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Storm-generated, hummocky stratification on the outer-Scotian Shelf

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Abstract

Hummocky megaripples occur on Sable Island Bank, Scotian Shelf. Submersible observations show that the megaripples form during winter storms and are subsequently obliterated through bioturbation and fair-weather reworking. The megaripples of this study were underlain by a storm bed composed of: (A) a basal scoured and infilled gravel lag facies; (B) low-angle tangential crossbedding in gravel to coarse sand; (C) anisotropic hummocky stratification in medium sand; and (D) wave ripple cross-lamination in medium/fine sand. This sequence forms a tempestite bed created by a winter storm during our sampling program. Numerical simulation of bed conditions during the storm suggests that the hummocky megaripples and hummocky stratification formed together during late stages of storm decay from conditions of sheet flow. Near-bed wave motion during deposition exceeded steady currents by an order of magnitude.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geological Survey of Canada, Bedford Institute of Oceanography, P.O. Box 1006, B2Y 4A2, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada

    Carl L. Amos & M. Z. Li

  2. College of Natural Sciences, Chonnan National University, Kwangju, South Korea

    K. -S. Choung

Authors
  1. Carl L. Amos
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  2. M. Z. Li
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  3. K. -S. Choung
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Amos, C.L., Li, M.Z. & Choung, K.S. Storm-generated, hummocky stratification on the outer-Scotian Shelf. Geo-Marine Letters 16, 85–94 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02202602

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