Abstract
Research Article| September 01, 2009 Coarse-grained sediment delivery and distribution in the Holocene Santa Monica Basin, California: Implications for evaluating source-to-sink flux at millennial time scales Brian W. Romans; Brian W. Romans 1Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences, Stanford University, 450 Serra Mall, Building 320, Stanford, California 94305, USA *Current address: Chevron Energy Technology Co., San Ramon, California 94583, USA. E-mail: brian.romans@chevron.com Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar William R. Normark; William R. Normark 2U.S. Geological Survey, Coastal and Marine Geology Division, 345 Middlefield Road, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Mary M. McGann; Mary M. McGann 2U.S. Geological Survey, Coastal and Marine Geology Division, 345 Middlefield Road, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Jacob A. Covault; Jacob A. Covault 1Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences, Stanford University, 450 Serra Mall, Building 320, Stanford, California 94305, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Stephan A. Graham Stephan A. Graham 1Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences, Stanford University, 450 Serra Mall, Building 320, Stanford, California 94305, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar GSA Bulletin (2009) 121 (9-10): 1394–1408. https://doi.org/10.1130/B26393.1 Article history received: 22 Dec 2007 rev-recd: 09 Dec 2008 accepted: 17 Dec 2008 first online: 02 Mar 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation Brian W. Romans, William R. Normark, Mary M. McGann, Jacob A. Covault, Stephan A. Graham; Coarse-grained sediment delivery and distribution in the Holocene Santa Monica Basin, California: Implications for evaluating source-to-sink flux at millennial time scales. GSA Bulletin 2009;; 121 (9-10): 1394–1408. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/B26393.1 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGSA Bulletin Search Advanced Search Abstract Utilizing accumulations of coarse-grained terrigenous sediment from deep-marine basins to evaluate the relative contributions of and history of controls on sediment flux through a source-to-sink system has been difficult as a result of limited knowledge of event timing. In this study, six new radio-carbon (14C) dates are integrated with five previously published dates that have been recalibrated from a 12.5-m-thick turbidite section from Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 1015 in Santa Monica Basin, offshore California. This borehole is tied to high-resolution seismic-reflection profiles that cover an 1100 km2 area of the middle and lower Hueneme submarine fan and most of the basin plain. The resulting stratigraphic framework provides the highest temporal resolution for a thick-bedded Holocene turbidite succession to date, permitting an evaluation of source-to-sink controls at millennial (1000 yr) scales.The depositional history from 7 ka to present indicates that the recurrence interval for large turbidity-current events is relatively constant (300–360 yr), but the volume of sediment deposited on the fan and in the basin plain has increased by a factor of 2 over this period. Moreover, the amount of sand per event on the basin plain during the same interval has increased by a factor of 7. Maps of sediment distribution derived from correlation of seismic-reflection profiles indicate that this trend cannot be attributed exclusively to autogenic processes (e.g., pro-gradation of depocenters). The observed variability in sediment accumulation rates is thus largely controlled by allogenic factors, including: (1) increased discharge of Santa Clara River as a result of increased magnitude and frequency of El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events from ca. 2 ka to present, (2) an apparent change in routing of coarse-grained sediment within the staging area at ca. 3 ka (i.e., from direct river input to indirect, littoral cell input into Hueneme submarine canyon), and (3) decreasing rates of sea-level rise (i.e., rate of rise slowed considerably by ca. 3 ka). The Holocene history of the Santa Clara River–Santa Monica Basin source-to-sink system demonstrates the ways in which varying sediment flux and changes in dispersal pathways affect the basinal stratigraphic record. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.
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