Submarine debris flow deposits detected by long-range side-scan sonar 1,000-kilometers from source

Debris flow deposits of large aerial extent have been detected on the lower continental rise off northwest Africa using GLORIA long-range dual sidescan sonar. A preliminary interpretation of the sonographs with high-resolution (3.5 kHz) seismic profiles and gravity cores illustrates the potential for spatial mapping of these deposits. The transport directions indicated on the sonographs show that these sediments, emplaced by mass transport, are the downslope continuation of the Saharan Sediment Slide. The distance from an observed “toe” of a debris flow lobe to the most southerly slide scar is of the order of 1,000 km.     

Sedimentary processes in the Stromboli Canyon and Marsili Basin, SE Tyrrhenian Sea: results from side-scan sonar surveys

 Sedimentary processes in the Stromboli Canyon and in the Marsili Basin are studied on the basis of side-scan sonographs. The basin margins are characterized by slump scars, gullies, channels, and large debrites on the Calabrian slope and by straight chutes of fast downslope sediment transport and blocky–hummocky avalanche deposits on the flanks of the Stromboli volcano. In the Stromboli Canyon and in minor deep-sea channels, sediment transport by turbidity currents generates sediment waves. Between the basin margins and the abyssal plain, the outcropping volcanic basement traps part of the sediment coming from the marginal areas. The abyssal plain is characterized by low relief lobes and ponded sediments.     

Sea-floor observations in the tongue of the ocean,Bahamas: An Argo/SeaMARC survey

SeaMARC side-scan sonographs and Argo video and photographic data suggest that the recent sedimentary environment of the floor of the Tongue of the Ocean is controlled by an interplay of turbidity current flow from the south, sediment spill-over from the carbonate platform to the east (windward side), and rock falls from the west carbonate escarpment (lee side). The spill-over forms a sandy sedimentary deposit that acts as a topographic obstruction to the turbidity current flow from the south. This obstruction is expressed by the westward migration of a northwest-southeast oriented turbidity-current-cut channel.     

Geophysical evidence for cyclic sediment deposition on the southern slope of Qiongdongnan Basin,South China Sea

Gravity flow deposits form a significant component of the stratigraphic record in ancient and modern deep-water basins worldwide. Analyses of high-resolution 3D seismic reflection data in a predominantly slope setting, the southern slope of Qiongdongnan Basin, South China Sea, reveal the extensive presence of gravity flow depositional elements in the Late Pliocene−Quaternary strata. Three key elements were observed: (1) mass transport deposits (MTDs) including slumps and debris flows, (2) turbidity current deposits including distributary channel complexes, leveed channel complexes and avulsion channel complexes, and (3) deep-water drapes (highstand condensed sections). Each depositional element displays a unique seismic expression and internal structures in seismic profiles and attribute maps. Based on seismic characteristics, the studied succession is subdivided into six units in which three depositional cycles are identified. Each cycle exhibits MTDs (slump or debris) at the base, overlain by turbidities or a deep-water drape. The genesis of these cycles is mainly controlled by frequent sea-level fluctuations and high sedimentation rates in the Late Pliocene–Quaternary. Moreover, tectonics, differential subsidence, and paleo-seafloor morphology may have also contributed to their formation processes. The present study is aimed to a better understanding of deep-water depositional systems, and to a successful hydrocarbon exploration and engineering-risk assessment.     

琼东南盆地第四纪块体搬运体系的地震特征

第四纪以来,琼东南盆地的陆坡区域广泛发育深水块体搬运体系。深水块体搬运体系是广泛发生在外陆架/上陆坡的一种沉积物搬运机制,包括滑动、滑塌和碎屑流等重力流作用过程。利用深水3D地震资料,提取振幅和相干数据,通过地震剖面、构造图和时间切片分析,揭示块体搬运体系具有丘状外形、波状反射结构、弱振幅和连续性差的地震特征,内部整体比较杂乱,主体发育褶皱,趾部发育逆冲断层,具有塑性流体特征。结合南海构造背景分析,认为研究区第四纪沉积速率高并位于地震多发带,构成了块体搬运体系的形成条件和触发机制。     

Glacial and post-glacial sedimentary processes in the Irish Rockall Trough from an integrated acoustic analysis of near-seabed sediments

Near-seabed (<50 m) sediments were studied throughout the Irish sector of the Rockall Trough (ca. 123,000 km²) based on a combined analysis of shallow seismic (3.5 kHz) and multibeam swath data acquired by the Irish National Seabed Survey and reprocessed here at higher resolution. The detailed identification of seven acoustic facies served to classify the Rockall Trough into six main sedimentary provinces, incorporating the well-known Feni Drift, Donegal-Barra Fan and Rockall Bank mass flow. In the northern part of the study area, extensive mass transport deposits from both flanks of the trough are the dominant depositional features. Debris flow deposits formed by ice streaming of the British-Irish ice sheet characterise most of the Donegal-Barra Fan, whereas turbidite deposition occurs towards the toe of the fan. On the western margin of the trough, the post-glacial Rockall Bank mass flow deposit displays a rough topography with no acoustic penetration. Several failure scarps are visible on the flank of the bank where the mass flow originated, and pass downslope into large sediment lobes and smaller debris flow deposits. Smaller-scale mass transport deposits were also discovered close to some canyons indenting the eastern slope. High seismic penetration characterises the Feni contourite drift deposit, and precise mapping of its geographical extent shows that it is considerably wider than previously reported. The sediment waves that drape this drift are interpreted as predominantly relict features, and their varied geometry suggests a complex oceanographic regime. In the deeper part of the trough, the data reveal novel evidence of the widespread occurrence (about 12,000 km²) of distinct seismic and backscatter signatures indicating the possible presence of fluid escape structures within fine-grained sediments of mixed contouritic, hemipelagic and turbiditic origin. Sediment overloading and increased pore pressure resulting from extensive mass wasting to the north of the area is a likely cause of dewatering-rooted fluid migration towards the seabed, but further investigations are required to confirm the nature and origin of such fluids in the Rockall Trough.     

Stratal attributes and evolution of asymmetric inner- and outer-bend levee deposits associated with an ancient deep-water channel-levee complex within the Isaac Formation, southern Canada

Isaac Channel 3 is a rare outcrop example of a perpendicular cut through a sinuous deep-water channel, and also where levee deposits formed on opposite sides of the channel are well exposed. Strata flanking the outer- and inner-bend margin of the channel show important differences in lithofacies, architecture and association with channel-fill strata. Proximal outer-bend levee deposits are sand-rich (N:G up to 0.68) and comprise medium- to thick-bedded, T_a-d turbidites interstratified with thinly-bedded, T_cd turbidites. The thicker-bedded deposits show lateral variation in grain size and thickness over hundreds of meters whereas thin-bedded strata thin and fine negligibly over similar distances. The distal outer-bend levee (up to 700 m laterally away from the channel) consists predominantly of thin-bedded turbidites interstratified with up to 5 m thick coarse-grained splay deposits. In contrast to the outer-bend, the inner-bend levee deposits are significantly more mud-rich (N:G as low as 0.15) and consist mostly of thin-bedded, T_cd turbidites with less common thicker-bedded, T_a-d turbidites. Lateral thinning and fining trends associated with these less common thicker-bedded deposits occur more rapidly than their outer-bend counterparts.Erosion associated with lateral migration of the channel axis produced a sharp contact along the outer-bend channel margin causing coarse-grained channel-fill deposits to be in erosional contact with levee deposits. This suggests that the crest of the outer-bend levee was elevated above the channel floor and produced a channel margin upon which channel-fill strata onlapped. Positive topography is interpreted to have developed by overspilling processes that deposited abundant sand on the outer-bend levee while the majority of the flow continued through the channel bend and bypassed to areas further downslope. In contrast, some thick-bedded, amalgamated channel-fill deposits in the axial channel area grade laterally over 140 m into thinly-bedded turbidites on the inner-bend levee. The lack of channel-fill on lap relationships implies that topography along the inner bend was sufficiently subtle that at least some flows were able to expand laterally and over the overbank area without becoming separated from the main throughgoing channel flow.Stratal relationships observed in Isaac Channel Complex 3 suggests three main episodes of channel-levee growth that were each initiated by a period of increased levee relief followed by channel filling and distal levee deposition. This consistent depositional history points to the regular variations, in both time and space, of sediment transport and deposition in a deep-marine sinuous channel-levee system.     

Igneous dykes and associated scour hollows of the North Channel,Irish Sea

A side-scan sonar survey with complete ground coverage has revealed the presence of numerous, straight, narrow ridges of NNW and NE trends in the North Channel, Irish Sea. They are interpreted as igneous dykes, probably of Tertiary age. The topographic expression of the dykes and their appearance on the sonographs provide indications of considerable erosion by tidal-current scour.     

A seismo-stratigraphic analysis of glaciomarine deposits in the eastern Riiser-Larsen Sea (Antarctica)

Multichannel seismic data from the eastern parts of the Riiser-Larsen Sea have been analyzed with a sequence stratigraphic approach. The data set covers a wide bathymetric range from the lower continental slope to the abyssal plain. Four different sequences (termed RLS-A to RLS-D, from deepest to shallowest) are recognized within the sedimentary section. The RLS-A sequence encompasses the inferred pre-glacial part of the deposits. Initial phases of ice sheet arrival at the eastern Riiser-Larsen Sea margin resulted in the deposition of multiple debris flow units and/or slumps on the upper part of the continental rise (RLS-B). The nature and distribution of these deposits indicate sediment supply from a line or a multi-point source. The subsequent stage of downslope sediment transport activity was dominated by turbidity currents, depositing mainly as distal turbidite sheets on the lower rise/abyssal plain (RLS-C). We attribute this to margin progradation and/or a more focussed sediment delivery to the continental shelf edge. As the accommodation space on the lower rise/abyssal plain declined and the base level was raised, the turbidite channels started to backstep and develop large channel–levee complexes on the upper parts of the continental rise (RLS-D). The deposition of various drift deposits on the lower rise/abyssal plain and along the western margin of the Gunnerus Ridge indicates that the RLS-D sequence is also associated with increased activity of contour currents. The drift deposits overlie a distinct regional unconformity which is considered to reflect a major paleoceanographic event, probably related to a Middle Miocene intensification of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current.     

Three dimensional seismic studies of deep-water hazard-related features on the northern slope of South China Sea

Mass transport deposits and geological features related to fluid flow such as gas chimneys, mud diapirs and volcanos, pockmarks and gas hydrates are pervasive on the canyon dominated northern slope of the Pearl River Mouth basin of the South China Sea. These deposits and structures are linked to serious geohazards and are considered risk factors for seabed installations. Based on high resolution three dimensional seismic surveys, seismic characteristics, distributions and origins of these features are analyzed. A distribution map is presented and geometrical parameters and spatial distribution patterns are summarized. Results show that various groups of the mapped features are closely tied to local or regional tectonism and sedimentary processes. Mass transport complexes are classified as slides near the shelf break, initially deformed slumps on the flanks of canyons and highly deformed slumps on the lower slope downslope of the mouth of canyons. We propose them to be preconditioned by pore pressure changes related to sea level fluctuations, steep topography, and fluid and fault activities. Gas chimneys are mainly located in the vicinity of gas reservoirs, while bottom-simulating reflectors are observed within the gas chimney regions, suggesting gas chimneys serve as conduits for thermogenic gas. Mud diapirs/volcanos and pockmarks are observed in small numbers and the formation of pockmarks is related to underlying gas chimneys and faults. This study aims at reducing risks for deep-water engineering on the northern slope of South China Sea.     

基于风暴水流能量分布对海南岛小东海珊瑚巨砾成因的分析*

波致水流的能量差异有助于风暴和海啸巨砾的区分。本文基于这一思路, 进行风暴波浪和波致水流的能量分析, 给出海岸珊瑚巨砾在风暴潮期间以推移质方式输运的动力学过程表达, 推算出风暴巨砾的理论输运距离。结合海南岛极端事件历史记录, 得出海南岛小东海风暴巨砾在礁坪的分布格局, 并与该海区的巨砾实际分布进行对比。结果表明, 小东海风暴巨砾分布与巨砾的质量、形状及风暴潮能量密切相关。研究区现场观测的大部分巨砾沉积分布符合风暴巨砾的理论空间分布格局, 因而判断其为风暴潮成因堆积。未来经过模拟假设条件的完善, 并构建相应海啸水流输运模式, 可形成用以区分风暴、海啸巨砾的完整判据。     

Sedimentary and structural patterns on the Iberian continental margin: an alternative view of continental margin sedimentation

A long-range side-scan sonar (GLORIA) survey of the entire West Iberian slope and rise has provided the first overview of the interrelationship between structure and sedimentation patterns on a continental margin. The results emphasize the importance of slope-following contour currents as a depositional mechanism in fashioning this continental rise. Terrigenous sediments transported down-canyon by-pass the rise which does not consist of a series of coalescing fans. The sedimentation patterns identified on the sonographs can be interpreted in terms of facies models and caution must be exercised against over-emphasis of downslope processes in models for the construction of lower slopes and rises.     

Evolution and depositional structure of earthquake-induced mass movements and gravity flows: Southwest Orphan Basin, Labrador Sea

A series of submarine canyons on the southwest slope of Orphan Basin experienced complex failure at 7–8 cal ka that resulted in the formation of a large variety of mass-transport deposits (MTDs) and sediment gravity flows. Ultra-high-resolution seismic-reflection profiles and multiple sediment cores indicate that evacuation zones and sediment slides characterize the canyon walls, whereas the canyon floors and inner-banks are occupied by cohesive debris-flow deposits, which at the mouths of the canyons on the continental rise form large, coalescing lobes (up to 20 m thick and 50 km long). Erosional channels, extending throughout the length of the study area (<250 km), are observed on the top of the lobes. Piston cores show that the channels are partially filled by poorly sorted muddy sand and gravel, capped by inversely to normally graded gravel and sand. Such deposits are interpreted to originate from multi-phase gravity flows, consisting of a lower part behaving as a cohesionless debris flow and an upper part that was fully turbulent.The Holocene age and the widespread synchronous occurrence of these failures indicate a large magnitude earthquake as their possible triggering mechanism. The large debris-flow deposits on the continental rise originated from large failures on the upper continental slope, involving proglacial sediments. Retrogression of these failures led to the eventual failure of marginal sandy till deposits on the upper slope and outer shelf, which due to their low cohesion disintegrated into multi-phase gravity flows. The evacuation zones and slide deposits on the canyon walls were triggered either by the earthquake, or from erosion of the canyon walls by the debris flows. The slides, debris-flows, and multi-phase gravity flows observed in this study are petrographically different, indicating different sediment sources. This indicates that not all failures lead through flow transformation to the production of a multi-phase gravity flow, but only when the sediment source contains ample coarse-grained material. The spatial segregation of the slide, debris-flow, and multi-phase gravity-flow deposits is attributed to the different mobility of each transport process.     

Interference fringes on GLORIA side-scan sonar images from the Bering Sea and their implications

GLORIA side-scan sonographs from the Bering Sea Basin show a complex pattern of interference fringes sub-parallel to the ship's track. Surveys along the same trackline made in 1986 and 1987 show nearly identical patterns. It is concluded from this that the interference patterns are caused by features in the shallow subsurface rather than in the water column. The fringes are interpreted as a thin-layer interference effect that occurs when some of the sound reaching the seafloor passes through it and is reflected off a subsurface layer. The backscattered sound interferes (constructively or desctructively) with the reflected sound. Constructive/destructive interference occurs when the difference in the length of the two soundpaths is a whole/half multiple of GLORIA's 25 cm wavelength. Thus as range from the ship increases, sound moves in and out of phase causing bands of greater and lesser intensity on the GLORIA sonograph. Fluctuations (or wiggles) of the fringes on the GLORIA sonographs relate to changes in layer thickness. In principle, a simple three dimensional image of the subsurface layer may be obtained using GLORIA and bathymetric data from adjacent (parallel) ship's tracks. These patterns have also been identified in images from two other systems; SeaMARC II (12 kHz) long-range sonar, and TOBI (30 kHz) deep-towed sonar. In these, and other cases world-wide, the fringes do not appear with the same persistence as those seen in the Bering Sea.     

曹妃甸粉沙质海岸围垦后港内泥沙研究

粉沙质海岸离岸围垦后港内淤积引人关注。基于平面二维潮流数学模型,采用网格嵌套技术,模拟了渤海、曹妃甸海域潮流场;该海域泥沙为粘性沙,且围垦后港内流速很小,采用悬沙运动数学模型模拟了潮流和波浪作用下正常天气和大风天的含沙量场,分析了大风后含沙量衰减过程,计算了正常天气年淤积强度和大风天泥沙淤积厚度。计算表明,外海泥沙主要通过甸头东侧老龙沟进入港池水域。正常天气下,港内流速小,基本处于淤积环境,但由于外海含沙量小,港池水域年淤积厚度小于10 cm。大风浪作用下,曹妃甸海域含沙量明显增大,由老龙沟进入三港池的泥沙沿程落淤,港内普遍淤积,泥沙淤积厚度在5 cm以内。     

Hybrid sediment gravity flow deposits – Classification, origin and significance

The deposits of subaqueous sediment gravity flows can show evidence for abrupt and/or progressive changes in flow behaviour making them hard to ascribe to a single flow type (e.g. turbidity currents, debris flows). Those showing evidence for transformation from poorly cohesive and essentially turbulent flows to increasingly cohesive deposition with suppressed turbulence ‘at a point’ are particularly common. They are here grouped as hybrid sediment gravity flow deposits and are recognised as key components in the lateral and distal reaches of many deep-water fan and basin plain sheet systems. Hybrid event beds contain up to five internal divisions: argillaceous and commonly mud clast-bearing sandstones (linked debrite, H3) overlie either banded sandstones (transitional flow deposits, H2) and/or structureless sandstones (high-density turbidity currents, H1), recording longitudinal and/or lateral heterogeneity in flow structure and the development of turbulent, transitional and laminar flow behaviour in different parts of the same flow. Many hybrid event beds are capped by a relatively thin, well-structured and graded sand–mud couplet (trailing low-density turbulent cloud H4 and mud suspension fallout H5). Progressive bed aggradation results in the deposits of the different flow components stacked vertically in the final bed. Variable vertical bed character is related to the style of up-dip flow transformations, the distance over which the flows can evolve and partition into rheological distinct sections, the extent to which different flow components mutually interact, and the rate at which the flows decelerate, reflecting position (lateral versus distal) and gradient changes. Hybrid beds may inherit their structure from the original failure, with turbidity currents outpacing debris flows from which they formed via partial flow transformation. Alternatively, they may form where sand-bearing turbidity currents erode sufficient substrate to force transformation of a section of the current to form a linked debris flow. The incorporation of mud clasts, their segregation in near-bed layers and their disintegration to produce clays that can dampen turbulence are inferred to be key steps in the generation of many hybrid flow deposits. The occurrence of such beds may therefore identify the presence of non-equilibrium slopes up-dip that were steep enough to promote significant flow incision. Where hybrid event beds dominate the entire distal fan stratigraphy, this implies either the system was continually out of grade in order to freight the flows with mud clasts and clays, or the failure mechanism and transport path repeatedly allowed transmission of components of the initial slumps distally. Where hybrid beds are restricted to sections representing fan initiation, or occur more sporadically within the fan deposits, this could indicate shorter episodes of disequilibrium, due to an initial phase of slope re-adjustment, or intermittent tectonically or gravity-driven surface deformation or supply variations. Alternatively, changes between conventional and hybrid event beds may record changes in the flow generation mechanism through time. Thus the vertical distribution of hybrid event beds may be diagnostic of the wider evolution of the fan systems that host them.     

Unreciprocated sedimentation along a mud-dominated continental margin,Gulf of Mexico,U.S.A.: Implications for sequence stratigraphy in muddy settings devoid of depositional sequences

According to widely accepted sequence stratigraphic and fill-and-spill models, sedimentary cyclicity along continental margins is modulated by relative sea-level change, whereas smaller-scale intraslope accommodation is controlled by the filling of pre-existing bathymetric depressions. Although these concepts are presumed to apply to shelf-to-slope settings regardless of grain size, we have tested both hypotheses in the mud-prone lower Pliocene to Holocene of offshore Louisiana, Gulf of Mexico, and reach different conclusions. We determine that over the last ∼3.7 Myr, differential accumulation and accompanying salt tectonism dislocated the fine-grained shelf and slope, prevented the development of sedimentary reciprocity at 10–100 kyr time scales, and inhibited fill-and-spill accumulation. We show that only 3% of “lowstand” mass transport deposits can be correlated to low stands in relative sea level, whereas approximately 30% of the deposits are related to transgressions and high stands; the remaining 67% are poorly constrained. Mass transport deposits also show no clear evidence of up-section increases in bypass. Based on our results, we conclude that the dominant control on stratigraphic architecture in offshore Louisiana was not relative sea-level change or patterns of accommodation, but rather differential deposition and concomitant salt-related subsidence, which controlled the distribution of facies, timing and location of mass transport deposits, and rates of sediment accumulation. Our conclusions highlight the importance of sediment supply and local tectonism, and caution against a priori use of conventional sequence stratigraphic and fill-and-spill models to decipher the stratigraphic evolution of actively-deforming mud-dominated continental margins. We therefore recommend treating stratigraphic models as testable hypotheses, rather than as methods of interpretation, particularly in fine-grained areas devoid of well-developed depositional sequences and in settings lacking intraslope ponded-to-perched accumulations.     

Sequence stratigraphy of the Miocene section,southern Gulf of Mexico

This study focuses on the interpretation of stratigraphic sequences through the integration of biostratigraphic, well log and 3D seismic data. Sequence analysis is used to identify significant surfaces, systems tracts, and sequences for the Miocene succession.The depositional systems in this area are dominantly represented by submarine fans deposited on the slope and the basin floor. The main depositional elements that characterize these depositional settings are channel systems (channel-fills, channel-levee systems), frontal splays, frontal splay complexes, lobes of debrites and mass-transport complexes.Five genetic sequences were identified and eleven stratigraphic surfaces interpreted and correlated through the study area. The Oligocene-lower Miocene, lower Miocene and middle Miocene sequences were deposited in bathyal water depths, whereas the upper Miocene sequences (Tortonian and Messinian) were deposited in bathyal and outer neritic water depths. The bulk of the Miocene succession, from the older to younger deposits consists of mass-transport deposits (Oligocene-lower Miocene); mass transport deposits and turbidite deposits (lower Miocene); debrite deposits and turbidite deposits (middle Miocene); and debrite deposits, turbidite deposits and pelagic and hemipelagic sediments (upper Miocene). Cycles of sedimentation are delineated by regionally extensive maximum flooding surfaces within condensed sections of hemipelagic mudstone which represent starved basin floors. These condensed sections are markers for regional correlation, and the maximum flooding surfaces, which they include, are the key surfaces for the construction of the Miocene stratigraphic framework. The falling-stage system tract forms the bulk of the Miocene sequences. Individual sequence geometry and thickness were controlled largely by salt evacuation and large-scale sedimentation patterns. For the upper Miocene, the older sequence (Tortonian) includes sandy deposits, whereas the overlying younger sequence (Messinian) includes sandy facies at the base and muddy facies at the top; this trend reflects the change from slope to shelf settings.     

Digital preprocessing techniques for GLORIA II sonar images

Image processing techniques are discussed that correct distortions in GLORIA II side scan sonar imagery including water column offset, slant-range distortion, multiple returns, aspect ratio, speckle noise, striping, and cross-track power drop-off. The software operates within NASA's ELAS image processing system and is applied to the original 12-bit GLORIA II data. Procedures are discussed for generating large scale mosaics and three-dimensional overlays with sea floor bathymetry. The results are shown in four sonographs acquired off the southern coast of California.     

Tidally induced secondary circulations and their associated sedimentation processes

Fine grained (mud) deposits or coarse grained (sand) deposits, which occur in tidally dominated coastal environments (bays, tidal inlets and estuaries), are associated with topographical (small-scale) tidally induced eddies; these are considered to be caused by the phenomenon of flow separation, downstream from headlands and at abrupt coastal discontinuities. Extensive sand deposits, which have been described as bed-load convergence zones can, similarly, be associated with residual (large-scale) circulation eddies.