Deep water clastic reservoirs in the Gulf of Mexico: A depositional model

摘要

A conceptional model has been developed relating the deposition of thick sand sequences in deep water regions of the Gulf of Mexico to episodes of high volume Mississippi River discharge. In accordance with the model, coarse sand units are deposited by turbidity currents as submarine fans on the lower slope and in the deep basin during periods of rapid glacial melting. These sands are predicted to be more extensive and cleaner than those deposited under glacial and interglacial conditions. Evidence supporting this interpretation is provided from projections of the high rates of river discharge and sediment transportation at the end of the Wisconsin glacial epoch.