scholarly journals Terrigenous sediment supply along the Chilean continental margin: modern regional patterns of texture and composition

1998 ◽  
Vol 87 (3) ◽  
pp. 477-494 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Lamy ◽  
D. Hebbeln ◽  
G. Wefer
Keyword(s):  
Continental Margin ◽  
Sediment Supply ◽  
Regional Patterns ◽  
Terrigenous Sediment

How submarine channels (re)shape continental margins

2020 ◽  
Vol 90 (11) ◽  
pp. 1581-1600
Author(s):  
Luke A. Pettinga ◽  
Zane R. Jobe
Keyword(s):  
Continental Margin ◽  
Evolution Model ◽  
Sediment Supply ◽  
Tectonic Deformation ◽  
Continental Margins ◽  
Sedimentary Processes ◽  
Submarine Channels ◽  
Active Tectonic ◽  
Tectonic Settings ◽  
Longitudinal Profiles

ABSTRACT Submarine landscapes, like their terrestrial counterparts, are sculpted by autogenic sedimentary processes toward morphologies at equilibrium with their allogenic controls. While submarine channels and nearby, inter-channel continental-margin areas share boundary conditions (e.g., terrestrial sediment supply, tectonic deformation), there are significant differences between the style, recurrence, and magnitude of their respective autogenic sedimentary processes. We predict that these process-based differences affect the rates of geomorphic change and equilibrium (i.e., graded) morphologies of submarine-channel and continental-margin longitudinal profiles. To gain insight into this proposed relationship, we document, classify (using machine learning), and analyze longitudinal profiles from 50 siliciclastic continental margins and associated submarine channels which represent a range of sediment-supply regimes and tectonic settings. These profiles tend to evolve toward smooth, lower-gradient longitudinal profiles, and we created a “smoothness” metric as a proxy for the relative maturity of these profiles toward the idealized equilibrium profile. Generally, higher smoothness values occur in systems with larger sediment supply, and the smoothness of channels typically exceeds that of the associated continental margin. We propose that the high rates of erosion, bypass, and deposition via sediment gravity flows act to smooth and mature channel profiles more rapidly than the surrounding continental margin, which is dominated by less-energetic diffusive sedimentary processes. Additionally, tectonic deformation will act to reduce the smoothness of these longitudinal profiles. Importantly, the relationship between total sediment supply and the difference between smoothness values of associated continental margins and submarine channels (the “smoothness Δ”) follows separate trends in passive and active tectonic settings, which we attribute to the variability in relative rates of smoothness development between channelized and inter-channel environments in the presence or absence of tectonic deformation. We propose two endmember pathways by which continental margins and submarine channels coevolve towards their respective equilibrium profiles with increased sediment supply: 1) Coupled Evolution Model (common in passive tectonic settings), in which the smoothness Δ increases only slightly before remaining static, and 2) Decoupled Evolution Model (common in active tectonic settings), in which the smoothness Δ increases more rapidly and to a greater final value. Our analysis indicates that the interaction of the allogenic factors of sediment supply and tectonic deformation with the autogenic sedimentary processes characteristic of channelized and inter-channel areas of the continental margin may account for much of the variability between coevolution pathways and depositional architectures.

Deglacial changes in the strength of deep southern component water and sediment supply at the Argentine continental margin

2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (8) ◽  
pp. 796-812 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grit Warratz ◽  
Rüdiger Henrich ◽  
Ines Voigt ◽  
Cristiano M. Chiessi ◽  
Gerhard Kuhn ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Continental Margin ◽  
Sediment Supply ◽  
Water And Sediment

scholarly journals High-Resolution Marine Record of Climatic Change in Mid-latitude Chile during the Last 28,000 Years Based on Terrigenous Sediment Parameters

1999 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank Lamy ◽  
Dierk Hebbeln ◽  
Gerold Wefer
Keyword(s):  
Sediment Cores ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Sediment Supply ◽  
Size Distributions ◽  
Terrigenous Sediment ◽  
Latitudinal Position ◽  
Grain Size Distributions ◽  
The Last Glacial Maximum ◽  
Southern Westerlies ◽  
The Last Glacial

AbstractMarine sediment cores from the continental slope off mid-latitude Chile (33°S) were studied with regard to grain-size distributions and clay mineral composition. The data provide a 28,000-yr14C accelerator mass spectrometry-dated record of variations in the terrigenous sediment supply reflecting modifications of weathering conditions and sediment source areas in the continental hinterland. These variations can be interpreted in terms of the paleoclimatic evolution of mid-latitude Chile and are compared to existing terrestrial records. Glacial climates (28,000–18,000 cal yr B.P.) were generally cold–humid with a cold–semiarid interval between 26,000 and 22,000 cal yr B.P. The deglaciation was characterized by a trend toward more arid conditions. During the middle Holocene (8000–4000 cal yr B.P.), comparatively stable climatic conditions prevailed with increased aridity in the Coastal Range. The late Holocene (4000–0 cal yr B.P.) was marked by more variable paleoclimates with generally more humid conditions. Variations of rainfall in mid-latitude Chile are most likely controlled by shifts of the latitudinal position of the Southern Westerlies. Compared to the Holocene, the southern westerly wind belt was located significantly farther north during the last glacial maximum. Less important variations of the latitudinal position of the Southern Westerlies also occurred on shorter time scales.

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