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The deepwater area is one of the frontiers of oil and gas exploration, with the understanding of distribution and genesis of deepwater reservoirs being crucial for reservoir formation research. Despite Baodao Sag in the Qiongdongnan Basin being proven to be rich in hydrocarbon generation, significant oil and gas fields have yet to be discovered in the ultra-deepwater areas, and the distribution patterns of reservoirs in deep water remain unclear. Taking the southern slope area of the Baodao Sag as an example, the distribution characteristics of submarine fans are studied by employing seismic prediction methods, including seismic reflection structure analysis, seismic facies geometry, seismic attribute analysis, and the source-to-sink theory. The results show distinct characteristics: the fan delta exhibits parallel oblique progradational reflection, the slumping submarine fan displays lenticular reflection, and the submarine fan of the Sanya Formation demonstrates subparallel sheet reflection. The provenance of sediment is traced back to the denudation area of the Songnan low uplift and the Southern Uplift area in the southwest. The sediments were primarily transported through two main incised channel systems in the north and south, ultimately flowing into the southern slope area of the Baodao Sag. The application of seismic sedimentological prediction methods and source-sink theory has laid a solid geological foundation for oil and gas exploration and the analysis of reservoir forming conditions in the deepwater area of the Baodao Sag.

Submarine fan reservoirs are important accumulation zones for oil, gas, and natural gas hydrates, offering significant potential for hydrocarbon exploration. During the deposition period of the Sanya Formation in the southern part of the Changchang Sag of the Qiongdongnan Basin, a large submarine fan developed. However, the internal structure, source-sink system, and formation mechanism of this fan remain poorly understood, posing significant challenges to exploration in this area. This paper examines the source-to-sink sedimentary processes and deposition of submarine fans, using the Changchang Sag, in the Qiongdongnan Basin in the Northern South China Sea, as an example, which will provide valuable general guidance for deep water oil and gas exploration. Based on the theories of seismic stratigraphy and seismic sedimentology, this paper utilizes techniques such as seismic facies analysis, seismic attribute optimization, paleogeomorphology reconstruction, and source-to-sink sedimentary system analysis to analyze the 3D seismic data of the study area. Research indicates that the Sanya Formation in the Changchang Sag of the Qiongdongnan Basin comprises three depositional units: submarine fan, feeder channel, and Semi-deep marine to deep marine mudstone. The submarine fan is a fan formed by the coupling and convergence of submarine fans sourced from the southwest and southeast. Internally, it is divided into three sub-facies: the proximal fan of the sand-rich submarine fan, the main body of the sand-rich submarine fan lobes, and the distal lobes of the sand-rich submarine fan. The submarine fan sourced from the southwest extends nearly north-south and is primarily fed by sediment transported through three large, banded ancient valleys. The sedimentary filling is characterized by three-phase progradation. The submarine fan sourced from the southeast extends nearly east-west and is primarily fed by sediment transported through a single large, banded ancient valley. The sedimentary filling is characterized by two-phase lateral accumulation. During the deposition period of the Sanya Formation, certain areas of the southern uplift belt were exposed for extended periods and subjected to weathering and erosion. Sediments are transported to large ancient valleys through small supply channels. A large number of sediments were transported to the southern slope of the Changchang sag through the provenance channel system such as large ancient valleys and slope belts and deposited in the center of the sag. These make up a complete system of large ancient uplifts and submarine fan source-to-sink sedimentary systems.The sedimentary model is a lobed submarine fan controlled by semi-restricted ancient valleys and expansive basins.

The shelf‐margin deltas are the primary 'sources' of interest in siliceous submarine fan source‐to‐sink systems. However, less has yet to be discovered about the roles and effects of the shallow water platform situated on continental slopes. Using the Miocene sediments of the Ledong‐Lingshui Sag in the western part of the Qiongdongnan Basin (QDNB), this paper studies the YC35 coarse‐grained submarine fan that developed in the Meishan Formation (Fm.). The material sources, depositional characteristics, and developmental mechanisms of this fan were investigated. The restored palaeogeomorphology, based on high‐resolution 3D seismic data, shows that a shallow water platform exists. According to geochemical palaeoenvironmental data, the shallow water platform was ideal for forming carbonate deposits in the Meishan Fm., owing to the warm and humid palaeoclimate and the shifting trend in palaeowater depth. Based on the combined source tracing of heavy minerals, coherence slices, and seismic profiles, the shallow water platform and the Ningyuan River source on Hainan Island contributed to the YC35 coarse‐grained submarine fan. Compared to submarine fans formed during different periods, coarse‐grained fan stands out due to its distinct sedimentary structure, rock composition, and microlithological characteristics. Aside from not following the usual Bowmar sequence, there is an excess of gravel and no clear bedding or lamination. A large number of rock fragments, mostly granite and sedimentary rock (carbonatite), make up the rock composition. According to these results, the shallow water platform significantly affects submarine fan material composition. In addition, the attribute slice based on the root mean square reveals that shallow water platforms moderate peripheral deposition. We attribute the development and proximal supply of the shallow water platform to diapirism and forced regression. Our research provides novel insights and comprehension into the investigation of submarine fan sedimentary systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Source‐to‐sink dynamics are subjected to complex interactions between erosion, sediment transfer and deposition, particularly in an evolving tectonic and climatic setting. Here we use stratigraphic forward modelling (SFM) to predict the basin‐fill architecture of a multi‐source‐to‐sink system based on a state‐of‐the‐art numerical approach. The modelling processes consider key source‐to‐sink parameters such as water discharge, sediment load and grain size to simulate various sedimentary processes and transport mechanisms reflecting the dynamic interplay between erosion in the catchment area, subsidence, deposition and filling of the basin. The Cenozoic succession along the SW Barents Shelf margin provides a key area to examine controls on source‐to‐sink systems along a transform margin that developed during the opening of the North Atlantic when Greenland and Eurasian plates were separated (ca. 55 Ma onwards). Moreover, the gradual cooling which culminated in major glaciations in the northern hemisphere during the Quaternary (ca. 2.7 Ma), has affected the spatio‐temporal evolution of the sediment routing along the western Barents Shelf margin. This study aims to characterize the relative importance of different source areas within the source‐to‐sink framework through SFM. In the early Eocene, the SW Barents Shelf experienced a relatively equal sediment delivery from three principal source areas: (i) Greenland to the north, (ii) the Stappen High to the east, representing a local source terrain, and (iii) a major southern source (Fennoscandia). In the middle Eocene, our best‐fit modelling scenario suggests that the northern and the local eastern sources dominated over the southern source, collectively supplying large amounts of sand into the basin as evidenced by the submarine fans in Sørvestsnaget Basin. In the Oligocene (ca. 33 Ma) and Miocene (ca. 23 Ma), significant amounts of sediments were sourced from the east due to shelf‐wide uplift. Finally, this study highlights the dynamic nature and controls of sediment transfer in multi‐source‐to‐sink systems and demonstrates the potential of SFM to unravel tectonic and climatic signals in the stratigraphic record. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the main target of deepwater oil and gas exploration, submarine fans are also the frontier and focus of sedimentology research. Based on the latest three-dimensional (3D) seismic data covering the study area, as well as heavy mineral, rare earth elements, and other data and guided by the theory of seismic sedimentology, this study analyzes the lower Miocene provenance system and sediment dispersion system in the eastern deepwater area of the Qiongdongnan Basin, northern South China Sea, from the perspective of source-to-sink system research. Our research defines the sediment supply function of provenance, paleogeomorphology and valley transport system, sedimentation results and distribution, and the coupling relationship between the source–channel–sink system and comprehensively constructs a set of application guidelines of source-to-sink system research to guide the exploration and prediction of favorable play in the study area and other similar basins. This study shows that in the early Miocene, as controlled by tectonics and paleogeomorphology, uplift areas developed on both the northern and southern sides of the Songnan, Baodao, and Changchang Sags in the Qiongdongnan Basin and small provenances of near-sag uplifts were found in the southern part of the sag. The provenance area in the northern part of the sag was large but not unified, and it formed different provenance systems consisting of the Hainan Uplift in the northern Songnan Sag, Hainan Uplift in the northern Baodao Sag, and Shenhu Uplift in the northern Changchang Sag. A series of canyon systems that developed in the early Miocene were the main channels for sediment transport from the shelf to the slope in the northern Songnan, Baodao, and Changchang Sags. In the early stage of the early Miocene, due to regional sea level decline, the scale of the canyons was generally large, and the scale of the canyons on the northern edge of the Songnan Sag was significantly larger than that of the Baodao Sag. As the relative sea level rose, the canyons became small, narrow, and shallow in the late stage of the early Miocene. Under the dual control of the “source–channel” system, multiple “delta–canyon–submarine fan” depositional systems developed in the Songnan, Baodao, and Changchang Sags in the early Miocene, and large deltas in the depositional systems were mainly located along the northern part of the sag and prograded to the shelf edge of the northern Songnan, Baodao, and Changchang Sags from north to south, providing a good material basis for the development of deepwater sediments.

Abstract Deep‐water depositional systems are the ultimate sink for vast quantities of terrigenous sediment, organic carbon and anthropogenic pollutants, forming valuable archives of environmental change. Our understanding of the distribution of these particles and the preservation of environmental signals, in deep‐water systems is limited due to the inaccessibility of modern systems, and the incomplete nature of ancient systems. Here, the deposit of a physically modelled turbidity current was sampled (n = 49) to determine how grain size and grain type vary spatially. The turbidity current had a sediment concentration of 17%. The sediment consisted of, by weight, 65% quartz sand (2.65 g/cm3), 17.5% silt (2.65 g/cm3), 7.5% clay (2.60 g/cm3) and 5% each of sand‐grade garnet (3.90 g/cm3) and microplastic fragments (1.50 g/cm3). The grain size and composition of each sample was determined using laser diffraction and density separation, respectively. The results show that: (a) bulk grain size coarsened axially downstream on the basin floor challenging the notion that basin floor deposits fine radially from an apex upon becoming unconfined; (b) no sample composition matched the input composition of the flow, indicating that allogenic signals can be autogenically shredded and spatially variable in sediment gravity flow deposits; and (c) microplastic fragments were concentrated in levee and lateral basin floor fringe positions; however, microplastic concentrations in these positions were lower than input, suggesting microplastics bypassed the sampled positions. These findings have implications for: (a) the development of ‘finger‐like’ geometries and facies distributions observed in modern and ancient systems; (b) interpreting environmental signals in the stratigraphic record; and (c) predicting the distribution of microplastics on the sea floor.

The fringe of fine‐grained deep‐marine systems often exhibits complex sedimentary facies and facies associations, because the presence of clay promotes the development of transient turbulent flows with complex depositional properties. Relatively little is known about the variation of current‐induced sedimentary structures found within these facies. This study provides the first comprehensive description and interpretation of mixed sandstone–mudstone bedforms observed in the fringe of the mud‐rich submarine fan that makes up the Aberystwyth Grits Group and Borth Mudstone Formation (Wales, UK). Using textural and structural descriptions, 158 bedforms in sediment gravity flow deposits were characterized into three main types: 'classic' sandy current ripples, large current ripples and low‐amplitude bed‐waves. The sandy current ripples comprise clean sandstone, with average heights and lengths of 11 mm and 141 mm, respectively. The large current ripples are composed of mixed sandstone–mudstone and possess greater dimensions than the sandy current ripples, with an average height of 19 mm and an average length of 274 mm. The low‐amplitude bed‐waves are long thin bedforms composed commonly of mixed sandstone–mudstone, with an average height and length of 10 mm and 354 mm, respectively. The large current ripples and low‐amplitude bed‐waves are strikingly similar to experimental bedforms produced under decelerating mixed sand–mud flows and are interpreted to form beneath transitional flows with enhanced and attenuated near‐bed turbulence, respectively. From the fringe to the distal fringe of the fan, the dominant bedform type changed from sandy current ripples, via large current ripples, to low‐amplitude bed‐waves, suggesting that the flows changed from turbulent to increasingly turbulence‐modulated. It is proposed that the flow Reynolds number reduced, reflecting this flow transformation, from a combination of constant or decreasing flow height, flow deceleration from sediment deposition, and increasing flow viscosity due to the shear‐thinning nature of clay‐rich suspensions. Large current ripples and low‐amplitude bed‐waves are likely to be common in the fringe of other submarine fans. The presence and spatial trends in mixed sand–mud bedform types may be an important tool in interpreting fan fringe environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When we look back the contributions on submarine fans during the past 65 years (1950–2015), the empirical data on 21 modern submarine fans and 10 ancient deep-water systems, published by the results of the First COMFAN (Committee on FANs) Meeting (Bouma et al., 1985a), have remained the single most significant compilation of data on submarine fans. The 1970s were the “heyday” of submarine fan models. In the 21st century, the general focus has shifted from submarine fans to submarine mass movements, internal waves and tides, and contourites. The purpose of this review is to illustrate the complexity of issues surrounding the origin and classification of submarine fans. The principal elements of submarine fans, composed of canyons, channels, and lobes, are discussed using nine modern case studies from the Mediterranean Sea, the Equatorial Atlantic, the Gulf of Mexico, the North Pacific, the NE Indian Ocean (Bay of Bengal), and the East Sea (Korea). The Annot Sandstone (Eocene–Oligocene), exposed at Peira-Cava area, SE France, which served as the type locality for the “Bouma Sequence”, was reexamined. The field details are documented in questioning the validity of the model, which was the basis for the turbidite-fan link. The 29 fan-related models that are of conceptual significance, developed during the period 1970–2015, are discussed using modern and ancient systems. They are: (1) the classic submarine fan model with attached lobes, (2) the detached-lobe model, (3) the channel-levee complex without lobes, (4) the delta-fed ramp model, (5) the gully-lobe model, (6) the suprafan lobe model, (7) the depositional lobe model, (8) the fan lobe model, (9) the ponded lobe model, (10) the nine models based on grain size and sediment source, (11) the four fan models based on tectonic settings, (12) the Jackfork debrite model, (13) the basin-floor fan model, (14) supercritical and subcritical fans, and (15) the three types of fan reservoirs. Each model is unique, and the long-standing belief that submarine fans are composed of turbidites, in particular, of gravelly and sandy high-density turbidites, is a myth. This is because there are no empirical data to validate the existence of gravelly and sandy high-density turbidity currents in the modern marine environments. Also, there are no experimental documentation of true turbidity currents that can transport gravels and coarse sands in turbulent suspension. Mass-transport processes, which include slides, slumps, and debris flows (but not turbidity currenrs), are the most viable mechanisms for transporting gravels and sands into the deep sea. The prevailing notion that submarine fans develop during periods of sea-level lowstands is also a myth. The geologic reality is that frequent short-term events that last for only a few minutes to several hours or days (e.g., earthquakes, meteorite impacts, tsunamis, tropical cyclones, etc.) are more important in controlling deposition of deep-water sands than sporadic long-term events that last for thousands to millions of years (e.g., lowstand systems tract). Submarine fans are still in a stage of muddled turbidite paradigm because the concept of high-density turbidity currents is incommensurable.

The deposits of the upper Neoproterozoic Zerrissene Group of central‐western Namibia represent a large siliciclastic deep‐water depositional system that showcases the intricacies of facies and architectural relationships from bed‐scale to fan‐system‐scale. The lack of vegetation in the Namib Desert and regular east–west repetition of folded stratigraphy (reflecting ca 50% tectonic shortening) provides quasi‐three‐dimensional exposure over a current area of approximately 2700 square kilometres. The Brak River Formation, the middle sand‐rich unit of the Zerrissene Group, consists of nearly 600 m of strata exposed in multiple parallel continuous outcrops up to ca 10 km in length and oriented obliquely to depositional dip. Ten stratigraphic sections are correlated ca 32 km (ca 64 km restored) across the basin and offer exposure comparable in scale to modern submarine fans. Six sedimentary facies are identified and grouped into four facies associations that represent axial‐to‐marginal portions of deep‐water lobes in an unconfined submarine fan system. Spatial facies patterns, regional thickness variations, and palaeocurrents indicate that Brak River Formation sediments were transported primarily from the north to south–south‐west through a trough‐like basin, and deposited within an unconfined basin plain at the junction of the Adamastor and Khomas oceans. The unique outcrop exposure and extent permits the documentation of system‐scale architecture and basin configuration of the Brak River submarine fan system. A transition from the sand‐rich lower Brak River Formation to more intercalated mudstone‐dominated intervals in the middle and upper Brak River Formation is interpreted to record a change from aggradational to compensational stacking of lobe deposits. This records the evolution of a large submarine fan as it filled the subtle seafloor topography and became less confined at the system‐scale. The documentation of these deep‐water deposits from centimetre‐scale to basin‐scale provides a new model for a system with extensive long‐distance transport of sand‐rich sediment gravity flows to submarine lobes without apparent channelization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this Glossary, selected terms and concepts associated with submarine fans are defined.

Distinguishing between shallow‐water delta and fluvial fan deposits in the subsurface of lacustrine basins is challenging due to their similar depositional characteristics and distribution patterns. This study focuses on the Middle Jurassic Shaximiao Formation in the central Sichuan Basin using core observations, seismic analyses, petrology analyses, zircon analyses, palaeoclimate indicators and palaeocurrent analyses to address this issue. Fifteen sedimentary lithofacies and eight lithofacies associations were established, corresponding to channelized fluvial deposits, non‐channelized fluvial deposits and shallow‐water delta deposits. Shallow‐water deltas are dominated by channels and mouth‐bar complexes with grey, red and green interbedded mudstone. Shingled seismic reflection, green mud clasts, small burrows and wave ripples are common with occasional palaeosols. Fluvial fans are dominated by channels and crevasse‐splays with pink colour and accompanied by red coloured floodplain deposits. Bright spot seismic reflection, red mud clasts, big burrows, current ripples and palaeosols are common. The increased uplift of the Dabashan Mountains controls the palaeocurrent direction, promoting the evolution from a shallow‐water delta in relatively humid environments to a fluvial fan in relatively arid environments. The channel widths in shallow‐water deltas are wider than those in fluvial fans, whereas the opposite applies for the channel amalgamation rate. Highly frequent channel‐width variations are controlled by short‐cycle climate fluctuation, corresponding to chemical index of alteration value fluctuations in different sandstone groups. The channel width in the relatively humid environments is wider than that in arid environments for both shallow‐water deltas and fluvial fans. It is likely that the sedimentary evolution from shallow‐water deltas to fluvial fans is relatively common in lacustrine basins in relatively arid environments with wide and gentle slope landforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The diagenetic evolution of sandstone is very complicated under the conditions of high temperatures and pressures in deep-water, deep-buried regimes, which have great influence on reservoir quality. This study investigates the typical reservoir target of Neogene deep-water, submarine-fan sandstones under high-temperature, high-pressure regimes in the Qiongdongnan Basin, South China Sea. Utilizing a thin section, scanning electron microscope (SEM), mineral geochemistry combined with burial history evolution, complex diagenetic events, and main controlling factors of the sandstone in the Neogene Meishan Formation were determined. The results show that the evolution of sandstone reservoirs is initially controlled by depositional framework compositions and subsequently modified by eogenetic and mesogenetic alterations during progressive burial. Eogenetic alterations mainly include the following: (1) mechanical compaction; (2) dissolution of feldspar; (3) low-Fe calcite cementation. Mesogenetic events were identified as the following: (1) dissolution of feldspar; (2) ferroan calcite and ankerite formation; (3) precipitation of quartz and clay mineral. Mechanical compaction is greatly influenced by the original depositional framework composition, and sandstone samples enriched in high contents of detrital clay matrix always experienced extensive mechanical compaction. Different phases of carbonate cement during different diagenetic regimes lead to continuous destruction on reservoir porosity. The dissolution of unstable feldspar minerals during eogenetic and mesogenetic environments leads to the development of secondary porosities and would enhance the quality of the reservoir. Overpressure formation is pervasively developed owing to early disequilibrium compaction and subsequent natural gas charging. Only well-sorted sandstones with low contents of detrital clay matrix could resist early mechanical compaction, lead to ample residual original porosities, and then undergo extensive mineral dissolution to generate sufficient secondary porosities. Subsequently, these porosities would be effectively protected by overpressure formation. Poor-sorted sandstones with high contents of detrital clay matrix would experience strong mechanical compaction and extensive destruction of original porosities. Thus, these sandstones are difficult to have significant dissolution and are unable to be effectively protected by overpressure formation. Therefore, the interplay between the original framework composition and the corresponding diagenetic pathways coupled with overpressure formation would result in strong reservoir heterogeneity for the deep-buried sandstones during progressive burial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The turbiditic succession containing exotic blocks of various sizes deposited in the Çüngüş Basin, has been previously identified as the Çüngüş Formation in front of the Southeast Anatolian Suture Belt, Türkiye. These turbiditic sediments, dated as Eocene-Early Miocene, were interpreted as the lowermost allochthonous tectono-stratigraphic unit thrust over the Lice Formation during the Miocene within the Çüngüş-Hakkari nappes. In this study, the stratigraphical, sedimentological, palaeontological, and structural features of the Çüngüş and Lice formations are examined and reinterpreted within a basin model. Both formations consist of sandstones, siltstones, mudstones, and subordinate conglomerates, indicating ramp-fringe palaeochannel, submarine fan, and basin-floor turbidite facies associations. In the northern part of the basin, just in front of the suture belt, volcanic, metamorphic, and ophiolitic rocks and nummulitic limestones are included as blocks and tectonic slices within the turbidite succession. Based on nannoplankton analysis, both Çüngüş and Lice formations are assigned an Early Miocene age. The sedimentary facies associations filling the Çüngüş Basin are transitional from proximal to distal facies. The thrust in the previous maps separating the Çüngüş and Lice formations cannot be confirmed in the field. Based on our field observations and age data, we interpret that the Lice and the Çüngüş formations deposited continuously within the Çüngüş Basin that was opened as a foreland basin by flexural subsidence of the Arabian Autochthon under the crustal load of the Pütürge-Bitlis Massifs and the Maden Complex during the Early Miocene. The turbidite deposits containing exotic blocks in the north of the basin are interpreted as wedge-top deposits of the foreland basin, while those in the south are considered foredeep deposits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Structural fracture distribution is essential in oil and gas transportation and development in passive continental margin basins. In this paper, taking as an example the clastic reservoirs in the A-Basin, a passive continental margin in northeastern South America, the paleotectonic stress field of the Late Cretaceous Maastrichtian formation in Basin A was numerically simulated by finite element technique through the integrated interpretation of seismic total data, logging data and core data, and the distribution of tectonic fractures was later predicted based on rock fracture criterion. The results of the study show that: (1) The distribution of tectonic stress and fractures during the Late Cretaceous Maastrichtian formation of Basin A is affected by the fracture zone, mechanical properties of rocks and tectonic stress, regions with extensive fracture development are susceptible to stress concentrations, resulting in significant stress gradients. (2) The development of structural fractures in the study area was predicted using the Griffiths criterion, and the tensile rupture coefficient T was introduced to quantitatively characterise the intensity of fracture development, with larger values reflecting a higher degree of fracture development. The well-developed and relatively well-developed fractures are mainly located in the fracture zones and the interior of submarine fans. (3) Fracture zones and sedimentary phases mainly control structural fractures in Basin A; within 5 km outside the fracture zones, the development of fractures is controlled by the fracture zones, beyond which the regional tectonic stress field controls them; inside the sedimentary fan, the development of fractures is controlled by the sedimentary subphase, which decreases in the order of the upper fan, the middle fan, and the lower fan; inside the subphase, they are controlled by the regional tectonic stress field, and the fractures show the increasing trend in the direction of NW-NE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-resolution seismic, core, and chronological data from the Quaternary Golo deepsea fans, offshore Corsica, France, give new insights into rates of submarine fan growth. Average vertical deposition rates for units that represent the Late Pleistocene glacial periods are 0.1-0.5 m/k.y. Glacial-age deposits are sand rich; in contrast, post-glacial deposits lack a significant sand fraction and are dominated by carbonate-rich mud. As a result, seismically constrained volumetric rates of deposition for glacial periods with low sea level and a subaerially exposed shelf are ~0.23 km3/k.y., 2×-5× higher than rates during interglacials when sea level is high, the shelf is submerged, and sand is trapped in shallowmarine environments. At millennial time scales, variations in deposition rate reflect climatedriven sea-level changes, autogenic avulsion of river channels that extend across the shelf during low sea level, and autogenic avulsion of submarine channels that shift the locus of deposition laterally. Short-term deposition rates range from 8.6 m/k.y. at proximal portions of submarine fans to 0.4 m/k.y. along the distal fringe. Our data show that submarine fans can be dynamic environments with formation and evolution of levee-confined channels and lobe complexes in 103-104 yr, comparable to the time scales needed to form fluvial channel belts and delta lobes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is based on the detailed sedimentological analysis of eleven sections and one well through the late Eocene–Oligocene flysch formation of the Internal Ionian Zone (IIZ) in Western Greece. The sections are spread from the northern parts of Epirus to the north and Aitolokarnania to the south. Sedimentological data combined with biostratigraphic analyses resulted in a five-stage evolutionary model for the basin. Unit I corresponds to the lower part of the examined sections, indicating the onset of clastic sedimentation. Regarding depositional environments, it is regarded as a basin plain where lobe distal fringe accumulations occur. Unit II consists almost exclusively of heterolithic facies, marking the advance of a lobe complex system. Massive sandstone facies dominate unit III and can be considered a more proximal submarine fan system. Unit IV reflects a calm period of the basin, where mud-dominated heterolithics and hemipelagic mudstones were deposited. Hemipelagic mudstone facies with intervals of heterolithics, conglomerates, and deformed and massive sandstone facies characterize unit V. The architecture resembles a slope system incised by canyons and channels. The sand-rich intervals in Units III and V could act as the most favorable reservoir levels. In contrast, the sand-rich intervals in Unit II are considered less promising due to their higher heterogeneity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The submarine fan with a narrow shelf is usually reactive to environmental signal propagation; however, source-to-sink functioning can be further complicated by several allogenic forcings. Here, we document the high-frequency provenance variations and different sediment delivery models recorded in the late Triassic Zhuoni fan developed in the northeastern Paleo-Tethys Ocean, mainly based on process-based sedimentological and provenance study of the Panyuan section in the West Qinling area in the northeastern margin of Tibetan Plateau. High-, low-density turbidites, hybrid event beds and hyperpycnites are distributed in the lobe-dominated submarine fan succession. Field sedimentological evidence from surrounding outcrops suggests that shelf-edge failure was the main cause of most high-and low-density turbidites with the overall absence of submarine slides or slumps, whereas the narrow shelf configuration together with late Triassic humid pulses is favourable for the occurrence of flood-related hyperpycnites in the Zhuoni fan. Detrital zircon grains (N = 6; n=123-272) generally have Palaeozoic-Mesozoic ages (ca. 350-250 Ma and 500-400 Ma) and Neoarchean-Paleoproterozoic ages (ca. 2100-1750 Ma and 2600-2400 Ma), but they can be further categized into three age groups due to different proportions of Precambrian age populations. The results demonstrate that the potential source areas may include the South and North Qinling Orogenic Belt, Qilian Orogenic Belt, different segments of North China Craton and the tectonic junction area between the Qinling and Qilian Orogenic Belts. The temporal changes in provenance signals, which are reflected by both the detrital zircon age spectra and heavy mineral assemblages, indicate different contributions of those sources in response to sea-level fluctuation. It could thus give rise to temporal variations between reactive and buffered source-to-sink sediment delivery models of the Zhuoni fan, despite the overall narrow shelf configuration. The development of the lowstand Zhuoni fan was directly related to extrabasinal hyperpycnal delivery from the river mouth and its high-frequency provenance variability recorded different efficiencies of signal transfer through the onshore catchment with significantly influence of temporal storage, fluvial rejuvenation or even regional climate variability. The highstand submarine fan was thought to be formed by shelf-edge failure with sediment buffering in the shelf region, which was associated with a strong magnitude of provenance mixing. Our work provides a new perspective for deciphering the different origins of deep-water sediment delivery in response to high-frequency sea-level and climate changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study provides a sedimentological, stratigraphic and palaeocurrent investigation of Upper Eocene to Lower Oligocene deep-sea fan deposits found in the central part of the Pindos foreland basin in western Greece. According to facies analysis, the examined succession at Amfilochia area has 13 sedimentary facies and 10 facies and sub-facies associations. Depositional elements include abyssal plain pelagics, outer fan, inner fan, and slope deposits. Outer fan sediments are classified as lobe-axis, lobe-off-axis, lobe-fringe, and distant lobe-fringe deposits, while inner fan sediments are classified as channel-fill, crevasse-splay, internal and external levee deposits. The stratigraphic study shows an upward shift from abyssal plain pelagics to outer, inner fan, and finally slope deposits, implying submarine fan system progradation and progressive infilling of a deep-water sediment depocentre. The sediments were deposited in the foredeep of the Pindos foreland system and correspond to the system's underfilled stage, when sedimentation was unable to exceed the accommodation provided by lithospheric flexure. They point to deposition near the onset of the Pindos orogen, after the closure of the Pindos basin because of the collision of the Apulian with the Pelagonian microplate during the Cretaceous-Palaeogene period. Palaeocurrent data from sole marks show bipolar directions associated with two distinct spreading sub-marine fan deposits. As a result, the study region was split into Upper (major SE-direction flow) and Lower (major NW-direction flow) parts, indicating that axial flows were predominant during sediment deposition. However, as the deposition of the elements continued, the progradation of both systems constrained the space accommodation because of the increased basin sediment supply and forced an increase in the degree of basin confinement that changed the compensational to aggradational stacking pattern. The goals of this research are to develop an updated facies model for these deep-sea fans as well as a robust correlation framework for the various stratigraphic units in the central Pindos foreland basin. This research also connects the stratigraphic development of deep-sea fan deposits to the evolutionary phases of the Pindos foreland system, providing fresh insights into the palaeogeographic circumstances in the Pindos foreland basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on the depositional record of submarine fans and related turbidite systems has highlighted the importance of channel, lobe and levée–overbank architectural elements as fundamental building blocks. However, many of the characteristics and processes of deposits left by flows traversing those fans remain elusive, because flows seem to be able to go unconfined for long distances. Offshore southern California (USA), the La Jolla Canyon decreases in relief to become an approximately U‐shaped channel across the basin floor of the San Diego Trough. The La Jolla Channel gradually loses confinement and transitions to a network of scours, some of which align to form incipient channels, and fields of bedforms. High‐resolution seafloor topography, CHIRP seismic‐reflection data, sediment cores and hydrodynamic flow analysis are used to explore these features. The focus is on two regions of bedforms: (i) a field of net‐depositional, concentric bedforms across the eastern levée–overbank upstream from the terminus of the La Jolla Channel; and (ii) a linear train of more erosional bedforms approximating an incipient channel adjacent to the present mouth of the La Jolla Channel. These bedforms are interpreted to be among a class of upper‐flow‐regime bedforms called cyclic steps, which were formed by densimetric Froude supercritical turbidity currents that spilled out of the present La Jolla Channel. The high‐resolution data for the La Jolla Fan provide valuable insights into the characteristics of supercritical bedforms likely common to distal submarine fans, as well as on sedimentary processes likely important for submarine fan growth into sedimentary basins. In particular, the pattern of evolution of the La Jolla Fan suggests that cyclic steps with wavelengths on the order of tens of metres to a few hundreds of metres could be fundamentally important for the evolution of the distal submarine fans with relatively low‐relief main channels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inherited rift topography controls the sediment routing, timing of sand supply, and sedimentary linkage of early post‐rift depocentres. Exhumed examples of early post‐rift turbidite systems are rare and previous studies have examined the evolution of individual depocentres; in contrast, the detailed evolution of early post‐rift turbidite systems across multiple depocentres has never been documented. Current fill‐and‐spill models do not detail the stratigraphic architecture and evolution of sedimentological characteristics of multiple intraslope fans developed across topography, including bed type distributions. Here, the evolution of three intraslope fans that developed across two early post‐rift depocentres is documented along an 18 km long transect in the southern Neuquén Basin, Argentina. The relative chronology of sand supply in depocentres is constrained with new U–Pb ages, and sediment source areas with provenance analysis. The early post‐rift intraslope fans record progradation of the system and progressive sedimentary linkage of post‐rift depocentres, transverse to local syn‐rift structures, with sediment routing subparallel to the cratonic basin margin. The large‐scale stratigraphic architecture of intraslope fans indicates an evolution as a fill‐and‐spill system, with initial confinement through flow stripping and overspill to spillover with erosion and bypass across a transverse topographic high separating the depocentres. Changes in early post‐rift intraslope fan characteristics, including thickness, sandstone content, lobe complex stacking patterns, stratal termination patterns and bed type distribution, record changing confinement through time within a depocentre, and spatially across depocentres. The strong spatial and vertical stratigraphic variability of transitional flow deposits and hybrid event beds reflects enhanced erosion, sediment bypass and flow transformation across transverse relief between the two depocentres during the spillover phase. These findings advance current understanding of early post‐rift turbidite systems and refine fill‐and‐spill models, which will help the prediction of spatial and vertical changes in rock quality and connectivity in subsurface hydrocarbon reservoirs and CO2 storage sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large rivers are characterized by large water discharges, high suspended sediment fluxes and low slope, and typically display multiple channels that are separated by large complex bars. The most common channel style found in these rivers is characterized by the alternating presence of single and multiple channel threads. Mid‐channel compound bars separate a main deeper channel from shallower secondary channels, leading to low‐order braiding and low to moderate sinuosity. Despite the importance of this type of river for global terrestrial sediment transport and the interpretation of ancient fluvial successions, integrated depositional models for large multi‐channel rivers are still not fully developed. This paper interprets the channel morphodynamics and depositional architecture of such large rivers by investigating the distinctive features of their laterally‐accreting mid‐channel bars in the Solimões–Amazonas River. This is achieved by examination of temporal series of satellite images, quantification of bedforms using multibeam echosounding surveys, analysis of shallow seismic and ground penetrating radar surveys of selected areas, and on‐site field observations and sample collections. Such mid‐channel bars produce directional variability in planform scroll bar accretion of up to 180°. As these bars – and their associated channels – evolve, they become progressively shallower, due to the bifurcation of the two channels and the resultant partitioning of discharge that leads to a gradual reduction in transport capacity within the outer channel. The preserved successions of this process in the alluvial plain are characterized by fining‐upward trends, with larger cross‐strata sets at mid‐depths and internal erosional surfaces marking distinct cycles of bar development with potentially differing palaeocurrent trends. The new depositional models proposed for these mid‐channel bars and channels constitute a basis for the recognition of large multi‐channel river deposits in the ancient rock record. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mass flow-dominated fan delta complex is developed by the rapid deposition of coarse-grained materials in front of uplifted areas under the influence active tectonism. This is important for providing clues about the first opening stages of marine basins. The study aims to shed light on the fact that mass flow-dominated fan delta complexes play an active role in determining the characterization of tectonism controlling basin opening. In the study area, mass flow-dominated deposits of the Deliktaş Fan Delta Complex (DFDC) represent the first deposits of the southern part of the Middle Eocene Elazığ Marine Basin, whose development is controlled by normal block faults. The basin consists of the alluvial fan succession, the fan delta succession and the turbidite succession overlying both successions. DFDC is composed of fan delta facies assemblages deposited in the form of shallow water coastal prism in front of the multifeeder areas controlled by extensional tectonism. Conglomerates and sandstones predominate in the DFDC successions. The system forming the DFDC is a good example for high-energy, mass flow-dominated, multifeeder fan delta environments with different source areas surrounding the Elazığ Basin from the north and south. Sedimentological studies were carried out from 11 measured stratigraphic sections taken from the DFDC, and three different sequences were defined. These sequences contain the deposits belonging to fan delta plain and fan delta front facies assemblages. The facies architecture of the successions of the DFDC was defined based on measured stratigraphic sections, litho-correlation and field observations, and with the help of the obtained data, the sedimentation evolution of the sequences belonging to it was revealed with three-dimensional basin models. In this way, an approach to the primary geodynamics of the Elaziğ Basin was obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Bounty Channel is a large-scale submarine channel system located in the eastern continental margin of New Zealand. Extending along the axis of the Bounty Trough, the channel system comprises three main tributaries (C1–C3) at its head, which merge downstream into a trunk channel leading to a terminal submarine fan. In this study, we use high-quality two-dimensional multichannel seismic data to investigate the formation and evolution of tributary channels C1 and C2. Four types of seismic facies are identified in the tributary channels: fill-type, mounded divergent, wavy, and subparallel facies. These seismic facies are correspondingly interpreted as topographic depression or channel fills, levees, sediment waves, and hemipelagic deposits. The Late Miocene tributary channels were developed above a pre-existing NE–SW-oriented depression. The Pliocene to Quaternary tributary channels are characterized by preferential development of higher levees on their left hand, and the presence of sediment waves on the lower levees of their right-hand, signaling an effect of the Coriolis force. The formation and evolution of the tributaries are primarily linked to regional tectonics, including increased convergence rate between the Pacific and Australian plates along the Alpine Fault in the Late Miocene and enhanced uplift and erosion at the Southern Alps during the Pliocene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Turbidity currents are sediment-laden gravity currents that transfer sediments to deep sea and lake floors through erosion and deposition. These deposits form subaqueous fans in deep marine environments and can reduce reservoir storage capacity, complicating management. Deep sea deposits often contain hydrocarbons like oil and gas. Field measurements of turbidity currents are challenging due to the risk of damage to measuring instruments, and laboratory experiments do not accurately simulate these currents. Thus, numerical modeling is crucial for understanding their formation and properties, and for locating oil and gas fields within deep sea turbidites.A 3D two-phase numerical model (water and solids) is used to simulate underflow turbidity currents. This model solves the Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes equations and uses the Eulerian approach, with turbulence closure achieved by the RNG k-ε model. It simulates both continuous unconfined currents and surge-like confined currents. Calibration and validation against experimental data show the model accurately replicates key features of turbidity currents.Model results indicate that fine particles remain suspended longer, providing additional density that drives the current further with increasing downstream velocity. Vertical concentration profile shows two distinct layers: a denser, faster-moving bottom layer parallel to the bed, and a slower, more diluted upper layer affected by entrainment and mixing with ambient fluid. Turbidity currents are supercritical on sloped channels and subcritical on mild sloped unconfined seafloors or reservoir bottoms. In following article, hypothetical simulations using this model will further explore various characteristics and deposits of turbidity currents on a field scale.

Investigating the sedimentary architecture and evolution of sand-rich submarine fans is vital for comprehending deep-water sedimentary processes and enhancing the success rate of hydrocarbon resource exploration. Recent drilling activities in the Qiongdongnan Basin, northern South China Sea, have unveiled significant gas hydrate and shallow gas potential. However, exploration in this area faces substantial challenges due to the limited understanding of sandy reservoirs. Leveraging extensive newly acquired extensive 3D seismic data (~9000 km²) and well data, our study reveals five distinct deep-water depositional systems in the Quaternary Ledong Formation, including a submarine fan system, mass transport deposits, deepwater channel-levee systems, slope fans, and hemipelagic sediments. Notably, the targeted sandrich submarine fan lies within the abyssal plain, situated at a water depth of 1300-1700 m. This fan exhibits a unique tongue-shape configuration and a SW-NE flow direction within the plane and spans an expansive area of ~2800 km² with maximum length and width reaching 140 km and 35 km, respectively. Vertically, the fan comprises five stages of distributary channel-lobe complexes, progressing from Unit 1 to Unit 5. Their distribution ranges steadily increase from Unit 1 to Unit 3, followed by a rapid decrease from Unit 4 to Unit 5. Our results suggest that the occurrence and evolution of the submarine fan are primarily controlled by sea level fluctuation, confined geomorphology, and sediment supply. Specifically, sea level fluctuation and sediment supply influenced the occurrence of the submarine fan. Concurrently, the confined geomorphology in the abyssal plain provided accumulation space for sediments and shaped the fan into its distinct tongue-like form. In contrast to the deepwater channels within the deepwater channel-levee systems, the distributary turbidite channels within the submarine fan are marked by lower erosion depth with "U" shapes, greater channel width, and higher ratios of width to depth. The comparative analysis identifies turbidite channels as the focal points for offshore gas hydrate and shallow gas exploration in the Qiongdongnan Basin. Furthermore, the temporal evolution of submarine fan offers valuable insights into Quaternary deep-water sedimentary processes and hydrocarbon exploration within shallow strata of marginal ocean basins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deep‐water carbonate deposition is relatively poorly understood but an area of vigorous research in academia and industry, where these deposits are a significant component of many unconventional petroleum reservoirs. Recent studies of modern deep‐water carbonates have highlighted the wide variety of depositional processes, sediment types and resultant geomorphology; however, well‐documented outcrops of ancient systems, their rock types and architecture are relatively sparse. The Mississippian Lake Valley Formation provides world‐class exposures of slope‐basinal carbonate deposits. The Tierra Blanca and Doña Ana members comprise submarine fans that are >14 to 20 km in length, >5 km wide, and exposed in strike and dip view, affording a unique opportunity to constrain the architecture, rock types and sedimentary processes. Tierra Blanca and Doña Ana sedimentation was dominated by crinoids shed from an up‐dip platform and supplemented by sediments sourced locally from Waulsortian mounds. Depositional processes include turbidity flows, debris flows and hybrid sediment‐gravity flows. The Tierra Blanca submarine fan thins towards its lateral flanks and distal fringe, where deposits become more mud‐dominated, gravelly grain‐supported flows are less common, and fewer beds have scoured bases. In proximal settings, bed tracing complemented by measured sections allow mapping of stratal surfaces and identification of stories, elements and complexes. The Tierra Blanca evolved from more unconfined to confined deposition. Point‐sourced deposition of the Tierra Blanca fan required a funnelling mechanism, probably due to bathymetry created by Waulsortian mounds or possibly a platform margin re‐entrant. Outcrop exposures illustrate that younger Doña Ana submarine fan deposits onlap onto, and compensationally stack with, the thickest portions of the antecedent Tierra Blanca fan. These outcrops illustrate both similarities and differences between carbonate and siliciclastic gravity flow deposits. Similarities include comparable deposit types, depositional processes and architecture; differences relate to hydrodynamics of carbonate grains, funnelling mechanisms for point‐sourced deposits and sequence stratigraphic forcing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Submarine canyons and channels are globally important pathways for sediment, organic carbon, nutrients and pollutants to the deep sea, and they form the largest sediment accumulations on Earth. However, studying these remote submarine systems comprehensively remains a challenge. In this study, we used the only complete-coverage and repeated bathymetric surveys yet for a very large submarine system, which is the Congo Fan off West Africa. Our aim is to understand channel-modifying features such as subaqueous landslides, meander-bend evolution, knickpoints and avulsions by analyzing their morphometric characteristics. We used a new approach to identify these channel-modifying features via morphometric fingerprints, which allows a systematic and efficient search in low-resolution bathymetry data. These observations have led us to identify three morphodynamic reaches within the Congo Canyon-Channel. The upper reach of the system is characterized by landslides that can locally block the channel, storing material for extended periods and re-excavating material through a new incised channel. The middle reach of the system is dominated by the sweep and swing of meander bends, although their importance depends on the channel's age, and the time since the last up-channel avulsion. In the distal and youngest part of the system, an upstream migrating knickpoint is present, which causes multi-stage sediment transport and overspill through an underdeveloped channel with shallow depths. These findings complement previous less- detailed morphometric analyses of the Congo Canyon-Channel, offering a clearer understanding of how submarine canyon-channels can store sediment (due to channel-damming landslides, meander point bars, levee building due to overspill), re-excavate that sediment (via thalweg incision, meander propagation, knickpoint migration) and finally transport it to the deep sea. This improved understanding of the morphodynamics of the Congo Canyon- Channel may help to understand the evolution of other submarine canyon- channels, and assessment of hazards faced by seabed infrastructure such as telecommunication cables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autogenic controls have significant influence on deep-water fans and depositional lobes morphology. In this work, we aim to investigate autogenic controls on the topography and geometry of deep-water fans. The influence of the sediment concentration of turbidity currents on deep-water fans morphology was also investigated. From the repeatability of 3D physical modeling of turbidity currents, two series of ten experiments were made, one of high-density turbidity currents (HDTC) and another of low-density turbidity currents (LDTC). All other input parameters (discharge, sediment volumetric concentration and grain size median) were kept constant. Each deposit was analyzed from qualitative and quantitative approaches and statistical analysis. In each experimental series, the variability of the morphological parameters (length, width, L/W ratio, centroid, area, topography) of the simulated deep-water fans was observed. Depositional evolution of the HDTC fans was more complex, showing four evolutionary steps and characterized by the self-channelizing of the turbidity current, while LDTC fans neither present self-channelizing, nor evolutionary steps. High disparities on the geometrical parameters of the fans, as characterized by the elevated relative standard deviation, suggest that autogenic controls induced a stochastic morphological behaviour on the simulated fans of the two experimental series. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Distributive submarine fans contain channel-lobe elements that compensationally stack to build a radially dispersive map pattern. The middle parts of some submarine fans contain juxtapositions of channel elements and lobe elements due to longitudinal and lateral shifts in their channel-lobe transition zones. This article uses an exceptionally well-exposed three-dimensional outcrop of the Ross Sandstone at Bridges of Ross (Ireland) to document the stratigraphic and plan-view manifestation of lateral juxtapositions of channel elements and lobe elements in submarine fans. Observations made herein compare favorably to those in seafloor studies of Navy Submarine Fan (offshore southern California, USA) by William Normark and others, indicating that these systems can be used as paired outcrop-seafloor analogs for distributive fans in which the channel-lobe transition zones are located in longitudinally variable positions. In addition, data from Bridges of Ross and Navy Submarine Fan are integrated to constrain a geometric model that predicts the fractional length of a fan that contains lateral juxtapositions of channel elements and lobe elements. Lateral juxtapositions of channel elements and lobe elements are important because they enhance vertical and lateral connectivity within subsurface reservoirs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A complete, fluvial stratigraphic record for the last glacial period of the Western Andes in Peru is not available due to preservation issues and spatial variability in sedimentation. Deposits are typically restricted to incomplete records of fluvial terraces or localised occurrences of alluvial fans and landslides. These landforms are thought to have formed under a regime of climate cyclicity controlling increases in precipitation. Because of the fragmented preservation of these deposits, as well as dating uncertainties, it remains unclear if orbital climate cycles, such as the precession cycle, or suborbital cycles, such as the wet Heinrich events, are driving Andean sedimentation. In this paper, we try to answer this question through a sedimentological–stratigraphical analysis of a much more complete sedimentary sequence than usually found in the region. We present the results of a grain size analysis of 5000 clasts and 13 new luminescence ages of a 52‐m‐long, stratigraphic section of the Lima fluvial fan in Peru. Bayesian age–depth modelling resulted in a robust chronostratigraphic framework and derived sedimentation rates. The stratigraphic record registered sedimentation from 121.7 ± 4 to 6.3−1.6+1.5 ka. Three major sedimentation periods occurred between 121.7 to 110−5+4, 87 ± 1 to 67−3+2, and 31−3+4 to 6.3−1.6+1.5 ka. These periods registered various unconformities and coarsening–fining upward sequences which chronologically correlate to suborbital pluvial periods, recognised from speleothems and lake records, that drove fluvial deposition. They also correlate with the timing of other recognised sedimentation events throughout the Western Andes. Marine regression resulted in fan progradation and not in incision. The Lima fan stratigraphy represents therefore the most complete, last glacial fluvial record for the Peruvian Western Andes to date and it highlights the potential of fluvial fans as recorders of suborbital climate variability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study provides new insights onto spatial and temporal trends of seafloor macro-litter in the abyssal seafloor of Sardinian channel, in central western Mediterranean (Italy). Trawl surveys were conducted at depths between 884 and 1528 m, thus focusing on one of the least investigated marine environments. None of the considered sites was litter free, with plastics being numerically dominant (57% of items), followed by metal (11%) and glass (16%). Recorded densities and weight ranged between 49.9 and 499 items km−2 and 1.4 and 1052 kg km−2. In the most contaminated sites, the weight of the litter collected in nets represented up to nine times the biomass of benthic megafauna, and, overall, in 60% of hauls macro-litter mass outweighed the biomass collected. Moreover, we report that megafauna was observed to be more abundant in sites where macro-litter presence was more severe. More studies are needed to elucidate the nature of this correlation, with biota being more abundant in hotspots of accumulation of seafloor macro-litter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mixed grain‐size bedforms comprise alternating sand‐rich and poorly sorted mud‐rich laminae and bands. These bedforms have been identified in distal submarine settings formed underneath unidirectional flows. This study documents mixed grain‐size bedforms in a proximal submarine slope setting formed beneath both unidirectional and combined flows. Core and outcrop data with well‐constrained palaeogeographical context are used to describe two types of mixed grain‐size bedform. Type A bedforms comprise mud‐rich current ripples and low‐amplitude bed‐waves with alternating concave and planar sandstone–mudstone foresets that pass into mud‐rich troughs, and aggradational sinusoidal laminasets. Type B bedforms consist of sandstone–mudstone laminasets that comprise rounded, biconvex ripples with sigmoidal‐shaped foresets and swale and hummock‐like laminasets and banded sets. These bedforms occur in channel‐margin, internal‐levée and external‐levée, intraslope and disconnected lobe environments, and represent 27 to 63% by stratigraphic thickness of the studied successions. They are interpreted as deposits of clay‐rich transitional flows, whose depositional style is governed by the balance of cohesive and turbulent forces, and the rate of flow deceleration. Type B bedforms are further interpreted as combined transitional flow deposits, resulting from flow deflection and ponding processes by seabed topography. Upward and lateral transitions between different bedforms create distinct bedform sequences, demonstrating progressive spatio‐temporal transformations in flow properties and their topographic interactions. By using a well‐constrained palaeogeographical setting, mixed grain‐size bedforms are shown to be situated close to sites of erosion into muddy substrates, abrupt losses in confinement, and/or changes in slope gradient. These bedforms demonstrate that flow transformation and transitional flow behaviour are not restricted to distal submarine settings. Furthermore, mixed grain‐size bedforms are not a diagnostic criterion for bottom currents, because such flows cannot account for the high mud content in laminasets, or the interlamination of sand and mud. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]