Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Sedimentology
Paleotsunami record of the past 4300 years in the complex coastal lake system of Lake Cucao, Chiloé Island, south central Chile
Published: 2020-01-08
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology
In CE 1960, Lake Cucao on Chiloé Island in south central Chile was inundated by the tsunami of the Great Chilean Earthquake (Mw 9.5). The area of what is now the lake basin has been submerged since the end of the rapid postglacial sea-level rise and has recorded tsunami inundations in its sediment record since then. This study reconstructs the tsunami history of Lake Cucao. Reflection-seismic [...]
U-Th dating of lake sediments: Lessons from the 700 kyr sediment record of Lake Junín, Peru
Published: 2019-12-09
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Geology, Other Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology
*----- NOTE: This is a peer reviewed preprint of a paper accepted in Quaternary Science Reviews as of June 8, 2020 -----* Deep sediment cores from long-lived lake basins are fundamental records of paleoenvironmental history, but the power of these reconstructions has often been limited by poor age control. Uranium-thorium (U-Th) dating has the potential to fill a gap in current geochronological [...]
Abrupt Arctic Warming Repeatedly Led to Prolonged Drought and Glacial Retreat in the Tropical Andes During the Last Glacial Cycle
Published: 2019-12-03
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Geology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology
A sediment core spanning the last ~50 ka from Lake Junín (Peru) in the tropical Andes reveals abrupt climatic events on a centennial-millennial time scale. These events, which involved the near-complete disappearance of glaciers below 4700 masl in the eastern Andean cordillera and major reductions in the level of Peru’s second largest lake, occurred during the abrupt warmings recorded in [...]
Stratigraphic reservoir compartmentalization: causes, recognition, and implications for the geological storage of carbon dioxide
Published: 2019-11-23
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, Tectonics and Structure
The impact of carbon capture and storage (CCS) in mitigating anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases is potentially great, but its success is strongly dependent on identifying suitable geological storage sites. One of the key uncertainties in this regard is the degree of compartmentalization of the target storage horizon. Many studies have examined reservoir compartmentalization in oil and [...]
Does fluvial channel belt clustering predict net sand to gross rock volume? Architectural metrics and point pattern analysis of a digital outcrop model
Published: 2019-10-31
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology, Stratigraphy
Spatial point-pattern analyses (PPAs) are used to quantify clustering, randomness, and uniformity of the distribution of channel belts in fluvial strata. Point patterns may reflect end-member fluvial architecture, e.g., uniform compensational stacking and avulsion-generated clustering, which may change laterally, especially at greater scales. To investigate spatial and temporal changes in fluvial [...]
Holocene relative sea-level changes and glacial isostatic adjustment of the U.S. Atlantic coast
Published: 2019-09-30
Subjects: Climate, Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Geomorphology, Glaciology, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, Other Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, Tectonics and Structure
The first quality-controlled Holocene sea-level database for the U.S. Atlantic coast has been constructed from 686 sea-level indicators. The database documents a decreasing rate of relative sea-level (RSL) rise through time with no evidence of sea level being above present in the middle to late Holocene. The highest rates of RSL rise are found in the mid-Atlantic region. We employ the database to [...]
Repeated degradation and progradation of a submarine slope over geological timescales
Published: 2019-09-30
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Other Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, Tectonics and Structure
Submarine slopes prograde via accretion of sediment to clinoform foresets, and degrade in response to channel or canyon incision, or mass-wasting processes. The timescales over which progradation and degradation occur, and the large-scale stratigraphic record of these processes, remain unclear due poor age constraints in subsurface-based studies, and areally limited exposures of exhumed systems. [...]
The influence of local low-density basement anomalies on the distribution of fluvio-deltaic sediment in rift basins: the early Carboniferous Fell Sandstone Formation, northern England
Published: 2019-09-18
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology, Tectonics and Structure
Local low-density basement anomalies are an important part of a rift basin’s inherited structural framework that can influence basin stratigraphy. Large granitic intrusions can cause local alterations in the basement’s density and often spatially correlate with fault-bounded highs (blocks) or convex-shaped regional flexural highs due to their isostatic responses. We investigate the influence of [...]
Miniature paleo-speleothems from the earliest Ediacaran (635 Ma) Doushantuo cap dolostone in South China and their implications for terrestrial ecosystems
Published: 2019-09-15
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology, Speleology, Stratigraphy
Speleothems can offer insights into terrestrial life because their formation is critically dependent on soil-microbial ecosystems. Here we report the wide distribution of miniature paleo-speleothems from the ~635 Ma Doushantuo cap dolostone in South China in order to understand the recovery of terrestrial life after the terminal Cryogenian Marinoan snowball Earth glaciation. The cap dolostone was [...]
Comparing Aggradation, Superelevation, and Avulsion Frequency of Submarine and Fluvial Channels
Published: 2019-08-31
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Geomorphology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology, Stratigraphy
IN REVIEW IN "FRONTIERS IN EARTH SCIENCE" (30 Aug 2019). Constraining the avulsion dynamics of rivers and submarine channels is essential for predicting the distribution and architecture of sediment, organic matter and pollutants in alluvial, deltaic, and submarine settings. Submarine channels are well known to be more aggradational than rivers, and aggradation of the channel, levee, and [...]
Early Paleocene Paleoceanography and Export Productivity in the Chicxulub Crater
Published: 2019-08-17
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geochemistry, Paleontology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology
The Chicxulub impact caused a crash in export productivity in much of the world’s oceans which contributed to the extinction of 75% of marine species. In the immediate aftermath of the extinction, local export productivity was highly variable, with some sites, including the Chicxulub crater, recording elevated export production. The long-term transition back to more stable export productivity [...]
Grain-Size and Discharge Controls on Submarine-Fan Depositional Patterns From Forward Stratigraphic Models
Published: 2019-08-17
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology, Stratigraphy
Submarine fans are important components of continental margins; they contain a stratigraphic record of environmental changes and host large accumulations of oil and gas. The grain size and volume of sediment supply to fans is thought to control the heterogeneity of deep-water deposits; predicting spatial variability of sandy and muddy deposits is an important applied challenge in the [...]
Mass-transport complexes (MTCs) document minibasin subsidence patterns and diapir evolution in the northern Gulf of Mexico
Published: 2019-08-08
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology, Social and Behavioral Sciences
Mass-transport complexes (MTCs) dominate many salt-influenced sedimentary basins. Commonly in such settings, halokinesis is invoked as the primarily trigger for MTC emplacement. Despite being very well-imaged in seismic reflection data, we know little of how MTCs vary in terms of their sedimentological character, which may relate to their provenance, or their triggers. We use high-quality 3D [...]
Deep-water reservoir distribution on a salt-influenced slope, Santos Basin, offshore Brazil
Published: 2019-08-08
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Geology, Other Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, Tectonics and Structure
Studies of near-seabed datasets show that salt tectonics controls the distribution and architecture of deep-water reservoirs in many salt-influenced basins. It is typically difficult, however, to study the distribution and stratigraphic evolution of depositional systems preserved at deeper, economically significant depths, reflecting poor seismic imaging of steeply dipping strata flanking [...]
Internal mouth bar variability and preservation of interflood beds in low-accommodation proximal deltaic settings (Cretaceous Dakota Group, New Mexico, USA)
Published: 2019-07-31
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Sedimentology
Mouth bars are the fundamental architectural elements of proximal deltaic successions. Understanding their internal architecture and deciphering the relative impact and complex interaction of coastal processes (fluvial-, tide- and wave-dominated) is paramount to the interpretation of ancient deltaic successions. This is particularly challenging in low-accommodation systems, because they are [...]