A point‐sourced calciclastic submarine fan complex (Eocene Anotz Formation, western Pyrenees): facies architecture, evolution and controlling factors

Abstract

AbstractA complete transect of a fossil carbonate ramp slope has been reconstructed using outcrop data from the Lower‐Middle Eocene Anotz Formation in the western Pyrenees. The Anotz Formation contains four calciclastic (mostly bioclastic) members encased within hemipelagic marl/limestone alternations, each calciclastic member representing a submarine fan system. Individual fans are composed of a gullied upper slope, a leveed feeder channel, a channelized lobe area, an unconfined lobe zone and a peripheral lobe fringe that grades downcurrent into basinal deposits. Quantitative data on the dimensions and degree of lateral continuity and vertical connectivity of the Anotz calciclastic fan elements are presented. These data provide information for a better understanding of the intrinsic nature of calciclastic submarine fans and to model their reservoir potential. The long‐term evolution of the Anotz carbonate slope was generally progradational, as evidenced by the four discrete episodes of calciclastic‐fan development. The location of the fans was controlled by the synsedimentary tectonic activity of the Pamplona fault, which created a slope valley along which the reworked shallow‐water calciclastic sediments were funnelled. In addition, episodic basinward tilting of the shallow‐water carbonate ramp, linked to the development of the South Pyrenean foreland basin, switched on and off the process of calciclastic resedimentation and determined the growth or abandonment of the fan systems.