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1.
New high-resolution seismic reflection data collected along the eastern margin of Corsica have been analysed to describe the morphology of the turbidite systems located seaward of the Golo River mouth. The boomer data reveal that there is not only one turbidite system directly associated with the river, but four additional, non-coalescing systems which grew simultaneously. In the south, the system has the typical morphology of a turbidite deposit rich in mud and sand with a well-developed meandering canyon and channel morphology. In the north, they have the morphology of sand-rich turbidite systems with shorter straight channels. The southernmost deposits are interpreted to represent a more advanced stage of turbidite system development. Terraces, recognised by their particular seismic facies on boomer profiles which clearly differs from the surrounding levee facies, are observed in the channel meanders. They are interpreted as confined levees built by vertical accretion due to deposition from low-energy flows. Despite limited penetration, boomer seismics are demonstrated to be a useful complement to lower-resolution sparker data. The boomer data are superior (1) for the characterisation of fine-grained turbidite deposits by extending seawards the limits of the turbidite systems commonly defined by the acoustic response of sands, (2) in demonstrating the persistence of turbiditic processes farther towards the basin, and (3) for proposing conceptual models for the formation of terraces in fan valleys.  相似文献   

2.
The Ebro Fan System consists of en echelon channel-levee complexes, 50×20 km in area and 200-m thick. A few strong reflectors in a generally transparent seismic facies identify the sand-rich channel floors and levee crests. Numerous continuous acoustic reflectors characterize overbank turbidites and hemipelagites that blanket abandoned channel-levee complexes. The interlobe areas between channel complexes fill with homogeneous mud and sand from mass flow and overbank deposition; these exhibit a transparent seismic character. The steep continental rise and sediment “drainage” of Valencia Trough at the end of the channel-levee complexes prevent the development of distributary channels and midfan lobe deposits. Margin setting represents fan and/or source area  相似文献   

3.
The Yithi submarine canyons,composed of four canyons less than 60 km in length,are located on the narrowest part of the East China Sea(ECS) slope.They extend from the shelf break at 160 m down to water depth of 1 500 m with an average gradient(along the canyon axis) of 3°(<1 000 m) and 0.7°(>1000 m).The sinuosity of the canyons ranges form 1.02 to 1.14 and their pathways extend radially from the shelf break to the axis of the Okinawa Trough.Structural and evolution pattern of the Yithi canyons are mainly controlled by sediment mass-movements and turbidity current and similar with that of the canyons in Ebro continental slope.The whole canyon system consists of three parts:the canyon,the channel and the fan.Slumps and slides often develop in the upper part of canyon where the water depth is less than 1000 m,and the turbidities usually developed on the fan.The scale of turbidites becomes smaller and their inner structures become more regular towards the ends of the canyons.Canyon-fans are often associated with small angle progradational reflection.Most canyon-fans and levees were transversely cut by active normal faults with NEE-SWW trending that are coupled to the modern extension of the Okinawa Trough.According to the age of formation of canyon-fans and sediments incised by canyons,we can infer that the Yithi canyons were formed since the middle the Medio-Pleistocene.  相似文献   

4.
The Var turbiditic system located in the Ligurian Sea (SE France) is an intermediate mud/sand-rich system. The particularity of the Var deep-sea fan is its single channel with abrupt bends and its asymmetric and hyper-developed levee on the right hand side: the Var Sedimentary Ridge. Long-term sediment accumulation on the Var Sedimentary Ridge makes this an ideal target for studying the link between onshore climate change and deep-sea turbidite stratigraphy. This paper focuses on the establishment of the first detailed stratigraphy of the levee, which is used to analyze the timing of overbank deposition throughout the last deglaciation. Main results indicate that high variability in turbidite frequencies and deposition rates along the Var Sedimentary Ridge are determined by two main parameters: 1) the progressive decrease of the levee height controlling the ability of turbidity currents to spill out from the channel onto the levee, and 2) climatic variations affecting the drainage basin, in particular changes in glacial condition since late Last Glacial Maximum to early Holocene. Compared to other deep-water areas, this study confirms the ability of turbiditic systems to record past climatic events on millennial timescales, and underlines the influence of European deglaciation on the observed decrease in turbidite activity in the Var canyon. The presence of a very narrow continental shelf and a single, large channel-levee system makes the Var Sedimentary Ridge a unique example of climate-controlled turbiditic accumulations.  相似文献   

5.
The Ebro Fan System consists of en echelon channel-levee complexes, 50×20 km in area and 200-m thick. A few strong reflectors in a generally transparent seismic facies identify the sand-rich channel floors and levee crests. Numerous continuous acoustic reflectors characterize overbank turbidites and hemipelagites that blanket abandoned channel-levee complexes. The interlobe areas between channel complexes fill with homogeneous mud and sand from mass flow and overbank deposition; these exhibit a transparent seismic character. The steep continental rise and sediment “drainage” of Valencia Trough at the end of the channel-levee complexes prevent the development of distributary channels and midfan lobe deposits.  相似文献   

6.
Isaac Channel 3 is a rare outcrop example of a perpendicular cut through a sinuous deep-water channel, and also where levee deposits formed on opposite sides of the channel are well exposed. Strata flanking the outer- and inner-bend margin of the channel show important differences in lithofacies, architecture and association with channel-fill strata. Proximal outer-bend levee deposits are sand-rich (N:G up to 0.68) and comprise medium- to thick-bedded, Ta-d turbidites interstratified with thinly-bedded, Tcd turbidites. The thicker-bedded deposits show lateral variation in grain size and thickness over hundreds of meters whereas thin-bedded strata thin and fine negligibly over similar distances. The distal outer-bend levee (up to 700 m laterally away from the channel) consists predominantly of thin-bedded turbidites interstratified with up to 5 m thick coarse-grained splay deposits. In contrast to the outer-bend, the inner-bend levee deposits are significantly more mud-rich (N:G as low as 0.15) and consist mostly of thin-bedded, Tcd turbidites with less common thicker-bedded, Ta-d turbidites. Lateral thinning and fining trends associated with these less common thicker-bedded deposits occur more rapidly than their outer-bend counterparts.Erosion associated with lateral migration of the channel axis produced a sharp contact along the outer-bend channel margin causing coarse-grained channel-fill deposits to be in erosional contact with levee deposits. This suggests that the crest of the outer-bend levee was elevated above the channel floor and produced a channel margin upon which channel-fill strata onlapped. Positive topography is interpreted to have developed by overspilling processes that deposited abundant sand on the outer-bend levee while the majority of the flow continued through the channel bend and bypassed to areas further downslope. In contrast, some thick-bedded, amalgamated channel-fill deposits in the axial channel area grade laterally over 140 m into thinly-bedded turbidites on the inner-bend levee. The lack of channel-fill on lap relationships implies that topography along the inner bend was sufficiently subtle that at least some flows were able to expand laterally and over the overbank area without becoming separated from the main throughgoing channel flow.Stratal relationships observed in Isaac Channel Complex 3 suggests three main episodes of channel-levee growth that were each initiated by a period of increased levee relief followed by channel filling and distal levee deposition. This consistent depositional history points to the regular variations, in both time and space, of sediment transport and deposition in a deep-marine sinuous channel-levee system.  相似文献   

7.
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8.
Sleeve-gun, 3.5-kHz, and 12-kHz profiles from the Labrador Slope provide the basis for an analysis of sedimentary facies, processes, and evolution of a continental slope adjacent to an ice margin. The upper slope is deeply incised by numerous canyons reflecting headward canyon branching. The less rugged middle-slope topography has fewer canyons and large slide and slump scars followed downslope by debris-flow deposits. Echo character of seismic profiles reflects the difference in sediment types supplied from mud-dominated sources and sand-, gravel- and till-dominated sources. On the rise, debris-flow deposits are largely confined to canyons. Intercanyon areas are dominated by spill-over turbidites alternating with hemipelagic sediments, which on some of the southern to southwestern levees occur in sediment-wave fields formerly attributed to bottom-current activity.  相似文献   

9.
The Bulgheria canyon-fan system in the eastern Tyrrhenian Sea displays well-developed, small-scale, fluvial-like features and has formed alongside the northern slope of the Sapri peri-Tyrrhenian basin. This study reveals, for the first time, the morphology and course of the present-day system as well as the buried elements based on a Digital Terrain Model and high-resolution seismic profiles interpretation. Two adjacent canyons (Infreschi and Luna) originate in the Cilento outer shelf at a short distance from each other and feed an intraslope basin fan through two main sub-parallel channels that run about 12 and 8 km, respectively. Channel and levee development seems to be controlled primarily by the local slope gradient and by Coriolis forces that induce a faster vertical growth of the right-side features, as is often observed in the Northern Hemisphere. Centrifugal forces, on the other hand, have induced episodic flow-stripping at the meander loops and bends, causing local destruction of the main channel levees rather than new levee growth at the outer bends. Overbank deposits are associated with overspill turbidite deposition in the mid fan where a topographic constraint occurs, whereas large-sediment, low-angle wave fields are mainly developed on the outer fan. Buried features and relict morphologies suggest that the Infreschi channel experienced at least two phases of re-incision since the final stages of the middle Pleistocene. Local re-adjustment of outer lobe growth due to channel avulsion and meander abandonment is possibly a consequence of relative base-level fluctuations. The sedimentary record of the mid and outer fan includes outrun mass wasting deposits from extensive failures of the Sapri slope. Indeed, a marked scar is present on the eastern side of the modern outer lobe that indicates the persistency of mass flow passages up to recent times. In addition to the environmental factors that are currently considered to cause canyon formation on the shelf margin, this study proposes the possibility that the head canyon branch close to the mainland was incised by massive and persistent underground freshwater flow from the adjacent aquifer when the sea-level was lower than at present.  相似文献   

10.
Bonanza Canyon is a complex canyon system on the slope from the intermittently glaciated Grand Bank on the south side of Orphan Basin. A 3D seismic reflection volume, 2D high-resolution seismic reflection profiles and ten piston cores were acquired to study the evolution of this canyon system in relation to glacial processes on the continental shelf and the effects of different types of turbidity currents on the development of deep water channels. Mapped reflector surfaces from the 3D seismic volume show that the Bonanza Canyons developed in a depression created by a large submarine slide of middle Pleistocene age, coincident with the onset of glacigenic debris flows entering western Orphan Basin. Two 3–5 km wide, flat-floored channels were cut into the resulting mass-transport deposit and resemble catastrophic glacial meltwater channels elsewhere on the margin. Both channels subsequently aggraded. The eastern channel A became narrower but maintained a sandy channel floor. The western channel, B, heads at a spur on the continental slope and appears to have been rather passively draped by muds and minor sands that have built 1500-m wave length sediment waves.Muddy turbidites recorded by piston cores in the channel and on the inter-channel ridges are restricted to marine isotope stage (MIS) 2 and were deposited from thick, sheet-like, and sluggish turbidity current derived from western Orphan Basin that resulted in aggradation of the channels and inter-channel ridges. Sandy turbidites in channels and on inner levees were deposited throughout MIS 2–3 and were restricted to the channels, locally causing erosion. Some coincide with Heinrich events. Channels with well-developed distributaries on the upper slope more readily trap the sediments on Grand Bank to form sandy turbidity currents. Channel B dominated by muddy turbidity currents has wide and relatively smooth floor whereas channel A dominated by sandy turbidity currents has a sharp geometry.  相似文献   

11.
Hans Nelson 《Marine Geology》1976,22(2):129-155
The asymmetrical Astoria Fan (110 × 180 km) developed off the Columbia River and Astoria submarine canyon during the Pleistocene. Morphology, stratigraphy, and lithology have been outlined for a Pleistocene turbidite, and a Holocene hemipelagic sedimentary regime to generate geologically significant criteria for comparison with ancient equivalent deposits. Both gray silty clay of the Late Pleistocene and olive-gray clay of the Early Holocene are interrupted by turbidites. The few deeply incised fan valleys of the more steeply sloping upper fan contain thick, muddy and very poorly sorted sand and gravel beds that usually have poorly developed internal sedimentary structures. The numerous shallower fan valleys and distributaries of the flatter middle and lower fan contain thick, clean, and moderately sorted medium to fine sands that are vertically graded in texture, composition and well-developed internal sedimentary structures. Tuffaceous turbidites (containing Mazama ash, 6600 B.P.) can be traced as thick deposits (ca. 30–40 cm) throughout the Astoria Channel system and as thin correlative interbeds (ca. 1–2 cm) in interchannel areas. Similarly, sand/shale ratios are high throughout the fan valleys and the middle and lower fan areas of distributaries, but are low in the upper-fan interchannel areas.These depositional trends indicate that high-density turbidity currents carry coarse traction loads that remain confined in upper but not lower fan valleys. Fine debris selectively sorts out from channelized flows into overbank suspension flows that spread over the fan and deposit clayey silt. A high content of mica, plant fragments, and glass shards (if present) characterizes deposits of the overbank flows, a major process in the building of upper fan levees and interchannel areas.In the Late Pleistocene, turbidity currents funneled most coarse-grained debris through upper channels to depositional sites in middle and lower fan distributaries that periodically shifted, anastomosed and braided to spread sand layers throughout the area. At this time, depositional rates were many times greater (>50 cm/1000 years) than in the Holocene (8 cm/1000 years).During the Holocene rise of sea level, the shoreline shifted, the Columbia River sediment was trapped, and turbidity-current activity slackened from one major event per 6 years in the Late Pleistocene, to one per 1000 years in the Early Holocene, to none since the Mt. Mazama eruption (ca. 6600 B.P.). Turbidites became muddier and deposited as thick beds within main channels, in part explaining Holocene deposition rates three times greater there (25 cm/1000 years) than in interchannel regions. Turbid-layer debris, funneled through channel systems and trapped from flows off the continental terrace, also contributed to rapid sedimentation in valleys; however, less than 2% of the suspended sediment load of the Columbia River has been trapped in fan valleys during the Holocene.By the Late Holocene, continuous particle-by-particle deposition of hemipelagic clay with a biogenous coarse fraction was the predominant process on the fan. These hemipelagites contain progressively more clay size and less terrigenous debris offshore, and are finer grained, richer in planktonic tests and dominated by radiolarians compared to the foraminiferal-rich Pleistocene clays. The hemipelagic sedimentation of interglacial times, however, is insignificant compared to turbidite deposition of glacial times.  相似文献   

12.
In order to define the nature and distribution of the organic matter (OM) preserved in the modern Ogooué deep sea turbidite system (Gabon), bulk geochemical techniques (Rock-Eval pyrolysis, elemental and isotopic analyses) and palynofacies were applied to three piston cores collected in the Cape Lopez Canyon and lobe and on the continental slope, north of the canyon.The hemipelagic sedimentation in the study area is characterized by high accumulations of well-preserved OM (∼2-3 wt. TOC %). Bulk geochemical and palynofacies analysis indicate both a marine and terrestrial origin of the OM. Contribution of the marine source is higher on the slope than in the canyon and lobe.OM accumulation in turbidites is strongly controlled by the combined influence of the Cape Lopez Canyon and littoral drift. In the canyon and lobe, turbidites show generally low TOC content (0.5 wt. %) and OM is oxidized. The origin of the OM is interpreted as both marine and terrestrial, with a higher contribution of continental source versus marine source. The low TOC contents are due to the large siliciclastic fraction transported by the littoral drift and diverted in the Cape Lopez Canyon during high energy processes (e.g. storms) which tend to dilute the OM in the turbidites. Transport by long-shore currents and/or turbiditic flows leads to oxidation of the OM.On the continental slope located north of the Cape Lopez Canyon, large amounts of OM are deposited in turbidites (up to 14 wt. %). The OM is predominantly derived from terrestrial land plants and has not been subjected to intense oxidation. These deposits are characterized by high hydrocarbon potential (up to 27 kg HC/t rock), indicating a good potential as gas-prone source rock. Because Cape Lopez Canyon captures a significant part of the sediment transported by the littoral drift, the siliciclastic sedimentary flux is reduced north of the canyon; OM is thus concentrated in the turbidites. Variation in TOC content within turbidite laminae can be explained by the burst and sweep deposition process affecting the boundary layer of the turbulent flow.This study confirms that gravity flows play a preponderant role in the accumulation and preservation of OM in deep water and that deep sea turbidite systems could be regarded as an environment where organic sedimentation occurs.  相似文献   

13.
The newly discovered Weddell Fan, Antarctica, covers 0.75 million km2. The adjacent continental shelf is characterized by deep, rugged topography; the inner shelf is covered by a grounded polar ice sheet. The upper fan has numerous deep, V-shaped canyons that intersect a slope-base, leveed fan valley. Piston cores from the valley contain disorganized gravel grading upward into graded gravel and sand. Levee cores contain interbedded hemipelagic sediments and fine-grained turbidites. The lower fan is sand-rich. Sediment supply to the fan apparently occurred before development of glacial shelf topography and during a more temperate glacial setting.  相似文献   

14.
There are three major fan valleys on upper Monterey fan. Deep-tow geophysical profiles and 40 sediment cores provide the basis for evaluation of the sedimentation histories of these valleys. Monterey fan valley leads from Monterey canyon to a major suprafan and is bounded by levees that crest more than 400 m above the valley floor. The valley passes through a large z-bend or meander. Monterey East fan valley joins Monterey fan valley at the meander at about 150 m above the valley floor, and marks an earlier position of the lower Monterey fan valley. Ascension valley, a hanging contributary to the Monterey fan valley, appears to have once been the shoreward head of the lower part of the present Monterey fan valley. The relief of Monterey fan valley appears from deep-tow profiles to be erosional. The valley is floored with sand. Holocene turbidity currents do not overtop the levees 400 m above the valley floor, but do at times overflow and transport sand into Monterey East valley, producing a sandy floor. An 1100 m by 300 m dune field was observed on side scan sonar in Monterey East valley.Ascension fan valley was floored with sand during glacial intervals of lowered sea level, then was cut off from its sand source as sea level rose. A narrow (500 m), erosional, meandering channel was incised into the flat valley floor; the relief features otherwise appear depositional, with a hummocky topography perhaps produced in the manner of a braided riverbed. The sand is mantled by about 6 m of probable Holocene mud. Hummocky relief on the back side of the northwestern levees of both Ascension and Monterey valleys is characteristic of many turbidite valleys in the northeast Pacific. The hummocky topography is produced by dune-like features that migrate toward levee crests during growth.  相似文献   

15.
This paper re-examines the Upper Miocene Upper Mount Messenger Formation, Taranaki Basin, to characterize its architecture and interpret its environmental evolution. Analysis of stratal architecture, lithofacies distributions, and paleotransport directions over the 250 m thick formation shows the outcrops provide a nearly dip parallel section displaying the lateral relationships between contemporaneous channel-levee and overbank depositional environments. At least five 30–40 m thick upward fining units are recognized in the north-central parts of the outcrop and are interpreted as large-scale overbank avulsion cycles. Each unit consists of thick- to medium-bedded predominantly planar laminated sandstone turbidites at the base that fine upward into thin- to very thin-bedded, planar laminated and ripple cross-laminated mud-rich turbidites. The units are traceable laterally over a distance exceeding 3 km where they are cut by channels that show basal mudstone draped by medium- to thin-bedded sandstone, and onlapped by thick-bedded planar laminated sandstone at the margin. The channels are separated by tapered packages of medium- to thin-bedded turbidites containing climbing-ripple cross-lamination interpreted as levees. The individual channel-levee and overbank avulsion cycles formed through four stages: 1) a channel avulsion spread sand into the overbank as an unconfined splay, 2) preferential scouring in one area of the splay led to development of a channel with small levees that prograded across the splay, 3) a deep incision followed by abandonment of the channel deposited a mud lining. Alternatively, the mud lining was formed during the first stage as the downdip portion of the channel was abandoned. 4) The channel filled at first by thick-bedded planar laminated and then by climbing-ripple cross-laminated sand. At this time, the growth of constructional levees progressively limited sand into the overbank. Ratios of Bouma division thicknesses calculated over a stratigraphic interval present a new method to distinguish deep-water depositional environments.  相似文献   

16.
This study addresses reservoir development and hydrocarbon occurrence of the late Pliocene basin-floor fan deposits in the northeastern Bay of Bengal. The G-series turbiditic sandstones host dry gases, biogenic in origin, of three gas fields that are juxtaposed on the western flank of the NW–SE anticline. The gas reservoirs are stacked in back-stepping fashion being sourced from northwest as part of the Bengal fan. The Shwe field (Shwe fan) has an elongate fan-shaped morphology (12 km long and 4 km wide) and occurs about 30 km off the base of slope.The Shwe field reservoirs consist of two contrasting types of turbidite deposits, lower G5.2 and upper G3.2 reservoirs. The G5.2 is characterized by stacked lobe elements in which amalgamated and layered sheet sandstones provide an excellent vertical connectivity and high net-to-gross ratio (avg. 86%). On the contrary, the G3.2 represents overbank deposits, which is characterized by thin-bedded sandstones with low net-to-gross ratio (avg. 33%) as well as low-resistivity pays.Aside from the primary depositional framework, post-depositional modifications appear to have greatly affected Shwe fan, adding complexity in establishing a geological model. A line of evidence suggests that G5.2 lobe sands were injected into overlying G3.2, mostly in the form of sills. The injected sand beds measured from G3.2 cores account for 10 m, more than half of the total net sand. The sand injection is thought to be triggered by slumping that overpressured G5.2 lobes. Post-G3.2 erosional channel complexes incised into G5.2 and G3.2, ultimately diminishing gas pool extent as well as dividing Shwe fan into multiple compartments.  相似文献   

17.
The interpretation of sedimentological and geochronological results lead us to the conclusion that the sedimentary levees flanking the deep-sea channels of the Rhône deep-sea fan are made up of various kinds of turbidites originating from different coastal areas and were deposited during the Quaternary glacial epochs.  相似文献   

18.
Analysis of 3 D seismic data and well log data from the Rovuma Basin in East Africa reveals the presence of a late Eocene channel-lobe complex on its slope. The first two channels, denoted as channel-1 and channel-2, are initiated within a topographic low on the slope but come to a premature end when they are blocked by a topographic high in the northwest region of the basin. New channels migrate southeastward from channel-1 to channel-6 due to the region's sufficient sediment supply and stripping caused by bottom currents. The primary factors controlling the development of the channel complex include its initial paleo-topographic of seafloor, the property of gravity flows, the direction of the bottom current, and the stacking and expansion of its levees. The transition zone from channel to lobe can also be clearly identified from seismic sections by its pond-shaped structure. At a certain point, thest systems record a transiton from erosive features to sedimentary features, and record a transition from a confined environment to an open environment. Channels and lobes can be differentiated by their morphologies: thick slump-debris flows are partly developed under channel sand sheets,whereas these slump-debris flows are not very well developed in lobes. Well log responses also record different characteristics between channels and lobes. The interpreted shale volume throughout the main channel records a box-shaped curve, thereby implying that confined channel complexes record high energy currents and abundant sand supply, whereas the interpreted shale volume throughout the lobe records an upward-fining shape curve,thereby indicating the presence of a reduced-energy current in a relatively open environment. Within the Rovuma Basin of East Africa, the average width of the Rovuma shelf is less than 10 km, the width of the slope is only approximately 40 km, and the slope gradient is 2°–4°. Due to this steep slope gradient, the sand-rich top sheet within the channel also likely contributes to the straight feature of the channel system. It is currently unclear whether the bottom current has any effect on its sinuosity.  相似文献   

19.
The Mississippi Fan is a large, mud-dominated submarine fan over 4 km thick, deposited in the deep Gulf of Mexico during the late Pliocene and Pleistocene. Analysis of 19,000 km of multifold seismic data defined 17 seismic sequences, each characterized by channel, levee, and associated overbank deposits, as well as mass transport deposits. At the base of nine sequences are a series of seismic facies consisting of mounded, hummocky, chaotic, and subparallel reflections, which constitute 10–20% of the sediments in each the sequences. These facies are externally mounded and occur in two general regions of the fan: (1) in the upper and middle fan they are elongate in shape and mimic the channel's distribution; (2) in the middle fan to lower fan they are characterized by a fan-shaped distribution, increasing in width downfan. These facies are interpreted to have formed as disorganized slides, debris flows, and turbidites (informally called “mass transport complexes”). Overlying this basal interval, characteristic of all sequences, are well-developed channel-levee systems that constitute 80–90% of the fan's sediments. Channels consist of high amplitude, subparallel reflections, whereas the flanking levee sediments appear as subparallel reflections that have high amplitudes at the base changing upward to low amplitude. The vertical change in amplitude may reflect a decrease in grain size and bed thicknesses. Overbank sediments are characterized by interbedded subparallel to hummocky and mounded reflections, suggesting both turbidites from the channel, as well as slides and debris flows derived both locally and from the slope updip.  相似文献   

20.
Shallow 3D seismic data show contrasting depositional patterns in Pleistocene deepwater slopes of offshore East Kalimantan, Indonesia. The northern East Kalimantan slope is dominated by valleys and canyons, while the central slope is dominated by unconfined channel–levee complexes. The Mahakam delta is immediately landward of the central slope and provided large amounts of sediments to the central slope during Pleistocene lowstands of sea level. In the central area, the upper slope contains relatively straight and deep channels. Sinuous channel–levee complexes occur on the middle and lower slope, where channels migrated laterally, then aggraded and avulsed. Younger channel–levee complexes avoided bathymetric highs created by previous channel–levee complexes. Levees decrease in thickness down slope. Relief between channels and levees also decreases down slope.North of the Mahakam delta, siliciclastic sediment supply was limited during the Pleistocene, and the slope is dominated by valleys and canyons. Late Pleistocene rivers and deltas were generally not present on the northern outer shelf. Only one lowstand delta was present on the northern shelf margin during the upper Pleistocene, and sediments from that lowstand delta filled a pre-existing slope valley complex and formed a basin-floor fan. Except for that basin-floor fan, the northern basin floor shows no evidence of sand-rich channels or fans, but contains broad areas with chaotic reflectors interpreted as mass transport complexes. This suggests that slope valleys and canyons formed by slope failures, not by erosion associated with turbidite sands from rivers or deltas. In summary, amount of sediment coming onto the slope determines slope morphology. Large, relatively steady input of sediment from the Pleistocene paleo-Mahakam delta apparently prevented large valleys and canyons from developing on the central slope. In contrast, deep valleys and canyons developed on the northern slope that was relatively “starved” for siliciclastic sediment.  相似文献   

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