Late Quaternary Shelf-Margin Delta and Slope-Fan Complexes of the East Texas–Western Louisiana Margin: Variable Response to Eustasy and Sediment Supply

Anderson, John B.; Wellner, Julia S.; Abdulah, Ken; Sarzalejo, Sabrina

doi:10.5724/gcs.03.23.0067

Cited by 3 publications

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“…2). Prodelta deposits extended onto the slope, and laterally, with a mud belt extending towards the west, where it lapped against the OIS-3 Brazos Delta (Fraticelli and Anderson, 2003;Anderson et al, 2003). As sea level rose, the high sediment discharge resulted in continued progradation and aggradation of the TSB delta, until eventually the Brazos River switched back to the east (Wellner et al, 2004;Abdullah et al, 2004).…”

Section: Summary Of Chronostratigraphymentioning

confidence: 99%

Chronostratigraphy of the Brazos–Trinity Depositional System, Western Gulf of Mexico: Implications For Deepwater Depositional Models

Pirmez¹,

Prather²,

Mallarino³

et al. 2012

Application of the Principles of Seismic Geomorphology to Continental-Slope and Base-of-Slope Systems: Case Studies From Seaflo

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A series of four intraslope basins linked by submarine channels in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico form part of a source-to-sink depositional system that starts in the headwaters of the Brazos and Trinity Rivers and terminates in a ponded intraslope basin offshore Texas-the Brazos-Trinity depositional system. The system is well imaged with 3D seismic data, and two of the basins have been drilled, with three Integrated Ocean Drilling Program wells and two geotechnical wells. Using an integrated approach, we have combined seismiclitho-bio-tephro-stable-isotope-radioisotope stratigraphic methods, using both new and published results, to generate a millennial-scaleresolution chronostratigraphy for this system. Basins I through IV are infilled with about 62 km 3 of sand-rich sediments (~ 1.6 x 10 11 metric tons) transported by sediment gravity flows since the last interglacial (Oxygen Isotope Stage 5e). The bulk of the sediments, about 49 km 3 , were deposited within a short time period within Oxygen Isotope Stage 2, starting at 24.3 ka at the latest and ending at ~ 15.3 ka, before meltwater pulse 1A. Sediment accumulated in the slope basins at rates which varied over time between 1.4 and 55 million tons per year. Except for a short time interval when the Brazos River was diverted to the shelf edge at the head of Basin 1, sediment flux to deepwater was on average less than the present-day sediment discharge of the Trinity-Brazos-Sabine Rivers combined. In the period 24-15 ka the sediment sinks comprising the slope basins and shelf-margin delta can be balanced against the fluvial sources if their discharges are somewhat lower than present day, and if the contribution from incised-valley erosion was relatively small. The history of sedimentation on the slope basins is modulated by sea-level changes, but it is strongly influenced by basin topography and by the dynamics of delta development on the shelf. During peak high stands of sea level the slope area receives only pelagic sediments; during low sea-level stands, the sedimentation in each basin results from a complex combination between fluvial input at the head of the first basin, and the rate of subsidence/sedimentation causing basin topography. The ages of sediments in separate basins show that sedimentation occurs at the same time in multiple basins with trapping of sand in updip basins, while mud is preferentially deposited in downdip basins.

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Section: Summary Of Chronostratigraphymentioning

confidence: 99%

Chronostratigraphy of the Brazos–Trinity Depositional System, Western Gulf of Mexico: Implications For Deepwater Depositional Models

Pirmez¹,

Prather²,

Mallarino³

et al. 2012

Application of the Principles of Seismic Geomorphology to Continental-Slope and Base-of-Slope Systems: Case Studies From Seaflo

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“…Berg, ), adjacent Gulf Coast areas of the USA (e.g. Sydow & Roberts, ; Morton & Suter, ; Hart et al ., ; Kolla et al ., ; Anderson et al ., ; Fraticelli & Anderson, ; Winker & Shipp, ), the Niger Delta (Damuth, ), the Rhone Delta (Torres et al ., ; Tesson et al ., ), the Baram Delta of north‐west Borneo (e.g. Sandall, ; Hodgetts et al ., ; Hiscott, , ; Saller & Blake, ) and the Mahakam Delta of south‐east Borneo (Crumeyrolle, ; Roberts & Sydow, ), amongst others.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Storm‐dominated shelf‐edge delta successions in a high accommodation setting: The palaeo‐Orinoco Delta (Mayaro Formation), Columbus Basin, South‐East Trinidad

Bowman

Johnson

2013

Sedimentology

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Pliocene age deposits of the palaeo-Orinoco Delta are evaluated in the Mayaro Formation, which crops out along the western margin of the Columbus Basin in south-east Trinidad. This sandstone-dominated interval records the diachronous, basinwards migration of the shelf edge of the palaeo-Orinoco Delta, as it prograded eastwards during the Pliocene-Pleistocene (ca 3Á5 Ma). The basin setting was characterized by exceptionally high rates of growth-fault controlled sediment supply and accommodation space creation resulting in a gross basin-fill of around 12 km, with some of the highest subsidence rates in the world (ca 5 to 10 m ka À1 ). This analysis demonstrates that the Mayaro Formation was deposited within large and mainly wave-influenced shelf-edge deltas. These are manifested as multiple stacks of coarsening upward parasequences at scales ranging from tens to hundreds of metres in thickness, which are dominated by storm-influenced and wave-influenced proximal delta-front sandstones with extensive, amalgamated swaley and hummocky cross-stratification. These proximal delta-front successions pass gradationally downwards into 10s to 100 m thick distal delta front to mud-dominated upper slope deposits characterized by a wide variety of sedimentary processes, including distal river flood and storm-related currents, slumps and other gravity flows. Isolated and subordinate sandstone bodies occur as gully fills, while extensive soft sediment deformation attests to the high sedimentation rates along a slope within a tectonically active basin. The vertical stratigraphic organization of the facies associations, together with the often cryptic nature of parasequence stacking patterns and sequence stratigraphic surfaces, are the combined product of the rapid rates of accommodation space creation, high rates of sediment supply and glacio-eustasy in the 40 to 100 Ka Milankovitch frequency range. The stratigraphic framework described herein contrasts strikingly with that described from passive continental margins, but compares favourably to other tectonically active, deltaic settings (for example, the Baram Delta Province of north-west Borneo).

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“…For example, the genesis and stratigraphic features of Pleistocene-age MTCs in the north part of the Gulf of Mexico have been studied as analogs to older, Tertiary-age mass-transport deposits. A series of articles by several researchers (Beaubouef and Friedmann, 2000;Winker and Booth, 2000;Anderson et al, 2003;Armentrout, 2003;Beaubouef et al, 2003a, b;Piper and Behrens, 2003) document the latest Pleistocene in the Texas offshore area in the Brazos-Trinity slope system and in the Louisiana offshore area in the Mississippi system, where high-quality seismic data show episodic MTC development. Each MTC unit is characterized by the presence of low-amplitude, semitransparent, chaotic seismic reflections (Beaubouef and Friedmann, 2000).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Mass-transport complexes and associated processes in the offshore area of Trinidad and Venezuela

Moscardelli¹,

Wood²,

Mann³

2006

Bulletin

289

292

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Late Quaternary Shelf-Margin Delta and Slope-Fan Complexes of the East Texas–Western Louisiana Margin: Variable Response to Eustasy and Sediment Supply

Cited by 3 publications

References 0 publications

Chronostratigraphy of the Brazos–Trinity Depositional System, Western Gulf of Mexico: Implications For Deepwater Depositional Models

Chronostratigraphy of the Brazos–Trinity Depositional System, Western Gulf of Mexico: Implications For Deepwater Depositional Models

Storm‐dominated shelf‐edge delta successions in a high accommodation setting: The palaeo‐Orinoco Delta (Mayaro Formation), Columbus Basin, South‐East Trinidad

Mass-transport complexes and associated processes in the offshore area of Trinidad and Venezuela

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