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The AAPG/Datapages Combined Publications Database

Journal of Sedimentary Research (SEPM)

Abstract


Journal of Sedimentary Research
Vol. 94 (2024), No. 3. (June), Pages 325-333
https://doi.org/10.2110/jsr.2023.115

Testing turbidite conceptual models with the Kaikōura Earthquake co-seismic event bed, Aotearoa New Zealand

Katherine L. Maier, Lorna J. Strachan, Stephanie Tickle, Alan R. Orpin, Scott D. Nodder, Jamie Howarth

Abstract

The 2016 Mw7.8 Kaikōura Earthquake in Aotearoa New Zealand provides an opportunity to test widely applied turbidite sedimentation models because it triggered a co-seismic turbidity current. The resultant Kaikōura event bed (KEB), interpreted as a turbidite, is sampled for ∼ 1300-km down-flow along the depositional system. Sediment core lithologies, computed tomography (CT), and particle-size data are used to test event-bed thickness, silt content, facies distribution, and stacking patterns against the foundations of the turbidite conceptual model of Bouma (1962). KEB thickness is variable to ∼ 100 km down-flow distance and attains a maximum thickness at ∼ 700 km down-flow distance before thinning distally, similar to the predicted bell-shaped proximal to distal trend. Silt content is high throughout the KEB from canyon to fan. The KEB is dominated by laminated Td facies and Te facies that evolve down-system from laminated, then graded, to homogeneous muds. CT and granulometry data are key to differentiating subtle density and textural variations in fine-grained deposits and reveal that KEB Td and Te facies in the KEB that are often not preserved or readily observed in older deposits. The KEB highlights a fine-grained sedimentary system that contrasts with more widely studied sandy turbidite basins. In particular, the KEB example reveals that Td and Te facies are ubiquitous in this fine-grained, silt-rich system. A varied conceptual model developed from the KEB may be applicable to many modern deep-sea turbidite systems and crucial for understanding present-day particulate transport to the deep sea and interpreting evidence from the stratigraphic record.


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