| Title | Slope-fan and glacial sedimentation on the central Beaufort continental slope, Arctic Canada |
| Download | Downloads |
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| Licence | Please note the adoption of the Open Government Licence - Canada
supersedes any previous licences. |
| Author | Rohr, K M M; Riedel, M; Dallimore, S R ; Côté, M M |
| Source | Geological Survey of Canada, Current Research (Online) 2021-1, 2021, 18 pages, https://doi.org/10.4095/326068  Open Access |
| Image |  |
| Year | 2021 |
| Publisher | Natural Resources Canada |
| Document | serial |
| Lang. | English |
| Media | on-line; digital |
| File format | pdf |
| Province | Northern offshore region; Northwest Territories |
| NTS | 107F/05; 107F/06; 107F/07; 107F/08; 107F/09; 107F/10; 107F/11; 107F/12; 107F/13; 107F/14; 107F/15; 107F/16; 107G/01; 107G/02; 107G/03; 107G/04; 117E/08; 117E/09; 117E/16; 117H/01 |
| Area | Beaufort Sea; Beaufort Slope; Beaufort Shelf; Kugmallit Valley |
| Lat/Long WENS | -137.0000 -132.6667 71.2500 70.2500 |
| Subjects | marine geology; surficial geology/geomorphology; geophysics; sedimentology; stratigraphy; fossil fuels; Science and Technology; Nature and Environment; continental margins; continental slope;
continental shelf; submarine fans; submarine troughs; channels; marine sediments; postglacial deposits; landslide deposits; debris flow deposits; sands; glacial deposits; depositional history; sedimentary environments; sedimentation; landslides;
debris flows; slumps; slump structures; unconformities; deformation; erosion; gullies; glacial history; glacial stages; interglacial stages; glacial erosion; paleodrainage; fluvial systems; geophysical interpretations; seismic interpretations;
seismic reflection surveys; acoustic surveys, marine; side-scan sonar; bathymetry; slope stability; slope failures; pressure; fluid flow; stratigraphic analyses; bedding planes; lineations; mud volcanoes; petroleum occurrence; hydrocarbons;
hydrocarbon migration; Recent; Holocene; Pleistocene; Neogene; Pliocene; Miocene; Paleogene; Oligocene; Eocene; Kugmallit Fan; Ikit Trough; Ikit Fan; Kugmallit Channel; Last Glacial Maximum; Mackenzie River Drainage System; Iperk Sequence; Akpak
Formation; Taglu Formation; colluvial and mass-wasting deposits; glaciomarine sediments; Phanerozoic; Cenozoic; Quaternary; Tertiary |
| Illustrations | location maps; geoscientific sketch maps; geophysical profiles; seismic reflection profiles; 3-D images; seismic sections; 3-D diagrams |
| Program | Public Safety Geoscience Assessing landslides and marine geohazards |
| Released | 2021 04 19 |
| Abstract | Quaternary sedimentary environments in the central Beaufort Sea continental slope are evaluated using interpretations of three-dimensional (3-D) seismic data. Previous knowledge of slope sedimentation
has been limited to sparsely located, low-resolution vintage seismic-reflection profiles. The 3-D data image a number of channel-levee complexes that comprise a previously unknown slope fan we call the Kugmallit fan. The Kugmallit fan includes
angular unconformities, and a broad spectrum of sediment deformation from coherent slide blocks and slumps to debris-flow deposits. The fan has been regionally truncated by a planar erosional unconformity overlain by laminar glaciomarine to
hemipelagic sediments. This unconformity represents a significant change in depositional style, likely the result of reorganization of Plio-Pleistocene fluvial systems during the Last Glacial Maxima into the present day Mackenzie River drainage
system. We infer that overpressure and fluid flow within the sediments in this slope fan are potential geohazards for exploration drilling. |
| Summary | (Plain Language Summary, not published)
In this paper we present evidence for an extensive feature on the central Beaufort continental slope, called a slope fan complex, which has not been
previously described in the literature. These sediments appear to have been deposited by fast moving water currents most likely generated by melting glaciers during the Quaternary. The main datasets are three-dimensional (3-D) seismic reflection data
surveys acquired by industry and provided to the Geological Survey of Canada for scientific studies. This work extends our scientific knowledge of the area and contributes baseline information useful for the scientific assessment of the environmental
consequences and hazards of possible continued hydrocarbon exploration in the upper slope areas of the Beaufort Sea. |
| GEOSCAN ID | 326068 |
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