Experimental
Study of Submarine Fan Deposition in a Fault-Constrained Extensional Setting
Athmer, Wiebke1, Marinus Eric Donselaar1, Remco
M. Groenenberg1, Stefan M. Luthi1, Dimitrios
Sokoutis2, Ernst Willingshofer2 (1) Delft University of
Technology, 2628RX Delft, Netherlands (2) Free University Amsterdam, 1081HV,
Amsterdam, Netherlands
The conduits of turbidity currents down
slope are controlled by slope topography. In recent deep-water exploration
areas in the
To better understand the influence of
complex topography in extensional regimes on the conditioning of flow paths and
the creation of slope accommodation a physical experimental study with a
sandbox is performed. In this sandbox material is used that is able to flow and
deform in the same way as in a natural setting. Thereby different sedimentary
layers are represented by different colors of the material. During every
time-step of the experiment the newly formed topography is scanned by a laser
and visualized on a computer. Additionally, photographs of cross-sections are
taken after the experiment to analyze internal structures. The sandbox allows
to study and model different scenarios of faulted settings such as faults with
variable shapes and orientations (e.g., normal and listric
faulting) and soft-linked relay ramps between linked extensional faults.
The results of the physical experiment
will be an important input for the development of predictive fan models in a
fault-constrained setting, especially in consideration of the fact that
deep-marine sediments become more and more of interest in petroleum exploration
sites in deep-water frontier areas.
AAPG Search and Discover Article #90063©2007 AAPG Annual Convention, Long Beach, California