![]() ![]() Sediment flux over millions of years from South Asian hinterlands to the Indus Fan was compared to tectonic and climatic conditions in order to approximate their relative influences on sediment routing (Clift & Gaedicke 2002). A convincing demonstration of interactions between the Earth's surface and circulation patterns of the atmosphere and oceans can be provided by deposits in submarine fans, which can provide a relatively complete and readily dated record of tectonic deformation, climate change, and erosion, compared to onshore records (Clift & Gaedicke 2002, Covault et al. Fans and related turbidite systems are present on the seafloor, and their deposits have been recognized in the subsurface and in outcrops.īecause submarine fans and related turbidite systems are located at the termini of continent-draining, sediment-routing systems, their deposits contain a wealth of proxy information pertaining to past climate and perturbations to their up-depositional-dip sedimentary systems. Perhaps the most widely recognized sediment-gravity-flow deposit is called a turbidite – thus, fans are also referred to as turbidite systems (Bouma et al. Fan sediment includes the deposits of sediment gravity flows and other submarine mass movements. Submarine fans constitute the largest accumulations of genetically related detritus on Earth (e.g., the Bengal and Indus fans, which are linked to South Asian sediment source areas Figure 1). Moreover, during the course of basin evolution, submarine fans can be uplifted by tectonic forces and subsequently eroded and redeposited. 1985, Mutti & Normark 1987, Shanmugam & Moiola 1988, Prather et al. However, receiving-basin geometry and substrate mobility can modify fan morphology (e.g., Nelson & Kulm 1973, Pickering 1982, Stow et al. ![]() Submarine fans are deposited at their termini and generally exhibit radial-, cone-, or fan-like morphologies in map view across the seafloor (Menard 1955) (Figure 1). The sediment-transfer zone between terrestrial source area and deep-sea depositional sink can include submarine canyon-channel systems, which generally pass from erosional V-shaped canyons indenting the continental shelf and uppermost slope, to U-shaped channels with overbank deposits across the lower slope and rise (Figure 2). At a given moment in time, sediment-routing systems comprise sediment source areas dominated by denudation, a zone of sediment transfer, and a terminal region of deposition, such as a submarine fan (Allen 1997). Submarine fans are accumulations of sediment deposited at the termini of land-to-deep-sea sediment-routing systems (Menard 1955) (Figure 1). ![]()
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