Deep Marine Environments : Clastic Sedimentation and Tectonics

This is a description of deep-marine sedimentary environments which aims to summarize the information that has been acquired since 1970, particularly as a result of international oceangraphic research through the Ocean Drilling Programme.

The text integrates detailed process-based sedimentology, depositional environments and large-scale plate-tectonic controls of deep-marine sediments from both modern and ancient settings.

The work is divided into three parts. The first part provides a physical basis for transport and deposition of sediments in the deep oceans, followed by a facies classification scheme with examples and a survey of the main controls on deep-sea sedimentation.

The second part is devoted to discussions of the main depositional systems in which siliciclastic sediments accumulate in the oceans, illustrated by both modern and ancient case studies to show the range of variability within depositional systems.

The final part focuses on deep-marine sediments at passive, convergent and oblique-slip continental margins and plate boundaries, again illustrated with case studies based in part on DSDP results and marine seismic reflection profiles.