Frontal and Lateral Submarine Lobe Fringes: Comparing Sedimentary Facies, Architecture and Flow Processes

Submarine lobe fringe deposits form heterolithic successions that may include a high proportion of hybrid beds. The identification of lobe fringe successions aids interpretation of paleogeographic setting and the degree of basin confinement. Here, for the first time, the sedimentological and architectural differences between frontal and lateral lobe fringe deposits are investigated. Extensive outcrop and core data from Fan 4, Skoorsteenberg Formation, Karoo Basin, South Africa, allow the rates and style of facies changes from axis to fringe settings of lobes and lobe complexes in both down-dip (frontal) and across-strike (lateral) directions to be tightly constrained over a 800 km2 study area. Fan 4 comprises three sand-prone divisions that form compensationally stacked lobe complexes, separated by thick packages of thin-bedded siltstone and sandstone intercalated with (muddy) siltstone, interpreted as the fringes of lobe complexes. Lobe-fringe facies associations comprise: i) thick-bedded structureless or planar laminated sandstones that pinch and swell, and are associated with underlying debrites; ii) argillaceous and mudclast-rich hybrid beds; and iii) current ripple-laminated sandstones and siltstones. Typically, frontal fringes contain high proportions of hybrid beds and transition from thick-bedded sandstones over length-scales of 1 to 2 km. In contrast, lateral fringe deposits tend to comprise current ripple-laminated sandstones that transition to thick-bedded sandstones in the lobe axis over several kilometers. Variability of primary flow processes are interpreted to control the documented differences in facies association. Preferential deposition of hybrid beds in frontal fringe positions is related to the dominantly downstream momentum of the high-density core of the flow. In contrast, the ripple-laminated thin beds in lateral fringe positions are interpreted to be deposited by more dilute low-density (parts of the) flows. The development of recognition criteria to distinguish between frontal and lateral lobe fringe successions is critical to improving paleogeographic reconstructions of submarine fans at outcrop and in the subsurface, and will help to reduce uncertainty during hydrocarbon field appraisal and development

A new macrofaunal limit in the deep biosphere revealed by extreme burrow depths in ancient sediments

Macrofauna is known to inhabit the top few 10s cm of marine sediments, with rare burrows up to two metres below the seabed. Here, we provide evidence from deep-water Permian strata for a previously unrecognised habitat up to at least 8 metres below the sediment-water interface. Infaunal organisms exploited networks of forcibly injected sand below the seabed, forming living traces and reworking sediment. This is the first record that shows sediment injections are responsible for hosting macrofaunal life metres below the contemporaneous seabed. In addition, given the widespread occurrence of thick sandy successions that accumulate in deep-water settings, macrofauna living in the deep biosphere are likely much more prevalent than considered previously. These findings should influence future sampling strategies to better constrain the depth range of infaunal animals living in modern deep-sea sands. One Sentence Summary: The living depth of infaunal macrofauna is shown to reach at least 8 metres in new habitats associated with sand injections

Autogenic controls on hybrid bed distribution in submarine lobe complexes

Hybrid beds, the deposits of sediment gravity flows that show evidence for more than one flow regime (turbulent, transitional and/or laminar), have been recognized as important components of submarine lobe deposits. A wide range of hybrid bed types have been documented, however, quantitative analysis of the stratigraphic and geographic distribution of these enigmatic bed types is rare. Here, extensive exposures integrated with research borehole data from Unit A of the Laingsburg Formation and Fan 4 of the Skoorsteenberg Formation, Ecca Group, South Africa, provide the opportunity to examine geographical and stratigraphic patterns over a range of hierarchical scales. For this purpose, >23,000 individual beds have been evaluated for deposit type and bed thickness. On average, hybrid beds make up < 5% of all events and <10% of the cumulative thickness. Lobe complex 1 (LC1) of Fan 4,Skoorsteenberg Formation, preserves a prominent geographical trend of hybrid beds becoming more prevalent towards the frontal fringes of a lobe complex (up to 33.2% of beds), whereas their proportion in proximal and medial lobe complex settings is <10%. Data from Unit A, Laingsburg Formation, show hybrid beds are less common in the basal (A.1) and top (A.6) subunits compared to A.2-A.5 in both core data sets. The bases and tops of some lobe complexes (A.2, A.3 and A.5.7) are observed to be slightly enriched in hybrid beds, whereas others (A.5.1, A.5.5 and A.6.1) show no hybrid beds in their bases, which does not conform to expected allogenically-driven distributions that predict more hybrid beds during the initiation of lobe complexes. Instead, the occurrence and distribution of hybrid beds in lobe complexes are interpreted to be controlled by autogenic processes, including flow transformation processes on the basin-floor meaning enrichment in frontal lobe fringe settings. Therefore, the 1D distribution of hybrid beds in lobe complexes reflects the dominant stacking pattern of lobes within a lobe complex, with enrichment at the base and top of lobe complexes due to overall progradational to retrogradational stacking patterns. Individual lobes show a wide range of hybrid bed distributions, due to stacking patterns of the component lobe elements. These findings highlight the importance of autogenic processes rather than allogenic controls in the distribution of hybrid beds, which has implications for reservoir evaluation and the assessment of lobe stacking patterns in 1D core data sets

Reconstructing sedimentary processes in a Permian channel–lobe transition zone: an outcrop study in the Karoo Basin, South Africa

Turbidity currents commonly bypass sediment in submarine channels on the continental slope, and deposit sediment lobes farther down-dip on the flat and unconfined abyssal plain. Seafloor and outcrop data have shown that the transition from bypass to deposition usually occurs over complex zones referred to as channel–lobe transition zones (CLTZs). Recognition of these zones in cores and outcrop remains challenging due to a lack of characteristic sedimentary facies and structures. This paper focuses on Unit E of the Permian Fort Brown Formation in the Karoo Basin, South Africa, in the Slagtersfontein outcrop complex, which has previously been interpreted as a CLTZ. This study integrates thin-section micrographs, sedimentary facies, bed-set and stratigraphic architecture, and palaeoflow directions to achieve a multiscale analysis of CLTZ features. A novel process-based facies scheme is developed to evaluate deposits in terms of the depositional or erosional tendencies of the flows that formed them. This scheme allows bypass to be distinguished from depositional zones by the spatial distribution of certain sediment facies. Areas of net sediment bypass were predominantly marked by erosive sediment facies and a larger variability in palaeoflow direction while depositional areas showed a lower variability in palaeoflow directions. Metre-scale structures in the bypass-dominated area reveal seafloor erosion and scour formation. Field relations suggest the presence of a ∼500 m long mega-scour in the CLTZ. The characteristic structures documented here are applicable for identifying CLTZs in sparse datasets such as outcrops with limited palaeogeographical context and sediment cores obtained from subsurface systems

SUBSTRATE ENTRAINMENT, DEPOSITIONAL RELIEF, AND SEDIMENT CAPTURE: IMPACT OF A SUBMARINE LANDSLIDE ON FLOW PROCESS AND SEDIMENT SUPPLY

Submarine landslides can generate complicated patterns of seafloor relief that influence subsequent flow behaviour and sediment dispersal patterns. In subsurface studies, the term mass transport deposits (MTDs) is commonly used and covers a range of processes and resultant deposits. While the large-scale morphology of submarine landslide deposits can be resolved in seismic reflection data, the nature of their upper surface and its impact on both facies distributions and stratal architecture of overlying deposits is rarely resolvable. However, field-based studies often allow a more detailed characterisation of the deposit. The early post-rift Middle Jurassic deep-water succession of the Los Molles Formation is exceptionally well-exposed along a dip-orientated WSW-ENE outcrop belt in the Chacay Melehue depocentre, Neuquén Basin, Argentina. We correlate 27 sedimentary logs constrained by marker beds to document the sedimentology and architecture of a >47 m thick and at least 9.6 km long debrite, which contains two different types of megaclasts. The debrite overlies ramps and steps, indicating erosion and substrate entrainment. Two distinct sandstone-dominated units overlie the debrite. The lower sandstone unit is characterised by: 1) abrupt thickness changes, wedging and progressive rotation of laminae in sandstone beds associated with growth strata; and 2) detached sandstone load balls within the underlying debrite. The combination of these features suggests syn-sedimentary foundering processes due to density instabilities at the top of the fluid-saturated mud-rich debrite. The debrite relief controlled the spatial distribution of foundered sandstones. The upper sandstone unit is characterised by thin-bedded deposits, locally overlain by medium-to thick-bedded lobe axis/off-axis deposits. The thin-beds show local thinning and onlapping onto the debrite, where it develops its highest relief. Facies distributions and stacking patterns record the progradation of submarine lobes and their complex interaction with long-lived debrite-related topography. The emplacement of a kilometre-scale debrite in an otherwise mud-rich basinal setting and accumulation of overlying sand-rich deposits suggests a genetic link between the mass-wasting event and transient coarse clastic sediment supply to an otherwise sand-starved part of the basin. Therefore, submarine landslides demonstrably impact the routing and behaviour of subsequent sediment gravity flows, which must be considered when predicting facies distributions and palaeoenvironments above MTDs in subsurface datasets.Fil: Martínez Doñate, A.. University of Manchester; Reino UnidoFil: Privat, A.M.L.J.. University of Leeds; Reino UnidoFil: Hodgson, D.M.. University of Leeds; Reino UnidoFil: Jackson, C.A.L.. Imperial College London; Reino UnidoFil: Kane, I.A.. University of Manchester; Reino UnidoFil: Spychala, Y.T.. Leibniz Universitat Hannover; AlemaniaFil: Duller, R.A.. University of Liverpool; Reino UnidoFil: Stevenson, C.. University of Liverpool; Reino UnidoFil: Keavney, E.. University of Leeds; Reino UnidoFil: Schwarz, Ernesto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Centro de Investigaciones Geológicas. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. Centro de Investigaciones Geológicas; ArgentinaFil: Flint, S.S.. University of Manchester; Reino Unid