Key controls on submarine channel development in structurally active settings

Abstract

Submarine channel-levee systems commonly develop in structurally active deepwater settings. Despite their widespread development in such settings, only recently have researchers begun to address the response of channel-levee system evolution to deformation. Key factors which govern channel evolution and morphological development are relative rates of deformation and channel deposition and erosion, and also the number and scale of deformational structures, relative to the scale of the submarine channel. Submarine channel–structure interactions can be split into four end-members: deflection, blocking, diversion and confinement. Where deformation is coeval with channel development, an increase in the relative rate of uplift versus deposition and erosion causes a transition from channel deflection to blocking. Diversion and confinement are linked by the number, scale and orientation of structures relative to the channel flow path. Increasing the number of structures and their scale typically results in channel confinement. Underlying all of these individual controls is the distribution of local accommodation, which is determined by specific structural style. This distribution of accommodation over relatively small (<10 km) length scales strongly affects local channel development in order to attain the equilibrium profile. Knowledge of these controls on submarine channel development can increase our understanding of how these deepwater sedimentary systems evolve and distribute sediment across deforming submarine slopes. Understanding the factors governing spatial variations in channel morphology may also be applied when exploring for hydrocarbon reservoirs in structurally active deepwater settings.