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1.
琼东南盆地北礁凹陷梅山组单向迁移水道特征及成因探讨 总被引：2，自引：1，他引：1
深水区重力流与底流交互作用的过程、响应及动力学机制是海洋沉积学研究的前沿和薄弱环节。本文通过三维地震资料，在深水区北礁凹陷南西部梅山组发现多条相间分布的长条形顺直强振幅水道，垂直于西沙隆起（南部隆起）北斜坡走向，向南西方向单向迁移，水道具有南西陡（凹岸或陡岸）北东缓（凸岸或缓岸）的特征，该类水道分为侵蚀界面和水道砂-堤岸泥过渡复合体系两个单元，侵蚀界面在凹岸的削截反射明显多于凸岸，水道砂-堤岸泥过渡复合体振幅强度由凹岸强振幅逐渐过渡为凸岸弱振幅。分析认为，该类水道发育于中中新世半深海环境，不同于向底流下游方向单向迁移的峡谷，它们向底流上游方向发生单向迁移，并提出其成因模式:前期来自南部的浊流下切形成负向地貌单元（水道），底流对这一地貌单元进行改造，形成迎流面缓（凸岸）背流面陡（凹岸）的地貌，同时驱使浊流上部顺底流方向偏移，形成溢岸浊流沉积，致凹岸沉积速率低，凸岸沉积速率高，这样就迫使水道逆底流方向偏移。沉积物源、中层水相关底流、古气候和海平面的变化、北礁凸起古地形控制是该区单向迁移强振幅水道发育的因素。本研究在南海首次发现这种向底流上游方向单向迁移的水道，是底流与重力流交互作用的新型类型，对古海洋、古气候研究，深水油气勘探有着重要的意义，希望引起地质学家的重视。 相似文献
2.
南海北部白云深水区水道与朵体沉积序列及演化 总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1
近年来,深水水道、朵体已成为油气勘探的重要目标,南海北部白云深水区发育大量深水水道-朵体沉积体系。研究现今陆坡深水沉积过程有助于揭示深海沉积分布、沉积演化规律。在回顾深水层序地层研究的基础上,利用近地表高分辨率三维地震资料所揭示的地震反射(下超点和上超点迁移)特征研究深水沉积序列,初步探讨不同时期深水水道-朵体体系沉积动力机制,深水水道-朵体体系具有垂向的前积、加积和退积特征,并提出一种深水水道-朵体体系沉积层序模式,低位体系域早期,发育碎屑流或滑块为主的水道-朵体体系,后期则转化为浊流为主的水道-朵体体系。在深水等时地层格架内研究现代深海沉积过程及其产物,对深水储层预测具有十分重要的意义。 相似文献
3.
琼东南盆地北礁凹陷梅山组顶部丘形反射特征及成因分析 总被引：4，自引：3，他引：1
南海琼东南盆地北礁凹陷中中新统梅山组顶部丘形反射目前引起广泛关注,前人推测为生物礁、重力蠕动与底流叠加成因、等深积丘等。本文通过钻井资料、二维、三维地震资料精细刻画丘形反射（残丘）和丘间水道特征及其成因。残丘及水道在北礁凸起不发育,在边缘斜坡中部和高地较发育,且有向高地两边规模减小趋势,不具对称性,残丘和水道呈平行-亚平行近E-W向展布,局部有合并分叉现象,与北礁凸起走向呈一小角度;丘宽562~1 223 m,丘高29~87 m,丘长10 km左右,存在丘翼削蚀,水道底蚀现象。地震属性分析表明三维工区西南部残丘间水道由砂泥岩互层充填,形成长条形强振幅,而残丘为中-低振幅;地震、钻井资料分析表明丘形反射（残丘）由钙质泥岩和泥岩组成,属于半深海沉积,且残丘内部波阻抗为5.0×106~6.5×106kg/m3·m/s,低于火山岩、灰岩波阻抗,属于砂泥岩地层范畴;根据梅山组下段水道由西向东强振幅变弱、分叉、前积反射和海山附近底流（等深流）沉积剥蚀特征综合判定底流古流向自西向东,根据海山两翼地震反射特征推测底流可追溯至晚中新世早期（11.6 Ma BP）,综合分析认为,研究区中中新统梅山组丘形反射是晚中新世早期底流切割梅山组地层形成的残丘。 相似文献
4.
琼东南盆地南部中新统“丘”形反射成因探讨 总被引：4，自引：3，他引：1
在琼东南盆地南部中新统梅山组广泛发育“丘”形反射, 对其识别分析具有重要的意义。这些“丘”形反射主要分布在北礁凹陷及周缘斜坡带上, 在顶底界面呈强反射, 在内部成层、杂乱或为空白反射, 有时在顶部见披覆沉积, 从盆地中心北礁凹陷向边缘斜坡带迁移生长。通过对“丘”形反射的古构造和古地理背景、几何学特征及地震响应特征等方面综合分析, 对其成因进行了探讨, 排除了其为生物礁、泥底辟以及火山丘的可能, 认为其可能为深水环境底流作用下形成的等深流沉积或某种沉积物波。 相似文献
5.
西沙海域碳酸盐台地周缘水道沉积体系 总被引：3，自引：1，他引：2
高分辨率地震资料显示,南海北部西沙海域碳酸盐台地周缘广泛发育水道沉积体系。礁缘水道底界面表现出强反射特征,内部充填弱-强、连续性好的地震相,可见底部杂乱反射特征;斜坡水道在地震剖面上表现为横向上连续发育的"V"型特征,且下切深度较浅。西沙隆起与广乐隆起之间的南北向低洼地带发育大型深水水道,并且受古地貌高点影响,水道分为南北两个分支。北分支水道可分为5期,且水道迁移现象明显;南分支水道可分为4期,水道以充填强振幅、连续性好的浊流沉积体和弱振幅、杂乱的块体搬运体系(Mass Transport Deposits,MTDs)为特征,每期水道均表现出侵蚀-充填-废弃的旋回性。分析认为西沙碳酸盐台地周缘水道沉积物源来自西沙隆起和广乐隆起的碳酸盐台地和生物礁碎屑及由火成作用产生的火成岩碎屑。西沙-广乐碳酸盐台地水道相互贯通,构成台地-斜坡-深水的水道沉积体系,为碳酸盐岩、生物礁及火山碎屑向台地周缘输送提供了良好的通道。 相似文献
6.
《海洋地质与第四纪地质》2016,(3)
东非鲁武马盆地陆坡深水区发育了挤压冲断带和伸展断陷两种类型的构造,这种特殊构造背景下的深水沉积特征尚无研究报道。利用高分辨率三维地震资料,详细描述了鲁武马盆地陆坡第四系深水沉积特征,并探讨其主控因素。结果表明,鲁武马盆地陆坡深水区主要发育5种深水沉积类型:陆坡峡谷-水道充填沉积、正断层改造的朵体、沉积物波、海底滑坡和等深流沉积。深水沉积主要受构造活动和地形地貌控制,西部挤压剥蚀区主要发育带状的峡谷-水道体系、丘状的等深流漂积体以及波状的沉积物波,东部拉张沉积区主要发育海底滑坡沉积及深水朵体。 相似文献
7.
《海洋地质与第四纪地质》2016,(4)
南海北部陆缘发育潜在油气储层,也是当前南海深水油气勘探的热点区域。然而深水区由于缺少钻井资料,地震资料就成为最主要的研究手段。基于大面积高分辨率三维地震数据,通过剖面地震相分析、三维地震数据体切片、层间属性计算分析、三维可视化等地震解释技术,在白云凹陷晚新生代地层中识别出两套深水水道沉积体系,分别为早中新世晚期发育早期水道体系和自中中新世发育至今的后期水道体系。早期水道体系为单条主干水道为主要沉积区域的沉积体系,识别出水道底部充填、堤岸以及侧壁滑塌等沉积微相;根据地震相变化,发现水道演化分为两个期次:第一期水道下切侵蚀较强,具有"V"形谷底,第二期下切相对较弱,具有"U"形谷底。后期水道体系为一系列彼此平行并置,并近于垂直横切陆坡的水道体系,演化至现今海底;可以识别出底部滞留、侧壁滑塌以及侧壁加积等沉积类型;后期水道体系共发育4个期次,发育时间分别为13.8~12.5、12.5~10.5、10.5~5.5和5.5~0Ma。白云凹陷晚新生代水道体系表现出对沉积物较好分异和筛选,具有重要的油气资源效应:早期水道体系与上覆正常半深水泥质沉积组成良好储盖组合;后期水道体系发育至今,对于形成高富集度的砂岩型水合物储层具有重要意义。 相似文献
8.
9.
南海是中国海洋地质调查、油气和天然气水合物勘探的重点区域,随着南海浅水区勘探程度不断提高,南海北部深水区逐渐成为研究热点。然而,南海北部深水区双峰盆地研究程度仍然较低,以该区2D多道地震及围区钻井资料为基础,使用地球物理地震勘探理论和类比分析的方法研究了盆地地层沉积结构样式和油气勘探前景。在双峰盆地追踪了7个主要反射面,以不整合面为界划分了3套地震层序。研究认为盆地新生界地层厚度较大,中—晚中新世后,盆地进入半深海-深海相沉积环境,发育了以下切水道、深水扇及滑塌体为代表的深水沉积。盆地西部和北部坳陷渐新统湖相-海湾相泥岩,现今已达到成熟-早成熟阶段,具有一定的生烃能力。周缘发育冲积扇和扇三角洲沉积,盆内发育斜坡扇和盆底扇,可为良好储层。早中新世以来发育的半深海相泥岩,可为良好的区域盖层,具有较好的生储盖组合,预测该区具有良好的油气勘探前景。 相似文献
10.
北部湾盆地北部涠西南凹陷多口钻井已获得高产油气流系列突破，其主力烃源岩层系为始新统流沙港组二段（流二段），但紧邻南侧的海中凹陷目前暂无商业油气发现。流二段既发育有深湖-半深湖相的烃源岩，同时在主力烃源岩段也发育有湖底扇储层，因此，研究海中凹陷潜在生烃层系（烃源岩、湖底扇储层）沉积体系发育规律对今后勘探开发具有指导意义。以高精度三维地震资料及测井资料为基础，通过岩芯相、测井相、地震相、地震属性的综合分析，探讨流二段沉积体系发育规律，建立沉积模式。研究表明：流二段主要发育滨浅湖、深湖-半深湖、湖底扇及辫状河三角洲4种沉积体系类型；在北陡南缓的半地堑构造样式控制下，北部陡坡带及洼槽带发育深湖-半深湖相，同时接受北部、东部2个物源方向的供源，分别在西洼、东洼发育湖底扇相，南部缓坡带发育滨浅湖及辫状河三角洲相。海中凹陷流二段好烃源岩主要发育在初始湖泛面层序位置（ts），湖底扇主要发育在湖泊扩张体系域内（TST），反映了在断陷湖盆背景下，构造沉降因素控制烃源岩发育程度强于湖平面变化因素。研究可为半地堑型断陷湖盆深湖-半深湖相烃源岩与湖底扇储层发育层序位置及共生模式的建立提供参考。 相似文献
11.
Kathryn J. Amos Jeff Peakall P. William Bradbury Mat Roberts Gareth Keevil Sanjeev Gupta 《Marine and Petroleum Geology》2010
We present a series of experiments that investigate the morphology of sediment deposits within sinuous submarine channels of different sinuosity (S = 1.14–1.94) and planform (symmetric and asymmetric bends), generated by bedload-dominated turbidity current flows. Flows were generated by releasing dense saline gravity currents over a mobile sediment bed through pre-formed sinuous channels. Flows had a basal-outwards helicity and produced a characteristic bed morphology with point bars downstream of the bend apex at the inside of bends and scour at the outside of bends. An increasing loss of fluid through overspill with increasing channel sinuosity results in a decreasing magnitude of cross-stream velocity downstream, a decreasing amount of erosion and deposition, and decreasing transverse slopes of in-channel deposits. Basal fluid from within the channel is transported over the outer-levee at bends, implying that proximal outer-bend levee deposits will have similar sediment composition to that within the channel. More deposition of coarse material might be expected on levees and in overbank regions close to higher amplitude bends. No simple relationship was observed between superelevation and sinuosity, probably due to changes in the relative influences of downstream velocity and bend curvature on centrifugal force and inertial run-up. In the channel with the tightest initial bend curvature, overspill fluid from Bend 1 re-entered the channel at Bend 2, dominating flow characteristics and disrupting the basal-outwards helicity observed in the other channels. Higher sinuosity channels and those with shallow regional and levee slopes are thus more likely to have a higher proportion of anomalous flow and sedimentation patterns due to the influence of overspill fluid re-entry into the channel. The results of this investigation are combined with published observations to enable the synthesis of a new model for sedimentation in sinuous submarine channels. 相似文献
12.
Rajasmita Goswami Neil C. Mitchell Andrea Argnani Simon H. Brocklehurst 《Geo-Marine Letters》2014,34(5):419-433
In the westernmost Ionian Sea lies a steep, tectonically active marine basin influenced by turbidity currents generated by terrigenous river input from the adjacent mountains and strong tidal currents propagating through the Strait of Messina. Like many young marine rifts, the basin is lined by steep streams draining the uplifting coasts and supplying sediment across narrow shelves. However, unlike many rifts, this basin is semi-enclosed. The present study explores the seabed morphology and sediment structures in this complex environmental setting, based on multibeam sonar, chirp profiler and seismic reflection data collected in 2006. Offshore channels include many that can be directly linked to onshore streams, suggesting that hyperpycnal flows are important for their formation. Near the Strait of Messina in depths shallower than 400 m, the channels are subdued, plausibly explained as an effect of strong tidal currents. The Messina Channel is characterised by abundant mass-wasting features along its outer bends, particularly on the Calabrian side. Coincidence of the channel course with faults suggests that the channel is structurally controlled in places. The chirp profiles generally show only shallow penetration, the evidence for coarse texture being consistent with the steep gradient of the basin that inhibits deposition from turbidity currents. By contrast, some locally discontinuous mounds exhibiting layered sub-bottom reflectors in the chirp profiles are interpreted as modern levee deposits formed from channelised turbidity current overspill. Overall, this semi-enclosed basin shows little evidence of substantial accumulations associated with modern turbidity current activity, any contemporaneous sediment supply evidently bypassing the area to be deposited in the Ionian Trench; as a consequence, this trench should be an archive of local slope failure and flood events. 相似文献
13.
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
14.
Qi-Liang Sun Shi-Guo Wu Thomas Lüdmann Bin Wang Tao-Tao Yang 《Marine Geophysical Researches》2011,32(3):415-428
Gravity flow deposits form a significant component of the stratigraphic record in ancient and modern deep-water basins worldwide.
Analyses of high-resolution 3D seismic reflection data in a predominantly slope setting, the southern slope of Qiongdongnan
Basin, South China Sea, reveal the extensive presence of gravity flow depositional elements in the Late Pliocene−Quaternary
strata. Three key elements were observed: (1) mass transport deposits (MTDs) including slumps and debris flows, (2) turbidity
current deposits including distributary channel complexes, leveed channel complexes and avulsion channel complexes, and (3)
deep-water drapes (highstand condensed sections). Each depositional element displays a unique seismic expression and internal
structures in seismic profiles and attribute maps. Based on seismic characteristics, the studied succession is subdivided
into six units in which three depositional cycles are identified. Each cycle exhibits MTDs (slump or debris) at the base,
overlain by turbidities or a deep-water drape. The genesis of these cycles is mainly controlled by frequent sea-level fluctuations
and high sedimentation rates in the Late Pliocene–Quaternary. Moreover, tectonics, differential subsidence, and paleo-seafloor
morphology may have also contributed to their formation processes. The present study is aimed to a better understanding of
deep-water depositional systems, and to a successful hydrocarbon exploration and engineering-risk assessment. 相似文献
15.
Kyle M. Straub David MohrigJames Buttles Brandon McElroyCarlos Pirmez 《Marine and Petroleum Geology》2011,28(3):744-760
Here we present results from a suite of laboratory experiments that highlight the influence of channel sinuosity on the depositional mechanics of channelized turbidity currents. We released turbidity currents into three channels in an experimental basin filled with water and monitored current properties and the evolution of topography via sedimentation. The three channels were similar in cross-sectional geometry but varied in sinuosity. Results from these experiments are used to constrain the run-up of channelized turbidity currents on the outer banks of moderate to high curvature channel bends. We find that a current is unlikely to remain contained within a channel when the kinetic energy of a flow exceeds the potential energy associated with an elevation gain equal to the channel relief; setting an effective upper limit for current velocity. Next we show that flow through bends induces a vertical mixing that redistributes suspended sediment back into the interiors of depositional turbidity currents. This mixing counteracts the natural tendency for suspended sediment concentration and grain size to stratify vertically, thereby reducing the rate at which sediment is lost from a current via deposition. Finally, the laboratory experiments suggest that turbidity currents might commonly separate from channel sidewalls along the inner banks of bends. In some cases, sedimentation rates and patterns within the resulting separation zones are sufficient to construct bar forms that are attached to the channel sidewalls and represent an important mechanism of submarine channel filling. These bar forms have inclined strata that might be mistaken for the deposits of point bars and internal levees, even though the formation mechanism and its implications to channel history are different. 相似文献
16.
《Marine and Petroleum Geology》2003,20(6-8):677-690
The seismic geomorphology and seismic stratigraphy of a deep-marine channel-levee system is described. A moderate to high-sinuosity channel trending southeastward across the northeastern Gulf of Mexico basin floor, and associated depositional elements are well imaged using conventional 3D multi-channel seismic reflection data. Depositional elements described include channels, associated levees, a channel belt, avulsion channels, levee crevasses, frontal splays, sediment waves, and mass transport complexes. Distinguishing morphologic and stratigraphic characteristics of each depositional element are discussed. These deposits are presumed to be associated with repeated deep-marine turbidity flows and other mass transport processes. 相似文献
17.
Numerous elongated mounds and channels were found at the top of the middle Miocene strata using 2D/3D seismic data in the Liwan Sag of Zhujiang River Mouth Basin(ZRMB) and the Beijiao Sag of Qiongdongnan Basin(QDNB). They occur at intervals and are rarely revealed by drilling wells in the deepwater areas. Origins of the mounds and channels are controversial and poorly understood. Based on an integrated analysis of the seismic attribute, palaeotectonics and palaeogeography, and drilling well encountering a mound, research results show that these mounds are dominantly distributed on the depression centres and/or slopes of the Liwan and Beijiao sags and developed in a bathyal sedimentary environment. In the Liwan and Beijiao sags, the mounds between channels(sub) parallel to one another are 1.0–1.5 km and 1.5–2.0 km wide, 150–300 m and 150–200 m high, and extend straightly from west to east for 5–15 km and 8–20 km, respectively. Mounds and channels in the Liwan Sag are parallel with the regional slope. Mounds and channels in the Beijiao Sag, however, are at a small angle to the regional slope. According to internal geometry, texture and external morphology of mounds, the mounds in Beijiao Sag are divided into weak amplitude parallel reflections(mound type I), blank or chaotic reflections(mound type II), and internal mounded reflections(mound type Ⅲ). The mounds in Liwan Sag, however, have the sole type, i.e., mound type I. Mound type I originates from the incision of bottom currents and/or gravity flows. Mound type II results from gravity-driven sediments such as turbidite. Mound type Ⅲ is a result of deposition and incision of bottom currents simultaneously. The channels with high amplitude between mounds in the Beijiao and Liwan sags are a result of gravity-flow sediments and it is suggested they are filled by sandstone.Whereas channels with low-mediate amplitudes are filled by bottom-current sediments only in the Beijiao Sag,where they are dominantly composed of mudstone. This study provides new insights into the origins of the mounds and channels worldwide. 相似文献
18.
《Marine and Petroleum Geology》2007,24(6-9):470-486
Turbidity currents in sinuous submarine channels are an important mechanism for transporting terrestrial sediments to deep water, and their deposits are of increasing importance as hydrocarbon exploration targets. Despite this, the architecture and dynamics of submarine channel systems are not well understood. Analogies are often drawn with fluvial systems due to similarities between their planform shapes even though differences in channel evolution and hydrodynamics have been noted. A key question is the nature of deposition within submarine channel bends; in particular at inner bends where point bars form in alluvial meandering rivers. Recent experimental and numerical work has demonstrated that the fluid dynamics of submarine channel bend flow are markedly different from rivers. Notably, a reversal in the orientation of secondary (helical) flow at bend apices occurs in submarine channels. The potential influence of these differences in fluid dynamics on deposition within submarine channel bends is investigated herein. We report the results of a series of physical experiments in which solute-driven gravity currents were run through pre-formed sinuous channels containing mobile beds. These experiments reveal sedimentation patterns characterised by accumulation zones downstream of bend apices and erosion zones at outer bends. These patterns are broadly analogous to the point bars and outer-bank pools observed in meandering rivers, demonstrating that the longitudinal flow component dominates over the cross-stream component, as also occurs in rivers. However, the data suggest that the reversal in direction of the cross-stream flow component compared with subaerial flows is important in determining the position and morphology of ‘point bars’ relative to bend apices. From analogy with fluvial compound channels, and fluvial theory, this reversal in secondary flow cell orientation is also expected to influence the spatial variations of grain size in submarine channel ‘point-bar’ deposits. 相似文献
19.
《Marine and Petroleum Geology》2003,20(6-8):823-849
Quantifying the characteristics of the turbidity currents that are responsible for the erosion, lateral migration and filling of submarine channels maybe useful for predicting the distribution of lithofacies in channel fill and levee reservoirs. This paper uses data from a well-studied submarine channel in Amazon Fan in an attempt to reconstruct the velocity, thickness, concentration, duration, recurrence rates and vertical structure of turbidity currents in this long sinuous channel. Estimates of flow conditions are derived from the morphology of the channels and the characteristics of the deposits within them. In particular, the availability of information on the sediment distribution with respect to the channel topography at the time of deposition allows for insights into the vertical structure of the flow, a key property that has been so far poorly understood. Integration of flow constraints from well and seismic data or from detailed analysis of outcrop with numerical flow models is a critical step toward a complete understanding of the flow and associated deposits. Turbidity currents in sinuous submarine channels, exemplified by Amazon Channel, are found to last for tens of hours and occur on a regular, quasi-annual basis. Model results suggest that these flows had, on average, velocities ranging from 2 to 4 m/s in the canyon/upper fan which decreased to 0.5–1 m/s in the lower fan, travelling in excess of 800 km. The model turbidity currents were subcritical over most of the channel length, indicating a low degree of water entrainment and low rate of deceleration down the channel. The formation of such long, sinuous channels is intrinsically associated with frequent, long-duration, subcritical turbidity currents carrying a silt-dominated sediment load. 相似文献