Geological aspects of marine slope stability,northwestern Gulf of Mexico

Abstract

The improvement of sensors such as various high‐resolution seismic and navigational systems and side‐scan sonar, of offshore shallow‐water drilling techniques, and of laboratory analyses has allowed the marine geologist to make more accurate identifications and maps of the distribution of numerous types of marine sediment instabilities, as well as to determine the mechanisms responsible for their occurrence. A large number of data on the continental shelf and upper continental slope off the modern delta of the Mississippi river have been compiled; these data will be used to document the major types of slope instabilities. The continental shelf and slope off the modern Mississippi river delta display various types of sediment instability. High rates of sedimentation (up to 80 m per century), weak, high‐water‐content clays, and differential weighting of clay sediments characterize this region. The major types of sediment instabilities that have been documented include (a) Peripheral slumping, with dimensions of slumps ranging from 200 to 1000 m; slumping often occurring in multiple stairstep arrangement; and downslope movement as high as 700 m per year. (b) Shallow diapiric intrusions, ranging in size from a few hundred meters to 2 km in diameter; vertical displacement ranging from 200 to 500 m; rate of sediment movement several meters per year; and intrusions caused by differential sediment loading, (c) Radial graben (tensional faulting), with widths from 50 to 500 m and lengths of several kilometers; both vertical and downslope lateral movements occurring; and downslope movements of surface material as much as 5 m per year common. (d) Circular collapse depressions, with diameters of depressions ranging from 50 to 500 m; topography of depression interiors, hummocky; and depressions possibly caused by dewatering or degassing of sediments under the influence of cyclic wave loading. (e) Surface mudflows, thick (often more than 35 m) masses of surface sediment flowage; often bounded by abrupt seaward slope; mudflows often extending laterally for distances in excess of 100 km; movement sporadic and lobate and rates of movement as much as several hundred meters per year; often being associated with extremely hummocky topography and mud volcanoes; and with extrusion of sediments the possible mechanism. (f) Shelf‐edge arcuate slumps, with large arcuate slumps displacing several hundred meters of sediment; slippage planes are commonly concave. Finally, (g) Various deep‐seated faults, with faults extending from deep horizons up to modern sediment surface; commonly being associated with abrupt scarps on the seafloor; numerous contemporaneous faults; and local slumping associated with fault scarps.     

Sedimentary processes and sediment dispersal in the southern Strait of Georgia,BC, Canada

This paper presents a review of sediment dispersal processes in the Strait of Georgia, based on marine geological studies. Sediment from the Fraser River is dispersed around the Strait through a variety of transport pathways. Most sand and coarser silt fractions settle out and are deposited within a few 100 m of the channel mouths. Both channelled and non-channelled gravity flows probably transport sediment downslope and onto the basin floor. Asymmetric tidal currents force a predominantly northward sediment drift, resulting in a reworked slope off Roberts Bank and a finer-grained depositional slope off Sturgeon Bank. Far-field sediment accumulation is controlled by local morphology and sediment dynamics. Multibeam mapping and seismic profiling reveal that some parts of the basin floor are characterized by bottom sediment reworking and erosion. Given the complexities of sediment dispersal and seafloor reworking, generalizations about sediment dispersal paths and sedimentation rates are difficult. Future understanding will be advanced by the cabled observatory, VENUS, which will enable near real-time monitoring of key processes.     

The Rockall Bank Mass Flow: Collapse of a moated contourite drift onlapping the eastern flank of Rockall Bank,west of Ireland

The Rockall Bank Mass Flow (RBMF) is a large, multi-phase submarine slope failure and mass flow complex. It is located in an area where the Feni Drift impinges upon the eastern flank of the Rockall Bank in the NE Atlantic. A 6100 km² region of slope failure scarps, extending over a wide water depth range and with individual scarps reaching up to 22 km long and 150 m high, lies upslope of a series of mass flow lobes that cover at least 18,000 km² of the base of slope and floor of the Rockall Trough. The downslope lobe complex has a negative topographic relief along much of its northern boundary, being inset below the level of the undisplaced contourite drift at the base of slope. The southern margin is topographically more subtle but is marked by the sharp termination of sediment waves outside the lobe. Within the lobe complex the southern margin of the largest lobe shows a positive relief along its southern margin. The initial failure is suggested to have occurred along coherent layer-parallel detachment surfaces at depths of up to 100 m and this promoted initial downslope block sliding which in turn transformed into debris flows which moved out into the basin. The remains of a deep erosional moat linked to the onlapping contourite complex bisects the region of failed slope, and post-failure thermohaline currents have continued to modify the mass flow in this area. Differential sedimentation and erosion associated with the moat may have promoted slope instability. Following the major failure phase, continuous readjustments of the slope occurred and resulted in small-volume turbidites found in shallow gravity cores collected on the lobes. The short term trigger for the failure remains uncertain but earthquake events associated with a deep-seated tectonic lineament to the north of the mass flow may have been important. A Late Pleistocene age for the slope failure is likely. The RBMF is unusual in that it records large-scale collapse of a contourite body that impinged on a sediment-undersupplied slope system. Unlike many other large slope failure complexes along the NE Atlantic margin, the RBMF occurs in a region where there was little overloading by glacial sediment.     

Variable deposition rates on the slope and rise off the Mid-Atlantic States

Pronounced variations in slope topography and offshelf spillover have produced a three-fold difference (9 to 25 cm/1,000 yr) in Late Quaternary deposition rates among slope cores southeast of the Mid-Atlantic States. Upper rise cores revealed a high rate but lower core-to-core variability (20 to 44 cm/1,000 yr), largely the result of slope bypassing, i.e., effects of gravity-controlled downslope transport. A transport model suggests temporary slope sediment storage and higher accumulation of mud in more distal rise regions. Eustatic change accounts for the four-fold decrease in slope deposition rate between the Late Pleistocene and Holocene.     

significance of benthic organisms for the growth and movement of manganese nodules,Equatorial North Pacific

Pronounced variations in slope topography and offshelf spillover have produced a three-fold difference (9 to 25 cm/1,000 yr) in Late Quaternary deposition rates among slope cores southeast of the Mid-Atlantic States. Upper rise cores revealed a high rate but lower core-to-core variability (20 to 44 cm/1,000 yr), largely the result of slope bypassing, i.e., effects of gravity-controlled downslope transport. A transport model suggests temporary slope sediment storage and higher accumulation of mud in more distal rise regions. Eustatic change accounts for the four-fold decrease in slope deposition rate between the Late Pleistocene and Holocene.     

南海北部海底沙波研究

南海北部水深100~250 m的陆架和陆坡斜坡海底分布着大片沙波地貌,本文采用底形相图参数近似计算和泥沙起动流速2种计算方法,结合海底微地貌的实际形态,研究了沙波的沉积特征及其成因机理。研究认为,区内的沙波为现代沉积地貌;控制沙波形成发育的主要水动力因素是潮流与风暴条件下风海流的叠加;区内泥沙颗粒粒径适宜,海底坡度平缓,有利于海底沙波的发育。     

Longshore sorting on a beach under wave action

Sorting of sediment on a beach under wave action takes several forms. Stratified layers of finer and coarser sediment, which depend on wave climate, grain size and beach slope are formed. This complex problem can be simplified by defining the cross-shore and longshore sorting according to the angle between the breaking wave and the coast. In the present study, longshore distribution of sediment as well as corresponding beach profiles was measured in a wave basin. Three-dimensional hydraulic model experiments were performed with regular waves. Eighteen sets of experiments performed in longshore sorting mechanism using two different sand beds. The sorting of the bed material and the formation of armour coats along the beach were defined by grain size distributions and dimensionless parameters for sandy beaches.The rate of sediment transport with grain size sorting was measured in a wave basin. A method introduced sorting process was presented in this study. The sediment rate based on sorting mechanism was also discussed with known methods. It has been found that the non-uniformity of the grain size and hence sorting of the beaches play a very important role in the sand transport due to wave motion in a similar way to the case of steady flow in alluvial channels.     

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.     

Mass transport on the continental slope of Israel

Seismic profiles, radiographs, and geotechnical tests made on cores show that large sediment masses on the slope frequently slump downslope. This slumping is earthquake-triggered. Off central and northern Israel (average maximum gradients 5 to 8°), this slumping does not allow continuous sediment accumulation. Sediment accumulation and deposition of the debris over the lower slope steadily keeps the slope in a smooth state. Only strong quakes affect the more stable, moderate slope (average maximum gradients 3–4°) off southern Israel. These quakes affect the central and northern slope as do the weaker quakes, but cause slumping of large sediment slabs that heavily scars the southern slope.     

Late Cenozoic sea-level changes and the onset of glaciation: impact on continental slope progradation off eastern Canada

Late Cenozoic sedimentation from four varied sites on the continental slopes off southeastern Canada has been analysed using high-resolution airgun multichannel seismic profiles, supplemented with some single channel data. Biostratigraphic ties are available to exploratory wells at three of the sites. Uniform, slow accumulation of hemipelagic sediments was locally terminated by the late Miocene sea-level lowering, which is also reflected in changes in foraminiferan faunas on the continental shelf. Data are very limited for the early Pliocene but suggest a return to slow hemipelagic sedimentation. At the beginning of the late Pliocene, there was a change in sedimentation style marked by a several-fold increase in accumulation rates and cutting of slope valleys. This late Pliocene cutting of slope valleys corresponds to the onset of late Cenozoic growth of the Laurentian Fan and the initiation of turbidite sedimentation on the Sohm Abyssal Plain. Although it corresponds to a time of sea-level lowering, the contrast with the late Miocene lowstand indicates that there must also have been a change in sediment delivery to the coastline, perhaps as a result of increased rainfall or development of valley glaciers. High sedimentation rates continued into the early Pleistocene, but the extent of slope dissection by gullies increased. Gully-cutting episodes alternated with sediment-draping episodes. Throughout the southeastern Canadian continental margin, there was a change in sedimentation style in the middle Pleistocene that resulted from extensive ice sheets crossing the continental shelf and delivering coarse sediment directly to the continental slope.     

波浪在陡坡上的传播变形

利用数值方法和物理模型分析以反射为主的陡坡上波浪传播变形特性。数值方法采用标记单元法,为处理倾斜反射边界对斜坡前波浪运动的影响,提出了“台阶镜像法”。通过1：1．5光滑斜坡上物理模型试验,分析了不完全立波的运动特性,说明强反射光滑陡坡坡前波浪运动呈明显的立波状态,它与直墙反射的主要差别是被前第一波节点和腹点位置向岸推移。本试验得到的波浪反射、爬高和回落特征值与港口工程规范给定结果接近。     

基于极限分析上限方法的海底斜坡稳定性评价

极限平衡法仍是当前海底斜坡稳定性的主要工程评价方法,但该法只能给出稳定性分析的近似解答。基于极限分析运动学定理,假定海底斜坡发生对数螺线型滑移破坏模式,将滑体有效自重和简化波浪力等以外荷载形式叠加引入到虚功率方程中,与潜在滑动面上由黏聚力产生的内能耗散率相平衡,建立考虑一阶简化波浪效应的海底斜坡上限解法;利用多变量无导数求极值的逐级迭代方法与最优化技术,结合抗剪强度折减思想,求解波浪加载下不同时刻的海底斜坡稳定性与相应的临界破坏机构,并针对典型算例开展有限元数值解的验证。进而联合采用数值法与上限解,探讨波高、波长、水深等波浪参数对海底斜坡稳定性与滑动机制的影响。结果表明,本文提出的上限解与数值解吻合较好,获得的安全系数与破坏模式等符合一般规律,为波浪作用下海底斜坡的稳定性评价提供了新的途径。     

Hellenic Trench sedimentation: An approach using terrigenous distributions

Sand-sized terrigenous material from 450 samples representing 24 piston cores is used to compare slope, perched slope basin, and trench apron, plain and margin depositional environments within the Hellenic Trench west of the Peloponnesus. Recognition of three stratigraphically defined layers in the core sections served as a basis for evaluating changes in time. Statistical testing showed that within the upper defined layer (0–5700 yrs. B.P.) terrigenous grains are distributed rather uniformly throughout the slope and basin complexes in contrast to distributions in underlying layers (5700–17,000 and 17,000–45,000 yrs. B.P., respectively. These distributions reflect intense reworking by gravitative processes as evidenced by sediment structures, incomplete slope sections, high accumulation rates, and dilution of sapropels. The homogeneity of the upper layer is explained by failure and downslope transport of sediments that were deposited on the slope during lower stands of sea level. The quantitative analyses performed highlight the rapidity by which land-derived sediments by-pass high-relief slopes, temporarily reside in perched basins on the slope, and ultimately are dispersed to distal trench apron and basin environments by sporadic gravity flows.     

Distribution and morphology of large submarine sediment slides and slumps on Atlantic continental margins

Abstract

Numerous large sediment slides and slumps have been discovered and surveyed on the continental margins of Northwest Africa, Southwest Africa, Brazil (Amazon Cone), the Mediterranean, the Gulf of Mexico, and North America over the past 10 years. The mass movements are of two primary types: (1) translational slides, and (2) rotational slumps. Translational slides are characterized by a slide scar and a downslope zone of debris flows, after traveling in some areas for several hundreds of kilometers on slopes of less than 0.5°. Rotational slumps are bounded by steep scarps, but they do not involve large‐scale translation of sediments, although seismic records indicate disturbance in the down‐dropped block. Many of the slides and slumps have occurred in water depths greater than 2000 m on initial slopes of less than 1.5°. The largest slide so far discovered is off Spanish Sahara; in this case, the slide scar is 18,000 km² in area, at least 600 km³ in volume of translated sediments. No apparent consistent relationship has yet been observed between the presence of the slides and the sedimentary environment in which they occurred. The slides off Southwest Africa and Spanish Sahara occurred in pelagic sediments rich in planktonic organic matter. In contrast, the slides off North America, Senegal‐Mauritania, and Brazil (Amazon Cone) occurred in sediments containing a high percentage of terrigenous material from nearby landmasses. Large sediment slides have also occurred in pelagic sediments on isolated oceanic rises such as the Madeira Rise (East‐Central Atlantic) and the Ontong‐Java Plateau (Pacific), where sedimentation rates are less than 2 cm/1000 years. The failure mechanism of the slides initiated near the shelf edge can probably be explained by sediment overloading during low glacio‐eustatic sea level, which allowed rivers to debouch sediments directly onto the outer shelf or upper slope. Possible mechanisms of failure of the deepwater slides and slumps include earthquakes, undercutting of the slope by bottom currents, and changes in porewater pressures induced as a direct or indirect result of glacio‐eustatic changes in sea level.     

波浪作用下岸坡和海底平衡条件的研究

提出波浪作用下岸坡和海底动态和静态平衡条件的数学模型。在已建立的推移质泥沙体积输沙率基本关系式的基础上,根据连续方程,计算出底坡、泥沙、波浪三要素在动态和静态平衡情况下的关系式,得出反映这种关系的底坡平衡函数曲线图。用实际资料对这一函数曲线进行了验证,并对实际资料相对模型的某些差异作出解释。     

Matter composition and formation conditions of the Pliocene-Pleistocene sediments in the Kuril basin (sea of Okhotsk)

An integrated (petrographical and micropaleontological) study of the sedimentary cover samples dredged from the lower slopes of the Kuril deep-sea basin was carried out. The Pliocene-Pleistocene sediments are mainly represented by tuffaceous sedimentary rocks (tuffites, tuffaceous muds, tuffaceous diatomites, tuffaceous silts, tuffaceous sandstones, etc.). Significant admixtures of pyroclastic matter, especially of volcanic glasses, indicates that the sedimentation process was accompanied by explosive volcanism. The data obtained give evidence about the intensification of the tectonomagmatic regime within the region under study during the Pliocene-Pleistocene time. By the beginning of the Pliocene, a deep-sea basin with a well-manifested continental and/or island slope and a narrow shelf already existed. The Pliocene-Pleistocene deposits accumulated in a cold well-aerated deep-sea basin under oxic conditions and downslope sediment transport.     

Large-scale in situ rotational failure on a low-angle delta slope: The Foreslope Hills,Fraser Delta,British Columbia,Canada

The Foreslope Hills are a series of ridges and troughs covering over 60 km² of the sea floor at the base of the Fraser Delta slope. Internally, the hills consist of blocks of prodelta and delta slope sediment (> 10.6 km³) bounded by offshore dipping faults and shear planes. Stratification within each block generally dips landward, indicating rotational failure. The amount of downslope translation of delta slope sediments was relatively minor. Deformation is restricted to a deep structural trough, suggesting failure resulted from yielding of soft underlying (early Holocene) prodelta sediments in the trough.     

Unified modeling guidance based on a sedimentation parameter for beach changes

Review of four available proposals for designing coastal movable-bed models demonstrates that each suggested model-scaling law contradicts all the others. Accurate laboratory models providing the separate empirical bases, however, all appear fairly consistent with the new design guidance developed here. This formal development considers sediment excursions under wave action by means of a parameter including bed slope and the threshold of sediment movement. The consequent relationship for sedimentation similitude between model and prototype indicates that appropriate model sediment and horizontal scale depend on the selected vertical scale along with wave period and prototype sand characteristics. Explicit forms derived from the general design guidance recover two expressions resembling those previously reported by E.K. Noda (1972) and by P. Vellinga (1982); the route towards Noda's result indicates that guidance is not appropriate for small models of large situations, but the present development yields an independent basis and a needed refinement for Vellinga's empirical results. Considerations of sedimentation similitude are also shown to be supported by successful new laboratory models using sand profiles developed in a large wave tank as prototypes. Spatial distortion seems to be the advisable strategy for small models but proper distortion is rather modest with prototype materials, according to present results.     

冲绳海槽晚更新世以来沉积速率的时空差异及其控制因素

收集和分析了冲绳海槽内不同区域的33个站位柱状样的测年资料,计算了不同时段的沉积速率。结果表明,冲绳海槽内晚更新世以来的沉积速率有较大的时空差异,在空间上,由北向南有沉积速率增加的趋势,而靠近海槽西坡的站位沉积速率要大于东坡;在时间上,晚更新世期间的沉积速率要明显大于全新世。冲绳海槽内不同区域和不同时段沉积速率的差异反映了海槽内沉积环境和物质来源的复杂性,这种差异性主要是由不同区域沉积作用和物源供应变化的结果引起,末次冰消期以来的古海洋环境的变化、黑潮的摆动等因素也起到一定的作用,而事件沉积(如火山—热液作用和浊流沉积)的影响也不容忽视。     

Input of Glaciomarine Sediments along the East Antarctic Continental Margin; Depositional Processes on the Cosmonaut Sea Continental Slope and Rise and a Regional Acoustic Stratigraphic Correlation from 40° W to 80° E

Multichannel seismic reflection data from the Cosmonaut Sea margin of East Antarctica have been interpreted in terms of depositional processes in the continental slope and rise area. A major sediment lens is present below the upper continental rise along the entire Cosmonaut Sea margin. The lens probably consists of sediments supplied from the shelf and slope, being constantly reworked by westward flowing bottom currents, which redeposited the sediments into a large scale drift deposit prior to the main glaciogenic input along the margin. High-relief semicircular or elongated depositional structures are also found on the upper continental rise stratigraphically above the regional sediment lens, and were deposited by the combined influence of downslope and alongslope sediment transport. On the lower continental rise, large-scale sediment bodies extend perpendicular to the continental margin and were deposited as a result of downslope turbidity transport and westward flowing bottom currents after initiation of glacigenic input to the slope and rise. We compare the seismostratigraphic signatures along the continental margin segments of the adjacent Riiser Larsen Sea, the Weddell Sea and the Prydz Bay/Cooperation Sea, focussing on indications that may be interpreted as a preglacial-glaciomarine transition in the depositional environment. We suggest that earliest glaciogenic input to the continental slope and rise occurred in the Prydz Bay and possibly in the Weddell Sea. At a later stage, an intensification of the oceanic circulation pattern occurred, resulting in the deposition of the regional plastered drift deposit along the Cosmonaut Sea margin, as well as the initiation of large drift deposits in the Cooperation Sea. At an even later stage, possibly in the middle Miocene, glacial advances across the continental shelf were initiated along the Cosmonaut Sea and the Riiser Larsen Sea continental margins.