Neogene-Quaternary Stratigraphic Responses in a Tectonically Driven Basin: Northern California Continental Shelf and Upper Slope.

摘要

This project is a component of ONR's STRATAFORM program, the goal of which is to link short-term (i.e., acting over hours to weeks) biological and physical processes affecting sedimentation ('event stratigraphy') to the sequence stratigraphy and facies architecture of the preserved record. STRATAFORM consists of three interrelated projects whose goals are to study: 1) shelf sediment dynamics and the development of lithostratigraphy, 2) slope geological processes and resultant geomorphology, and 3) stratigraphic sequences resulting from shelf and slope sedimentation. High resolution multichannel seismic (MCS) data collection, described below, is part of the third project, but the data also form part of a multi-faceted approach that ties all three projects together. Specific objectives include: (1) origins of sequence stratigraphic architecture in an environment characterized by high rates of sediment supply and active tectonism, (2) tracking the history of northward sediment dispersal from the Eel River and identifying sediment transport pathways that existed during sea-level lowstands, (3) morphologies and evolution of slope canyons, and (4) history of the Humboldt Slide.