Assessing the dynamics of turbiditic terminal lobes: a geometrical approach

Terminal lobes constitute the endmembers of siliciclastic systems. They are of great interest to marine geologists and constitute high-quality reservoirs actively sought out and exploited by the oil and gas industry. The sizes and shapes of lobes vary depending on the type of sedimentary system and the nature of associated gravity flows. Sea bottom topography -induced either by preexisting lobes or mass transport deposition or tectonic deformation- is another important factor controlling lobe morphology. Previous studies carried out on recent systems (based on multibeam bathymetry and 2D/3D seismic data) show different shapes, classically characterized as lobate, but also radial or elongated. Currently, much remains to be known on the relative influences of autocyclic and allocyclic forcings on the internal architecture of lobes. This study focuses on a better definition of lobe shapes in natural systems to build a ruled -based model of lobes that will later be incorporated into the FLUMY© software. To this end, a database is built based on cases from the literature in various systems (e.g., the Congo, Amazon, Indonesia and East Corsica). We use the classical shape ratios defined by Prélat et al. (2010) as well as a new metric, called the progradation factor (PF), defined as the length ratio between the upstream and downstream segments of lobes (i.e., with respect to their centroids). Measures of PF were applied at different scales from the bed element to the lobe complex. Independently of the sedimentary system type, three different shapes of lobate bodies were identified: (i) a “classical” lobate shape -wider downstream- when PF > 1.15, (ii) lobes that are wider upstream when PF < 0.85 and, (iii) an elliptical shape when 0.85 ≤ PF ≤1.15. The classical lobate shape is interpreted as marking the absence of topographic confinement. Elliptical lobes occur mainly during maximum and minimum of progradation/retrogradation cycles. Lobes that are wider upstream result from topographic confinement and are mainly deposited at the end of retrogradation cycles. Finally, plotting thickness vs area allows identifying semi-confined lobes as a third category located between confined and unconfined lobes. This category follows a linear trend and exhibits a minimum thickness of 20 m.