Submarine Fan Warm-Up

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Essay Question

Submarine fan and alluvial fan sediments are often confused for one another in the stratigraphic record. How would you go about telling them apart if you were confronted by this problem on the outcrop?

Multiple Choice Question

Under which one of the following conditions do you think submarine fan development would be at a maximum?

low concentrations of bed load and suspended sediment delivered to a continental margin by river systems, under conditions of rising sea level

high concentrations of bed load and suspended sediment delivered to a continental margin by river systems under conditions of falling sea level

high concentrations of sediment delivered to a continental margin by river systems under conditions of rising sea level

low concentrations of sediment delivered to a continental margin by river systems under conditions of falling sea level

Which of the following statements show faulty geological reasoning?

ripple marks are not developed in the deep marine environment (i.e., water depths of thousands of meters)

currents on the continental slope may reach velocities of a few 10's of cm/sec and generally flow parallel to the topography (i.e., parallel to contour lines)

submarine debris flows are uncommon when compared to subaerial debris flows

Classic Bouma sequences are most likely to develop in mid-submarine-fan environments

turbidites in submarine fans may be distinguished from turbidites on the continental shelf by an assemblage of features including sole marks, soft-sediment deformation features, and trace fossils

submarine fans are indicative of depsition along convergent margins

submarine fans are composed of a single, continuously fining-upward sequence