two cryogenian glacial successions compared aspects of the sturt and elatina sediment records of south australia abstract two cryogenian glacial sequences the sturt and elatina occur within the adelaide rift complex s australia and are part of an 8 km thick succession recording rodinia fragmentation and subsequent passive margin development we compare and contrast these glacial successions presenting new data including detailed logged sections for both glacial sequences facies analysis reveals a total of six facies associations recording a range of glacial and glacially related processes these are a diamictite facies association ice proximal debris flows a sheet sandstone facies association fluvial deposits a flaser and rhythmically bedded facies association tidal flat a hummocky cross stratified sandstone facies association shoreface to offshore transition zone deposits and an underflow facies association recording offshore deposition a sixth facies association a ferruginous lonestone bearing siltstone is restricted to the top of the elatina formation and records rapid environmental amelioration and emergence from glaciation in the central flinders ranges the sturt succession commences with a glacial erosion surface ges which in agreement with previous workers was probably enhanced by rifting this ges is overlain in ascending order by the pualco tillite holowilena ironstone and wilyerpa formation with the warcowie dolomite member at the base of this latter formation a second ges is preserved within this latter unit and is overlain by a stratigraphic motif that records an alternation of offshore transition zone and offshore deposits significant base level falls within the wilyerpa formation are identified by fluvial deposits sitting disconformably upon offshore deposits in contrast within the elatina formation a single ges is proposed which defines the base of the formation the elatina formation is split into two informal members on the basis of analysis of sediment stacking patterns and the recognition of a sharp stratigraphic surface that divides the formation apart from a locally preserved basal diamictite the lower member consists of fluvial deposits whereas the upper member is dominated by a mixture of tidal flat sediments and debris flow deposits the boundary between these units is therefore interpreted as a hybrid surface recording tidal ravinement in some areas and a glacial advance in others deglaciation left contrasting deposits the sturt deglaciation culminated in deposition of black shale of the tindelpina shale member of the tapley hill formation seemingly as a sheet like deposit over the adelaide rift complex and beyond into the amadeus basin of central australia the elatina deglaciation meanwhile began first with deposition of the sixth facies association ferruginous dropstone bearing siltstone then proceeded with deposition of cap dolostone of the nuccaleena formation

bed geometry used to test recognition criteria of turbidites and sandy debrites the origin of thick bedded deep water sandstones has generated much controversy in recent years two fundamentally different models have been proposed for beds with the same internal sedimentary characteristics 1 progressive particle settling from the base of a turbulent flow the turbidity current model and 2 en masse freezing of a higher concentration flow the sandy debris flow model these models predict beds with very different geometries turbidites thin gradually whereas debrites have abrupt terminations previous studies have relied upon sedimentary recognition criteria i e sedimentary features in small scale outcrop or core to interpret depositional mechanism in this study depositional mechanism is deduced from bed geometry gained from extensive correlations of individual sandstones preserved in a classic turbidite system marnoso arenacea formation italy this approach allows recognition criteria for turbidites and submarine debrites to be independently tested we find that tabular and tapered sandstones turbidites have distinctly different internal characteristics to beds with abrupt margins debrites turbidites are relatively well sorted often exhibit grading and traction structures and have relatively low matrix mud contents they may also contain massive division floating clasts and inverse grading debrites are moderate to poorly sorted ungraded structureless contain floating clasts and have elevated matrix mud contents these findings have implications for the assessment of submarine gravity flows deposits and reservoir rock characterization

the interaction of ash flows with ridges using both laboratory experiments and theoretical models we examine the different flow regimes that may develop when an ash flow encounters a ridge for very small ridges all the flow may pass over the ridge for intermediate size ridges the flow may be partially blocked with a fraction of the flow reflected upstream as a travelling bore in this case the remainder of the flow which does pass over the ridge is hydraulically controlled at the ridge crest finally if the ridge is sufficiently high then the flow will be totally blocked new laboratory experiments show that the sedimentation patterns associated with these flow regimes may be very different most importantly flows that involve partial blocking and the formation of upstream propagating bores display enhanced sedimentation upstream of the ridge analogous to valley ponded and caldera fill deposits in contrast under some circumstances if the flow is able to scale a ridge the deposit may be relatively unaffected by the presence of the ridge the minimum ridge height that leads to total blocking of the flow increases with mass eruption rate and has a complex variation with distance from the source in a one dimensional channel the minimum ridge height that causes blocking increases with distance downstream this is because the flow becomes less dense through sedimentation of particles and entrainment of air and so requires less energy to scale a ridge of a particular height in axisymmetric flow the minimum ridge height initially decreases with distance downstream as the flow spreads radially but subsequently increases as the flow becomes less dense through sedimentation and entrainment a new quantitative model of dilute ash flows propagating over ridges indicates that flows with mass fluxes in excess of 108 109 kg s can partially scale barriers as high as 1000 m at distances of tens of kilometres from the source whereas smaller flows are likely to be totally blocked by such an obstacle our results shed new insight on the possible long range transport mechanism of several large flows including the ata fisher and aniakchak pyroclastic flows

topography and palaeogeographic evolution of a middle miocene foredeep basin plain northern apennines italy abstract the marnoso arenacea basin was a narrow northwest southeast trending foredeep of middle late miocene age bounded to the southwest by the apennine thrust front the basin configuration and evolution were strongly controlled by tectonics geometrical and sedimentological analysis of serravallian turbidites deposited within the marnoso arenacea foredeep combined with palaeocurrent data turbidite flow provenance reflection and deflection identify topographic irregularities in a basin plain setting in the form of confined troughs the more internal mandrioli sub basin and the external s sofia sub basin separated by an intrabasinal structural high this basin configuration was generated by the propagation of a blind thrust striking northwest to southeast parallel to the main trend of the apennines thrust belt ongoing thrust induced sea bed deformation marked by the emplacement of large submarine landslides drove the evolution of the two sub basins in an early stage the growth and lateral propagation of a fault related anticline promoted the development of open foredeep sub basins that were replaced progressively by wedge top or piggy back basins partially or completely isolated from the main foredeep meanwhile the depocenter shifted to a more external position and the sub basins were incorporated within an accretionary thrust belt

a box model for non entraining suspension driven gravity surges on horizontal surfaces the propagation of and the deposition from a turbulent gravity current generated by the release of a finite volume of a dense particle suspension is described by a box model the approximate model consists of a set of simple equations a predetermined depth dependent leading boundary condition and one experimentally determined parameter describing the trailing boundary condition it yields predictions that agree well with existing laboratory observations and more complex theoretical models of non eroding non entraining suspension driven flows on horizontal surfaces the essential features of gravity surge behaviour have been observed and are captured accurately by the box model these include the increased rate of downstream loss of flow momentum with increased particle setting velocity the existence of maxima in the thickness of proximal deposits and the downstream thinning of distal deposits our approximation for the final run out distance xr of a surge in deep water is given by xr3 g oq3o w2s 1 5 where g o is the initial reduced gravity of the surge qo the initial two dimensional volume and ws the average settling velocity of the particles in the suspension a characteristic thickness of the resulting deposit is given by oqo xr where oo is the initial volumetric fraction of sediment suspended in the surge our analysis provides additional insight into other features of gravity surge dynamics and deposits including the potential for the thickening of currents with time the maintenance of inertial conditions and the potential for strong feedback in the sorting of particle sizes in the downstream direction at travel distances approaching xr box model approximations for the evolution of gravity surges thus provide a useful starting point for analyses of some naturally occurring turbidity surges and their deposits

late weichselian submarine debris flow deposits on the bear island trough mouth fan sedimentary processes on the bear island trough mouth fan during the last glacial were studied using high resolution reflection seismics and gravity cores the fan succession is dominated by large debris flow deposits of up to 24 km in width and 50 m thick debris lobes can be followed over 100 km downslope and the largest cover an area of 1880 km2 the large debris flows were generated when the barents sea ice sheet reached the shelf break glacigenic sediments transported to the grounding line were temporarily stored on the upper slope due to the high sedimentation rate the sediments were unstable and earthquakes oversteepening and or build up of excess pore pressure triggered sediment release generating large debris flows sediments were also eroded and incorporated during the downslope flow debris flows were the most important sediment distributing process due to the relatively high shear strength low flow mobility of the glacigenic diamicton and the low fan gradient the weichselian evolution of the fan was characterized by a relatively low sedimentation rate during the early and mid weichselian the barents sea ice sheet might have reached the shelf break twice during the late weichselian on average one large debris flow comprising 18 km3 of sediments was released between every 35 to 75 years during the last glacial maximum

high resolution correlation patterns in the turbidite systems of the hecho group south central pyrenees spain detailed bed by bed correlations in sheetlike lobes and basin plain elements of the hecho group were carried out through a hierarchical decomposition based on three orders of correlation this procedure provides the most detailed correlation framework with chronostratigraphic significance first order decomposition is based on physical correlation by mapping of major megaturbidites second order decomposition consists in matching a series of marker beds within first order units leading to the definition of units several metres thick finally third order decomposition relies on the matching of serial features within second order packages number vertical arrangement and facies features of beds and further testing the coherence of the downstream evolution of facies in single beds sheetlike lobes and basin plain are closely related and display a distinctive sheet like geometry basin plain beds are deposited by the same flows that build the sheetlike lobes with the existence of a transitional facies change from the lobe to the basin plain thickening of some beds towards the basin plain due to ponding of the fine grained silt and mud divisions a diagnostic feature of the basin plain controls the sheet like stacking pattern by balancing the wedging out of thinner lobe beds upcurrent from or within the basin plain as a consequence the whole area can be geomorphically classified as a basin plain which comprises both lobe and basin plain facies associations

linked debrites in sand rich turbidite systems origin and significance abstract the outer parts of a number of small late jurassic sandy deep water fans in the northern north sea are dominated by the stacked deposits of co genetic sandy and muddy gravity flows sharp based structureless and dewatered sandstone beds are directly overlain by mudclast breccias that are often rich in terrestrial plant fragments and capped by thin laminated sandstones pseudonodular siltstones and mudstones the contacts between the clast rich breccias and the underlying sandstones are typically highly irregular with evidence for liquefaction and upward sand injection the breccias contain fragments up to metre scale of exotic lithologies surrounded by a matrix that is extremely heterogeneous and strewn with multiphase and variably sheared sand injections and scattered coarse and very coarse sand grains often coarser than in the immediately underlying sand bed markov chain analysis establishes that the breccias consistently overlie sandstones and the character of the breccias and their external contacts rule out a post depositional origin via in situ liquefaction intrastratal flowage or bed amalgamation and disruption the breccias are interpreted as debrites that rode on a water rich sand bed just deposited by a co genetic concentrated gravity current as such they are referred to as linked debrites to distinguish them from debrites emplaced in the absence of a precursor sand bed the distinction is important because these linked debris flows can achieve significant mobility through entrainment of both water and sediment from beneath and they ride on a low friction carpet of liquefied sand this explains the paradox presented by fan fringes in which there are common debrites when conventional thinking might predict that deposits of low concentration gravity currents should be more important here in fact evidence for transport by low concentration turbidity currents is rare in these systems several possible mechanisms might explain the formation of linked flows but the ultimate source of both sandy and clast rich flow components must be in shallower water on the basin margin the debrites are not triggered from distal slopes flow partitioning may have occurred by upslope erosion and retardation of the mudclast charged portion of an erosional sandy density current partial flow transformation of a precursor debris flow and or hydraulic segregation and reconcentration of the flaky clasts and carbonaceous matter during transport linked debrites are not restricted to small sand rich fans and similar mechanisms may be responsible for the long runout of debris flows in other systems the recognition of a distinct class of linked debrites is of wider importance for facies prediction reservoir heterogeneity and even carbon fluxes and sequestration on continental margins

flow structure of turbidity currents a two dimensional numerical model is used to describe the flow structure of turbidity currents in a vertical plane to test the accuracy of the model it is applied to historical flows in bute inlet and the grand banks flow the two dimensional spatial and temporal distributions of velocity and sediment concentration and non dimensionalized vertical profiles of velocity turbulent kinetic energy and sediment concentration are discussed for several simple computational currents the flows show a clear interaction between velocity turbulence and sediment distribution the results of the numerical tests show that flows with fine grained sediment have low vertical and high horizontal gradients of velocity and sediment concentration show little increase in flow thickness and decelerate slowly steadiness and uniformity in these flows are comparable for velocity and concentration in contrast flows with coarse grained sediment have high vertical and low horizontal velocity gradients and high horizontal concentration gradients these flows grow considerably in thickness and decelerate rapidly steadiness and uniformity in flows with coarse grained sediment are different for velocity and concentration the results show the influence of spatial and temporal flow structure on flow duration and sediment transport

depositional features of co genetic turbidite debrite beds and possible mechanisms for their formation in distal lobated bodies beyond the base of slope ulleung basin east sea japan sea abstract a detailed analysis of the mr1 11 12 khz sonar images chirp 2 7 khz profiles core sediments and 14 c ages from the latest quaternary lobated bodies lb on the deep 2100 m water depth basin plain of the western ulleung basin reveals depositional features and context of co genetic turbidite debrite beds in the lb on the distal setting and a plausible mechanism for generating these beds eight lb are present in the basin plain ca 30 60 km beyond the base of slope and were generally deposited retrogressively older and more distal lb 1 4 have large dimensions 27 km long 15 25 km wide in contrast younger and less distal lb 5 8 are small 8 8 31 5 km long 1 2 12 km the muddier larger lb 1 and 2 were most likely originated from the relatively large scale sediment failures on the muddy upper slopes 350 400 m water depth between 18 5 and 20 0 cal ka b p on other hand the sandier smaller lb 6 and 7 were deposited between 17 0 and 17 5 cal ka b p probably by the relatively small scale sediment failures on the sandy uppermost slope shallower than 350 400 m water depth in lb 1 a lower sandy mud turbidite is transitional upward into an upper mud matrix debrite having small rounded mud clasts in contrast lb 6 exhibits a gradual upward change from a lower clay poor sandy turbidite to an upper clay rich sand matrix debrite with large interlocking mud clasts each mixed bed in lb 1 and 6 can represent a co genetic or linked turbidite debrite bed formed by the down dip flow transformation from turbidity current to debris flow at a point during the same event the abundant large scale up to 20 25 m deep 3 5 km long erosions of fine grained substrates near the base of slope area suggest that the down dip transformation was driven by incorporation of mud via erosional bulking by turbidity currents reaching the base of slope area the different clay sand content and size shape of mud clasts in the co genetic turbidite debrite beds between lb 1 and 6 imply that the composition sandy or muddy and dimension of initial turbidity current approaching the base of slope the volume of eroded masses from the fine grained substrates and the transport distance of sediment gravity flows from the erosional areas of muddy substrates can be all important factors controlling the depositional styles of co genetic turbidite debrite beds

interference of long period seismic wavefield observed by the dense hi net array in japan 1 in order to recover small signals of long period ground motions recorded by a short period seismometer we designed a time domain recursive filter that simulates seismic waves recorded with broadband seismometers we applied the time domain filter to seismograms recorded by the dense hi net array which consists of 800 stations at intervals of approximately 20 km the effectiveness of the time domain filter is demonstrated through the comparison of broadband waveforms obtained by the filter and sts 2 true broadband seismograms from the f net at the same site good agreement is observed between filtered and true broadband waveforms with high correlation coefficients for periods of up to 100 s for waveforms from the 2007 sumatra earthquake m7 9 which occurred approximately 5000 5800 km away from japan the applicability of the time domain filter to the recovery of long period signals from the record of a short period seismometer depends on the signal to noise ratio as a result a limited bandwidth of broadband signal is recovered for smaller earthquake from the spatiotemporal variation of the long period t 20 100 s wavefield obtained by the time domain filter we newly found an anomalous phase pattern of splitting of polarity along the wavefront particularly for the relatively short period band of from 20 50 s array analysis of the dense broadband waveforms revealed multipathing of the rayleigh waves which propagated toward central japan from two directions with slightly different slowness vectors the interference of two rayleigh waves caused such splitting of wavefield

on the frequency distribution of turbidite thickness the frequency distribution of turbidite thickness records information on flow hydrodynamics initial sediment volumes and source migration and is an important component of petroleum reservoir models however the nature of this thickness distribution is currently uncertain with log normal or negative exponential frequency distributions and power law cumulative frequency distributions having been proposed by different authors a detailed analysis of the miocene marnoso arenacea formation of the italian apennines shows that turbidite bed thickness and sand interval thickness within each bed have a frequency distribution comprising the sum of a series of log normal frequency distributions these strata were deposited predominantly in a basin plain setting and bed amalgamation is relatively rare beds or sand intervals truncated by erosion were excluded from this analysis each log normal frequency distribution characterizes bed or sand interval thickness for a given basal grain size or basal bouma division measurements from the silurian aberystwyth grits in wales the cretaceous great valley sequence in california and the permian karoo basin in south africa show that this conclusion holds for sequences of disparate age and variable location the median thickness of these log normal distributions is positively correlated with basal grain size the power law exponent relating the basal grain size and median thickness is different for turbidites with a basal a or b division and those with only c d and e divisions these two types of turbidite have been termed thin bedded and thick bedded by previous workers a change in the power law exponent is proposed to be related to i a transition from viscous to inertial settling of sediment grains and ii hindered settling at high sediment concentrations the bimodal thickness distribution of thin bedded and thick bedded turbidites noted by previous workers is explained as the result of a change in the power law exponent this analysis supports the view that a and b divisions were deposited from high concentration flow components and that distinct grain size modes undergo different depositional processes summation of log normal frequency distributions for thin and thick bedded turbidites produces a cumulative frequency distribution of thickness with a segmented power law trend thus the occurrence of both log normal and segmented power law frequency distributions can be explained in a holistic fashion power law frequency distributions of turbidite thickness have previously been linked to power law distributions of earthquake magnitude or volumes of submarine slope failure the log normal distribution for a given grain size class observed in this study suggests an alternative view that turbidite thickness is determined by the multiplicative addition of several randomly distributed parameters in addition to the settling velocity of the grain sizes present

anatomy of turbidites and linked debrites based on long distance 120 x 30 km bed correlation marnoso arenacea formation northern apennines italy much of our understanding of submarine sediment laden density flows that transport very large volumes ca 1 to 100 km3 of sediment into the deep ocean comes from careful analysis of their deposits direct monitoring of these destructive and relatively inaccessible and infrequent flows is problematic in order to understand how submarine sediment laden density flows evolve in space and time lateral changes within individual flow deposits need to be documented the geometry of beds and lithofacies intervals can be used to test existing depositional models and to assess the validity of experimental and numerical modelling of submarine flow events this study of the miocene marnoso arenacea formation italy provides the most extensive correlation of individual turbidity current and submarine debris flow deposits yet achieved in any ancient sequence one hundred and nine sections were logged through a ca 30 m thick interval of time equivalent strata between the contessa mega bed and an overlying columbine marker bed correlations extend for 120 km along the axis of the foreland basin in a direction parallel to flow and for 30 km across the foredeep outcrop as a result of post depositional thrust faulting and shortening this represents an across flow distance of over 60 km at the time of deposition the correlation of beds containing thick 40 cm sandstone intervals are documented almost all thick beds extend across the entire outcrop area most becoming thinly bedded 40 cm in distal sections palaeocurrent directions for flow deposits are sub parallel and indicate confinement by the lateral margins of the elongate foredeep flows were able to traverse the basin in opposing directions suggesting a basin plain with a very low gradient small fractional changes in stratal thickness define several depocentres on either side of the verghereto high area the extensive bed continuity and limited evidence for flow defection suggest that intrabasinal bathymetric relief was subtle substantially less than the thickness of flows thick beds contain two distinct types of sandstone ungraded mud rich sandstone intervals record evidence of en masse debrite deposition graded mud poor sandstone intervals are inferred to result from progressive grain by grain turbidite deposition clast rich muddy sandstone intervals pinch out abruptly in downflow and crossflow directions in a fashion consistent with en masse debrite deposition the tapered shape of mud poor sandstone intervals is consistent with an origin through progressive grain by grain turbidite deposition most correlated beds comprise both turbidite and debrite sandstone intervals intrabed transitions from exclusive turbidite sandstone to turbidite sandstone overlain by debrite sandstone are common in the downflow and crossflow directions this spatial arrangement suggests either i bypass of an initial debris flow past proximal sections ii localized input of debris flows away from available sections or iii generation of debris flows by transformation of turbidity currents on the basin plain because of seafloor erosion and or abrupt flow deceleration a single submarine flow event can comprise multiple flow phases and deposit a bed with complex lateral changes between mud rich and mud poor sandstone

late quaternary turbidite emplacement on the horseshoe abyssal plain iberian margin abstract the horseshoe abyssal plain hap is located on the iberian margin at approximately 4800 m water depth and is confined within topographic elevations with a relief of about 3000 m with the exception of gorringe bank which rises to only 20 m below sealevel the plain is built up by an alternation of turbidites of the order of meter thick beds numbered h2 h3 h8 and h13 contrasting with sets of thinner beds of the order of decimeters thick h4 5 6 7 and h9 10 11 12 and pelagites centimeters in thickness an intensive study of eight piston cores using visual observation color and thickness relative stratigraphic position of units magnetic susceptibility logs calcium carbonate content and mineralogy of turbid te bases concludes in a bed by bed correlation of all individual turbidites the major source of terrigenous material feeding the hap is the sao vicente canyon which incises the portuguese shelf while minor sources are the surrounding seamounts the elongate geometry of the abyssal plain with its single dominant source of sediments produced laterally continuous deposits from both large and small flows these covered the entire 356 km length of the plain grain size analysis of the four thickest turbidites h2 h3 h8 and h9 demonstrates only slight downcurrent fining and vertical grading expressed best in the ratio of coarse silt to fine silt plus clay a small amount of sand is carried the length of the plain the thicker units all show the same pattern of thickness with a maximum in the middle of the plain around a topographic constriction and bend this is most plausibly explained as due to reduction in flow speed of an initially supercritical flow causing enhanced deposition some of the beds appear to have a double coarse layer in the base which may indicate partial reflection of flows from the side of the basin it is suggested by application of equations for flow behavior that both thick 3 m and thin 0 3 m beds are due to supercritical flows a few tens of meters high however the thick beds resulted from high concentration flows cv 4 by volume whereas thinner beds require low concentration cv 1 to run out over the full length of the basin the stratigraphy is tied into the dated oceanic pelagic record by analysis of foraminifera in the pelagic layers above the turbidites and through recognition of two heinrich layers h 1 and h 2 ages 14 3 and 21 ka the resulting age framework shows higher turbidite frequency in the glacial 2 7 kyr than interglacial holocene 1 0 kyr this also gives higher mass flux during the glacial emplacement of turbidites cannot be clearly related to sea level changes but may well be due to seismic activity however one of the largest earthquakes in human experience lisbon in 1755 triggered only a thin turbidite invalidating the term seismite for thick turbidites

fission track reconstruction of the front of the northern apennine thrust wedge and overlying ligurian unit in the northern apennines foreland the marnoso arenacea formation ma fm records post depositional burial temperatures overlapping with those of the zone of partial annealing of apatite fission tracks because the stratigraphy sedimentology petrography and structural evolution of this turbidite succession has been intensively studied over the last 40 years the ma fm provides an ideal case to apply the apatite fission track method the data show a general decrease of the maximum paleotemperature undergone by the ma samples toward the foreland area the maximum burial calculated using a geothermal gradient of 20 c km spans from more than 5 km to less than 2 5 km and indicates that the reconstructed total thickness of the ma succession is not enough to justify the determined burial values stratigraphic data indicates that the missing section consisted of a lower component foredeep successions and an upper allocthonous component composed of disrupted and chaotic oceanic sediments and minor ophiolites ligurian unit the ligurian unit overrode the foredeep succession during deposition its advancement toward the foreland area was associated with subsidence and only locally contrasted by thrust growth the reconstructed wedge shape of the ligurian unit in its final and pre erosional configuration at time of the maximum bunal of the ma succession shows a flat upper surface which corresponds to a paleosurface of early pliocene age this surface marks at 4 to 5 ma the onset of the exhumation phase which occurred at a mean rate of 1 2 mm yr

kinematic evolution of thrust related structures in the umbro romagnan parautochthon northern apennines italy in the internal part of the umbro marchean romagnan apennines the foredeep clastic wedge constituting the neogene part of the sedimentary cover is completely detached from the underlying mesozoic palaeogene succession the resulting umbro romagnan parautochthon consists of tectonostratigraphic units with a general geometry of broad synclinal blocks separated by narrow faulted anticlines thrust related structures observed in the field require thrust ramp propagation to have occurred within already folded rocks therefore they cannot be restored using simple fault bend fold or fault propagation folding models evidence for a passive fold origin in the studied rocks suggests that an early detachment folding episode preceded ramp propagation the latter was facilitated by the enhanced thickness of incompetent material in the cores of detachment anticlines which became the preferential sites where thrust ramps cut up section depending on the trajectory of such thrust ramps different types of fault related structures could develop hanging wall anticlines which give way to monoclinal structures higher up in the section are associated with listric thrust ramps whereas hanging wall monoclines approximately parallel to the underlying fault surface are associated with straight trajectory ramps this kinematic evolution which occurred partly during syn depositional compression also accounts for the observed lithofacies distribution the latter reflects an early differentiation of the foredeep trough into sub basins that are progressively younger towards the foreland the detachment anticlines that originally bounded such sub basins were the site of later thrust propagation leading to a tectonic juxtaposition of different tectonostratigraphic units consisting of broad nw se elongate synclinal blocks

field expressions of the transformation of debris flows into turbidity currents with examples from the polish carpathians and the french maritime alps various transformation mechanisms can generate turbidity currents from subaqueous debris flows different transformation mechanisms have been described and interpreted in the past from laboratory experiments and from deposits but the two approaches have not generally been linked this has made the genetic interpretation and comparison of deposits difficult in this paper a generic classification scheme of debrite turbidite couplets is proposed based on transformation mechanisms inferred from laboratory experiments five different flow types called a e herein and their resulting deposits are detailed but they are all part of a continuous spectrum and a mixture of types is likely to be found in the field type a flows are strong dense debris flows that undergo little transformation their deposit will be a debrite overlain by a thin turbidite which is separated from it by a clear grain size break type b flows are weaker and can develop waves at the debris flow turbidity current interface the deposit will be a debrite with a wavy top overlain by a turbidite that is thicker than for type a flows for type c flows the interfacial waves will grow so much that the debris flow disintegrates into separate parts the deposit will consist of debrite lenses encased in a turbidite type d flows will undergo even more mixing than type c flows so that the debrite parts will be mixed their deposit will be a turbidite with laterally varying areas of debrite characteristics near the bed type e flows will be so transformed that the debris flow character has disappeared and the flow is a turbidity current with high sediment concentration the deposit will be largely turbiditic the flow types and deposits will be illustrated with some examples from two field areas the polish carpathians and the french maritime alps

turbidites and megaturbidites from the herodotus abyssal plain eastern mediterranean unrelated to seismic events abstract a transect of 9 piston and gravity cores was taken across the southeast flank of the mediterranean ridge the transect extends from the abyssal plain to a location 290 m shallower than the abyssal plain and 50 km north of the edge of the ridge each core contains two or more turbiditic layers which belong to two discrete types here called a and b type a essentially consists of black plastic clays rich in smectite with silt fraction of terrigenous nature source area is the nile cone and age is middle or late pleistocene type b turbidites are pale brown to whitish in color coarse grained carbonate rich and bioclastic in composition with shallow water fossils dominant they are poor in smectite and the silt fraction is very rich in carbonates calcite and aragonite the source area is the north african shelf south of the abyssal plain a megabed belonging to type b turbidites is correlatable from core to core with a thickness in excess of 10 m in the abyssal plain and an estimated volume of 10 km 3 its stratigraphic position in the latest pleistocene suggests that its origin is related to a sudden collapse of bioclastic sediments accumulated in a canyon head during a low sea level stand the source areas of the two discrete turbidite types belong to the essentially aseismic north african continental margin although they are presently recorded on the tectonically active mediterranean ridge no seismic events are required to account for the presence of either type of turbidite

silver abyssal plain carbonate turbidite flow characteristics approximately 20000 years ago the main part of a large turbidity current was channeled between the caicos outer ridge and the bahama escarpment until it spread fanwise across the central silver abyssal plain floor unusual grain size and compositional changes in the turbidite appear to have been produced by surges superimposed on the main flow sharp decreases in the thickness and grain size of the turbidite on the slopes of the caicos outer ridge indicate that the depth of the current was approximately 35 m as deposition began at the first abyssal plain core site estimates based on the fall velocity of the fastest settling particles deposited from suspension suggest that the flow velocity was approximately 3 m sec as the current began to move across the abyssal plain floor the transition from deposition of turbidite sediments with graded bedding to deposition of parallel laminated sediments appears to have occurred at similar or slightly lower flow velocities than those predicted for the transition fr

in situ measurements of velocity structure within turbidity currents 1 turbidity currents are thought to be the main mechanism to move 500 000 m3 of sediments annually from the head of the monterey submarine canyon to the deep sea fan indirect evidence has shown frequent occurrences of such turbidity currents in the canyon but the dynamic properties of the turbidity currents such as maximum speed duration and dimensions are still unknown here we present the first ever in situ measurements of velocity profiles of four turbidity currents whose maximum along canyon velocity reached 190 cm s two turbidity currents coincided with storms that produced the highest swells and the biggest stream flows during the year long deployment

low sea level stand emplacement of megaturbidites in the western and eastern mediterranean sea piston cores from the balearic and herodotus abyssal plains in the mediterranean sea show that the late pleistocene to holocene sedimentary sequence is dominated by turbidite muds on each plain one turbidite bed is conspicuous by its thickness and this bed can be correlated basinwide on the basis of geochemical compositional analysis and its apparent correspondence with a distinct acoustically transparent layer on high resolution seismic records these megabeds on the two plains represent megaturbidites of very large volume 300 600 km3 each and are shown by ams radiocarbon dating to have been emplaced during the last low stand of sea level at the height of the last glacial maximum the megabed on the balearic abyssal plain is derived from the southern european margin and is the main sedimentation event over the last 120 ka it emplaced as much material as was deposited by smaller flows during the previous 25 ka sedimentation rate curves for the balearic abyssal plain show that falling sea level correlates with increased terrigenous deposition and that gross sedimentation rates in the basin increased as sea level fell from 120 18 ka due to more frequent emplacement of distal turbidites the herodotus abyssal plain megabed is derived from the libyan egyptian continental shelf west of the nile delta and was the dominant sedimentation event in this basin during the past 60 kyr high resolution seismic profiles from the ionian and sirte abyssal plains in the central mediterranean also suggest possible low sea level emplacement of megabeds in these regions available evidence suggests widespread emplacement of megaturbidites throughout the mediterranean at the last glacial maximum although the triggering mechanisms for these events remain speculative catastrophic destabilisation of the margin after a long period of accumulation with an increased rate of sediment supply is suggested

influence of sea level and basin physiography on emplacement of the late pleistocene herodotus basin megaturbidite se mediterranean sea radiocarbon 14c dates from pelagic intervals above a megaturbidite in the herodotus basin give direct evidence of emplacement at the beginning of the last glacial period approximately 27 125 calendar years before present as sea level lowered rapidly and entered a low stand phase the herodotus basin megaturbidite is a basinwide deposit that forms a recognisable acoustically transparent layer on 3 5 khz high resolution seismic profiles and covers an area of approximately 40 000 km2 it thins from about 20 m in thickness proximally to some 10 m distally over a basin length in excess of 400 km the total volume is estimated at around 400 km3 which is significantly more than the volume of sediment that could have been displaced from its most likely source area the funnel shaped marginal embayment of the gulf of salum to the west of the nile cone the additional material may have been derived in part from synchronous failures on other parts of the libyan egyptian shelf and slope but most is believed to have come from large scale erosion at the base of the very large volume turbidity current that was generated from the original slide detailed sedimentary analyses of cores recovered from the megaturbidite show its distinctive characteristics graded sand silt mud and bioturbated mud units poorly developed structures proximally becoming more distinct and ordered distally variation in grain size and structures that suggest either flow separation reflection around topographic highs and or an inherently unstable flow and a mixed source bioclastic terrigenous composition these features together with its size and lateral extent would make any similar megabed an excellent marker horizon in basin analysis a combination of factors was responsible for triggering the initial slide debris flow event that evolved downslope into this mega turbidity current these include lowered sea level that destabilised the outer shelf upper slope sediments tectonic oversteepening of the margin relatively high rates of sedimentation and seismic activity

settling behaviour of concentrated dispersions and some volcanological applications abstract experiments have been carried out on the settling of non aggregating poorly sorted aqueous dispersions laced with lowdensity particles in order to gain insight into the sedimentation behaviour of volcaniclastic flows which contain pumice two poorly sorted dispersions of silicon carbide particles with continuous size distributions were studied plastic beads were added as a light component experiments were carried out at solids concentrations between 10 and 60 vol dispersions of low concentration generated normally graded deposits in which particles of different densities were in approximate hydraulic equivalence above a critical concentration 45 to 60 depending on the grain size distribution particle segregation was suppressed and the dispersion settled to form a virtually ungraded bed hindered settling at intermediate concentrations generated normally graded deposits with elutriation pipes floating rafts of plastic and capping layers of fines elutriated by escaping pore fluid buoyancy forces resulted in strong hydraulic inequivalence between light and dense components in the deposits from intermediate concentrations two mechanisms of elutriation pipe growth were observed at intermediate concentrations pipes grew progressively upwards in the deposit as the latter aggraded whereas at high concentrations they nucleated and grew uniformly throughout the whole dispersion elutriation pipes form readily during sedimentation of some poorly sorted aqueous dispersions the presence of elutriation pipes cannot be used alone to distinguish between deposits of epiclastic and pyroclastic flows reverse grading of pumice pumice rafts elutriation pipes and layers of elutriated fines should characterise deposits from pumice rich submarine mass flows despite differences in the fluid phase the experiments also have implications for fluidization mechanisms in pyroclastic flows hindered settling of a concentrated poorly sorted dispersion is a type of self fluidization in which the sedimentation of large particles causes a sufficiently strong vertical fluid flux to fluidize or elutriate smaller ones hindered settling is intrinsic to all pyroclastic flows as they spread out and deflate across the landscape and may reinforce other gas sources as an effective fluidization mechanism during emplacement of type 2 and type 3 ignimbrites and of coignimbrite lag breccias

re sedimented deposits in the rift section of the campos basin abstract an integrated petrologic sedimentologic stratigraphic seismic study of the lagoa feia group rift section of the campos basin has shown that rift sedimentation was dominantly intrabasinal carbonate and stevensitic deposits with siliciclastic deposits restricted to the proximity of graben border faults the bivalve bioclastic rudstones coquinas that constitute the rift reservoirs show commonly limited abrasion of the bioclasts and were deposited both on basement highs and lows throughout the rift section although in situ deposits of stevensite ooids and peloids occur dominantly at the base of the succession these particles are ubiquitous to the entire rift section mixed in variable proportion with siliciclastic and carbonate sediments the environmental conditions required for the formation of stevensite and the growth of bivalves are mutually exclusive as stevensite forms only at ph greater than 10 while bivalves cannot tolerate ph greater than 9 the common mixture of well rounded basaltic rock fragments with angular granitic gneissic rock fragments and feldspars in the sandstones and conglomerates indicates recycling of epiclastic deposits from the early rift section combined with first cycle contribution from the plutonic basement the studied cores show no evidence of subaerial exposure and there is a lack of bioturbation suggesting harsh environmental conditions the rift deposits are dominantly massive or faintly laminated with diffuse facies boundaries structures indicative of unidirectional or oscillatory flow are subordinate integration of seismic sedimentologic and petrographic evidence indicates that the campos basin rift section is formed mostly by re sedimented gravitational deposits the onset of the rift sedimentation occurred in synformal depressions where bivalve banks or stevensite ooids were formed in shallow lacustrine environments under variable alkalinity conditions with the development of half grabens and concentration of the tectonic activity along the border faults recurrent tectonic events promoted the mixing and gravitational re deposition of stevensitic clastic and bioclastic sediments in deeper fault bounded troughs large scale units hundreds of meters thick were generated by major tectonic events whereas compositional variations in the scale of meters were possibly a product of lake level climatic fluctuations thus due to syn rift and mainly to post rift erosion the neo aptian unconformity the preserved rift section of the lagoa feia group comprises mostly sediments deposited in the central troughs of the half graben structures marginal sediments were extensively eroded and re sedimented as gravity driven mixed deposits this new model constructed form the integration of seismic stratigraphic sedimentologic and petrologic data diverges substantially from the presently accepted model for the sedimentation of the rift section opening new possibilities for the exploration of campos basin as well as of similar settings as in the adjacent santos basin

correlation frequency of emplacement and source directions of megaturbidites on the madeira abyssal plain abstract this paper describes the sediments of the whole madeira abyssal plain including the madcap area to the south previous studies have centred on the central sub basin which occupies most of the plain and which has become one of the most studied areas of seafloor the plain is made up of a series of large turbidites separated by thin pelagic layers which can be used to provide a high resolution stratigraphy back to about 750 000 years many of the turbidites were deposited close to oxygen isotope stage boundaries suggesting a strong relationship to sea level climate change although the exact initiation mechanism for the flows is not known data from the northern and southern extensions of the plain shows the effects of different entry points for the four main turbidite groups volcanic rich turbidites enter from the ne and e calcareous turbidites from the w one group of organic rich turbidites enters from the se and one group from the ne and e different turbidite sources operate for limited periods before switching to one of the other source areas it is very rare for two sources to provide turbidites at the same isotope stage boundary

magnetic fabric analysis as a tool to constrain mechanisms of deep water mudstone deposition in the marnoso arenacea formation miocene italy abstract mudstone dominated marine successions are common in the geological record yet a full understanding of their depositional processes is often hampered by a lack of generally accepted diagnostic criteria to distinguish between hemipelagic settling and deposition from a flowing medium the marnoso arenacea formation a turbidite unit of miocene age cropping out in the northern apennines of italy offers the possibility to address some of these uncertainties a relatively small 10 but distinctive portion of the marnoso arenacea formation is composed of white marlstone beds wm beds that have frequently been interpreted as due to hemipelagic settling of fine grained particles hemipelagites the analysis of the anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility ams revealed the presence in the wm beds of maximum susceptibility axes clustered within the depositional plane along the average paleoflow direction inferred from flute casts at the bases of the nearest turbidite beds whereas the minimum susceptibility axes are oriented perpendicular to the bedding plane this fabric is interpreted as largely sedimentary in origin albeit a contribution from tectonic shortening cannot be excluded and due to the alignment within the bedding plane of paramagnetic grains e g muscovite and possibly also ferromagnetic grains magnetite under low velocity currents the trend of the maximum susceptibility axes and hence of the paleoflow direction is approximately oriented nnw sse after correction for apennines thrust sheet rotation since the miocene these results suggest that the wm beds cannot be entirely due to hemipelagic settling as often stated in the literature a discussion of alternative depositional mechanisms leads us to conclude that the wm beds may have been deposited under the influence of contour currents and should therefore be referred to as muddy contourites

late pliocene pleistocene stratigraphy and history of formation of the ioffe calcareous contourite drift western south atlantic abstract the high resolution ses 2000 deep seismic profiles performed by r v akademik ioffe 2010 recorded a calcareous contourite drift over the florianopolis fracture zone ridge south atlantic named the ioffe drift core ai 2436 retrieved from the drift summit recovered calcareous nannofossil foraminiferal ooze contourites with small amounts of fine grained terrigenous siliciclastic material the calcareous ooze is intercalated with foraminiferal sand and more clayey ooze layers in the upper pleistocene section according to planktonic foraminiferal and nannofossil biostratigraphy the age of the uppermost section of the drift ranges from the late pliocene to the late pleistocene it includes several stratigraphic hiatuses due to erosion especially at the end of pliocene early pleistocene and in the intervals 1 51 0 81 and 0 44 0 27 ma the ioffe drift accumulated under the influence of the eastern branch of the antarctic bottom water aabw outflow from the vema channel temporary intensification of the aabw flow likely due to its increased production in the weddell sea led to deep erosion ultimately resulting in long term hiatuses and hence contributing to the enormously compressed upper pliocene middle pleistocene section of the drift

quantitative analysis of submarine flow deposit shape in the marnoso arenacea formation what is the signature of hindered settling from dense near bed layers abstract submarine sediment density flows are one of the volumetrically most important processes for sediment transport across earth the sediment concentration of flows that reach the deep ocean has never been measured directly and understanding these long runout flows remains a major challenge the miocene marnoso arenacea formation in the italian apennines is the only ancient sequence where individual submarine sediment density flow deposits single beds have been mapped out for more than 100 km down flow here we document the external shape and internal architecture of thirty two individual beds that record flow evolution and can be compared to deposit shapes in mathematical or experimental models the large number of beds allows modes of flow behavior to be identified larger volume turbidites are typically dominated by massive ta or planar laminated tb sandstone intervals that have a broad thickness maximum this shape is important because it suggests that massive and planar laminated sandstones record hindered settling from dense near bed layers which have high 10 by volume sediment concentrations previously some authors have inferred that planar laminated sandstones tb are deposited mainly by dilute flows the position of the broad thickness maximum moves basinward as the volume of sand in the flow increases this is consistent with mathematical modeling that suggests the position of the thickness maximum depends on flow thickness flow speed and sediment settling velocity as well as sediment concentration variations in seawater entrainment rate and local changes in seafloor gradient smaller volume turbidite sandstone intervals are finer grained and dominated by ripple cross lamination tc and have a near exponential decay in thickness that is consistent with deposition from a dilute sediment suspension the rate of near exponential thinning is controlled by sandstone volume in contrast turbidite mudstone intervals show an approximately linear increase in thickness with distance flows that entered the basin in opposite directions produced turbidite mudstone intervals that thicken towards the same location indicating that muddy turbidity currents can drain back over long distances to basinal lows

process controls on the development of stratigraphic trap potential on the margins of confined turbidite systems and aids to reservoir evaluation stratigraphic trapping at pinch out margins is a key feature of many turbidite hosted hydrocarbon reservoirs in systems confined by lateral or oblique frontal slopes outcrop studies show that there is a continuum between two geometries of pinch out configuration in type a turbidites thin onto the confining surface although the final sandstone pinch out is commonly abrupt and individual beds tend not to erode into earlier deposits in type b turbidite sandstones commonly thicken toward the confining slope and beds may incise into earlier deposits these two types may occur in combination to give a wide spectrum of pinch out characteristics our analysis suggests the principal control in determining pinch out character is flow magnitude with smaller flows producing type a and larger flows producing type b in areas of poor seismic control it can be difficult to assess either pinch out character or the proximity of wells to confining slopes because estimates of paleoflow magnitude can be made from core or high quality log image data however it is possible to make reasonable estimates of pinch out character even from wells such as exploration wells which may be placed conservatively away from the field margins furthermore systematic paleoflow variations and thickness trends are commonly seen in individual turbidite sandstones as they approach confining slopes for example dispersal directions indicate flow deflection parallel with the strike of confining topography beds thin toward type a onlaps and thicken toward type b onlaps these relationships can be exploited via analysis of vertical successions to constrain well position with respect to the slope similarly the presence location and frequency of locally derived debrites can provide information on the presence and proximity of confining slopes begin page 972

new views of granular mass flows concentrated grain fluid mixtures in rock avalanches debris flows and pyroclastic flows do not behave as simple materials with fixed rheologies instead rheology evolves as mixture agitation grain concentration and fluid pressure change during flow initiation transit and deposition throughout a flow however normal forces on planes parallel to the free upper surface approximately balance the weight of the superincumbent mixture and the coulomb friction rule describes bulk intergranular shear stresses on such planes pore fluid pressure can temporarily or locally enhance mixture mobility by reducing coulomb friction and transferring shear stress to the fluid phase initial conditions boundary conditions and grain comminution and sorting can influence pore fluid pressures and cause variations in flow dynamics and deposits

turbidite depositional architecture across three interconnected deep water basins on the north west african margin the moroccan turbidite system mts on the north west african margin extends 1500 km from the head of the agadir canyon to the madeira abyssal plain making it one of the longest turbidite systems in the world the mts consists of three interconnected deep water basins the seine abyssal plain sap the agadir basin and the madeira abyssal plain map connected by a network of distributary channels excellent core control has enabled individual turbidites to be correlated between all three basins giving a detailed insight into the turbidite depositional architecture of a system with multiple source areas and complex morphology large volume 100 km3 turbidites sourced from the morocco shelf show a relatively simple architecture in the madeira and seine abyssal plains sandy bases form distinct lobes or wedges that thin rapidly away from the basin margin and are overlain by ponded basin wide muds however in the agadir basin the turbidite fill is more complex owing to a combination of multiple source areas and large variations in turbidite volume a single very large turbidity current 200 300 km3 of sediment deposited most of its sandy load within the agadir basin but still had sufficient energy to carry most of the mud fraction 500 km further downslope to the map large turbidity currents 100 150 km3 of sediment deposit most of their sand and mud fraction within the agadir basin but also transport some of their load westwards to the map small turbidity currents 35 km3 of sediment are wholly confined within the agadir basin and their deposits pinch out on the basin floor turbidity currents flowing beyond the agadir basin pass through a large distributary channel system individual turbidites correlated across this channel system show major variations in the mineralogy of the sand fraction whereas the geochemistry and micropalaeontology of the mud fraction remain very similar this is interpreted as evidence for separation of the flow with a sand rich erosive basal layer confined within the channel system overlain by an unconfined layer of suspended mud large volume turbidites within the mts were deposited at oxygen isotope stage boundaries during periods of rapid sea level change and do not appear to be specifically connected to sea level lowstands or highstands this contrasts with the classic fan model which suggests that most turbidites are deposited during lowstands of sea level in addition the three largest turbidites on the map were deposited during the largest fluctuations in sea level suggesting a link between the volume of sediment input and the magnitude of sea level change

beds comprising debrite sandwiched within co genetic turbidite origin and widespread occurrence in distal depositional environments co genetic debrite turbidite beds occur in a variety of modern and ancient turbidite systems their basic character is distinctive an ungraded muddy sandstone interval is encased within mud poor graded sandstone siltstone and mudstone the muddy sandstone interval preserves evidence of en masse deposition and is thus termed a debrite the mud poor sandstone siltstone and mudstone show features indicating progressive layer by layer deposition and are thus called a turbidite palaeocurrent indicators ubiquitous stratigraphic association and the position of hemipelagic intervals demonstrate that debrite and enclosing turbidite originate in the same event detailed field observations are presented for co genetic debrite turbidite beds in three widespread sequences of variable age the miocene marnoso arenacea formation in the italian apennines the silurian aberystwyth grits in wales and quaternary deposits of the agadir basin offshore morocco deposition of these sequences occurred in similar unchannellized basin plain settings co genetic debrite turbidite beds were deposited from longitudinally segregated flow events comprising both debris flow and forerunning turbidity current it is most likely that the debris flow was generated by relatively shallow few tens of centimetres erosion of mud rich sea floor sediment changes in the settling behaviour of sand grains from a muddy fluid as flows decelerated may also have contributed to debrite deposition the association with distal settings results from the ubiquitous presence of muddy deposits in such locations which may be eroded and disaggregated to form a cohesive debris flow debrite intervals may be extensive 26 x 10 km in the marnoso arenacea formation and are not restricted to basin margins such long debris flow run out on low gradient sea floor 0 1 may simply be due to low yield strength 50 pa of the debris water mixture this study emphasizes that multiple flow types and transformations between flow types can occur within the distal parts of submarine flow events

experiments on bidisperse constant volume gravity currents propagation and sediment deposition laboratory experiments show that the propagation and sedimentation patterns of particle laden gravity currents are strongly influenced by the size of suspended particles the main series of experiments consisted of fixed volume releases of dilute mixtures containing two sizes of silicon carbide particles 25 m and 69 m mean diameter within a 6 m flume polydisperse experiments involved mixtures of five different particle sizes and variation of the amounts of the finest and coarsest particles all variables apart from the initial relative proportions of particles were identical in the experiments the effects of mixing different proportions of fine and coarse particles is markedly non linear adding small amounts of fine sediment to a coarse grained gravity current has a much larger influence on flow velocity run out distance and sedimentation patterns than adding a small amount of coarse sediment to a fine grained gravity current the experiments show that adding small amounts of fine particles to a coarse grained current results in enhanced flow velocities because the fine sediment remains suspended and maintains an excess current density for a much longer time thus the distance to which coarse particles are transported increases substantially as the proportion of fines in the flow is increased our experiments suggest that sandy turbidity currents containing suspended fines will be much more extensive than turbidity currents composed of clean sand

initiation of turbidity currents outcrop evidence for eocene hyperpycnal flow turbidites abstract the most widely used although not as widely documented explanation for initiation of turbidites is the conversion of catastrophic sediment failures into turbidites such instantaneous sediment failures generate short lived surge type flows that deposit turbidite beds described as bouma sequences in this communication we present data from the eocene central basin of spitsbergen that shows turbidite systems that are volumetrically dominated by thick ungraded and laminated sandy turbidite beds deposited by gradual aggradation from sustained flows sustained flows are long lived and more or less continuous they can be generated by a variety of mechanisms e g 1 instability during volcanic eruptions and the consequent remobilisation of unconsolidated material 2 seismically triggered subaerial sliding within the drainage 3 storm surges 4 retrogressive slope failure 5 breaching and 6 hyperpycnal flows our database shows that in the eocene central basin the sustained flows were generated by hyperpycnal flows i e by direct river effluent the hyperpycnal flow turbidites have been recognized on the basis of 1 physical connection between fluvial and turbidite channels at the shelf edge 2 abundance of thick turbidite sandstone beds 3 sand prone nature of the turbidite systems 4 downslope changes of individual thick sandy turbidite beds and their collapsed pinch out segments 5 great abundance of continental material leaves coal fragments in turbidite beds 6 low abundance of associated slumped or debris flow beds and 7 the occurrence of turbidites in systematically accreted shelf margins these features strongly suggest that hyperpycnal flow generated by direct river effluent deposited significant number of turbidite beds in the documented slope and basin floor turbidite successions we also argue that the hyperpycnal flows are preferentially fed into the deepwater slopes beyond the shelf edge during the falling stage and lowstand of relative sea level the turbidite beds were studied in the context of seismic scale 1 15 km dip oriented outcrops by measuring detailed vertical sections following individual beds and packages of beds downslope for distances over 5 km lateral mapping and helicopter taken photomosaics

depositional processes in large scale debris flow experiments this study examines the depositional process and characteristics of deposits of large scale experimental debris flows to 15 m3 composed of mixtures of gravel to 32 mm sand and mud the experiments were performed using a 95 m long 2 m wide debris flow flume that slopes 31 following release experimental debris flows invariably developed numerous shallow 10 cm deep surges sediment transported by surges accumulated abruptly on a 3 runout slope at the mouth of the flume deposits developed in a complex manner through a combination of shoving forward and shouldering aside previously deposited debris and through progressive vertical accretion progressive accretion by the experimental flows is contrary to commonly assumed en masse sedimentation by debris flows despite progressive sediment emplacement deposits were composed of unstratified accumulations of generally unsorted debris hence massively textured poorly sorted debris flow deposits are not emplaced uniquely en masse the depositional

fine sediment deposition from gravity surges on uniform slopes abstract the propagation of and the deposition from a noneroding turbulent gravity surge are described by a simple model for a two dimensional well mixed buoyant cloud of suspended particles moving down an inclined surface the model includes the effects of entrainment of ambient seawater deposition of suspended sediment seafloor friction and slope our results are applicable to large decelerating turbidity currents and their distal deposits on uniform slopes in lakes and the sea the scaling arguments that emerge from our analysis moreover have important ramifications for the design and interpretation of laboratory analogs of these phenomena general solutions are obtained to the coupled equations that describe the evolution of momentum total mass and particulate mass of a surge the solutions vary on two horizontal length scales xo beyond which the behavior of the surge is independent of the initial momentum and shape and xr beyond which the driving negative buoyancy of the surge is lost due to particle settling for fine particles whose settling velocity is much less than the forward propagation speed of the surge the suspension is well mixed and xo xr the deposit thickness diminishes as the inverse square root of the downstream distance x when xo x xr and then diminishes exponentially with downstream distance as x approaches and exceeds xr the length of a surge deposit scales with xr kbosin aws cos 2 where k is the assumed constant aspect ratio of the surge bo is the initial buoyancy per unit width at the point of issue onto a slope of constant angle a is the ambient density ws is the average settling velocity of the suspended particles and 6 8cd incorporates the ratio of the constant coefficients of drag cd and fluid entrainment extension of our model to the case of two particle sizes indicates that even for very poorly sorted suspensions the estimate for the length of a surge deposit xr is valid if ws is defined as the volume averaged settling velocity of the initial suspension at xo the ratio of coarse to fine material in model deposits generated from initially poorly sorted suspensions can diminish dramatically in the downstream direction however due to differential rates of gravitational settling

evidence for carbonate platform failure during rapid sea level rise ca 14 000 year old bioclastic flow deposits in the lesser antilles bioclastic flow deposits offshore from the soufriere hills volcano on montserrat in the lesser antilles were deposited by the largest volume sediment flows near this active volcano in the last 26 kyr the volume of these deposits exceeds that of the largest historic volcanic dome collapse in the world which occurred on montserrat in 2003 these flows were most probably generated by a large submarine slope failure of the carbonate shelf comprising the south west flank of antigua or the east flank of redonda adjacent islands that are not volcanically active the bioclastic flow deposits are relatively coarse grained and either ungraded or poorly graded and were deposited by non cohesive debris flow and high density turbidity currents the bioclastic deposit often comprises multiple sub units that cannot be correlated between core sites some located just 2 km apart multiple sub units in the bioclastic deposit result from either flow reflection stacking of multiple debris flow lobes and or multi stage collapse of the initial landslide this study provides unusually precise constraints on the age of this mass flow event that occurred at ca 14 ka few large submarine landslides have been well dated but the slope failures that have been dated are commonly associated with periods of rapid sea level change

identifying and quantifying erosion beneath the deposits of long runout turbidity currents along their pathway variations between the geochemical compositions coccolith species compositions and the physical properties of turbidite muds and their underlying hemipelagites can be used to understand the erosive nature of sediment gravity flows large volume submarine landslides on the nw moroccan continental margin produce long runout turbidity currents capable of traversing hundreds to thousands of kilometres across the adjacent moroccan turbidite system mts these turbidity currents are responsible for turbidites that are among the largest volume most aerially extensive and longest runout deposits recorded these resulting turbidite beds can be correlated over distances of 1800 km across the full 250 000 km2 area of the mts due to the ability to trace these individual flow deposits throughout the mts large volume beds a5 a7 a11 a12 and a15 can be shown to be erosive upon debouching agadir canyon whilst smaller volume flows were not erosive these aforementioned large volume flows have been capable of eroding up to 15 km3 of material in the canyon mouth equating to as much as 50 of the later deposit volume evidence suggests individual flows erode up to 4 5 m of sediment within scours in the mouth of agadir canyon however these scours are 8 0 m deep indicating that several flows contribute to forming the scours in a series of cut and fill episodes several flows including beds a5 a7 a11 and a12 were also erosive in agadir basin up to 210 km from the canyon the present study indicates that large volume flows a5 a7 and a12 are also erosive within the channel lobe transition zone within the proximal madeira abyssal plain after exiting the madeira channels over 800 km from agadir canyon studying the deposits of these flows and their compositional changes along their entire pathway has provided invaluable information of whether the flows are erosive where this erosion takes place and to what extent they erode the seafloor there are also broader implications towards gaining information about flow processes at the bed interface calculating basin sediment budgets and better understanding discontinuous stratigraphy in distal turbidite systems