Collaborative Research: Developing a Quantitiative Understanding of Clinoform Formation, Gulf of Papa

College Of William & Mary Virginia Institute Of Marine Science, Gloucester Point VA

Investigators

Abstract

This is a project to study the processes of sediment transport and accumulation that lead to development of the clinoforms on the Gulf of Papua (GoP) continental shelf. Shelf clinoforms are the dominant components of continental-margin stratigraphy, but little is known about the processes that create them. By combining field research (seismic profiling and piston coring) and numerical modeling, quantitative understanding of mid-shelf clinoform development at geologic time scales can be developed. These studies will test the hypothesis that the predominant mechanism for creating the present-day clinoform morphology is across-shelf gravity flow of fluid muds, whereas underlying strata may have formed in different conditions in response to changing rates of sea-level rise and sediment supply.