This name is most appropriately given to a sub-class of syndepositional to postdepositional, soft-sediment deformation structures which result from the partial to complete inversion of one or more pairs of discrete layers of granular sediment, the uppermost of which in each pair, in some cases deforming while continuing to be deposited, arguably had the greater bulk density (Allen, 1982). Load structures therefore record the action of essentially vertical forces, although the simultaneous influence of a body force related to a depositional slope is not excluded. They arise almost exclusively in aqueous environments and represent a movement within the sediment toward a state of minimum potential energy. Convolute stratification is excluded from the sub-class because these structures are restricted to single layers in which there may have been a continuous, positive gradient of bulk density, evidence for which may have survived.
Like soft-sediment deformation structures generally, the...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Bibliography
Allen, J.R.L., 1982. Sedimentary Structures: Their Character and Physical Basis. Volume 2, Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Allen, J.R.L., 1984. Wrinkle marks: an intertidal sedimentary structure due to aseismic soft-sediment loading. Sedimentary Geology, 41: 75–95.
Cooper, J.R., 1943. Flow structures in the Berea Sandstone and Bedford Shale of central Ohio. Journal of Geology, 51: 190–203.
Harris, C., Murton, J., and Davies, M.C.R., 2000. Soft-sediment deformation during thawing of ice-rich frozen soils: results of scaled centrifuge modelling experiments. Sedimentology, 47: 687–700.
Jones, A.P., and Omoto, K., 2000. Towards establishing criteria for identifying trigger mechanisms for soft-sediment deformation: a case study of Late Pleistocene lacustrine sands and clays, Onikobe and Nakayamadaira Basins, northeastern Japan. Sedimentology, 47: 1211–1226.
Kuenen, Ph.H., 1948. Slumping in the Carboniferous rocks of Pembrokeshire. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London, 104: 365–380.
Macar, P., 1948. Les pseudo-nodules du Fammennien et leur origine. Annales de la Société Géologique de Belgique, 72: 47–74.
Morgan, J.P., and Andersen, H.V., 1961. Genesis and palaeontology of the Mississippi River mudlumps. Louisiana Geological Survey Bulletin. 35: 1–208.
Owen, G., 1987. Deformation processes in unconsolidated sands. In Jones, M.E., and Preston, R.M.F. (eds.), Deformation of Sediments and Sedimentary Rocks. Geological Society of London, Special Publication, 29, pp. 11–24.
Owen, G., 1995. Soft-sediment deformation in Upper Proterozoic sandstones (Applecross Formation) at Torridon, northwest Scotland. Journal of Sedimentary Research, A65: 495–504.
Ramberg, H., 1964. Selective buckling of composite layers with contrasted rheological properties, a theory for simultaneous formation of several orders of fold. Tectonophysics, 4: 307–341.
Ramberg, H., 1968. Instability of layered systems in the field of gravity. Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, 1: 429–474.
Ramberg, H., 1981. Gravity, Deformation and the Earth’s Crust, Academic Press, 2nd edn.
Cross-references
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1978 Dowden, Hutchinson & Ross, Inc.
About this entry
Cite this entry
Allen, J.R.L. (1978). Load structures. In: Sedimentology. Encyclopedia of Earth Science. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg . https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-31079-7_127
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-31079-7_127
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-0-87933-152-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-31079-2
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive