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At least 595 records · Page 33Linked to original sources
USGS1997

Massive sediment bypassing on the lower shoreface offshore of a wide tidal inlet: Cat Island Pass, Louisiana

Analysis of a series of historical bathymetric and shoreline surveys along the Louisiana coast west of the Mississippi River mouth detected a large area of deposition in water depths of 2.0–8.5 m offshore of a 9-km-wide tidal inlet, the Cat Island Pass/Wine Island Pass system. A 59.9 · 106 m 3 sandy deposit formed from the 1930s–1980s, spanning 27 km in the alongshore direction, delineating the transport pathway for sediment bypassing offshore of the inlet on the shoreface. Bypassing connected the shorefaces of two barrier island systems, the Isles Dernieres and the Bayou Lafourche. The processes responsible for formation of this deposit are not well understood, but sediment-transport modeling suggests that sediment is transported primarily by wind-driven coastal currents during large storms and hurricanes. Deposition appears to be related to changes in shoreline orientation, closing of transport pathways into a large bay to the east and the presence of tidal inlets. This newly documented type of bypassing, an offshore bypassing of the inlet system, naturally nourished the immediate downdrift area, the eastern Isles Dernieres, where shoreface and shoreline erosion rates are about half of pre-bypassing rates. Erosion rates remained the same farther downdrift, where bypassing has not yet reached. As this offshore bypassing continues, the destruction of the Isles Dernieres will be slowed.

Louisiana↗
USGS1997

Transgressive systems tract development and incised-valley fills within a quaternary estuary-shelf system: Virginia inner shelf, USA

High-frequency Quaternary glacioeustasy resulted in the incision of six moderate- to high-relief fluvial erosion surfaces beneath the Virginia inner shelf and coastal zone along the updip edges of the Atlantic continental margin. Fluvial valleys up to 5 km wide, with up to 37 m of relief and thalweg depths of up to 72 m below modern mean sea level, cut through underlying Pleistocene and Mio-Pliocene strata in response to drops in baselevel on the order of 100 m. Fluvially incised valleys were significantly modified during subsequent marine transgressions as fluvial drainage basins evolved into estuarine embayments (ancestral generations of the Chesapeake Bay). Complex incised-valley fill successions are bounded by, or contain, up to four stacked erosional surfaces (basal fluvial erosion surface, bay ravinement, tidal ravinement, and ebb-flood channel-base diastem) in vertical succession. These surfaces, combined with the transgressive oceanic ravinement that generally caps incised-valley fills, control the lateral and vertical development of intervening seismic facies (depositional systems). Transgressive stratigraphy characterizes the Quaternary section beneath the Virginia inner shelf where six depositional sequences (Sequences I-VI) are identified. Depositional sequences consist primarily of estuarine depositional systems (subjacent to the transgressive oceanic ravinement) and shoreface-shelf depositional systems; highstand systems tract coastal systems are thinly developed. The Quaternary section can be broadly subdivided into two parts. The upper part contains sequences consisting predominantly of inner shelf facies, whereas sequences in the lower part of the section consist predominantly of estuarine facies. Three styles of sequence preservation are identified. Style 1, represented by Sequences VI and V, is characterized by large estuarine systems (ancestral generations of the Chesapeake Bay) that are up to 40 m thick, have hemicylindrical wedge geometries, and occur within large, coast-oblique trending depressions (paleo-estuaries). Style 1 is dominated by fluvial through estuary-mouth depositional systems (Seismic Facies 1-4). Style 2 sequence preservation, represented by Sequences III and II, is dominantly an inner shelf and shoreface succession with a seaward-thickening tabular wedge geometry that does not exceed 15 m in thickness. These shoreface and inner shelf depositional systems of the upper transgressive systems tract (Seismic Facies 9) and highstand systems tract (Seismic Facies 7 and 11) are not associated with paleo-estuaries. Style 3 sequence preservation is represented by Sequence 1, the Holocene Sequence. It consists of lower transgressive systems tract fluvial-estuarine, lagoonal, and tidal-inlet fill deposits (Seismic Facies 1-6, and 8) overlain by upper transgressive systems tract shelf and shoreface sands (Seismic Facies 9). Style 3 has a crenulated wedge geometry, and is thickest beneath and seaward of the modern Chesapeake Bay mouth. It thins northward and landward onto Late Pleistocene interfluvial highs on the basinward side of the southern Delmarva Peninsula.

Marine Geology↗
USGS1997

Biogeochemical phosphorus mass balance for Lake Baikal, southeastern Siberia, Russia

Extensive data for Lake Baikal have been synthesized into a geochemical mass balance for phosphorus (P). Some of the P budget and internal cycling terms for Baikal have been compared to similar terms for oligotrophic Lake Superior, mesotrophic Lake Michigan and the Baltic Sea, and the Ocean. Lake Baikal has a large external source of fluvial P compared to the Laurentian upper Great Lakes and the Ocean. The major tributary to Lake Baikal has experienced substantial increases in organic P loading during the past 25 years. This, coupled with potential P inputs from possible phosphorite mining, may threaten Baikal's oligotrophic status in the future. Water-column remineralization of particulate organic P is substantially greater in Lake Baikal than in the Laurentian Great Lakes. This is probably due to the great water depths of Lake Baikal. There is a gradient in P burial efficiency, with very high values (80%) for Lake Baikal and Lake Superior, lower values (50%) for Lake Michigan and the Baltic Sea, and a low value (13%) for the Ocean. The accumulation rate of P in Lake Baikal sediments is somewhat greater than that in the Laurentian upper Great Lakes and the Baltic Sea, and much greater than in the Ocean. Benthic regeneration rates are surprisingly similar for large lacustrine and marine environments and supply less than 10% of the P utilized for primary production in these aquatic environments.

Marine Geology↗
USGS1997

Formation of ferric iron crusts in Quaternary sediments of Lake Baikal, Russia, and implications for paleoclimate

Phosphate-bearing, ferric iron and siliceous crusts ranging in age from Recent to approximately 65,000 yr B.P. are observed in sediments of Lake Baikal. In younger sediments the crusts are at the base of a spectrum of secondary iron and manganese oxides that accumulate near the sediment/water interface in the zone of positive oxidation potential beneath an oxygenated water column. In areas where the average Quaternary sedimentation rates have been slow (e.g. 0.026 mm/yr), the crusts are more common, and span a wider range of ages. No crusts have been found where the Quaternary sedimentation mode has been deltaic and rapid (0.15 mm/yr). Independent core correlation based on magnetic properties of the sediment suggests that crusts can be correlated over most of Academician Ridge, an area that is particularly sensitive to climatic events affecting the concentration of suspended sediment. These crusts may be indicative of periods of low suspended sediment concentration, which occur during sustained transitions from glacial periods of high detrital input, to interglacial periods of high diatom sedimentation. The crusts are dominated by iron-rich and siliceous amorphous mineral phases, with an FeO:SiO2 by weight of 3:1. Regardless of age or location in the lake the Fe phase always includes Ca, P and Mn. Extensive microprobe data for these four elements recast as normalized elemental weight percent reveal linear trends of Ca:P and Fe:P. With increasing P, Ca also increases such that the two elements maintain a linear relationship passing very close to the origin and with a mean molar Ca:P=0.3 (too low for well-characterized apatite). Conversely, with increasing P, Fe decreases (mean molar Fe:P=3.4). There is no correlation between Mn and P. Molar Fe:P ratios for vivianite (an Fe(II) phosphate mineral observed in sediments closely below some crusts) are clustered around a stoichiometric composition. The covariant increase in Ca:P and the corresponding decrease in Fe:P may be explained by: (1) coupled adsorption of aqueous Ca and P by a colloidal ferric hydrous oxide; (2) loss of Fe from a Ca-P-Fe phase; or (3) oxidation of vivianite to a metastable mineral phase that gradually loses Ca and gains Fe. The first explanation is favored, because there is no petrographic evidence for either the existence of an originating Ca-P-Fe phase, or, for the oxidation of vivianite. Further, it is suggested that by continually equalizing surface charge, Ca allows more phosphate to be adsorbed leading to thicker crusts and longer preservation after burial.

Marine Geology↗
USGS1997

Evaluation of conditions along the grounding line of temperate marine glaciers: An example from Muir Inlet, Glacier Bay, Alaska

In the marine environment, stability of the glacier terminus and the location of subglacial streams are the dominant controls on the distribution of grounding-line deposits within morainal banks. A morainal bank complex in Muir Inlet, Glacier Bay, SE Alaska, is used to develop a model of terminus stability and location of subglacial streams along the grounding line of temperate marine glaciers. This model can be used to interpret former grounding-line conditions in other glacimarine settings from the facies architecture within morainal bank deposits. The Muir Inlet morainal bank complex was deposited between 1860 A.D. and 1899 A.D., and historical observations provide a record of terminus positions, glacial retreat rates and sedimentary sources. These data are used to reconstruct the depositional environment and to develop a correlation between sedimentary facies and conditions along the grounding line. Four seismic facies identified on the high-resolution seismic-reflection profiles are used to interpret sedimentary facies within the morainal bank complex. Terminus stability is interpreted from the distribution of sedimentary facies within three distinct submarine geomorphic features, a grounding-line fan; stratified ridges, and a field of push ridges. The grounding-line fan was deposited along a stable terminus and is represented on seismic-reflection profiles by two distinct seismic facies, a proximal and a distal fan facies. The proximal fan facies was deposited at the efflux of subglacial streams and indicates the location of former glacifluvial discharges into the sea. Stratified ridges formed as a result of the influence of a quasi-stable terminus on the distribution of sedimentary facies along the grounding line. A field of push ridges formed along the grounding line of an unstable terminus that completely reworked the grounding-line deposits through glacitectonic deformation. Between 1860 A.D. and 1899 A.D. (39 years), 8.96 x 108 m3 of sediment were deposited within the Muir Inlet morainal bank complex at an average annual sediment accumulation rate of 2.3 x 107 m3/a. This rate represents the annual sediment production capacity of the glacier when the Muir Inlet drainage basin is filled with glacial ice.

Marine Geology↗
USGS1997

Accelerated relative sea-level rise and rapid coastal erosion: Testing a causal relationship for the Louisiana barrier islands

The role of relative sea-level rise as a cause for the rapid erosion of Louisiana's barrier island coast is investigated through a numerical implementation of a modified Bruun rule that accounts for the low percentage of sand-sized sediment in the eroding Louisiana shoreface. Shore-normal profiles from 150 km of coastline west of the Mississippi delta are derived from bathymetric surveys conducted during the 1880s. 1930s and 1980s. An RMS difference criterion is employed to test whether an equilibrium profile form is maintained between survey years. Only about half the studied profiles meet the equilibrium Criterion this represents a significant limitation on the potential applicability of the Bruun rule. The profiles meeting the equilibrium criterion, along with measured rates of relative sea-level rise, are used to hindcast shoreline retreat rates at 37 locations within the study area. Modeled and observed shoreline retreat rates show no significant correlation. Thus in terms of the Bruun approach relative sea-level rise has no power for hindcasting (and presumably forecasting) rates of coastal erosion for the Louisiana barrier islands.

Marine Geology↗
USGS1997

Lithofacies and seismic-reflection interpretation of temperate glacimarine sedimentation in Tarr Inlet, Glacier Bay, Alaska

High-resolution seismic-reflection profiles of sediment fill within Tart Inlet of Glacier Bay, Alaska, show seismic facies changes with increasing distance from the glacial termini. Five types of seismic facies are recognized from analysis of Huntec and minisparker records, and seven lithofacies are determined from detailed sedimentologic study of gravity-, vibro- and box-cores, and bottom grab samples. Lithofacies and seismic facies associations, and fjord-floor morphology allow us to divide the fjord into three sedimentary environments: ice-proximal, iceberg-zone and ice-distal. The ice-proximal environment, characterized by a morainal-bank depositional system, can be subdivided into bank-back, bank-core and bank-front subenvironments, each of which is characterized by a different depositional subsystem. A bank-back subsystem shows chaotic seismic facies with a mounded surface, which we infer consists mainly of unsorted diamicton and poorly sorted coarse-grained sediments. A bank-core depositional subsystem is a mixture of diamicton, rubble, gravel, sand and mud. Seismic-reflection records of this subsystem are characterized by chaotic seismic facies with abundant hyperbolic diffractions and a hummocky surface. A bank-front depositional subsystem consists of mainly stratified and massive sand, and is characterized by internal hummocky facies on seismic-reflection records with significant surface relief and sediment gravity flow channels. The depositional system formed in the iceberg-zone environment consists of rhythmically laminated mud interbedded with thin beds of weakly stratified diamicton and stratified or massive sand and silt. On seismic-reflection profiles, this depositional system is characterized by discontinuously stratified facies with multiple channels on the surface in the proximal zone and a single channel on the largely flat sediment surface in the distal zone. The depositional system formed in the ice-distal environment consists of interbedded homogeneous or laminated mud and massive or stratified sand and coarse silt. This depositional system shows continuously stratified seismic facies with smooth and flat surfaces on minisparker records, and continuously stratified seismic facies which are interlayered with thin weakly stratified facies on Huntec records.

Marine Geology↗
USGS1998

The Toms Canyon structure, New Jersey outer continental shelf: A possible late Eocene impact crater

The Toms Canyon structure [~20-22 km wide] is located on the New Jersey outer continental shelf beneath 80-100 m of water, and is buried by ~1 km of upper Eocene to Holocene sedimentary strata. The structure displays several characteristics typical of terrestrial impact craters (flat floor; upraised faulted rim: brecciated sedimentary fill), but several other characteristics are atypical (an unusually thin ejecta blanket; lack of an inner basin, peak ring, or central peak; bearing nearly completely filled with breccia). Seismostratigraphic and biostratigraphic analyses show that the structure formed during planktonic foraminiferal biochron P15 of the early to middle late Eocene. The fill unit is stratigraphically correlating with impact ejecta cored nearby at Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) Site 612 and at Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Sites 903 and 904 (22-35 km southeast of the Toms Canyon structure). The Toms Canyon fill unit also correlates with the Exmore breccia, which fills the much larger Chesapeake Bay impact crater (90-km diameter; 335 km to the southwest). On the basis of our analyses, we postulate that the Toms Canyon structure is an impact crater, formed when a cluster of relatively small meteorites approached the target site bearing ~N 50 E, and struck the sea floor obliquely.

New Jersey↗
USGS1998

Small-scale morphology across the surf zone

Small-scale (< 5 m horizontal length) nearshore morphologic height variations were measured by combining CRAB surveys with bed elevations acquired with a 1 MHz sonic altimeter mounted on the CRAB during the October Phase of the DUCK94 experiment. Bedform plan views were recorded simultaneously using a 500 kHz side-scan sonar mounted on the CRAB. Waves and currents were measured at the same time. Significant temporal and spatial variations in the small-scale morphology were measured in response to changing waves and currents during the 2 weeks examined. Three cases are examined in detail: (1) mild waves and weak longshore currents resulting in wave ripples throughout the study area; (2) storm waves with strong longshore currents resulting in lunate and straight-crested mega-ripples in the trough of the barred beach; and (3) narrow-band, normally incident waves with a strong rip current resulting in a planar bed except in the throat of the rip where mega-ripples were measured. Wavenumber spectra of the bed were generally broad, indicating newly formed ripples coexisted with residual ripples from the past to form complex, multi-scaled ripple patterns.

Marine Geology↗
USGS1998

The influence of the San Gregorio fault on the morphology of Monterey Canyon

A side-scan sonar survey was conducted of Monterey Canyon and the San Gregorio fault zone, off shore of Monterey Bay. The acoustic character and morphology of the sonar images, enhanced by SeaBeam bathymetry, show the path of the San Gregorio fault zone across the shelf, upper slope, and Monterey Canyon. High backscatter linear features a few kilometers long and 100 to 200 m wide delineate the sea-floor expression of the fault zone on the shelf. Previous studies have shown that brachiopod pavements and carbonate crusts are the source of the lineations backscatter. In Monterey Canyon, the fault zone occurs where the path of the canyon makes a sharp bend from WNW to SSW (1800 m). Here, the fault is marked by NW-SE-trending, high reflectivity lineations that cross the canyon floor between 1850 m and 1900 m. The lineations can be traced to ridges on the northwestern canyon wall where they have ~ 15 m of relief. Above the low-relief ridges, bowl-shaped features have been excavated on the canyon wall contributing to the widening of the canyon. We suggest that shear along the San Gregorio fault has led to the formation of the low-relief ridges near the canyon wall and that carbonate crusts, as along the shelf, may be the source of the high backscatter features on the canyon floor. The path of the fault zone across the upper slope is marked by elongated tributary canyons with high backscatter floors and 'U'-shaped cross-sectional profiles. Linear features and stepped scarps suggestive of recent crustal movement and mass-wasting, occur on the walls and floors of these canyons. Three magnitude-4 earthquakes have occurred within the last 30 years in the vicinity of the canyons that may have contributed to the observed features. As shown by others, motion along the fault zone has juxtaposed diverse lithologies that outcrop on the canyon walls. Gully morphology and the canyon's drainage patterns have been influenced by the substrate into which the gullies have formed.

Marine Geology↗
USGS1998

Sediment resuspension characteristics in Baltimore Harbor, Maryland

Critical bed shear stress for sediment resuspension and sediment erosion rate were measured in-situ at sites from inner to outer Baltimore Harbor using the VIMS Sea Carousel. Clay mineral contents and biological conditions were almost the same at the four study sites. The experimental results indicated that the erosion rate increased from the outer harbor toward the inner harbor with a maximum difference of about 10 times at an excess bed shear stress of 0.1 Pa. The measured critical bed shear stress strongly depended on the existence of a fluff layer. It was approximately 0.05 Pa if a fluff layer existed, and increases to about 0.1 Pa in the absence of a fluff layer.

Marine Geology↗
USGS1999

Estimates of suspended-sediment flux and bedform activity on the inner portion of the Eel continental shelf

Energetic waves, strong bottom currents, and relatively high rates of sediment discharge from the Eel River combined to produce large amounts of suspended-sediment transport on the inner continental shelf near the Eel River during the winter of 1995-1996. Bottom-boundary-layer (BBL) measurements at a depth of ~50 m using the GEOPROBE tripod showed that the strongest near-bottom flows (combined wave and current speeds of over 1 m/s) and highest sediment concentrations (exceeding 2 g/l at ~1.2 m above the bed) occurred during two storms, one in December 1995 and the other in February 1996. Discharge from the Eel River during these storms was estimated at between 2 and 4 x 103 m3/s. Suspended-sediment flux (SSF) was measured 1.2 m above the bed and calculated throughout the BBL, by applying the tripod data to a shelf sediment-transport model. These results showed initially northward along-shelf SSF during the storms, followed by abrupt and persistent southward reversals. Along-shelf flux was more pronounced during and after the December storm than in February. Across-shelf SSF over the entire measurement period was decidedly seaward. This seaward transport could be responsible for surficial deposits of recent sediment on the outer shelf and upper continental slope in this region. Sediment ripples and larger bedforms were observed in the very fine to fine sand at 50-m depth using a sector-scanning sonar mounted on the tripod. Ripple wavelengths estimated from the sonar images were about 9 cm, which compared favorably with photographs of the bottom taken with a camera mounted on the tripod. The ripple patterns were stable during periods of low combined wave-current bottom stresses, but changed significantly during high-stress events, such as the February storm. Two different sonic altimeters recorded changes in bed elevation of 10 to 20 cm during the periods of measurement. These changes are thought to have been caused principally by the migration of low-amplitude, long-wavelength sand waves into the measurement area.

Marine Geology↗
USGS1999

Temporal and spatial variability of the sediment grain-size distribution on the Eel shelf: The flood layer of 1995

Sediment grain-size characteristics observed on the Eel shelf have been analyzed using a wet-sieving technique that minimizes breakage of aggregates. At several sites on the 70-m isobath north of the river, where a 1995 flood layer attained a maximum thickness of about 9 cm, replicate box cores were collected on seven cruises during February 1995 to January 1997. These samples provide a unique opportunity to follow the evolution of a flood layer over a two-year period as it was modified and gradually buried. One month after the flood, a layer of tan-colored, high-porosity sediment with up to 96% of its particles in the size range of 0-20 ??m had accumulated on the central part of the shelf, 7-30 km north of the river and principally between the 50-m and 90-m isobaths. Substantial coarsening of this layer occurred between February 1995 and May 1995, particularly along the southern and the landward edge of the deposit in water depths of <70 m. The early stage of coarsening was probably caused by physical reworking of the surface 0.5-cm of the deposit and by addition of new sediment from shallower regions of the shelf. Temporal changes in inventories of several grain-size fractions show that physical processes continued to add coarse sediment to the flood layer after May 1995, but the large increases in thickness of the surface mixed layer could only be attributed to bioturbation by a recovering, or seasonally fluctuating, benthic community. The 1995 flood layer has evolved from exhibiting limited variability and normal grading (i:e., upward fining) to a layer that (1) shows significant spatial variability on scales from centimeters to 10's of meters, (2) is substantially coarser owing to additions of sediment from the inner shelf, (3) is inversely graded (i.e., coarsens upward), and (4) is intensely bioturbated to depths of 4-5 cm.

Marine Geology↗
USGS1999

Acoustic backscatter of the 1995 flood deposit on the Eel shelf

Acoustic swath mapping and sediment box coring conducted on the continental shelf near the mouth of the Eel River revealed regional variations in acoustic backscatter that can be related to the shelf sedimentology. The acoustic-backscatter variations observed on the shelf were unusually narrow compared to the response of similar sediment types documented in other areas. However, the acoustic data revealed four principal bottom types on the shelf that can be related to sedimentologic differences observed in cores. The four areas are: (1) low acoustic backscatter associated with the nearshore-sand facies and the prodelta terraces of the Eel and Mad rivers, composed of fine sands and coarse silts with low porosity; (2) high acoustic backscatter associated with fine silts characterized by high porosity and deposited by the 1995 flood of the Eel River; (3) intermediate acoustic backscatter in the outer-shelf muds, where clayey silts are accumulating and the 1995 flood apparently had limited direct effect; and (4) intermediate acoustic backscatter near the fringes of the 1995 flood deposits and in areas where the flood sediments were more disrupted by post-depositional processes. The highest acoustic backscatter was identified in areas where the 1995 flood sediments remained relatively intact and near the shelf surface into the summer of 1995. Cores collected from these areas contained wavy or lenticular bedding. The rapid deposition of the high-porosity muddy layers results in better preservation of incorporated ripple forms than in areas less directly impacted by the flood deposit. The high-porosity muddy layers allow acoustic penetration into the sediments and result in greater acoustic backscatter from incorporated roughness elements.

Marine Geology↗
USGS1999

Geometry and significance of stacked gullies on the northern California slope

Recent geophysical surveys off northern California reveal patterns of gullies on the sea floor and preserved within continental-slope deposits that represent both erosional and aggradational processes. These surveys, conducted as part of the STRATAFORM project, combined multibeam bathymetry and backscatter with high-resolution seismic profiles. These data provide a new basis for evaluating gully morphology, distribution, and their significance to slope sedimentation and evolution. The continental margin off northern California exhibits an upper slope that has undergone both progradation and aggradation. The slope surface, which dips at <2??to 4.0??, contains a set of straight, evenly spaced, and parallel to sub-parallel gullies that begin at the 380-m isobath and extend onto the Eel and Klamath plateaus and into Trinity Canyon. The surface gullies are typically 100-m wide or more and only 1-2 m deep. The gullied slope is underlain by a sedimentary sequence that contains abundant buried gullies to subsurface depths of over 150 m. Although some of the buried gullies are distinctly erosional, most are part of the aggradational pattern responsible for the overall growth of the slope. The latest phase of gully erosion is marked by a gullied surface lying <20 m below the present-day sea floor. These erosional gullies locally truncate individual reflectors, have small depositional levees, and exhibit greater relief than do overlying gullies exposed on the sea floor. The older subsurface gullies document a period of widespread, but minor, erosion and downslope transport, presumably from a large, proximal sediment source. The cycles of downcutting and gully excavation are a minor part of the stratigraphic section, and are likely related to the combined influence of lower sea levels and higher sediment yields. During aggradation of the slope depositional sequences, sediment was draped over the gully features, producing sediment layers that mimic the underlying gully form. Consequently, gully morphology and geometries were preserved and migrated upwards with time. The processes that produce aggraded gully drape also resulted in laterally continuous strata and were most likely related to a period when the sediment source was dispersed from a more distal (10s of km) source, such as during present conditions. The draped sequences also contain a few new gullies, which indicates that gullies can be initiated at all or most stages of slope growth.

Marine Geology↗
USGS1999

Regional variability of slope stability: Application to the Eel margin, California

Relative values of downslope driving forces and sediment resisting forces determine the locations of submarine slope failures. Both of these vary regionally, and their impact can be addressed when the data are organized in a Geographic Information System (GIS). The study area on the continental margin near the Eel River provides an excellent opportunity to apply GIS spatial analysis techniques for evaluation of slope stability. In this area, swath bathymetric mapping shows seafloor morphology and distribution of slope steepness in fine detail, and sediment analysis of over 70 box cores delineates the variability of sediment density near the seafloor surface. Based on the results of ten geotechnical studies of submarine study areas, we developed an algorithm that relates surface sediment density to the shear strength appropriate to the type of cyclic loading produced by an earthquake. Strength and stress normalization procedures provide results that are conceptually independent of subbottom depth. Results at depth are rigorously applicable if sediment lithology does not vary significantly and consolidation state can be estimated. Otherwise, the method applies only to shallow-seated slope failure. Regional density, slope, and level of anticipated seismic shaking information were combined in a GIS framework to yield a map that illustrates the relative stability of slopes in the face of seismically induced failure. When a measure of predicted relative slope stability is draped on an oblique view of swath bathymetry, a variation in this slope stability is observed on an otherwise smooth slope along the mid-slope region north of a plunging anticline. The section of slope containing diffuse, pockmarked gullies has a lower measure of stability than a separate section containing gullies that have sharper boundaries and somewhat steeper sides. Such an association suggests that our slope-stability analysis relates to the stability of the gully sides. The remainder of the study area shows few obvious indications of slope instability except for a feature that has become known as the 'Humboldt Slide,' but it is too deep-seated to be amenable to the slope-stability-prediction techniques presented herein. In general, few slope failures have been mapped in the Eel margin study area despite the high level of seismicity, the relatively high rates of sediment accumulation, and the extent of gas charging observed by others.

Marine Geology↗
USGS1999

Humboldt slide - A large shear-dominated retrogressive slope failure

Humboldt Slide is a large, complex slide zone located on the northern California continental margin. Its three-dimensional architecture has been imaged by a combination of multibeam bathymetry, Huntec Deep-Tow seismic profiling, and sidescan sonar. The slide is interpreted to be Late Pleistocene to early Holocene in age and was caused by a combination of factors. The area of the slide is a local depocenter with high accumulation rates of organic-rich sediment; there has been local steepening of slopes by tectonic uplifts; and the entire area is one of high seismicity. Overall, the failure occurred by retrogressive, shear-dominated, minimum movement apparently as a sequence of events. Failure initially occurred by subsidence extension at the middle of the feature, followed by upslope retrogressive failure and downslope compression, and finally by translational sliding at the top of the slide. Degassing, as evidenced by abundant pockmarks, may have inhibited downslope translation. The slide may still be active, as suggested by offsets in Holocene hemipelagic sediment draped over some of the shear surfaces. Crown cracks occur above the present head of the failure and may represent the next generation of failure.

Marine Geology↗
USGS1999

Subsurface gas offshore of northern California and its link to submarine geomorphology

The northern California continental margin contains evidence of abundant subsurface gas and numerous seafloor features that suggest a causative link between gas expulsion and geomorphology. Analyses of seismic reflection, sidescan sonar, and high-resolution multibeam bathymetric data show that the occurrence of subbottom gas and the migration processes beneath the shelf differ from those beneath the slope. Subsurface gas, inferred from enhanced reflectors and other geophysical indicators, is spatially variable and related more to total depth and stratigraphy than to underlying structure, with the exception of one band of gas that follows the regional structural trend. Shallow depressions on the seafloor (pockmarks) are used to infer expulsion sites. The largest zone of acoustically impenetrable subsurface gas occurs between water depths of 100 m and 300 m, where expulsion features are rare. The upper slope (water depths 400-600 m) has a high concentration of pockmarks (diameter 10-20 m), in contrast to a near-absence of pockmarks at water depths shallower than 400 m. Of nearly 4000 pockmarks observed on sidescan sonar records, more than 95% are located in water depths deeper than 400 m. Bottom simulating reflectors (BSRs) on some seismic reflection profiles indicate the possible presence of gas hydrate. We find that gas and pore-fluid migration in the offshore Eel River Basin is: (1) correlated to surface morphology; (2) a contributor to seabed roughness; (3) a significant mode of sediment redistribution on the upper slope; and (4) potentially a factor in large slope failures.

Marine Geology↗