Architecture and evolution of the Finale channel system, the Numidian Flysch Formation of Sicily; insights from a hierarchical approach

Marine and Petroleum Geology

Volumn 41, Issue 1, 2013, Pages 163-185

  Thomas, M F H ^a   Bodin, S ^b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER   (United Kingdom)

^b RUHR UNIVERSITY BOCHUM   (Germany)

Author keywords

Entrenched; Hierarchy; Massive sandstone; Slope confined; Submarine channel; Turbidite

Indexed keywords

ENTRENCHED; HIERARCHY; SLOPE CONFINED; SUBMARINE CHANNEL; TURBIDITE;

CLASSIFICATION (OF INFORMATION); DEPOSITS; GEOLOGY; SANDSTONE;

SEISMOLOGY;

DEEP WATER FORMATION; HIERARCHICAL SYSTEM; MARINE SEDIMENT; SANDSTONE; SUBMARINE CHANNEL; SUBMARINE SLOPE; TURBIDITE;

ITALY; SICILY;

EID: 84874000177     PISSN: 02648172     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2012.02.002     Document Type: Article

References (84)

1. Abreu V., Sullivan M., Pirmez C., Mohrig D. Lateral accretion packages (LAPs): an important reservoir element in deep water sinuous channels. Marine and Petroleum Geology 2003, 20:631-648.
2. Adams E.W., Schlager W. Basic types of submarine slope curvature. Journal of Sedimentary Research 2000, 70:814-828.
3. Arnott R.W.C. Stratal architecture and origin of lateral accretion deposits (LADs) and conterminuous inner-bank levee deposits in a base-of-slope sinuous channel, lower Isaac Formation (Neoproterozoic), East-Central British Columbia, Canada. Marine and Petroleum Geology 2007, 24:515-528.
4. Belayouni H., Brunelli D., Clocchiatti R., Staso A.D., Hassani I.-E.E.A.E., Guerrera F., Kassaa S., Ouazaa N.L., Martín M.M., Serrano F., Tramontana M. La Galite Archipelago (Tunisia, north Africa): stratigraphic and petrographic revision and insights for geodynamic evolution of the Maghrebian Chain. Journal of African Earth Sciences 2010, 56:15-28.
5. Bouma A.H. Sedimentology of Some Flysch Deposits;: a Graphic Approach to Facies Interpretation 1962, Elsevier, 168 pp.
6. Brunt R.L., McCaffrey W.D. Heterogeneity of fill within an incised channel: the Oligocene Gres du Champsaur, SE France. Marine and Petroleum Geology 2007, 24:529-539.
7. Campion K.M., Sprague A.R., Mohrig D., Lovell R.W., Drzewiecki P.A., Sullivan M.D., Ardill J., Jensen G.N., Sickafoose D.K. Outcrop Expression of Confined Channel Complexes 2000, Deep-water reservoirs of the world: SEPM, Gulf coast section, 20th annual Research Conference 20th annual Research Conference 127-150 pp.
8. Cantelli A., Pirmez C., Johnson S., Parker G. Morphodynamic and stratigraphic evolution of self-channelized subaqueous fans emplaced by turbidity currents. Journal of Sedimentary Research 2011, 81:233-247.
9. Catterall V., Redfern J., Gawthorpe R., Hansen D., Thomas M. Architectural style and quantification of a submarine channel-levee system located in a structurally complex area: offshore nile delta. Journal of Sedimentary Research 2010, 80:991-1017.
10. Clark J.D., Pickering K.T. Architectural elements and growth patterns of submarine channels: application to hydrocarbon exploration. AAPG Bulletin 1996, 80:194-221.
11. Clark J.D., Kenyon N.H., Pickering K.T. Quantitative analysis of the geometry of submarine channels: implications for the classification of submarine fans. Geology 1992, 20:633-636.
12. Cronin B.T., Hurst A., Celik H., Türkmen I. Superb exposure of a channel, levee and overbank complex in an ancient deep-water slope environment. Sedimentary Geology 2000, 132:205-216.
13. Cronin B.T., Akhmetzhanov A.M., Mazzini A., Akhmanov G., Ivanov M., Kenyon N.H., Scientists T.T.R.S. Morphology, evolution and fill: implications for sand and mud distribution in filling deep-water canyons and slope channel complexes. Sedimentary Geology 2005, 179:71-97.
14. Cronin B.T., Celik H., Hurst A., Turkmen I. Mud Prone Entrenched Deep-water Slope Channel Complexes from the Eocene of Eastern Turkey. Geological Society, London, Special Publications 244 2005, 155-180 pp.
15. Dasgupta P. Sediment gravity flow - the conceptual problems. Earth-Science Reviews 2003, 62:265-281.
16. de Capoa P., Guerrera F., Perrone V., Serrano F., Tramontana M. The onset of the syn-orogenic sedimentation in the Flysch Basin of the Sicilian Maghrebids: state of the art and new biostratigraphic constraints. Eclogae Geologicae Helvetiae 2000, 93:65-79.
17. de Capoa P., Di Staso A., Guerrera F., Perrone V., Tramontana M. The age of the oceanic accretionary wedge and onset of continental collision in the Sicilian Maghrebian Chain. Geodinamica Acta 2004, 17:331-348.
18. Deptuck M.E., Steffens G.S., Barton M., Pirmez C. Architecture and evolution of upper fan channel-belts on the Niger Delta slope and in the Arabian Sea. Marine and Petroleum Geology 2003, 20:649-676.
19. Deptuck M.E., Sylvester Z., Pirmez C., O'Byrne C. Migration-aggradation history and 3-D seismic geomorphology of submarine channels in the Pleistocene Benin-major Canyon, western Niger Delta slope. Marine and Petroleum Geology 2007, 24:406-433.
20. Di Celma C., Cantalamessa G., Didaskalou P., Lori P. Sedimentology, architecture, and sequence stratigraphy of coarse-grained, submarine canyon fills from the Pleistocene (Gelasian-Calabrian) of the Peri-Adriatic basin, central Italy. Marine and Petroleum Geology 2010, 27:1340-1365.
21. Dykstra M., Kneller B. Lateral accretion in a deep-marine channel complex: implications for channellized flow processes in turbidity currents. Sedimentology 2009, 56:1411-1432.
22. Eschard R., Albouy E., Deschamps R., Euzen T., Ayub A. Downstream evolution of turbiditic channel complexes in the Pab Range outcrops (Maastrichtian, Pakistan). Marine and Petroleum Geology 2003, 20:691-710.
23. Ferry J.-N., Mulder T., Parize O., Raillard S. Concept of Equilibrium Profile in Deep-water Turbidite System: Effects of Local Physiographic Changes on the Nature of Sedimentary Process and the Geometries of Deposits. Geological Society, London, Special Publications 244 2005, 181-193 pp.
24. Fildani A., Hubbard S.M., Covault J.A., Maier K.L., Romans B.W., Traer M., Rowlands J.C. Erosion at inception of deep-sea channels. Marine and Petroleum Geology 2013, 41:48-61.
25. Gardner M.H., Borer J.A., Melick J.J., Mavilla N., Dechesne M., Wagerle R.N. Stratigraphic process-response model for submarine channels and related features from studies of Permian Brushy Canyon outcrops, West Texas. Marine and Petroleum Geology 2003, 20:757-787.
26. Gee M.J.R., Gawthorpe R.L. Submarine channels controlled by salt tectonics: examples from 3D seismic data offshore Angola. Marine and Petroleum Geology 2006, 23:443-458.
27. Gerber T.P., Pratson L.F., Wolinsky M.A., Steel R., Mohr J., Swenson J.B., Paola C. Clinoform progradation by turbidity currents: modeling and experiments. Journal of Sedimentary Research 2008, 78:220-238.
28. Guerrera F., Martin-Martin M., Perrone V., Tramontana M. Tectono-sedimentary evolution of the southern branch of the western Tethys (Maghrebian Flysch basin and Lucanian Ocean): consequences for western Mediterranean geodynamics. Terra Nova 2005, 17:358-367.
29. Haughton P., Davis C., McCaffrey W., Barker S. Hybrid sediment gravity flow deposits-Classification, origin and significance. Marine and Petroleum Geology 2009, 26:1900-1918.
30. Ito M. Downfan transformation from turbidity currents to debris flows at a channel-to-lobe transitional zone: The lower Pleistocene Otadai Formation, Boso Peninsula, Japan. Journal of Sedimentary Research 2008, 78:668-682.
31. Jobe Z.R., Bernhardt A., Lowe D.R. Facies and architectural asymmetry in a conglomerate-rich submarine channel fill, cerro toro formation, sierra del toro, magallanes basin, chile. Journal of Sedimentary Research 2010, 80:1085-1108.
32. Johansson M., Braakenburg N.E., Stow D.A.V., Faugeres J.C. Deep-water massive sands: facies, processes and channel geometry in the Numidian Flysch, Sicily. Sedimentary Geology 1998, 115:233-265.
33. Johnson S.D., Flint S., Hinds D., De Ville Wickens H. Anatomy, geometry and sequence stratigraphy of basin floor to slope turbidite systems, Tanqua Karoo, South Africa. Sedimentology 2001, 48:987-1023.
34. Kane I.A., Kneller B.C., Dykstra M., Kassem A., McCaffrey W.D. Anatomy of a submarine channel-levee: an example from upper cretaceous slope sediments, Rosario formation, Baja california, Mexico. Marine and Petroleum Geology 2007, 24:540-563.
35. Kneller B.C., Branney M.J. Sustained high-density turbidity currents and the deposition of thick massive sands. Sedimentology 1995, 42:607-616.
36. Kneller B.C., McCaffrey W.D. The interpretation of vertical sequences in turbidite beds: the influence of longitudinal flow structure. Journal of Sedimentary Research 2003, 73:706-713.
37. Kneller B., Edwards D., McCaffrey W., Moore R. Oblique reflection of turbidity currents. Geology 1991, 19:250-252.
38. Kneller B. The influence of flow parameters on turbidite slope channel architecture. Marine and Petroleum Geology 2003, 20:901-910.
39. Kolla V. A review of sinuous channel avulsion patterns in some major deep-sea fans and factors controlling them. Marine and Petroleum Geology 2007, 24:450-469.
40. Kominz M.A., Miller K.G., Browning J.V. Long-term and short-term global Cenozoic sea-level estimates. Geology 1998, 26:311-314.
41. Labourdette R., Bez M. Element migration in turbidite systems: random or systematic depositional processes?. AAPG Bulletin 2010, 94:345-368.
42. Lentini F., Vezzani L., Carveni P., Copat B., Grasso M. Carta Geologica della Madonie (Sicilia Centro - Settentrionale) (1:50,000). Instituto di Geologia dell'Universitá di Catania 1974.
43. Lowe D.R. Sediment gravity flows; II, Depositional models with special reference to the deposits of high-density turbidity currents. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology 1982, 52:279-297.
44. Lowe D.R., Guy M. Slurry-flow deposits in the Britannia Formation (Lower Cretaceous), North Sea: a new perspective on the turbidity current and debris flow problem. Sedimentology 2000, 47:31-70.
45. Mayall M., Jones E., Casey M. Turbidite channel reservoirs - Key elements in facies prediction and effective development. Marine and Petroleum Geology 2006, 23:821-841.
46. Mayall M., Lonergan L., Bowman A., James S., Mills K., Primmer T., Pope D., Rogers L., Skeene R. The response of turbidite slope channels to growth-induced seabed topography. AAPG Bulletin 2010, 94:1011-1030.
47. McHargue T., Pyrcz M.J., Sullivan M.D., Clark J.D., Fildani A., Romans B.W., Covault J.A., Levy M., Posamentier H.W., Drinkwater N.J. Architecture of turbidite channel systems on the continental slope: patterns and predictions. Marine and Petroleum Geology 2010, 28:728-743.
48. Mitchum J.R.M., Van Wagoner J.C. High-frequency sequences and their stacking patterns: sequence-stratigraphic evidence of high-frequency eustatic cycles. Sedimentary Geology 1991, 70:131-147.
49. Mulder T., Alexander J. The physical character of subaqueous sedimentary density flows and their deposits. Sedimentology 2001, 48:269-299.
50. Navarre J.-C., Claude D., Liberelle E., Safa P., Vallon G., Keskes N. Deepwater turbidite system analysis, West Africa: sedimentary model and implications for reservoir model construction. The Leading Edge 2002, 21:1132-1139.
51. Olariu M.I., Aiken C.L.V., Bhattacharya J.P., Xu X. Interpretation of channelized architecture using three-dimensional photo real models, Pennsylvanian deep-water deposits at Big Rock Quarry, Arkansas. Marine and Petroleum Geology 2011, 28:1157-1170.
52. Peakall J., McCaffrey B., Kneller B. A process model for the evolution, morphology, and architecture of sinuous submarine channels. Journal of Sedimentary Research 2000, 70:434-448.
53. Peakall J., Kane I.A., Masson D., Keevil G.M., McCaffrey W., Corney R.K.T. Global (latitudinal) variation in submarine channel sinuosity. Geology 2012, 40:11-14.
54. Pedley H.M., Cugno G., Grasso M. Gravity slide and resedimentation processes in a Miocene carbonate ramp, Hyblean Platcau, southeastern Sicily. Sedimentary Geology 1992, 79:189-202.
55. Pescatore T., Renda P., Tramutoli M. Facies ed evoluzione sedimentaria del bacino Numidico nelle Madonie occidentale (Sicilia). Memorie-Societa Geological Italiana 1987, 38:297-316.
56. Pickering K.T., Bayliss N.J. Deconvolving tectono-climatic signals in deep-marine siliciclastics, Eocene Ainsa basin, Spanish Pyrenees: seesaw tectonics versus eustasy. Geology 2009, 37:203-206.
57. Pickering K.T., Hodgson D.M., Platzman E., Clark J.D., Stephens C. A new type of bedform produced by backfilling processes in a submarine channel, Late Miocene, Tabernas-Sorbas basin, SE Spain. Journal of Sedimentary Research 2001, 71:692-704.
58. Pirmez C., Imran J. Reconstruction of turbidity currents in Amazon Channel. Marine and Petroleum Geology 2003, 20:823-849.
59. Pirmez C., Hiscott R., Kronen J. Sandy turbidite successions at the base of channel-levee systems of the amazon fan revealed by fms logs and cores: unraveling the facies architecture of large submarine fans1. Proceedings of the Ocean Drilling Program, Scientific Results 1997, vol. 155:7-33.
60. Posamentier H.W., Kolla V. Seismic geomorphology and stratigraphy of depositional elements in deep-water settings. Journal of Sedimentary Research 2003, 73:367-388.
61. Postma G., Nemec W., Kleinspehn K.L. Large floating clasts in turbidites - a mechanism for their emplacement. Sedimentary Geology 1988, 58:47-61.
62. Prather B.E. Calibration and visualization of depositional process models for above-grade slopes: a case study from the Gulf of Mexico. Marine and Petroleum Geology 2000, 17:619-638.
63. Prélat A., Hodgson D.M., Flint S.S. Evolution, architecture and hierarchy of distributary deep-water deposits: a high-resolution outcrop investigation from the Permian Karoo Basin, South Africa. Sedimentology 2009, 56:2132-2154.
64. Prélat A., Covault J.A., Hodgson D.M., Fildani A., Flint S.S. Intrinsic controls on the range of volumes, morphologies, and dimensions of submarine lobes. Sedimentary Geology 2010, 232:66-76.
65. Riahi S., Soussi M., Kamel B., Kmar B.I.L., Stow D., Sami K., Mourad B. Stratigraphy, sedimentology and structure of the Numidian Flysch thrust belt in northern Tunisia. Journal of African Earth Sciences 2010, 57:109-126.
66. Shanmugam G. 50 years of the turbidite paradigm (1950s-1990s): deep-water processes and facies models - a critical perspective. Marine and Petroleum Geology 2000, 17:285-342.
67. Speranza F., Maniscalco R., Grasso M. Pattern of orogenic rotations in central-eastern Sicily: implications for the timing of spreading in the Tyrrhenian Sea. Journal of the Geological Society 2003, 160:183-195.
68. Sprague A.R., Sullivan M.D., Campion K.M., Jensen G.N., Goulding F.J., Garfield T.R., Sickafoose D.K., Rossen C., Jennette D.C., Beaubouef R.T., Abreu V., Ardill J., Porter M.L., Zelt F.B. The Physical Stratigraphy of Deep-water Strata; a Hierarchical Approach to the Analysis of Genetically Related Stratigraphic Elements for Improved Reservoir Prediction. AAPG Annual Convention with SEPM 2002, American Association of Petroleum Geologists and Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists (AAPG), Tulsa, OK, United States, 2002. Anon. (Ed.).
69. Stow D.A.V., Johansson M. Deep-water massive sands: nature, origin and hydrocarbon implications. Marine and Petroleum Geology 2000, 17:145-174.
70. Stow D.A.V., Johansson M., Braakenburg N., Faugeres J.C. Deep-water massive sands: facies, processes and channel geometry in the Numidian Flysch, Sicily - reply. Sedimentary Geology 1999, 127:119-123.
71. Straub K.M., Mohrig D., McElroy B., Buttles J., Pirmez C. Interactions between turbidity currents and topography in aggrading sinuous submarine channels: a laboratory study. Geological Society of America Bulletin 2008, 120:368-385.
72. Sylvester Z., Pirmez C., Cantelli A. A model of submarine channel-levee evolution based on channel trajectories: implications for stratigraphic architecture. Marine and Petroleum Geology 2011, 28:716-727.
73. Thomas M.F.H., Bodin S., Redfern J., Irving D.H.B. A constrained African craton source for the Cenozoic Numidian Flysch: implications for the palaeogeography of the western Mediterranean basin. Earth-Science Reviews 2010, 101:1-23.
74. Van Sickel W.A., Kominz M.A., Miller K.G., Browning J.V. Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic sea-level estimates: backstripping analysis of borehole data, onshore New Jersey. Basin Research 2004, 16:451-465.
75. Vanhouten F.B. Mid-Cenozoic Fortuna formation, Northeastern Tunisia - record of Late Alpine activity on north African Cratonic margin. American Journal of Science 1980, 280:1051-1062.
76. Walker R.G. Mudstones and thin-bedded turbidites associated with the upper cretaceous wheeler gorge conglomerates, california - a possible channel-levee complex. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology 1985, 55:279-290.
77. Waltham D. Slope control on submarine channel widths. Journal of Sedimentary Research 2008, 78:317-322.
78. Wang Y., Straub K.M., Hajek E.A. Scale-dependent compensational stacking: an estimate of autogenic time scales in channelized sedimentary deposits. Geology 2011, 39:811-814.
79. Weber M.E., Wiedicke-Hombach M., Kudrass H.R., Erlenkeuser H. Bengal Fan sediment transport activity and response to climate forcing inferred from sediment physical properties. Sedimentary Geology 2003, 155:361-381.
80. Wezel F.C. Numidian Flysch - an Oligocene - Early Miocene continental rise deposit off African Platform. Nature 1970, 228:275-276.
81. Wezel F.C. Geologica del Flysch Numidico della Sicilia Nord-Orientale. Memorie-Societa Geological Italiana 1970, 9:225-280.
82. Wild R.J., Hodgson D.M., Flint S.S. Architecture and Stratigraphic Evolution of Multiple, Vertically-Stacked Slope Channel Complexes, Tanqua depocentre, Karoo Basin, South Africa. Geological Society, London, Special Publications 244 2005, 89-111 pp.
83. Wynn R.B., Cronin B.T., Peakall J. Sinuous deep-water channels: genesis, geometry and architecture. Marine and Petroleum Geology 2007, 24:341-387.
84. Zuhlsdorff C., Hanebuth T.J.J., Henrich R. Persistent quasi-periodic turbidite activity off Saharan Africa and its comparability to orbital and climate cyclicities. Geo-Marine Letters 2008, 28:87-95.