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MASS TRANSPORT, GRAVITY FLOWS,
AND BOTTOM CURRENTS
 MASS
TRANSPORT,
GRAVITY FLOWS,
AND BOTTOM
CURRENTS
Downslope and Alongslope
Processes and Deposits

G. SHANMUGAM
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Texas at Arlington,
Arlington, Texas, United States
Elsevier
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 Dedication

Dedicated to five sedimentologic and oceanographic pioneers of the 20th century:

R.A. Bagnold, J.E. Sanders, G.D. Klein, F.P. Shepard, and C.D. Hollister
 Contents

About the author ix 3.2 Gravity (i.e., density) flows 92

Preface xxiii 3.3 Gravity-driven downslope processes 92
3.4 Debris flows 98
Acknowledgments xxvii 3.5 Liquefied/fluidized flows 126
3.6 Grain flows 131
1. Introduction 1 3.7 Turbidity currents 133
3.8 Hyperpycnal flows: a prelude 140
1.1 Why this book? 1 3.9 Thermohaline contour currents: a
1.2 History 2 prelude 145
1.3 Universal case studies 2 3.10 Synopsis 146
1.4 Environments and processes 3
1.5 Objectives 3
4. A paradigm shift 149
1.6 Organization 5
1.7 Other aspects of the book 5 4.1 Introduction 149
1.8 Synopsis 6 4.2 Amazon Fan, Equatorial Atlantic 150
4.3 Mississippi Fan, Gulf of Mexico 155
2. Mass transport: slides, slumps, and 4.4 Monterey Fan, North Pacific 156
debris flows 7 4.5 Krishna-Godavari (KG) Basin, Bay of Bengal,
India 160
2.1 Introduction 8 4.6 The Annot Sandstone (Eocene Oligocene),
2.2 International projects and symposiums 34 Peira-Cava Area, Maritime Alps, SE
2.3 Mechanics of sediment failure and France 161
sliding 35 4.7 The Jackfork Group, Pennsylvanian, Ouachita
2.4 Soil strength and slope stability 35 Mountains 169
2.5 The role of excess pore-water pressure 37 4.8 Basin-floor fan model, Tertiary, North
2.6 Nomenclature and classification 38 Sea 171
2.7 Recognition of the three basic types of mass- 4.9 Mass-flow lobes, Ulleung Basin, East Sea,
transport deposits 49 Korea 176
2.8 Slides 50 4.10 Upper Triassic Yanchang Formation, Ordos
2.9 Slumps 63 Basin, central China 176
2.10 Debris flows: a prelude 73 4.11 Supercritical and subcritical fans 177
2.11 Long-runout mechanisms 74 4.12 Synopsis 179
2.12 Reservoir characterization 83
2.13 Synopsis 87 5. Density plumes: types, deflections,
and external controls 181
3. Gravity flows: debris flows, grain flows,
liquefied/fluidized flows, turbidity currents, 5.1 Introduction 182
hyperpycnal flows, and contour 5.2 Dataset 187
currents 89 5.3 General types of density plumes 188
5.4 Deflected sediment plumes and their
3.1 Introduction 90 control 189

vii
viii Contents

5.5 Global significance of wind forcing on sediment 8.4 Four types of bottom currents 320
plumes 205 8.5 Thermohaline-induced geostrophic bottom
5.6 Implications for sediment transport 207 currents (i.e., contour currents) 321
5.7 Implications for provenance 210 8.6 The contourite problem 327
5.8 Synopsis 211 8.7 Wind-driven bottom currents 349
8.8 Tidal bottom currents in submarine
6. Hyperpycnal flows 213 canyons 356
8.9 Baroclinic currents (internal waves and
6.1 Definition 214 internal tides) 363
6.2 Origin 214 8.10 Sediment provenance 366
6.3 Identification 214 8.11 Reservoir quality 370
6.4 Hyperpycnites and related issues 215 8.12 Synopsis 373
6.5 Basic concepts 218
6.6 The Yellow River, China: a case study 229 9. Soft-sediment deformation
6.7 The Yangtze River, China: a case study 237 structures 377
6.8 External controls 239
6.9 Recognition of ancient hyperpycnites 241 9.1 Introduction 377
6.10 Cyclone-induced hyperpycnal turbidity 9.2 Datasets 395
currents in canyons 253 9.3 Definition 395
6.11 Configurations of density plumes 254 9.4 Origin 396
6.12 Global case studies 255 9.5 Classification 401
6.13 Challenges 262 9.6 Advances 402
6.14 Future research directions 262 9.7 Geological implications based on case
6.15 Academic discussions 263 studies 405
6.16 Synopsis 270 9.8 Synopsis 437

7. Triggering mechanisms of downslope 10. Epilogue: lessons learned 441

processes 273
10.1 Lessons learned 441
7.1 Definition 273
7.2 Origin 274
7.3 Synopsis 307 Appendix A: Concepts, glossary, and
methodology 449
8. Bottom currents 309 Appendix B: Video of flume experiments
on Sandy debris flows 477
8.1 Introduction 310
8.2 Vertical continuum: surface currents, deep- Bibliography 479
water masses, and bottom currents 310 Author Index 547
8.3 The thermohaline circulation 313 Subject Index 557
 About the author

G. (Shan) Shanmugam is an adjunct professor of Earth and

Environmental Sciences at the University of Texas at Arlington,
Arlington, TX, United States. He is also an adjunct professor of
Earth and Planetary Sciences at the University of Tennessee,
Knoxville, TN, United States. He is a person of Indian origin
(Fig. 1). He emigrated to the United States in 1970 and became a
naturalized US citizen in 1990. He has been married to his
American wife, Jean, since 1976. He is a pragmatic and an icono-
clastic deep-water process sedimentologist. His primary contribu-
tions are aimed at documenting the volumetric importance of
sandy mass-transport deposits and bottom-current reworked sands
in deep-water petroleum reservoirs worldwide and at dispelling the popular myth that
most deep-water sands are turbidites.

Professional preparation
1978: Ph.D., Geology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, United States
1972: M.S., Geology, Ohio University, Athens, OH, United States
1968: M.Sc., Applied Geology, Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of
Technology (IIT) Bombay, India
1965: B.Sc., Geology and Chemistry, Annamalai University (AU), Tamil Nadu, India
Note: He served as a research scholar under the Council of Scientific and Industrial
Research (CSIR), Government of India, at IIT Bombay during 1968–1970.

Employment

He joined Mobil Research and Development Corporation in Dallas, TX, United States as
a Research Geologist in 1978 and retired from Mobil (now ExxonMobil) as a Geological
Scientist in 2000 (Fig. 2).

Research

He conducted outcrop studies of deepwater deposits in the Southern Appalachians

(Tennessee, United States), Ouachita Mountains (Arkansas and Oklahoma, United States),

ix
x About the author

FIGURE 1 G. Shanmugam was born in Sirkazhi, Tamil Nadu, India.

and Peira Cava area (French Maritime Alps, SE France). He described deep-water strata
using conventional cores and outcrops (1:20 to 1:50 scale), which include 32 deepwater
sandstone petroleum reservoirs worldwide, totaling over 10,000 m in cumulative thickness
during 1974 2011.
He also conducted field studies of coal deposits in Victoria (Australia), coniferous rain
forests in the North Island (New Zealand), limestone karst in Guilin (China), fluvial
deposits in Gujarat (India), 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami-related coastal deposits in Tamil
Nadu (India), shallow-marine deposits in Qassim area (Saudi Arabia), and estuarine
deposits in the Oriente Basin (Ecuador).

Publications

He has over 380 published works, including two volumes of Elsevier’s Handbook of
Petroleum Exploration and Production (2006 and 2012) and their Chinese editions (Fig. 3).
 About the author xi

FIGURE 2 Three Mobil research laboratories in Texas, United States, where G. Shanmugam conducted
research during 1978-2000. Top image: Research includes oil generation from coal in the Gippsland Basin,
Australia (Shanmugam, 1985a) and porosity enhancement from chert dissolution beneath Neocomian unconfor-
mity in the Prudhoe Bay Field, Alaska (Shanmugam and Higguns, 1988). Middle image: Research includes the
Ouachita flysch in the USA (Shanmugam and Moiola, 1995) and basin-floor fans in the North Sea (Shanmugam
et al., 1995a). It is worth noting that this Mobil Dallas Research Laboratory was designed by a world-renowned
architect I. M. Pei, who also designed the Louvre Pyramid in Paris, France. Bottom image: Research includes bot-
tom-current reworked sands by hybrid flows in the Gulf of Mexico (Shanmugam et al., 1993a), tide-dominated
estuarine facies in the Oriente Basin, Ecuador (Shanmugam et al., 2000), and the Annot Sandstone in the Peira
Cava area, Maritime Alps, SE France, which served as the type locality for developing the "Bouma Sequence"
(Shanmugam, 2002a).

Global workshops on deep-water sandstone petroleum reservoirs

He organized deep-water sandstone workshops for:

• the UK Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in Scotland (1995 and 1997);
• Petrobras, Mobil, and Unocal in Brazil and Dallas, Texas (1998 and 1999);
• Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) in India (2002 and 2004);
• Reliance Industries Ltd. in India (2006 09) (Fig. 4);
xii About the author

FIGURE 3 Images of Elsevier books published by G. Shanmugam in English and Chinese.

• Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development (RIPED), PetroChina in

Beijing (2009 10) (Fig. 5);
• Yanchang Oilfield Exploration and Development, Research Institute of Yan’an Branch
(China) (2014);
• China University of Petroleum, Qingdao, China (2014) (Fig. 6).

Awards, recognitions, and nomination

• 1968: IIT Medal for the top-ranking student in Applied Geology, Civil Engineering
Department, IIT Bombay, India (Fig. 7).
• 1995: Best paper award from NAPE (Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists)
for his paper “Deepwater Exploration: Conceptual Models and their Uncertainties.”
• His paper “High-density turbidity currents: are they sandy debris flows?” published
in the Journal of Sedimentary Research in 1996, has achieved the status of the single
most cited paper in sedimentological research published in three world-renowned
periodicals - Journal of Sedimentary Research, Sedimentology, and Sedimentary Geology -
during the survey period of 1996 2003 (Source: International Association of
Sedimentologists Newsletter, August 2003).
 About the author xiii

FIGURE 4 Images of core workshop conducted at Reliance Industries, India. See a core-seismic based sedi-
mentologic study of sandy debrites and tidalites in submarine canyons from the offshore Krishna-Godavari Basin,
Bay of Bengal (India) by Shanmugam, Shrivastava and Das (2009).

• He was interviewed by the SUN TV, Chennai, India (televised on December 30th, 2003)
on his controversial research papers on turbidite sedimentation and their implications
for petroleum reservoirs (Fig. 8).
• He is an Emeritus Member of SEPM (Society for Sedimentary Geology); member since 1970.
• 2010 11: Scientific Advisor: Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and
Development (RIPED) of PetroChina, Beijing, China.
• 2018: He is the recipient of FeTNA 2018 “Tamil American Pioneer Award” for his
extraordinary professional achievements in academia. FeTNA: Federation of Tamil
Sangams of North America. Award Date: June 30, 2018. Frisco, Texas (Fig. 9). http://
tap.fetna.org/category/2018/.
• 2018: He is the recipient of the University of Tennessee College of Arts & Sciences 2018
Professional Achievement Award. Award Date: September 21, 2018. Knoxville,
Tennessee (Fig. 10). https://artsci.utk.edu/dialogue/honor-college-alumni/.
• 2019 21: He was nominated for the SEPM 2020 William F. Twenhofel Medal, which is
the top award given every year for contributions in sedimentary geology.
xiv About the author

FIGURE 5 Image of workshop participants at RIPED in Beijing.

Philanthropy

• He has two Endowed Graduate Fellowships in Sedimentary Geology and Petroleum

Geology ($60,000) at his alma mater, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences (EPS),
The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee.
• I am thankful to Larry McKay (Associate Dean) and Andrew Sheehy (Senior Director of
Development) for help with establishing fellowships.

Online resources for his publications

• Blog (deep-water processes): http://g-shanmugam.blogspot.com/

• ResearchGate: http://www.researchgate.net/profile/G_Shanmugam/publications
• UTA profile: http://www.uta.edu/profiles/Ganapathy-Shanmugam
 About the author xv

FIGURE 6 Image of workshop participants at China University of Petroleum, Qingdao.

FIGURE 7 1968 IIT Bombay Medal.

xvi About the author

FIGURE 8 Appearance at SUN TV, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.

Transformation from a local science teacher to a global petroleum geologist

In celebrating the 90th anniversary of AU, my alma mater, in 2020, Dr. K. Muthuraman,
Dean of Faculty of Fine Arts and the Convener of Souvenir Committee, invited me to write
a brief article on my reminiscence about the AU. Upon receiving this letter, my instinctual
response was one of exuberance. The very first thought came to my mind was the late
Professor T.N. Muthuswami Iyer (Fig. 11). He was popularly known as “TNM.” He was an
internationally known mineralogist and a pioneer in the study of “Madras charnockites” in
the early 1950s. He was the first Head of the Department of Geology at AU since its found-
ing in 1953 and also during my B.Sc. years (1962 65). TNM was solely responsible for my
successful career as a global petroleum geologist. I would like to share his motivational story
with colleagues and students on this historic and auspicious occasion (Shanmugam, 2020).

Science teacher

I was born in 1944 in a town called Sirkazhi, which is located 23 km south of AU near
Chidambaram in Tamil Nadu, India (Fig. 1). I attended AU as a train student, commuting
everyday from Sirkazhi to Chidambaram. Although my parents, K. Ganapathy Mudaliar
and G. Sambooranam Ammal, were not educated, they were keen on my education. They
 About the author xvii

FIGURE 9 2018 Tamil American Pioneer Award.

knew that my education was the only escape out of their poverty. Our family consisted of
my parents, myself, and my four younger sisters, namely Dhanalaxmi, Saraswathi,
Chandra, and Savithri (deceased). My parents’ primary concern was dowries associated
with my sisters’ forthcoming weddings. This financial background is important to this story.
I earned my B.Sc. degree in geology with a first class (equivalent to “A” grade in the
United States). It is worth noting that my degree was signed by Sir C.P. Ramaswami Iyer,
then Vice Chancellor of AU. In the summer of 1965, I secured a position as a science teacher
at Krishnamoorthy Arunachala Mudaliar High School, located a few kilometers from my
home. My parents were ecstatic because for the first time they will have a monthly income
from my salary. Normally, my story would have ended as a science teacher, but the story
took a drastic turn and has continued as a petroleum geologist because of TNM.

Motivations by TNM

During my employment as a science teacher in 1965, I received a postcard from TNM.

The card simply read “Come see me.” His postcard was a surprise to me. Anyway, I went
to AU and met with TNM in his office. This was my first face-to-face meeting with the
Head of the Department. I was rather nervous, not knowing what to expect.
xviii About the author

FIGURE 10 2018 Professional Achievement Award.

TNM greeted me with great affection like a grandfather. He first congratulated me in

passing my exams with a First Class. He wanted to know what my plans were for the
future. I explained to him that my life is settled in Sirkazhi as a science teacher. He said,
“You are one of our top students, you have unlimited potential to become a successful
geologist, and you should pursue your graduate studies in Applied Geology at IIT
Bombay”. At that time, I did not know anything about IIT Bombay. Given my family’s
financial challenges, I knew that TNM’s proposal was impossible. I explained my family
situation to TNM. He said in a rather commanding tone, “I cannot let you miss this rare
opportunity. Do something to get a loan and go to IIT.” At that point, I realized that I
should do something to resolve the financial problem. Although I did not know how to
resolve the problem, I told TNM that I will resolve the problem and will attend IIT. He
was pleased with my determination and with my positive response.
I did resolve the financial problem by obtaining a long-term loan from a local business-
man, Sri. D. Sambandam, who was an elder brother of my childhood friend, Sri. D.
Arumugam.
At IIT Bombay, I studied under the supervision of Professor A. Parthasarathy (his DIC
and PhD degrees were from the Imperial College and London University, respectively,
1954). My M.Sc. thesis at IIT was on fluvial sedimentology and statistics. I received the
Institute Medal for the top-ranking student in Applied Geology (1968). As part of the
 About the author xix

FIGURE 11 Professor T. N. Muthuswami Iyer.

curriculum, I received my first field training from Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC)
in the Great Rann of Kutch in the Thar Desert under Dr. S.K. Biswas and laboratory training
in the Ahmadabad office (Gujarat). IIT Bombay not only prepared me for my sedimentology
and petroleum geology career but also led me to pursue graduate studies in the United
States.
Throughout my studies at IIT Bombay, I kept TNM informed of my progress. Finally, I
informed him about my plans to go to the United States in all of 1970. At this point in time,
TNM had retired from AU and settled in Madras. In his response, he wrote me a letter in
August 1970. After 50 years, I still have his letter in my possession (Fig. 12). Because of poor
resolution of the scanned copy of letter, I have transcribed the letter content below:
“Raja Annamalaipuram-Madras: 10-8-70
My Dear Shanmugam,
Very happy to see your kind letter. I am sure you will have a very successful and bright
career in Ohio University. It is very good of you to think of me. Few people have this
affection and regard.
I have permanently shifted to Madras. I am staying with my son Naganathan, who is
Area Manager-ALITALIA. If you have to book your passage to Ohio he will do everything
for you. His office address. . .
xx About the author

FIGURE 12 1970 Post card to G. Shanmugam by Professor T. N. Muthuswami Iyer.

Hope to meet you when you go next to Madras.

Yours sincerely,
T.N. Muthuswami
(Signature)”

Indeed, his son did book my passage to America by ALITALIA Airlines. Of course,
I did go to his house in Madras and did meet him in person before my departure to the
United States. He was very proud of my achievements. He would have been even more
thrilled to witness my achievements since then, including the arrangements of weddings
of all my three sisters. He is in Heaven and smiling down on me, I am sure!

Nature photographer

Shanmugam has published numerous photographs of outcrops and cores showing unique
geological features on the covers of international geological journals (Fig. 13, 14 and 15).
 About the author xxi

FIGURE 13 (A) Pulpit Rock, Norway; (B) Basin-plain turbidites Zumaya, Spain.

FIGURE 14 (A) Karst topography, China; (B) Granitix monolith, near Chennai, India.
xxii About the author

FIGURE 15 (A) Ganges River Haridwar, India; (B) Coropaxi Volcano, Ecuador.

Reference
Shanmugam, G., 2020. Professor T.N. Muthuswami Iyer and his momentous motivations at Annamalai University
(1965): A personal story of transformation from a local science teacher to a global petroleum geologist.
Souvenir, 90th anniversary of Annamalai University, Annamalai Nagar, Tamil Nadu, India, 7 p.
 Preface

This book is a follow-up to my earlier two
books on deep-water processes and deposits
published by Elsevier (Shanmugam, 2006a,
2012a). The two previous volumes were
aimed primarily at petroleum geoscientists,
whereas this one is of a broader scope. There
are many empirical reasons for my undertak-
ing this assignment:
1. Literature gap: There are no books in the
market dedicated solely to downslope
and alongslope processes.
2. Publishing opportunity: Research-based
invitation by Louisa Munro,
Acquisitions Editor, Elsevier Limited,
Oxford, United Kingdom, based on my
2019 Encyclopedia chapter titled Slides,
Slumps, Debris Flows, Turbidity Currents,
Hyperpycnal Flows, and Bottom Currents
(Shanmugam, 2019a) published in the
Elsevier’s Encyclopedia of Ocean
Sciences (third edition, edited by Kirk
Cochran, J., Bokuniewicz, H., and Yager,
P.), to write a new book expanding the
content for a broader readership.
3. Global readership: The need for such a
book has been revealed by the readers’
response worldwide, who have
frequently read/downloaded the above
Encyclopedia chapter from my online
ResearchGate webpage.
4. Interpretation of hyperpycnites in deep-water
basinal settings based on outcrop studies.
Perhaps the compelling reason for writ-
ing this book in 2019 is because of the
ongoing academic discussions on hyper-
pycnal flows (Shanmugam, 2019c). The cur-
rent trend is to promote an unsubstantiated
notion, based on study of ancient rock
record, that hyperpycnal flows transport
sand into the deep sea (Mulder et al., 2003;
Mutti, 2019). For example, Mutti (2019)
states that “Field observations suggest that
hypopycnal plumes can generate thin-
bedded sand/mud couplets, here termed
plumites, that are virtually ubiquitous in
turbidite systems. This close association is
the best and most direct evidence of the
relationship between turbidite and fluvial
sedimentation. Plumes propagate in seawa-
ter as dilute surface flows and, depending
upon their original volume, sediment con-
centration and basin size, may mantle the
basin floor with their fine-grained deposits
from shelfal to deep basin plain regions.
They may trigger major hyperpycnal flows
and deposit thick sand beds in basinal
regions, but most commonly form thin
beds displaying a spectrum of highly diag-
nostic facies. Much care must be taken not
to mistake these facies for the distal or
overbank sediments of turbidity currents.
Most of the fine details of plumites are cer-
tainly better observed in cores; most cores
should be therefore re-analyzed in the light
of these new data.” The problem is that no
one could distinguish hyperpycnal flows
from turbidity currents in terms of fluid
rheology, flow state, and sediment concen-
tration. In addition, there are 16 types of
hyperpycnal flows (Shanmugam, 2018b).
Mutti (2019) did not explain which one of
the 16 types had caused the sand/mud
couplets in hyperpycnites in deep-water
basinal settings. Satellite images of modern
systems do not support such views of sand

xxiii
xxiv
transport across the shelf into the deep sea
(Chapter 5: Density plumes: types, deflec-
tions, and external controls and Chapter 6:
Hyperpycnal flows). Also, available books
on deep-water sedimentation do not
address the link between satellite images
and sediment transport with implications
for deep-sea sedimentation, which is
addressed in Chapter 5, Density plumes:
types, deflections, and external controls.
In interpreting ancient sedimentary
record of deep-water origin, it is much
more meaningful to understand a process
and its deposits from modern settings and
from laboratory experiments and then
apply that knowledge in the field. Mutti’s
(2019) approach of interpreting ancient
deposits in outcrops without knowing the
fluid mechanics of hyperpycnal flows is
misguided. This basic flaw is often over-
looked in publications on deep-water sedi-
mentation. This book is a cautionary
account of this problem associated with
deconstructing depositional origin of
ancient rock record by reverse engineering.
In addition to the above reasons, my pre-
vious contributions on the subject matter
facilitate an ideal scenario for writing this
book. For example, my contributions
include the following:
1. documenting the volumetric importance
of sandy mass-transport deposits and
bottom-current reworked sands in
deep-water petroleum reservoirs
worldwide;
2. dispelling the popular myth that most
deep-water sands are turbidities
(Shanmugam, 2006a, 2012a, 2019a);
3. debunking the myths of facies models
on high-density turbidities (Shanmugam,
1996a,b, 2000), tsunamites (Shanmugam,
2006b), landslides (Shanmugam, 2015a),
submarine fans (Shanmugam, 2016a),
contourites (Shanmugam, 2016b, 2017b),
Preface
seismites (Shanmugam, 2016c), SSDS
(Shanmugam, 2017a), and hyperpycnites
(Shanmugam, 2018b);
4. participating in 38 academic debates,
both written and oral, during the past 36
years (1983 2019) (see Chapter 6:
Hyperpycnal flows).
However, ultimately the objective of any
book is to offer a convincing story. This is
difficult in dealing with deep-water pro-
cesses and deposits. This is because of the
prevailing plethora of conflicting concepts
and models. In this situation, it is impera-
tive to take a fresh look at available data.
Therefore the emphasis of this book is to
gather a multitude of empirical data uni-
versally. I have used a total of 540 case
studies or datasets. Images of important
examples are included. Whether one agrees
or disagrees with my views on a given
issue (e.g., high-density turbidity currents
or hyperpycnal flows), at least, both sides
of an issue will have an opportunity to
examine the same data. Although I offer
my views on various issues, the reader will
have the ultimate say on any given issue.
Hopefully, this case study driven
approach will yield a more harmonious
outcome on controversies dealing with
deep-water processes and deposits.
Although this volume is intended for a
wide range of knowledge levels, including
students, teachers, and researchers of
gravity-driven sedimentary phenomena,
and practitioners in the petroleum indus-
try, it is written mostly with the student in
mind. Therefore I have (1) adopted bulleted
or numbered text format, (2) included copi-
ous number of color images of modern and
ancient examples in an atlas format, (3)
offered solutions to lingering nomencla-
tural and conceptual problems, (4)
explained the practical implications of
downslope and alongslope processes from
 Preface
a petroleum reservoir viewpoint, and (5)
included an illustrated appendix on con-
cepts, glossary, and methodology and a
video on experimental sandy debris flows.
This book contains 540 case studies, 344 fig-
ures, 28 tables, and a Bibliography with
1,612 published works, which include 106
self-citations as first author and two video
lectures, one on the beauty of the rocks
by Mutti (2020) and the other on
xxv
the orthodoxy versus empirical evidence
behind the “Bouma Sequence” by
Shanmugam (2020a). Thank you for your
interest on this topic.
G. Shanmugam, Ph.D.
Email: shanshanmugam@aol.com
August 21, 2020
 Acknowledgments
This book is the culmination of my
learning and conducting research for over
50 years. And I take this singular opportu-
nity to account for a comprehensive
acknowledgment of people, institutions,
and events that have made significant
impacts in my research career.
Parents, teachers, and benefactors
First, I would like to acknowledge my
late parents’ (K. Ganapathy and G.
Sambooranam) limitless enthusiasm for my
education that propelled me out of a
remote village in southern India. Second,
my sincere thanks to my teachers of geol-
ogy, in particular, the late Prof. T.N.
Muthuswami (Annamalai University,
southern India) who persuaded me to go to
graduate school at Indian Institute of
Technology, Bombay (IIT Bombay); the late
Prof. A. Parthasarathy (IIT Bombay) who
trained me on engineering aspects of mod-
ern mass-transport deposits (MTDs) and
who supervised my MSc thesis on fluvial
deposits and statistical analysis; the late
Prof. Stanley P. Fisher (Ohio University,
Athens) who supervised my MS thesis on
sandstone diagenesis of the Ordovician
Simpson Group in Southern Oklahoma;
Prof. Kenneth R. Walker (University of
Tennessee, Knoxville) who supervised my
PhD dissertation on tectonics and sedimen-
tation of the Middle Ordovician Sevier
Basin in the Southern Appalachians in
Tennessee; and Prof. Garrett Briggs
(University of Tennessee, Knoxville) who
xxvii
taught me clastic sedimentology and intro-
duced me to the Jackfork Group in the
Ouachita Mountains. Third, I am grateful
to the late D. Sambandam, the late D.
Arumugam, and K. Swaminathan for their
timely financial and logistical support dur-
ing my college days in India.
Early research (1965 78)
• In compiling this book with emphasis on
MTDs (Chapter 2: Mass Transport:
Slides, Slumps, and Debris Flows), my
educational background at the Civil
Engineering Department of the IIT
Bombay is crucial. This is because of
graduate-level courses on soil
mechanics, engineering geology,
metallurgy, and field measurements of
engineering properties of MTDs
triggered by monsoonal floods every
year. I am very grateful to my
supervisor, the late Prof. A.
Parthasarathy, who was an engineering
geologist by training and who earned his
DIC and PhD from the Imperial College
and London University, respectively, in
1954 in the United Kingdom. He
authored a textbook on Engineering
Geology (Parthasarathy et al., 2013).
• I was greatly benefited from graduate-
level courses on fluid mechanics taught
by Prof. Iaakov Karcz and Fluvial
Geomorphology taught by Prof. Marie
Morisawa at SUNY Binghamton, New
York (1972 73). I also learned the
nuances of flume experiments from
xxviii Acknowledgments
Iaakov Karcz. A flume study resulted in
my first paper on flume experiments
published in the Proceedings of the
American Society of Civil Engineers
(ASCE), Journal of the Hydraulics Division
(Karcz and Shanmugam, 1974).
• I am thankful to my two fellow students
G.L. Benedict and the late S.C. Ruppel for
their help during my PhD research at the
University of Tennessee (1974 78). Our
publications include Shanmugam and
Benedict (1978) on fine-grained carbonate
debris flows, Shanmugam and Benedict
(1983) on Manganese distribution in
carbonate fractions, and Walker et al.
(1984) on a model for carbonate to
terrigenous clastic sequences.
Mobil research on mass transport,
gravity flows, and bottom currents
(1978 2000)
My tenure with Mobil Oil Company
(1978 2000) is the primary source of data for
this book. However, my research at Mobil
also included oil from coal in Australia and
New Zealand (Shanmugam, 1985c), porosity
enhancement beneath erosional unconformi-
ties in the Prudhoe Bay reservoir, Alaska
(Shanmugam and Higgins, 1988), tide-
dominated estuaries in Ecuador
(Shanmugam et al., 2000), among others.
• During my employment with Mobil
(1978 2000), I worked in three Mobil
research facilities (Fig. 2 under "About
the Author" section):
1978 83: Mobil Field Research
Laboratory, Duncanville, Texas.
1983 92: Mobil Dallas Research
Laboratory, Farmers Branch, Texas. It
is worth noting that this building was
designed by a world-renowned
architect I.M. Pei who also designed
the Louvre Pyramid for the Musée du
Louvre in Paris, France.
1992 2000: Mobil Technology
Company, Dallas, Texas.
Mobil Oil Corporation was extremely
generous in granting me permission to
publish over 100 journal articles and 80
abstracts. Several of the petroleum-related
case studies used in this book were for-
mally reviewed and approved for external
publication by Mobil management and
partners (1978 2000). Those case studies
that were published in peer-reviewed jour-
nals and those that were presented at
national and international conferences are
the primary source of data on core and out-
crop, sandbody geometry, wireline logs,
seismic profiles, and measured porosity
and permeability values used in this book.
I extend my sincere gratitude to Mobil
Technology managers (1978 2000): the late
E.L. Jones, the late N.J. Guinzy, J.J. Wise,
M.P. Ramage, M.G. Bloomquist, E.C.
Griffiths, S.J. Moncrieff, R.P. Nixon, the late
A.J. Koch, R.J. Moiola, D.M. Summers, S.E.
Sommer, M.A. Northam, G.K. Baker, and J.
E. Krueger. I am thankful to Mobil Vice
President P.E. Luttrell for her constant sup-
port of my studies on deep-water systems
and her enthusiasm for organizing deep-
water sandstone workshops for Mobil affili-
ates and partners. My special thanks to R.J.
Moiola, who guided my career in Mobil as
my manager, mentor, colleague, coauthor,
and friend. I am grateful to D.W. Kirkland
who has been an inspiration throughout
my career in Mobil. I thank Mobil collea-
gues J.E. Damuth, J.G. McPherson, S.B.
Famakinwa, J.B. Wagner, R.D. Kreisa, J.W.
Snedden, the late M.H. Link, P. Weimer, S.
Gabay, J.F. Sarg, J.M. Armentrout, J.
Helwig, J.K. Sales, and J.S. Wickham for
stimulating discussions.
 Acknowledgments
I am grateful to L.J. Aucrermann, B.K.
Bowlin, S. Limerick, J. Zeng, and D. Prose
who assisted me under the Mobil intern pro-
gram on deep-water systems. My special
thanks to M.K. Lindsey, who drafted most of
my illustrations, for his creativity and
patience. Mark Lindsey depicted my geo-
logic perspectives of hybrid flows beautifully
for my 1993 AAPG Bulletin article, which is
reproduced on this book cover. I thank A.F.
Long, N.D. Pine, J. Livermon, R. Gilcrese, C.
Branson, and A. Gonzales for drafting; S.A.
Kizer and D.L. Miller for photography; N.
Houghton for petrography, B.J. Phillips, T.A.
Allison, F.B. Roof, and C.M. Wall for assis-
tance in the field and in laboratory work. I
am indebted to Iaakov Karcz who intro-
duced me to flume experiments. I
thank John Sales for developing experimen-
tal small-scale duplex structure in soft plas-
ter that was used in explaining the origin of
sigmoidal deformation. I thank H.T. Mullins
for providing samples of calciclastic sandy
contourites from the northern Straits of
Florida.
• For the first time, to understand
mechanics of sandy debris flows and
their deposits, a Mobil-funded
experimental flume study was carried
out at St. Anthony Falls Laboratory
(SAFL), University of Minnesota
(1996 98) under the direction of Prof.
G. Parker. Results were published in
two major articles (Shanmugam,
2000a,b; Marr et al., 2001). I am
grateful to G. Parker, J.G. Marr, and P.
A. Harff for impressive experimental
runs of sandy debris flows and related
discussions.
• I am thankful to the following colleagues
from Mobil Research and Development
Corporation, other companies, and
universities who were involved in the
xxix
description of sediments and sedimentary
rocks during 1974 2011 period:
• United Kingdom: C.E. Shepard, C.F.
Stephens, P.H. Naylor, K.P. Dean, S.-J.
Kelland, J. Mathews, F. Longworth, A.
Turner, M. Slatford, G.W.J. Beamish,
S.M. Mitchell, and J.E. Damuth;
• Norway: L.R. Lehtonen, T. Straume, S.
E. Syevertsen, R.J. Hodgkinson, and R.
J. Fife;
• Nigeria: W.E. Hermance, B.J. Welton, J.
O. Olaifa, and U. Ewherido;
• Equatorial Guinea: S.B. Famakinwa, W.
E. Hermance, and R.J. Hodgkinson;
• Gabon: T.D. Spalding, S.B. Famakinwa,
and E. Delbos;
• France: R.J. Moiola and R.B. Bloch;
• Brazil: S.H. Gabay, A.E. Cunningham,
W.B. Gardiner, D.O. Hurtubise, Celso
Guirro, Paola Fontanelli, and the late
Luiz Caddah;
• Gulf of Mexico: G. Zimbrick, T.D.
Spalding, J. Fouts, J.M. Armentrout, K.
Schindler, J. Caravella, T. Scott, R.D.
Kreisa, and D.H. Rofheart;
• California: C.A. Clayton and R.D.
Kreisa;
• Arkansas and Oklahoma: R.J. Moiola, H.
Jamieson, R. Edington, C. Knutson, D.
Prose, T. Stolan, and M. Barrett;
• Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in
New York: J.E. Damuth and S.
O’Connell for helping with the
description of DSDP Leg 96 cores
(Mississippi Fan);
• Ocean Drilling Program’s (ODP) Gulf
Coast Repository in College Station,
Texas: J.E. Damuth for assistance with
core description at the Ida Green
Cruise cores (Gulf of Mexico);
• China: Examination of karst
topography near Guilin and Li River
in understanding karst dissolution
and breccia formation (Shanmugam,
2017d);
xxx Acknowledgments
• Ecuador: M. Poffenberger, and J. Toro
Alava on tide-dominated estuarine
facies;
• Australia: R.J. Gaulton on the Yallourn
and Morwell open cut coal mines;
• New Zealand (North Island): R.A. Cook
and K. Robinson on modern Kauri
rain forests;
• Alaska: G. Zimbrick on fluvio-deltaic
facies of the Prudhoe Bay oil field;
• Azerbaijan: Government and academic
personnel.
I am deeply indebted to R.J. Moiola for his
support and collaboration with all my stud-
ies of submarine fans throughout my career
with Mobil (1978 2000). My field experience,
gained from studies of ancient submarine
fans with R.J. Moiola (Spain, Italy, the
Ouachita Mountains, and the Annot
Sandstone, SE France), with Garrett Briggs
(the Ouachita Mountains), with Kenneth
Walker (the Southern Appalachians, my PhD
work at the University of Tennessee,
Knoxville, United States), and on modern
submarine fans with J.E. Damuth at Lamont-
Doherty Earth Observatory (Mississippi Fan,
DSDP Leg 96 cores), has greatly enhanced
my understanding of modern and ancient
submarine fans.
My sincere gratitude to the late Prof.
George Devries Klein, Emeritus Professor
at University of Illinois at Urbana-
Champaign, who served as the Editor of
Earth-Science Reviews and who handled
my first review article on submarine fans
for the journal (Shanmugam and Moiola,
1988). His publications have been a great
source of inspiration for my research on
deep-water sedimentation. Tributes to
Klein were published in a “Special Issue
dedicated to George Devries Klein by the
Journal of the Indian Association of
Sedimentologists (JIAS)” (Shanmugam,
2018d).
I must thank Prof. Emiliano Mutti for
organizing a special field trip to the Eocene
Hecho Group in the South-Central
Pyrenees (Spain) in March 1981, as a con-
sultant, for two Mobil geologists (R.J.
Moiola and G. Shanmugam). Every night at
dinner time, after a long, fruitful, and gru-
eling day in the field, we would embark on
lively and often heated debates on deep-
water sedimentation that would last until
the wee hours of the morning. These
debates were the root cause of my passion
for investigating the very foundation of the
turbidite paradigm and submarine fans. As
a consequence, my first two critical papers
on submarine fans were: (1) “Is the turbi-
dite facies association scheme valid for
interpreting ancient submarine fan environ-
ments?” (Shanmugam et al., 1985a) and (2)
“Submarine fan models: problems and
solutions” (Shanmugam and Moiola, 1985a,
b). Despite our professional feud, Emiliano
and I have exchanged cordial emails to this
day. Mutti’s most recent communication
was on November 17, 2019, by which he
sent me his recent reprint on Plumites
(Mutti, 2019).
I am grateful to J.E. Warme for organizing
field trips to study deep-water deposits in
the San Diego area (La Jolla) in February
1980 for Mobil sedimentologists (R.J. Moiola
and G. Shanmugam). I also thank the late T.
H. Nilsen for organizing a special field trip
to study deep-water “turbidites” in
California in October 1992, as a consultant,
for a Mobil geologist (G. Shanmugam).
Consultant research (2000 present)
1. India (Reliance-core): S.K. Shrivastava, B.
Das, M. Acharya, M. Chowdhury, M.
Santra, S.S. Roy, S. Gupta, A. Soman, S.
Sharma, R. Das, S. Mushnuri, A. Kumar,
 Acknowledgments
and V. Yesudian for their assistance
during core description (2004 08);
2. India (Reliance-field and seismic): Our field
investigation of Godavari estuary near
Yanam and Antarvedi (Andhra Pradesh)
in August 2007 was assisted by S.
Sharma and S.I. Arsalan, and of the
Kakinada Bay in January 2008 was
assisted by Sandeep Sharma,
Chakradhar Rao Basa, Jyoti Rout, Amit
Sinha, Sandeep Rawat, Hema Sharma,
and Mahendra Thame. Sandeep Sharma
also assisted in our study of RMS
amplitude maps;
3. India (Oil and Natural Gas Corporation): S.
Prabakaran;
4. India (Hardy): Ravi T. Venkatesawaran;
5. China [Research Institute of Petroleum
Exploration and Development (RIPED)
PetroChina]: Coining Zoo, Wang Land,
Li Ying, Sonata Wu, and Xiamen Zhao
on deep-lacustrine facies (Zoo et al.,
2012).
Tsunamite research (2004 present)
My personal interest on tsunamis was
accelerated by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsu-
nami, which hit the coast of Tamil Nadu in
southeastern India on 26 December. My
hometown (Sirkazhi), which is located
about 12 km from the tsunami-devastated
coast, provided immediate shelter for tens
of thousands of tsunami victims. Color
videos of the tsunami, shown on BBC and
CNN Television from December 27, 2004 to
January 5, 2005, were used for inferring
flow transformation near the coasts (off-
shore) of Thailand, India, and Sri Lanka. I
am grateful to Brock Adam McCarty of
DigitalGlobe for granting permission to use
an aerial image of Kalutara Beach in Sri
Lanka. I thank many local individuals who
narrated their eyewitness accounts of
xxxi
tsunami waves and who helped in digging
trenches along the coast of Tamil Nadu to
study the effects of tsunami on coastal sedi-
mentation. I dedicate this paper to all those
who perished (over 265,000) in 15 countries
in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.
In an attempt to trace the source of the
genetic term “tsunamite,” I sought informa-
tion from many colleagues worldwide. I
would like to thank the following who
responded promptly to my email queries:
G. Racki, J. Bourgeois, T. Shiki, M. Cita, B.
Pratt, G. van den Bergh, K. Rodolfo, M.
Simms, S. Barnett, J. Morrow, D. Stow, A.
Hurst, D. Gorsline, and G. Klein.
In publishing my paper “The tsunamite
problem” (Shanmugam, 2006b), I thank the
JSR reviewers from Australia (Ron Boyd
and Brian Jones), New Zealand (Scott
Nichol), and the editorial crew from
Scotland (Colin North, Co-Editor), Canada
(David Piper and Martin Gibling, Associate
Editor), and the United States (John
Southard and Melissa Lester) for their com-
ments and help.
I thank the late N. Swedaranyam, T.
Saraswathi (my sister), S. Thambidurai, and
S. Murugan for their assistance during my
2005 field study of coastal deposits of the
2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami in Tamil
Nadu.
In publishing my paper “Process-sedi-
mentological challenges in distinguishing
paleo-tsunami deposits” (Shanmugam,
2012b), I thank Guest Editor Arun Kumar
for inviting me to contribute this article. I
wish to thank Journal Editor T. Murty for
his suggestions on content during early
stages of manuscript preparation in 2009.
My sincere thanks to two anonymous
reviewers for their detailed, critical, and
helpful comments on the manuscript. I
am grateful to Cliff Frohlich, The
University of Texas at Austin, for provid-
ing photographs of tsunami emplaced
xxxii Acknowledgments
boulders in Tongatapu Island, south-west
Pacific.
Contourite research (1974 present)
I thank Rajat Mazumder, the volume
editor of “Sediment Provenance,” for
encouraging me to contribute a review
chapter on contourites (Shanmugam,
2016b). I also thank both Tasha Frank and
Marisa LaFleur, Associate Acquisition
Editors (Elsevier), for their enthusiastic
help with various issues. I am deeply
indebted George Devries Klein, a sedimen-
tologic pioneer on contourites and tidalites,
for his total endorsement of science in this
chapter and for his helpful editorial com-
ments. I also thank A.J. (Tom) van Loon,
who served as the Series Editor for
Elsevier’s Developments in Sedimentology
60 on “Contourites” (Rebesco and
Camerlenghi, 2008) for his meticulous edit-
ing of the manuscript. Chapter 8, Bottom
Currents, of this book addresses the con-
tourite problem.
I acknowledge with gratitude the follow-
ing organizations and colleagues involved
in various academic activities that are of
relevance in my contourite research:
• My interest on provenance began with
my research on sandstone reservoirs at
Mobil Oil Company in 1978. As a
consequence, I was an invited speaker at
the NATO Advanced Study Institute
Conference on “Reading Provenance
from Arenites” held in Calabria, Italy
(1984) by G.G. Zuffa. In a related
conference volume edited by Zuffa
(1985), my contribution dealt with
“Types of porosity in sandstones and
their significance in interpreting
provenance” (Shanmugam, 1985b,c).
• My sedimentological research on deep-
water bottom currents began in 1974 as a
part of my PhD work on the Middle
Ordovician of the Southern
Appalachians in the United States
(Shanmugam, 1978; Shanmugam and
Walker, 1978, 1980) and has continued
through my employment with Mobil Oil
Company (Shanmugam and Moiola,
1982, 1983; Shanmugam, 1990a,b,c;
Shanmugam et al., 1993a,b) to the
present as an adjunct professor and as a
consultant (Shanmugam, 2006a, 2008a,
2012a, 2013a, 2014a).
• As my manager and coresearcher, R.J.
Moiola provided enthusiastic support for
my contourite research throughout my
employment with Mobil (1978 2000). As
a Mobil colleague, J.E. “Jed” Damuth
provided me historical information on
contourite research at Lamont-Doherty
Earth Observatory of Columbia
University (New York) where he
received his PhD under Bruce Heezen. I
am indebted to numerous colleagues at
Mobil and other oil companies,
petroleum-related service companies,
academic institutions, and government
agencies for assisting me in core and
outcrop descriptions worldwide during
the past 40 years (Table 9.2).
• My first major paper on process
sedimentology and reservoir quality of
“sandy contourites,” which focused on the
significance of traction structures in
“contourites” following Heezen’s (1959)
pioneering concept, was peer-reviewed by
Charles Hollister for the AAPG Bulletin
(Shanmugam, 1993a). I dedicate this paper
to the late Charles Davis Hollister
(1936 99), considered to be “the father of
Contourites” (McCave, 2002), who died in
a climbing accident while on vacation in
Wyoming with his family at an untimely
age of 63. His pioneering publications
 Acknowledgments
have greatly influenced my research
during the past 40 years.
• In response to an invitation from R.D.
Winn, Jr. and J.M. Armentrout, I
(Shanmugam et al., 1995b) participated
in the 1995 SEPM Core Workshop held
in Houston, Texas. This study dealt with
core examination of traction sedimentary
structures indicating bottom-current
reworking in the Gulf of Mexico.
• In response to an invitation from the UK
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI),
I organized a deep-water sandstone
workshop in Edinburgh, Scotland, for
petroleum geoscientists from various
countries in Europe in 1995 (October).
This workshop utilized cores from the U.
K. Atlantic Margin (Table 9.2, item 7)
that contain deposits of sandy MTDs
and bottom-current reworked sands
(Shanmugam et al., 1995a).
• In response to an invitation from M.
Rebesco, I contributed Chapter 5
(Shanmugam, 2008a) entitled “Deep-
water bottom currents and their
deposits” to the thematic volume on
“Contourites” (Rebesco and
Camerlenghi, 2008).
• In response to an invitation from A.J.
(Tom) van Loon, I reviewed a book
(Shanmugam, 2008d) entitled Economic
and Palaeoceanographic Significance of
Contourite Deposits, edited by Viana and
Rebesco (2007), for Geologos (republished
in Journal of Sedimentary Research).
• I also reviewed a book (Shanmugam,
2011a,b) entitled Deep-sea sediments,
edited by Hüneke and Mulder (2011)
with Chapter 3 on “Contourites”, for
Geologos (republished in Journal of
Sedimentary Research).
• Since the 1970s, D.J.W. Piper and D.A.V.
Stow have been helpul in my research
on both fine-grained turbidites and
contourites.
xxxiii
• In 2020, F.J. Hernández-Molina and S. de
Castro, helped me with research material
from IODP Expedition 339, Gul of Cadiz.
Density plumes and hyperpycnite
research (2002 present)
I thank Prof. G.N. Nayak, CSIR Emeritus
Scientist at School of Earth, Ocean and
Atmospheric Sciences, Goa University, Goa,
India, who is also the President of the Indian
Association of Sedimentologists, for a thor-
ough and helpful review of my paper on
deflected sediment plumes (Shanmugam,
2019d). I also thank the second reviewer Dr.
Mayla Ramos-Vazquez for helpful review. I
am grateful to Dr. John S. Armstrong-Altrin,
National Autonomous University of Mexico,
for handling my paper. I thank both
Managing Editors of the journal, Prof. G.M.
Bhat and Dr. Bashir Ahmad Lone, both of
Jammu University, India, for their help with
editorial matters.
I thank Dr. Huaixian Xu, Executive Chief
Editor of Petroleum Exploration and
Development (PED) for inviting me to con-
tribute my article (Shanmugam, 2018c) for
the Special Issue of PED in celebrating the
60th anniversary of RIPED. The year 2018
also marks the 10th anniversary of my
association with RIPED.
I sincerely thank Prof. B. Charlotte
Schreiber (University of Washington,
Seattle) for her no-nonsense, critical, and
helpful review comments on my paper
“The hyperpycnite problem” (Shanmugam,
2018b). I am grateful to the U.S. National
Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA) for their excellent collection of sat-
ellite and other images of sediment plumes
triggered by river, tide, glacier, volcanic
eruptions, cyclones, etc. I would like to
acknowledge the following publishers,
xxxiv Acknowledgments
governmental and nongovernmental agen-
cies, journals, and colleagues, for their help
in granting permissions either formally or
through their publication policies to reuse
images:
1. American Association of Petroleum
Geologists (AAPG),
2. American Geophysical Union (AGU),
3. Cambridge Core and Global-Science
Press,
4. Copyright Clearance Center (CCC),
Rightslink,
5. Elsevier,
6. European Geosciences Union (EGU),
7. Geological Society of America (GSA),
8. Geological Society of London (GSL),
9. Indian Journal of Geo-Marine Sciences
(IJMS),
10. J.G. McPherson,
11. John Wiley and Sons,
12. The U.S. National Aeronautics and
Space Administration (NASA),
13. The U.S. National Geophysical Data
Center (NGDC),
14. R.D. Kreisa,
15. Society for Sedimentary Geology
(SEPM),
16. Springer Nature,
17. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,
18. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and
19. Wikipedia.
Sediment deformation and seismite
research (1978 present)
I am thankful D.W. Kirkland for lending
core slabs from the Permian Castile
Formation, New Mexico and for his valu-
able discussion on the origin of microfolds.
The Journal of Palaeogeography reviewers
Prof. Yuan-Sheng Du (State Key Laboratory
of Biogeology and Environmental Geology,
China University of Geosciences, Wuhan),
Prof. Tian-Rui Song (Institute of Geology,
Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences,
Beijing), Dr. D.W. Kirkland, and an anony-
mous reviewer are thanked for their
detailed and helpful comments that consid-
erably improved the quality and clarity of
my paper “The seismite problem”
(Shanmugam, 2018b) paper.
Academic events (1968 present)
I benefited from my participation in the
following academic events:
• As an invited coauthor of a book chapter
(Shanmugam and Moiola, 1985) to the
COMFAN 1 volume edited by Bouma
et al. (1985a);
• As an invited participant in the NATO
Advanced Study Institute Conference on
“Reading Provenance from Arenites,”
Calabria, Italy (1984);
• As an invited participant in the
COMFAN II Meeting, Parma, Italy (1988);
• As an invited lecturer in the SEPM
Pacific Section Short Course
(Shanmugam, 1990b) held in
San Francisco as part of the 1990 AAPG
Convention on “Deep-Marine
Sedimentation, Depositional Models and
Case Histories in Hydrocarbon
Exploration & Development.” Course
organizers: G.C. Brown, D.S. Gorsline,
W.J. Schweller.
• As an invited panelist in the 1997 (April)
AAPG/SEPM Convention Debate, Dallas,
Texas
Topic: Processes of Deep-Water Clastic
Sedimentation and Their Reservoir
Implications: What Can We Predict?
Moderator: H. E. Clifton.
Panelists: A.H. Bouma, J.E. Damuth,
D.R. Lowe, G. Parker, and G.
Shanmugam.
 Acknowledgments
• I presented an invited lecture on John
Sanders’ pioneering contributions at a
conference in Troy, New York
(Shanmugam, 2000b). I was invited by
Prof. G.M. Friedman and George Devries
Klein.
• Academic lecture tour of India on deep-
water processes and sediment
deformation (2016)
• Institutions:
RIL: Reliance Industries Ltd.
ISI: Indian Statistical Institute
IITB: Indian Institute of Technology
Bombay
ITM: Indian Institute of Technology
Madras
Annamalai University, Chidambaram,
Tamil Nadu
• Contacts:
Mr. Bhagaban Das, Manager,
Reservoir Characterization, RIL
Prof. Sarbani Patranabis-Deb, ISI,
Geological Studies Unit
Prof. M. Radhakrishna, IITB, Earth
Sciences
Prof. Santanu Banerjee, IITB, Earth
Sciences
Prof. P. Shanmugam, IITM, Ocean
Engineering
Prof. T. Ramkumar, Annamalai
University, Earth Sciences
I thank the abovementioned Indian col-
leagues for organizing my lectures. I am
grateful to RIL and ISI for absorbing
domestic airline, ground transportation,
and lodging expenses. I also thank students
and participants for lively discussions.
• 2018: I presented a two-part lecture
entitled “Deep-Water Turbidites and
Density Plumes” at the Dallas Geological
Society, International Dinner Event,
Brookhaven Country Club, Dallas, Texas,
November 14, 2018. https://www.dgs.
xxxv
org/events/2018/11/14/ Accessed
August 17, 2020
• 2020. I presented a virtual lecture entitled
“The turbidite – contourite –tidalite –
hybridite problem: Orthodoxy Vs
Empirical Evidence behind the Bouma
Sequence”, organized by the indian
Association of Sedimentologists. Virtual
Lecture on Google Meet Platform. July 2,
2020 at 10:00 am (Indian Standard Time).
• 2020. I presented a zoom lecture entitled
"The turbidite – contourite –tidalite –
hybridite problem: Orthodoxy Vs
Empirical Evidence behind the “Bouma
Sequence”. The Drifters VGT (Virtual
Get-Together) Zoom Lecture organized
by F. J. Hernandez-Molina, Dept. Earth
Sciences, Royal Holloway, University of
London (UK), July 27, 2020, Monday,
2.30 PM London (UK) Time. PowerPoint
presentation.
• 2000-2020: I have been associated with
the Department of Earth and
Environmental Sciences, The University
of Texas at Arlington, USA, as an
adjunct professor since 2000. I taught
undergraduate and graduate courses in
sedimentology and stratigraphy during
2003-2004 period. I have routinely
presented my research results in
department seminars. I am grateful to
Professor Emeritus John Wickham,
Professor Emeritus Asish Basu, and
Professor and Chairman Arne Winguth,
for their support.
Editorial board member
(2018 present)
As an editorial board member of the fol-
lowing three journals, I have benefited
immensely on recent developments, and
xxxvi
therefore I would like to thank
following:
1. Journal of Palaeogegraphy (JOPG)
Prof. Zeng-Zhao Feng, Editor-in-
Chief, Beijing, China
Dr. Yuan Wang, Editor, Beijing, China
Dr. Min Liu, Editor, Beijing, China
Dr. Xiu-Fang Hu, Editor, Beijing,
China
2. Petroleum Exploration and Development
(PED)
Dr. Huaixian Xu, Executive Chief
Editor of Petroleum Exploration and
Development, Beijing, China
Dr. C. Zou, Editor, Beijing, China
Jesse (Song Lichen), Deputy Director,
PED, Beijing, China
3. Journal of the Indian Association of
Sedimentologists (JIAS)
Prof. Abhijit Basu, Indiana, United
States, Editors-in-Chief Prof. G.M. Bhat,
Jammu University, India, Managing
Editor
Dr. Bashir Ahmad Lone, Jammu
University, India, Managing Editor
JIAS dedicated a special issue to the
memory of Prof. George Devries Klein with
the following contributions:
1. “Preface” by G. Shanmugam
2. “Post-modernism and climate change”
by Van der Lingen
3. “Bioturbation and trace fossils in deep-
water contourites, turbidites, and
hyperpycnites: A cautionary note” by G.
Shanmugam
4. “Petroleum potential of the West Coast
of India” by Naresh Kumar
5. “Diagenetic evolution of onshore
Campanian Sandstone, Ariyalur-
Cauvery Basin” by R. Nagendra
6. “Reflections from the heavy mineral
distributions of some Gondwana basins of
extra-peninsular India” by Hrishikesh
Acknowledgments
the Baruah, Ranjeeta Kar, Sarat Phukan, Pradip
Kumar Das, Manab Deka, and Tulika Dey
7. “Professor Virendra Kumar Srivastava”
by S.M. Casshyap and M. Raza
8. “Robert Louis Folk” by Kitty Milliken,
Earle McBride, and Lynton Land
9. “Robert Henry Dott, Jr. (June 2, 1929 to
February 27, 2018)” by Marjorie A. Chan
and Steven G. Driese
Photographs
I thank Tom Roorda, Roorda Aerial, Port
Angeles, Washington for aerial photo of
Elwha sediment plume in the Strait of Juan
de Fuca and Professor Emeritus R.D.
Hatcher, Jr., Department of Earth and
Planetary Sciences, The University of
Tennessee, Knoxville, for outcrop photo of
SSDS from Israel. I thank John G.
McPherson for providing aerial photo-
graphs of Dart River braid delta from New
Zealand, and for photographs of alluvial
fans from Death Valley, California.
Elsevier
This book is built on the foundation of
datasets used in my two previous books by
Elsevier (2006 and 2012) coupled with new
data published in various journals and
other publications since 2012 by myself and
by other authors. Because I have used the
same core, outcrop, seismic, petrophysical,
and satellite database that I used in my pre-
vious two books published by Elsevier in
2006 and 2012. My sincere thanks to John
Cubitt, Editor-in-Chief of Elsevier’s
Handbook of Petroleum Exploration and
Production series for valuable suggestions.
I thank Susan Dennis, Associate
Acquisitions Editor | Series (Elsevier
 Acknowledgments xxxvii
Science Ltd., Oxford, United Kingdom), G.C. Brown, J.V. Gardner, S. Krastel, D.J.M.
Derek Coleman, Senior Editorial Project Macdonald, J.G. Marr, C.K. Paull, E. Mutti,
Manager, Elsevier (Amsterdam), and the A.R. Viana, C.S.L., Duarte, and A. Solheim. I
Elsevier production team (Chennai, Tamil acknowledge the following publishers and
Nadu, India) for their help with the 2012 entities for help during the course of
edition. acquiring permission to use figures, tables,
In publishing this third book for Elsevier, and data:
I thank Louisa Munro, Senior Acquisitions
Editor, Aquatic Sciences Elsevier Limited, 1. Copyright Clearance Center
Oxford, United Kingdom, for inviting me to 2. Elsevier
write this book and for providing logistical 3. Wiley-Blackwell
support. I would like to thank Nicholas 4. John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Christie-Blick, Professor of Earth and 5. Springer
Environmental Sciences, Lamont-Doherty 6. Cambridge University Press
Earth Observatory of Columbia University, 7. Annual reviews, Inc.
New York, and two other Elsevier reviewers 8. Rand McNally & Company
of my book proposal for their constructive 9. Gulf Publishing Company
comments. I also thank Andrae Akeh, Senior 10. American Association of Petroleum
Editorial Project Manager, Elsevier for help Geologists (AAPG)
during the production of this book. In partic- 11. Society for Sedimentary Geology
ular, I thank him for his organization and (SEPM)
swift transfer of files to the 12. Geological Society of America
production department. Importantly, both 13. The Geological Society (London)
Louisa and Andrae have been very helpful 14. Gulf Coast Association of Geological
with the necessary budgeting for 300 color Societies
figures. 15. Minerals Management Service of the U.
This book was produced amid the chal- S. Department of the Interior
lenging times of the coronavirus (COVID- 16. Atlantic Oceanographic and
19) global pandemic in Chennai, Tamil Meteorological Laboratory
Nadu, India (February October 2020). My 17. The Cooperative Institute for Marine
special thanks to Elsevier Production Team and Atmospheric Studies
in Chennai that consisted of R. Vijay 18. U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Bharath and Kumar Anbazhagan— Administration (NOAA)
Production Managers, Sathya Narayanan— 19. U.S. National Aeronautics and Space
Copyrights coordinator, Vinod Kumar– Administration (NASA)
Graphics, and M. Bhuvanaraj. I am deeply 20. U.S. National Geophysical Data Center
indebted to their dedication and meticulous (NGDC)
attention to details. 21. U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC)
22. U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
23. Ocean Drilling Program (ODP)
24. The American Meteorological Society
Copyrights and permissions 25. Planetary and Space Science Centre
(PASSC), University of New
I thank the following individuals for Brunswick, Fredericton, New
granting permission to reproduce figures: Brunswick, Canada
xxxviii Acknowledgments
26. Dave’s Landslide Blog
27. The Landslide blog (AGU) Blogosphere
28. “Landslide” database center at the
University of Durham
29. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Editors and reviewers (1978 2020)
I would like to acknowledge a select
group of world-renowned editors,
associate editors, and reviewers who evalu-
ated my contributions during the past 40
years:
1. J. Southard (Journal of Sedimentary
Research)
2. P. McCarthy (Journal of Sedimentary
Research)
3. C. North (Journal of Sedimentary
Research)
4. P.J. Talling (Journal of Sedimentary
Research)
5. G.A. Smith (Journal of Sedimentary
Research)
6. G. Postma (Journal of Sedimentary
Research)
7. D.J.W. Piper (Journal of Sedimentary
Research)
8. Martin Gibling (Journal of Sedimentary
Research)
9. O.H. Pilkey (Journal of Sedimentary
Petrology)
10. Jean Lajoie (Journal of Sedimentary
Petrology)
11. G. Kelling (Sedimentary Geology)
12. A.D. Miall (Sedimentary Geology and
Earth-Science Reviews)
13. G.D. Klein (Earth-Science Reviews)
14. G.M. Friedman (Earth-Science
Reviews and History of Geologic
Pioneers)
15. André Strasser (Earth-Science
Reviews)
16. R. Steinmetz (AAPG Bulletin)
17. J.A. Helwig (AAPG Bulletin)
18. S.A. Longacre (AAPG Bulletin)
19. K.T. Biddle (AAPG Bulletin)
20. N.F. Hurley (AAPG Bulletin)
21. E.A. Mancini (AAPG Bulletin)
22. G.M. Gillis (AAPG Bulletin)
23. M. Sweet (AAPG Bulletin)
24. Barry J. Katz (AAPG Bulletin)
25. D.G. Roberts (Marine and Petroleum
Geology)
26. E.M. Moores (Geology)
27. H.T. Mullins (Geology)
28. R.E. Arvidson and M.E. Bickford
(Geology)
29. R.D. Hatcher, Jr. and W.A. Thomas
(GSA Bulletin)
30. J.D. Collinson (Sedimentology)
31. P. Carling (Sedimentology)
32. B.W. Flemming and M.T. Delafontaine
(Geo-Marine Letters)
33. Kuldeep Chandra (Indian Journal of
Petroleum Geology)
34. A.J. Michael (Bulletin of the
Seismological Society of America)
35. A.J. (Tom) van Loon (Geologos,
Journal of Sedimentary Research,
Journal of Palaeogeography, and
Series Editor for Elsevier’s
Developments in Sedimentology 60 on
“Contourites”).
36. Z.-Z. Feng (Journal of
Palaeogeography)
37. G.M. Bhat and Bashir Ahmad Lone
(Journal of the Indian Association of
Sedimentologists)
38. J. Rodgers, J.H. Ostrom, and
P.M. Orville (American Journal
of Science)
 Acknowledgments
39. K.R. Walker and D. Roeder
(Appalachian Geodynamic Research:
American Journal of Science)
40. A.H. Bouma, W.R. Normark, and N.E.
Barnes (Submarine Fans and Related
Turbidite Systems)
41. G.G. Zuffa (Provenance of Arenites)
42. G.C. Brown, D.S. Gorsline, and W.J.
Schweller (Deep-Marine Sedimentation:
Depositional Models and Case
Histories in Hydrocarbon Exploration
and Development)
43. K.L. Kleinspehn and C. Paola (New
Perspectives in Basin Analysis)
44. E.M. Moores and F. Michael Wahl (The
Art of Geology)
45. S.P. Hesselbo and D.N. Parkinson
(Sequence Stratigraphy in British
Geology)
46. R.D. Winn, and J.M. Armentrout
(Turbidites and Associated Deep-Water
Facies)
47. D.A.V. Stow and M. Mayall (Deep-
water Sedimentary Systems)
48. J.H. Steele, K.K. Turekian, and S.A.
Thorpe (Encyclopedia of Ocean
Sciences, Second Edition)
49. M. Rebesco and A. Camerlenghi
(Contourites)
50. A. Kumar and I. Nister (Paleotsunamis:
Natural Hazards)
51. J. Cubitt (Handbook of Petroleum
Exploration and Production series)
52. Rajat Mazumder (Sediment
Provenance)
53. Scott Elias (Reference Module in
Earth Systems and Environmental
Science)
54. J. Kirk Cochran, H. Bokuniewicz, and
P. Yager (Encyclopedia of Ocean Sciences,
Third Edition)
55. R.N. Ginsburg (Episodes)
xxxix
56. W. Nemec and R.J. Steel (Fan Deltas)
57. Scott Elias and David Alderton
(Editors) and Nick Lancaster
(Section Editors) (Encyclopedia of
Geology, Second Edition).
Of over 300 reviewers who reviewed my
papers, I would like to single out (1) the
late Charles Hollister for his review of my
paper (Shanmugam et al., 1993a) on
bottom-current reworked sands, and (2) the
late John Sanders for his review of my
paper (Shanmugam, 1997a) on the Bouma
Sequence.
Logistics
I am grateful to S. Vaideeswaran, Geetha
Vaideeswaran, and Divya Sudharsan for
their help, including computer-related
issues, during preparation of this book. I
thank Mr. T.A. Vetriselvan for videotaping
and editing of my Zoom Lecture for the
Royal Holloway, University of London
(UK) on July 27, 2020.
ResearchGate (2014 present)
I have benefited from interactions with
members of the ResearchGate community.
In the following figure compiled from
ResearchGate statistics, an unusually
high number of 107,759 reads for my arti-
cles may be attributed to the following
factors:
1. Most of my articles are single-authored.
2. These articles represent diverse
academic domains, such as as organic
geochemistry, landslides, tsunamis,
tropical cyclones, seismicity, deep-water
xl
sedimentology, tectonics, petroleum
reservoirs, etc.
3. Most of these articles are dedicated to
identifying unresolved problems and
related controversies that are of critical
value to future research.
4. Most readers are Ph.D.-level students.
Acknowledgments
Wife and friend (1975 present)
I am eternally grateful to my wife and
friend, Jean Shanmugam, who has helped
me since 1975 in the field, in the laboratory,
and in typing and editing manuscripts.
Although Jean is not a geologist, she has
commented on every word that I have ever
written for earth and planetary science
publications.
The rocks (1962 present)
Most importantly, I thank the rocks with
hidden clues for giving me the opportunity
to examine and interpret them, hopefully
correctly!
 C H A P T E R

1
Introduction

O U T L I N E

1.1 Why this book? 1 1.5 Objectives 3

1.2 History 2 1.6 Organization 5
1.3 Universal case studies 2 1.7 Other aspects of the book 5
1.4 Environments and processes 3 1.8 Synopsis 6

1.1 Why this book?

Who knew that satellite images of sediment plumes at river mouths that reveal plume
deflections by wind forcing away from the normal course of downslope sediment trans-
port could be useful in understanding deep-water sediment transport and provenance?
I did not until recently (Shanmugam, 2019d). Surprisingly, there are no other published
accounts of this important phenomenon. This raises fundamental questions about our
current knowledge and about the orthodoxy of studying deep-water sedimentation. In
this regard, the motivation behind this book is the necessity to go back to the basics on
gravity-driven processes and re-evaluate our current understanding of deep-water sedi-
mentation. In accomplishing this objective, I have used 540 case studies or datasets
worldwide. Some of the recent developments are the primary focus of this book, which
include mass-transport deposits (MTDs, Chapter 2: Mass Transport: Slides, Slumps, and
Debris Flows), gravity flows (Chapter 3: Gravity Flows: Debris Flows, Grain Flows,
Liquefied/Fluidized Flows, Turbidity Currents, Hyperpycnal Flows, and Contour
Currents), density plumes (Chapter 5: Density Plumes: Types, Deflections, and External
Controls), hyperpycnal flows (Chapter 6: Hyperpycnal Flows), bottom currents
(Chapter 8: Bottom Currents), and sediment deformation (Chapter 9: Soft-Sediment
Deformation Structures). Despite its history of over 135 years, since the first description

Mass Transport, Gravity Flows, and Bottom Currents

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-822576-9.00001-1 1 © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
2 1. Introduction

of density plumes in Swiss lakes (Forel, 1885), the domain of deep-water sedimentation
and related gravity-driven processes is still an evolving field. This book is a just a
momentary stopover in a long journey.

1.2 History
The domain of deep-water sedimentation has a long tradition of timely literature since
the 1930s (Kuenen, 1937, 1951; Bouma, 1962; Bouma and Brouwer, 1964; Middleton and
Hampton, 1973; Lowe, 1982; Cook and Enos, 1977; Stanley and Kelling, 1978; Doyle and
Pilkey, 1979; Stanley and Moore, 1983; Stow and Piper, 1984; Allen, 1985; Bouma et al., 1985;
Postma et al., 1988; Pickering et al., 1989; Mutti, 1992; Piper et al., 1997; Stow and Faugères,
1998; Shanmugam, 2006a,b, 2008a,b, 2012a,b,c, 2013a,b, 2014a, 2015a,b, 2016a,b,c, 2017a,b,c,d,
2018a,b,c,d,e,f, 2019a,b,c,d, 2020b; Rebesco and Camerlenghi, 2008; Kneller et al., 2009;
Mosher et al., 2010; Mulder, 2011; Pickering and Hiscott, 2015; Gordon, 2019; de Castro et
al., 2020; Fonnesu et al., 2020; Fuhrmann et al., 2020, Hüeneke et al., 2020, among many
others). However, there are still no published books focusing solely on downslope and
alongslope processes and deposits. This book is an attempt to fill this void. By design, this
volume is aimed at gathering and displaying the complex nature of processes and deposits.
Also, by design, this book does not offer new facies models. The purpose here is to erect a
firm foundation based strictly on empirical data, without the distractions of facies models.
In short, this book is taking inventory of what we know and what we do not know.

1.3 Universal case studies

The most important part of this book is its strength derived from 540 universal case
studies. Images of most of these case studies are included. The following is a list of case
studies used.

Extraterrestrial
• Planet Mars 3 (Chapter 2: Mass Transport: Slides, Slumps, and Debris Flows and
Chapter 9: Soft-Sediment Deformation Structures)
• Planet Jupiter’s Moon Callisto 1 (Chapter 2: Mass Transport: Slides, Slumps, and Debris Flows)
• Dwarf Planet Ceres (Occator Crater) 1 (Chapter 2: Mass Transport: Slides, Slumps, and Debris Flows)
Terrestrial

• Earth: submarine MTD sites
• Earth: subaerial MTD sites
• Earth: lacustrine environments
29 (Chapter 2: Mass Transport: Slides, Slumps, and Debris Flows)
22 (Chapter 2: Mass Transport: Slides, Slumps, and Debris Flows)
17 (Chapter 2: Mass Transport: Slides, Slumps, and Debris Flows,
Chapter 5: Density Plumes: Types, Deflections, and External
Controls, Chapter 6: Hyperpycnal Flows, and Appendix A)

• Earth: sandy debris flows (experiment) 1 (Chapter 3: Gravity Flows: Debris Flows, Grain Flows, Liquefied/
Fluidized Flows, Turbidity Currents, Hyperpycnal Flows, and
Contour Currents)

Mass Transport, Gravity Flows, and Bottom Currents

 1.5 Objectives 3

• Earth: COMFAN I (modern fans) 21 (Chapter 4: A Paradigm Shift)

• Earth: COMFAN I (ancient fans)
• Earth: modern river mouths
• Earth: density plumes
• Earth: cyclonic bottom flows
• Earth: deep-water masses
10 (Chapter 4: A Paradigm Shift)
29 (Chapter 5: Density Plumes: Types, Deflections, and External
Controls)
45 (Chapter 6: Hyperpycnal Flows)
22 (Chapter 7: Triggering Mechanisms of Downslope Processes)
28 (Chapter 8: Bottom Currents)

• Earth: deep-water bottom currents 68 (35 1 33; Chapter 8: Bottom Currents)

• Earth: internal waves and tides
• Earth: submarine canyons
• Earth: SSDS (modern and ancient)
• Earth: scientific drilling sites
• Earth: impact cratering (experiment)
51 (Chapter 8: Bottom Currents)
15 (Appendix A)
110 (Chapter 9: Soft-Sediment Deformation Structures)
30 (Chapter 9: Soft-Sediment Deformation Structures)
1 (Chapter 9: Soft-Sediment Deformation Structures)

• Earth: G. Shanmugam’s case studies 36 (all chapters)

Total number of case studies 540
Note: Additional case studies are mentioned in the text with relevant references but they are not counted in the above list.

1.4 Environments and processes

Based on the available empirical data, a general distribution of processes is illustrated

in Fig. 1.1. Clearly, mass-transport processes, composed of slides, slumps, and debris
flows, occur on the entire spectrum of all environments. Gravity flows and bottom cur-
rents are somewhat restricted (Fig. 1.1).
I have documented this distribution using case studies from modern environments.

1.5 Objectives

The primary objective is to combine process sedimentology with physical oceanography

in explaining downslope and alongslope processes, their deposits, and related problems.
Specific objectives are:
• to provide basic definitions of individual process types, and discuss identification
criteria of deposits;
• to document the remarkable cosmic congruity in geometry of MTDs (slides, slumps,
and debris flows) in Mars, Jupiter, and Earth (i.e., subaerial, sublacustrine, and
submarine environments) (Chapter 2: Mass Transport: Slides, Slumps, and Debris
Flows);
• to group hyperpycnal flows and contour currents along with other gravity flows, such
as debris flows, liquefied/fluidized flows, grain flows, and turbidity currents
(Chapter 3: Gravity Flows: Debris Flows, Grain Flows, Liquefied/Fluidized Flows,
Turbidity Currents, Hyperpycnal Flows, and Contour Currents);

Mass Transport, Gravity Flows, and Bottom Currents

4 1. Introduction

FIGURE 1.1 Generalized distribution of processes (horizontal arrows) in various sedimentary environments.
Note debris flows are considered under both ’mass transport’ and ’gravity flows’ categories. Also note that hyper-
pycnal flows, a type of gravity lows, is shown as a separate type because of its emphasis in this book (Chapter 6).
Additional labeles on processes and related arrows are added by G. Shanmugam. Credit: Principales medios sedi-
mentarios.svg. Wikipedia.

• to illustrate a paradigm shift from turbidites to MTD and bottom-current reworked

sands based on empirical data (Chapter 4: A Paradigm Shift);
• to document deflections of sediment plumes and their implications for understanding
sediment transport and provenance (Chapter 5: Density Plumes: Types, Deflections, and
External Controls);
• to emphasize the basic problems surrounding the concept of hyperpycnal flows
(Chapter 6: Hyperpycnal Flows);
• to identify controversies based on 38 published academic discussions associated with
processes and deposits (Chapter 6: Hyperpycnal Flows);
• to review 21 triggering mechanisms of downslope processes (Chapter 7: Triggering
Mechanisms of Downslope Processes);
• to discuss four basic types of bottom currents and their deposits (Chapter 8: Bottom
Currents);

Mass Transport, Gravity Flows, and Bottom Currents

 1.7 Other aspects of the book 5
• to document 110 types of soft-sediment deformation structures (SSDS) in various
environments and to discuss related problems (Chapter 9: Soft-Sediment Deformation
Structures).

1.6 Organization

Research suggests that a consistent structure will become increasingly important as read-
ers search for content online. For this reason, I have organized each chapter in this book
with a consistent structure and content subheadings for each process or topic as follows:
1. definition
2. origins
3. identification
4. case studies
5. facies models
6. problems
7. synopsis
However, this organization may differ in some cases depending on availability of data
and publications.

1.7 Other aspects of the book

• In covering divergent topics, such as environments (i.e., extraterrestrial impact craters,

subaerial alluvial fans, river-mouth plumes, shelf, carbonate platform, slope, basin, and
lake), processes (i.e., mass transport, gravity flows, and bottom currents), triggering
mechanisms, and laboratory experiments, I have relied on publications of different
vintages. These constraints do not lend themselves into conveying a coherent story on
downslope and alongslope processes. Therefore this book is organized, somewhat
unorthodoxly and disjointedly, into 10 chapters.
• In minimizing tedious text, main points are listed using bulleted or numbered format.
• Important points are illustrated profusely with color images.
• Self-citations are necessary in order to cover my recent contributions, particularly since
2012 when my previous book was published (Shanmugam, 2012a), on key topics such
as MTD (landslides), submarine fans, contourites, seismites, SSDS, breccias, and
hyperpycnites.
• Unlike other books on deep-water sedimentation (e.g., Hüeneke and Mulder, 2011;
Pickering and Hiscott, 2015), an important contribution of this book is to identify and
discuss unresolved issues and related controversies. In this regard, I am uniquely
qualified because of my participation in 38 academic discussions during a period of 36
years (1983 2019) (Chapter 6: Hyperpycnal Flows). By necessity, I have repeated key
information from these debates (e.g., references, brief text sections, one figure, and one
data table) for cohesive flow of thoughts and continuity.

Mass Transport, Gravity Flows, and Bottom Currents

6 1. Introduction

• Published academic discussions on many topics are routinely integrated in each

chapter. A complete list is included in Chapter 6, Hyperpycnal Flows.
• Individual chapters on density plumes, hyperpycnal flows, and SSDS are unique to this
book because these topics are not covered in great detail in textbooks on deep-water
sedimentation.
• A comprehensive list of references, 1,612 in number, is included. A large number of
color images (320), which include satellite images, radar images, aerial photographs,
seismic profiles, bathymetric images, snapshots of high-speed movies of experiments,
outcrop and core photographs, are included in illustrating subtle differences in color of
water due to sediment concentration, bathymetry, etc.
• Appendix A is included with a glossary of important terms, explanation of selected
concepts, and basic methods of sediment/rock description. In providing conceptual
clarity to confusing application of hybrid flows to flow transformation, the basic term
“Hybrid” is discussed using a dictionary definition, etymolological context, common
examples, conceptual diagram, and recent references.
• Appendix B is included with a link to YouTube video of flume experiments on sandy
debris flows.

1.8 Synopsis

This book is a one-stop knowledge source on deep-water processes and their deposits.
It is a compilation of empirical data on gravity-induced sediment movements in both
downslope and alongslope environments. A total of 540 case studies are used. Although
the primary focus is on deep-water settings, other environments covering terrestrial,
shallow-water, lacustrine, and extraterrestrial are considered. This book does not promote
genetic facies models because available data suggest that most processes are complex tran-
sitional and hybrid kinds rather than end-member types. There are no shortcut means (i.e.,
facies models) to interpreting deep-water processes. I am hopeful that this universal case
study based approach has the potential to minimize confusion and to enhance clarity on
gravity-driven processes.

Mass Transport, Gravity Flows, and Bottom Currents

 C H A P T E R

2
Mass transport: slides, slumps,
and debris flows

O U T L I N E

2.1 Introduction 8 2.8.1 Definition 50

2.1.1 Cosmic congruity 8 2.8.2 Origin 54
2.1.2 Background information 14 2.8.3 Identification 55
2.8.4 Case studies 63
2.2 International projects and
2.8.5 Facies models 63
symposiums 34
2.8.6 Problems 63
2.3 Mechanics of sediment failure and
2.9 Slumps 63
sliding 35
2.9.1 Definition 63
2.4 Soil strength and slope stability 35 2.9.2 Origin 63
2.9.3 Identification 71
2.5 The role of excess pore-water
2.9.4 Case studies 72
pressure 37
2.9.5 Facies models 72
2.6 Nomenclature and classification 38 2.9.6 Problems 72
2.6.1 Landslide versus mass transport 38
2.10 Debris flows: a prelude 73
2.6.2 Subaerial processes based on the
types of movement and material 45 2.11 Long-runout mechanisms 74
2.6.3 Subaqueous processes based on 2.11.1 Basic concept 74
mechanical behavior 45 2.11.2 Subaerial environments 79
2.6.4 Processes based on transport 2.11.3 Submarine environments 79
velocity 48 2.11.4 Extraterrestrial environments 80
2.6.5 Excessive synonyms 49 2.11.5 H/L ratio problems 81
2.7 Recognition of the three basic types 2.12 Reservoir characterization 83
of mass-transport deposits 49
2.13 Synopsis 87
2.7.1 Process sedimentology 50
2.8 Slides 50

Mass Transport, Gravity Flows, and Bottom Currents

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-822576-9.00002-3 7 © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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 Plate XXXVII.
“Mdlle. Parisot.”
Stipple-Engraving by C. Turner, A.R.A.,
after J. J. Masquerier.
(Published 1799. Size 6⅝″ × 8⅜″.)
From the collection of Mrs. Julia Frankau,
to whom it was presented by the late Sir Henry Irving.
 Plate XXXVIII.
“Maria.”
Stipple-Engraving by P. W. Tomkins, after J. Russell, R.A.
(Published 1791. Size 4¾″ × 6¼″.)
From the collection of Frederick Behrens, Esq.
 Plate XXXIX.
“Commerce.”
Stipple-Engraving by M. Bovi, after J. B. Cipriani, R.A.
and F. Bartolozzi, R.A.
(Published 1795. Size 18⅜″ × 7⅝″.)
From the collection of Basil Dighton, Esq.
 Plate XL.
“The Love-Letter.”
A very rare Stipple-Engraving, probably by Thos. Cheesman.
and F. Bartolozzi, R.A.
(Size 8¾″ × 6¾″.)
From the collection of Major E. F. Coates, M.P.
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