Geological Investigation of a Portion of Upper Continental Slope: Northern Alaminos Canyon Region.
Abstract
The surficial sediments of a tract of the upper continental slope in the northwest Gulf of Mexico indicate sand input from the ancestral Colorado-Brazos and Mississippi River systems. The clay minerals in the area were derived from indeterminant sources and were incorporated in coarse samples through resurpension of former sediment. Vermiculite, unreported in the northwest Gulf, and tubular halloysite, previously unreported in the northwest Gulf exclusive of the Mississippi delta, were identified in clay samples. The hummocky nature of the topography in the area resulted from salt diapirism and scouring by tractive or density flow. Sand size sediment was transported to the area from the river systems by longshore drift during the Holocene transgression or through channels still identifiable on the present continental shelf. The lineation of one of these features, the Outer Colorado-Brazos Channel, is probably due to salt tectonics and not a barrier spit as previously reported. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 01, 1972
- Accession Number
- AD0746142
Entities
People
- Bruce S. Appelbaum
Organizations
- Texas A&M University