Continental Margin Sedimentation From Sediment Transport to Sequence Stratigraphy

About this book

Continental Margin Sedimentation: From Sediment Transport to Sequence Stratigraphy is designed to provide a research resource for scientists studying modern and ancient continental margins, and to be an educational text for advanced students in sedimentology and stratigraphy. It summarizes and integrates our understanding of sedimentary processes and strata associated with fluvial dispersal systems on continental shelves and slopes. The contents deal with time-scales ranging from particle transport at one extreme to deep burial at the other. Insights are presented for margins in general, and with focus on a tectonically active margin (northern California) and a passive margin (New Jersey). These two examples allow detailed examination of the intricate relationships between a wide suite of sedimentary processes and their preserved stratigraphy. Observational studies document the processes and strata found on particular margins, and numerical models and laboratory experimentation provide a quantitative basis for extrapolation in time and space of insights about continental margin sedimentation.

Contents

Preface

Writing a Rosetta stone: insights into continental-margin sedimentary processes and strata (Charles A. Nittrouer, James A. Austin Jr, Michael E. Field, Joseph H. Kravitz, James P.M. Syvitski, and Patricia L. Wiberg)
Introduction
The boundary conditions
The common threads
Sediment delivery
Sediment alteration
Sediment dispersal system
Seabed failure
Gravity flows
Margin morphology
Margin stratigraphy
Conclusions
Acknowledgements
References

Sediment delivery to the seabed on continental margins (Paul S. Hill, Jason M. Fox, John S. Crockett, Kristian J. Curran, Carl T. Friedrichs, W. Rockwell Geyer, Timothy G. Milligan, Andrea S. Ogston, Pere Puig, Malcolm E. Scully, Peter A. Traykovski, and Robert A. Wheatcroft)
Introduction
Review of previous work
Sediment delivery to the Eel margin
Summary and conclusion
Acknowledgements
Nomenclature
References

Post-depositional alteration and preservation of sedimentary strata (Robert A. Wheatcroft, Patricia L. Wiberg, Clark R. Alexander, Samuel J. Bentley, David E. Drake, Courtney K. Harris, and Andrea S. Ogston)
Introduction and scope
Consolidation
Physical alteration
Biological alteration
Preservation
Summary
Acknowledgements
Nomenclature
References

Oceanic dispersal and accumulation of river sediment (Christopher K. Sommerfield, Andrea S. Ogston, Beth L. Mullenbach, David E. Drake, Clark R. Alexander, Charles A. Nittrouer, Jeffry C. Borgeld, Robert A. Wheatcroft, and Elana L. Leithold)
Introduction
Quantifying sedimentary processes
The northern California margin
Sediment production and coastal delivery
Sediment transort and accumulation
Sedimentation patterns and rates
Sediment budgets of dispersal systems
Conclusions
Acknowledgements
Nomenclature
References

Submarine mass movements on continental margins (Homa J. Lee, Jacques Locat, Priscilla Desgagnés, Jeffrey D. Parsons, Brian G. McAdoo, Daniel L. Orange, Pere Puig, Florence L. Wong, Peter Dartnell, and Eric Boulanger)
Introduction
Historic development of understanding
Classification
Environments
Fjords
Active river deltas on the continental shelf
Submarine canyon-fan systems
The open continental slope
Statistics of submarine landslides
Mechanics of slope failure
Pore-water pressure
Sediment mobilization and strength loss
Triggers
Contributions to submarine landslide research from the strataform program
Summary
Acknowledgements
Nomenclature
References

The mechanics of marine sediment gravity flows (Jeffrey. D. Parsons, Carl T. Friedrichs, Peter A. Traykovski, David Mohrig, Jasim Imran, James P.M. Syvitski, Gary Parker, Pere Puig, James L. Buttles, and Marcello H. García)
Introduction
Turbidity currents
Debris flows
Wave-supported sediment gravity flows
Origin and transformation of sediment gravity flows
Conclusions
Acknowledgements
List of nomenclature
References

Seascape evolution on clastic continental shelves and slopes (Lincoln F. Pratson, Charles A. Nittrouer, Patricia L. Wiberg, Michael S. Steckler, John B. Swenson, David A. Cacchione, Jeffery A. Karson, A. Bradley Murray, Matthew A. Wolinsky, Thomas P. Gerber, Beth L. Mullenbach, Glenn A. Spinelli, Craig S. Fulthorpe, Damian B. O'Grady, Gary Parker, Neal W. Driscoll, Robert L. Burger, Christopher Paola, Daniel L. Orange, Michael E. Field, Carl T. Friedrichs, and Juan J. Fedele)
Introduction
Background
Processes governing shelf width and slope relief
Processes that form the shelf profile
Processes that act to limit the slope of the continental slope
Processes that create submarine canyons and slope gullies
Future research
Acknowledgments
References

The long-term stratigraphic record on continental margins (Gregory S. Mountain, Robert L. Burger, Heike Delius, Craig S. Fulthorpe, James A. Austin, David S. Goldberg, Michael S. Steckler, Cecilia M. McHugh, Kenneth G. Miller, Donald H. Monteverde, Daniel L. Orange, and Lincoln F. Pratson)
Introduction
Analysing the long-term record
The Eel River basin
The New Jersey margin
Summary
Acknowledgements
References

Prediction of margin stratigraphy (James P.M. Syvitski, Lincoln F. Pratson, Patricia L. Wiberg, Michael S. Steckler, Marcelo H. Garcia, W. Rockwell Geyer, Courtney K. Harris, Eric W.H. Hutton, Jasim Imran, Homa J. Lee, Mark D. Morehead, and Gary Parker)
Introduction
Component sed-strat modules
Integrated models
Seismic models
The way forward
Acknowledgements
Nomenclature
References

Index

Customer Reviews

Biography

Charles A. Nittrouer is a Professor in the School of Oceanography and in the Department of Earth and Space Sciences at the University of Washington. His research interests include the modern and ancient formation of sedimentary strata in continental-margin environments, and the effects of physical and biological oceanic processes on sedimentary characteristics.

James A. Austin, Jr., is a Senior Research Scientist in the University of Texas Institute of Geophysics, which is part of the Jackson School of Geosciences. James uses a variety of geophysical tools to examine the stratigraphic evolution of a wide range of marine and lacustrine environments around the world, including the latest Pleistocene-Holocene geology of the New Jersey continental shelf.

Michael E. Field is a Senior Marine Geologist with the USGS Pacific Science Center in Santa Cruz, California. His research has investigated sedimentation on many of the continental margins around the United States and the world, and recently he has expanded his focus to include the effects of watershed changes and sedimentation patterns on coral reef systems of Pacific high islands.

Joseph H. Kravitz spent many years as a program director of Marine Geology and Geophysics at the US Office of Naval Research, and is now associated with the George Washington University. His research interests include the study of sediments and sedimentary processes in high-latitude glacial-marine environments, as well as the application of marine geotechnique to geological problems.

James P.M. Syvitski is Director of INSTAAR, an Earth and Environmental Systems Institute, and is Professor of Geological Sciences at the University of Colorado. James investigates the discharge dynamics of global rivers and the sediment load they carry, the morphology and deposits of continental margins, the impact of high-energy weather events on coastlines; and the impact of ice sheets on high-latitude shelves and slopes.

Patricia L. Wiberg is a Professor in the Department of Environmental Sciences at the University of Virginia. Her current research topics include storm-driven transport and the formation of sedimentary strata on the continental shelf, sediment dynamics on tidal salt marshes and in coastal lagoons, modeling fine-grained sediment dynamics, sediment-associated contaminant transport, and the evolution of continental-margin morphology.