Characteristics of a sandy depositional lobe on the outer Mississippi fan from SeaMARC IA sidescan sonar images

Journal Article · Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 EDT 1992 · Geology; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(1992)020<0689:COASDL>2.3.CO;2· OSTI ID:6937697

Twichell, D C; Schwab, W C ^[1]; Nelson, C H; Lee, H J ^[2]; Kenyon, N H ^[3]

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1. Geological Survey, Woods Hole, MA (United States)
2. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA (United States)
3. Inst. of Oceanographic Sciences, Wormley, Surrey (United Kingdom)

SeaMARC IA sidescan sonar images of the distal reaches of a depositional lobe on the Mississippi Fan show that channelized rather than unconfined transport was the dominant transport mechanism for coarse-grained sediment during the formation of this part of the deep-sea fan. Overbank sheet flow of sands was not an important process in the transport and deposition of the sandy and silty sediment found on this fan. The dendritic distributary pattern and the high order of splaying of the channels, only one which appears to have been active at a time, suggest that coarse-grained deposits on this fan are laterally discontinuous.

• OSTI ID: 6937697
• Journal Information: Geology; (United States), Vol. 20:8; ISSN 0091-7613
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES
ALLUVIAL DEPOSITS
DEPOSITION
GEOPHYSICAL SURVEYS
GULF OF MEXICO
SAND
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
GEOLOGIC HISTORY
MISSISSIPPI RIVER
SANDSTONES
SONAR
ATLANTIC OCEAN
CARIBBEAN SEA
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
MASS TRANSFER
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
RANGE FINDERS
RIVERS
ROCKS
SEAS
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
STREAMS
SURFACE WATERS
SURVEYS
580000* - Geosciences