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Textural characteristics and facies of sand‐rich contourite depositional systems
Author(s) -
Brackenridge Rachel E.,
Stow Dorrik A. V.,
HernándezMolina Francisco J.,
Jones Claudia,
Mena Anxo,
Alejo Irene,
Ducassou Emmanuelle,
Llave Estefanía,
Ercilla Gemma,
Nombela Miguel Angel,
PerezArlucea Marta,
Frances Gillermo
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
sedimentology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.494
H-Index - 108
eISSN - 1365-3091
pISSN - 0037-0746
DOI - 10.1111/sed.12463
Subject(s) - contourite , sedimentary depositional environment , winnowing , geology , facies , sorting , geomorphology , bed load , sediment , sediment transport , geochemistry , structural basin , archaeology , computer science , history , programming language
This work presents a detailed study of CONTOURIBER and Integrated Ocean Drilling Program 339 sediment data targeting sand‐rich contourites in the Eastern Gulf of Cadiz. All of the collected sediments are interpreted as contourites (deposited or reworked by bottom currents) on the basis of oceanographic setting, seismic and morphometric features, and facies characteristics. A variety of sandy and associated facies are found across the study area including: (i) bioturbated muddy contourites; (ii) mottled silty contourites; (iii) very fine mottled and fine‐grained bioturbated sandy contourites; (iv) massive and laminated sandy contourites; and (v) coarse sandy/gravel contourites. The thickest sands occur within contourite channels and there is a marked reduction in sand content laterally away from channels. Complementary to the facies descriptions, grain‐size analysis of 675 samples reveals distinctive trends in textural properties linked to depositional processes under the action of bottom currents. The finest muddy contourites (<20 μ m) show normal grain‐size distributions, poor to very poor sorting, and zero or low skewness. These are deposited by settling from weak bottom currents with a fine suspension load. Muddy to fine sandy contourites (20 to 200 μ m) trend towards better sorting and initially finer and then coarser skew. These are typical depositional trends for contourites. As current velocity and carrying capacity increase, more of the finest fraction remains in suspension and bedload transport becomes more important. Clean sandy contourites (>200 μ m) are better sorted. They result from the action of dominant bedload transport and winnowing at high current speeds. The results highlight the importance of bottom current velocity, sediment supply and bioturbational mixing in controlling contourite facies. Despite growing interest in their hydrocarbon exploration potential, contourite sands have remained poorly understood. This research therefore has important implications for developing current understanding of these deposits and aiding the correct interpretation of deep marine sands and depositional processes.