Browsing by Subject "Turbidity currents"
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Item The effects of confining minibasin topography on turbidity current dynamics and deposit architecture(2012-12) Maharaj, Vishal Timal; Wood, Lesli J.; Steel, Ronald J; Mohrig, David; Fisher, William L; Scott, Erik DThis dissertation advances our understanding of how turbidity currents interact with three-dimensional (3-D) minibasin topography and the resulting deposits that form. Conceptual Gulf of Mexico-centric models of minibasin fill development have become the foundation for exploring and identifying strategic deep-water hydrocarbon reserves on continental slopes around the world. Despite the abundance of subsurface data, significant questions remain about the 3-D physical processes through which minibasins fill and the relationship between these processes and the topography of the basin. To overcome this problem, I utilize techniques in physical laboratory modeling to query established models of the role that turbidity currents play in minibasin fill development, and observe the relationships between fill from the Lobster minibasin located in a proximal continental slope position in the Gulf of Mexico and from the Safi Haute Mer (SHM) minibasin located in the distal continental slope of offshore western Morocco. First, existing published literature are reviewed and assessed for the known state of minibasin development and fill processes, and the strengths and weaknesses of our current knowledge base. Second, results are presented from two series of experiments that document the interaction between steady, depletive turbidity currents and 3-D minibasin topography. Experimental results suggest that turbidity currents produce deposits that are more likely to drape pre-flow topography than pond within it. Turbidity current velocity data show a strong 3-D physical component in minibasin fill sedimentation that also influences extra-basinal sedimentation patterns. Details of these results provide insight into processes that have not been previously considered in published conceptual models of minibasin fill. Third, a comparison of the two subsurface datasets show that the types and abundance of architectural elements vary depending on the location of the minibasin on the continental slope (i.e. proximal vs. distal), and suggests key differences in the processes responsible for their infilling. Finally, a comparison of experimental results to preserved deposit architectures in the Lobster and SHM datasets suggest a more complex relationship of process-driven sedimentation than that derived primarily from suspension fallout. This improved understanding of minibasin fill is applicable to industry for increasing confidence in subsurface interpretations and reducing risk while exploring for quality reservoirs in deepwater regions.Item Quantifying the sedimentology, stratigraphy and morphodynamics of submarine channels(2012-05) Fernandes, Anjali Mary; Mohrig, David; Steel, R. J.; Kim, Wonsuck; Fulthorpe, Craig; Henriksen, SverreThis dissertation examines how turbidity currents interact with submarine channels. Turbidity currents display exaggerated super-elevation at the outer banks of channel bends, because they have low excess densities relative to the ambient sea-water. Low-velocity zones form where flows separate from the inner banks. In a high-resolution seismic volume, I mapped 226 inclined surfaces associated with bank-attached bars in 16 channel bends of 2 buried sinuous channels. Position and geometries of bars indicate construction from suspended sediment in flow separation zones. Concave-bank benches, first identified in rivers where they are built from fully-suspended sediment deposited within flow separation zones in channel bends, comprise approximately 19% of this dataset. Bars have high median slopes (10°-11°) and occupy less than 30% of channel width. Associated channels migrated a median distance of less than 70% of the channel width and incised 20-30% of the channel depth. These bars are therefore interpreted to have formed during sediment bypass or weak erosion. I have analyzed the sedimentology and stratigraphy of a well-exposed channel complex, in the Permian Brushy Canyon Formation, west Texas. A steeply-inclined set of fine-grained sandstone beds (median dip=10°) at the margin of the channel complex is interpreted as deposits of a bank-attached bar. Beds are characterized by sub- to super-critically climbing ripple-lamination, planar stratification and trough cross-stratification. Paleo-transport directions are at high angles, 20-120°, to the dip azimuths of interpreted bar surfaces. Geometries of bounding surfaces, sedimentation styles and grain-size data were used to construct a facies model for suspension-dominated, bank-attached bars, built within flow-separation zones in submarine channels. I designed physical experiments to examine how erosional turbidity currents evolve channel- bend topography. Time-lapse bathymetry maps capture the evolution of raised benches tied to sedimentation within flow separation zones and erosion outside of separation zones. Erosional currents showed sensitivity to local conditions. The pattern of erosion was connected to roughness elements such as bend curvature and scours on the bed. Turbidity current run-up at the outside of bends produced a greater aerial extent of side-wall erosion than is commonly seen in incisional rivers.