Sedimentary Geology 271-272 (2012) 44–57

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Sedimentary Geology
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/sedgeo

A facies model for internalites (internal wave deposits) on a gently sloping carbonate
ramp (Upper Jurassic, Ricla, NE Spain)
Beatriz Bádenas a,⁎, Luis Pomar b, Marc Aurell a, Michele Morsilli c
a
Dpto. Ciencias de la Tierra, Universidad de Zaragoza, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain
b
Departament de Ciències de la Terra, Universitat de les Illes Balears, 07122 Palma de Mallorca Illes Balears, Spain
c
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università di Ferrara, 44100 Ferrara, Italy

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Internal waves are waves that propagate along the pycnocline, the interface between two density-stratified
Received 2 March 2012 fluids. Even though internal waves are ubiquitous in oceans and lakes, their impact in the sedimentary record
Received in revised form 27 May 2012 has remained largely unrecognized. Internal waves can remobilize the sediment from the depth at which the in-
Accepted 28 May 2012
ternal waves break onto the sea floor. In shelf, or ramp settings, internal wave deposits (internalites) have to be
Available online 6 June 2012
distinguished from tempestites while in slope and deeper settings internalites require distinction from turbi-
Editor: B. Jones dites. The Upper Kimmeridgian carbonate ramp succession cropping out near Ricla (NE Spain) provides some
key evidence to differentiate the depositional processes induced by breaking internal waves from those related
Keywords: to surface storm waves. Sandy-oolitic grainstone eventites, previously interpreted as tempestites, contain evi-
Internalites dence of reworking by turbulent events related to breaking internal waves. Underlying rationale are: 1) they
Breaking internal waves occur in distal mid-ramp position, detached from the coeval shallow-water successions; 2) they do not have
Carbonate ramp the characteristic coarsening- and thickening upward trend of storm deposits; 3) they gradually thin-out to dis-
Jurassic appear both up dip and down dip, interbedded with mid-ramp lime mudstones; and 4) they show little or no
Iberian Basin
erosion towards the shallower areas.
A facies model for internalites produced by two sediment populations, sand and mud, on a gently sloping car-
bonate ramp is proposed. The individual internalites occurring at Ricla include several architectural elements,
sequentially organized in dip direction, which can be related to the flows associated with breaking internal
waves: erosion in the breaker zone, swash run-up and tractive backwash flow. Individual internalites stack,
with down- and up-slope shingling configuration, in dm-thick packages thought to reflect the up-slope and
down-slope migration of the breaker zone, in turn related to depth variations of the palaeo-pycnocline. Pack-
ages occur in dm- to m-thick clusters suggested to reflect changes in sediment supply and/or variations in
water stratification affecting the energy of internal waves.
© 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Among eventites, sediments reflecting the effects of turbulent
events (Seilacher, 1982, 1991), tempestites and turbidites are the
most frequently recognized. Tempestites and turbidites share some
common features, namely an erosional phase, reflected by the basal
erosion surface, and a subsequent depositional phase during waning
of the turbulence which produces a graded sediment succession due
to different settling velocities of the sediment grains.
Internal waves are gravity waves that propagate along a pycnocline,
the interface between two different density fluids (Munk, 1981; Apel,
2002). Any perturbation of the pycnocline, induced for example by sur-
face waves, wind-stress fluctuations, tsunamis, tidal currents or river
plumes flowing into a coastal ocean, propagates as an internal wave
⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: + 34 976762247.
E-mail addresses: bbadenas@unizar.es (B. Bádenas), luis.pomar@uib.es (L. Pomar),
maurell@unizar.es (M. Aurell), mrh@unife.it (M. Morsilli).
(Small and Martin, 2002; Staquet and Sommeria, 2002; Nash and
Moum, 2005; Santek and Winguth, 2007). Solitons, or “solitary internal
wave packets” sensu Apel (2002), are ubiquitous wherever water cur-
rents and stratification occur in the neighbourhood of irregular topogra-
phy, particularly near shelf edges, seamounts, sills and submarine
canyons (Munk, 1981; Ostrovsky and Stepanyants, 1989; Global-Ocean-
Associates, 2004; Wolanski et al., 2004; Santek and Winguth, 2007).
These conditions frequently happen in coastal regions, especially during
summer months when a shallow thermocline develops. Solitons typically
consist of rank-ordered wave packets, with number of cycles varying
from a very few to a few tens, and with the largest amplitude and longest
wave at the front and the smallest at the rear (Apel, 2002; Quaresma et
al., 2007). Their amplitudes vary from a few up to 140 m and their max-
imum wavelengths from less than 100 m to more than 5 km (Apel et al.,
2007; Quaresma et al., 2007; Santek and Winguth, 2007).
Under thermohaline circulation, like in modern oceans, the
pycnocline is induced primarily by temperature and secondarily by
salinity gradients in the water column. The depth of the pycnocline

0037-0738/$ – see front matter © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.sedgeo.2012.05.020
 B. Bádenas et al. / Sedimentary Geology 271-272 (2012) 44–57 45

Fig. 1. A) Palaeogeography of western Europe during the Late Kimmerdigian (modified from Dercourt et al., 1993; paleolatitude from Osete et al., 2011). B) Main facies belts in the
northeastern Iberian Basin during the Late Kimmeridgian (adapted from Bádenas and Aurell, 2008). Numbers 1 to 6 indicate reference localities: 1 —Aldealpozo, 2 — Veruela, 3 —
Ricla outcrop, 4 — Aguilón, 5 — Ariño and 6 — Calanda. C) Synthetic stratigraphy of the Kimmeridgian in the northern Iberian Basin (see location of reference localities 1 to 6 in
B) including main facies belts and transgressive–regressive (T–R) sequences Kim1 and Kim2 (adapted from Aurell et al., 2010). Black box indicates the stratigraphic location of
the studied interval at Ricla outcrop within the transgressive deposits of the Kim2 Sequence enlarged in Fig. 2.

in open oceans is highly variable, changing with latitude and season pycnocline; Pomar et al., 2012). In small interior seas the seasonal
(from few to some 10's of metres in the case of the seasonal pycnocline, pycnocline is commonly shallow (few- to some tens of metres) and
from 100 to some 100's of metres in the case of the permanent strongly influenced by riverine discharge, wind regimes, and season,

Fig. 2. Facies architecture of the transgressive deposits (TST) of the third-order Kimmeridgian-2 Sequence (Kim2) in Ricla (updated from Bádenas and Aurell, 2001). Intervals rich in
sandy-oolitic eventites are concentrated in the distal mid-ramp setting and are detached from shallower facies. The two studied intervals rich in eventites located between logs 5
and 7 are indicated (see Fig. 1 for location in a broader context).
46 B. Bádenas et al. / Sedimentary Geology 271-272 (2012) 44–57

Fig. 3. A) Detail of the stratigraphic log 7 in Ricla (see Fig. 2 for location; adapted from Bádenas et al., 2005). The grey-shaded area denotes the two intervals with eventites analysed
in this paper. B) View of the two studied intervals rich in sandy-oolitic and oolitic eventites. C) Microfacies image of an oolitic grainstone eventite, with quartz grains in their cores.

being sharper and shallower during summer (Brown et al., 1989). In a
“greenhouse” world, the origin of the pycnocline was probably domi-
nated by halothermal (salinity-driven) conditions (e.g., Kennett and
Stott, 1991; Pak and Miller, 1992; Nunes and Norris, 2006).
Internal waves and solitons propagating along the shallow-water
pycnocline mostly dissipate over the continental shelf regions of the
world oceans (Wolanski et al., 2004; Quaresma et al., 2007; Lim et al.,
2010). Refraction on the shelf strongly orients the packet crests
along isobaths and retards their speed of advance (Emery and
Gunnerson, 1973; Apel, 2002). Breaking of internal waves on sloping
surfaces creates episodic and repetitive high-turbulent events and
consequently erosion and transport of sediments (e.g., Pomar et al.,
 B. Bádenas et al. / Sedimentary Geology 271-272 (2012) 44–57 47

Fig. 4. Architectural elements in the sandy-oolitic internalites at Ricla. An internalite commonly contains three basic elements sequentially organized in a down-slope direction: a–b–c–b–a.
Occasional elements (d and e) may also occur underlying element c.

2012). In contrast to tempestites (which occur in shallow shelf settings
down to the storm-wave base sensu Seilacher, 1982), and turbidites
(commonly accumulated on the basin floor), breaking of internal
waves on sloping surfaces creates high-turbulent events in mid-shelf
settings, when depending on the seasonal thermocline, or deeper on
the continental slope and in submarine canyons when it relates to the
permanent thermocline (Cacchione and Wunsch, 1974).
Although internal waves in the interior of oceans and lakes are as
common as surface waves (LaFond, 1966; Munk, 1981; Global-Ocean-
Associates, 2004; Thorpe, 2005), their impact in shaping sediments
has remained largely unrecognized (see review in Pomar et al., 2012).
Key evidence to differentiate the depositional processes induced by
breaking internal waves from those related to surface storm waves
can be gathered in the Upper Kimmeridgian carbonate ramp succession
cropping out near Ricla (NE Spain). Sandy-oolitic deposits interbedded
with mid-ramp lime mudstones and marls, previously interpreted
as tempestites and storm lobes (Bádenas and Aurell, 2001; Bádenas
et al., 2005), are here reinterpreted as internalites (sensu Pomar et al.,
2012), the product of breaking internal waves.
Evidence indicating sediment reworking by internal waves has
been obtained by characterization of the spatial distribution of the
sandy-oolitic eventites at outcrop scale and the analysis of architec-
tural elements and stacking pattern of individual eventites in two
selected intervals rich in eventites. This work describes the detailed
distribution of the architectural elements of eventites generated by
breaking of internal waves on a gently sloping ramp sea floor. The
character and along-dip relationship of architectural elements
within individual internalites are related to variable hydrodynamic
processes, with a more precise description and development of the
general model on sediment dynamics during breaking of internal
waves previously proposed in Pomar et al. (2012). The significance
of the studied eventites in a broader context and the possible effects
of depth variations of the pycnocline in carbonate ramp settings are
discussed.

Fig. 5. Example of internalites 1 to 14 (letters in white denote the type of architectural elements; see Fig. 4). Internalite 1 consists of a lower discontinuous interval of rip-up clast floatstone
(occasional d element) overlain by a bed with down-slope dipping cross-lamination (c element), with occasional rip-up clasts, that passes down slope into starved ripples (b element) and
thin laminae (a element). Internalites 2 to 7 correspond to attached and detached starved ripples (b elements) separated by muddy layers, deformed by compaction. Internalites 3, 4 and 5
infill a depositional depression in front of internalite 1. Internalites 8 and 9, with down-slope dipping cross-lamination (c element), are separated by an erosional surface marked by occasional
rip-up clasts; they pass down slope into starved ripples (b element). Note the erosion surface at the base of internalite 8. Internalites 10 to 13 are amalgamated levels of attached starved
ripples (b elements), with minor intercalated muddy intervals. Internalite 14 corresponds to starved ripples (b element) passing down slope into a down-slope dipping cross-laminated
bed (c element). An erosion surface underlying c element cuts into internalites 12 and 13, and an undulating top surface is blanketed by mud.
48 B. Bádenas et al. / Sedimentary Geology 271-272 (2012) 44–57

Fig. 6. Decimetre-thick package of individual internalites 1 to 6 (letters in white denote the type of architectural elements; see Fig. 4). Internalites 1 to 3 are lenticular beds with
down-slope dipping cross-lamination (c elements), separated by erosional surfaces. Internalite 4 corresponds to a rip-up clast floatstone bed (d element) with basal erosional
surface cutting into internalites 2 to 3. Note the discontinuous muddy interval (see M) preserved from erosion. Lime mudstone rip-up clasts are usually concentrated in erosive
furrows; they are variable in size and shape, from rounded (see rC) to angular (see aC). Clasts occasionally occur in down-slope dipping accumulations (see dC). Internalites 5
and 6 consist of down-slope dipping cross-laminated beds (c elements). Note basal erosional surfaces and occasional rip-up clasts (see oC).

2. Sedimentary context of the studied eventites
2.1. The Iberian Kimmeridgian carbonate ramp
During the Kimmeridgian, a wide carbonate ramp developed in the
Iberian Basin (Fig. 1), an intracratonic basin located in the northeastern
part of the Iberian plate (e.g., Salas and Casas, 1993; Bádenas and
Aurell, 2008; Aurell et al., 2010). This ramp was around 22° N palae-
olatitude (Osete et al., 2011) and opened to the Tethys Ocean to the
east, facing the trade winds of hurricanes and winter winds (Marsaglia
and Klein, 1983; Price et al., 1995; Bádenas and Aurell, 2008). Shallow
(inner- to proximal mid-ramp) settings included a wide range of
reefal- and grain-supported skeletal, oolitic, oncolitic, peloidal and
intraclastic facies, with intermittent input of siliciclastics supplied from
the emerged Ebro and Iberian massifs. Offshore, the mid- to outer-
ramp settings were characterized by monotonous successions of lime
mudstones and marls, including a distal mid-ramp “transitional belt”
characterized by sandy-oolitic-bioclastic eventites interbedded with
the mud-dominant successions.
In the Kimmeridgian succession cropping out near Ricla, the tran-
sition between shallow- and relatively deep deposits of the Iberian
carbonate ramp can be analyzed along a 6-km continuous exposure.
Here, the “transitional belt” includes abundant eventites deposited
during a transgressive episode at the Eudoxus Zone (TST of the
third-order Kim2 Sequence: Fig. 1B and C). These deposits are over-
lain by prograding (HST) shallow-water (high-energy and lagoonal)
oolitic and bioclastic facies (Bádenas and Aurell, 2001; Aurell et al.,
2010).
2.2. Spatial distribution of eventites in the Ricla outcrop
The overall facies distribution in the TST deposits of the Kim2 Se-
quence across the Ricla outcrop is shown in Fig. 2. In proximal areas,
these deposits include aggradational metre-sized coral-microbial
buildups, with branching corals, chaetetid sponges, stromatoporoids
and variable amounts of microbial crusts. These buildups are sur-
rounded by skeletal- and oncolitic rudstone aprons composed of
poorly sorted reefal-derived debris and in-situ growing oncoids with-
in a sandy matrix with ooids and quartz grains (Bádenas et al., 2005).
These facies gradually thin down dip to cm-thick skeletal- or oncolitic
rudstones interbedded with lime mudstones and marls. Down dip,
and detached from the skeletal/oncolitic rudstones, sandy-oolitic
eventites, located in a distal mid-ramp position, range from fine/medium
sandstones to pure oolitic grainstones, with quartz grains and ooids usu-
ally less than 1 mm in size, but locally with coarser grains such as echi-
noids, coral fragments, oncoids, quartzite pebbles and lime mudstone
rip-up clasts.
The sandy-oolitic eventites of Ricla found in distal mid-ramp position
were previously related to storm events and, based on grain size, thick-
ness and sedimentary structures, were interpreted as storm lobes (dm-
thick cross-bedded deposits), proximal tempestites (cm-thick ripple
beds) and distal tempestites (thin-sand laminae) (Bádenas and Aurell,
2001; Bádenas et al., 2005). It is obvious that the main components of
these eventites (i.e., quartz grains, ooids) were derived from land or
from the shallowest portion of the ramp, most probably via storm
resedimentation (e.g., Bádenas and Aurell, 2001). However, based on
the distribution of eventites at outcrop scale and relationships with
shallower facies, Pomar et al. (2012) suggested that the resedimented
grains were reworked by high-turbulent events generated in the mid-
ramp setting by breaking internal waves, so that the eventites actually
correspond to internalites (Fig. 2). Their underpinning rationale includes:
(1) sandy-oolitic eventites are concentrated in discrete intervals
detached from the shallower-water reef-apron successions; (2) the
eventites do not show a coarsening-thickening upward trend typical of
storm-generated successions; (3) this distribution cannot be attributed
to erosion effects (“cannibalism”) of repeated storm events because the
eventites gradually thin and pinch out both up dip and down dip.
3. Architectural elements of internalites
The architectural elements and stacking pattern of individual
internalites have been studied in two stratigraphic intervals (2-m in
total thickness) located c. 11 m above the lower boundary of the stud-
ied TST (Figs. 2 and 3). In this interval, the internalites are well devel-
oped in a continuously exposed outcrop covering, down dip, a c. 2-km
wide mid-ramp segment (between reference logs 5 and 7 in Fig. 2).
The sandy-oolitic internalites commonly contain three basic archi-
tectural elements (Fig. 4): (a) thin laminae, (b) starved ripples, and
(c) a lenticular bed with down-slope dipping cross-lamination.
When these three elements are present in an individual internalite,
they are sequentially organized in the dip direction within the inter-
nalite, so that the thin laminae (a) pass down slope into starved rip-
ples (b) and then into a lenticular bed with down-slope dipping
cross-lamination (c) that thins out and passes again into starved rip-
ples (b) and finally to thin laminae (a). Locally, other occasional ele-
ments may be associated with element c, the cross-laminated bed,
namely a lenticular bed of rip-up clast floatstone (d), and a lenticular
bed with up-slope dipping cross-lamination (e). A basal erosion sur-
face, with several centimetres incision in the underlying sediments,
usually occurs at the base of the elements c, d and e. These elements
also occur on depositional depressions left by previous internalites
(see Section 5).
The down-slope dipping cross-laminated lenticular beds (c element),
with S- to SE-directed palaeocurrents, are up to 20 cm-thick and extend
for less than 5 m in a dip direction (Figs. 5 and 6). Rip-up clasts (lime
 B. Bádenas et al. / Sedimentary Geology 271-272 (2012) 44–57
Fig. 7. Examples of starved-ripples and thin-sand laminae in internalites (architectural b
and a elements, in white; see Fig. 4). A) Internalites 1 to 5 form a package of amalgamated
ripples (b elements), locally separated by muddy layers. Ripples have predominant down-
slope dipping cross-lamination. Internalite 3 consists of an isolated ripple with trough
cross-lamination, located in the variably eroded depositional trough between detached
ripples of internalite 2. Muddy rip-up clasts occur in internalite 5. Internalites 6 to 8 are
discontinuous thin-sand laminae (a elements) within a muddy interval. Internalite 9 is
an isolated internalite formed by attached ripples with down-slope dipping cross-
lamination and sharp (non-gradational) lower and upper boundaries. B) An isolated inter-
nalite consisting of attached asymmetrical starved ripples (b element), with mud off-
shoots on the stoss side and sand offshoots on the lee side. C) Top surface of an
internalite consisting of attached asymmetrical ripples (b element) with sinuous crests
blanketed by muddy sediment. Note regularity of ripple crest spacing.
mudstone fragments) are occasionally abundant, resting parallel to the
inclined laminae. Grain-size trends of successive laminae are complex,
usually encompassing several fining-, but locally also coarsening-
upward lamina sets. The upper boundary, when preserved, is a flat to
49
undulating surface blanketed by muddy sediment. The c element thins
both up- and down slope and passes into starved ripples (b element;
Fig. 5).
An individual cm-thick train of attached or detached starved rip-
ples, with occasional rip-up clasts, forms the architectural b element
(Figs. 5 and 7). It may locally include or be replaced by a lower inter-
val with parallel- to low-angle lamination (Fig. 8). Extension in dip di-
rection is highly variable, from a few decimetres to several tens of
metres. Lower bounding surfaces are sharp and commonly flat, al-
though concave-up shapes may result from loading deformation. In-
dividual ripples are predominantly asymmetric, with down-slope
dipping internal cross-lamination where preserved, and straight to
sinuous crests with a NE–SW orientation (Fig. 7C). Occasional isolated
ripples with concave base and trough cross-lamination occur in tro-
ughs of starved ripples of previous internalites (Fig. 7A). Ripple tops
are sharp (non-gradational) and blanketed by muddy sediment.
Mud offshoots within sand laminae on the stoss side of ripples are
common (Figs. 7 and 8). Sand thready-fringes on the lee side of rip-
ples interpenetrating lateral muddy sediments also occur (Fig. 9A).
By analogy to “mud offshoots” definition (“mud drapes in ripple fore-
sets”: Shanmugam et al., 1993), we have termed these sand thready-
fringes as “sand offshoots”.
Thin, mm-thick, sand laminae (a element) are frequent within the
lime mudstones beds. Within the a–b–c–b–a down-slope succession
(Fig. 4), the thin laminae represent either the up-slope or the
down-slope element of a starved-ripple train (b element; Fig. 5).
The extent of thin laminae is difficult to assess because they are dis-
continuous, their exposure is not complete and they are frequently
bioturbated. Laminae are parallel to the bedding surfaces of limestone
beds in which they are included. However, the local presence of
down-slope dipping thin-sand laminae (Fig. 10), and thin‐sand off-
shoots in muddy-ripple foresets (i.e., mixed mud-sand ripples;
Fig. 9B) indicates a certain degree of depositional inclination. Thin-
sand laminae underlying internalites are often disrupted as a result
of interpenetration by fine sand- and muddy layers (see Fig. 8).
The rip-up clast floatstone (occasional d element; Fig. 4) consists
of a lenticular bed with thickness ranging from few- to 10 cm and var-
iable down-slope extension, usually less than 5 m (see Figs. 5 and 6).
Rip-up clasts are made from the lime mudstones in which internalites
are intercalated including, in some clasts, fine-sand laminae. Size and
shape of rip-up clasts are highly variable, from mm- to cm-sized sub-
rounded to cm-sized flat and angular clasts. The rip-up clasts are usu-
ally irregularly distributed within the bed and concentrated in
patches within erosive furrows, although they can occur as imbricat-
ed clasts dipping up slope, or forming down-slope dipping accumula-
tions. Amalgamation of rip-up floatstone beds can locally produce
complex internal structures.
A lenticular bed with up-slope dipping cross-lamination (e element;
Fig. 4) is occasionally recognized within the internalites (Fig. 10A).
Thickness is up to 10 cm and extension in dip direction is usually less
than 0.5 m. Where preserved, this element is overlain by the down-
slope dipping cross-laminated bed (c element) and separated by a flat
to undulated erosion surface (Fig. 10A). The internal structure may lo-
cally be complex and formed by shingled stacking of individual beds
separated by thin muddy intervals or by some rip-up clasts (Fig. 10B).
4. Interpretation: generation of architectural elements by breaking
internal waves
Breaking of internal waves on sloping surfaces creates episodic and
repetitive high-turbulent events and consequently erosion and trans-
port of sediments (Southard and Cacchione, 1972; Ribbe and
Holloway, 2001; Apel, 2002; Fringer and Street, 2003; Bogucki et al.,
2005; Thorpe, 2005; Gilbert et al., 2007; Bourgault et al., 2008;
Boegman and Ivey, 2009; Lim et al., 2010). Thorpe and Lemmin
(1999) have reported that the internal-wave surf zone has some, but
50 B. Bádenas et al. / Sedimentary Geology 271-272 (2012) 44–57

Fig. 8. Examples of internalites containing an interval with parallel- to low-angle lamination (architectural b element; see Fig. 4). A) Internalite (2) interbedded with lime mud-
stones, overlies an erosion surface and includes: a lower interval (2.1) of fine-grained parallel laminae, a coarser middle interval (2.2) with parallel laminae and an upper interval
(2.3) of asymmetrical starved ripples with internal down-slope dipping cross-lamination and mud offshoots on the stoss side. Interval (1) mostly consists of lime mudstones with
thin-sand laminae (architectural a element) that progressively increase upward; in the upper part (1.2), thin‐sand and mud-laminae are disrupted. Interval (3) consists of lime
mudstones with few thin-sand laminae. B) Internalite bed only consisting of a low-angle cross-laminated sandstone, isolated within muddy intervals.

possibly not all, the characteristics of the conventional “surface-wave”
surf zone. Bourgault et al. (2005) have shown direct field observations
of an internal solitary wave train impacting a shoaling bottom creating
boluses of turbulent water that move onshore from the breaking zone
and the creation of an intermediate layer that transports mixed water
away from the mixing site. Southard and Cacchione (1972), based on
laboratory experiments on breaking internal waves over a planar slop-
ing bottom, have shown the waves to break abruptly as they shoaled,
producing a breaker in the form of a turbulent and rapidly dissipating
vortex. In these experiments, sediment moved up slope by the breakers,
partly in suspension, and down slope by the compensating return flow,
as bedload (swash and backwash phases in Cacchione and Pratson,
2004). Predominant flow at the bed and, therefore, also net sediment
transport, was down slope. Based on these experiments, Pomar et al.
(2012) proposed a preliminary model on sedimentary dynamics of
breaking internal waves for the Ricla eventites, which consider three
sedimentary phases: breaking, swash run-up and backwash.
Turbulence and vortices induced by breaking internal waves on a
muddy/sandy sea floor (i.e., breaking: Fig. 11A) induced erosion, the ex-
pression of which is the irregular erosive surface underlying thicker
architectural elements of c, d or e. Differential pressures on the seafloor
generated by the internal wave trains, in a similar way to that produced
by surface storm waves (e.g., Foda, 2003), might also facilitate erosion.
The pressure distribution on the bottom sediment underneath near-
breaking or broken waves is transmitted into the porous bed, where it
induces a flow and exerts a seepage force on the sediment grains within
the bed. The horizontal component of this seepage force is related to the
horizontal pressure gradient of the pressure distribution on the bottom
and is therefore particularly pronounced under the steep front of a
forward-leaning breaking wave and may, if sufficiently large, cause dis-
ruption of the bed (Schwab and Lee, 1988; Puig et al., 2004; Chen and
Hsu, 2005; Madsen and Durham, 2007; Chang, 2011). An excess of
pore-water pressure, and induced shear stress, exceeding the shear re-
sistance of the overburden sediment can induce sediment disruption
and liquefaction. Traction currents can transport more sediment once
liquefaction has occurred (Clukey et al., 1985). Strachan and Evans
(1991) suggested a sediment failure to have been triggered by excess of
pore water pressures that might have been induced by internal wave
action; the sediment body is thought to have failed by liquefaction acting
retrogressively up slope. Laboratory experiments suggest fluidization of a

Fig. 9. Examples of sand offshoots in internalites and mixed mud-sand ripple lamination. A) Sand offshoots in the lee side of a ripple (architectural b element), passing down slope
into mixed sand-mud lamination. B) Muddy interval with down-slope dipping sand offshoots (mixed sand-mud ripple lamination). Note sand offshoots disappearing both up- and
down slope, and subsequent onlapping muds with parallel thin-sand laminae.
 B. Bádenas et al. / Sedimentary Geology 271-272 (2012) 44–57 51

Fig. 10. Examples of internalites including up-slope dipping cross-laminated beds (architectural e element; see Fig. 4). A) Package of internalites 1 to 6. Internalite 1 is a ripple bed (b element)
which passes down slope into thin-sand laminae (a element). Ripples in internalite 1 are not well preserved due to erosion. Internalite 2 is a ripple train (b element) blanketed by a muddy
interval that becomes thicker down slope (right of the picture) and contains low-angle down-slope dipping thin-sand laminae. Internalite 3 is formed by a down-slope dipping cross-
laminated bed (c element) separated from internalite 2 by an erosion surface. Eventite 4 is formed by a lenticular bed with up-dipping cross-lamination (e element). Note lower erosion sur-
face cutting into internalites 1 to 4 and the muddy interval. Internalites 5 and 6 are amalgamated and consist of ripples (b element) passing down slope into down-slope cross-laminated beds
(c element). Internalites 4 and 5 are separated by an erosion surface; however, down slope, there is a muddy interval between them, preserved from erosion. B) Two packages of internalites
(p1 and p2) separated by a muddy interval, but laterally amalgamated (p1+ p2). Package 1 includes internalites 1 and 2 in down-slope shingling geometry; each internalite is formed by a
down-slope dipping cross-laminated bed (c element) passing down slope to a thin ripple and parallel-laminated bed (b element). Package 2 encompasses internalites 3 and 4. Internalite 3
consists of a lower part with a complex up-slope dipping cross-laminated bed (e element), deposited in the depositional depression left by package 1. Internalite 3 includes a thin upper part
with down-slope dipping cross-lamination (c element) passing up slope into ripples (b element).

bed may take place on a very short timescale (around a second) when in-
duced by a sudden negative pressure loading (Foda et al., 1997).
On the Ricla ramp, pressure changes as internal waves travelled up
ramp may have created high-shear stress on the seafloor, which in-
duced also pressure changes in the pore waters and facilitated erosion
and generation of rip-up clasts. The disrupted intervals underlying
internalites could then be attributed to convolution of bottom sedi-
ment due to differential pressure. In the breaker zone, erosion of
muddy and sandy sediments generated a turbid sediment-laden
water mass. Rip-up clasts may have moved up slope a short distance
but they rapidly settled near the generation area (i.e., “dumped
heap”: Fig. 11B). The variable size and shape of rip-up clasts in the
floatstone bed (d element) indicate variable abrasion and transport,
but even rounded clasts underwent little transportation from the
site of origin (Smith, 1972). The lenticular bed with up-slope dipping
cross-lamination (e element) is associated with the swash run-up
sediment transport. The bimodal character of the sediments facilitat-
ed segregation of grains from matrix, so that ooids and quartz grains
were transported as bedload while the mud component was
winnowed in suspension. Deposits generated during up-slope flow
are only preserved within depressions (mostly erosive depressions
produced in the breaker zone, but also depositional depressions left
following sedimentation of previous internalites), indicating the com-
pensating return flow is the predominant agent in the net transport of
sediments (backwash phase: Fig. 11C). Imbricated clasts dipping up
slope, or forming down-slope dipping accumulations in the floatstone
bed, also reflect reworking by the backwash flow.
The sediment-laden backwash flow led the deposition of the
lenticular bed with down-slope dipping cross-lamination (c ele-
ment), the starved ripples with down-slope dipping internal cross-
lamination (b element), and the thin-sand laminae (a element).
These sedimentary structures indicate transport of grains was pre-
dominantly by traction. The main body of the down-slope flow
formed the cross-laminated bed (Fig. 11C), when it reached a depres-
sion on the seafloor, such as the erosion trough produced in the
breaker zone or a bathymetric low created by deposition in the fore-
front of previous internalites. Thin-sand laminae and starved ripples
occurring up slope of the cross-laminated bed accumulated from the
sand remnants in the queue of the backwash flow. Those down
slope of the cross-laminated bed formed from the sand remnants in
the backwash flow, after deposition of the main cross-laminated
body. The existence of fining- and coarsening-upward lamina sets
within the cross-laminated bed indicates a pulsating regime of the
tractive backwash flow. Rip-up clasts within the inclined laminae
52 B. Bádenas et al. / Sedimentary Geology 271-272 (2012) 44–57

Fig. 11. Sketches depicting the sediment dynamics during breaking of internal waves on a shoaling surface (modified from Pomar et al., 2012), and the origin of the different ar-
chitectural elements in the Ricla internalites (see Fig. 4). A) Breaking of internal waves creates turbulent vortices and entrainment of sandy oolites and mudstone rip-up clasts.
B) Immediately after breaking, an intraclastic “dumped heap” (d element) and an up-slope dipping cross-laminated unit (e element) may form during the initial swash run-up.
C) The compensating backwash flow transports sediments down slope as bedload, producing thin-sand laminae (a element), starved ripples (b element) and a down-slope dipping
cross-laminated bed (c element). Thin-sand laminae and starved ripples occurring up slope accumulated from the sand remnants in the queue of the backwash flow; the main body
of the down-slope flow formed the cross-laminated bed, when it reached a depression on the seafloor; down-slope starved ripples (locally with mud- and sand offshoots) and thin
lamina formed from the sand remnants in the backwash flow, after deposition of the main c element.

also indicate some degree of reworking of previously generated
clasts, such as erosion by the backwash flow of the “dumped heap”
(e element) settled during the previous run-up flow. Up slope and
down slope of the cross-laminated bed a “clearer” sediment-laden
flow led to the deposition of starved ripples. Local intervals with
parallel- to low-angle lamination underlying ripples probably were
deposited with higher flow velocity, with Froude number ≥ 1.
Ripples include both mud offshoots and sand offshoots interpen-
etrating lateral muddy sediments, which cannot be explained by alter-
nating low- and high-energy conditions as proposed for sigmoidal
mud offshoots by Shanmugam et al. (1993). These offshoots point to
similar hydrodynamic behaviour and avalanching processes for mud
and sand, and this requires flocculation of mud. Flocculation is affected
by particle concentration within the fluid and intensity of turbulence.
Floccule deposition is influenced by turbulence, bed shear stress, sedi-
ment concentration, and settling velocity. Swift moving (15–30 cm/s)
muddy suspension is prone to flocculate over a wide range of salinities
and sediment compositions, and the flocculated material travels as
bedload and forms floccule ripples (Schieber et al., 2007; Schieber and
Yawar, 2009). These authors have experimentally shown that muds
can be transported in bedload at current velocities that would suffice
to transport and deposit sand. Floccule ripples are cross-laminated
with geometries very similar to those produced in sandy sediments,
but have higher water content. Mixed mud-sand ripples and thin-
sand inclined laminae occurring locally in Ricla evidence similar mud
flocculation processes. An alternative to flocculation, in order to explain
the similar hydrodynamic behaviour and avalanching processes for
mud and sand, is to consider erosion processes generating sand-size
mud fragments, similar to those obtained in flume experiments by ero-
sion on soft-soupy muds (Schieber et al., 2010).
5. Stacking of internalites
At the studied interval, internalites occur in two clusters encased in
the muddy mid-ramp succession (Fig. 12A), into which several inter-
nalite packages gradually thin and, like fraying fringes, pinch out both
up dip and down dip. These clusters are dm- to m-thick and 1- to more
than 2 km of extension in dip direction and, at outcrop scale, correspond
to the intervals rich in sandy-oolitic eventites (Fig. 2).
 B. Bádenas et al. / Sedimentary Geology 271-272 (2012) 44–57 53

Fig. 12. Stacking of internalites. A) Internalites occur in packages, in which the architectural elements are commonly organized in a similar way. A lower interval, with thin-sand
laminae and ripples (a and b elements), is overlain by few cross-laminated beds (c elements) that, in turn, are often overlain by ripples. This vertical succession of architectural
elements is repeatedly related to a down-slope shingled stacking of individual internalites, but up-slope shingling of internalites also occurs. These internalite packages are grouped
in clusters encased in the muddy mid-ramp succession, detached from the shallower facies. Within these clusters, packages gradually thin and, interfingered with muds, pinch out
both up dip and down dip. B) Internalite packages can be, locally, stacked in downlapping configuration (“lobe-like” progradation), infilling the forefront depression of a bulge on
the seafloor created by a pile of previous internalites. C through E) Field sketch and photographs of two internalite packages (p1 and p2) with internal downlapping configuration of
c elements of internalites, with an intervening wedge of isolated ripples (b elements).

Individual internalites concentrate in packages (Fig. 12A). The thi-
ckest part of an internalite package contains several stacked c elements
(dm-thick and some 10's m extension in dip direction). Mostly, c ele-
ments are stacked in down-slope shingling configuration, suggesting
each occurs in the forefront residual depression of the c element of a
previous internalite, partially modified by erosion (Fig. 12A, see also
Figs. 6 and 10B). However, physical tracking, in dip direction, of both
single internalites and internalite packages, indicates that up-slope
shingling also occurs. Within a package, the architectural elements are
commonly organized vertically in a similar way (Fig. 12A, see also
Fig. 5): intervals consisting of thin-sand laminae and ripples (a and b
elements) are overlain by few cross-laminated beds (c elements, occa-
sionally d and e elements), often in shingling configuration, which in
turn, can be overlain by ripples, and then by thin-sand laminae. This
vertical stacking of internalites within a package results from the up-
and down-slope shift of stacked internalites.
Unusually thick internalite stacks (up to 70 cm) occur in distal po-
sition within the Ricla outcrops (Fig. 12B to D). These stacks are “lobe-
like”, with lensoidal geometry in the depositional strike direction and
marked sigmoidal shape having b20 m of extension in the dip
54 B. Bádenas et al. / Sedimentary Geology 271-272 (2012) 44–57

direction. Within the “lobe-like” stack, two packages can be differen-
tiated (p1 and p2 in Fig. 12C, D), based on the stacking patterns. Indi-
vidual packages consist of downlapping c elements (down-slope
dipping cross-laminated beds) of successive internalites bounded by
mm- to cm-thick mud laminae, preferentially at the toe (Fig. 12C).
At the toe of package p1 (Fig. 12D), a wedge of mud with oolitic-
sandy ripples (b elements) passes up dip to a thin mud layer and
down dip to muds with thin-sand laminae (a elements). On top of
package p2, dm-wide hummocks occur and bioturbation has locally
destroyed the internal lamination.
6. Interpretation: fluctuations of the pycnocline
Up- and down-slope shift of internalite packages points to the up-
and down-slope migration of the breaker zone, which can in turn be
related to the fluctuation of the pycnocline. Bedding configuration
and stacking patterns in “lobe-like” bodies result from the infill, by
successive internalites, of a larger depositional depression at the fore-
front of a package characterized by vertical stacking of internalites
(Fig. 12B). Vertical stacking of internalites would elevate the source
point in the forefront of the package that would allow the successive
internalites to stack in downlapping configuration. This depositional
mechanism is coherent with the location of the “lobe-like” bodies in
the distal position of the internalites accumulation. The two studied
clusters of grainy internalites at Ricla encased in the muddy mid-
ramp facies are thought to reflect periods with enhanced sediment
supply from shallow-water settings and/or variations of water strati-
fication affecting the energy of the internal waves.
The origin of the pycnocline and ocean circulation in the studied
Kimmeridgian carbonate ramp was probably dominated by halothermal
(primarily salinity-driven) conditions due to “greenhouse” climate, in
contrast to modern open oceans where the pycnocline is mainly induced
by temperature, and secondarily by salinity gradients (e.g., Kennett and
Stott, 1991; Pak and Miller, 1992; Nunes and Norris, 2006). In interior
seas, the seasonal pycnocline is commonly strongly influenced by river-
ine discharge. Low-salinity stratified water masses have been described
in the northern Indian Ocean (Sri Lanka east coast), caused by the high
seasonally varying precipitation and river runoff (Santek and Winguth,
2007). Therefore, it is plausible to suggest for the Ricla succession that
the clusters of internalites accumulated during periods of increased river-
ine discharge that resulted in both sharpening of the pycnocline and
hence internal waves as well as increased sediment delivery (quarz
grains, quartzite pebbles) from the emerged areas of the Ebro and Iberian
massifs (Fig. 1). The possible effects of storm activity on sediment supply
and generation of internal waves in the Kimmeridgian carbonate ramp
can also be considered. Storms would increase the input of land-
derived grains accumulated in shallower areas and shallow-water coarse
grains (ooids, skeletal grains) into mid-ramp setting. In addition, storms
would generate perturbations in the pycnocline, as internal waves can be
excited by storms (e.g., Staquet and Sommeria, 2002; Santek and
Winguth, 2007).
7. Discussion: internalites vs. tempestites
The coarse components of the mid-ramp eventites at Ricla were de-
rived from land (quartz grains, occasional quartzite pebbles) and from
the shallowest portion of the ramp (ooids, occasional bioclasts) by differ-
ent processes, including hyperpycnal flows or storm-induced currents
(Bádenas and Aurell, 2001). The analysis of the architectural elements
and the stacking pattern of these eventites indicate internal-wave
reworking and certain down-dip transport of sediments existing in mid
ramp setting, in this case of previous resedimented deposits, and provide
a facies model for deposits originated from breaking internal waves
(Fig. 4). In mid-ramp settings, tempestites and/or internalites can occur
interbedded within the mud-dominated successions. Some key criteria
can be used to differentiate tempestites and internalites (Table 1):
(1) Stacking of eventites. Internalites concentrate in discrete inter-
vals in distal mid-ramp position detached from the shallow-
water successions, gradually thinning-out to disappear both up
dip and down dip (Pomar et al., 2012; Fig. 2). Individual inter-
nalite beds stack in up- and down-dip shingling configuration,
reflecting the up- and down-dip migration of the pycnocline
(and/or variable amplitude of the breaking wave). In Ricla, the
fact that eventite-rich intervals are located in the lower part of
the TST, with a progressive landward migration, is coherent with
the progressive landward shift of the pycnocline intersecting the
seafloor during transgression. In contrast, tempestites would in-
crease to the shoreface and stack in thickening- and coarsening-
upwards succession, reflecting the shallowing-upward character
of the surface-storm beds accumulation (e.g., Burchette and
Wright, 1992).
(2) Sedimentary processes. Both tempestites and internalites en-
compass an erosional phase and a depositional phase during
waning of turbulence.
a) Internalites are associated to erosion in the mid-ramp settings
(breaker of the internal waves), whereas little or no erosion oc-
curs in shallower settings. Contrarily, erosion processes due to
storm waves dominate in shallower areas, so that “cannibal-
ism” and/or amalgamation increases inshore in tempestites
(Aigner, 1985). Rip-up clasts in internalites are derived from
erosion in mid-ramp settings (breaker zone), but in tem-
pestites can be derived from shallower settings.
b) Internalite beds are deposited from tractive flows. Although
predominantly down dip, internalites reflect both up- and
down-dip transport processes (run-up and backwash flows).

Table 1
Key differences between the Ricla internalites and tempestites.

Internalites generated by breaking internal waves in mid-ramp settings Tempestites

Stacking of eventites Concentrated in discrete intervals in distal mid-ramp position, detached from Tempestite beds increasing to the shoreface, attached to shallow-
the shallow-water successions
Gradually thins-out to disappear both up dip and down dip
Bed stacking in shingling configuration, reflecting up- and down-slope mi-
gration of the pycnocline and/or variable amplitude of the breaking wave
Sedimentary Erosional Erosion localized in mid ramp position, associated to the breaker of the
processes phase internal waves
Little or no erosion towards the shallower areas
Rip-up clast from the internal-wave breaker zone (mid ramp)
Depositional Derived from tractive flow
phase Up-dip and down-dip transport, although preferentially down dip
Down-dip organization of the architectural elements, as product of bedload
and the existence of depositional or erosional depressions
water successions
Up-slope increase of tempestites; down-slope decrease of
tempestites
Thickening- and coarsening-upwards successions reflecting the
shallowing-upward character of storm beds accumulation
Predominant erosion in shallow areas
Increase of erosion (“cannibalism” and/or amalgamation) toward
the shallower areas
Rip-up clasts, if any, can be from shallower water
Derived from density and oscillatory flows
Down-dip transport
Vertical grading of grain size and sedimentary structures
indicating decreasing flow competence
 B. Bádenas et al. / Sedimentary Geology 271-272 (2012) 44–57
Recurrent organization of the architectural elements in dip di-
rection (a–b–c–b–a; Fig. 4) responds to bedload differences in
the different parts of the tractive flow, and to the existence of
depressions (depositional or erosional) on the seafloor. Cross-
bedded elements formed by the main tractive flow and accu-
mulated preferentially on seafloor depressions. Starved ripples
and thin‐sand laminae are related to the sand remnants in the
queue of the backwash flow. In contrast, tempestites derive
from storm-generated density flows travelling down slope,
combined with storm-wave action. The decreasing compe-
tence of the density flow and the storm-wave relaxation is
reflected in the upward grading of grain size and associated
sedimentary structures.
The defined facies model for the Ricla internalites includes all the ar-
chitectural elements (a–b–c–b–a) observed at the studied interval.
However, other sandy-oolitic eventites in Ricla do not include the
down-slope dipping cross-laminated bed (element c), and only thin-
sand laminae (element a) and cm-thick ripple beds (element b) are pre-
sent. This is the case of most of the eventites found at the lowermost
part of the studied TST in Ricla (Fig. 13). Thin-sand laminae and cm-
thick ripple beds are related in dip direction, indicating that they may
correspond to “a–b–a” internalite type. In addition, they concentrate
in distal mid-ramp position detached from shallower facies, with a
gradual up-dip and down-dip decrease in number. The shingling config-
uration of these intervals rich in “a–b–a” internalites is coherent with a
Fig. 13. Facies architecture based in the detailed logging and correlation across the lowermost part of the TST of the Kim2 Sequence at Ricla (see Fig. 2 for location; updated from
Aurell et al., 2011). The number of sandy-oolitic cm-thick eventites in correlatable intervals is higher in distal mid-ramp setting, detached from shallower facies, indicating that they
may correspond to internalites.
55
landward migration of the pycnocline during early transgression. The
absence of the architectural element c could be related to small amount
of sand-grain sediments. Lower riverine discharge might have con-
trolled decreased coarse sediment delivery to mid-ramp settings (via
hyperpycnal flows or storm-induced currents).
8. Conclusions
Despite the ubiquity of internal waves in oceans and lakes, internal
wave deposits (internalites) are seldom recognized in the sedimentary
record. For shelf and ramp deposits, they require differentiation from
tempestites, and from turbidites in deeper settings, with which they
share some common features of a basal erosion surface and a subse-
quent depositional phase during the waning of turbulent conditions.
Criteria for recognition of internalites, still to be fully developed,
can be obtained by analyzing the spatial organization of architectural
elements and associated sedimentary structures within eventite beds.
A significant portion of eventites of Upper Kimmeridgian Ricla succes-
sion can be reinterpreted according to the processes associated to the
break of internal waves on a sloping sea floor with bimodal sediment
type, sand and mud.
Breaking of internal waves on sloping surfaces creates episodic high-
turbulent events that remobilize sediment at the depth at which a
pycnocline intersects the sea floor. Internalites are concentrated in
discrete intervals in distal mid-ramp positions that are detached from
56 B. Bádenas et al. / Sedimentary Geology 271-272 (2012) 44–57
coeval shallow-water successions. They do not have the coarsening-
thickening upward trend typical of storm-generated successions and
they gradually thin-out to disappear both up- and down dip, inter-
fingering with muddy mid-ramp lithofacies and little or no erosion to-
wards shallower areas. Within internalites, diverse architectural
elements can be related to breaking internal waves and associated turbu-
lent flows: internal wave breaker zone (basal erosion surface), “dumped
heap” in the surf zone (mud-chip floatstone bed: element d), up-dip
swash (up-slope dipping cross-laminated bed: element e) and backwash
flow (down-slope dipping cross-laminated bed: element c, isolated star-
ved ripples: element b, and thin-sand laminae: element a).
Individual internalites stack in packages, within which they are
up- and down-slope shifted, often in shingling configuration. This
staking pattern is suggested to reflect the landward and seaward mi-
gration of the internal waves breaker zone (fluctuation of the
pycnocline). Clusters of internalite packages pinching out both up
dip and down dip and encased in the muddy mid-ramp facies reflect
changes in sediment supply and/or variations in water stratification
affecting the energy of the internal waves.
Acknowledgements
This work is a contribution to the research projects Grupo Rec-
onstrucciones Paleogeográficas (Aragón Government) and CGL2011-
24546 (to B.B. and M.A.) and CGL2009-13254 (to L.P. and M.M.). We
are grateful to the editor Brian Jones, and to Paul (Mitch) Harris and an
anonymous reviewer for comments and suggestions on the original ver-
sion of the manuscript.
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