• Ocean and Polar Research
• /
• 제39권2호
• /
• pp.85-106
• /
• 2017

The Lago Sofia conglomerate in southern Chile is a deep-marine gravelly deposit, which is hundreds of meters thick and kilometers wide and extends laterally for more than 100 km, filling the foredeep trough of the Cretaceous Magallanes Basin. For understanding the depositional processes and environments of this gigantic deep-sea conglomerate, detailed analyses on sedimentary facies, architecture and paleoflow patterns were carried out, highlighting the differences between the northern (Lago Pehoe and Lago Goic areas) and southern (Lago Sofia area) parts of the study area. The conglomerate bodies in the northern part occur as relatively thin (< 100 m thick), multiple units intervened by thick mudstone-dominated sequences. They show paleoflows toward ENE and S to SW, displaying a converging drainage pattern. In the southern part, the conglomerate bodies are vertically interconnected and form a thick (> 400 m thick) conglomerate sequence with rare intervening fine-grained deposits. Paleoflows are toward SW. The north-to-south variations are also distinct in sedimentary facies. The conglomerate bodies in the southern part are mainly composed of clast-supported conglomerate with sandy matrix, which is interpreted to be deposited from highly concentrated bedload layers under turbidity currents. Those in the northern part are dominated by matrix- to clast-supported conglomerate with muddy matrix, which is interpreted as the products of composite mass flows comprising a turbidity current, a gravelly hyperconcentrated flow and a mud-rich debris flow. All these characteristics suggest that the Lago Sofia conglomerate was formed in centripetally converging submarine channels, not in centrifugally diverging channels of submarine fans. The tributaries in the north were dominated by mass flows, probably affected by channel-bank failures or basin-marginal slope instability processes. In contrast, the trunk channel in the south was mostly filled by tractive processes, which resulted in the vertical and lateral accretion of gravel bars, deposition of gravel dunes and filling of scours and channels, similar to deposits of terrestrial gravel-bed rivers. The trunk channel developed along the axis of foredeep trough and its confinement within the trough is probably responsible for the thick, interconnected channel fills. The large-scale architecture of the trunk-channel fills shows an eastward offset stacking pattern, suggesting that the channel migrated eastwards most likely due to the uplift of the Andean Cordillera.

• Ocean and Polar Research
• /
• 제24권3호
• /
• pp.289-300
• /
• 2002

The Lago Sofia conglomerates encased in the Cretaceous Cerro Toro Formation, southern Chile, represent a gigantic submarine channel system developed along a foredeep trough. The channel system consists of several tributaries along the trough margin and a trunk channel along the trough axis. Voluminous debris flows were generated ubiquitously along the tract of the submarine channel mainly by the failure of nearby channel banks or slopes. The flows transformed immediately into multiphase flows and resulted in very thick-bedded mass-flow deposits with a peculiar structure sequence. The mass-flow deposits commonly overlie fluted or grooved surfaces and consist of a lower division of clast-supported and imbricated pebble-cobble conglomerate with common basal inverse grading, and an upper division of clast- to matrix-supported and disorganized pebble conglomerate or pebbly mudstone with abundant intraformational clasts. The structure sequence suggests a temporal succession of a turbidity current, a bipartite hyperconcentrapted flow with active clast collisions near the flow base, and a cohesive debris flow probably with a rigid plug. The multiphase flow is interpreted to have resulted from transformation of clast-rich but cohesive debris flows. Cohesive debris flows appear to transform more easily into dilute flow types in subaqueous environments because they are apt to hydroplane. This is in contrast to the flow transitions in subaerial environments where noncohesive debris flows are dominant and difficult to hydroplane.

• Ocean and Polar Research
• /
• 제26권3호
• /
• pp.385-400
• /
• 2004

The Lago Sofia Conglomerate encased in the 2km thick hemipelagic mudstones and thinbedded turbidites of the Cretaceous Cerro Toro Formation, southern Chile, is a deposit of a gigantic submarine channel developed along a foredeep trough. It is hundreds of meters thick kilometers wide, and extends for more than 120km from north to south, representing one of the largest ancient submarine channels in the world. The channel deposits consist of four major facies, including stratified conglomerates (Facies A), massive or graded conglomerates (Facies B), normally graded conglomerates with intraformational megaclasts (Facies C), and thick-bedded massive sandstones (Facies D). Conglomerates of Facies A and B show laterally inclined stratification, foreset stratification, and hollow-fill structures, reminiscent of terrestrial fluvial deposits and are suggestive of highly competent gravelly turbidity currents. Facies C conglomerates are interpreted as deposits of composite or multiphase debris flows associated with preceding hyperconcentrated flows. Facies D sandstones indicate rapidly dissipating, sand-rich turbidity currents. The Lago Sofia Conglomerate occurs as isolated channel-fill bodies in the northern part of the study area, generally less than 100m thick, composed mainly of Facies C conglomerates and intercalated between much thicker fine-grained deposits. Paleocurrent data indicate sediment transport to the east and southeast. They are interpreted to represent tributaries of a larger submarine channel system, which joined to form a trunk channel to the south. The conglomerate in the southern part is more than 300 m thick, composed of subequal proportions of Facies A, B, and C conglomerates, and overlain by hundreds of m-thick turbidite sandstones (Facies D) with scarce intervening fine-grained deposits. It is interpreted as vertically stacked and interconnected channel bodies formed by a trunk channel confined along the axis of the foredeep trough. The channel bodies in the southern part are classified into 5 architectural elements on the basis of large-scale bed geometry and sedimentary facies: (1) stacked sheets, indicative of bedload deposition by turbidity currents and typical of broad gravel bars in terrestrial gravelly braided rivers, (2) laterally-inclined strata, suggestive of lateral accretion with respect to paleocurrent direction and related to spiral flows in curved channel segments around bars, (3) foreset strata, interpreted as the deposits of targe gravel dunes that have migrated downstream under quasi-steady turbidity currents, (4) hollow fills, which are filling thalwegs, minor channels, and local scours, and (5) mass-flow deposits of Facies C. The stacked sheets, laterally inclined strata, and hollow fills are laterally transitional to one another, reflecting juxtaposed geomorphic units of deep-sea channel systems. It is noticeable that the channel bodies in the southern part are of feet stacked toward the east, indicating eastward migration of the channel thalwegs. The laterally inclined strata also dip dominantly to the east. These features suggest that the trunk channel of the Lago Sofia submarine channel system gradually migrated eastward. The eastward channel migration is Interpreted to be due to tectonic forcing imposed by the subduction of an oceanic plate beneath the Andean Cordillera just to the west of the Lago Sofia submarine channel.

• 한국석유지질학회지
• /
• 제10권1_2호
• /
• pp.23-33
• /
• 2004

칠레 남부에 분포하는 라고 소피아 역암 (후기 백악기)은 이암이 우세한 심해 퇴적층 (Cerro Toro Formation) 내에 렌즈상으로 산출하고 남북방향으로 120 km 이상 연장된다. 라고 소피아 역암은 융기대전면분지 (foreiand basin)인 마젤란 분지의 융기대전면곡분 (foredeep trough)을 따라 발달한 심해저 하도계 퇴적층으로 해석된다. 이처럼 연장이 대단히 좋은 역질의 심해저 하도가 발달하는 것은 현생 심해저 환경에서 매우 드문 현상으로 라고 소피아 역암은 퇴적학적으로 매우 흥미로운 예이다. 연구지역의 북부에 분포하는 라고 소피아 역암은 이암 퇴적층 사이에 협재하는 3-5매의 역암체로 구성되고, 고수류 측정에 따르면 퇴적물은 동, 남, 남동 방향으로 운반된 것으로 유추된다. 이 역암체는 융기대전면곡분의 서편에 위치한 해저사면을 따라 발달한 심해저 하도계의 지류에서 퇴적된 것으로 해석되며, 지류들은 남북방향의 주하도로 수렴하였을 것으로 추정된다. 남부 지역의 라고 소피아 역암은 300 m 이상의 두께를 가지는 역암체로 구성되고, 남북방향으로 긴 융기대전면분지의 축을 따라 발달한 주하도에서 퇴적된 것으로 해석된다. 이 역암체는 층리를 보이는 역암, 괴상 혹은 점이층리의 역암, 기질지지 역암으로 구성되며, 각각은 저탁류에 의한 밑짐 운반, 고밀도 저탁류, 니질 암설류에 의해 퇴적된 것으로 해석된다. 층리역암에서 측정된 고수류 방향은 남남서항으로 주하도의 방향을 지시한다. 반면, 북부 및 남부 지역의 기질지지 역암에서 측정된 고수류 방향은 흔히 하도 방향에 대해 고각도를 이루는데, 이는 하도의 둑 또는 주변 사면이 붕괴하여 니질 암설류가 형성되었음을 지시한다. 형태구성 (architecture) 분석 결과, 라고 소피아 역암은 육상의 역질 망상하천 퇴적층과 유사한 구성요소로 구성되며, 라고 소피아 심해저 하도계는 망상하천과 유사한 지형적 특성을 지녔을 것으로 추정된다. 또한 하도 역암 내 큰 규모의 층구조는 동쪽으로 이동 누적된 특징을 보이는데, 이는 지구조 운동에 의해 주하도가 점진적으로 동쪽으로 이동하였을 가능성을 시사한다.