Sediment Provenance

Sediment Provenance
Author: Rajat Mazumder
Publisher: Elsevier
Total Pages: 614
Release: 2016-10-08
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0128033878

Sediment Provenance: Influences on Compositional Change from Source to Sink provides a thorough and inclusive overview that features data-based case studies on a broad range of dynamic aspects in sedimentary rock structure and deposition. Provenance data plays a critical role in a number of aspects of sedimentary rocks, including the assessment of palaeogeographic reconstructions, the constraints of lateral displacements in orogens, the characterization of crust which is no longer exposed, the mapping of depositional systems, sub-surface correlation, and in predicting reservoir quality. The provenance of fine-grained sediments—on a global scale—has been used to monitor crustal evolution, and sediment transport is paramount in considering restoration techniques for both watershed and river restoration. Transport is responsible for erosion, bank undercutting, sandbar formation, aggradation, gullying, and plugging, as well as bed form migration and generation of primary sedimentary structures. Additionally, the quest for reservoir quality in contemporary hydrocarbon exploration and extraction necessitates a deliberate focus on diagenesis. This book addresses all of these challenges and arms geoscientists with an all-in-one reference to sedimentary rocks, from source to deposition. Provides the latest data available on various aspects of sedimentary rocks from their source to deposition Features case studies throughout that illustrate new data and critical analyses of published data by some of the world’s most pre-eminent sedimentologists Includes more than 150 illustrations, photos, figures, and diagrams that underscore key concepts

Sediment Routing Systems

Sediment Routing Systems
Author: Philip A. Allen
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 423
Release: 2017-09-14
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1107091993

This cutting-edge summary combines ideas from several sub-disciplines to provide an understanding of sediment routing systems and Earth surface dynamics.

Decoding Geologic Signals of the Sedimentary Source-to-sink Pathway with Examples from the Modern and Ancient

Decoding Geologic Signals of the Sedimentary Source-to-sink Pathway with Examples from the Modern and Ancient
Author: Stephen Cole Dobbs
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2022
Genre:
ISBN:

This dissertation assesses how geologic signals are preserved, or perturbed, in the sedimentary source-to-sink pathway, and to what extent these signals are reliable narrators of Earth's history. We investigate the resilience of geologic signal propagation through an examination of the two fundamental processes of sedimentary geology: erosion and deposition. First, we evaluate how the erosive forms of sedimentary pathways encode information about the mechanistic processes responsible for their creation (Chapters I and II). Second, we examine the depositional records at the terminus of these pathways to determine how well sediment transport histories are preserved in the stratigraphic record (Chapters III and IV). Chapter I presents a quantitative comparison of subaerial and submarine channel networks to determine whether their morphologies are distinct. A global analysis of channel concavity and steepness indices from both terrestrial and submarine catchments demonstrates that these two channel forms are indeed unique from each other. Specifically, statistical comparisons demonstrate that concavities of submarine channels are, on balance, lower than those measured in terrestrial basins, and that submarine tributaries are steeper than their associated mainstem. These differences may reflect distinct drainage formation mechanisms and dynamics of submarine sediment gravity flows as compared to overland flow processes. Chapter II uses a set of numerical experiments based on geomorphic transport laws of channel incision and hillslope diffusion to determine whether an established power-law relationship between channel slope and drainage basin area can be optimally configured across a landscape. We find that even in numerical landscape evolution models where parameters are explicitly defined, a certain level of numerical dispersion persists. We speculate this model variance in slope-area scaling highlights a fundamental instability in the form of channel networks, which is only reconciled by diffusively eroded hillslopes that allow variability in the channel length scaling such that mathematical representation of channel incision can be reconciled with a landscape topology that is continuous in space. Chapter III, through a case study from the Upper Cretaceous La Anita Formation (Southern Patagonia), demonstrates how depositional style can affect detrital zircon provenance signatures, which could be mistakenly interpreted as tectonically significant. We establish the sedimentary context of the La Anita Formation as a shoaling package of continental margin facies and then combine our analysis with systematic detrital zircon sampling from each depositional environment. These data document a systematic shift in provenance trends, which correlates with varying depositional environments. This suggests that competition between transport processes inherent to different depositional environments affects the provenance signature recorded within a single stratigraphic succession. Chapter IV capitalizes on an exposure of thin-bedded turbidites adjacent to a prominent submarine channel meander bend offshore Morro Bay, California to assess how sediment is mobilized across the continental margin, and how allogenic forcings can change sedimentation styles. An analysis of high-resolution multibeam bathymetry, sediment core descriptions, radiocarbon dating, and stable isotope measurements suggests that margin-wide sediment mobilization via sediment gravity flows and slope failures were much more frequent at the Pleistocene-Holocene boundary than under present conditions. This work suggests that sea-level likely plays a significant role in the coarse-grained sediment flux onto the Morro Bay continental slope while also providing a first-hand assessment of the geohazard potential of turbidity currents in this region.

Sediment Provenance Studies in Hydrocarbon Exploration and Production

Sediment Provenance Studies in Hydrocarbon Exploration and Production
Author: R.A. Scott
Publisher: Geological Society of London
Total Pages: 416
Release: 2014-06-25
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1862393702

Sediment provenance studies concern the origin, composition, transportation and deposition of detritus and therefore are an important part of understanding the links between basinal sedimentation, and hinterland tectonics and unroofing. Such studies can add value at many stages of hydrocarbon exploitation, from identifying regional-scale crustal affinities and sediment dispersal patterns during the earliest stages of exploration, to detailed correlation in producing reservoirs and understanding the impact of mineralogy on reservoir diagenesis. The volume showcases the wide variety of techniques available, using examples and applications from all aspects of sediment provenance research. The papers are organized into four sets around the following themes: • Overview: applications of provenance information in hydrocarbon reservoir sandstones • Provenance, diagenesis and reservoir quality • Provenance studies linking sediment to source • Looking forward: development of techniques and data handling This book is dedicated to the memory of Maria Mange and Robert A. Scott.

Geochemistry

Geochemistry
Author: Harry Y. McSween
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Total Pages: 381
Release: 2003
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0231124406

Written expressly for undergraduate and graduate geologists, this book focuses on how geochemical principles can be used to solve practical problems. The attention to problem-solving reflects the authors'belief that showing how theory is useful in solving real-life problems is vital for learning. The book gives students a thorough grasp of the basic principles of the subject, balancing the traditional equilibrium perspective and the kinetic viewpoint. The first half of the book considers processes in which temperature and pressure are nearly constant. After introductions to the laws of thermodynamics, to fundamental equations for flow and diffusion, and to solution chemistry, these principles are used to investigate diagenesis, weathering, and natural waters. The second half of the book applies thermodynamics and kinetics to systems undergoing changes in temperature and pressure during magmatism and metamorphism. This revised edition incorporates new geochemical discoveries as examples of processes and pathways, with new chapters on mineral structure and bonding and on organic matter and biomarkers. Each chapter has worked problems, and the authors assume that the student has had a year of college-level chemistry and a year of calculus. Praise for the first edition "A truly modern geochemistry book.... Very well written and quite enjoyable to read.... An excellent basic text for graduate level instruction in geochemistry." --Journal of Geological Education "An up-to-date, broadly conceived introduction to geochemistry.... Given the recent flowering of geochemistry as an interdisciplinary science, and given the extent to which it now draws upon the fundamentals of thermodynamics and kinetics to understand earth and planetary processes, this timely and rigorous [book] is welcome indeed." --Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta

Dynamic Mars

Dynamic Mars
Author: Richard J. Soare
Publisher: Elsevier
Total Pages: 474
Release: 2018-08-07
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0128130199

Dynamic Mars: Recent and Current Landscape Evolution of the Red Planet presents the latest observations, interpretations, and explanations of geological change at the surface or near-surface of this terrestrial body. These changes raise questions about a decades-old paradigm, formed largely in the aftermath of very coarse Mariner-mission imagery in the 1960s, suggesting that much of the interesting geological activity on Mars occurred deep in its past, eons ago. The book includes discussions of (1) Mars’ ever-changing atmosphere and the impact of this on the planet’s surface and near-surface; (2) the possible involvement of water in relatively new, if not contemporary, gully-like flows and slope streaks (i.e. recurring slope lineae); and (3) the identification of a broad suite of agents and processes (i.e. glacial, periglacial, aeolian, meteorological, volcanic, and meteoric) that are actively revising surface and near-surface landscapes, landforms, and features on a local, regional, and hemispheric scale. Highly illustrated and punctuated by data from the most recent Mars missions, Dynamic Mars is a valuable resource for all levels of research in the geological history of Mars, as well as of the three other terrestrial planets. Utilizes observational and model-based data as well as geological context to frame the understanding of the dynamic surface and near-surface of Mars Presents a broad spectrum of highly regarded experts and themes to discuss and evaluate the geological history of late and current Mars Includes extensive and detailed imagery to clearly illustrate these themes, discussions, and evaluations