Geology topics

H.T. Mullins

Publications and source records attributed to H.T. Mullins.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS1988

Seismic stratigraphy and late Quaternary shelf history, south-central Monterey Bay, California

The south-central Monterey Bay shelf is a high-energy, wave-dominated, tectonically active coastal region on the central California continental margin. A prominent feature of this shelf is a sediment lobe off the mouth of the Salinas River that has surface expression. High-resolution seismic-reflection profiles reveal that an angular unconformity (Quaternary?) underlies the entire shelf and separates undeformed strata above it from deformed strata below it. The Salinas River lobe is a convex bulge on the shelf covering an area of approximately 72 km 2 in water depths from 10 to 90 m. It reaches a maximum thickness of 35 m about 2.5 km seaward of the river mouth and thins in all directions away from this point. Adjacent shelf areas are characterized by only a thin (2 to 5 m thick) and uniform veneer of sediment. Acoustic stratigraphy of the lobe is complex and is characterized by at least three unconformity-bounded depositional sequences. Acoustically, these sequences are relatively well bedded. Acoustic foresets occur within the intermediate sequence and dip seaward at 0.7° to 2.0°. Comparison with sedimentary sequences in uplifted onshore Pleistocene marine-terrace deposits of the Monterey Bay area, which were presumably formed in a similar setting under similar processes, suggests that a general interpretation can be formulated for seismic stratigraphic patterns. Depositional sequences are interpreted to represent shallowing-upwards progradational sequences of marine to nonmarine coastal deposits formed during interglacial highstands and/or during early stages of falling sea level. Acoustic foresets within the intermediate sequence are evidence of seaward progradation. Acoustic unconformities that separate depositional sequences are interpreted as having formed largely by shoreface planation and may be the only record of the intervening transgressions.

Marine Geology↗

USGS1987

Sedimentation across the central California oxygen minimum zone: an alternative coastal upwelling sequence

Distribution, abundance, and diversity of terrigenous, authigenous, and biogenous material provide evidence of the effect of bottom currents and oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) on continental slope sedimentation offshore central California. Box core samples and bottom photographs collected across the oxygen minimum zone of the coastal upwelling system were analyzed for lithologic and biologic trends. Three major OMZ facies are identified, along the upper and lower edges of the OMZ and one at its core. The upper boundary (525 m) of the central California OMZ (< 0.5 ml/liter O 2 ) is characterized by glauconitic gravelly sands relatively depleted in detrital silicates and enriched in carbonate and total organic carbon (TOC). These upper-boundary sands also have a maximum macrofauna density and a high abundance of foraminiferal fragments (> 80% of total forams) with Cassidulina the dominant benthic foraminifer. With increasing water depth, decreasing current speed, and dissolved oxygen content toward the core of the OMZ (750 m), grain size, glauconite, carbonate, TOC, and foraminiferal fragments all decrease as the abundance of mica and detrital silicates increase. The greatest number of genera of benthic foraminifera occurs at the core of the OMZ where their relative concentration is at a minimum and Bolivina is the dominant genus. No heavily calcified macrofauna were found at the core of the OMZ; however, near-surface sediments are highly bioturbated. As the lower boundary (1,025 m) of the OMZ is approached, grain size and abundance of detrital silicates continue to decrease as glauconite disappears. Concomitantly, the relative abundance of mica, carbonate, TOC, siliceous microfauna, benthic foraminifers, and foram fragments increase. The benthic foraminifer population consists largely (> 40%) of Globobulimina and Praeglobobulimina . The lower edge of the OMZ is highlighted by a distinct peak of fecal pellets (25% of sand-size material). Lithofacies and biofacies associated with the OMZ are controlled by an interplay of oceanic circulation, dissolved oxygen concentrations, and possibly by increased biological activity within the OMZ edge environment and slight changes in the slope gradient. Recognition of key lithofacies and biofacies trends may prove to be powerful paleoenvironmental/paleoceanographic indicators and may be useful in identifying ancient zones of upwelling analogous to the modern central California system where phosphorites, organic-rich shales, and/or chert are absent.

Journal of Sedimentary Petrology↗

USGS1986

Ascension Submarine Canyon, California - Evolution of a multi-head canyon system along a strike-slip continental margin

Ascension Submarine Canyon, which lies along the strike-slip (transform) dominated continental margin of central California, consists of two discrete northwestern heads and six less well defined southeastern heads. These eight heads coalesce to form a single submarine canyon near the 2700 m isobath. Detailed seismic stratigraphic data correlated with 19 rock dredge hauls from the walls of the canyon system, suggest that at least one of the two northwestern heads was initially eroded during a Pliocene lowstand of sea level ∼3.8 m.y. B.P. Paleogeographic reconstructions indicate that at this time, northwestern Ascension Canyon formed the distal channel of nearby Monterey Canyon and has subsequently been offset by right-lateral, strike-slip faulting along the San Gregorio fault zone. Some of the six southwestern heads of Ascension Canyon may also have been initially eroded as the distal portions of Monterey Canyon during late Pliocene-early Pleistocene sea-level lowstands (∼2.8 and 1.75 m.y. B.P.) and subsequently truncated and offset to the northwest. There have also been a minimum of two canyon-cutting episodes within the past 750,000 years, after the entire Ascension Canyon system migrated to the northwest past Monterey Canyon. We attribute these late Pleistocene erosional events to relative lowstands of sea level 750,000 and 18,000 yrs B.P. The late Pleistocene and Holocene evolution of the six southeastern heads also appears to have been controlled by structural uplift of the Ascension-Monterey basement high at the southeastern terminus of the Outer Santa Cruz Basin. We believe that uplift of this basement high sufficiently oversteepened submarine slopes to induce gravitational instability and generate mass movements that resulted in the erosion of the canyon heads. Most significantly, though, our results and interpretations support previous proposals that submarine canyons along strike-slip continental margins can originate by tectonic trunction and lateral offset.

California↗

USGS1986

Carbonate apron models: Alternatives to the submarine fan model for paleoenvironmental analysis and hydrocarbon exploration

Sediment gravity flow deposition along the deep-water flanks of carbonate platforms typically does not produce submarine fans. Rather, wedge-shaped carbonate aprons develop parallel to the adjacent shelf/slope break. The major difference between submarine fans and carbonate aprons is a point source with channelized sedimentation on fans, versus a line source with sheet-flow sedimentation on aprons. Two types of carbonate aprons may develop. Along relatively gentle (< 4°) platform-margin slopes, aprons form immediately adjacent to the shallow-water platform and are referred to as carbonate slope aprons . Along relatively steep (4–15°) platform margin slopes, redeposited limestones accumulate in a base-of-slope setting, by-passing an upper slope via a multitude of small submarine canyons, and are referred to as carbonate base-of-slope aprons . Both apron types are further subdivided into inner and outer facies belts. Inner apron sediments consist of thick, mud-supported conglomerates and megabreccias (Facies F) as well as thick, coarse-grained turbidites (Facies A) interbedded with subordinate amounts of fine-grained, peri-platform ooze (Facies G). Outer apron sediments consist of thinner, grain-supported conglomerates and turbidites (Facies A) as well as classical turbidites (Facies C) with recognizable Bouma divisions, interbedded with approximately equal proportions of peri-platform ooze (Facies G). Seaward, aprons grade laterally into basinal facies of thin, base-cut-out carbonate turbidites (Facies D) that are subordinate to peri-platform oozes (Facies G). Carbonate base-of-slope aprons grade shelfward into an upper slope facies of fine-grained peri-platform ooze (Facies G) cut by numerous small canyons that are filled with coarse debris, as well as intraformational truncation surfaces which result from submarine sliding. In contrast, slope aprons grade shelfward immediately into shoal-water, platform-margin facies without an intervening by-pass slope. The two carbonate apron models presented here offer alternatives to the submarine-fan model for paleoenvironmental analysis and hydrocarbon exploration for mass-transported carbonate facies.

Sedimentary Geology↗