School of Earth and Environment
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Sarah Southern Sarah Southern

Postgraduate Student

Telephone number: +44(0) 113 34 31182
Email address: ee06s2s@leeds.ac.uk
Room: 8.03

Biography

Project details

Project Title: Slope to basin evolution of a turbidite system in a bathymetrically restricted basin, Carboniferous, UK

Supervisors: Professor Bill McCaffrey, Dr Nigel Mountney, and Dr Ian Kane (External)

Funding:

Start date: 01/10/2010

Project Outline

Deep marine clastic systems represent significant hydrocarbon reservoirs and rank amongst the largest depocentres on Earth. Subsequently research on such systems has been aimed at hydrocarbon reservoir characterisation and prediction through models that incorporate gravity currents processes that are unconfined and undergo progressive dilution with run out. However recent advances in deep water sedimentology have highlighted the importance of turbidite systems in which gravity currents are confined (Sinclair & Tomasso, 2002; Vinnels et al., 2010) or may undergo flow transformations through re-concentration during run out, (e.g. hybrid event beds sensu Haughton et al., 2003).

The bathymetrically complex Pennine Basin U.K that is prone to hybrid event bed development is a classic research area on which the pioneering, longstanding unconfined turbidite fan model of Walker (1966) was developed and concepts of sequence stratigraphy were tested (Martinsen, 1990). However there exists scope for re-evaluation of the turbidite dominated infill of the Pennine Basin as such recent concepts of gravity current confinement and re-concentration have yet to be tested in this bathymetrically complex region prone to hybrid event bed development.

  • Haughton, P.D.W., Barker, S.P., and McCaffrey, W.D., 2003, "Linked" debrites in sand-rich turbidite systems; origin and significance: Sedimentology, v. 50, p. 459-482.
  • Martinsen, O.J. 1990. Interaction between eustasy, tectonics and sedimentation with particular reference to the Namurian E1c-H2c of the Craven-Askrigg area, northern England. Unpublished PhD thesis, Geologisk Institutt Avd. A, Universitetet I Bergen
  • Sinclair, H.D., and Tomasso, M., 2002. Depositional evolution of confined turbidite basins. Journal of Sedimentary Research, 72, No. 4, 451-456.
  • Vinnels, J.S., Butler, R.W.H., McCaffrey, W.D. & Lickorish, H.W. 2010. Sediment Distribution and Architecture Around a Bathymetrically Complex Basin: An example from the Eastern Champsaur Basin, SE France, Journal of Sedimentary Research, 80, 3, p216-235.
  • Walker, R.G. 1966. Shale Grit and Grindslow shales; transition from turbidite to shallow water sediments in the upper Carboniferous of northern England, Journal of Sedimentary Research, 36, 1, p90-114.

Qualifications

  • BSc Geological Sciences, University of Leeds
  • MSc Structural Geology & Geophysics, University of Leeds