文溪向南海的输沙量相当,为南海北部一个非常重要的沉积物来源。研究分析指出,如果珠江和韩江所携带的沉积物全部沉积到南海北部陆坡区,则可获得的沉积速率为12 cm/ka,这一数值远低于该高速堆积体上的沉积速率值。从南海北部现今的沉积动力条件和地形上看,来自珠江和韩江的沉积物几乎不可能经过平坦的陆架区,再绕过东沙岛,优先沉积到该高速堆积体上。本研究中的高速堆积体的沉积物也不可能主要来自台湾西南的高屏溪和曾文溪,因为台西南河流所携带的沉积物被特殊的洋流体系圈闭于台湾周边一个较小的范围内沉积下来。观测数据表明,南海北部东沙隆起区有足够强的水动力环境能够剥蚀海底隆起的沉积地层,并将剥蚀下来的沉积物向南经陆架输运到陆坡区;该高速堆积体紧邻东沙隆起剥蚀区,其沉积物来源应该主要来自东沙隆起剥蚀区。     

Distribution of contourite drifts on convergent margins: Examples from the Hikurangi subduction margin of New Zealand

Contourite drift systems form a significant component of the marine clastic sedimentary record. Although contourites form in all tectonic settings, few studies have described their development along convergent margins; such characterization is needed to underpin oceanographic and palaeoenvironmental studies in active settings. This study is the first to document contourite drift development along the Hikurangi subduction margin of New Zealand. Integration of bathymetric, seismic and well data enables five classes of drift to be recognized around the subduction wedge, occurring in three principal associations: (i) an upper slope drift association of giant elongate mounded (ca 150 km long, 50 km wide and up to 1100 m thick) and plastered drifts (ca 300 km long, 8 km wide and <600 m thick), which occurs upon and inboard of a major intrabasinal thrust‐cored high, whose long axis parallels the coast; shallow bottom currents disperse sub‐parallel to this axis; (ii) a spatiotemporally discontinuous association of confined and mounded hybrid drifts (ca 500 m long, <2 km wide and up to 500 m thick) that occurs along the mid‐to‐outer slope domain of the wedge, recording the interaction of along‐slope and downslope currents within trench‐slope basins; and (iii) a trench fill assemblage that implies the passage of abyssal bottom currents across a 40 km reach of the trench‐axial Hikurangi Channel‐levée, with associated modification of the channel form and of overbank sediment waves. The fundamental presence of contourites along this margin appears to depend on the orientation and strength of oceanographic bottom currents. However, drift type and evolution vary depending on the slope gradient and the presence of irregular seafloor topography created by tectonic structures. The documented drifts are generally smaller, less continuous, and develop more intermittently than similar styles of drifts documented on passive margins; this mode of occurrence may be characteristic of contourite development on convergent margins.     

Deep‐water dunes on drowned isolated carbonate terraces (Mozambique Channel,south‐west Indian Ocean)

Subaqueous sand dunes are common bedforms on continental shelves dominated by tidal and geostrophic currents. However, much less is known about sand dunes in deep‐marine settings that are affected by strong bottom currents. In this study, dune fields were identified on drowned isolated carbonate platforms in the Mozambique Channel (south‐west Indian Ocean). The acquired data include multibeam bathymetry, multi‐channel high‐resolution seismic reflection data, sea floor imagery, a sediment sample and current measurements from a moored current meter and hull‐mounted acoustic Doppler current profiler. The dunes are located at water depths ranging from 200 to 600 m on the slope terraces of a modern atoll (Bassas da India Atoll) and within small depressions formed during tectonic deformation of drowned carbonate platforms (Sakalaves Seamount and Jaguar Bank). Dunes are composed of bioclastic medium size sand, and are large to very large, with wavelengths of 40 to 350 m and heights of 0·9 to 9·0 m. Dune migration seems to be unidirectional in each dune field, suggesting a continuous import and export of bioclastic sand, with little sand being recycled. Oceanic currents are very intense in the Mozambique Channel and may be able to erode submerged carbonates, generating carbonate sand at great depths. A mooring located at 463 m water depth on the Hall Bank (30 km west of the Jaguar Bank) showed vigorous bottom currents, with mean speeds of 14 cm sec^?1 and maximum speeds of 57 cm sec^?1, compatible with sand dune formation. The intensity of currents is highly variable and is related to tidal processes (high‐frequency variability) and to anticyclonic eddies near the seamounts (low‐frequency variability). This study contributes to a better understanding of the formation of dunes in deep‐marine settings and provides valuable information about carbonate preservation after drowning, and the impact of bottom currents on sediment distribution and sea floor morphology.     

Evolution of contourite systems in the late Cretaceous Chalk Sea along the Tornquist Zone

Based on integration of seismic reflection and well data analysis this study examines two major contourite systems that developed during the late Cretaceous in the southern Baltic Sea. The evolution of these Chalk Sea contourite systems between the Kattegat and the southern Baltic Sea started when Turonian to Campanian inversion tectonics overprinted the rather flat sea floor of the epeiric Chalk Sea. The Tornquist Zone and adjacent smaller blocks were uplifted and formed elongated obstacles that influenced the bottom currents. As a consequence of the inversion, the sea floor west of the Tornquist Zone tilted towards the north‐east, creating an asymmetrical sub‐basin with a steep marginal slope in the north‐east and a gentle dipping slope in the south‐west. A south‐east directed contour current emerged in the Coniacian or Santonian along the south‐western basin margin, creating contourite channels and drifts. The previously studied contourite system offshore Stevns Klint is part of this system. A second, deeper and north‐west directed counter‐flow emerged along and parallel to the Tornquist Zone in the later Campanian, but was strongest in the Maastrichtian. This bottom current moderated the evolution of a drift‐moat system adjacent to the elevated Tornquist Zone. The near surface Alnarp Valley in Scania represents the Danian palaeo‐moat that linked the Pomeranian Bay with the Kattegat. The previously studied contourite system in the Kattegat represents the north‐western prolongation of this system. This study links previous observations from the Kattegat and offshore Stevns Klint to the here inferred two currents, a more shallow, south‐east directed and a deeper, north‐west directed flow.     

Channelized debris‐flow deposits and their impact on turbidity currents: The Puchkirchen axial channel belt in the Austrian Molasse Basin

Deposits of submarine debris flows can build up substantial topography on the sea floor. The resulting sea floor morphology can strongly influence the pathways of and deposition from subsequent turbidity currents. Map views of sea floor morphology are available for parts of the modern sea floor and from high‐resolution seismic‐reflection data. However, these data sets usually lack lithological information. In contrast, outcrops provide cross‐sectional and lateral stratigraphic details of deep‐water strata with superb lithological control but provide little information on sea floor morphology. Here, a methodology is presented that extracts fundamental lithological information from sediment core and well logs with a novel calibration between core, well‐logs and seismic attributes within a large submarine axial channel belt in the Tertiary Molasse foreland basin, Austria. This channel belt was the course of multiple debris‐flow and turbidity current events, and the fill consists of interbedded layers deposited by both of these processes. Using the core‐well‐seismic calibration, three‐dimensional lithofacies proportion volumes were created. These volumes enable the interpretation of the three‐dimensional distribution of the important lithofacies and thus the investigation of sea floor morphology produced by debris‐flow events and its impact on succeeding turbidite deposition. These results show that the distribution of debris‐flow deposits follows a relatively regular pattern of levées and lobes. When subsequent high‐density turbidity currents encountered this mounded debris‐flow topography, they slowed and deposited a portion of their sandy high‐density loads just upstream of morphological highs. Understanding the depositional patterns of debris flows is key to understanding and predicting the location and character of associated sandstone accumulations. This detailed model of the filling style and the resulting stratigraphic architecture of a debris‐flow dominated deep‐marine depositional system can be used as an analogue for similar modern and ancient systems.     

南海北缘一统暗沙附近深水等深流沉积体系特征

利用高分辨率2D地震资料揭示南海北缘一统暗沙附近(水深700~1 000 m)发育海山相关的深水等深流沉积体系, 为南海北部陆缘深水洋流循环和深海动力学研究, 以及深水油气矿产资源勘探提供了新的资料.一统暗沙南、北两侧发育边缘侵蚀槽沟, 其中北缘的边缘槽沟可称为"环槽", 反映底流(可能属于南海中层水循环体系)自西向东流经海山.一套等深流沉积的伸长状-丘状漂积体沿环槽北岸发育.一统暗沙南侧和背侧还发育黏附型漂积体、南侧沉积区和补丁型漂积体.地震沉积记录显示该区稳定底流侵蚀-沉积活动可追溯至晚中新世早期.      

Response of unconfined turbidity current to deep‐water fold and thrust belt topography: Orthogonal incidence on solitary and segmented folds

Sea‐floor topography of deep‐water folds is widely considered to have a major impact on turbidity currents and their depositional systems, but understanding the flow response to such features was limited mainly to conceptual notions inspired by small‐scale laboratory experiments. High‐resolution three‐dimensional numerical experiments can compensate for the lack of natural‐scale flow observations. The present study combines numerical modelling of thrusts with fault‐propagation folds by Trishear3D software with computational fluid dynamics simulations of a natural‐scale unconfined turbidity current by MassFlow‐3D? software. The study reveals the hydraulic and depositional responses of a turbidity current (ca 50 m thick) to typical topographic features that it might encounter in an orthogonal incidence on a sea‐floor deep‐water fold and thrust belt. The supercritical current (ca 10 m sec^?1) decelerated and thickened due to the hydraulic jump on the fold backlimb counter‐slope, where a reverse overflow formed through current self‐reflection and a reverse underflow was issued by backward squeezing of a dense near‐bed sediment load. The reverse flows were re‐feeding sediment to the parental current, reducing its waning rate and extending its runout. The low‐efficiency current, carrying sand and silt, outran a downslope distance of >17 km with only modest deposition (<0·2 m) beyond the fold. Most of the flow volume diverted sideways along the backlimb to surround the fold and spread further downslope, with some overspill across the fold and another hydraulic jump at the forelimb toe. In the case of a segmented fold, a large part of the flow went downslope through the segment boundary. Preferential deposition (0·2 to 1·8 m) occurred on the fold backlimb and directly upslope, and on the forelimb slope in the case of a smaller fold. The spatial patterns of sand entrapment revealed by the study may serve as guidelines for assessing the influence of substrate folds on turbiditic sedimentation in a basin.     

中国南海西北次海盆西北陆缘洋陆过渡区深水沉积体系特征

高分辨率二维地震资料显示中国南海西北次海盆西北陆缘（水深1 000 m及以下）发育如下深水沉积体系:珠江口盆地南部隆起区缓坡带（水深约1 000~1 500 m、坡度<1.2°）出露神狐南海山,该海山附近发育“海山相关等深流沉积体系”,可能受南海中层水循环（自西向东）底流控制;神狐南海山以南水深约1 500~2 500 m的陆坡区（坡度>2°）普遍发生坡移,发育“重力流滑塌体系”和“峡谷体系”,鲜见等深流沉积;下陆坡区（水深>2 500 m,坡度稍缓<2°）滑塌现象明显减少,主要发育“峡谷体系”以及“席状等深流沉积体系”,席状等深流沉积体系可能受分散的、流速较低的南海深层水循环底流控制。地震沉积记录显示,神狐南海山附近等深流侵蚀特征最早出现于晚中新世早期,其后至现今该区较稳定发育等深流沉积/侵蚀的加积序列,说明南海西北次海盆西北陆缘的稳定底流沉积/侵蚀可追溯至晚中新世早期。     

Fluid migration and fluid seepage in the Connemara Field,Porcupine Basin interpreted from industrial 3D seismic and well data combined with high-resolution site survey data

This study documents the suite of processes associated with source-to-seafloor fluid migration in the Connemara field area on the basis of 3D seismic data, well logs, 2D high-resolution seismic profiles, subbottom profiles, short cores and sidescan sonar data. The combination of datasets yields details about fluid migration pathways in the deep subsurface, in the unlithified shallow subsurface and about the distribution of fluid and gas seeps (pockmarks) at the sea floor. The Connemara field area is characterized by vertical fluid migration pathways (“seismic chimneys” or “gas chimneys”) that extend from the top of the Jurassic sequence, cross-cutting the entire Cretaceous sequence to the Upper Tertiary deposits over a vertical distance of up to 1.5 km. Their localization is mainly structurally controlled to the crest of tilted fault blocks along the main hydrocarbon migration pathways. These chimneys are important conduits for focused vertical fluid/gas flow from the deep to the shallow subsurface. However, gas seeps (pockmarks) at the sea floor are almost randomly distributed, which indicates a change from focused to diffuse fluid/gas migration in shallow, unconsolidated sediment. Where the vertical chimneys reach up to unlithified Eocene to Miocene sands, widespread deformation, interpreted as fluidization, occurs around the main conduit. This deformation affects about 32% of the entire unconsolidated Tertiary section (Late Eocene – Miocene). A Plio-Pleistocene glaciomarine drift with up to five horizons with iceberg ploughmarks seals the Tertiary sands. In the near surface sediments it is observed that gas accumulation occurs preferentially at iceberg ploughmarks. It is inferred that lateral migration at five levels of randomly oriented ploughmarks dispersed gas over larger areas and caused random pockmark distribution at the sea floor, independent from the underlying focused migration pathways. This study demonstrates that fluid flow migration changes from structurally controlled focused flow in the deep consolidated subsurface to diffuse flow, controlled by sediment variability, in the shallow subsurface. This result is relevant to a better understanding of the distribution of seepage-induced features at the seafloor related to focused hydrocarbon migration pathways known from industry data and fluid flow modeling.     

Three‐dimensional seismic analysis of sediment waves and related geomorphological features on a carbonate shelf exposed to large amplitude internal waves,Browse Basin region,Australia

This study analyses the three‐dimensional geometry of sedimentary features recorded on the modern sea floor and in the shallow subsurface of a shelf to upper slope region offshore Australia that is characterized by a pronounced internal wave regime. The data interpreted comprise an extensive, >12 500 km² industrial three‐dimensional seismic‐reflection survey that images the northern part of the Browse Basin, Australian North West Shelf. The most prominent seismic–morphological features on the modern sea floor are submarine terrace escarpments, fault‐scarps and incised channels, as well as restricted areas of seismic distortion interpreted as mass wasting deposits. Besides these kilometre‐scale sea floor irregularities, smaller bedforms were discovered also, including a multitude of sediment waves with a lateral extent of several kilometres and heights up to 10 m. These sedimentological features generally occur in extensive fields in water depths below 250 m mostly at the foot of submerged terraces, along the scarps of modern faults and along the shelf break between the outer shelf and the upper continental rise. Additional bedforms that characterize the more planar regions of the outer shelf are elongate, north‐west/south‐east oriented furrows and ridges. The formation of both sediment waves and furrow‐ridge systems requires flow velocities between 0·3 m sec^?1 and 1·5 m sec^?1, which could be generated by oceanic currents, gravity currents or internal waves. In the studied setting, these velocities can be best explained as being generated by bottom currents induced by internal waves, an interpretation that is discussed against oceanographic background data and modelling results. In addition to the documentation of three‐dimensional seismic–geomorphological features of the modern sea floor, it was also possible to map kilometre‐scale buried sediment wave fields in the seismic volume down to ca 500 ms two‐way‐time below the present sea floor, indicating the general potential for the preservation of such bedforms in the sedimentary record.     

Characteristics of modern carbonate contourite drifts

Carbonate environments inhabit the realm of the surface, intermediate and deep currents of the ocean circulation where they produce and continuously deliver material which is potentially deposited into contourite drifts. In the tropical realm, fine‐grained particles produced in shallow water and transported off‐bank by tidal, wind‐driven, and cascading density currents are a major source for transport and deposition by currents. Sediment production is especially high during interglacial times when sea level is high and is greatly reduced during glacial times of sea‐level lowstands. Reduced sedimentation on carbonate contourite drifts leads to early marine cementation and hardened surfaces, which are often reworked when current strength increases. As a result, reworked lithoclasts are a common component in carbonate drifts. In areas of temperate and cool water carbonates, currents are able to flow across carbonate producing areas and incorporate sediment directly to the current. The entrained skeletal carbonate particles have variable bulk density and shapes that lower the prediction of transport rates in energy‐based transport models, as well as prediction of current velocity based on grain size. All types of contourite drifts known in clastic environments are found in carbonate environments, but three additional drift types occur in carbonates because of local sources and current flow diversion in the complicated topography inherent to carbonate systems. The periplatform drift is a carbonate‐specific plastered drift that is nearly exclusively made of periplatform ooze. Its geometry is built by the interaction of along‐slope currents and downslope currents, which deliver sediment from the adjacent shallow‐water carbonate realm to the contour current via a line source. Because the periplatform drift is plastered on the slopes of the platforms it is also subject to mass gravity flow and large slope failures. At platform edges, a special type of patch drift develops. These hemiconal platform‐edge drifts also contain exclusively periplatform ooze but their geometry is controlled by the current around the corner of the platform. At the north‐western end of Little and Great Bahama Bank are platform‐edge drifts that are over 100 km long and up to 600 m thick. A special type of channel‐related drift forms when passages between carbonate buildups or channels within a platform open into deeper water. A current flowing in these channels will entrain material shed from the sediment producing areas. At the channel mouth, the sediment‐charged current deposits its sediment load into the deeper basin. With continuous flow, a submarine delta drift is built that progrades into the deep water. The strongly focused current forming the delta drift, is able to rework coarse skeletal grains and clasts, making this type of carbonate drift the coarsest drift type.     

Nature,origin and evolution of a Late Pleistocene incised valley‐fill,Sunda Shelf,Southeast Asia

Understanding the stratigraphic fill and reconstructing the palaeo‐hydrology of incised valleys can help to constrain those factors that controlled their origin, evolution and regional significance. This condition is addressed through the analysis of a large (up to 18 km wide by 80 m deep) and exceptionally well‐imaged Late Pleistocene incised valley from the Sunda Shelf (South China Sea) based on shallow three‐dimensional seismic data from a large (11 500 km²), ‘merge’ survey, supplemented with site survey data (boreholes and seismic). This approach has enabled the characterization of the planform geometry, cross‐sectional area and internal stratigraphic architecture, which together allow reconstruction of the palaeo‐hydrology. The valley‐fill displays five notable stratigraphic features: (i) it is considerably larger than other seismically resolvable channel forms and can be traced for at least 180 km along its length; (ii) it is located in the axial part of the Malay Basin; (iii) the youngest part of the valley‐fill is dominated by a large (600 m wide and 23 m deep), high‐sinuosity channel, with well‐developed lateral accretion surfaces; (iv) the immediately adjacent interfluves contain much smaller, dendritic channel systems, which resemble tributaries that drained into the larger incised valley system; and (v) a ca 16 m thick, shell‐bearing, Holocene clay caps the valley‐fill. The dimension, basin location and palaeo‐hydrology of this incised valley leads to the conclusion that it represents the trunk river, which flowed along the length of the Malay Basin; it connected the Gulf of Thailand in the north with the South China Sea in the south‐east. The length of the river system (>1200 km long) enables examination of the upstream to downstream controls on the evolution of the incised valley, including sea‐level, climate and tectonics. The valley size, orientation and palaeo‐hydrology suggest close interaction between the regional tectonic framework, low‐angle shelf physiography and a humid‐tropical climatic setting.     

Facies and sedimentology of a carbonate delta drift (Miocene,Maldives)

The identification of sediment drifts typically relies on interpretation of reflection seismic data sets. This study sedimentologically analyzed an example of a carbonate delta drift previously identified in seismics in order to provide a catalogue of characteristic features at core and seismic scale for allowing testing the occurrence of this poorly known type of deposit elsewhere. Cores and downhole logs recovered during International Ocean Discovery Program Expedition 359 to the Maldives, in combination with seismic data, were analyzed with this objective. The diagnostic criteria for the sedimentological recognition of a delta drift are: (i) the development of sigmoidal clinoforms that thin out towards proximal and distal settings; (ii) a proximal part characterized by coarse‐grained facies with abundant shallow‐water components and distal areas dominated by fine‐grained facies with rare to absent shallow‐water components; (iii) winnowing of the finer fraction in proximal facies; (iv) extensive fragmentation of most of the bioclasts with minor intervals of well‐preserved components; (v) bigradational intervals in the proximal part and large channels in proximal to distal settings; and (vi) the lobe to delta shaped outline of the sediment accumulation. The characteristic shallow‐water fossil assemblage of the Mid to Upper Miocene delta drift consists of large benthic foraminifera (Amphistegina, Cycloclypeus, Lepidocyclina, Operculina and Heterostegina), fragmented red algae and bryozoans, equinoid debris, and Halimeda plates. The deeper‐water part of the drift bodies consists of fine‐grained planktonic foraminifera‐rich wackestone. Condensed intervals may occur as result of enhanced bottom‐current activity. In contrast to siliciclastic drift bodies, the carbonate delta drift has an important contribution by in situ shallow‐water carbonate production reminiscent of a shoal. In situ carbonate production is proposed as a major controlling factor which is as important as the pelagic settling or the shaping by density and bottom currents in siliciclastic drifts. In the absence of three‐dimensional data and in two‐dimensional views the carbonate delta drift sediment bodies resemble carbonate ramps, which indicates that there may be the need to re‐evaluate various cases of such systems described from the geological record.     

The Enya mounds: a lost mound-drift competition

The genesis and evolution of cold-water coral banks along the Northeastern Atlantic margin is known to be influenced by several factors, among which the palaeotopography and nature of the coral settling surface, the presence of bottom currents and sediment supply. In this paper, a case study is presented of the Enya mound cluster, located in the southernmost tip of the Belgica mound province, west of Ireland. Below this mound cluster, seismic stratigraphy revealed a yet unmapped local unconformity RD1b, being part of a composite erosion event (RD1). As such, from the Late Miocene to Late Pliocene, at least two erosional events have incised the margin, ending with the final RD1a “moundbase” unconformity, acting as a base for the Enya mounds. During the Quaternary the mounds became outgrown and were covered by a mounded contourite drift. In addition, they are closely associated with a cluster of seabed pockmarks. The bottom current regime which became active since the Middle Pleistocene has certainly influenced the fate of this mound cluster. The occurrence of the pockmarks seems to be related to relatively recent fluid migration processes, however leaving an open question if any previous seepage phases were involved in the growth or initiation of the coral banks.     

Sedimentary environment of the Faroe-Shetland and Faroe Bank Channels, north-east Atlantic, and the use of bedforms as indicators of bottom current velocity in the deep ocean

In the northeast Atlantic, much of the deep cold water flow between the Norwegian Sea and the main North Atlantic basin passes through the Faroe‐Shetland and Faroe Bank Channels, generating strong persistent bottom currents capable of eroding and transporting sediment up to and including gravel. A large variety of sedimentary bedforms, including scours, furrows, comet marks, barchan dunes, sand sheets and sediment drifts, is documented using sidescan sonar images, seismic profiles, seabed photographs and sediment cores from the floor of the channel. Published information on current velocities associated with the various bedforms has been used to reconstruct the pattern of bottom currents acting on the channel floor. The results broadly reflect the current pattern predicted on the basis of regional oceanographic observations, but add considerable detail. The internal consistency of the results suggests that the methods used are robust, giving confidence in the fine detail of the observed bottom current structure. Bottom current velocities in the range < 0·3 to > 1·0 m s^?1 are indicated by the range of observed bedforms, with the strongest currents associated with south‐west transport of Norwegian Sea Deep Water (NSDW) at water depths of 800–1200 m. The main NSDW flow forms a relatively narrow core that follows the base of the Faroes slope. This core follows the 90° change in trend of the Faroes slope at the junction between the Faroe‐Shetland and Faroe Bank Channels. The strongest currents within the NSDW core are found over the shallowest sill in the Faroe‐Shetland Channel and in the narrowest part of the channel immediately downstream of the sill, and are generated by topographic constriction of the flow. Eastward flow of deep water along the northern flank of the Wyville‐Thomson ridge suggests a complex current pattern with some recirculation of deep water within the deep Faroe Bank Channel basin. The observations suggest that Coriolis force is the main agent controlling the westward deflection of the NSDW into the Faroe Bank Channel, contradicting a previous suggestion that this was controlled by the topography of the Wyville Thomson Ridge.     

High-resolution seismic stratigraphy of the late Neogene of the central sector of the Colombian Pacific continental shelf: A seismic expression of an active continental margin

The sedimentary prism of the central Pacific continental shelf of Colombia was affected by regional folding and faulting, and probably later mud diapirism, from the Late Miocene to the Holocene. Interpretation of high-resolution seismic lines (2 s/dt) revealed that the prism consists of 13 high-resolution seismic units, that can be separated into 5 seismic groups.Deposition of the prism and the associated stacking pattern, are probably the response to variable uplift and subsidence in a fore-arc basin that underwent important tectonic events by the end of the Miocene. Throughout the Pliocene, the continental shelf sedimentation was affected by the growing of a dome structure probable due to mud diapirism. This fact caused peripheral faults both normal and reverse that controlled the distribution of some of the seismic units. During the Late Pleistocene (Wisconsin stage?) a eustatic sea level fall caused the shoreline to advance about 50 km westward of its present position. Because of this eustatic sea level change, a strong fluvial dissection took place and is interpreted as the probable extension of the San Juan River to the south of the present day river mouth. Within this framework it is believed that the Malaga and Buenaventura Bays were the passageways of branches of the old drainage system of the San Juan River. The inner branch circulated through the present Buenaventura Bay and runs southward leaving the mark of an apparent valley identified in the seismic information in the eastern sector of the study area. This old fluvial valley and its filling material located in the present day inner continental shelf front of Buenaventura are postulated as important targets to find placer minerals such as gold and platinum.     

Deep basins of the Black Sea and Caspian Sea as remnants of Mesozoic back-arc basins

We review the geological and geophysical structural framework of the deep Black Sea and Caspian Sea basins. Based on seismic evidence and subsidence history, we conclude that the deep basins have an oceanic crust formed in a marginal sea environment. We propose that the present deep basins are remnants of a much greater marginal sea formed during three separate episodes during the Mesozoic: in the Middle Jurassic, Upper Jurassic and Late Cretaceous. A tentative sketch of the geologic evolution of the area is presented. The marginal sea reached its greatest extent in the Early Tertiary when it was about 900 km wide and 3000 km long. The central part of the marginal sea has since disappeared during the collision between the Arabian promontory and the Eurasian margin.