March 3-7, 2008
Ushuaia - Patagonia, Argentina
Sponsored by AAPG Research Committee
Conference Conveners
- Carlos Zavala
- UNS, CONICET, PDVSA, Venezuela
- Eduardo Olivero
- CADIC, CONICET, Ushuaia, Argentina
- Juan José Ponce
- CADIC, CONICET, Ushuaia
- Stanley Wharton
- BP Trinidad & Tobago
- Helena Gamero
- Schlumberger Venezuela
- Carmen C. Contreras
- Schlumberger Venezuela
- Ronald J. Steel
- The University of Texas at Austin
- Roger M. Slatt
- The University of Oklahoma
- Cornel Olariu
- The University of Texas at Dallas
- Emmanuel Chapron
- Geological Institute, Zürich, Switzerland
- Manuel Delgado
- PDVSA, Venezuela
- Marco Sanguinetti
- Schlumberger Mexico
Sediment Transfer from Shelf to Deepwater - Revisiting the Delivery Mechanisms
Review Abstracts
Dates and Location:
March 3-7, 2008 Ushuaia - Patagonia, Argentina
Objectives:
The aim of this conference is to review the different mechanisms of clastic sediment transfer from continental areas to the shelf and deep waters. The main topics will include processes and recent/ancient deposits related to:
- Hyperpycnal flows and hyperpyenites (deposits)
- Mass transport complexes (MTC)
- Classical (resedimented) turbidites
- Potential of inner shelf as a sediment trap
In recent year, an increasing amount of data support the fact that fluvial currents can enter the sea with a density which often exceeds that of marine waters. These relatively dense currents originate during floods, where the excess in density is related to the high suspended load carried by the freshwater discharge. The situation in which the density of the incoming flow is greater than the receiving basin is known as hyperpycnal flow. Although poorly documented for ancient strata, hyperpycnal flows seem to be very common phenomena. Hyperpycnal discharges provide a non-conventional mechanism that allows the basinward transfer of huge volumes of sediments.
This Research Conference will target specialists in related disciplines to promote broad constructive discussions and perhaps new understanding in sedimentary transfer mechanisms.
- What are the mechanisms that control and affect the distribution of hyperpycnal flows (river generated turbitidtes)?
- What are the relationships between hyperpyenites and contourites, conventional turbidites, and MTCs?
- How important are the delivery mechanisms (rivers) versus the base level change to deliver sediments to basin floor?
- How can the hyperpycnal paradigm influence oil exploration?
The conference will be broken into three days of oral presentations with additional abstracts accommodated through poster sessions. A two-day field trip will be run after the meeting. The Austral Foreland Basin has magnificent outcrops of Tertiary hyperpycnal deposits exposed along kilometers of marine cliffs located in the northeast coast of Tierra del Fuego. The high quality exposures of hyperpycnal channels, channel-levee transitions and lobes will promote a very constructive discussion and critcism among the attendees.