Writing a Rosetta Stone: Insights into Continental‐Margin Sedimentary Processes and Strata

Abstract

Continental margins are valuable for many reasons, including the rich record of Earth history that they contain. A comprehensive understanding about the fate of fluvial sediment requires knowledge that transcends time-scales ranging from particle transport to deep burial. Insights are presented for margins in general, with a focus on a tectonically active margin (northern California) and a passive margin (New Jersey). Formation of continental-margin strata begins with sediment delivery to the seabed. Physical and biological reworking alters this sediment before it is preserved by burial, and has an impact upon its dispersal to more distal locations. The seabed develops strength as it consolidates, but failure can occur and lead to sediment redistribution through high-concentration gravity flows. Processes ranging from sediment delivery to gravity flows create morphological features that give shape to continental-margin surfaces. With burial, these surfaces may become seismic reflectors, which are observed in the subsurface as stratigraphy and are used to interpret the history of formative processes. Observations document sedimentary processes and strata on a particular margin, but numerical models and laboratory experimentation are necessary to provide a quantitative basis for extrapolation of these processes and strata in time and space.