The effects of differential compaction on shelf-edge trajectories

Daan Beelen, Christopher A L Jackson, Stefano Patruno, Dave Hodgson, João Trabucho-Alexandre

Research output: Contribution to conferencePaperAcademic

Abstract

The geometry of basin-margin strata documents changes in water depth, slope steepness, and sedimentary facies distributions. Their stacking patterns are widely used to define shelf-edge trajectories, which reflect long-term variations in sediment supply and relative sea-level change. Here, we present a new method to reconstruct the geometries and trajectories of clinoform-bearing basin-margin successions. Our sequential decompaction technique explicitly accounts for downdip lithology variations, which are inherent to basin-margin stratigraphy. Our case studies show that preferential compaction of distal, fine-grained foresets and bottomsets results in a vertical extension of basin-margin strata and a basinward rotation of the original shelf-edge trajectory. We discuss the implications these effects have for sea-level reconstructions and for predicting the timing of sediment transfer to the basin floor.
Original languageEnglish
Publication statusPublished - 1 Aug 2019

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'The effects of differential compaction on shelf-edge trajectories'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this