Sedimentary rocks from the (California) State 2–14 research borehole of the Salton Sea Scientific Drilling Project, located in the Imperial Valley of southern California, were deposited in the continental basin of the Salton Trough. Lacustrine shale and siltstone are the dominant lithologies. Sandstones were deposited in lake margin, meander channel fill, and lacustrine delta environments. Framework modal clast compositions of the sandstones indicate a dominant Colorado River provenance. Rare pebbly mudstones were deposited as storm‐induced debris flows. Primary depositional structures in the sediments are commonly disrupted by seismic disturbances. Nonmarine gastropods and ostrocods are relatively uncommon, and occurrences of stratabound sulfides suggest periods of brackish water conditions. Bedded anhydrite and centimeter‐scale mudcracks record intervals of dessication. The State 2–14 sedimentary rocks are interpreted as the basinward facies of the Borrego and Brawley formations which range from Pliocene to Pleistocene in age.
A conceptual sea-level-driven depositional model for individual fanlobes (channel-overbank systems) of the Mississippi Fan does not permit direct application of the sequence stratigraphic principles of Vail and colleagues. Deep Sea Drilling Project Leg 96 results suggest that, during initial relative lowering of sea level, the canyon and upper fan channel were formed; excavated finegrained slope sediments may have formed a debris flow deposit base for the fanlobe. Continued lowering produced constructional channel-levee-overbank deposits. Rising relative sea level inhibited input of coarse clastics, and channel depressions filled with muds. A blanket of (hemi)pelagics represents relative high sea level stand.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.