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Alluvial fans formed on Mars during the late Hesperian to early Amazonian in a climatic transition from a time of regular surface water activity to the current dry and cold climate. The depositional environments recorded by alluvial fans represent the final era of potential habitability on the Martian surface. Alluvial fan deposits can often look similar to deltaic or fluvial systems in visible remote sensing images but are formed in depositional and climatic environments that are distinct from those that lead to other radial depositional features. In order to better constrain regional and global depositional environments and further inform the analysis of the sedimentary history of Mars, we expanded the global catalog of alluvial fans on Mars by adding newly identified features and characterizing all new and previously identified features based on morphologic parameters. Using planform shape, radius, average radial slope, and radial profile shape, we classified features as alluvial fans, possible alluvial fans, and non-alluvial radial features (NARFs), based on how closely they fit the morphologic definition of alluvial fans. Other radial-shaped depositional features form in more water-rich depositional environments whereas alluvial fans form by subaerial deposition in arid to hyper arid environments from sporadic high-energy flow events interspersed with long dry periods of inactivity. By identifying new features and distinguishing alluvial fans from other fan-shaped features in the global catalog, we have isolated distinct depositional environments on a local scale and updated the global perspective of the distribution and variety of aqueous depositional environments during the early history of Mars. Newly identified alluvial fans are found as far as 78°S latitude as well as in numerous locations within the Hesperian to Noachian transition unit along the dichotomy and occur both in craters and along non-crater topographic features, expanding the global range of alluvial fan environments into regions that previously have been overlooked. • Alluvial fans are distinguished from similar depositional features by morphology • Slope, shape, size, radial profile define Mars alluvial fans • New features added to global catalog of Mars alluvial fans • 775 features confirmed as alluvial fans, including 175 newly identified fans • Possible fans and alluvial features create opportunity for future study [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present and paleo-drainage networks, depositional surfaces, fault throw, slope of the downthrown fault blocks, soil properties, sediment characteristics and published optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) ages are used to define the role of tectonics and climate in the growth of forty-five terminal fans (TFs) in the Indo-Gangetic foreland basin. Twenty-three TFs show a single exposed surface throughout, suggesting no or imperceptible breaks in sedimentation during their formation. In contrast, twenty-two TFs show multiple growth surfaces, separated by soil profiles and erosional surfaces. The available optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dates of these depositional surfaces suggest different phases of TF growth. Tectonically triggered surface faulting altered accommodation space, slope of the substrate, and sediment supply and initiated new TF depositional cycles. The tectonically stable periods, in contrast, did not form TFs, despite the favourable humid climate conditions. Instead, the dry and humid climatic regimes, when combined with frequent surface faulting, produced and remobilized sediments more quickly, promoting TF growth. The humid climate TFs are spatially extensive (average area = 2000 km2), with clay horizons interspersed between sand facies. The dry climates TFs are smaller (average area = 1370 km2), with intervening calcrete horizons and surface salt-efflorescence. Low precipitation and inadequate sediment supply hampered the growth of these dry climate TFs. Despite a considerable period of surface exposure, the surfaces of dry climate TFs lack a well-developed soil profile. The upper Ganga Plain provides more accommodation space across the faults than the middle Ganga Plain. Accommodation space and substrate slope have little effect on TF area unless climatically triggered sediment remobilization occurs. For a given accommodation space and substrate slope, steeper sloping TFs occupy less area than lower sloping ones. Faults with throws of <5 m and substrate slopes of <2° do not form TFs; instead sediment wedges are formed across fault slope breaks. The TFs in the upper Ganga Plain show more growth surfaces than the middle Ganga Plain. The older growth surfaces are either progressively arranged across the direction of channel shift or occur as inliers in between the younger alluvium. Well-developed distributaries on the older TFs disperse sediment more readily, rather than accumulating it in proximal fan regions. However, the younger TFs, with relatively less-developed distributary channel networks, vertically stack sediments in their proximal part and occasionally transport sediment as sheet floods to their distal end regions. The combined geomorphic response of TFs to tectonic events and climatic fluctuations is, therefore, simultaneous for TF growth and stabilization. • Ganga Plain terminal fans (TF) form at topographic slope breaks away from mountains. • TF growth mechanism investigated using remote sensing and field investigations. • Ganga Plain TFs develop as a result of tectonic-climatic interactions. • Tectonics provides overall accommodation space for TF building. • Climate then controls TF growth (humid periods) and inactivity (drier periods). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A server level AI control based on DRL algorithm is proposed in this study. • The algorithm is verified with experiments for major variables variations. • Overall fan power consumption was reduced by 40 to 50%. • Additional experimental training datasets significantly updated DRL model. • The design of reward function has a major influence on the control actions. The current study proposed the Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) AI control algorithm for energy-saving optimization in 1U air-cooled server mockup for different configurations and scenarios. The proposed algorithm can handle the server's complex thermal environment, including number of heat sources and their locations, type of heat sink, airflow, fan and bypass airflow. Based on the analysis and test results, it is found that controlling a single fan individually and the fans in different zones can offer the reduction of fan energy by 39–47% compared with the controlling all fans collectively. After the modification in observation characteristics, the fan usage rate was reduced by 45% compared with the single fan control model. Further, five different control models were developed and tested with experiments for different function variables and reward functions on three server configurations with different algorithmic settings for energy saving optimizations. The heat source of the three server configurations was close to the upper limit temperature and maintained stably by saving about 12% to 50% fan energy consumption. The algorithm can judge the system status and successfully provide real-time decision-making action thereby the energy consumption of the fan is significantly reduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a suite of ultra-high resolution geophysical tools, remote operated vehicle dives, legacy cores, and isolated grab samples, we demonstrate at a regional shelf scale, the influence of antecedent geology (basement topography, shelf gradient and submerged shoreline features) on the evolving transgressive shelf stratigraphy of a subaqueous delta. The unconsolidated uppermost delta occurs as isolated remnants scattered across the low-gradient shelf. Seismic data reveal across-shelf heterogeneity in bedrock elevation, with prominent bedrock highs and depressions and several well-preserved aeolianite palaeo-shoreline complexes at water depths of −100, −60 and − 40 m. Analysis of bathymetric and seismic data demonstrates that these pre-existing shoreline complexes exert an overarching control on the distribution patterns of i) deltaic sediments, where they abut the landward flank of the shoreline form, acting as a barrier to seaward dispersal, and ii) shoreface sediments which remain sequestered on the mid-shelf on the seaward flank of the shoreline complex, hampering the landward translation of the shoreface in step with rising sea levels. Moreover, sediment distribution/accumulation is further constrained where elevated portions of the basement topography provide little to no accommodation, and act as zones of sediment bypass, and adjacent basement depressions accommodate sediment to seaward. The gentle antecedent slope, coupled with the gentle shoreline trajectory mediated transgressive erosion directly to landward. This is reinforced where local inflections in the wave ravinement profile form due to the presence of palaeo-shoreline complexes, aiding in the ultimate preservation of these submerged delta facets in the palaeo-shoreline lee. This study shows that low antecedent gradients, and palaeo-shoreline features, lead to development of transgressive coastal profiles that are predisposed to delta overstepping. The pre-existing basement topography and palaeo-shorelines constrain the positioning and morphology of the delta. We suggest that antecedent conditioning has partitioned accommodation for delta accumulation and moderated wave ravinement associated with transgression since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). The geological framework has acted as a recurring primary control on the geomorphic evolution of the submarine delta and shelf. • Seismic stratigraphy of the Thukela continental shelf • Reveal several submerged deltaic depocenters and shorelines • Show bedrock highs control depocenter positioning and preservation • Delta morphology and stratigraphy influenced by palaeo-shorelines • Palaeo-shorelines restrict ability for shoreface to migrate with rising sea level [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hybrid event beds (HEBs) record disequilibrium in submarine fan evolution attributed to mud-forced dampening turbulence, which could be caused by allogenic and autogenic forcings in either the proximal or distal segment of a lobe-dominated submarine fan on several timescales. Detailed field investigation combined with petrographic and mineralogical analysis of selected outcrop samples indicate that the Upper Triassic submarine fan succession mainly comprises turbidites, HEBs, and debrites in the West Qinling (WQ) area of NE Tibetan Plateau. Five types of HEBs are recognized based on the thickness, sedimentary structure, and texture. Bed-by-bed description and measurement reveal that these HEBs show a distinct distribution pattern throughout the submarine fan succession, including dominance of HEB-1 and HEB-2 beds (∼71.50%) in distributary channel to lobe off-axis (FA1–FA3) and significant portion of HEB-3 to HEB-5 beds (∼54.22%) in lobe fringe to lobe distal fringe environments (FA4–FA5). Textural and petrographic characteristics of mudclasts suggest disaggregation of heterolithic, homogenous and less cohesive mudclasts (MC-1 to MC-4 type) within H1b and H3 interval of HEBs, which could play different roles in the longitudinal mud-driven flow transformation between turbulent and laminar flow behavior patterns. The vertical distributions of the HEB-prone succession are characterized by four types of depositional scenarios, which yields significant allogenic and autogenic signatures combined with the recognition of the dominant HEB types and thickening- or thinning-upward trend of the vertically stacked submarine lobes. This study can enhance our understandings of flow transformation of sediment gravity flows (SGF) along the eastern margin of the Paleo-Tethys Ocean based on the anatomy of several undiscovered deep-water outcrops, which were reflected by the initiation, gradual switching, and avulsion of the high-frequency submarine fan evolution during the Late Triassic. • HEBs are well developed both in proximal and distal parts of the submarine fan. • Various types of mudclasts play different roles in the mud-driven transformation. • Vertical distribution of HEBs records high-frequency change in the submarine fan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advanced seismic data and multi-attribute visualization techniques, such as color blending of attributes, have considerably enhanced the capability of interpreters to characterize geological features in three-dimensional (3D) seismic reflection datasets. However, high resolution investigation of complex, vertically linked geological features such as channel systems and fluid conduits, remains challenging. These features may appear in the dataset as pronounced attribute anomalies, such as high-amplitude or spectrally or structurally enhanced seismic reflectivity bands, at several depth levels. Vertical linkages between these features, however, may not be readily established. We have developed an innovative method, Multilevel Composition, for an intuitive display of vertically connected features. Our method involves the composition of attribute maps from three different depth/time windows or slices onto a single map, in which inter-window/layer depth information is coded in colors. Multilevel Composition starts with the identification of suitable seismic attributes, such as high amplitudes in the examples displayed here, to map features of geological interest. At least one reference horizon is then identified and mapped in the vicinity of the target window of interest. Three sub-windows are then defined with respect to the reference horizon(s) based on the vertical and spatial distribution of the geological features. Relevant seismic attributes are computed for each of the sub-windows, and the resulting maps, one from each sub-window, are assigned basic color channels and are co-rendered to reveal multilevel linkages between these features. We demonstrate the efficacy of this method by applying it to two 3D seismic datasets, one illuminating deep-water depositional elements in the eastern Nile fan, eastern Mediterranean and the other targeting seafloor seeps and underlying gas migration systems beneath the Omakere Ridge, offshore New Zealand. The new method is simple and should be easy to implement to enhance seismic interpretation workflows. • Multilevel Composition is an innovative method involving color composition and co-rendering of multilevel attribute maps. • It allows to characterize multi-depth geological features based on theirspatiotemporal distribution in 3D seismic data. • It produces a single image map, coding inter-window/layer depth information in colors that reliably represent the geology. • In the eastern Nile fan, it visualizes and resolves the complexities ofburied clastic deep-water depositional elements. • On the Omakere Ridge, it successfully illuminated seafloor seeps and reveals their link to deeper fluid-bearing intervals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The morphological characteristics of a submarine channel system, within buried intra-slope mini-basins in the offshore Niger Delta have been investigated on 3D seismic data. The studied submarine channel named Amaku Channel Levee System (ACLS) initiated after avulsion of a feeder channel called Amaku Major System (AMS). The ACLS runs across three folds (A, B, and C), related to mobile shale deformation, being underlain by mass transport complexes (MTCs), lobes, and levees. From three defined channel reaches (upper, middle, and lower reaches), we have used seismic facies description, channel architecture characterization and quantitative analyses to decipher the spatial and temporal evolution of the channel levee system. Our results reveal that the western channel margin was controlled by structural barriers associated with mobile shale deformation, while the eastern channel margin was influenced by depositional barriers linked to levees and mass transport complexes (MTCs). We argue that the depositional barriers are in some cases more efficient than the structural barriers in controlling channel pathways, since pre-channel sediments confine the channel elements and divert them against positive reliefs. Seismic observations show that channels migrate from folds to structural lows causing flow stripping processes. Downstream variations of morphological parameters (such as sinuosity, width, and levee width), indicate that pre-existing deposits prevented these basin-ward migrations, driving straightening and narrowing of the channel system. This study reveals that submarine channels can undergo dramatic morphological and stratigraphic changes in structurally complex areas because of the configuration of sidewall reliefs, which is controlled, in turn, by the interplay between structural deformation and pre-channel deposition. • Submarine channel evolution is controlled by structural and depositional reliefs. • Slide blocks confine the channel pathway through diversions against structural highs. • Internal channel architectures are driven by the uplifting high structures. • Levee built-up can force channel migration upslope of uplifting high structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Someș fluvial fan is located in the NW extremity of the Great Hungarian Plain (Pannonian Basin). It was formed by the left-side tributaries of the Tisa River (a tributary of the Danube) as they developed westward, following the avulsion of the main Tisa channel. Drainage reorganisation after the avulsion has occurred via a complex interplay between tectonic, climatic and autogenic controls over the past ~50–30 ka. In this study, we discuss the role of these factors in the spatial and temporal dynamics of the fluvial system that constructed the Someș fluvial fan during the second half of the last glacial cycle, using a combination of cartographic, sedimentary, and chronological tools. Our data suggests that, within a general setting of subsidence, spatial and temporal variation in the rate of this subsidence between different tectonic blocks created four local base levels, while autogenic factors play only a secondary role. The modern drainage configuration results from spatial channel adjustments during the last ca. 3000 cal BP, related to the current subsidence centre located in the NW extremity of the Someș fluvial fan. Over the entire period analysed, the rivers draining across the fluvial fan predominantly meandered, except when the river switched to a braided pattern. This braided phase likely occurred before ~30–32 ka ago, apparently coeval with a similar short, braided phase that has been documented along the middle Tisa River. The braiding phase is coincident with intense deglaciation in the Someș catchment area and development of open forest vegetation at lower elevations. Climatic changes during and after the Last Glacial Maximum had a reduced impact on the style of fluvial flow, which returned to a meandering pattern. Ca. 5000 cal BP these changes impacted suspended sediment delivery to drainage networks resulting in the present-day channel dimensions, at least along their lower reaches (our study area). Our results highlight the lower sensitivity of rivers draining the Great Hungarian Plain to the Late Quaternary climate changes compared to the far more responsive rivers of Western European. This behaviour is, in our opinion, most likely due to the presence of glacial forest refugia in the catchment areas, which modulated the response of discharge and fluvial dynamics to climatic changes. • Reconstruction of Somes fluvial fan (Pannonian Basin, Europe) during Late Quaternary. • Uses remote sensing, sedimentology, mineral magnetics, OSL and 14C dating. • Fluvial fan built by Somes-Crasna-Tur Rivers, after Tisa River abandonment >30 ka. • Fan building via base-level changes linked to differential tectonic block movements. • Climate and autogenic factors modified styles and patterns of individual fan lobes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Fatty acids in Congo lobe sediments are mainly of terrestrial origin. • Soil OM is distributed homogenously and plant debris heterogeneously. • Small amounts of biomarkers from phytoplankton reach the terminal lobe complex. • Oxic degradation is limited to the topmost surface sediments. • Long chain fatty acids are preserved in turbidite deposits over millennia. The Congo River is connected to its submarine canyon and supplies large quantities of terrestrial organic carbon via powerful turbiditic currents down to the Congo deep-sea fan. We investigated sediment cores from the terminal lobe complex of the Congo deep-sea fan (∼750 km offshore, ∼5000 m water depth), in order to assess the value of fatty acid biomarkers as indicators of organic matter (OM) origin and processes affecting its distribution and preservation in recent turbidites. Sediments from the Congo deep-sea fan are enriched in fatty acids compared to the surrounding abyssal plains and their composition closely resembles that of sediments recovered in the Congo River. Long chain fatty acid (LCFA) biomarkers in conjunction with the branched vs isoprenoid tetraether index (BIT) show that OM mostly originates from soil erosion and continental higher plants. This material has undergone limited reprocessing during transit certainly due to tight interactions with mineral particles and rapid transfer. The presence of phytoplankton biomarkers at the entrance of the terminal lobe area highlights that inputs of fresh OM, albeit limited, can reach the lobe complex. By combining fatty acid profiles and geochemical proxies in a multivariate analysis, we highlight that OM degradation is mostly limited to the oxic layer, and that fine soil-derived particles and the coarser higher plant detritus display distinct depositional dynamics. Finally, LCFA are remarkably well preserved under anoxic conditions at different time scales, in recent turbidites deposited during the last century and those deposited several thousand years ago. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marine and subaerial erosion of volcanic ocean islands form coastal cliffs and shore platforms, particularly during stable sea levels. Posterosional lava flows can spill over these coastal cliffs and fill the platforms, leading to the progradation of lava deltas. This work aims to analyze this volcanic rocky coast setting at the island scale and to assess the volcanic constructional and erosive degradational effects on the coast at the scale of one volcanic edifice. El Hierro Island, Canary Islands, exemplifies a rocky coast with an active sea-cliff profile, reflecting its early evolutionary stage as a young ocean volcanic island with no fringing reef. The occurrence of a contemporary insular shelf formed during the Holocene sea-level highstand (<7 ka) allows constraining the ages of those eruptions forming lava deltas affecting this geomorphological landform. A detailed bathymetry around the island allowed us to distinguish 17 eruptions fulfilling this criterion. The Montaña del Tesoro, which occurred about 1050 years BP, is one of these eruptions and was selected as a case study for morphometric modeling integrating subaerial and submarine data at the scale of a volcanic edifice. This eruption was a Strombolian basaltic volcanic event that produced a scoria cone, pyroclastic fall deposits, and lava flows that reached the ocean in the eastern rift zone of El Hierro island. We combine field-based observations with topographic and bathymetric data analysis to reconstruct the pre- and post-eruption Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) and, comparing with present-day DEM, to analyze morphometrically the influence of volcanism on the coastal landscape's development. The resulting landform complexity required the discretization of the lava field according to the coastline evolution and lava front sectors, and the subaerial or submarine lava placement. The pyroclastic materials' total erupted bulk volume (12,829,578 m3) corresponds to a volcanic eruption index (VEI) of 3. This event was primarily effusive. From a dense rock equivalent (DRE) volume of 25,615,424 m3, 87 % flowed as lava, 10 % formed the cinder cone, and 3 % the tephra fall deposits. We quantitatively demonstrate that dominant degradation occurs in the lava field, mainly disturbed by marine erosion. Marine erosion removed 9 % of the erupted volume of lava flows against 1 % by fluvial erosion. This work provides methods and results of great interest with different implications in oceanic volcanic islands, among which we can mention coastal planning (e.g., rock coast evolution) and volcanic risk assessment (e.g., the importance of Holocene sea-level rise on the development of shore platforms facilitating the progradation of lava deltas). [Display omitted] • The Canary Islands are a natural laboratory for subaerial-submarine volcanic systems. • Detailed bathymetry discovers coastline evolution affected by recent volcanism. • Contemporary shore platforms in El Hierro allow relative dating of volcanism. • Submarine lava deltas identify volcanoes erupting in the last 7000 years. • The Montaña del Tesoro eruption produced a lava delta ca. 1050 years BP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Characterization of deep-water reservoirs poses enormous challenges to interpreters because of its inherent complexity. Therefore, defining reservoirs' extent and predicting their properties in absence of drilled well or away from drilled wells has always been difficult. In deeper targets, the sensitivity of seismic amplitude to fluid change gets considerably reduced, therefore detection of fluid and their contact remains challenging. In such a case, the application of extended elastic impedance can be helpful in the delineation of prospective reservoirs and detection of fluid contact. This is demonstrated with a case study of a Miocene slope fan prospect in the deepwater Mahanadi basin on the east coast of India. The prospect is typical Class-I in terms of amplitude variation with offset where the presence of fluid is hard to identify in conventional full-stack data. An appropriate extended elastic impedance attribute for fluid has been generated and interpreted to define the reservoir boundary and detect fluid contact. The amplitude of the fluid attribute map is corrected for tuning effect as there are variations in reservoir thickness across the area. Additionally, in order to detect fluid contact, a common contour binning technique has been applied which helps to locate the depth contour where possible fluid contact could be present. The case study has added significant values in de-risking a Class-I prospect without any anomalous amplitude increase with offset. • The study used fluid attribute to define boundary of deepwater Class-I prospect • Rock physics forward modelling showed subtle change in amplitude at contact • Correction applied on amplitude as reservoir thickness varies laterally • Common contour binning technique applied to infer possible fluid contact [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Avulsions and splays of submarine channels are important autogenic responses affecting sediment distribution in deep-water areas; however, their formation and development are still not well understood. Using high-resolution 3D seismic data and spectral decomposition red–green–blue (RGB) color blends, two seismically well-imaged submarine channel systems (SCS1 and SCS2) on the northeastern Bengal Fan are used to document the formation and development of avulsions and splays. The results suggest that avulsions occur mainly during the early evolution stage of submarine channel systems. SCS1 and SCS2 are respectively accompanied by one and four avulsions and accordingly produce two and five independent submarine channels. During this early phase, these channels collectively incise into the underlying stratigraphy but lack levee deposits. Splays, in contrast, develop consistently during the late evolution stage of the submarine channel systems. Three crevasse splays and three overbank splays develop on the overbank areas of SCS1 and SCS2. During that late stage, channel and levee deposits build over the site of former erosion, thus forming the aggradational phase of channel evolution. Crevasse and overbank splays are two different types of splays observed on this part of the Bengal Fan. The former are created by flow breaching of the adjacent levees, producing large-scale elongated shapes; they are related to relatively stable sediment gravity flows, a high-degree of channel instability, and steep levee topography. Overbank splays, however, are created by flow overtopping adjacent levees and produce small-scale, fan-like shapes; they are related to gradually-weaking sediment gravity flows, a low-degree channel unstability, and gentle levee topography. • Avulsions and splays are integral components of submarine channel evolution. • Splays of crevasse and overbank types are highlighted in this study. • Three main factors affect the formation of crevasse and overbank splays. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alluvial fans are important paleoclimatic archives, that may record high-frequency climatic oscillations. However, climate signals may be overprinted or even be destroyed by autogenic processes caused by channel avulsion and lobe switching. Here we present new data from two different Late Pleistocene (MIS 3–2) alluvial fan systems in northern Germany and compare these systems to experimental alluvial fans and other field examples. The selected fan systems formed under similar climatic and tectonic conditions, but differ in size, type, and drainage area allowing to estimate the role of climate and autogenic controls on flow processes, facies architecture, and fan-stacking patterns. Luminescence dating is used to determine the timing of fan onset and aggradation. Fan onset occurred in response to climate change at the end of MIS 3 when temperatures decreased and periglacial climate conditions were established in northern central Europe. A related increase in sediment supply and strongly variable precipitation patterns probably promoted fan formation. The major period of fan aggradation was approximately between 33 and 18 ka, followed by fan inactivity, abandonment, and incision during the Lateglacial. The highest aggradation rates occurred during the early stage of fan building, when up to 35 m thick sediment accumulated within a few thousand years. Sand-rich, sheetflood-dominated fans are related to larger, low-gradient fan catchments. Steep depositional fan slopes (5°–17°) and short-lived high-energy floods promoted supercritical flow conditions. Well sorted, sediment-laden, rapidly waning flows favored the deposition and preservation of supercritical bedforms and allowed for the aggradation of stable antidunes. Steep, dip-slope catchments enhanced stream gradients and promoted the transport of coarser sediments. These fans have lower gradient slopes (2–6°) and are dominated by channelized flows, alternating with periods of unconfined sheetfloods. Meter-scale coarsening upward successions, characterized by sandy sheetflood deposits at the base, overlain by multilateral or smaller single-story gravelly channel fills may be related to high-frequency climatic fluctuations or seasonal fluctuations in water and sediment supply. These coarsening-upward successions are commonly bounded by a paleo-active layer, from which ice-wedge casts penetrate downwards. The comparison to experimental fans and other field examples implies that the recurrent pattern of multistory, multilateral and single-story channel bodies with a lateral offset to vertical stacking pattern most probably was controlled by autogenic switch in an avulsion-dominated system. The change in deposition from alluvial-dominated processes to aeolian sedimentation with minor alluvial influences during the Lateglacial records alternation of dry and ephemeral wetter phases that are related to rapid climatic variations. The main phase of aeolian sand-sheet deposition probably correlates with Heinrich event H1 between approximately 18–16 ka and reflects sedimentation in response to aridification and high mean wind speeds. • Fan onset was controlled by climate change at the end of MIS 3 • Facies architecture of sand-rich, supercritical flow fans • Control of climate, tectonics and autogenic processes on facies architecture [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The distribution of lithofacies and key reservoir properties such as porosity, net to gross and water saturation is essential to describing reservoir heterogeneity predicted within a clastic deep water reservoir unit in the study area. A systematic analysis of core and gamma-ray wireline logs was used to identify the reservoir unit in this study. The identified reservoir unit was mapped on 3D seismic data, and four lithological and fluid sensitive seismic attributes extracted for the reservoir were fed as inputs into an unsupervised artificial neural network (UANN) analysis to define the depositional pattern of the reservoir unit. Afterwards, a 3D sand facies trend model was built using the facies depositional pattern map and upscaled properties from well data. The generated 3D sand probability model from trend modelling was subsequently used to constrain geostatistical facies modelling of the reservoir unit. The systematic stratal analysis from core, well data and the integration of seismic attributes using UANN reveal the reservoir unit as a system of turbidite lobe sands and turbidite channel levees sands. The 3D Geostatistical facies distribution reveals spatial and vertical facies heterogeneity. It indicates high sand amalgamations and static hydraulic connectivity of turbidite lobe sands in the distal part of the study area. Further geostatistical distribution of reservoir properties conditioned to facies indicated good to excellent reservoir quality within the turbidite lobe sands, moderate to low reservoir quality within turbidite channel sands and poor reservoir quality at the turbidite channel margins and the deep-water shale facies. The 3D facies and reservoir property models built in this study would ensure optimisation of the reservoir unit, enable better estimation of hydrocarbon volumes and serve as input data for flow simulation. • Unsupervised neural networks can significantly improve 3D geostatistical facies models. • 3D Probability trend modelling is crucial in deterministic reservoir modelling. • Turbidite reservoir heterogeneity and static connectivity are predicted. • A conceptualized model of the reservoir can guide future exploration in the study area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The submarine canyons mainly began to develop during the last glacial maximum (LGM), and some might initiate earlier in the early Pleistocene (<1.8 Ma) and further evolved after the LGM. • The slope failure (mass transport) induced by gas hydrate dissociation and associated methane seepage during the glacial epoch (mainly the LGM) is proposed as the main controlling factor for canyon initiation. • A coupled model was established to illustrate the four evolutional stages of the submarine canyons responsing to gas hydrate system. Submarine canyons serve as conduits to transport terrigenous detrital sediment and organic carbon to the deep sea. Herein, we carried out a detailed analysis of the geomorphological and erosional-depositional features of submarine canyons on the middle and southern slopes of the Okinawa Trough based on the established isochronous chronostratigraphic framework. According to sequence stratigraphy and well-seismic calibration technologies, the ages of six stratigraphic boundaries are redetermined, which are aged: Seafloor (0 Ma), T LGM (23kyr B. P.), T 0 (1.8 Ma), T 10 (6.0 Ma), T 12 (11.02 Ma), and T 16 (16.12 Ma), respectively. The submarine canyons mainly began to develop during the last glacial maximum (LGM), and some might initiate earlier in the early Pleistocene (<1.8 Ma) and further evolved after the LGM. Along the axial direction, the heads of these shelf-indenting canyons were mostly inherited from the ancient incised valleys developed on the shelf edge during the LGM; and the canyon channels were filled with multi-stage turbidites and mass transport deposits (MTDs). The multi-BSRs (bottom simulating reflectors), arched or imbricated and chaotic or twisty reflections, as well as pipe, notch, and mud volcano structures on seismic profiles indicate widespread gas-bearing fluid migration and methane seepage that is possibly related to gas hydrate dissociation. Besides the sea-level change and tectonic movements, we find that the slope failure (gravity flow) induced by gas hydrate dissociation accompanied by methane seepage during the glacial epoch (mainly the LGM) is a main controlling factor for canyon initiation in the Okinawa Trough. The link between canyon development and methane seepage is confirmed by characteristic seismogeologic expressions, such as the MTDs associated with BSRs, the imbricated, twisty or chaotic seismic reflections inside the MTDs, the liquefaction deformation structures, and the fluid transport pipes. In addition, the notches (maybe pockmarks or seabed depressions) that indicate methane escaping on the canyon sidewalls, and the truncated relationship between the BSRs and canyon channels further indicate that there is a complex relationship between the submarine canyons and the methane seepage associated with gas hydrate. Finally, a coupled model was established to illustrate the four evolutional stages of the submarine canyons, which provide an attractive case of how the submarine canyon dynamically responds to gas hydrate system. Therefore, our new findings are of great significance for understanding the mechanism of the submarine canyon and reconstructing the evolutionary history of gas hydrate modulated by sea-level changes in geological history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A sedimentological and structural study is presented of a push-moraine formed in front of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet margin on the Głubczyce Plateau located at the forefield of East Sudetes Mountains. The glacial succession, which is composed of basal and flow tills, and sand/gravelly-sand deposited mainly from sheet flows at the surface of the glacier's marginal fan, developed in the culmination zone of an inter-valley hill, the base of which constitutes tectonic horst built of Carboniferous sandstones. In the central part of the hill, glacial deposits form a set of up-thrust slices, on the basis of which the succession is interpreted as thrust-block moraine. It was formed most likely during the maximum extent of the Saalian (Drenthe) glaciation. The substratum's topography and geology strongly determined the moraine development. Resistant Palaeozoic bedrock formed a rigid surface along which overlying unconsolidated sediments were pushed in front of the advancing ice sheet margin. The diamicton, lying above the bedrock and beneath the glaciofluvial sand, was of key importance for glaciotectonic shortening and development of the push moraine. It underwent ductile shearing, and a décollement surface developed within it, possibly because of thin permafrost, which caused high pore-water pressure within underlying unfrozen diamicton during the ice sheet advance. The ice-marginal deformation was induced by compression forces developed within the ice sheet margin moving against a reversed bedrock slope. A complete understanding of the process of this glaciomarginal form development and its paleoclimatic meaning requires a three-dimensional analysis of the ice sheet behaviour during the time over a much larger area also outside the Głubczyce Plateau. The varied topography of the ice sheet substratum induced time-transgressive changes of the ice distribution within the marginal part of the ice sheet. High friction in some elevated areas resulted in progressive concentration of ice flow in lower lying areas, such as valleys, where friction was much lower. This phenomenon essentially influenced the ice sheet margin dynamics and thus could determine the distribution and scale of glaciotectonic deformations. • A glaciomarginal zone at the Głubczyce Plateau (foreland of the Sudetes Mountains, Saalian) was investigated. • The ice-marginal processes were strongly influenced by local topography and geology. • The thrust-block moraine was developed in the culmination zone of the ice-marginal obstacle. • The stress field was generated by compression forces within the ice sheet margin advancing against a reversed bedrock slope. • The ice sheet marginal dynamics were strongly controlled by subglacial topography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The maximum possible intrusion length is derived for turbidity current intrusion. • A method is developed for predicting flow and sediment transport rates. • Correlation between relative intrusion length and intensity is discovered. • Predictions agree well with laboratory and field measurements. Turbidity current intrusion often occurs in canals, approach channels and tributary areas of large reservoirs, causing sedimentation problems in these environments. Many models and semi-empirical equations have been proposed to calculate flow and sediment transport rates for turbidity current intrusion, under an assumption that the current front can keep propagating freely in the channel before dying out, but the effect of the finite length of closed-end channels has rarely been considered. A self-similar solution to the vertical two-dimensional model for turbidity currents is used to obtain the equation of the maximum possible length for the intrusion of turbidity currents. The maximum possible length is then used to modify an existing discharge equation for turbidity current intrusion in long channels and establish a more general calculation method that can be applied for intrusion in closed end channels. Data from two existing flume experiments are used to calibrate the derived equation of sediment transport rate for turbidity current intrusion. Field measurements obtained from several tributary mouths in the Xiaolangdi Reservoir are also used to calibrate the derived intrusion discharge equation. The agreement between predictions and observations, as well as the comparison between the proposed calculation method and the one before modification, demonstrate that the intrusion discharge is not only determined by the depth of turbid water and sediment concentration at the inlet of the tributary channel, but also influenced by the ratio of the real intrusion length to the maximum possible intrusion length. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2016 Mw 7.8 Kaikōura Earthquake triggered simultaneous turbidity currents down ten submarine canyons along a 200 km stretch of the continental slope, east of New Zealand. They discharged into the abyssal Hikurangi Channel which flows >1500 km northwards along the trench floor as part of the Hikurangi Subduction Margin. One hundred and thirty-six foraminiferal samples from the 2016 turbidites and pre-turbidite sediment from 25 canyon/channel cores, collected during surveys 3 days, 2.5 and 8 months after the event, were used to provide insights into the complexities of these submarine gravity flows. Transport in the turbidity currents produced no significant additional breakage of foraminiferal tests, even when transported 650 km down channel. We conclude that highly variable planktic foraminiferal fragmentation index (FI) values indicate that test breakage in turbidite samples is primarily inherited from dissolution on the seafloor at their source area, which is often anomalously high because of lowered sediment pH as a result of the breakdown of the high organic carbon flux. All turbidite and pre-turbidite faunas have strong signatures of downslope displacement (presence of shallow-water benthics, size-sorted test distributions, low percentage of planktics). This is not surprising as all cores were taken in the canyon or channel floor pathways to collect turbidite sequences, with turbidity flows estimated to have a recurrence time of ∼150 yrs. Pre-turbidite faunas can be distinguished from the 2016 turbidites' faunas by having greater percentage of planktics and lower ratios of shallow to deep benthic tests (S/D Index). 210Pb profiles show that the laminated pre-turbidite sediment accumulated slowly and the foraminiferal content indicates it is composed of reworked earlier turbidite sediment with the addition of contemporaneous deep-water benthic tests and the rain of planktic tests mixed in. There are no consistent trends in any foraminiferal faunal parameters with distance displaced in the turbidity current (10–650 km). Rather, intra-turbidite (10–75 cm thick) faunal variability in a single core is often considerable and is attributed to erosion and entrainment of deep-seafloor tests by the passage of turbulent turbidity current heads, variable source canyon depths, different source canyon provenances, and test-size sorting during transport and deposition resulting in vertical and longitudinal fractionation of the smallest tests and finest sediment. This study suggests that a single foraminiferal fauna is often, but not always, insufficient to characterise a turbidite or for use in correlation with turbidites in other cores or exposures. • Foraminiferal tests showed little breakage during 650 km of turbidite transport. • Intra-turbidite foraminiferal variability is often considerable. • Turbidity currents sometimes erode and entrain deep-seafloor foraminifera. • Foraminiferal faunas can identify different turbidite provenance areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study area is located at the east of Tuz Gölü Basin, one of the sedimentary basins in the Central Anatolia basins between Ş. Koçhisar and Karapınar town. The main subject of study is based on the Boyalı Formation consisting of braided river deltas and submarine fan deposits with shelf carbonates blocks of the Lower to Middle Eocene. Laboratory analysis showed that porosity and permeability values are between % 1.40–19.40 (average % 9.15) and 0.01–43.95 mD (average 5.07 mD), respectively. The conventional method is compared with the geostatistical image analysis method by rock plug samples parallel to layering for porosity prediction. These samples were saturated with blue resin and made thin sections. The boundaries of the blue areas (mean pores) were lined for pore volume calculation to create solid objects. A proposed empirical mathematical method, geostatistical based, was used to gain porosity values to converge to the laboratory values. Also, in the scope of this study, an architectural, mathematical logic called geostatistical first-order logic architecture (GFOLA) was generated. The geostatistical based programme "GeoST Porosity v.1.0" has been developed for numerical analysis. The empirical approach has been used to transform the areal measurement into volumetric measurement, eliminate the conditions that could not be measured in the 3rd dimension, and positively affects the porosity approach ratio, which is the ratio of empirical to laboratory porosity. In the empirical approach, the porosity is the function of grain size (x), sorting (y) and skewness (z) ∅ = g (x , y , z). To obtain the deviation from the "ideal condition (μ)", the yielded result has been modelled as an attenuation relation " e G f " which is a function of grain texture factor (Gf). A correlation graph of the grain texture factor and porosity approach ratio obtained by the empirical approach has been determined to be applied to siliciclastics. For practical purposes, a geostatistical modelling study proved that an empirical approach could be proposed as a better method instead of conventional laboratory porosity measurement. • Empirical mathematical method and geostatistical first-order logic architecture (GFOLA) was generated. • The conventional method is compared with the empirical geostatistical image analysis method for porosity predictions. • The geostatistical method porosity data were approximated to the measured in the laboratory at an average rate of 99%. • Via the empirical method, too much petrophysical data can be obtained from the different depths in the homogeneous rock. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Sohar Basin, located offshore the East Coast of the Arabian Peninsula, is an area that has seldom been the focus of international oil companies. While all commercial discoveries in the UAE and Oman have been made to the west and south of the Oman Mountains, the Sohar Basin is underexplored and remains prospective. This lack of activity is primarily because the Thamama reservoir, which has yielded huge success to the west of the Oman Mountains is likely not present within the Sohar Basin. However, potential traps, reservoirs, and source rocks are present within the Tertiary succession. The Sohar Basin formed in the late Cretaceous after the obduction of the Semail Ophiolite onto the Arabian Plate. Following a period of tectonic quiescence, which lasted until the Early Eocene, the gravitational collapse occurred along the eastern edge of the present-day Oman Mountains. Interpretation of both 2D and 3D seismic reveals that the subsurface is comprised of three tectonostratigraphic units, defined as pre-, syn-, and post-tectonic packages. North-South trending thrust faults generate distinct mini-basins within the pre- and syn-tectonic sequences. The post-tectonic sequence is defined by the development of prograding systems in a tectonically quiescent margin formed in the Lower Miocene and which persists to the present day. Deep-water depositional systems dominate the undrilled far-east and south of the basin where the presence of submarine canyon systems and associated basin floor fans is supported by 3D seismic data. In recent times, the Sohar Basin has been subject to extensional faulting likely driven by sediment load caused by a prograding delta system. The results of this work reveal that multiple untested play types exist within the Sohar Basin, which are comprised of both structural and stratigraphic elements. This paper integrates both a structural and sequence stratigraphic interpretation to provide insights into the tectonostratigraphic evolution of the Sohar Basin. Consequently, the fundamentals of play fairway mapping have been employed to unlock the hydrocarbon prospectivity offshore the UAE's East Coast. • A sequence stratigraphic approach unlocks the prospectivity in the Sohar Basin, offshore the east coast of the UAE. • Untapped prospectivity lies within deep marine turbidities within the Northern Sohar Basin. • Toe thrust systems have developed in response to post orogenic collapse of the Hajar Mountains. • A passive continental margin developed during the Miocene within the Northern Sohar Basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lower to Middle Permian strata in the Delaware Basin in southeast New Mexico and West Texas present a unique system to assess spatial and temporal variations in carbonate slopes as well as controls on variation. Detailed subsurface gamma-ray well-log mapping and visualization using approximately 8000 densely spaced well logs in the northern portion of the Delaware Basin aided in correlating and characterizing Wolfcampian and Leonardian (L1-L6 composite sequences) slope profiles. The Wolfcampian strata form irregular slope profiles ranging from 2 to 10°. L1-L2 composite sequences develop comparatively steeper aggradational to retrogradational slopes with maximum mapped gradients between 15 and 25°, platform to basin relief of 920–1100 m, and slope widths of 10–20 km. The L3-L6 composite sequences denote a shift to platform and margin progradation. However these intervals exhibit variable progradational profiles in the along the western slopes with maximum slope gradients between 2 and 10°, progradation aggradation ratios ranging approximately from 10 to 100, wider slope widths reaching over 30 km, and platform to basin relief ranging from 500 to 900 m while northern slopes exhibited more continuous steep gradients between 10 and 20°, progradation-aggradation ratios of 0–13, slope widths of 10–15 km, and average approximate platform to basin relief of 900 m. The broad shift from aggradation-retrogradation to progradation during the Leonardian correlates with low-order sea-level change previously noted from outcrop studies. The eustatic shift likely influenced platform accommodation, driving a regional transition to progradation during low-order highstand. The variation in Leonardian progradation rates is significantly influenced by underlying Pennsylvanian carbonate buildups generating large-scale inflections in the slope and toe-of-slope environments. The underlying feature generated lower platform to basin relief and wider slopes to the west, promoting progradation, and formed narrower slopes with greater platform to basin relief to the north, likely inhibiting rapid progradation. Bottom currents and subsequent drift deposition along the western slopes also changed slope angle and geometry, promoting progradation over and around the features in subsequent units. Also, bottom currents possibly swept sediments from toe of slope environments in the north where drifts aren't present, inhibiting progradation and driving aggradation. The documented spatial and temporal variations in slope profiles may exert significant influence on transport, routing, and confinement of platform-top and slope-derived sediments to the deeper basin, imparting control on basinal stratigraphic architecture. As such, this type of characterization should provide a predictive tool for assessing reservoir and non-reservoir architecture in the slope and re-sedimented basinal deposits in both the Permian Basin and other analogous basins. • Extensive regional subsurface well-log mapping in the northern Delaware Basin highlights a range of variation in lower to middle Permian carbonate slopes. • Spatial variations in temporally equivalent slope profiles result from the underlying stratigraphy altering platform to basin relief and slope widths. • Bottom currents drove both drift accumulation and non-deposition along slopes, regionally shifting the slope profiles. • Spatial and temporal variations in slope geometry may drive focusing and point sourcing of platform and slope derived material to form calciclastic submarine fans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The maximum possible intrusion length is derived for turbidity current intrusion. • A method is developed for predicting flow and sediment transport rates. • Correlation between relative intrusion length and intensity is discovered. • Predictions agree well with laboratory and field measurements. Turbidity current intrusion often occurs in canals, approach channels and tributary areas of large reservoirs, causing sedimentation problems in these environments. Many models and semi-empirical equations have been proposed to calculate flow and sediment transport rates for turbidity current intrusion, under an assumption that the current front can keep propagating freely in the channel before dying out, but the effect of the finite length of closed-end channels has rarely been considered. A self-similar solution to the vertical two-dimensional model for turbidity currents is used to obtain the equation of the maximum possible length for the intrusion of turbidity currents. The maximum possible length is then used to modify an existing discharge equation for turbidity current intrusion in long channels and establish a more general calculation method that can be applied for intrusion in closed end channels. Data from two existing flume experiments are used to calibrate the derived equation of sediment transport rate for turbidity current intrusion. Field measurements obtained from several tributary mouths in the Xiaolangdi Reservoir are also used to calibrate the derived intrusion discharge equation. The agreement between predictions and observations, as well as the comparison between the proposed calculation method and the one before modification, demonstrate that the intrusion discharge is not only determined by the depth of turbid water and sediment concentration at the inlet of the tributary channel, but also influenced by the ratio of the real intrusion length to the maximum possible intrusion length. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Eocene-Oligocene transition (EOT) was a period of considerable environmental change, signifying the transition from Paleocene greenhouse to Oligocene icehouse conditions. Preservation of the sedimentary signal of such an environmental change is most likely in net-depositional environments, such as submarine fans, which are the terminal parts of sedimentary systems. Here, using sedimentary and stable isotope data from the Alpine foreland basin, we assess whether this major climatic transition influenced the stratigraphic evolution of submarine fans. Results indicate that fine-grained deposition in deep-water environments corresponds to positive δ13C excursions and eustatic highstands, while coarse-grained deposition corresponds to negative δ13C excursions and eustatic lowstands during the earliest Oligocene. While alternative explanations cannot be ruled out on the basis of this dataset alone, our results suggest that eustatic fluctuations across the EOT and into the early Oligocene influenced sediment supply to deep-water environments. • The Eocene-Oligocene δ13C record of the Alpine foreland basin has been analysed. • The δ13C record correlates with eustasy. • Fine-grained submarine fan deposition in the foreland corresponds to highstands. • Coarse-grained submarine fan deposition in the foreland corresponds to lowstands. • Climate change in the early Oligocene influenced submarine fan sedimentation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A set of 2D high resolution seismic lines was acquired near the Kerch Peninsula during R/V Meteor Cruise M72/3 in March/April 2007 to the Eastern Black Sea. The high resolution seismic data were used for analysis of seismic facies and seismic sequences to gain insight into the sedimentary evolution of the study area. Seven seismic facies types were identified and six seismic units could be mapped. Based on seismic line interpretation, isopach and seismic facies distribution maps, a chronostratigraphic framework could be established for the study area. The study reveals that the sediment deposits were influenced by syndepositional tectonic movements, sea level and climate. During the late Miocene and the early Pliocene, possible slope fan deposits developed. At the boundary between the Miocene and Pliocene, the Messinian erosional truncation surface was observed. After the Messinian sea level fall, accompanied by a major transgressional phase during the Pliocene, the Paleo-Don and Kuban Rivers delivered a large terrigenous input to the Black Sea from the uplifted Crimean Mountains. This formed thick submarine fan deposits near the mouth of Kerch Strait during the late Pliocene. Facies variations within the seismic units are related to the sea-level and climate curves, and are reflected by grain size variations in the sediments and the shift of the river mouth. During the Quaternary, hemipelagic sediments interbedded with coarse-grained fluvial sediments developed in the study area, along with slumps, river channels and fan deposits. • A seismostratigraphic framework was established for late Miocene to Recent times in the Kerch seep area. • Lithological-Paleogeographic maps around Kerch seep area are created. • Sedimentary environment evolution process of the area around the Kerch seep is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationships between fan deltas and their drainage basins have been extensively studied for the present day, but as far as we are aware of, studies have not yet been performed for the geologic record. This study examines the provenance of the Miocene Doumsan fan-delta system (17–10.5 Ma), Pohang Basin, southeast Korea, using combined detrital zircon and whole-rock geochemistry to understand the long-term development of the fan-delta system and its drainage basin. Of the lower five sequences of the Doumsan fan-delta, which were interpreted to have been controlled solely by eustasy, the lower sequences (sequences 1–3) show gradual expansion of the drainage basin without tectonic activity. In contrast, sequence 4 records an abrupt shrinkage of the drainage basin induced by uplift of the source area at ca. 15 Ma, which could have resulted from a regional collisional tectonic event that has not yet been recognised from the fan delta systems of the Pohang Basin, although palaeomagnetic studies and compositional changes of basalts of the basin suggest this event. Sequence 5 records a subsequent gradual expansion of the source area during tectonic quiescence. Warm and humid climatic conditions in East Asia during the middle Miocene would have resulted in a relatively large drainage basin. This study thus demonstrates how eustasy and tectonic subsidence as well as climate can control the drainage basins of fan-delta systems over timescales of several million years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Mesoproterozoic oxygenation recorded in sedimentary carbonates. • Oxygenation coincided with water column carbonate mud ('whiting') precipitation. • Crystal fans precipitated on the seafloor from poorly oxygenated seawater. • Precipitation inhibitors and organic matter degradation linked carbonate fabrics to redox conditions. Oxygenation, a key control on marine life, has a long and varied history. This is well seen in the early Mesoproterozoic. During this critical period, midway between the Great Oxidation (GOE) and Neoproterozoic Oxidation (NOE) events, low marine levels of pulsed oxygenation - likely driven by fluctuations in cyanobacterial productivity - alternated with episodic anoxia. However, since baseline oxygen levels were low, deciphering the scale and variability of redox evolution during this prolonged interval is challenging. This in turn has made it difficult to confidently identify key underlying controls on redox evolution. Combining sedimentological and geochemical methods, we studied shallow ∼1.57 Ga shelf carbonates with contrasting depositional fabrics. Carbonate I/(Ca + Mg) data indicate that (i) carbonate mud precipitated in a weakly oxygenated water column, whereas (ii) seafloor crystal fans formed in more poorly oxygenated seawater, containing Fe2+ and Mn2+. We infer that in (i) weakly oxygenated (hypoxic-oxic) conditions reflect increased planktic cyanobacterial productivity that, in the absence of carbonate precipitation inhibitors (Fe2+ and Mn2+), promoted water column carbonate mud ('whiting') precipitation. At the same time, aerobic degradation of settling organic matter lowered seafloor CaCO 3 saturation. In contrast, in (ii) more poorly oxygenated seawaters containing Fe2+ and Mn2+ inhibited calcite precipitation but permitted aragonite which formed seafloor crystal fans. Together, these contrasting precipitates indicate relatively rapid pulsed redox fluctuations. These were relatively subtle, but sufficient to result in contrasting carbonate sediments, readily recognizable in the field. We hypothesize that cyanobacterial productivity, possibly linked to the availability of nutrients such as phosphate, was a key influence on water column redox cyclicity during the Mesoproterozoic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Cenozoic depositional history of the Pelotas Basin was driven by the interaction between the spreading processes of the Atlantic Ocean and the formation of the Andean Cordillera. We integrated seismic interpretation and backstripping techniques with evaluation of spreading rates in the South Atlantic and subduction beneath the Andes to unveil the main climatic, eustatic and active tectonic events in the Cenozoic. The achieved results integrated with regional geology and Cenozoic history data show the tectonic control that the Andean Cordillera exerted over the Pelotas Basin's passive margin. On the other hand, climatic and glacioeustatic changes that influenced the Pelotas Basin's sedimentation were mostly controlled by the tectonic opening of Drake Passage and the consequent onset of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. These processes were directly connected to motions of the Antarctic, South American, and Nazca plates since the beginning of the Cenozoic. Our results allow us to detail the geological events of the Pelotas Basin and more accurately define its eustatic, tectonic, and climatic controls by closely observing the interaction between compressive tectonics and passive margins. • Drake Passage and Antarctic Circumpolar Current are recorded in the Pelotas Basin (PB). • Cenozoic glacioeustatic and tectonic events in the PB are connected to compressive and extensional margins. • Interaction between South American, Nazca, and Antarctic plates are crucial for South Atlantic Ocean sedimentation. • South Atlantic sea-floor spreading and Andean compressive tectonics control the sedimentation of the PB. • Rio Grande Submarine Fan shows Rio de la Plata contribution and contourites associated with ACC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deposition of the Paleocene-Eocene Wilcox Group (Gp) in the northern Gulf of Mexico (GoM) occurred during dramatic global climate and regional tectonic change. Key drivers impacting the GoM over this time were 1) significantly enhanced runoff and sediment supply from the developing Laramide hinterland, 2) intense global warming culminating in the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) at ∼56 Ma, and 3) proposed Paleogene restriction of the GoM as Cuba docked with Yucatan-Bahamas-Florida. In this paper, we investigate biological and organic geochemical responses to these drivers across the PETM and identify spatial variations in productivity, oxygenation, and ultimately, ventilation. The PETM has been identified by calcareous nannofossil marker taxa and/or excursion taxa from the genera Rhomboaster and Discoaster that exclusively existed during the event. A calcareous nannofossil transition from cool eutrophic to warm oligotrophic assemblages occurs across the PETM broadly over the GoM suggesting that surface water nutrient supply decreased due to slowing circulation or increased sequestration of nutrients along the margins. Associated radiolarian bursts indicate additional factors, such as eustacy and runoff, may have modulated nutrient supply. Benthic habitats were impacted as agglutinated foraminifera, which were dominant in the Paleocene, disappeared at the PETM over submarine fan environments while calcareous benthic forams remained largely absent until the late Eocene. Deoxygenation may have contributed to benthic ecosystem decline as marine kerogen enrichment is noted broadly in the middle Wilcox and PETM. Total organic carbon is generally <3% except in more isolated marginal settings suggesting that deep-basin dysoxia co-existed with a variably enhanced oxygen minimum. We suggest these biotic and organic geochemical responses reflect connection to the Global Ocean during the PETM, with ventilation reduced but not eliminated by increases in salinity stratification due to runoff and reductions in deeper water entry into the GoM at gateways. • PETM identified in deep-water Wilcox Gp across the northern Gulf of Mexico (GoM). • Calcareous nannofossil shift to oligotrophy and loss of benthic foraminifera mark PETM. • Radiolarian bursts during and after PETM driven by runoff-enhanced nutrient supply. • TOC in Wilcox Gp and PETM <3% in deep basin versus >3% in restricted margin settings. • Biotic and geochemical responses indicate GoM was open and ventilated through PETM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The lithostratigraphic plays in the Dongfang area of the Yinggehai Basin at the northern margin of the South China Sea consist of a Neogene multistage, thinly bedded, channel-lobe system. Integrating high-resolution 3D seismic, lithological and well log data shows that the channel-lobe system developed primarily in the lowstand system tract of the Huangliu Formation. We investigated the developmental stages of lobes based on the stacking relationships of seismic events, the degrees of channel downcutting in lobes, and the occurrences of sandstone facies observed in the stratal slices. The lobes finally identified 9 small-scale stages, which reveal a complete sedimentary cycle controlled by high-frequency sea-level fluctuations. Facies architectures such as main channels, channels and overbank deposits were identified by using seismic sedimentology and geomorphology. Seismic stratal slices display the different characteristics of the sediment dispersal patterns in the northern part (block DF-a) and the southern region (block DF-b). The northern part contains isolated lobes. The southern region mostly contains deeply incised channels and meander belts that are wider than those in the northern part. Three main sediment dispersal patterns have been recognized, namely, channel-lobe, channelized lobe and non-channelized lobe. Sea level fluctuation and topographic variations exert strong influences on spatial-temporal evolution of the sediment diffusion and are the key controlling factors for the patterns. The methodology used in this study characterizes the submarine fan development in an area with limited well control; this methodology is more accurate for reservoir-scale exploration and development compared to other uses. • The standardized process of the stage analysis of different scales in the channel-lobe system. • Integrated with seismic, lithology, and well logging data to identify sediment-dispersal patterns in the channel-lobe system. • This study reveals a complete cycle transformation and key control factors within a high-resolution sequence. • This work can serve as a useful reference for sediment-dispersal patterns distinguish and stage analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• First monitoring of sediment transfer in submarine channel from source to sink. • River input and lobe aggradation approximately balances over decadal timescales. • Most turbidity currents deposit within the proximal part of the channel. • Infrequent large flows flush the channel; transporting sediment onto the lobe. • Flushing events can occur without obvious triggers, and can be internally generated. Submarine channels are the primary conduits for land-derived material, including organic carbon, pollutants, and nutrients, into the deep-sea. The flows (turbidity currents) that traverse these systems can pose hazards to seafloor infrastructure such as cables and pipelines. Here we use a novel combination of repeat seafloor surveys and turbidity current monitoring along a 50 km-long submarine channel in Bute Inlet, British Columbia, and discharge measurements from the main feeding river. These source-to-sink observations provide the most detailed information yet on magnitude-frequency-distance relationships for turbidity currents, and the spatial-temporal patterns of sediment transport within a submarine channel-lobe system. This analysis provides new insights into mass redistribution, and particle residence times in submarine channels, as well as where particles are eventually buried and how that is recorded in the deposits. We observe stepwise sediment transport down the channel, with turbidity currents becoming progressively less frequent with distance. Most flows dissipate and deposit within the proximal (< 11 km) part of the system, whilst longer run-out flows then pick up this sediment, 'shuffling' it further downstream along the channel. This shuffling occurs mainly through upstream migration of knickpoints, which can generate sediment bypass along the channel over timescales of 10–100 yrs. Infrequent large events flush the channel and ultimately transport sediment onto the lobe. These flushing events can occur without obvious triggers, and thus might be internally generated. We then present the first ever sediment budget analysis of an entire submarine channel system, which shows that the river input and lobe aggradation can approximately balance over decadal timescales. We conclude by discussing the implication of this sediment shuffling for seafloor geohazards and particle burial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Growth folds developed at rift margin transfer zones are mostly studied for their structural style and stratal architecture. The influence of the growth of these folds on the syn -rift sedimentary facies development, however, remains less documented. To address this, we investigated the syn-rift facies of the Lower Miocene Rudeis Formation in relation to the growth of structures within the North Baba transfer zone at the eastern margin of the Suez rift. Sedimentological analysis defined seven facies associations in three successive depositional systems: (i) gravel-rich submarine fans with up-dip thinning geometry, comprising upper, middle and lower fan facies associations, (ii) a gravitationally modified Gilbert-type fan delta, with tangential foreset and bottomset. Both fan systems pass gradationally into basinal marl-dominated facies, and (iii) shoreface-to-offshore. Paleocurrent measurements and the spatial facies variability indicate that the North Baba transfer zone was acting as the main sediment fairway conveying the sediments southwards from the adjacent rift shoulder to the Baba hangingwall syncline. Mapping of key stratal surfaces and growth structures helped in distinguishing four lower Rudeis stratal units, which provide a framework for studying the spatial and vertical relationships among the recognized facies. Deposition of these stratal units was influenced by progressive steepening and localized faulting of a fault-tip growth monocline above the North Baba transfer zone and a submerged intrabasinal high. These structures controlled the hangingwall gradient, bathymetry, flow pathways and facies relations, triggered multiple gravity flows and slumps, and created terraces on which patch reefs and localized shoreface deposits intermittently developed. This study reveals that the transfer zone was still acting as growth monocline even during the rift-climax. The coeval deposits were mainly sourced from a hinterland drainage catchment rather than local footwall scarps. They form progressively tilted clastic wedges that onlap and pinch out up-dip toward the growth monocline, unlike those observed at faulted margins where the facies commonly thicken toward the fault. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Late Cretaceous to Late Eocene Rajang Group in Borneo is one of the world's largest deep-sea sedimentary fans. The volume of the Rajang Group cannot be explained by erosion of the Schwaner Mountains in SW Borneo and the Malay Peninsula. To identify other contributing sources, this study examined the provenance history of the Rajang Group and the overlying Tatau Formation. A combination of bulk rock geochemistry, zircon morphological analysis and U–Pb geochronology is used to better constrain the provenance of the Rajang Group. Bulk rock Nd data, supported by detrital zircon data indicates that a late Mesozoic magmatic belt include the Schwaner Mountains was an important source before the Paleocene, after which sediment supply was dominated by older crustal sources, consistent with the Malay Peninsula. The increased contribution from older crustal material is considered to be the consequence of collapse of the magmatic arc and collision between Australian microcontinental fragment(s) and the southern margin of Sundaland. Paleocene river systems that flowed through the Malay Peninsula, transported large amounts of sediments to the marine basins including the deep-sea Rajang Group. A strong signal of sediment recycling for the Tatau Formation indicates uplift and denudation of lower Rajang Group in Late Eocene. • The sediment volume of the Rajang Basin cannot be explained by Schwaner Mountains sources alone. • The proximal late Mesozoic magmatic belt was an important source before the Paleocene. • A change in the drainage network was likely a response to collision events in Sundaland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In marine sediments, methane hydrate can occur within the methane hydrate stability zone (MHSZ), which extends from the seafloor to a certain depth below it, within which the conditions of pressure and temperature are such that allow their formation and stability. Variations in sea level and in bottom water temperatures (BWTs) have opposite effects on the stability zone: a sea level rise leads to higher hydrostatic pressure, which tends to enlarge the MHSZ, while an increase in temperature tends to shrink it, and vice-versa. When the MHSZ shrinks, methane hydrate dissociates, releasing water and gaseous methane into the sediment pores. If the gaseous methane reaches the seafloor, it will be released into the ocean. In this study, we use numerical modelling to investigate the dynamic response of shallow methane hydrates at 550, 575, 600, 625, 650, 700 and 750 m water depth (mwd), on the Amazon Deep-Sea Fan, Equatorial Atlantic Ocean (near the northern coast of Brazil), to simultaneous sea level and BWTs increases, since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) up to the present. These water depths lie on the feather edge of the MHSZ, where hydrates are most sensitive to pressure and temperature perturbations. The results suggest that the methane hydrate stability decrease caused by the BWTs increases has completely overcome the increase in stability owing to sea level increase, for 550 and 575 mwd. For these two water depths, the MHSZ disappeared in the models and all the hydrate initially present has dissociated. The modelling results indicate that gaseous methane started to be released into the ocean at ca. 17,500 y BP for 550 mwd and at ca. 16,000 y BP for 575 mwd. For the other water depths considered, hydrate stability decrease caused by the BWT increase has only partly overcome the increase in stability due to pressure increase, so that the MHSZs have shrank, but have not totally disappeared in the models. Gaseous methane was released into the ocean from ca. 14,000 y BP to 7000 y BP for 600 mwd. For 625, 650, 700 and 750 mwd, no gaseous methane has been released into the ocean. Methane release amounts and flowrates are maximum limits for each depth, as no methane consumption processes, such as anaerobic oxidation, are modeled in this study. • HIGHLIGHTS (UPDATED): • Dynamic response of methane hydrates to sea level (pressure) and temperature variations since the LGM was investigated. • Stability of hydrates increased due to sea level rise, but the effect was overcome by temperature increase. • Combined changes resulted in continuous gas release into the ocean in shallower depths, starting ca. 17 kyr before present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Submarine canyons are major conduits for sediment transfer from continental shelf to deep marine environments. Mass failures and faults play a key role in the initiation and evolution of submarine canyons along convergent tectonic margins, in addition to continental sediment supply. Here we analyze high-resolution bathymetry and seismic data from the Colombian southern Caribbean to investigate the controls on submarine canyon morphology along a convergent tectonic margin. We propose three end-member types of canyons: Type I canyons have a direct connection to a major river associated with high sediment supply. These canyons are highly erosive and cut topographic barriers created by tectonic deformation. Type II canyons are associated with faults at the canyon's head, where the location, orientation, and sinuosity are controlled by fault strike. Also, the presence of faults is related to an increase in the occurrence of mass failures from the steep canyon borders, increasing the depth and width asymmetry. Finally, Type III canyons evolve toward the continental shelf edge through retrogressive mass failures. These mass failures produce erosional scars that merge downslope to create submarine canyons in early stages of development, which later evolve to wider but shallow canyons due to the progressive basinward merging. We argue that the morphology of each canyon type is controlled by the interaction between continental sediment supply, mass failures, shelf width, and fault occurrence. We also demonstrate that seafloor topography influences the size of submarine fan deposits at the mouths of canyons. We identified large fan deposits (>650 km2) on the continental rise, whereas in piggyback sub-basins we found smaller fans (<60 km2). Our analysis of downdip canyon morphology and associated deposits can be used to predict the development of submarine canyons and associated fans in convergent tectonic margins worldwide. • Bathymetry and seismic data quantify submarine canyons on a convergent margin. • Three canyon types exist due to geomorphologic variability along the margin. • Sediment flux and shelf-slope topography affect canyon morphology and fill. • Submarine fan dimensions controlled by topographic confinement, or lack thereof. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deep-sea fans are the terminal sinks of clastic sediment, nutrients and pollutants produced in continental landmasses. They are also major targets for oil and gas on continental margins. Several recent studies have applied seismic geomorphology to delineate deep-sea fans, however, most of them describe a relatively short period of the geologic time, disfavoring the observation of long-term geomorphologic changes and the resulting depositional architecture. We analyzed the geomorphologic evolution and architecture of the Maastrichtian, deeply buried, Maricá deep-sea fan in northern Santos Basin, offshore SE Brazil. Using three-dimensional seismic data and logs from three wells, we mapped five horizons (stratal slices), including fan base, fan top and three internal horizons. The examination of lobes and channel networks on each horizon resulted in a timelapse that capture major geomorphologic transformations of the deep-sea fan from inception to abandonment. The Maricá deep-sea fan is a sand-rich system deposited directly onto the irregular topography of the Maricá mass-transport deposit, and its geometry is also influenced by structural highs uplifted by active halokinesis. Six lobes were mapped, which present variable growing patterns and associated stratigraphic signatures indicative of aggradation, progradation, retrogradation, and lateral switching. Four types of channel morphology were identified (straight, sinuous, meandering, and braided-like). Channel length and sinuosity tend to increase with time in the whole fan and within individual lobes. Amplitude maps and well-log motifs suggest that sandy sediments occur mainly as channel-fill deposits and that different channel morphologies produce contrasting stratigraphic architectures and reservoir heterogeneities. Our results show that channel network and sand-body architecture evolve in a predictive fashion mostly controlled by fan aggradation. However, the interaction with the underlying topography causes morphologic changes at the lobe and depositional element scale that often deviate from the overall trend and affect sand distribution across the fan surface. • The geomorphologic evolution of a deeply buried, Late Cretaceous deep-sea fan is examined from inception to abandonment. • Fan lobes and distributary channels were mapped in multiple horizons, allowing to observe the role of autogenic processes in fan development. • An upward increase in channel sinuosity together with a decrease in fan gradient mimic the geomorphological pattern observed in alluvial systems. • Results show that different channel styles may develop on the same turbidite system as it evolves. • The largest volume of sandy turbidites is preserved as channel-fills instead of sheet-like bodies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Pearl River Mouth Basin in the South China Sea is one of the most important offshore petroliferous basins in China. Specifically, the shelf-edge delta and slope fan systems in the deepwater area of the Baiyun Sag have been regarded as the most important objects for hydrocarbon exploration, and the sequence stratigraphic structure, sedimentary evolution, and "source to sink" relationship between them is an important basis for predicting favorable areas for hydrocarbon exploration. In this study, the sequence stratigraphic structure and sedimentary system of the Late Oligocene Zhuhai Formation in the Baiyun Sag of the Pearl River Mouth Basin were studied based on a comprehensive dataset that integrated seismic, logging, and core data. A total of four third-order sequences were determined in the second-order composite sequence (CS3) according to nature of unconformities. Within each third-order sequence, the characteristics of different sedimentary systems were successfully identified. Within CS3-1 and CS3-2 the transgressive systems tracts (TST) are relatively thick, and the highstand systems tracts (HST) encompass mainly the outer-shelf deltaic deposits with thin foresets. As for CS3-3 and CS3-4, the lowstand systems tract (LST) and falling-stage systems tracts (FSST) are dominated by shelf-edge deltas and slope fans deposits, whereas the TST are very thin. The depositional evolution and "source to sink" relationship between the shelf-edge deltas and associated slope fans are revealed as follows: there are mainly three stages of shelf-edge deltas, and their sedimentary paleo-water depths were 794.9 m, 822.6 m, and 556.8 m, with progradation angles of 8.5°, 7.7°, and 5.7°, respectively; the thick delta front (200–500 m) and slump deposit are the main identification features of the shelf-edge delta. During the period of LST, although the progradation angle of the shelf-edge delta was the largest, there were few slope fans or only mud-rich slope fan deposits in the front of the delta due to the influence of relative sea-level rise, and during the period of FSST, the slump and redeposition of the delta front sand bodies provided the sand source for the formation of the slope fans, thus forming the sand-rich fans. Moreover, according to the root mean square amplitude slices and 3D seismic profile, it was found that the slope fans in this area are directly related to the development of the channels between the deltas and slope fans; generally, the larger and denser the channel, the larger the slope fan area. • Sequence and sedimentary characteristics of the shelf-edge and the deltaic progradation structures. • The source to sink relationship between shelf-edge deltas and slope fans within the system tract. • Constraints of sea level change, tectonic movement and sediment supply. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the Paleogene deep-water depositional system of the Gosau Group at Gams, Styria (Austria). The examined sections of the Danian to the Ypresian age (NP1–NP12) comprise sediments of the Nierental and Zwieselalm Formations. Four deep-water clastic facies assemblages were encountered: (1) pelagic marls with thin turbidites, (2) carbonate-rich turbidites, (3) carbonate-poor turbidites, and (4) marl-bearing turbidites; slump beds and mass flow deposits are common features in all facies assemblages. Based on heavy mineral, thin section, microprobe, and paleoflow analyses, provenance was from the surrounding Northern Calcareous Alps (NCA) rocks and exhuming metamorphic Upper Austroalpine units to the south. In addition, biogenic calcareous material was delivered by adjacent contemporaneous shelf zones. The sedimentary depocenter was situated at the slope of the incipient Alpine orogenic wedge, in frontal parts of the NCA, facing the subducting Penninic Ocean/Alpine Tethys. The evolution of the Gams Basin was connected to the eoalpine and mesoalpine orogeny and the adjunctive transpressional setting. The Gams deep-water depositional system is interpreted as an aggrading or prograding submarine fan, deposited into a small confined slope basin, positioned along an active continental margin, bound and influenced by (strike-slip) faults, related to crustal shortening. The development of the Gams slope basin and its infilling sequences was mainly dominated by tectonism and sediment supply, rather than by eustatic sea-level fluctuations. The basin was cut off during the Eocene due to renewed orogeny. A Quaternary analogue for the Upper Cretaceous to Paleogene basin setting of the Gams area is represented by the Santa Monica Basin in the California Continental Borderland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The shallow marine channels and fans in the Yinggehai Basin have huge hydrocarbon exploration potential. The depositional features and filling processes of the submarine channel and fan system during 10.5–7.2 ma were studied based on seismic data, cores, well curves, and lab data. (1) Five depositional elements were recognized in the channel system, including PSC, MSC, DSC, levee, and abandonment fill, and the deposits show the typical sedimentary structure of debris flow. The filling process of the channel system was divided into three stages based on deposits supply intensity. The stages were made up of several filling units, and each unit possessed at least one complete channelized depositional succession. (2) The fan system was developed under the large-scale "U" shaped feeding canyon, and its filling process was divided into two stages, the shape and distribution were controlled by shelf break and syn-sedimentary faults in the early stage, and was influenced by the localized changes of paleogeomorphology in late stage. The influence factors for the development of gravity-driven systems were summarized into two levels: regional depositional environment changes and localized distinctive geologic settings. The former one controlled the development of shallow water gravity-driven deposits in the whole basin, mainly including rapid falling of sea-level, moderate subsidence rate, and stable deposits supply. The latter one controlled the morphology and distribution of depositional elements in gravity-driven systems. The pre-existing banded low terrain induced by blind faults controlled the shape of the confined channel, and variable faulting intensity in different segments of the syn-sedimentary fault and localized paleogeomorphology changes influenced the distribution of channels and inner fan in the fan system. The study of deposition features, internal architecture, and controlling factors may provide a reference for further exploration in this area and a deeper understanding of gravity-driven processes in shallow marine. • The depositional elements were classified for the channelized and fan systems. • The internal architectures and filling processes of the channel and fan systems were figured out. • The sedimentary features in shallow marine gravity-driven systems were discussed. • The effects of regional depositional environment change, localized tectonic activities, and paleogeomorphology on shallow marine gravity-driven deposits were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A multidisciplinary approach based on lithostratigraphy, petrography, modal composition and geochemistry was performed for the first time, to study the Early Ediacaran Skoura Turbidites (EEST) of the Skoura inlier, Central High Atlas. It represents widely distributed turbidite successions up to 8 km in thickness. A total of twelve lithofacies types have been distinguished, spread in four profiles, and grouped in three major depositional environments: shallow delta complex (FA1), submarine channel (FA2), and deep-sea fan (FA3). The paleogeographic distribution of the EEST may indicate basin depth changes related to the onset of convergence. Petrographic and modal analyses of EEST reveal greywacke and lith-arenite lithologies displaying similar clast composition, mainly comprising quartz and lithic fragments. Volcanic, plutonic, and metamorphic rocks have been exposed in the source areas feeding the Skoura basin. On Q-F-L diagram, EEST have characteristics of a recycled orogen, suggesting their derivation from an active arc setting. Geochemical data of EEST samples display similar SiO 2 and Al 2 O 3 abundances, with relatively intermediate compositions. Most of the studied samples demonstrate their derivation from a composite of oceanic island and continental arc systems providing felsic and mafic to intermediate detritus to the Skoura basin. Rare-earth element patterns show features similar to those of sandstones in modern active margin zones. The EEST rocks are similar with other Early Ediacaran sediments of the Saghro Group in the Anti-Atlas belt. This architecture suggests deposition of the EEST in an orogenic basin developed in a back-arc setting during the Early Ediacaran time. • Deep sea and shallow marine environments for the Early Ediacaran turbiditic rocks in the Skoura inlier. • Stratigraphic and geochemical features of the Skoura Turbidites are linked to back arc setting. • Geochemical characters of the Skoura Turbidites indicate a mixture of felsic and mafic sources. • The Skoura Turbidites line up with the Early Ediacaran geodynamic evolution at the Northwestern Gondwana margin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Open-framework gravels (OFGs) form common lithofacies of alluvial fans. However, inferences of their mechanisms of transport and deposition, and of controls on their distribution in alluvial-fan successions, remain difficult, limiting our ability to interpret the environmental significance of such deposits and to predict their distributions in ancient successions. From an applied standpoint, such predictions are important in the development of hydrocarbon reservoirs and remediation of aquifers hosted in alluvial-fan strata. To elucidate our understanding of formative conditions of different types of OFGs, a study has been undertaken on the Quaternary Poplar Fan, in the endorheic Heshituoluogai Basin, China. Based on observations from outcrops and trenches on the Poplar Fan, eight different types of OFGs are identified: these lithofacies types account for 7% of the total deposits of the fan. During high flow stages, OFGs are deposited in association with supercritical sheet-like flow (type 1), unconfined streamflow (type 2), and flow in groundwater-fed channels (type 3). During low flow stages, OFGs are associated with trough cross-stratification (type 4) and sigmoidal cross-stratification (type 5); these types occur over the entire fan. At the fan margins, OFGs are associated with gulleys (type 6), especially at the distal fan toe. Other OFG types are associated with bank collapse (type 7) or intercalated with aeolian deposits (type 8). A model is proposed to account for the distribution of different types of OFGs across the fan, wherein types 1, 2 and 4 seen in the medial fan are dominant. This provides a framework for the identification, prediction and correlation of OGFs in subsurface alluvial-fan successions. • Detailed description and particle-size analysis of eight types of openwork gravels are presented. • The distribution of openwork-gravel types across the fan surface and in subenvironments and elements is determined. • A facies model is proposed to account for the occurrence of openwork gravels of different origin in alluvial-fan successions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fan deltas grow largely through repeated cycles of lobe construction and channel erosion during the period of channelized flow. Although previous studies suggest that variable flood discharge may play a key role in strong erosion and related fully confined main channel formation in fan deltas, analog experiments with constant discharge and sediment supply showed that strong erosional events were cyclic. Understanding erosion cycles is important for land management and flood hazard mitigation. Here, we present flume experiments to investigate the mechanism and controlling factors of fully confined main channel-related erosion under constant discharge conditions. The results reveal that: (1) fully confined main channel-related erosion is triggered by turbulence within stratified fluid in hydraulic jump process. When the topography difference of the fan delta is sufficiently small, the flow direction changed from steeper flanks to the centerline. The flow velocity along centerline increase due to weak viscosity and steep slope of fan delta, changing the subcritical flow to supercritical flow. Supercritical flow transports sediment to the shoreline and is resisted by the standing body of water in the basin, causing the decrease of flow velocity accompanied by hydraulic jump. The turbulence formed in hydraulic jump process triggers the formation of scour hole which erodes the fan delta. (2) Input conditions control the range of the critical slope and frequency of erosion cycles. The critical slope is inversely related to the slope of the discharge and grain size of sediments, whereas it is directly related to the sediment/water ratio. The frequency of erosion cycles is directly related to the slope of substrate layer, discharge and sediment/water ratio. (3) The fan delta evolves under the interaction between the deposition process and topography. Moreover, dynamic equilibrium of experiments including main channel-related erosions and autogenic slope adjustments can be found in natural fan deltas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the guidance of the source-to-sink system model, we conducted multi-scale research, characterizing the provenance features, transport pathway, convergence mode, sand body architecture, and controlling factors of the channelized submarine fan developed in the Huangliuformation, Dongfang block, Yinggehai basin by combining both macro and micro methods. Zircon U–Pb dating, heavy minerals, and source area lithologic geological analysis confirmed that the provenance input for the upper member of the Huangliuformation mainly originated from a northwest mixed provenance system, which includes the Red River, Lam River, and Ma River drainage area. Based on 3D seismic and well logging data, seismic interpretation and sand body tracking were performed to further reveal that the ancient delta sediments were transported along the Yingxi slope and converged on the seafloor in the central depression to form a submarine fan. Detailed seismic sedimentological analysis also confirmed that the submarine fan is characterized by a strong gravity flow channelization. The thickness of the sand body varies significantly and its spatial structure is highly heterogeneous. The channels in the area were divided into four types: main channel, medial channel, migrated channel, and distal channel, according to genetic type and morphological characteristics. The submarine fan system was divided into six stages, exhibiting various channel and lobe developments and distributions. The evolution of the multi-stage channelized submarine fan was closely related to the sediment provenance, sea level rise and fall, and paleogeomorphology. Our research is important for the natural gas field exploration and sand body reservoir evaluation in DongFang block,and have typical case value for deep-water channelized submarine fan deposition in the South China Sea. • Provides systematic source-to-sink analysis of the channelized submarine fan. • Reveal the northwest multi-provenance system from the rock and dating analysis. • Sea level change and paleogeomorphology influence the sediment dispersal pathways. • Identify two reservoir groups, six evolution stages and four types of channels. • Shed new light on the sedimentary mechanism model of the Dongfang channelized fan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low-grade metamorphosed Cretaceous sedimentary records of forearc basin systems in the eastern part of the Transhimalaya (Gangdese) arc system have not been reported yet, impairing understanding of the Mesozoic-Cenozoic convergent margin processes along the southern margin of Asia. This study incorporates observations from petrography, stratigraphy, sedimentology, and analyses of detrital-zircon geochronology and bulk-rock Sr-Nd isotope for a series of low-grade metamorphosed sedimentary rocks referred to as the Lilong succession in the eastern Yarlung Zangbo suture zone, east of Langxian, in southeastern Tibet, China. Field observations reveal that this unit has three different lithological associations (I, II, and III) including gravel-coarse sandy inner-middle submarine fan facies, sandy-muddy middle-outer submarine fan facies, and silty-muddy outer submarine fan and/or deep sea plain facies moving higher in the succession. Detrital-zircon geochronology indicates a maximum depositional age of ~110 Ma and the absence of younger zircons that are dominant in the Gangdese batholith north of the basin suggests the minimum depositional age ~ 85 Ma, comprising an interval of the Albian-Santonian age. Volcanic and granitic clasts in sandstones/conglomerates, ε Nd (0) values (−0.09 and 4.6) and 87Sr/86Sr ratios (0.704105–0.704770) of slates, and detrital zircon age spectra (mainly 100–140 Ma) demonstrate provenance from the central-northern and southern Lhasa Terrane. In addition, there is evidence for recycling of cherty beds of the Chongdui Formation. Similarities between provenance, lithofacies, and tectonic setting lead us to interpret that the newly identified remnant unit correlates to the Ngamring Formation in the Xigaze forearc basin. When taking into account the lower Bomi Group and Nyingchi complex, we propose that the Lilong succession and the metamorphosed composite in the eastern Himalayan syntaxis are counterpart remnants of the eastern Xigaze forearc basin system, which are different from the two forearc basin systems in the western Himalaya. • The Albian-Santonian Lilong succession identified near the E Himalaya syntaxis • The Lilong succession deposited in a submarine fan system • The Lilong succession developed in a forearc basin with sources of Lhasa Terrane • Forearc basin system in central and E Himalaya differs from that in W Himalaya [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the last decades, provenance studies have proven to be an invaluable tool to evaluate modern and ancient sedimentary environments and to reconstruct the paleogeography and evolution of different tectonic settings. Whereas in the past provenance studies were mainly based on qualitative comparisons of whole-rock sandstone detrital modes, the advance and implementation of microanalytical techniques driven by the community during the last ~15 years permit the quantification of detrital-mineral ages and the isotopic characterization by in situ analysis. The combination of ages, isotopes, and mineral chemistry of individual detrital components provides a better understanding and reconstruction of source-to-sink systems. However, the introduction of these largely accessible microanalytical techniques has produced a large amount of data that requires proper management to be objectively interpreted. While a quantitative comparison between the age distributions of detrital sample pairs can be easily performed by Kolmogorov-Smirnov (K–S) statistics, comparing multi-samples data sets requires a more complex statistical approach. One of those is Multidimensional Scaling analysis (MDS), which allows, by using K–S statistics, to compare the dissimilarity between two or more samples. To compare among samples, a dissimilarities matrix, based on the stress from the ideal fit, is constructed. Dissimilarities are graphically represented in a "map" that tends to group more similar samples, pulling apart those that are more dissimilar. We contribute with three examples from the Mexican geology, showing how MDS can be used to evaluate in a more objective way the provenance of clastic rocks. We show that the MDS is more suitable than the visual comparison of probability density plots and kernel density estimations in marking the similarities and differences between the available samples; thus, it is a more suitable approach to reconstruct more rigorously the evolution of source-to-sink systems. Particularly, we examine fluvial to deep-marine Triassic strata, Paleozoic–lower Mesozoic metasedimentary rocks of the Ayú and Acatlán complexes, and Upper Jurassic–Cretaceous successions of the Pacific continental margin. The MDS challenges the scenario in which all Triassic submarine fan deposits of Mexico were part of a giant single fan developed along the Mexican Pacific margin, and supports the idea that the western margin of Pangea was drained by different fluvial systems that supplied distinct submarine fans. Applied to the Paleozoic–lower Mesozoic metasedimentary rocks of southern Mexico, this approach shows major dissimilarities between the Ayú and the Acatlán complexes, supporting the idea that these are likely two different tectonic complexes. Finally, the MDS suggests that two distinct and independent provenance domains were established in Mexico during the development of the Upper Jurassic–Early Cretaceous Arperos back-arc basin, and that such a detrital signature compartmentalization was lost by the end of Early Cretaceous time with the advent of compressive tectonics and the development of orogenic belts. • International Geology Review, v. 61, pp. 915-935. • The Guerrero terrane, a para-autochthonous block. GSA Special Paper 546. • International Geology Review, v. 56. No. 2, pp. 237–261. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The shallow-marine turbidite fans in the Upper Miocene Huangliu Formation of the Yinggehai Basin in the northwestern South China Sea (SCS) provide an excellent opportunity to understand their sedimentary processes in a shelf depositional environment. The down-slope gravity flow processes and along-slope bottom-current reworking processes of shallow-marine turbidite fans were interpreted by using seismic, well logging, core, petrographic, geochemical, and petrophysical data. Several depositional elements were identified in the shallow-marine turbidite fans, namely, channel-fill high-density turbidites (HDTs), channel-fill low-density turbidites (LDTs) and associated frontal splays, sand-rich/mud-rich lobe deposits, and bottom-current reworked channel-fill/lobe deposits. Deep U-shaped (or V-shaped) seismic reflections and low root-mean-square (RMS) amplitudes characterize the channel-fill HDTs that consist of massive fine-grained sandstones with mud clasts. The channel-fill LDTs, characterized by V-shaped or worm-shaped reflections, mostly consist of normally graded, laminated and rippled, very fine-grained sandstones. Frontal splays are generally associated with channel-fill LDTs. The sand-rich lobe deposits show continuous high-amplitude sheet-like reflections and consist of HDTs and LDTs, whereas the mud-rich lobe deposits show continuous moderate-amplitude reflections and consist of muddy debrites. The bottom-current reworked sandstones (BCRSs), which comprise well-sorted, fine-grained sandstones with traction-current structures, are usually located in the upper parts of thick sandbodies. The variability of depositional elements from large-scale channel-fill HDTs with strong basal erosion in fan-1 to small-scale channel-fill LDTs in fan-2 is closely linked with sea-level fluctuations that result in variable gravity-flow energy and sediment input. However, the reoccurrence of large-scale channel-fill HDTs in fan-3 at sea-level highstands may possibly be attributed to enhanced sediment input from the source areas. Down-slope flow transformation from turbidity flows into muddy debris flows within an individual channel-lobe complex (CLC) resulted in a dramatic increase in clay content and resultant decreasing reservoir quality from the channel-fill HDTs to the mud-rich lobe deposits, because muddy sediments are incorporated into the precursor turbidity flows and turbulence is suppressed. Additionally, it is suggested that the widely developed traction-current structures and tidal signatures (double mud layers, mud-draped ripples, discrete wavy bedding, internal truncation surface, and convex-up laminae) are the products of reworking by internal waves and -tides. During periods of sea-level highstands, the upper parts of gravity-flow sandstones would undergo bottom-current reworking, thus resulting in the retransportation of muddy fines and the formation of reworked sandstones with traction-current structures and tidal signatures. In this study, a combination of traction-current structures, tidal signatures, vertical sequences showing sharp upper contacts and non-gradational upper contacts, and trace elements is considered to be convincing diagnostic criteria in distinguishing reworked sandstones from gravity-flow sandstones. The representative bottom-current reworked sandstones should be preferable hydrocarbon targets in further exploration because of their better reservoir properties compared with gravity-flow sandstones. This research offers some insight into gravity-flow processes and bottom-current reworking processes in a shallow marine environment. • The variability of depositional elements is associated with sea-level fluctuations. • Down-slope flow transformations result in the variations of reservoir quality. • The upper parts of gravity-flow deposits have been reworked by internal waves and -tides. • An association of diagnostic criteria can help to identify bottom-current reworked sandstones. • The bottom-current reworked sandstones may represent a preferable hydrocarbon unit than turbidites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How well do deep-sea sedimentary archives track erosion in upland sources, driven by climatic change or tectonic forcing? Located on the western edge of South Asian monsoon influence, the Indus River system is particularly sensitive to variations in monsoon rainfall and thus provides a unique opportunity to estimate the nature of sedimentary signal propagation (i.e., recognizable pulses of sediment) through a large river basin under different climatic conditions. In this review we examine the impact that changing monsoon rainfall has had on NW Himalayan landscapes and its foreland since the middle Miocene. Rates of erosion are linked to summer monsoon rains over tectonic timescales but patterns of erosion are more explicitly linked to tectonically-driven rock uplift. Positive feedback between rock uplift and orographic precipitation drives increased erosion and transport from the Lesser Himalaya since the Miocene. After 2 Ma, erosion increasingly shifts to the Inner Lesser Himalaya. As defined multiproxy evidence, strong monsoon rainfall intervals broadly result in increased erosion and faster sediment transport together with increased chemical weathering, although the latter is further linked with global temperature and to the magnitude of sediment recycling within the routing system. We estimate that during the Holocene, most sediment (67–89% of the total ~6000 km3 or 16.3 x 1012 t) delivered to the ocean was sourced either from direct bedrock erosion through channel incision linked to higher discharge or from remobilized, recycled glacial sediment initially deposited during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Post-LGM sediment is primarily stored within the delta plain and shelf clinoform systems. Over the last 14 kyr, average mass delivery rates (936–1404 Mt/y) are much higher than pre-damming estimates (pre-1940s; 250–300 Mt/y). To reconcile observations with pre-damming estimates, high sediment supply rates, probably during strong monsoon intervals over the early Holocene, are required. Long-term rates were high (182-273 Mt/y) during a middle Miocene strong monsoon interval. Quaternary Indus submarine fan sedimentation is limited to sea-level lowstands, at which times shelf and delta sediment is eroded and reworked into deep water. As a result, and for at least the past 2–3 m.y., most sediment delivered to the Indus submarine fan was initially eroded from bedrock during strong summer monsoon intervals but deposited into the fan under weak monsoon intervals. During the most recent sea level lowstand, only ~24% of sediment deposited in the fan was derived from synchronous onshore bedrock erosion, with the remaining accounted for by recycled terrace, floodplain, and shelf clinoform system sediment. Variations in monsoon intensity over the last glacial cycle strongly impact the locus of onshore erosion, with increased relative Himalayan bedrock erosion during times of strong, wet monsoon intervals and increased Karakoram bedrock erosion during drier glacial intervals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The Carajás Basin evolved in a foreland setting in the early Paleoproterozoic. • A robust stratigraphic framework is presented for the first time. • The Azul marine and the Águas Claras fluvial deposits are younger than ca. 2.27 Ga. • The paleoenvironmental changes are directly related to the Columbia configuration. The Carajás Basin, situated in the southeastern Amazonian Craton in northern Brazil, hosts a > 6 km thick pile of volcano-sedimentary rocks deposited from the Neoarchean to the early Paleoproterozoic eras (ca. 2.75–2.06 Ga). It is claimed that this basin started as a rift configuration in which volcanic and banded iron formation strata were deposited during the Neoarchean Era. However, the tectono-sedimentary evolution of this basin through the Paleoproterozoic Era remains unexplored. Based on a sedimentological, stratigraphic, and U–Pb detrital zircon geochronological investigation of a marine to a fluvial succession of this basin, this study suggests that the Carajás Basin evolved in a foreland setting during the early Paleoproterozoic Era. Probably, the Carajás Foreland Basin was sedimented in the underfilled stage (ca. 2.5–2.3 Ga) by deep-marine strata (i.e., glaciogenic submarine fan deposits), likely from the Siderian–Rhyacian Serra Sul Formation. Subsequently, shallow-marine deposits of the Azul Formation were deposited in the filled stage (ca. 2.3–2.1 Ga), followed by deposition of the fluvial to alluvial deposits of the Águas Claras and Gorotire formations during the overfilled stage (ca. 2.1–1.9 Ga). The Azul and Águas Claras formations were supplied mainly by Meso- to Neoarchean source rocks, whereas Paleoproterozoic and Paleoarchean rocks played the role of a subordinate source of sediments. The youngest U–Pb age cluster, at ca. 2.27 Ga, is interpreted as its maximum depositional age. In terms of paleogeography, the occurrence of Rhyacian zircon grains in the Azul Formation deposits suggests, at least partially, a connection between the Carajás Protocontinent with the Bacajá Domain during that period. The integrated data corroborate the hypothesis that the foreland basin was formed in a scenario of collision between the Bacajá Domain and the Carajás Protocontinent during the Transamazonian Cycle. These dramatic upheavals are directly related to the configuration of the Columbia Supercontinent, which initially led to the emergence of the Carajás Foreland Basin, and soon after, the cratonization of proto-Amazonia [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Río Seco de los Castaños Formation (San Rafael Block) holds one of the few middle Palaeozoic (Silurian−Devonian) records worldwide of a Nereites - Dictyodora dominated ichnofauna with sedimentological features such as oscillatory and combined-flow deposits. This record is associated with microbial mats in fine-grained intervals between turbidite-like deposits documented above the storm wave base. In this work, a detailed sedimentological study permitted to divide the unit into two informal sections separated by an erosional unconformity attributed to a sea level fall. Prograding turbidite-like sand-grained deposits document gravitational turbulent flows. The tectonostratigraphic framework allowed to disregard a submarine fan, whereas the unconformity does not support an autocyclic deltaic evolution. Palaeocurrents and palaeoslope indicators to the SW suggest a high source area to the NE, that contrasts with the well-established E-W trend of most of the units of similar age in the Cuyania terrane. Deposition was probably deflected by subaqueous highs with the development of mini-basins most likely structurally controlled. The ichnological analysis allowed to recognise ichnotaxa and intergradation cases between ichnospecies previously unknown for the unit, adding to the most diverse record of Dictyodora and Nereites in central-western Gondwana. Chondrites intricatus , Chondrites targionii , Chondrites ?, Dictyodora zimmermanni , and specimens resembling Dictyodora liebeana are recorded for the first time. Nereites missouriensis is documented in intergradation with Nereites jacksoni , whereas Dictyodora scotica is recognised in intergradation with Dictyodora atuelica and Dictyodora tenuis. A decrease in ichnodiversity throughout the section could be related to variation in environmental parameters between the lower and upper sections. The ichnofacies assignment is discussed in terms of ethological categories and ichnodiversity. Some of the defined ichnoassemblages are assignable to a non-standard record of the Nereites Ichnofacies, and one in particular to the Nereites Ichnosubfacies, while another shows some characteristics coincident with the Zoophycos Ichnofacies. A transitional case between ichnofacies for the ichnological content of the unit as a whole, as previously reported in other units, cannot be disregarded. • The Río Seco de los Castaños Formation is divisible into two stratigraphic sections. • Storm and combined-flow deposits were documented. • Ichnotaxa and intergradation cases previously unknown for the unit were recognised. • The ichnofacies assignment to the Nereites Ichnofacies is discussed in detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stromboli is an active insular volcano located in the Southern Tyrrhenian Sea and its recent volcanic activity is mostly confined within the Sciara del Fuoco (SdF, hereafter), a 2-km wide subaerial–submarine collapse scar, which morphologically dominates the NW flank of the edifice. In August-November 2014, an effusive eruption occurred along the steep SdF slope, with multiple lava flows reaching the sea. The integration of multisensor remote sensing data, including lidar, photogrammetric, bathymetric surveys coupled with SAR amplitude images collected before and after the 2014 eruption enabled to reconstruct the dynamics of the lava flows through the main morphological changes of the whole SdF slope. Well-defined and steep-sided ridges were created by lava flows during the early stages of the eruption, when effusion rates were high, favoring the penetration into the sea of lava flows as coherent bodies. Differently, fan-shaped features were emplaced during the declining stage of the eruption or in relation to lava overflows and associated gravel flows, suggesting the prevalence of volcaniclastic breccias with respect to coherent lava flows. The estimated volume of eruptive products emplaced on the SdF slope during the 2014 eruption, accounts for about 3.7 × 106 m3, 18% of which is in the submarine setting. This figure is different with respect to the previous 2007 eruption at Stromboli, when a large lava submarine delta formed. This discrepancy can be mainly related to the different elevation of the main vents feeding lava flows during the 2007 eruption (around 400 m) and the 2014 eruption (around 650 m). Besides slope accretion, instability processes were detected both in the subaerial and submarine SdF slope. Submarine slope failure mobilized at least 6 × 105 m3 of volcaniclastic material, representing the largest instability event detected since the 2007 lava delta emplacement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The morphology of divergent continental margins results from, amongst other things, rift processes, juxtaposition of oceanic, continental and transitional crust, and subsequent loading and shaping by sedimentary processes. Resulting morphologies have led to conventional classification of margin components into shelf, slope, rise and abyssal plain segments. Division of the inclined part of a continental margin into a slope and a rise; however, is challenging, due to complex geomorphologies and mixture of sedimentary processes. The rise, in particular, seems to elude specific criteria on which it might be uniquely identified, despite very specific criteria proposed in its original inception. This study seeks to develop a methodology on which the rise might be made more readily apparent. Solely diffusive behaviour of sediment flux should result in an exponential-shaped slope. This basic form is referred to as a graded shape. The continental rise, as a depositional body, conceptually should represent a departure from this shape, otherwise it cannot be morphologically distinguished from the continental slope. It is proposed that a graded slope represents the base-level condition for a margin that results from long-term diffusive sediment distribution due to a balance of processes of sediment input, transport, deposition, erosion and output. This study shows empirically that this base-level condition is mathematically predictable as an exponential decay curve with a constant exponent. To test this hypothesis, a 3D graded surface model slope that extends from the shelf break to the abyssal plain was produced for the Northwest Atlantic margin (NWAM) from Blake Outer Ridge to the northern tip of Labrador Sea. Removal of this model from measured bathymetry results in residual bathymetric anomalies that highlight graded, above-grade and below-grade segments of the margin. Nearly half of the margin by area (2 of 4.6 M km2) fits the graded curve model to within +/- 100 m. Above-grade segments total 1.9 M km2 and are mostly related to contourite deposition (e.g., Chesapeake Drift and Hatteras Outer Ridge) and submarine fan deposition (e.g., Laurentian Fan). Below grade segments (0.6 M km2) are related to erosion (e.g., Blake Escarpment) or non-deposition (e.g., Flemish Cap). There do not appear to be any consistent criteria in the form or distribution of residual bathymetric anomalies and associated sedimentary properties that allow ready distinction of the continental slope from the continental rise. Chesapeake Drift and Hatteras Outer Ridge are the largest anomalies along the entire margin, and yet it was on these features that the original concept of the continental rise was developed. The complexity of the margin, highlighted by this residual bathymetry technique, indicates the inadequacy of dividing a margin into long established components of slope, rise and abyssal plain. Classification of the margin according to grade seems more informative in terms of understanding its geomorphology, sediment distribution and geologic history. • Highly sedimented continental margins have a predictable graded exponential decay shape as their base-level condition. • Departures from grade may be due to over-supply (above-grade) or under-supply of sediment (below-grade). • Residual bathymetry derived by removal of predicted from measured bathymetry quantitatively identifies grade shape. • The continental rise was conceptualized on a highly anomalous above-grade region of the Northwest Atlantic margin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]