Morphology and Internal Geometry and Stratification of Highstand and Transgressive Deposits: Comparison and Contrast, Gulf of Lions and Central Adriatic Sea
Abstract
The long-term goal of our research is to improve our understanding of how marine sedimentary strata accumulate and how they combine to form characteristic stratigraphic sequences, such as drapes, aprons, wedges, sigmoids, and other well-recognized geometrical patterns. Recognizing diagnostic sediment geometries, as represented by acoustic reflectors in the upper 50 m of the shoreface, continental shelf and continental slope is critical to interpreting the evolution of sedimentary strata and sequences and inferring the mechanisms of sediment transport and deposition. Interpreting the signatures of various processes in near-surface deposits provides a critical link between knowledge gained from measuring physical processes that are dominant over time spans from the duration of a single event to several years, and those inferred from interpretations of entire stratigraphic sequences on continental margins that may represent much longer (centuries to millennia) periods of deposition. We were funded by ONR to participate in the US-European planning and research studies for the stratigraphy component of EuroSTRATAFORM. This included active participation and leadership in collaborative workshops and conduct of studies of shallow stratigraphy in the Gulf of Lions. The objective of our field research was to identify the character and origin of sediment bodies on the continental shelf surrounding and within the Cap de Creus Canyon. Overall, our study emphasizes the internal architecture and evolutionary growth of geologically young shelf and nearshore sediment bodies. EuroSTRATAFORM is a North American-European research program to observe, measure and model the processes-from long-term climatic cycles to short-term storm events--that erode, transport, and deposit sediment on continental margins. The study emphasizes the processes and events that create and destroy sedimentary strata over time scales ranging from weeks to millennia.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2006
- Accession Number
- ADA523774
Entities
People
- Eric G. Grossman
- Michael E. Field