Fifteen widely correlatable key seismic reflectors provide a stratigraphic framework for interpreting Quaternary turbidite systems in Santa Monica Basin. Eight acoustic facies are distinguished with deep-tow boomer seismic-reflection profiles, which have a vertical resolution of a few tens of centimeters and acoustic penetration of 20 to 50 m. Acoustic facies, which are correlated with available core data, and reflector geometry have been integrated to define six architectural elements together with a number of subelements that are of a scale that can be recognized in outcrops of ancient turbidites on land.

On Hueneme Fan, two distinct overbank elements record construction and partial erosion of laterally confined secondary levees. Near the termination of fan channels on the upper midfan, sandy facies form compensation cycles.

The middle fan comprises three main subelements: sandy channel-fill, low-gradient sandy lobes, and a scoured-lobe subelement formed of alternating sand and mud filling erosional depressions. The site of thickest lobe sediment accumulation shifts from one part of the fan surface to another through time, i.e., compensation cycles. The lower fan comprises main sheet-like alternations (locally gently lensing) of sand and mud.

The Santa Clara River delta is the dominant source for Hueneme Fan, for which changes in facies distribution reflect variations in the rate at which sea level rose since the last glacial maximum. The smaller Dume Fan, which is composed of coarser sediment supplied through littoral drift, has steeper gradients, less prominent levees, and displays fewer subelements than Hueneme Fan.