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INTRODUCTION
Turbidity currents and debris ows are widely
recognized as the main processes by which coarse
sediment is transported and deposited in the
deep sea (Carter, 1975; Middleton & Hampton,
1976; Lowe, 1979, 1982; Nardin et al., 1979).
Recently, there has been some controversy
regarding the relative importance of these
processes in depositing thick-bedded deep-water
sandstones (e.g. Shanmugam & Moiola, 1995,
1997; Shanmugam, 1996; Lowe, 1997; Slatt et al.,
1997), and there remains considerable uncertainty regarding the criteria by which the deposits
of turbidity currents (turbidites) and debris ows
(debris-ow deposits or debrites) can be recognized and distinguished in the geological record.
At least part of the confusion reects ambiguities
in the denitions of these sediment-ow types.
Two sets of denitions are in common use,
referred to here as the sedimentological and
rheological denitions. Geologists and sedimentologists working with ancient, principally marine
deposits generally dene end-member sediment
ow types based on the inferred particle-support
mechanisms (Middleton & Hampton, 1976; Lowe,
1979, 1982; Nardin et al., 1979). Turbidity currents are ows `in which the sediment is supported mainly by the upward component of uid
turbulence' (Middleton & Hampton, 1976, p. 198).
Debris ows are ows `in which the larger grains
are supported by a ``matrix,'' a mixture of interstitial uid and ne sediment that has a nite
yield strength' (Middleton & Hampton, 1976,
33
Geological setting
Sediments of the Britannia Formation in the
Britannia Field were deposited at the eastern
34
Fig. 2. Map of the Britannia Field showing block boundaries and locations of the wells examined as part of the
present study.
2000 International Association of Sedimentologists, Sedimentology, 47, 3170
35
Stratigraphy
Within the Britannia Field (Fig. 2), the Britannia
Formation has been divided into seven informal
biostratigraphic and lithological zones termed,
from the base upwards, zones 7, 10, 20, 30, 40, 45
and 50 (Fig. 3). Zone 30 is distinguished only in the
15/29 and 15/30 blocks in the western part of the
eld, and zone 7 is missing through erosion in a
number of wells (Fig. 3). To facilitate identication
and correlation, individual sandstone beds have
36
Table 1. Properties of slurry-ow deposits in the Britannia Formation from predrill wells 16/26-B1, B2, B3, B4, B5,
B6, B7, B8 and B10.
Mean grain
size (mm)
max5
(mm)
No. unimodal/No.
uncertain/No.
bimodal
Division
Block
Zone
Mean mud
content
(vol.%)*
M1
16/26
16/26
16/26
16/26
16/26
50
45
40
20
10
209
167
214
118
123
(25)
(27)
(12)
(1)
(3)
041
044
035
030
033
129
136
114
109
108
0/0/25
1/1/25
0/1/11
0/0/1
0/0/3
M2a
16/26
16/26
16/26
16/26
16/26
50
45
40
20
10
274
228
200
(0)
233
(4)
(6)
(27)
023
028
030
077
094
100
0/2/2
3/3/0
1/6/20
(8)
031
113
0/0/8
16/26
16/26
16/26
16/26
16/26
50
45
40
20
10
253
173
185
(0)
164
(17)
(14)
(8)
022
033
028
076
095
089
4/8/5
2/2/10
1/3/4
(9)
037
127
0/0/9
16/26
16/26
16/26
16/26
16/26
50
45
40
20
10
233
182
160
(0)
186
(43)
(15)
(5)
023
035
044
072
096
143
12/15/16
1/5/9
0/0/5
(2)
036
123
0/0/2
M2 (total)
16/26
16/26
16/26
16/26
16/26
50
45
40
20
10
241 (64)
187 (35)
192 (40)
(0)
(0)
023
033
031
073
095
103
16/25/23
M3
16/26
16/26
16/26
16/26
16/26
50
45
40
20
10
203 (25)
155 (49)
176 (19)
91 (4)
113 (10)
019
027
028
033
035
053
066
078
110
100
15/6/4
25/19/5
6/7/6
0/0/4
1/1/8
M4
16/26
16/26
16/26
16/26
16/26
50
45
40
20
10
188
141
141
107
123
(10)
(70)
(49)
(24)
(44)
021
032
036
034
036
056
089
093
099
109
5/3/2
18/10/42
4/16/29
0/2/22
0/3/41
M5
16/26
16/26
16/26
16/26
16/26
50
45
40
20
10
282 (11)
211 (14)
(0)
(0)
(0)
015
020
041
047
7/4/0
11/3/0
M6
16/26
16/26
16/26
16/26
16/26
50
45
40
20
10
362 (3)
271 (3)
(0)
(0)
(0)
015
015
041
037
0/3/0
2/1/0
M7
16/26
16/26
16/26
16/26
16/26
50
45
40
20
10
259 (1)
159 (14)
156 (6)
70 (1)
101 (4)
021
028
032
037
037
068
069
083
098
098
0/0/1
9/2/3
3/3/0
0/0/1
0/1/3
M2b
M2c
*Numbers in parentheses indicate the number of samples used to calculate mean values.
2000 International Association of Sedimentologists, Sedimentology, 47, 3170
Grains
Britannia sandstones are subarkosic or feldspathic arenites, containing (in QFL terms)
1030% feldspar (mean 156% for 480 thin
sections), including both potassium feldspar and
plagioclase; 6085% quartz (mean 837%), principally monocrystalline unstrained quartz but
including up to 3% equant and stretched polycrystalline quartz derived from metasedimentary
rocks; and 05% (mean 08%) other lithic grains,
mainly sedimentary and metasedimentary detritus but including a trace of mac volcanic grains.
Glauconite, reworked fossil debris, coarse micas,
including biotite, muscovite and chlorite, and a
heavy mineral assemblage dominated by apatite,
zircon, garnet, tourmaline and rutile are trace
constituents. The sediments were derived mainly
from quartzose sedimentary and metasedimentary
rocks and K-feldspar- and plagioclase-bearing
plutonic rocks, with minor contributions from
mac volcanic rocks. The ubiquitous presence of
relatively fresh glauconite, shell fragments from
shallow-water molluscs and sparse benthic foraminifera indicate that the sands passed through a
shallow-marine shelfal setting before being redeposited by sediment ows in deeper water.
Matrix
Clay components in Britannia sandstones include
heterogeneous, ne-grained, brownish detrital
mud, silt- to sand-sized clots of clear authigenic
microcrystalline kaolinite, glauconite, sand-sized
mica-rich lithic grains, including what appear to
be fragments of older mudstone, and intraformational claystone and mudstone rip-up clasts. Only
the rst of these will be discussed here. Detrital
mud is a major component of most Britannia
sandstones. It constitutes from as little as 2% by
volume of some thick-bedded, dish-structured
sandstones interpreted to represent the deposits
of high-density turbidity currents to 1035% of
grain-supported sands interpreted to be slurry
ow deposits (Figs 4 and 5) to over 40% of most
matrix-supported debris ow deposits. XRF and
XRD analyses indicate that phyllosilicate components of this brownish material include iron-rich
chlorite, smectite and illite. Chlorite, much of
which represents degraded biotite, is generally
the most abundant (Carpenter et al., 1998).
Smectites are common in mudstones of zones
30, 40, 45 and 50, as evidenced by their swelling
properties, and bentonitic ash layers occur
throughout the formation.
37
38
Fig. 4. Photomicrographs of sandstones of the Britannia Formation showing representative types of mud matrix.
Scale bar in (A) is 020 mm long and is the same in all photographs. (A) Slurry-ow deposit showing pore spaces
largely lled by low-density mud matrix containing ne, disseminated carbonaceous matter. (B) Slurry-ow deposit
with pore spaces completely lled by moderate-density mud matrix. Sample lacks visible compaction effects.
(C) Slurry-ow deposit showing high-density mud matrix lacking anisotropic compaction effects. (D) Slurry-ow
deposit showing high-density, strongly compacted mud matrix preserved as thin seams and septa between quartz
and feldspar grains in dark wispy lamination (right) and light-layer sediment (left) containing low- to moderatedensity mud matrix.
Fig. 5. Photomicrograph of slurry-ow deposit showing dark, high-density, sand-sized detrital mud grains
mixed with similarly sized quartz and feldspar. Scale
bar is 020 mm long.
Cements
The principal authigenic components in Britannia sandstones are syntaxial quartz overgrowths
39
Depth (feet)
Colour
Organic C
(wt%)
M2
M2
B6
B6
M2
M2
B6
B6
13
13
13
13
13
13
13
13
Light
Light
Light
Light
Dark
Dark
Dark
Dark
015
015
017
019
026
031
034
047
8724
875
609
6083
875
8705
6048
6062
on quartz grains, carbonate cement and replacement material and crystalline kaolinite (Guy,
1992). Syntaxial quartz overgrowths are widely
developed, particularly in cleaner, low-mud
sandstones and cleaner sandstone patches marking water-escape paths. Authigenic carbonate and
kaolinite have formed both as pore-lling
cements and as replacement materials.
General sedimentology
Sandstones of the Britannia Formation are interpreted to have been deposited by: (1) high- and
low-density turbidity currents; (2) debris ows;
and (3) slurry ows.
Turbidites
Beds in the Britannia Formation interpreted to be
the deposits of low-density turbidity currents
(Fig. 6) are composed of ne-grained micaceous
sandstone to coarse siltstone, range from a few
millimetres to as much as 1 m in thickness and
are characterized by Bouma (1962) turbidite Tb,
Tc, Td and Te divisions. They were deposited
mainly by traction (Tb, Tc and Td) from ows of
declining velocity. These deposits make up less
than 5% of the Britannia sandstones and occur
mainly as thin layers within mudstone-dominated
sections. The mud contents of low-density
turbidity current deposits is highly variable,
commonly 10% to 35% in Tb and Tc divisions.
In many of these turbidites, current-structured
sandy layers representing Tb and Tc grade
upwards into thick, medium- to dark-grey, atlaminated caps, commonly thicker than the
underlying Tbc divisions, composed largely of
mud mixed with very ne-grained sand to siltsized quartz and feldspar (Fig. 6). These appear to
40
Debris-ow deposits
Debris-ow deposits and incompletely mixed
slumps and slide masses are present in most
sections of the Britannia Formation, and evidence
41
Slurry-ow deposits
Units in the Britannia Formation interpreted to
represent slurry-ow deposits show a wide variety of primary sedimentary structures, structure
sequences, textures, mud contents and waterescape structures. Although many were initially
interpreted as turbidites (Guy, 1992), most show
high mud contents (1035%) for sandy turbidites
that lack primary labile components, and most
contain unusual primary sedimentary structures,
especially thick sequences of centimetre-scale,
lightdark banding, and unusual water-escape
structures. Although these beds are present
throughout the Britannia Formation, they make
up the bulk of the sandstones in zones 40, 45 and
50 in blocks 16/26 and 16/27. Their description
and interpretation will be discussed in the
following sections of this paper.
Sandstone beds in the Britannia Formation interpreted as slurry-ow deposits range from about
1 m to over 50 m thick, with most in the range 4
15 m thick. All consist of medium- to negrained, moderately sorted, grain-supported
sandstone, with an overall mean grain size of
about 035 mm but with individual sample means
ranging from about 015 mm to 050 mm. Many
beds show bimodal sand-grain populations, with
a coarse population of grains generally between
1 mm and 4 mm in diameter (Fig. 9), and most
show well-developed normal size grading in both
mean and largest grain sizes (Fig. 9). Slurry beds
contain between 10% and 35% mud matrix
(Table 1).
The most distinctive features of slurry beds are
their unusual sedimentary structures, including
both primary ow-related and post-depositional
water-escape and soft-sediment deformation
structures. One striking feature of Britannia
slurry-ow beds and turbidites is the virtual
absence of thick, massive, structureless beds.
Over 95% of Britannia sandstone beds are nely
structured, and very few massive zones or layers
exceed 1 m thick. Britannia slurry-ow beds are
divided here into seven divisions, termed M
divisions, each characterized by a distinctive
assemblage of primary and/or water-escape
structures. Five of these divisions are interpreted
to represent primary sedimentary structure
42
Fig. 9. Lithological column and petrographic textural data for zone 45 slurry-ow sands in well 16/26-24 (Fig. 3).
The log shows the general sedimentary structures in thick sandy slurry-ow beds. The companion textural logs show
whether the sediments are unimodal, bimodal or indeterminate, mean grain size and max5 grain size. Note that
clearly bimodal sediments occur mainly in the lower parts of individual slurry-ow beds.
Sedimentology
M1 divisions are interpreted to reect deposition
from fully turbulent ows. Their development at
the bases of beds and their thinness compared
with total bed thickness suggest that M1 divisions
represent active sand veneers on the pre-existing
beds, exchanging sediment with the overlying
ow but with little net deposition. The ows and
sediment loads were, overall, relatively steady
and uniform, although initial sedimentation
was beginning. Where ows were particularly
energetic, large-scale turbulence reached to and
commonly eroded the bed and formed crossstratied sandstone. Where the lower portions of
the ows were less turbulent and/or near-bed
43
44
Fig. 10. Sedimentation units and sedimentary structure sequences of sandy slurry-ow deposits in well 16/26-9,
12 64112 653 feet, Britannia Field. The core shows parts of four sedimentation units, labelled 14 to the right of the
core segments. Unit 1, only the top of which is included in the photograph, includes dish-structured sandstone (M4)
passing upwards into sandstone showing lighter, deformed sets of sheet-like water-escape channels that cut across an
earlier generation of dish structures and are, in turn, cut by late-stage dish structures. Unit 2 consists of dishstructured sandstone (M4). The lower parts of units 3 and 4 are marked by M1 divisions showing cross-stratication
and scoured bases that cut at high angles into underlying layers. In unit 3, M1 is succeeded by wispy laminated
sandstone of M3 that shows very regular dark layers approaching mesobands in the lower part. Sharp, ne, at dish
structures are present within thicker dark wispy laminations and locally run through light bands above 12 645 ft.
Fine, subvertical water-escape channels are well-developed throughout unit 3 but, between 12 644 and 12 6475 feet,
they are cemented by carbonate and are especially visible. Large water-escape structure sets are developed at the tops
of units 1 and 2. These show increasing inclination and shearing towards the tops of the beds, probably reecting
shearing associated with either the nal stages of deposition of the sedimentation units of which they are a part or the
initial stage of deposition of the overlying sedimentation unit. Scales in units of 01 feet.
(Figs 11 and 12) that probably represent waterescape channels and possibly some foundered
and disrupted light bands. Megabanded divisions
are similar but contain layers, generally less than
10 cm thick, of light-grey, massive to laminated
sandstone or foundered and disrupted light
45
Mixed slurried divisions are common as discrete beds but rarely occur interbedded with other
divisions in sandy slurry-ow deposits. Where
present as part of thicker beds, they are at most
12 m thick.
Fig. 11. Thick, single, M2a mixed slurried unit from its
base at 12 5066 ft. (A) to its top at 12 5005 ft. (B). The
unit shows a faintly laminated base (possibly an M1
division) overlain by massive mud-rich sandstone in
which the abundance of light-coloured water-escape
streaks increases upwards. The upper part of the bed,
from 12 503 to 12 501 feet, shows a pronounced subvertical fabric produced by water escape (M7 division).
The absence of such a fabric and the horizontal character of deformed water-escape channels in the topmost
07 feet of the bed are thought to reect the lateral owage of sediment at the bed surface during the late
stages of water escape. Well 16/26-9. Scales in units of
01 feet.
Two main types of macrobanding and mesobanding can be distinguished, here informally termed
types 1 and 2. Type 1 bands, by far the most
common, are characterized by light and dark
bands that have sharp contacts, unless blurred
by loading or shearing, and contrasting mud
contents and suites of sedimentary structures.
Type 2 bands tend to have gradational contacts
between light and dark bands, which commonly
differ only in the presence or absence of a single
sedimentary feature, such as dish structures. Type
2 bands will not be discussed further in this paper.
Type 1 macrobanding and mesobanding are
characterized by light and dark bands that contrast strongly in mud content and sedimentary
structures (Figs 13 and 14). Band sequences can
reach over 10 m thick. Light bands are composed
of light- to medium-grey, ne- to medium-grained
muddy sandstone that commonly shows crude
at lamination (Figs 13 and 14). Most have sharp
tops and sharp, mixed or deformed lower contacts
with the adjacent dark bands. Load structures are
common along the bases of light bands (Figs 13
and 14), indicating that the light sand was denser
and often foundered into the soft, muddy sand of
the underlying dark bands. Many light bands also
show sets of parallel, vertical to steeply inclined
lighter grey streaks representing two-dimensional,
sheet-like water-escape structures (Figs 13 and
14). These structures are the same as those
illustrated by Klein et al. (1972), Cook & Johnson
(1970), and Lowe (1975; gs 4D, 10 and 16). They
have been interpreted as fault sets (Klein et al.,
1972), but appear to form through the elutriation
of ne, dark carbonaceous debris and clays along
sets of parallel, planar uid-escape paths in
hydroplastic sediments (Lowe, 1982). They are
truncated at the tops of the light bands, indicating
that they formed before deposition of the overlying dark bands. In many beds, the at laminations
in the light bands continue weakly across the
vertical water-escape structures, indicating that
water escape did not always involve wholesale
uidization and sediment mixing along the uidow paths (Fig. 14). The water-escape structures
generally contain little mud and are commonly
46
Many dark bands show evidence of bedding-parallel shear, especially near their bases.
Shear-produced features include (1) dark, bedding-parallel shear layers characterized by strong
planar fabrics, including parallel alignment of
micas, other platy components and greatly elongated and stretched masses of light sandstone;
(2) abundant, bedding-parallel, lenticular streaks
of light sandstone formed by shearing of foundered
masses of low-mud sand from the overlying light
bands (Figs 13 and 14); (3) lenticular masses of
sandstone sheared off of underlying light bands
(Fig. 14); and (4) shear-induced deformation of
originally vertical water-escape structures at the
tops of some light bands, with the amount of shear
increasing towards the base of the overlying dark
bands (Fig. 14). The presence of well-dened
shear layers within mud-rich sediments showing
signicantly less shear effects, and their common
47
Fig. 13. Part of a thick, slurry-bed sequence dominated by macrobands (M2b division). This core segment shows the
upward transition from argillaceous macrobands (12 589212 596 feet) to arenaceous macrobands and mesobands
(12 58412 5892 feet). The dark bands in the macroband couplets show small, irregular, light-grey sandstone streaks
and blobs representing foundered and sheared sandstone masses detached from the overlying light bands and
vertical to subvertical, often deformed water-escape channels. Many dark bands can be divided into two layers: (a) a
lower layer with a well-developed horizontal shear fabric and greatly stretched and deformed light sandstone streaks;
and (b) an upper layer with more abundant and larger sandstone masses, most of which have been distended
horizontally by shearing; but less than in layer (a). Most of the sandstone masses in the (b) layers probably originated
as material sinking into the tops of the dark bands from the overlying light bands (c). Well-developed shear layers are
present in the lower parts of most dark bands (arrows). Later small water-escape channels (lightest streaks in dark
bands) cross-cut both shear layers and sheared and deformed, foundered light-band material. Light bands show crude
horizontal layering and cross-cutting but non-disruptive water-escape-channel sets characterized by lighter coloured,
low-mud, carbonate-cemented sandstone. Early cementation of these water-escape channels combined with later
compaction of surrounding sediments locally left the cemented channels as bulges in the light bands (1). Well
16/26-9. Scales in units of 01 feet.
48
Fig. 14. (A and B) Well-developed M2b argillaceous macrobands. The light bands are characterized by sharp tops and
loaded bases. They also show subvertical light streaks, formed during hydroplastic stretching and water escape, that
are truncated at the tops of the light bands. The dark bands show abundant blebs, blobs and streaks of light sandstone
representing intact and sheared water-escape channels and detached masses of loaded sandstone from the immediately overlying light bands. Shear laminations and textures are well developed in the dark bands, especially near
their bases (arrows), and shearing has locally detached lenticular masses of sand from the underlying light bands (a).
The dark bands contain abundant faint light-sandstone streaks and wisps. These sandstones masses are thinner and
more stretched and elongate in zones of higher shear (b) and shorter and more equant in zones of less shear (c). The
tops of the water-escape structures in the light band in (B) have been sheared out along the base of the overlying dark
band, which shows a strong shear fabric indicated by intensely stretched and elongated sandstone streaks, with the
amount of shearing decreasing downwards within the light band. The youngest, generally lightest water-escape
channels in the dark bands truncate shear laminations and deformed light sandstone masses in the surrounding
sediment. Well 16/26-9. Scales in units of 01 feet.
late-stage, bedding-parallel shear after the overlying light bands had started to accumulate and that
late-stage shearing was commonly most intense
near the bases of the dark bands.
Forty-two samples from macrobanded (M2b)
and mesobanded (M2c) divisions in the 16/26
block average 177% muddy matrix by volume
(Table 1). Sixty macrobanded and mesobanded
samples from zone 50 in the 16/26 block averaged
239% mud matrix. No clear systematic grain-size
or volumetric mud-content differences have been
identied between dark and light bands. However, Hickson (1999) reports that the light band in
a single very thoroughly studied band couplet
was signicantly coarser (021 mm) than the
underlying dark band (0193 mm), and more
careful studies are necessary before grain-size
differences between and grading trends within
light and dark bands are known. In the dark
bands, the interstitial mud matrix is typically
dark brown to nearly opaque and does not absorb
blue-dyed epoxy. Mud in the light bands is
Sedimentology
The origin of banded divisions is key to understanding the dynamics of slurry ows and
the structuring of slurry-ow deposits, but is
particularly problematic because of the absence of
49
50
Fig. 15. Interpreted origin of banding in M2 divisions. (A) During deposition of M1, ow is fully turbulent, and a thin
active layer of bed-load sediment showing at lamination or cross-stratication is deposited. Somewhat higher
suspended-load fallout rates may result in the deposition of a thin massive bed. The lower part of the ow shows a
strongly concave-upwards velocity prole characteristic of turbulent ows. (B) As the ow wanes, the settling of
sand-sized mud and mineral grains increases ow stratication and sediment concentration in the lower part of the
ow. Quartz and feldspar settling into the higher density near-bed zone slow but continue to settle to the bed, but
lower density mud grains are retarded and ultimately retained, increasing the mud content of the basal layers. A
combination of increasing sediment concentration, rising mud content and mud-particle disaggregation increases the
viscosity, shear resistance and cohesive strength of the near-bed layer, eventually forming a cohesive viscous sublayer beneath the turbulent ow. The velocity prole near the bed attens (prole 1) but is transitional at the top into
the overlying ow as long as a discrete interface does not form and the layers exchange momentum as a result of
turbulent diffusion. Where the viscous sublayer itself shows strong particle grading, the bed may essentially grade
upwards into the ow, and the velocity prole may appear convex upwards near the bed (prole 2). (C) Increasing
viscosity and strength in the viscous sublayer result in the appearance of a dynamic interface at the top of or within
the upper part of the viscous sublayer. Below this interface, the cohesive strength of the viscous sublayer prevents
settling of mud, quartz and feldspar grains, whereas above this interface, denser grains, mainly quartz and feldspar,
are still settling towards the bed. Sediment accumulation at this interface initiates plug formation within the ow
and deposition of light-band plug sediment on top of the viscous sublayer. Foundering of these early deposited lightband sediments into the underlying, still-shearing sublayer increases the particle content and strength of the upper
part of the sublayer. Freezing of the sediment-charged upper part of the viscous sublayer may also contribute to plug
development. Schematic velocity proles 13 show velocity evolution within the ow and viscous sublayer as the
plug forms and, later, as sediment accumulates on and thickens the plug, in part by forcing compaction and freezing
in the underlying shearing sublayer (proles 2 and 3). (D) Settling mud and sand continue to accumulate on top of the
plug. Brief working as bed load beneath the overlying turbulent ow forms the crudely layered sandstone of light
bands. This current-deposited sandstone continues to load into the underlying mud-rich plug/viscous sublayer.
Deposition on top of the plug eventually causes collapse, freezing and deposition of the entire viscous sublayer. At
this point, the bed surface jumps to the top of the light band accumulating on top of the viscous sublayer at the base
of the turbulent ow, and the depositional cycle begins again.
51
Fig. 16. Wispy laminated M3 divisions. (A) M3 division showing weak, discontinuous, irregular, anastomosing
wispy laminations cross-cut by vertical, light water-escape structures and a late, through-going sandstone dyke. (B)
M3 division with relatively at wispy laminations that are mud-rich zones from less than 1 mm to 34 mm thick
showing ne internal crenulated hairline laminations that are, at least in part, microstylolites. The light and dark
laminations are cut by short, vertical water-escape channels. The regularity of the laminations indicates transitional
character into banding. (C) M3 division with thick, well-dened, cyclic wispy laminations transitional into mesobanding. Scales in units of 01 feet.
52
Sedimentology
Wispy laminated divisions form one end of the
spectrum of slurry-ow divisions characterized
by decreasing band/lamination thickness from
mixed slurried to macrobanded to mesobanded to
wispy laminated units. This decrease in couplet
thickness is accompanied by a decrease in the
proportion of each couplet represented by the
dark bands and, hence, in the weight percentage
of mud in the couplets. The model for band
development discussed above implies that darkband thickness is related to the thickness of the
cohesion-dominated viscous sublayers developed
at the base of ow during sedimentation. The
thinness of wispy laminations suggests that only
very thin viscous sublayers developed and that
only very thin light layers accumulated before
new cohesive sublayers formed.
The absence of ne textural sorting of quartz
and feldspar grains within both light and dark
laminations suggests that wispy laminations and
microbands are not just varieties of at lamination. This absence of textural sorting within
wispy laminated divisions, the thinness of the
laminations, the common presence of dish-like
curved wispy laminations and the ne interlayering of dish structures and wispy lamination in
many beds suggest that wispy laminations form
under conditions of high suspended-load fallout
rates. The thinness of the dark layers is consistent
with their formation through near-bed fractionation of mud and sand grains within thin, shortlived viscous sublayers that were rapidly buried
beneath settling sand grains. High sedimentation
rates are also suggested by the pervasive, closely
spaced water-escape pipes characteristic of wispy
laminated divisions.
Individual wispy laminations are highly discontinuous, even within the limited lateral exposure
provided by core. Most probably have a lateral
extent of less than 1 m, although some laminations
may have been disrupted during late water escape.
This lateral discontinuity suggests that the thin,
cohesive viscous sublayers were both short-lived
53
Sedimentology
M4 dish-structured divisions form when the
suspended load settles at a rate too rapid for the
accumulating sediment to be moved, sorted and
structured within the bed-load layer and where
mud contents are sufciently low that mud does
not act to increase cohesion and retard overall
sand and mud sedimentation rates. Dishstructured divisions have signicantly lower
mud contents than banded or wispy laminated
divisions, suggesting that they formed from ows
or during stages of ow evolution characterized
by lower net mud contents. Deposition was
largely through direct suspension sedimentation.
The only sedimentary structures developed are
water-escape structures, including dish structures
and water-escape pipes and sheets. Sandstone
dykes are abundant towards the tops of M4
divisions and, in many beds, the top 50 cm have
been thoroughly homogenized by water escape,
forming M7 divisions.
54
Sedimentology
M5 divisions mark the tops of many thick slurryow beds (Fig. 18) and are distinctly ner grained
than underlying divisions. These relationships
suggest that they form in the waning stages of
ow during the sedimentation of ner sand and
silt. The absence of cross-lamination, even within
M5b divisions that grade continuously upwards
from sandstone into mudstone (Fig. 18A and B),
the high mud contents and the presence of ne
microbanding and rare mesobanding suggest that,
during the deposition of M5 divisions, the viscosity and strength of near-bed ow layers were
still affected by the presence of mud. High mud
and particle contents apparently suppressed the
formation of ripples and dunes (Allen & Leeder,
1980). Perhaps all, or at least the upper parts, of
M5b divisions may have been deposited from
relatively low-density ows. If so, the upward
transition from microbanded and at laminated
very ne sandstone and siltstone to mudstone
may be mechanically equivalent to the Tb, Td and
Te divisions in classical turbidites, without an
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Fig. 18. M5 and M6 divisions. (A) Thick M5 division. Below 16 3904 feet, M5a consists of wispy microbanded and
wispy at laminated, ne- to very ne-grained sandstone. M5a is abruptly overlain at 16 3904 feet by a thin muddy
layer marking the base of an M5b division of ne, sharply laminated and microbanded, very ne-grained sandstone
and siltstone. M5b is disrupted by foundering and shearing to form an M6 division between 16 389 and 16 390 feet. At
the top, there is additional mixing, and the bed grades upwards into mudstone. Bed no. 78, zone 50, well 16/26-B7.
(B) Simple, thin M5b division (13 5017513 5022 feet) showing very regular, at laminations and cyclic microbands
in very ne-grained sandstone grading upwards into laminated siltstone and mudstone. A mass of sand from the M5b
division has foundered into the underlying dish-structured sand (arrow). Bed no. 82, zone 50, well 16/26-B4.
(C) Well-developed M6 division (below 16 4941 feet) showing foundered and sheared masses of laminated
sandstone and siltstone in muddy matrix grading upwards into sheared and disrupted mudstone. This unit is the
uppermost part of a thick M5/M6 cap (bed no. 60), dominated by nely laminated to microbanded M5a sandstone (not
shown) to a thick M4 dish-structured sandstone (bed no. 58) in well 16/26-B7, zone 45. These same beds can be seen
in well 16/26-24 (Fig. 9). Scale in units of 01 feet.
56
Sedimentology
M6 divisions appear to have formed through
vertical foundering and loading in response to
density instabilities within extremely watery M5,
mainly M5b, divisions. The presence of subhorizontal lenticular sandstone streaks and lenses,
truncated along subhorizontal shear zones
(Fig. 18A), and local incorporation of deformed
masses of laminated sandstone into the overlying
mudstone suggest that deformation commonly
involved downslope owage and shearing.
57
Sedimentology
M7 divisions mark zones that have been pervasively restructured by upward-escaping uids.
They are best developed at the tops of beds,
because such pervasive restructuring by water
escape is most likely where the conning lithostatic pressure is low and complete uidization is
possible. The topmost massive to faintly horizontally laminated layers are interpreted to be sand
extruded through sand volcanoes. M7 divisions
are rare or absent at the tops of macrobanded and
mesobanded divisions, but are not uncommon in
megabanded and mixed slurried divisions.
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59
Fig. 22. Five basic slurry-ow bed types in the eastern part of the Britannia Field. All bed types may have a thin M1
division at the base and an M5/M6 or M7 division at the top. Type I consists of M4 dish-structured sandstone. The
dishes range from moderately concave (1) to nearly at (2). In rare instances, dishes are bundled, with bundles of
closely spaced dishes separated vertically by massive sand (3), producing crude type 2 banding. Internal breaks,
marked by M7 divisions of truncated water-escape structures (4), are locally present but uncommon. Type II beds
consist of interlayered M4 dish-structured and M3 wispy laminated sandstone. A few thin mesobands are locally
present at the base. Type III beds include banded, wispy laminated and, less commonly, dish-structured sandstone.
Type IV beds consist largely of macrobanded to mesobanded banded sandstone, occasionally with thin intervals of
wispy laminated sandstone. Type V consists of megabanded to mixed slurried sandstone.
60
61
mentation, without the development of mudrich viscous sublayers. Water escape involved
grain-by-grain reorganization, the winnowing of
individual muddy and carbonaceous grains and
size sorting along the water-escape paths. These
beds are best regarded as the deposits of muddy
but largely non-cohesive, high-density turbidity
currents.
62
63
size fractionation and differential particle settling. These features are consistent with the
depositing ows being fully turbulent and largely
cohesionless except within short-lived, near-bed
viscous sublayers developed during the deposition of wispy lamination.
their tops, where the uppermost parts of individual beds have not been sheared or disturbed by
post-depositional owage, slumping or mixing.
Beds with wispy laminated tops are commonly
capped by a thin M7 unit of vertical water-escape
structures overlain abruptly by mudstone or
claystone.
Type III beds tend to pass from M1 divisions at
the base, marking an initial interval of fully
turbulent ow, to banded units within which
there is an upward decrease in band and couplet
thickness and in the proportion and thickness of
the dark bands. These trends suggest that, after an
initial interval of nearly steady and uniform
turbulent ow, the ows developed thick cohesive sublayers with the onset of sedimentation
and increasing ow stratication. The upwardthinning trends in band thickness and relative
decreasing thickness of the dark bands suggest
that the mud contents of the ows were declining
and that, as a consequence, the overall rate of
sediment fallout from suspension was increasing.
64
Few, if any, of the beds are topped by dishstructured intervals: most show internal disconformities at the tops of M2c or M3 divisions
succeeded by M5/M6 divisions, suggesting that
fallout of the relatively dense mud and sand
suspended-sediment clouds was followed by
gradual waning and deposition under increasingly
lower energy conditions. The abundance of mud
in M5 units suggests that mud continued to be a
major component of these ows until they ended.
These beds are usually well graded in both mean
and max5 (Fig. 25), but some lack grading in the
mean.
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