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Lithofacies palaeogeography and sedimentology

Submarine fans: A critical retrospective

(1950e2015)

G. Shanmugam
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX 76019, USA

article info abstract

Article history: When we look back the contributions on submarine fans during the past 65 years (1950
Received 5 August 2015 e2015), the empirical data on 21 modern submarine fans and 10 ancient deep-water sys-
Accepted 31 August 2015 tems, published by the results of the First COMFAN (Committee on FANs) Meeting (Bouma
Available online 17 March 2016 et al., 1985a), have remained the single most significant compilation of data on submarine
fans. The 1970s were the “heyday” of submarine fan models. In the 21st century, the
Keywords: general focus has shifted from submarine fans to submarine mass movements, internal
The Bouma Sequence waves and tides, and contourites. The purpose of this review is to illustrate the complexity
High-density turbidity currents of issues surrounding the origin and classification of submarine fans. The principal ele-
Sandy debris flows ments of submarine fans, composed of canyons, channels, and lobes, are discussed using
Turbidite facies models nine modern case studies from the Mediterranean Sea, the Equatorial Atlantic, the Gulf of
Submarine fans Mexico, the North Pacific, the NE Indian Ocean (Bay of Bengal), and the East Sea (Korea).
Submarine canyons The Annot Sandstone (EoceneeOligocene), exposed at Peira-Cava area, SE France, which
Submarine channels served as the type locality for the “Bouma Sequence”, was reexamined. The field details are
Submarine lobes documented in questioning the validity of the model, which was the basis for the turbidite-
Lowstand systems tract fan link. The 29 fan-related models that are of conceptual significance, developed during
the period 1970e2015, are discussed using modern and ancient systems. They are: (1) the
classic submarine fan model with attached lobes, (2) the detached-lobe model, (3) the
channel-levee complex without lobes, (4) the delta-fed ramp model, (5) the gully-lobe
model, (6) the suprafan lobe model, (7) the depositional lobe model, (8) the fan lobe
model, (9) the ponded lobe model, (10) the nine models based on grain size and sediment
source, (11) the four fan models based on tectonic settings, (12) the Jackfork debrite model,
(13) the basin-floor fan model, (14) supercritical and subcritical fans, and (15) the three
types of fan reservoirs. Each model is unique, and the long-standing belief that submarine
fans are composed of turbidites, in particular, of gravelly and sandy high-density turbi-
dites, is a myth. This is because there are no empirical data to validate the existence of
gravelly and sandy high-density turbidity currents in the modern marine environments.
Also, there are no experimental documentation of true turbidity currents that can trans-
port gravels and coarse sands in turbulent suspension. Mass-transport processes, which
include slides, slumps, and debris flows (but not turbidity currenrs), are the most viable
mechanisms for transporting gravels and sands into the deep sea. The prevailing notion
that submarine fans develop during periods of sea-level lowstands is also a myth. The

E-mail address: shanshanmugam@aol.com.

Peer review under responsibility of China University of Petroleum (Beijing).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jop.2015.08.011
2095-3836/© 2016 China University of Petroleum (Beijing). Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of China University of Pe-
troleum (Beijing). This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Submarine fans: A critical retrospective (1950e2015) 111

geologic reality is that frequent short-term events that last for only a few minutes to
several hours or days (e.g., earthquakes, meteorite impacts, tsunamis, tropical cyclones,
etc.) are more important in controlling deposition of deep-water sands than sporadic long-
term events that last for thousands to millions of years (e.g., lowstand systems tract).
Submarine fans are still in a stage of muddled turbidite paradigm because the concept of
high-density turbidity currents is incommensurable.
© 2016 China University of Petroleum (Beijing). Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on
behalf of China University of Petroleum (Beijing). This is an open access article under the
CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

record, have prompted me to submit a discussion (Shanmugam,

1. Introduction
1.1. The incentive
The incentive for this review on submarine fans or deep-sea
fans came from a startling comment on the irrelevance of
submarine fans in a global geologic studies by Ve
rard et al.
(2015) published in the Journal of Palaeogeography. Ve
rard
et al. (2015) claim that their global geodynamic model allows
one to reconstruct the surface features of topography on land
and in adjacent oceans (i.e., paleobathymetry) anywhere on
the globe and at any geological time during the past 600
million years (Ma). In their grand claim, Ve
rard et al. (2015, p.
72) state that “Sedimentation does not reflect local climatic varia-
tions, nor does it account for local variations in detrital input. Lakes
or rivers are not taken into account on continents, and deep sea fans
are not modelled here. The amount of sediment in all major deep sea
fans, however, is estimated to represent less than 0.01% (order of
1014 to 1015 m3) of the total sediment volume in ocean.”
Without providing any empirical data or peer-reviewed ref-
erences to substantiate their claim on submarine fans, the total
exclusion of fan sedimentation from consideration is not only
geologically unrealistic but deeply troubling. The fact is that
during the past six decades, the importance of modern and
ancient submarine fans have been excruciatingly well docu-
mented in the geologic record (Menard, 1955; Bouma, 1962;
McBride, 1962; Klein, 1966; Jacka et al., 1968; Enos, 1969;
Normark, 1970, 1978; Curray and Moore, 1974; Nelson and
Nilsen, 1984; Bouma et al., 1985a; Mutti and Normark, 1987;
Shanmugam and Moiola, 1988; Stow et al., 1990; Weimer and
Link, 1991; Mutti, 1992; Reading and Richards, 1994; Weimer
et al., 1994, 2000; Richards et al., 1998; Beaubouef et al., 2000;
Stow and Mayall, 2000; Piper and Normark, 2001; Mienert and
Weaver, 2003; Mattern, 2005; Shanmugam, 1998, 2006a, 2012a;
Mutti et al., 2009; Mulder, 2011; Postma et al., 2014; SEPM
STRATA, 2015; Constantinescu et al., 2015; Pickering and
Cantalejo, 2015; Pickering and Hiscott, 2015; among others).
Submarine fans constitute important sites of sediment accu-
mulation in the world's oceans (Fig. 1). Barnes and Normark
(1985) compiled dimensions of 21 modern fans and 10 ancient
systems. Fans have impressive dimensions (Fig. 2). The world's
largest submarine fan, known as the Bengal Fan, has a length of
3000 km, a width of 1430 km, and a sediment thickness of
16.5 km (Curray et al., 2003). The Bengal Fan virtually occupies
the entire length of the Bay of Bengal, and covers an area of
2800e3000 (103 km2) (Curray et al., 2003). These facts, which are
vital for reconstructing palaeogeography of the ancient rock
2015a) on the article by Ve
rard et al. (2015). In reviewing my
discussion manuscript for the journal, the Associate Editor-in-
Chief Prof. Zhong-Qiang Chen has realized the global signifi-
cance of submarine fans and related issues for the readership of
the journal and has invited me to submit a review article to the
journal. Furthermore, the Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Palae-
ogeography Prof. Zeng-Zhao Feng strongly supported the need
for such a review article. In addition, Prof. Feng had invited me
to join the editorial committee of the journal. These events
provided me the incentive for compiling this retrospective for
the Journal of Palaeogeography.
I would like to begin this article by expressing my heartfelt
gratitude to the extraordinary contributions made by the late
Arnold Bouma, Professor Emiliano Mutti, and the late Bill Nor-
mark (Fig. 3) to this research domain during the past 60 years.
1.2. The turbidite-fan link

In his seminal publication on turbidite fans, Bouma (1962,
p. 98) used the term “cone” for describing submarine fans.
Bouma (1962) proposed the most convincing link between
the turbidite facies model with five divisions, namely Ta,
Tb, Tc, Td, and Te (Fig. 4A), and their areal distribution on a
submarine fan (Fig. 4B). In illustrating the lateral distribu-
tion of the five divisions (i.e., the Bouma Sequence) on a
submarine fan (Fig. 4B), Bouma (1962, p. 98) stated that “It
can be understood that at the outset that the deposit of a large
turbidity current contains all the components belonging to the
complete sequence type TaeTe. The coarseness of the material
and the velocity decrease in the current direction. Also the
thickness of the graded interval decreases in the downstream
direction….”.

The classical models of both modern and ancient subma-
rine fans have clearly implied a fan-shaped morphology
with channels and lobes (Fig. 5) composed of turbidites
(Bouma et al., 1985a). However, a distinction was made to
reserve the term “submarine fans” for modern systems,
and the term “turbidite systems” for ancient systems
(Bouma et al., 1985a; Normark, 1987).

The fundamental link between the turbidite beds and
submarine fans, which is the underpinning principle of the
turbidite fans (Fig. 4B), has transcended into the 21st cen-
tury (Middleton, 2003; Mutti et al., 2009; Mulder, 2011;
Postma et al., 2014; Encyclopedia Britannica, 2015). In the
following definitions of submarine fans, I have emphasized
the term “turbidity currents” with bold fonts.
112 G.Shanmugam

Fig. 1 e Map showing locations of modern and ancient deep-water systems, commonly known as submarine fans, discussed
during the COMFAN Meeting in 1982 (Bouma et al., 1985a). Note that plotting of each example at a precise location is not
practical because the length varies from 16 km for the Crati Fan to 3000 km for the Bengal Fan. This size variability is also the
reason why that this map does not have a scale. Data from Barnes and Normark (1985). Publication: Springer eBook, Sub-
marine fans and related turbidite systems. With permission from Springer. Copyright Clearance Center's RightsLink: Li-
censee: G. Shanmugam. License Number: 3695110139929. License Date: License Date: August 23, 2015.

In the Encyclopedia of Earth Science, Middleton (2003)
defined submarine fans as “Like alluvial fans (q.v.), sub-
marine fans are cone-like accumulations of sediment, devel-
oped at a change of slope, generally below a single major feeder
channel (though a few fans may have more than one channel,
generally they are not all active at the same time). Submarine
fans and channels, however, are much larger and more com-
mon than subaerial fans, and have been constructed mainly by
turbidity currents and other sediment gravity flows (see
Gravity-Driven Mass Flows). The coarser sediment is largely
Submarine fans: A critical retrospective (1950e2015) 113

Fig. 2 e A-Dimensions of modern and ancient deep-water systems, commonly known as submarine fans, discussed during
the COMFAN Meeting in 1982 (Bouma et al., 1985a). Numbers correspond to those used in Fig. 1. Data from Barnes and
Normark (1985). Note that Curray et al. (2003) estimated a maximum thickness of 16.5 km for the Bengal Fan. Note that
the Surveyor (Submarine) Fan, with 700-km-long channel (Reece et al., 2011), in the Gulf of Alaska (not shown) was drilled in
2013 during Expedition 341 of the JOIDES Resolution (Jaeger et al., 2014); B-Map showing variability in size and areal dis-
tribution pattern of modern and ancient deep-water systems. Note that the term “fan” may not be applicable to each and
every one of these examples. Data from Barnes and Normark (1985). Figures A and B are from Barnes and Normark (1985).
Publication: Springer eBook, Submarine fans and related turbidite systems. With permission from Springer. Copyright
Clearance Center's RightsLink: Licensee: G. Shanmugam. License Number: 3695110139929. License Date: License Date:
August 23, 2015.

confined to the distributary channels, and much of the fan may
be composed of silt or mud deposited by overflows on levees…”

In a textbook on sedimentology and stratigraphy, Nichols
(2009, p. 250e254) defined that “A submarine fan is a body
of sediment on the sea floor deposited by mass-flow processes
that may be fan-shaped, but more elongate, lobate geometries are
also common … They vary in size from a few kilometres radius to
depositional systems covering over a million square kilometres
and forming some of the largest geomorphological features on
Earth. The morphology and depositional character of submarine
fan systems are strongly controlled by the composition of the
material supplied, particularly the proportions of gravel, sand
and mud present. In this sense submarine fans are very much like
other depositional systems such as deltas …, which also show
considerable variability depending on the grain-size distribution
in the material supplied. Note that although coarse-grained
deltas are sometimes referred to as fan deltas and are largely
submarine, the term submarine fan is restricted to fan-shaped
bodies that are deposited by mass-flow, mainly turbidity cur-
rent, processes… Deposition is largely by high-density turbidity
currents and the fan is characterised by sandy channels and
lobes.”

According to the Encyclopedia Britannica (2015), a subma-
rine fan is an “… accumulation of land-derived sediment on the
deep seafloor; in configuration, a fan is like the section of a very
low cone, with its apex at the lower mouth of a submarine canyon
incised into a continental slope. Submarine canyons have steep
courses with high walls and funnel occasional dense slurries of
water and terrigenous sediment (turbidity currents) to the
abyssal seafloor. Upon reaching the base of the submarine
canyon, the sudden loss of gradient and confinement lessens the
velocity of a turbidity current, and the suspended matter begins
to drop out of suspension. Finer and finer particles are deposited
as the turbidity current continues to decelerate down the fan.
114 G.Shanmugam

Fig. 3 e A.H. Bouma, W.R. Normark, and E. Mutti are the three geologic pioneers of submarine-fan concepts in the 20th
Century. A-The late A.H. Bouma (1932e2011) pointing to a “Bouma Sequence”. Photo was taken during a field trip, associated
with the COMFAN II Meeting held in Parma, Italy (1988), by G. Shanmugam; B-Photo showing (left to right) the late C. Tarquin
Teale, the late W.R. Normark (1943e2008), G. Shanmugam, Professor Emiliano Mutti, and a NATO conference participant.
Photo was taken during a field trip associated with the NATO Advanced Study Institute Conference on “Reading Provenance
from Arenites” held in Calabria, Italy (June 3e11, 1984). See a related conference volume edited by Zuffa (1985) with papers by
Mutti (1985), Normark (1985), and Shanmugam (1985). Please note that Tarquin Teale, a sedimentology/stratigraphy post-
graduate student at the Royal School of Mines, Imperial College, London, was killed in a road accident south of Rome, Italy on
October 17, 1985. In memory of T. Teale, Leggett and Zuffa (1987) edited a book, which contains an important article by Mutti
and Normark (1987) entitled “Comparing examples of modern and ancient turbidite systems, problems and concepts”.
Submarine fans: A critical retrospective (1950e2015)
Fig. 4 e The first turbidite-fan link proposed by Bouma (1962). A-The turbidite facies model with five internal divisions (Ta,
Tb, Tc, Td, and Te). This vertical facies model is commonly known as “the Bouma Sequence”; B-Areal distribution of turbidite
facies in a submarine fan. After Bouma (1962).
Thus, the sediments of a submarine fan consist largely of suc-
cessive layers of sandy material, each of which grades upward
into finer material. Submarine fan valleys, with low relief and
natural levees, commonly occur on submarine fans, branching
outward and downward into distributary channels, which serve
to distribute the turbidity current sediment over the entire fan by
migrating laterally in much the same way that the distributaries
of a river delta do. Several fans may coalesce laterally, forming a
continental rise.”
Despite the constant promotion of the turbidite-fan link,
no one has ever documented the existence of sandy turbidity
currents in modern deep-water environments. Incongruously,
Grotzinger et al. (2007) used an underwater photograph of
sandfalls (Fig. 5C) in speculating sandy turbidity currents that
could develop submarine fans, but offered no direct photo-
graphic documentation of sandy turbidity currents in the deep
sea (see Section 2.1 for discussion).
1.3. History
Mutti et al. (2009) provide a good historical account of turbidite
research starting with the introduction of the term flysch by
Studer (1827). Important contributions on deep-water
research made during the period 1885e2005 were summa-
rized by Shanmugam (2006a) using 908 references. The liter-
ature on deep-water systems in general and on submarine
fans in particular is too enormous. A glimpse of this vast
domain can be obtained from selected publications, such as,
Lajoie, 1970; Middleton, 1970; Whitaker, 1976; Stanley and
115
Kelling, 1978; Tillman and Ali, 1982; Nelson and Nilsen, 1984;
Barnes and Normark, 1985; Bouma et al., 1985a; Mutti and
Normark, 1987; Shanmugam and Moiola, 1988; Pickering
et al., 1989, 1995; Shanmugam, 1990, 2000a, 2006a, 2012a,
2015b; Mutti, 1992; Weimer et al., 1994, 2000; Reynolds, 1994;
Reading and Richards, 1994; Richards et al., 1998; Beaubouef
et al., 2000; Stow and Mayall, 2000; Piper and Normark, 2001;
Curray et al., 2003; Mienert and Weaver, 2003; Mattern, 2005;
Kneller et al., 2009; Mutti et al., 2009; Hüeneke and Mulder,
2011; Mulder, 2011; Postma et al., 2014; SEPM STRATA, 2015;
Pickering and Hiscott, 2015; among others. This article con-
tains 433 references that include 53 self-citations.
The first recognition of a modern submarine fan was by
Menard (1955). The first suggestion of a turbidite-fan link in
ancient fans was by Bouma (1962). Fig. 6 illustrates the gen-
eral trend of rise and fall of popularity of submarine-fan
models in sedimentology and sequence stratigraphy during
the period 1950e2000. The 1970s represent the “Heyday” of
submarine fans. Since then, our understanding of deep-water
systems has grown considerably due to advances in tech-
nology, new data, and synthesis of deep-water systems
(Hüeneke and Mulder, 2011). However, the domain of sub-
marine fans has not shown much progress since the pio-
neering compilation of data on modern and ancient deep-
water systems (Bouma et al., 1985a). I have illustrated this
problem using the Kuhn's (1970, 1996) stages of scientific
development (Fig. 7), which are grouped into five steps: (1)
early random observations; (2) first paradigm; (3) crisis; (4)
revolution; and (5) normal science or new paradigm.
Although Walker (1973) and Stow (1985) believed that the
116 G.Shanmugam

Fig. 5 e A-Conceptual diagram of a modern fan showing suprafan lobe by Normark (1970), with permission from AAPG.
Redrawn by Mutti (1992); B-Conceptual diagram of the classic ancient fan showing inner-, middle-, and outer-fan segments
by Mutti and Ricci Lucchi (1972). Simplified after Mutti (1992); C-Underwater photograph showing cascading sandfall at a
depth of 40 m (130 ft) in a gully leading down into San Lucas Canyon, Baja California. Such pure sandfalls would develop
massive sand intervals in the rock record and would be interpreted as sandy debrites. However, Grotzinger et al. (2007) used
this photograph as evidence for initiating sandy turbidity currents that could develop submarine fans, with no empirical data
(see Section 2.1 for discussion). Photo by R.F. Dill. After Shepard and Dill (1966), Rand McNally & Company.

normal science stage in deep-water research was achieved in
1950 and 1983, respectively, my view is that deep-water
research is still in a crisis mode (Fig. 7B). This crisis started
when the importance of deep-water bottom currents was
realized in the late 1960s and the related significance of
traction structures in deep-sea sediments, which posed a
challenge in distinguishing turbidites from contourites
(Hollister, 1967; Bouma and Hollister, 1973). This problem still
remains (Shanmugam, 2008a, 2016, 2017).
During the past 25 years (1990e2015), the Mediterranean
Sea has been the hub of research activities (Fig. 7C) on sub-
marine canyons (Migeon et al., 2012; Würtz, 2012), on subma-
rine fans (Savoye et al., 1993; Piper and Savoye, 1993; Mulder
et al., 1998; Kenyon et al., 2002; Bonnel et al., 2003; Gervais
et al., 2006; Migeon et al., 2006, 2010, 2012; Deptuck et al.,
2008; Ducossou et al., 2009; Mulder and Etienne, 2010; Jorry
et al., 2011; Gamberi et al., 2014, among others), on mass-
transport deposits (Camerlenghi et al., 2010; Migeon et al.,
2011; Gamberi et al., 2015), on internal waves and internal
tides (Garcı́a Lafuente and Cano Lucaya, 1994; Alpers et al.,
1996; Alvarado-Bustos, 2011), and on contourites (Zenk and
Armi, 1990; Herna
ndez-Molina et al., 2006, 2013, in press;
Mulder et al., 2013; Stow et al., 2013; among others). Never-
theless, the first contourite facies model was developed from
the Gulf of Cadiz in the 1980s (Fauge res et al., 1984; Gonthier
et al., 1984).
In the 21st century, important contributions to our udes-
tanding of deep-water systems primarily came from the
following symposiums on submarine mass movements:

2002: 1st International Symposium on “Submarine Mass
Movements and Their Consequences”: Nice, France (Locat
and Mienert, 2003)

2005: 2nd International Symposium on “Submarine Mass
Movements and Their Consequences”: Oslo, Norway
(Solheim, 2006)
Submarine fans: A critical retrospective (1950e2015) 117

Fig. 6 e Plot showing the rise and fall of popularity of submarine fan models in sedimentology and sequence stratigraphy
during the period 1950e2000. The 1970s were the “Heyday” of submarine fans in the geologic literature. References
Shanmugam et al. (1985a, 1985b) and (1994) in the plot represent Shanmugam et al. (1985a) and (1995), respectively in this
article. Modified after Shanmugam (2000a). Figure from Shanmugam (2000a). Publication: Marine and Petroleum Geology.
With permission from Elsevier. Copyright Clearance Center's RightsLink: Licensee: G. Shanmugam. License Number:
3694361194578. License Date: License Date: August 22, 2015 (Walker, 1966; Walker, 1992) .

2007: 3rd International Symposium on “Submarine Mass
Movements and Their Consequences”: Santorini Is., Greece
(Lykousis et al., 2007)

2009: 4th International Symposium on “Submarine Mass
Movements and Their Consequences”: Austin, Texas, USA
(Mosher et al., 2010)

2011: 5th International Symposium on “Submarine Mass
Movements and Their Consequences”: Kyoto, Japan
(Yamada et al., 2012)

2013: 6th International Symposium on “Submarine Mass
Movements and Their Consequences”: Kiel, Germany
(Krastel et al., 2014).
Similarly, contourites (Stow et al., 2002; Viana and Rebesco,
2007; Rebesco and Camerlenghi, 2008) and internal waves and
tides (Jackson, 2004; St. Laurent et al., 2012; Shanmugam,
2013a) have received considerable attention. Thus, our focus
has shifted from submarine fans to other deep-water research
domains. In other words, the deep-water system is no longer
just about turbidites or submarine fans. This temporal shift,
however, does not diminish the need to understand the origin
and distribution of fan sedimentation on a global basis.
1.4. The fan problem
In recognizing problems associated with the concept of sub-
marine fans, I focus attention on the basic outcome of the First
COMFAN (Committee on fans) Meeting, held in September
1982 at the Gulf Research and Development Company in
Harmarville near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (USA). A major
compilation of empirical data on modern and ancient deep-
water systems was resulted from this meeting. This the-
matic volume entitled “Submarine Fans and Related Turbidite
Systems” was published by Springer-Verlag (Bouma et al.,
1985a). After nearly 30 years since its publication, the COM-
FAN volume (Bouma et al., 1985a) still remains the single most
comprehensive compilation of empirical data on modern and
ancient deep-water systems (Figs. 1 and 2).
The COMFAN volume has revealed the following issues:

The realization that there are challenges in comparing
modern and ancient submarine fans in terms of different
data sets, scales, and terminologies of fan components.
Importantly, there is no single general model that is appli-
cable to describe all deep-water systems (Bouma, 1983/1984).
118 G.Shanmugam

Fig. 7 e A-Kuhn's (1970, 1996) stages of scientific development. Figure from Shanmugam (2006a). Publication: Elsevier Books.
Handbook of Petroleum Exploration and Production, Volume 5 (2006). With permission from Elsevier. Copyright Clearance
Center's RightsLink: Licensee: G. Shanmugam. License Number: 501039433. License Date: License Date: August 22, 2015; B-Plot
of Kuhn's (1970, 1996) stages of scientific development during the period 1950e2000. From Shanmugam (2000a). Publication:
Marine and Petroleum Geology. With permission from Elsevier. Copyright Clearance Center's RightsLink: Licensee: G. Shan-
mugam. License Number: 3694361194578. License Date: License Date: August 22, 2015; C-Comments from this article: Red
circles denote critical contributions on submarine fans and on deep-water systems for the period 1950e2015. During the past 25
years (1990e2015), the Mediterranean Sea has been the region for deep-water research on submarine fans, submarine canyons,
mass-transport deposits (MTD), internal waves and internal tides, and contourites (see text).

Various aspects of scale problems have been addressed in
other publications as well (Shanmugam et al., 1985a;
Normark, 1987). The largest features observed in outcrops
are smaller than the best resolution that can be obtained with
available shipboard deep-sea imagery (Pickering et al., 1989).

There are modern mass-transport deposits (MTD), such as
the “Goleta Slide” in the Santa Barbara Channel, southern
California (Greene et al., 2006, their Fig. 11), that show a
clear fan-shaped morphology. And yet, these deposits are
not turbidites.

“Contourite fans” have been reported from the Vema
Channel, South Brazilian Basin (Fauge res et al., 1998).

The term “lobe” has been applied loosely with divergent
meanings, causing unnecessary confusion (Shanmugam
and Moiola, 1988, 1991; Mulder and Etienne, 2010). Debrite
tongues have been labeled as “debris lobes” on the modern
slopes of the Norwegian-Barents Sea continental margin
(Elverhøi et al., 1997) that were also called “Bear Island
Trough Mouth Fan” (Laberg and Vorren, 1995). Another
example is the misapplication of the concept of “fan lobe”
to mass-transport deposits that occur within the Zappulla
channel, northern Sicily (Gamberi et al., 2015).

The concept of submarine fans has been highly contro-
versial at many levels among researchers (Nilsen, 1980;
Walker, 1980; Shanmugam and Moiola, 1985;
Shanmugam et al., 1985a). Perhaps, the most critical issue
is the formation of gravelly and sandy submarine fans by
high-density turbidity currents (Mutti et al., 2009). Howev-
er, no one has ever documented high-density turbidity
currents in the world's oceans. Nor has anyone conducted
laboratory experiments using truly turbulent high-density
turbidity currents (Shanmugam, 2012a). Therefore, sub-
marine fans, composed of gravels and coarse sands, and
their depositional origin have remained the single most
unresolved fan problem.
1.5. Datasets
In addition to empirical datasets from the COMFAN I volume
(Figs. 1 and 2) and other published datasets by other authors
cited in this article, I have included peer-reviewed and pub-
lished datasets of my studies carried out during the past 40
years (Fig. 8 and Table 1). My rock description of 35 case
studies of deep-water systems comprises 32 petroleum-
producing massive sands worldwide. Description of core and
outcrop was carried out at a scale of 1:20 to 1:50, totaling
11,463 m. Global studies of cores and outcrops include a total
Submarine fans: A critical retrospective (1950e2015)
Fig. 8 e Map showing locations of core studies (numbered yellow circles) and outcrop studies (numbered red circles) of deep-
water successions carried out by the present author worldwide (see Table 1 for details). Modified after Shanmugam (2015b).
of 7832 m of conventional cores from 123 wells, representing
32 petroleum fields worldwide (Table 1). These modern and
ancient deep-water systems include both marine and lacus-
trine settings. Importantly, these deep-water strata include
classic submarine fans of the Jackfork Group (Pennsylvanian)
1.7.
in the Ouachita Mountains (USA), the Annot Sandstone
(Eocene-Oligocene) of the Peira Cava area, the type locality for
the “Bouma Sequence”, Maritime Alps, SE France, and classic
basin-floor fans (Tertiary-Cretaceous) in the North Sea and
Norwegian Sea. The strength of this paper is that it is based on
sound principles and methods of process sedimentology using
theoretical analysis, flume experiments, description of mod-
ern deep-sea cores, description of ancient strata using out-
crops, bathymetric images, seismic profiles, and wireline logs.
For completeness, selected deep-lacustrine basins from
Mongolia (Jia et al., 2014), China (Zou et al., 2012; Wang et al.,
2013), and the world's deepest Lake Baikal (maximum water
depth: 1637 m) in Siberia (Charlet et al., 2005) are considered.
1.6. The objective
The primary objective of this review is to present a state-of-
the science with emphasis on the depositional origin and on
the classification of submarine fans. Specific objectives are:

To provide a compilation of empirical data on modern and
ancient case studies,

To present a brief summary of deep-water processes with
focus on high-density turbidity currents,

To provide a critique of theoretical facies models based on
field data,
119

To summarize various classification of fan models, and

To discuss the importance of short-term trigger control of
fans.
The constraint

In this article, the terms “submarine fan” and “lobe” are
used strictly as descriptive, geomorphic, terms and that
these terms do not imply anything about depositional
processes (e.g., turbidity currents) or about their deposits
(e.g., turbidites).

This review is restricted to deep-marine systems that
develop seaward of the shelf break (i.e., >200 m in water
depth), and therefore, fan deltas that develop on the shelf
are not considered as submarine fans.

The term “modern” refers to the present-day deep-water
systems that are still active or that have been active during
the Quaternary period.

Unlike the classification of sediment-gravity flows by
Middleton and Hampton (1973) in which turbidity currents
are considered as a type of mass movement or mass flow,
turbidity currents are not classified as mass-transport
processes following the classification of Dott (1963).

Finally, the popular tendency to classify all downslope
processes as “turbidite systems” (e.g., Bouma et al., 1985a;
Reading and Richards, 1994; Mutti et al., 2009; Mulder and
Etienne, 2010; Mulder, 2011) is not adopted here. This is
because the term “turbidite systems” selectively promotes
a false narrative that the entire downslope system is
dominated by turbidites, which is absolutely not the case
in the real-world modern oceans.
 120
Table 1 e Summary of deep-water case studies, based on description of core and outcrop, carried out by the present author on deep-water strata that include classic
submarine fans in the Ouachita Mountains (USA), the Annot Sandstone of the Peira Cava area, the type locality for the Bouma Sequence, Maritime Alps, SE France, and
basin-floor fans in the North Sea and Norwegian Sea (1974e2011). Modified after Shanmugam (2015b).
Location symbol and number in Fig. 8 Case studies Thickness of core and Comment (this paper)
outcrop describeda
1. Gulf of Mexico, U.S. (Shanmugam et al., 1988a) 1. Mississippi Fan, Quaternary, DSDP Leg 96 ~500 m Mass-transport deposits, turbidites,
DSDP core bottom-current reworked sands
(selected intervals described)
1. Gulf of Mexico, U.S. (Shanmugam et al., 1993a, 1993b; 2. Green Canyon, late Pliocene, 1067 m Sandy mass-transport deposits and
Shanmugam and Zimbrick, 1996) 3. Garden Banks, middle Pleistocene Conventional core and piston core bottom-current reworked sands common
4. Ewing Bank 826, Pliocene-Pleistocene 25 wells
5. South Marsh Island, late Pliocene
6. South Timbalier, middle Pleistocene
7. High Island, late Pliocene
8. East Breaks, late Pliocene-Holocene
2. California (Shanmugam and Clayton, 1989; 9. Midway Sunset Field, upper Miocene, onshore 650 m Sandy mass-transport deposits and
Shanmugam, 2006a, 2012a) Conventional core bottom-current reworked sands
3 wells
3. Ouachita Mountains, Arkansas and Oklahoma, U.S. 10. Jackfork Group, Pennsylvanian 369 m Sandy mass-transport deposits and
(Shanmugam and Moiola, 1995) 2 outcrop sections bottom-current reworked sands common
4. Southern Appalachians, Tennessee, U.S. 11. Sevier Basin, Middle Ordovician 2152 m Mass-transport deposits, turbidites,
(Shanmugam, 1978; Shanmugam and Walker, 1978; 5 outcrop sections bottom-current reworked sands
Shanmugam and Benedict, 1983)
5. Brazil (Shanmugam, 2006a, 2012a) 12. Lagoa Parda Field, lower Eocene, Espirito 200 m Sandy mass-transport deposits and
Santo Basin, onshore Conventional core bottom-current reworked sands common
13. Fazenda Alegre Field, upper Cretaceous, 10 wells
Espirito Santo Basin, onshore
14. Cangoa Field, upper Eocene, Espirito
Santo Basin, offshore
15. Peroa
Field, lower Eocene to
upper Oligocene,
Espirito Santo Basin, offshore
16. Marlim Field, Oligocene, Campos
Basin, offshore
17. Marimba Field, upper Cretaceous,
Campos Basin, offshore
18. Roncador Field, upper Cretaceous,
Campos Basin, offshore
6. North Sea (Shanmugam et al., 1995) 19. Frigg Field, lower Eocene, 3658 m Sandy mass-transport deposits
Norwegian North Sea Conventional core and bottom-current reworked
20. Harding Field (formerly 50 wells sands common
Forth Field), lower Eocene,
U.K. North Sea
21. Alba Field, Eocene, U.K. North Sea

G.Shanmugam
22. Fyne Field, Eocene, U.K. North Sea
23. Gannet Field, Paleocene, U.K. North Sea
24. Andrew Field, Paleocene, U.K. North Sea
25. Gryphon Field, upper Paleocene-lower
Eocene, U.K. North Sea
 Submarine fans: A critical retrospective (1950e2015)
7. U.K. Atlantic Margin (Shanmugam et al., 1995) 26. Faeroe area, Paleocene, west of the Thickness included in the Sandy mass-transport deposits and
Shetland Islands North Sea count bottom-current reworked sands common
27. Foinaven Field, Paleocene, West of 1 well
the Shetland Islands Conventional core
1 well
8. Norwegian Sea and vicinity (Shanmugam et al., 1994) 28. Mid-Norway region, Cretaceous, 500 m Sandy mass-transport deposits and
Norwegian Sea Conventional core bottom-current reworked sands common
29. Agat region, Cretaceous, 14 wells
Norwegian North Sea
9. French Maritime Alps, Southeastern France 30. Annot Sandstone, Eocene-Oligocene 610 mb Sandy mass-transport deposits and
(Shanmugam, 2002a, 2003) 1 outcrop section bottom-current reworked sands common
(12 units described) (deep tidal currents)
10. Nigeria (Shanmugam, 1997b, 2003; 2006a, 2012a) 31. Edop Field, Pliocene, offshore 875 m Sandy mass-transport deposits and
Conventional core bottom-current reworked sands common
6 wells (deep tidal currents)
11. Equatorial Guinea (Famakinwa et al., 1996; 32. Zafiro Field, Pliocene, offshore 294 m Sandy mass-transport deposits and
Shanmugam, 2006a, 2012a) 33. Opalo Field, Pliocene, offshore Conventional core bottom-current reworked sands common
2 wells
12. Gabon (Shanmugam, 2006a, 2012a) 34. Melania Formation, lower Cretaceous, 275 m Sandy mass-transport deposits and
offshore (includes four fields) Conventional core bottom-current reworked sands common
8 wells
13. Bay of Bengal, India (Shanmugam et al., 2009) 35. Krishna-Godavari Basin, Pliocene 313 m Sandy debrites and tidalites common
Conventional core
3 wells
Kutei Basin, Makassar Strait (Saller et al., 2006) Kutei Basin, Miocene 2 wells? Discussion of problematic turbidites
(Saller et al., 2006, 2008a, 2008b)c (Shanmugam, 2008b,2014a)
Total thickness of rocks described by the author 11,463 m
a
The rock description of 35 case studies of deep-water systems comprises 32 petroleum-producing massive sands worldwide. Description of core and outcrop was carried out at a scale of 1:20 to 1:50,
totaling 11,463 m, during 1974e2011, by G. Shanmugam as a Ph.D. student (1974e1978), as an employee of Mobil Oil Corporation (1978e2000), and as a consultant (2000e2011). Global studies of cores
and outcrops include a total of 7832 m of conventional cores from 123 wells, representing 32 petroleum fields worldwide (Shanmugam, 2015b).These modern and ancient deep-water systems
include both marine and lacustrine settings.
b
The Peira Cava outcrop section was originally described by Bouma (1962), and later by Pickering and Hilton (1998, their Fig. 62), among others.
c
No cores were examined by the present author.

121
122
2. Deep-water processes
2.1. The status quo
The status quo on deep-water processes is evident in text-
books. The Bouma Sequence (Fig. 4A), representing the ideal
turbidite facies model (Bouma, 1962), is a routine entry in
sedimentology textbooks (e.g., Boggs, 2001, his Fig. 2.18;
Nichols, 2009, his Fig. 4.29). The undergraduate students have
developed a liking to the Bouma model because it is simple to
remember the five divisions (Ta, Tb, Tc, Td, and Te) and is easy
to score points in the tests! Petroleum geologists like the
model because it is popular with the management. Although
this model is fatally flawed (see discussion in Section 4 below),
there is no acknowledgement of the inherent problems with
the model in these textbooks, in which the pounding message
is that turbidity currents are the omnipresent and the om-
nipotent process in the deep sea. For example, in an intro-
ductory textbook entitled “Understanding Earth”, Press and
Siever (1997) provided a conceptual model of a classical sub-
marine fan, composed of turbidite channels and lobes,
developed at the base of continental slope. In continuing the
turbidite-fan concept into the 21st century, the authors of the
fifth edition of the same book (Grotzinger et al., 2007, p. 493)
state “As the turbidity current reaches the foot of the slope and the
gentler incline of the continental rise, it slows. Some of the coarser
sandy sediments start to settle, often forming a submarine fanda
deposit something like an alluvial fan on land. Some of the stronger
currents continue across the rise, cutting channels into the subma-
rine fans…” In support of their turbidite-fan concept, the au-
thors present an underwater photograph of a cascading
sandfall (their Fig. 20.16b, p. 493) with a caption that reads
“Sandfall at the head of a submarine canyon at the edge of the
continental shelf. These falls generate sandy flows, such as turbidity
currents, that lay down fans of sandy sediment at the foot of the
continental slope.” This is totally misleading because the
photograph of this cascading sandfall, taken at a depth of 40 m
occurs in a gully leading down into San Lucas Canyon in Baja
California (Fig. 5C), was originally published by Shepard and
Dill (1966). What is troubling is that Grotzinger et al. (2007)
did not provide any photographic evidence of sandy
turbidity currents at the base of San Lucas Canyon. Nor did
they provide any empirical evidence for the origin of sandy
submarine fans formed by turbidity currents that were pre-
sumably related to cascading sandfalls at the base of San
Lucas Canyon. To date, no one has ever documented the
transformation of sandfalls into sandy turbidity currents in
modern deep-marine environments. The only other published
example of cascading flows is in the Gulf of Lion, but they are
wind-driven geostrophic bottom currents, not turbidity cur-
rents (Gaudin et al., 2006; see also Drexler et al., 2008). As a
consequence, students who use the book “Understanding
Earth” are left with a false account that sandy turbidity cur-
rents develop submarine fans in modern base-of-slope
environments.
In a “Sedimentology and Stratigraphy” textbook, Nichols
(2009, p. 254) explains the origin of sand-rich submarine fans
as follows: “A submarine fan system is considered to be sand-rich if
at least 70% of the deposits in the whole system are sandy material…
G.Shanmugam
They are usually sourced from sand-rich shelves where waves,
storms and tidal currents have sorted the material, removing most of
the mud and leaving a sand-rich deposit that is reworked by
turbidity currents. Sand-rich turbidity currents have a low efficiency
and do not travel very far, so the fan body is likely to be relatively
small, less than 50 km in radius (Reading and Richards, 1994).
Deposition is largely by high-density turbidity currents and the fan
is characterised by sandy channels and lobes. The inner fan area is
dominated by channels with some lobes, while the mid-fan area is
mainly coalesced lobes, often channelized. Due to the low transport
efficiency the transition to finer grained sheet deposits of the lower
fan is abrupt. Inactive areas of the fan (abandoned lobes) become
blanketed by mud. Strata formed by these systems consist of thick,
moderately extensive packages of sandy high-density turbidites
separated by mud layers that represent the periods of lobe
abandonment.”
The problem here is that the above statement on the origin
of sand-rich submarine fans by high-density turbidity cur-
rents is not only untenable but totally false. This is because
the concept of “high-density turbidity currents” is ill-founded
and that there is absolutely no empirical evidence for their
existence in the world's oceans (Shanmugam, 2012a) (further
discussed below). The other lingering issue is that the concept
of submarine fans is based on the notion that turbidity cur-
rents are the most dominant process in the deep sea, and that
all other processes come to a total halt when turbidity cur-
rents develop submarine fans. Such a fictional ocean does not
exist if one wishes to acknowledge the principles of ocean
physics (Apel, 1987). The total failure to acknowledge the
fundamentals of physical oceanography by the authors of
geology/sedimentology textbooks is unfortunate. Therefore, a
brief summary of deep-water processes using sound princi-
ples and methods of process sedimentology (Sanders, 1963;
Brush, 1965; Shanmugam, 2006a), laboratory flume experi-
ments (Shanmugam, 2000a; Marr et al., 2001), and examina-
tion of modern sediment cores and ancient strata in outcrops
(Table 1) is provided below. Additional accounts of complex
deep-water processes have been reviewed in two major
handbooks of petroleum exploration and production
(Shanmugam, 2006a, 2012a).
2.2. Deep-water environments
The modern shelf edge at 200 m bathymetry (in most cases) is
the defining boundary between shallow-marine and deep-
marine environments. Complex deep-water environments
are dominated by mass-transport processes and bottom cur-
rents. Mass transport represents the failure, dislodgement,
and downslope movement of sediment under the influence of
gravity. Continental margins provide an ideal setting for slope
failure, which is the collapse of slope sediment from the shelf
edge. Following a failure, the failed sediment moves down-
slope under the pull of gravity when the shear stress exceeds
the shear strength. Sediment failures on continental margins
are controlled by the pull of gravity, the source of the material
(bedrock vs. regolith), the strength of the soil (grain size,
mineralogy, compaction, cementation, etc.), the weight of the
material, the slope angle, the pore-water pressure, and the
planes of weaknesses. In order to evaluate sediment failures
in general, one needs to conduct a slope stability analysis for
Submarine fans: A critical retrospective (1950e2015)
describing the sediment behavior and sediment strength
during loading or deformation (Duncan and Wright, 2005;
Shanmugam, 2015b). A sediment failure is initiated when
the factor of safety for slope stability (F) is less than 1. In other
words, the sliding motion along the shear surface commences
only when the driving gravitational force exceeds the sum of
resisting frictional and cohesive forces. Initial porosity of the
sediment plays a critical factor in controlling the behavior of
the shear surface (Anderson and Riemer, 1995).
2.3. Mass-transport processes
Dott (1963, his Fig. 7) proposed the most meaningful and
practical classification of subaqueous mass-transport pro-
cesses. In this scheme, subaqueous processes are broadly
classified into (1) elastic, (2) elastic and plastic, (3) plastic, and
(4) viscous fluid types based on mechanical behavior (Fig. 9).
The importance of Dott's (1963) classification is that mass-
transport processes do not include turbidity currents
(Fig. 9C). In short, mass-transport processes are composed of
three basic types: (1) slide, (2) slump, and (3) debris flow (Fig. 9).
A slide is a coherent mass of sediment or a rigid body that
moves along a planar glide plane and shows no internal
deformation (Fig. 9A). Slides represent translational shear-
surface movements. Such sliding movements are also com-
mon in glaciers (Easterbrook, 1999). Submarine slides can
travel hundreds of kilometers on continental slopes. Long-
runout distances of up to 810 km for slides have been docu-
mented for submarine MTDs (Haflidason et al., 2005). Slides
occur commonly on modern slopes of 1e4 (Booth et al.,
1993). Contrary to the popular belief, most submarine slides
occur on gentle slopes of less than 4 , sometimes even at
0.25 . Submarine slides on slopes greater than 10 are rare.
Criteria for recognition of slides and slumps are illustrated in
Fig. 10.
A slump is a coherent mass of sediment that moves on a
concave-up glide plane and undergoes rotational movements
causing internal deformation (Fig. 9A). Slumps represent
rotational shear-surface movements. Slumps are capable of
transporting gravel and coarse-grained sand because of their
inherent strength.
2.4. Distinguishing between debris flows and turbidity
currents
Sediment flows (i.e., sediment-gravity flows) are composed of
four types: (1) debris flow, (2) turbidity current, (3) fluidized
sediment flow, and (4) grain flow (Middleton and Hampton, 1973).
In this article, the focus is on debris flows and turbidity currents.
These two processes are distinguished from one another on the
basis of fluid rheology and flow state. The rheology of fluids can
be expressed as a relationship between applied shear stress and
rate of shear strain (Fig. 11). Newtonian fluids (i.e., fluids with no
inherent strength), like water, will begin to deform the moment
shear stress is applied, and the deformation is linear. In contrast,
some naturally occurring materials (i.e., fluids with strength) will
not deform until their yield stress has been exceeded (Fig. 11);
once their yield stress is exceeded, deformation is linear. Such
materials (e.g., wet concrete) with strength are considered to be
Bingham plastics (Fig. 11). For flows that exhibit plastic rheology,
123
the term plastic flow is appropriate. Using rheology as the basis,
deep-water sediment flows are divided into two broad groups,
namely, (1) Newtonian flows that represent turbidity currents
and (2) plastic flows that represent debris flows.
In addition to fluid rheology, flow state is used in dis-
tinguishing laminar debris flows from turbulent turbidity
currents. The difference between laminar and turbulent flows
was demonstrated in 1883 by Osborne Reynolds, an Irish en-
gineer, by injecting a thin stream of dye into the flow of water
through a glass tube. At low rates of flow, the dye stream
traveled in a straight path. This regular motion of fluid in
parallel layers, without macroscopic mixing across the layers,
is called a laminar flow. At higher flow rates, the dye stream
broke up into chaotic eddies. Such an irregular fluid motion,
with macroscopic mixing across the layers, is called a turbu-
lent flow. The change from laminar to turbulent flow occurs at
a critical Reynolds number (the ratio between inertia and
viscous forces) of about 2000 (Fig. 11).
A debris flow is a sediment flow with plastic rheology and
laminar state from which deposition occurs through freezing
en masse. The terms debris flow and mass flow are used
interchangeably because each exhibits plastic flow behavior
with shear stress distributed throughout the mass (Nardin
et al., 1979). In debris flows, inter-granular movements pre-
dominate over shear-surface movements. Although most
debris flows move as incoherent mass, some plastic flows may
be transitional in behavior between coherent mass move-
ments and incoherent sediment flows (Marr et al., 2001).
Debris flows may be mud-rich (i.e., muddy debris flows), sand-
rich (i.e., sandy debris flows), or mixed types. Depositional
features of sandy debrites (i.e., deposits of sandy debris flows),
based on flume experiments, were discussed by Shanmugam
(2000a) and by Marr et al. (2001).
2.5. Turbidity currents
A turbidity current is a sediment flow with Newtonian
rheology and turbulent state in which sediment is supported
by fluid turbulence and from which deposition occurs through
suspension settling (Dott, 1963; Sanders, 1965; Middleton and
Hampton, 1973; Shanmugam, 1996, 2006a). Turbidity currents
exhibit unsteady and non-uniform flow behavior (Allen,
1985a), and they are surge-type waning flows. As they flow
downslope, turbidity currents invariably entrain ambient fluid
(sea water) in their frontal head portion due to turbulent
mixing (Allen, 1985a). With increasing fluid content, plastic
debris flows may tend to become Newtonian turbidity cur-
rents (Fig. 9). However, not all turbidity currents evolve from
debris flows. Some turbidity currents may evolve directly from
sediment failures. Although turbidity currents may constitute
a distal end member in basinal areas, they can occur in any
part of the system (i.e., shelf edge, slope, and basin). On
seismic profiles and on multibeam bathymetric images, it is
impossible to recognize turbidites as a depositional facies. A
typical turbidite exhibits well-developed normal grading that
can be recognized in outcrops and cores.
Flume experiments have shown a clear contrast between
the distribution of turbidites and debrites in plan view
(Fig. 12). Because of their Newtonian rheology, turbidity
currents flow freely as they exit a channel and spread out
124 G.Shanmugam

Fig. 9 e A-Schematic diagram showing four common types of gravity-driven downslope processes that transport sediment
into deep-marine environments. A slide represents a coherent translational mass transport of a block or strata on a planar
glide plane (shear surface) without internal deformation. A slide may be transformed into a slump, which represents a
coherent rotational mass transport of a block or strata on a concave-up glide plane (shear surface) with internal deformation.
Upon addition of fluid during downslope movement, slumped material may transform into a debris flow, which transports
sediment as an incoherent mass in which intergranular movements predominate over shear-surface movements. A debris
flow behaves as a plastic laminar flow with strength. As fluid content increases in debris flow, the flow may evolve into
Newtonian turbidity current. Not all turbidity currents, however, evolve from debris flows. Some turbidity currents may
evolve directly from sediment failures. Turbidity currents can develop near the shelf edge, on the slope, or in distal basinal
settings. From Shanmugam et al. (1994); B-Sediment concentration (% by volume) in gravity-driven processes. Slides and
slumps are composed entirely of sediment (100% by volume). Debris flows show a range of sediment concentration from 25%
to 100% by volume. Note that turbidity currents are low in sediment concentration (1%e23% by volume); implying low-
density flows. These concentration values are based on published data by various authors (see Shanmugam, 2000a, his
Fig. 4 for details); C-Based on mechanical behavior of gravity-driven downslope processes, mass-transport processes include
slide, slump, and debris flow, but not turbidity currents (Dott, 1963); D-The prefix “sandy” is used for mass-transport de-
posits that have grain (>0.06 mm: sand and gravel) concentration value equal to or above 20% by volume. The 20% value is
adopted from the original field classification of sedimentary rocks by Krynine (1948). See Shanmugam (1996) for discussion
on high-density turbidity currents. Modified after Shanmugam et al. (1994). With permission from AAPG. Modified after
Shanmugam (2012a).

laterally. In “open” channel-mouth environments, turbidity
currents result in a fan-shaped sediment body called lobes
(Fig. 12A). Debris flows, on the other hand, when released
from a flume channel formed tongue-like patterns (Fig. 12B).
Lobes show gradual increase in width downdip, whereas
tongues maintain more or less the same width. Although
some debris flows may develop small-scale lobate terminus
(Allen, 1985b, his Fig. 9.28a), they are not comparable to large-
scale turbidite lobes. Debris tongues are products of indi-
vidual events. When multiple events coalesce, however, their
geometry may be more complex than simple tongues. The
tongue-like patterns of debris flows are part of non-fan sys-
tems. Debris tongues have sharp and irregular fronts (i.e.,
snouts) due to freezing (Fig. 12B). Debrite tongues have been
Submarine fans: A critical retrospective (1950e2015) 125

Fig. 10 e Summary of sedimentological features associated with sandy slumps and associated debrites observed in core and
outcrop. These features, compiled from real-world examples, are useful in recognizing MTD types in the rock record. From
Shanmugam et al. (1995). With permission from AAPG.

mapped on the modern slopes of the Norwegian-Barents Sea
continental margin (Elverhøi et al., 1997). The depositional
difference between a fan and a tongue is of importance in
deep-water petroleum exploratrion for predicting the distri-
bution of reservoir facies.
2.5.1. Problematic high-density turbidity currents
The concept of “high-density turbidity currents” (HDTC) has
been the center of controversy for more than 65 years. This is
because the concept has been defined on the basis of four
conflicting parameters, namely, (1) flow density (Kuenen,
1950) or grain concentration (Pickering et al., 1989); (2)
driving force (Postma et al., 1988); (3) grain size (Lowe, 1982);
and (4) flow velocity (Kneller, 1995). These definitions are
inconsistent with one another in terms of Newtonian
rheology, turbulent state, and principal sediment-support
mechanism of turbulence, which are the properties that
define turbidity currents (Dott, 1963; Sanders, 1965; Middleton,
1993). As a consequence of multiple definitions of HDTC,
virtually any process on Earth can be classified as a high-
density turbidity current!
The distinction between “low” and “high” density currents
was set at a density value of 1.1 g/cm3 (Kuenen, 1966). High-
concentration flows (i.e., high-density turbidity currents)
have a density range of 1.5e2.4 g/cm3 (Middleton and
Hampton, 1973). A debris flow has a density of 2.0 g/cm3
126 G.Shanmugam

Fig. 11 e Graph showing rheology (stressestrain relationships) of Newtonian fluids and Bingham plastics. Note that the
fundamental rheological difference between debris flows (Bingham plastics) and turbidity currents (Newtonian fluids) is that
debris flows exhibit strength, whereas turbidity currents do not. Reynolds number is used for determining whether a flow is
turbulent (turbidity current) or laminar (debris flow) in state. Compiled from several sources (Dott, 1963; Enos, 1977; Pierson
and Costa, 1987; Phillips and Davies, 1991; Middleton and Wilcock, 1994). Reproduced from Shanmugam (1997a). Publication:
Earth-Science Reviews. With permission from Elsevier. Copyright Clearance Center's RightsLink: Licensee: G. Shanmugam.
License Number: 3694371044502. License Date: License Date: August 22, 2015.

(Hampton, 1972). Thus, high-density turbidity currents and
debris flows are one and the same from a density point of view
(Shanmugam, 1996) (Fig. 13A).
According to Bagnold (1962), typical turbidity currents can
function as truly turbulent suspensions only when their
sediment concentration by volume is below 9% or C < 9%
(Fig. 13A). Kuenen (1966) defined HDTC as those turbidity
currents with C > 6% (Fig. 13A). It is worth noting that in
studies of turbidity currents in laboratory experiments and in
numerical simulations, a value of C ¼ 1.25% is chosen (e.g.,
Garcı́a, 1994; Huang et al., 2007; Keevil et al., 2007; Islam et al.,
2008; El-Gawaad et al., 2012). Given these limitations, it is not
practical to conduct experimental studies of HDTC. Although,
Postma et al. (1988) conducted experiments on “HDTC” using a
C ¼ 40% value, they are not true turbidity currents (Fig. 13B).
Postma et al. (1988) used the concept of high-density turbidity
current for density-stratified flows in which the basal high-
concentration laminar layer is derived from and driven by
overriding turbidity currents (Fig. 13B). However, the basal
high-concentration layer (i.e., sandy debris flow) cannot be a
turbidity current because of its pseudoplastic rheology and its
laminar flow state (Fig. 13B). The basal layer with high sedi-
ment concentration would severely hinder settling, and would
freeze mudstone clasts in floating positions along a rheolog-
ical boundary (Fig. 13B). The basal laminar and upper turbu-
lent layers in high-density turbidity currents are analogous to
‘inertia’ and ‘viscous’ regions of Bagnold (1956). In laboratory
experiments of sandy debris flows, stratified flows, composed
of basal (laminar) debris flow and upper (turbulent) turbidity
current, are common (Shanmugam, 2000a). Such flows are not
high-density turbidity currents (Shanmugam, 1996).
Furthermore, no one has ever observed HDTC in the
world's oceans (see Shanmugam, 2012a, 2015b for reviews). In
the studies by (1) Heezen and Ewing (1952), (2) Inman et al.
(1976). (3) Hay et al. (1982), (4) Dengler and Wilde (1987), (5)
Normark (1989), (6) Khripounoff et al. (2003), (7) Parsons et al.
(2003), (8) Xu et al. (2004), and (9) Crookshanks and Gilbert
(2008), the authors have claimed the presence of turbidity
currents in modern environments. But none of the above
studies has provided the critical data on vertical sediment
concentration profiles with grain-size variations. Therefore,
the true existence of gravels and coarse sands in turbulent
Submarine fans: A critical retrospective (1950e2015)
suspensions of turbidity currents is undocumented. Specif-
ically, no one has ever documented stratified flows with a
basal “dense layer” in modern marine or lacustrine
environments.
In summary, publications that advocate the origin of sandy
submarine fans by HDTC (Mutti, 1992; Mutti et al., 2009;
Mulder, 2011; Talling et al., 2012; Postma et al., 2014) have
failed to acknowledge the fundamental problem of nonexis-
tence of HDTC in nature. In short, the concept of high-density
turbidity currents, somewhat analogous to the concept of ir-
rational numbers in Mathematics (Havil, 2014), is incom-
mensurable (Shanmugam, 2016).
2.5.2. Problematic flow transformation
The other unresolved issue is flow transformation in
sediment-gravity flows. Fisher (1983) proposed four types of
transformations for sediment-gravity flows: (1) body trans-
formation; (2) gravity transformation; (3) surface trans-
formation; and (4) elutriation transformation (Fig. 14). Flow
transformations cannot be established without knowing: (1)
initial flow behavior; (2) transport mechanisms; and (3) final
flow behavior. There are, however, no established criteria for
recognizing initial flow behavior and transport mechanisms
in the depositional record (Dott, 1963; Walton, 1967; Middleton
and Hampton, 1973; Carter, 1975; Stanley et al., 1978; Lowe,
1982; Postma, 1986; Middleton, 1993; Shanmugam, 1996).
Many of us use this universal constraint, which is the absence
of evidence for transport mechanism in the deposit, as a li-
cense to assume that all deep-water sands must have been
transported by turbidity currents but that they underwent
late-stage plastic transformation so as to resemble debris-flow
deposits. If we continue to follow such an assumption-based
(i.e., model-driven) interpretation, then there is no need to
examine deep-water sands to understand their depositional
origin; we can simply assume that all deep-water sands are
turbidites. Disappointingly, this is the approach that many
pursue in the geologic community (e.g., Hiscott et al., 1997). As
a result, the geologic literature is saturated with examples of
‘turbidites,’ irrespective of whether these sediments were
transported and deposited by turbidity currents or by some
other processes.
In discussing the physics of debris flows, Iverson (1997)
states, ‘When mass movement occurs, the sedimentewater mix-
tures transform to a flowing, liquid-like state, but eventually they
transform back to nearly rigid deposits.’ Although such trans-
formations can occur during transport, evidence for flow
transformations cannot be inferred from the final deposit. We
may never resolve this issue of flow transformation because it
would be like attempting to establish the previous life history
of a human being after reincarnation!
2.6. Bottom currents
There are four basic types of deep-water bottom currents
(Shanmugam, 2008a). They are (1) thermohaline-induced
geostrophic bottom currents or contour currents (Heezen
et al., 1966; Hollister, 1967; Hollister and Heezen, 1972), (2)
wind-driven surface and related bottom currents (Pequegnat,
1972), (3) deep-water tidal bottom currents (Shepard et al.,
1979), and (4) baroclinic currents associated with internal
127
waves and tides (Apel, 1987; Shanmugam, 2013a). The genetic
term “contourite”, analogous to turbidites, was originally
introduced for deposits of thermohaline-induced contour
currents in the deep ocean (Hollister, 1967). Traction struc-
tures are common in contourites (Hollister, 1967; Bouma and
Hollister, 1973). Mutti (1992) interpreted traction structures
as evidence for ancient contourites. My studies worldwide
have shown that traction structures are ubiquitous in bottom-
current deposits of all kinds (Fig. 15A). This has created
problems in distinguishing deep-sea sediments with traction
structures either as turbidites, using the Bouma Sequence, or
as contourites (Bouma and Hollister, 1973). This controversy
regarding the role of traction structures in contourites still
persists (Martın-Chivelet et al., 2008; Stow and Faugeres, 2008;
Shanmugam, 2012a).
Deep-marine tidal bottom currents in submarine canyons
and in their vicinity are one of the best-studied and most
extensively documented modern geologic processes (e.g.,
Shepard et al., 1969, 1979). Selected examples of studies that
dealt with tidal processes and/or their deposits in modern and
ancient deep-water environments have been reviewed by
Shanmugam (2003, 2008a). Klein (1975), based on studies of
DSDP (Leg 30, Sites 288 and 289) cores, suggested that current
ripples, micro-cross-laminae, mud drapes, flaser bedding,
lenticular bedding, and parallel laminae reflect alternate trac-
tion and suspension deposition from tidal bottom currents in
deep-marine environments. Perhaps, the single most diag-
nostic structure of tidal origin is the double mud layers (DML)
(Visser, 1980) in deep-water strata that clearly suggest depo-
sition by tidal bottom currents in offshore Nigeria (Fig. 15B).
There are major implications for sediment geometries
when interpreting ancient strata as turbidites vs. tidalites. In
channel-mouth environments, downslope turbidity currents
are likely to develop depositional lobes (Fig. 15C), whereas bi-
directional tidal bottom currents are likely to develop elongate
bars (Fig. 15C). Turbidite lobes are aligned perpendicular to
channel axis, whereas tidal bars are aligned parallel to chan-
nel axis. Depositional lobes are likely to be much larger than
channel width (Fig. 15C), whereas tidal sand bars are thought
to be much smaller than channel width (Fig. 15C). Deep-water
elongate tidal bars are speculated to be analogous to tidal bar
sands that develop in shallow-water estuarine environments
(see Shanmugam et al., 2000). In frontier exploration areas, an
incorrect use of a turbidite-lobe model (with sheet geometry)
instead of a tidal bar model (with bar geometry) will result in
an unrealistic overestimation of sandstone reservoirs.
Baroclinic currents associated with internal waves and
internal tides have been reviewed by Shanmugam (2013a).
Deposits of baroclinic currents are called baroclinites. At
present, there are no diagnostic sedimentary structures for
recognizing baroclinites. Consequently, facies models asso-
ciated with these deposits are the subject of lively debates
(Shanmugam, 2014a, 2014b; Dunham and Saller, 2014; Gao
et al., 2014).
2.7. Hyperpycnal lows
In advocating a rational theory for delta formation, Bates
(1953) suggested three major flow types: (1) hypopycnal flow
for floating river water that has lower density than basin
128 G.Shanmugam

Fig. 12 e A-Flume experiments of turbidity currents showing fan-shaped outline of the flow as it spreads out at the channel
mouth. The development of a fan geometry is possible due to settling of fine sediment from turbulent suspension. Flow from
upper left to lower right (green arrow). Photo from experiments conducted by M. L. Natland, and courtesy of G. C. Brown; B-Flume
experiments of debris flows showing tongue-like sediment (three white arrows) in front of the channel mouth. Note sharp and
irregular fronts (i.e., snouts). The development of a tongue geometry is possible due to en masse freezing of sediment from high-
concentration laminar debris flows. Flow from upper right to lower left (green arrow). Photo courtesy of J. Marr (St. Anthony Falls
Laboratory, University of Minnesota). Figures from Shanmugam (2012a). Publication: Elsevier Books. Handbook of Petroleum
Exploration and Production, Volume 9 (2012). With permission from Elsevier. Copyright Clearance Center's RightsLink: Li-
censee: G. Shanmugam. License Number: 501039431. License Date: License Date: August 22, 2015.

water (Fig. 16A); (2) homopycnal flow for mixing river water
that has equal density as basin water (Fig. 16B); and (3)
hyperpycnal flow for sinking river water that has higher
density than basin water (Fig. 16C). Mulder et al. (2003)
expanded the applicability of the concept of hyperpycnal
flows from shallow water (deltaic) to deep-water (continental
slope and abyssal plain) environments. However, the direct
transportation of gravel and sand from river mouths to sub-
marine fans in deep water by hyperpycnal flows in modern
oceans has never been documented using empirical data. For
example, Warrick et al. (2013), who suggested hyperpycnal
plume-derived fans in the Santa Barbara Channel, California,
did not provide the much-needed empirical data on the
sediment grain size. Shallow-water muddy hyperpycnal flows
should not be confused with deep-water sandy turbidity cur-
rents (Shanmugam, 2012a).
2.8. Pelagic and hemipelagic settling
The term abyssal plain refers to a flat region of the ocean floor,
usually at the base of a continental rise, where slope is less than
1:1000 (Heezen et al., 1959). A more general term basin plain is
commonly used by the geologic community in referring to
ancient examples. Basin plains form in response to filling and
leveling sea-floor topography by ponding of turbidity currents
and other processes. Pelagic and hemipelagic processes
generally refer to settling of mud fractions derived from the
continents and from the shells of micro fauna through the
water column onto the entire deep-ocean floor. Lisitsyn (1986)
Submarine fans: A critical retrospective (1950e2015) 129

Fig. 13 e A-Plot of sediment concentration for different flow types. Note that a typical turbidity current can exist only in
sediment concentration less than 9% by volume (Bagnold, 1962). Modified after Shanmugam (1996). Reproduced with
permission from SEPM; B-Experimental stratified flows with a basal laminar-inertia flow and an upper (turbulent) turbidity
current that have been termed as “high-density turbidity currents.” Figure from Postma et al. (1988). Publication: Sedi-
mentary Geology. With permission from Elsevier. Copyright Clearance Center's RightsLink: Licensee: G. Shanmugam. Li-
cense Number: 3694490328684. License Date: License Date: August 22, 2015.

labeled pelagic and hemipelagic deposits as suspensites. The
term hemipelagites refers to deposits of hemipelagic settling of
deep-sea mud in which more than 25% of the fraction coarser
than 5 microns is of terrigenous, volcanogenic, and/or neritic
origin. Although pelagic and hemipelagic muds accumulate
throughout the entire deep-ocean floor, they are better pre-
served in parts of abyssal plains. Rates of sedimentation vary
from less than one mm per 1000 years to greater than 50 cm per
1000 years, with the highest rates on the upper continental
margin. Pelagites and hemipelagites are characterized by
mudstone lithofacies, which are commonly interbedded with
turbidites, debrites, slumps, and slides as well as with con-
tourites and other bottom-current deposits.
In summary, low-density turbidity currents do exist in
nature. They are mostly muddy flows that can develop fan-
shaped geometry. All gravelly and coarse sandy deposits
owe their origin to mass-transport processes. Typical fan
deposits are difficult to explain by high-density turbidity
130 G.Shanmugam

Fig. 14 e Four types of flow transformations in sediment-gravity flows. Modified after Fisher (1983). Figure from Shanmugam
(2000a). Publication: Marine and Petroleum Geology. With permission from Elsevier. Copyright Clearance Center's Right-
sLink: Licensee: G. Shanmugam. License Number: 3694361194578. License Date: License Date: August 22, 2015 (Fisher, 1979;
Middleton, 1970).
Submarine fans: A critical retrospective (1950e2015) 131

Fig. 15 e A-Summary of traction features interpreted as indicative of deep-water bottom-current reworking. From
Shanmugam et al., 1993a, with permission from AAPG; B-A core photograph showing double mud layers (DML), indicative of
deposition by deep-marine tidal currents, in a submarine-canyon setting. Pliocene strata, Edop Field, offshore Nigeria; C-
Contrasting styles of deposition between turbidity currents and tidal currents in deep-water channel-mouth environments.
Left: Turbidite lobes are larger than channel width. Sediment transport is unidirectional (arrow). Right: Deep-marine tidal
deposits develop elongate bars within the channel. Bars are aligned parallel to channel axis. Tidal bars are smaller than
channel width. Sediment transport is bidirectional (arrows). Figures B and C from Shanmugam (2003). Publication: Marine
and Petroleum Geology. With permission from Elsevier. Copyright Clearance Center's RightsLink: Licensee: G. Shanmugam.
License Number: 3694360410365. License Date: License Date: August 22, 2015.

currents because no one has ever documented their exis-
tence in modern environments. Bottom currents are
important in reworking sands, but they are not the principal
agents in forming submarine fans. In ancient strata, it is
difficult to distinguish basineplain turbidites from outer-fan
turbidites.
3. Submarine fans: canyons, channels, and
lobes
Mutti and Normark (1987) and Mutti et al. (2009, their Fig. 18),
discussed various erosional and depositional elements of
deep-water systems, which include canyons, channels,
channel-lobe transition, lobes, basin plains, etc. I have
selected the three basic elements of submarine fans, namely
canyons, channels, and lobes for discussion here. Some major
submarine fans, such as the Bengal, Amazon, Mississippi,
Monterey, and Nile (Fig. 17), are associated with submarine
canyons (Table 2). However, not all canyons (e.g. the Great
Bahama Canyon) are associated with submarine fans.
3.1. Submarine canyons
Submarine canyon is a steep-sided valley that incises into the
continental shelf and slope (Shepard and Dill, 1966). V-shaped
profile of submarine canyons is common, although U-shaped
profiles have also been observed. Canyons serve as major
conduits for sediment transport from land and the shelf to the
deep-sea environment worldwide (Normark and Carlson,
2003). Smaller erosional features on the continental slope
are commonly termed gullies in modern environments;
however, there are no standardized criteria to distinguish
canyons from gullies in the rock record. Similarly, the
distinction between submarine canyons and submarine
erosional channels is not straightforward. Thus alternative
132 G.Shanmugam

Fig. 16 e Schematic diagrams showing three types of density variations in river water in deltaic environments. A-Hypo-
pycnal flow in which density of river water is less than density of basin water; B- Homopycnal flow in which density of river
water is equal to density of basin water; C-Hyperpycnal flow in which density of river water is greater than density of basin
water (Based on concepts of Bates (1953)). Figure from Shanmugam (2012a). Publication: Elsevier Books. Handbook of Pe-
troleum Exploration and Production, Volume 9 (2012). With permission from Elsevier. Copyright Clearance Center's Right-
sLink: Licensee: G. Shanmugam. License Number: 3694470833082. License Date: License Date: August 22, 2015.

terms, such as gullies, channels, troughs, trenches, fault val-
leys, and sea valleys are in use for submarine canyons in the
published literature (see Shanmugam, 2002b). Normark and
Carlson (2003) compared submarine canyons and their cross
sections near the shelf edge and reported that the Zhemchug
Canyon from the North American Margin of the Bering Sea has
the largest cross section (Fig. 18). Zhemchug Canyon has a
volume of 5800 km3 (Carlson and Karl, 1988). The Bering
Canyon has the largest area of all canyons studied (Table 2).
The importance of mass movements in shaping large sub-
marine canyons in the Beringian continental margin was
discussed by Carlson et al. (1991).
A variety of deposits, such as turbidites, slumps, debrites,
tidalites, and hemipelagites, can accumulate within subma-
rine canyons (Fig. 19A). From an economic point of view,
submarine canyons are of significance. In the Bay of Bengal,
for example, the offshore Krishna-Godavari (KG) Basin con-
tains important petroleum-producing deep-water sandstone
reservoirs in submarine canyons (Shanmugam et al., 2009).
These petroleum reservoirs are interpreted as canyon-fill
sandy debrites and tidalites (Fig. 19B). A case study of the KG
Basin is discussed in Section 3.11.
Harris and Whiteway (2011), based on ETOPO1 bathymetric
grid, compiled the first inventory of 5849 separate large sub-
marine canyons in the world's oceans. They classified canyons
into three basic types:

Type1: shelf-incising canyons having heads with connec-
tion to a major river or estuarine system, but they do not
incise onto the land;

Type 2: shelf-incising canyons with no clear connection to
a major river or estuarine system;

Type 3: slope-incising blind canyons with their heads
confined to the continental slope.
Harris and Whiteway (2011) reported that canyons exhibit
an impressive array of statistics from their length and spacing
to their slope, depth range, dendricity, and sinuosity. Active
Submarine fans: A critical retrospective (1950e2015) 133

Fig. 17 e Location map of selected submarine canyons and related submarine fans (in most cases) in the world's oceans.
Modified after Normark and Carlson (2003), with permission from the Geological Society of America. Examples added in this
article are (see Table 2): (1) Mississippi (Coleman et al., 1982), (2) Var (Shepard and Dill, 1966), (3) Nile (Rosetta) (Migeon et al.,
2012), (4) Hudson (Shepard and Dill, 1966), (5) Great Bahama (Shepard and Dill, 1966), (6) Andøya (Laberg et al., 2007), (7) KG
(Krishna-Godavari) (Shanmugam et al., 2009), (8) Kushiro (Noda et al., 2008), (9) Bass (Mitchell et al., 2007), and (10) Wegener
(Fütterer et al., 1990). Shaded relief base map: http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/topo/img/globeco3.gif. Accessed July 26, 2011.

continental margins contain 44.2% of all canyons (2586) and
passive margins contain 38.4% (2244). Canyons are steeper,
shorter, more dendritic, and more closely spaced on active
than on passive continental margins. River-associated, shelf-
incising canyons are more numerous on active continental
margins (n ¼ 119) than on passive margins (n ¼ 34). They are
most common on the western margins of South and North
America where they comprise 11.7% and 8.6% of canyons,
respectively. In the Mediterranean Sea, where 518 large sub-
marine canyons have been identified (Harris and Whiteway,
2011), all three types of canyons are present (Fig. 20A).
3.2. Submarine channels
Submarine channels can be either erosional, aggradational, or
both (Normark, 1970). Two major types of submarine chan-
nels, namely meandering (Damuth et al., 1988) and braided
(Belderson et al., 1984), have been recognized on the modern
seafloor. Both converging (Hesse, 1989) and diverging
channels (Flood et al., 1995) have also been identified. How-
ever, there are no standardized criteria to distinguish can-
yons, gullies, and channels from one another.
Peakall et al. (2012) studied the global (latitudinal) variation
in submarine channel sinuosity. Peakall et al. (2015) summa-
rized that “Submarine fans, the world's largest sedimentary accu-
mulations, were classified for two decades into two end members:
high-sinuosity, low-gradient, fine-grained fans, and low-sinuosity,
high-gradient, coarse-grained systems. However, the most sinuous
modern submarine channels such as the Amazon, Bengal, Indus, and
Zaire, along with ancient sinuous submarine channels, such as
offshore West Africa and the Gulf of Mexico, are all located in
equatorial regions. In contrast, modern submarine channels in
higher latitudes approach straight. Quantitative comparison of
submarine channel peak sinuosity with latitude reinforces these
observations and suggests that there is a very strong latitudinal
control on submarine channel sinuosity, with the spectacular high
sinuosity channels around the equator, and channels north and
south of ~50e60 tending towards straight… This relationship
134
between peak channel sinuosity and latitude is much stronger than
that with slope, demonstrating that the classical fan model fails on a
global basis. Such, variation in sinuosity with latitude is unique to
submarine channels, with no comparable relationship for terrestrial
river channels.”
3.3. Submarine lobes
The submarine lobe concept was initiated with the term
“suprafan lobe” for modern fans (Normark, 1970), and the
term “depositional lobe” for ancient fans (Mutti and Ghibaudo,
1972). Since then, the term lobe has been used loosely with
divergent meanings, causing unnecessary confusion
(Shanmugam and Moiola, 1988, 1991; Mulder and Etienne,
2010). I list below various types of submarine lobes, their
settings, and associated processes:
(1) Suprafan lobe: middle fan, turbidity currents (Normark,
1970)
(2) Depositional lobe: outer fan, turbidity currents (Mutti
and Ghibaudo, 1972; Mutti, 1977)
(3) Fan lobe: entire fan, turbidity currents (Bouma et al.,
1985b)
(4) Ponded lobe: slope/inner fan, slumps (Nelson et al.,
1985)
(5) Erosional lobe: entire fan (Thornburg and Kulm, 1987)
(6) Debris lobe: upper continental slope, tongue-like debris
flows (Elverhøi et al., 1997)
(7) Slump lobe: continental margin, submarine sediment
deformation (Smith, 2000)
(8) Slide lobe ¼ slide debris lobe: slope, mass movements
and turbidity currents (Haflidason et al., 2004)
(9) Perched lobe: middle slope, contour currents and grav-
ity processes (Marche s et al., 2010)
(10) Mass-low lobe: basin plain, turbidity currents (Lee et al.,
2011)
(11) Fan lobe ¼ depositional lobe: intraslope basin, depletive
high-density turbidity currents (Gamberi and Rovere,
2011; Gamberi et al., 2014)
(12) The Zappulla fan lobe: channel, mass-transport pro-
cesses (Gamberi et al., 2015)
(13) Crevasse lobe: adjacent to a channel, avulsion by
turbidity currents (Morris et al., 2014). This type was
previously described as a HARP (High-Amplitude
Reflection Packets) on seismic data from the Amazon
Fan (Section 3.8.2).
Clearly, the lobe problem is chronic. In the following case
studies, problems associated with various elements (i.e.,
canyons, channels, and lobes) are discussed using mostly
modern systems. Although abyssal plains are closely related
to submarine fans and are extensive in their distribution on
modern seafloor (Weaver et al., 1987), they are not discussed.
3.4. The Var submarine system, Mediterranean Sea
The Var submarine erosional and depositional systems, off
the French Rivera, have been studied in detail during the past
two decades (Piper and Savoye, 1993; Savoye et al., 1993;
Mulder et al., 1998; Bonnel et al., 2003; Migeon et al., 2006,
G.Shanmugam
2012; Jorry et al., 2011). The submarine canyons on the Lig-
urian margin have been reviewed succinctly by Migeon et al.
(2012). There are seventeen canyons along the continental
slope, covering the area between the city of Nice (France) and
the Gulf of Genova (Italy). They are, from west to east, (1) the
Var (Fig. 20B), (2) Paillon, (3) Roya, (4) Nervia, (5) Taggia, (6)
Verde, (7) Mercula, (8) Laigueglia, (9) Cuenta, (10) Varatella, (11)
Pora, (12) Finale, (13) Noli, (14) Vado, (15) Polcevera, (16)
Bisagno and (17) Levante Canyons. These canyons initiate
either at a shallow water depth, directly at the mouth of some
of the rivers feeding the Ligurian continental slope and basin,
or at greater depth, along the outer continental shelf or even
on the upper continental slope. However, the focus of this
section is on the unusual sandy lobe associated with the Var
Canyon (Fig. 20B). This lobe is unusual because it does not
occur at the terminus of the Var Canyon with diverging dis-
tributary channels. Normally, lobes develop at the mouths of
diverging distributary channels. And the lobes are commonly
aligned parallel to the axis of the feeder canyon (see Fig. 5B).
The Var lobe, however, is a consequence of complex seafloor
topography associated with local tectonic features (Migeon
et al., 2006). As a result, the feeder channel makes an un-
usual U-turn, which forces the Var lobe to occur almost at a
perpendicular direction (NEeSW) to the VareCanyon axis
(NWeSE) (Fig. 20B). Therefore, the Var lobe and its feeder
channel cannot be classified as a typical “submarine fan” (see
Fig. 5B).
According to Bonnel et al. (2003), the Var sandy lobe is
located at a water depth of 2700 m and at a distance of 230 km
from the Var canyon head. The Var lobe, 80 km long and 40 km
wide, is located at the base of the Corsican slope (Fig. 20C).
Further studies of the Var lobe would be helpful for un-
derstanding the sand distribution in similar settings for the
following reasons:

The Var lobe, if encountered in the ancient rock record
elsewhere, could be a potential candidate for misinter-
pretation as a “detached lobe” (see Section 5.2.2 below). But
there are no criteria to recognize them.

From a process sedimentological point of view, sediment
core information is insufficient to make any interpretation
on its depositional origin by one process versus the other
(i.e., sandy turbidity currents vs. sandy debris flows).
Although Jorry et al. (2011) reported muddy turbidites from
sediment cores taken from various parts of the Var Sedi-
mentary Ridge, no core information from the Var sandy
lobe is available. So, its origin remains a puzzle.

Given the isolated position of the lobe in the middle of an
abyssal plain and its impressive dimensions, it has a great
potential for developing important petroleum reservoirs in
the rock record. At present, there are no predictive deep-
water models for such isolated sandstone reservoirs.

The Var sandy lobe tends to truncate the Proto lobe, off
western Corsica (Fig. 20C). Aspects of this lobe truncation
was pointed out by Kenyon et al. (2002). Such scenarios of
lobe truncations need to be understood for developing
criteria to recognize analogous lobe stratigraphy elsewhere.
For the above reasons, future research on the Var lobe
should attempt to study long sediment cores recovered from
Submarine fans: A critical retrospective (1950e2015) 135

Table 2 e Selected modern submarine canyons, their dimensions, and their associations with submarine fans. Compiled
from Normark and Carlson (2003).
Number Submarine canyons Area (km2) Associated submarine fans
(Fig. 18)
1 Zhemchug 11,350 Yes (Normark and Carlson, 2003)
2 Bering 30,800 Yes (Normark and Carlson, 2003)
3 Navarin 14,600 Yes (Normark and Carlson, 2003)
4 Montereya 2380 Yes (Normark and Carlson, 2003)
5 La Jolla 33 Yes (Normark and Carlson, 2003)
6 Horizon Channel No data Yes (Normark and Carlson, 2003)
7 Swatch of No Ground 9000 Yes (Normark and Carlson, 2003)
8 Swatch 1700 Yes (Normark and Carlson, 2003)
9 Amazona 2250 Yes (Normark and Carlson, 2003)
10 Zaire (Congo) 4470 Yes (Normark and Carlson, 2003)
11 Laurentian Fan Valley No data Yes (Normark and Carlson, 2003)

Submarine canyons added Canyon details Associated submarine fans/lobes

in this article (Fig. 17)

e KG (Krishna-Godavari) Basina Length: 22 km Yes (Shanmugam et al., 2009)

(Shanmugam et al., 2009) Width: 500e1000 m
Incision: 250 m
Deflections: 90
(Shanmugam et al., 2009)
e Mississippi canyona (Bouma et al., 1985a) Length: 120 km Yes (Bouma et al., 1985a)
Width: 8 km
Relief: 300 m
(Coleman et al., 1982)
e Var Canyon, Francea (Shepard and Dill, 1966) Length: 28 km Yes (Migeon et al., 2006)
Water depth: 49e1996 m
(Shepard and Dill, 1966)
e Western Corsica canyonsa (Kenyon et al., 2002) Small and straight Yes (Kenyon et al., 2002)
Maximum water depth: 1500 m
Axial gradient: 10
(Kenyon et al., 2002)
e Nile Canyon (Rosetta)a (Migeon et al., 2012) Initiation depth: 70 m Yes (Ducossou et al., 2009;
Length: 25 km Migeon et al., 2010)
Nearly straight
200e250 m deep
(Migeon et al., 2012)
e Hudson Canyon (Shepard and Dill, 1966) Length: 93 km Yes (USGS, 1994)
Depth: 91e2134 m
(Shepard and Dill, 1966)
e Great Bahama Canyon (Shepard and Dill, 1966) Length: 225 km No (This article)
The world's highest wall
relief of 4285 m.
(Shepard and Dill, 1966)
e Andøya Canyon (Laberg et al., 2007) Steep upper headwall (20 e25 ) Yes (Laberg et al., 2005)
(Laberg et al., 2007)
e Kushiro Canyon (Noda et al., 2008) Nearly straight Yes (Noda et al., 2008)
Length: 230 km
Depth: 900e3250 m
(Noda et al., 2008)
e Bass Canyon (Mitchell et al., 2007) Depth: 3000 m Yes (Mitchell et al., 2007)
V-shaped canyon walls (up to 35 )
U-shaped canyons walls (<10 )
(Mitchell et al., 2007)
e Wegener Canyon (Fütterer et al., 1990) Length: 85 km No data
Depth: 1200 m
Bottom width: 4 km
SW flank slope: 24
(Fütterer et al., 1990)
a
Case studies discussed in this article.
136
Fig. 18 e Comparison of cross sections of submarine canyons near shelf edge (Table 2). After Normark and Carlson (2003),
with permission from the Geological Society of America. See also Carlson and Karl (1988).
this sand body, perhaps under the auspices of Integrated
Ocean Drilling Program (IODP). Such a study should focus on
gathering basic information on sediment texture, structure,
porosity, and permeability.
3.5. The CorsicaeSardinia sandy lobes, Mediterranean
Sea
Kenyon et al. (2002) documented canyons and related sub-
marine lobes on the western margin of Corsica and Sardinia
(Fig. 20C). The margin west of Corsica is dissected by deep (up
to 1500 m), straight canyons that have steep axial gradients
(10 slopes are common). These canyons extend from land to
sea without a break in gradient. Six separate depositional
lobes were recognized, extending beyond the canyon mouths
(Fig. 20C). Deep-towed, high-resolution seismic profiles across
part of one lobe show stacked sedimentary sheets, a few tens
of kilometres wide. Cores from these sheets contain coarse to
medium sand beds that are up to 3 m thick, with some mud
clasts in the middle of the beds and up to 3% clay in the sand
matrix. Kenyon et al. (2002) acknowledged the controversy
surrounding the interpretation of massive sands with floating
mud clasts either as deposits of high-density turbidity cur-
rents (Postma et al., 1988) or as deposits of sandy debris flows
(Shanmugam, 1996). Kenyon et al. (2002) preferred an inter-
pretation of these sands as deposits of hyperconcentrated
G.Shanmugam
sandy flows (Mulder and Alexander, 2001). The problem with
the concept of hyperconcentrated flows is that these flows
have a very high sediment concentration value of 20%e60% by
volume (Fig. 13A). In other words, both hyperconcentrated
flows and high-density turbidity currents are an euphemism
for sandy debris flows (Shanmugam, 2012a).
Analogous to the western margin of Corsica, the eastern
margin of Corsica also has well-developed fans. For example,
Gervais et al. (2006) studied a distal lobe of the sandy Golo
system (area: Z500 km2), located on the eastern margin of
Corsica. The Golo system is fed by a single river, which sup-
plies mainly coarse sand derived from active weathering of
the neighbouring mountains. The study is focused on the
latest Pleistocene distal lobe of a confined Golo system.
Although sediment core contains coarse sands, the authors do
not discuss the depositional origin of sandy beds by a specific
process. They used a generelal term “gravity currents”, and
thus the precise origin of the sandy lobes is unclear.
Deptuck et al. (2008) documented the dimensions and ar-
chitecture of late Pleistocene submarine fan lobes off the
northern margin of East Corsica. Most lobes increase abruptly
down-slope to a peak thickness of 8e42 m, beyond which they
show a progressive, typically more gradual decrease in
thickness until they thin to below seismic resolution or pass
into draping facies of the basin plain. Lobe areas range from 3
to 70 km2 and total lengths from 2 to 14 km, with the locus of
Submarine fans: A critical retrospective (1950e2015) 137

Fig. 19 e A-Types of submarine canyon- or channel-fill facies. From Shanmugam and Moiola (1988). Publication: Earth-
Science Reviews. With permission from Elsevier. Copyright Clearance Center's RightsLink: Licensee: G. Shanmugam. Li-
cense Number: 3694380132694. License Date: License Date: August 22, 2015; B-An example of canyon-fill facies is composed
of sandy debrites, sandy tidalites, and muddy slumps. The intercanyon facies is composed of muddy slumps and debrites
with sand injectites in core. Severe sediment deformation is evident both below and above the canyon wall. The lack of core
recovery at the canyon wall may be due to extreme sediment deformation. Krishna-Godavari Basin, Bay of Bengal. After
Shanmugam et al. (2009), with permission from SEPM. See Fig. 27C for location of Well 2.

maximum sediment accumulation from 3 to 28 km from the
shelf-break. The depositional origin of these lobes is based on
seismic facies. No sediment core information is provided to
distinguish turbidites vs. debrite origin of sands.
3.6. The two Villafranca lobes, Mediterranean Sea
Gamberi et al. (2014), based on the analysis of multibeam and
CHIRP subbottom data, studied the Villafranca “fan lobe” that
formed on the 0.5 dipping seafloor of the Gioia intraslope
basin, in the southeastern Tyrrhenian Sea. They explained the
origin of the channel-mouth bar by using experimental ana-
logs of expanding “depletive high-density turbidity currents”
(Baas et al., 2004). However, Gamberi et al. (2014) did not pro-
vide the critical core-based sedimentological evidence in
justifying their precise process interpretation, although box
cores were taken from the distal position of the lobe. Impor-
tantly, no one has ever documented deposits of “depletive
high-density turbidity currents” from the modern seafloor
anywhere in the world's oceans. Sophisticated process
interpretations from seismic data alone, although popular in
some circles (e.g., Posamantier and Kolla, 2003), are nothing
more than mental exercises without verifiable empirical data
from related sediment cores.
Gamberi and Rovere (2011) previously studied the “eastern
lobe” of the two lobes in the Villafranca system, which they
defined as a “depositional lobe”. As noted above, Gamberi et al.
(2014) defined the adjacent “western lobe” as a “fan lobe”.
Gamberi et al. (2014) used the terms “depositional lobe” and
“fan lobe” interchangeably. This is confusing because the
depositional lobes represent only the channel-mouth deposits
that develop in the lower/outer fan environments (Mutti,
1977), whereas the fan lobes represent the entire fan system
(Bouma et al., 1985b). The Mississippi Fan in the Gulf of Mexico,
the type locality for the fan lobe, covers the canyon (1200 m
water depth) in the upper fan to the fan terminus in the lower
fan (3350 m water depth) (Bouma et al., 1985b). The key dif-
ference is that both the “depositional lobe” and the “fan lobe”
of the Villafranca system occur within the slope setting,
whereas the Mississippi Fan is developed mostly on the
138 G.Shanmugam

Fig. 20 e A-Three types of submarine canyons have been identified among the 518 large canyons in the Mediterranean Sea
(modified from Harris and Whiteway, 2011). From Würtz, (2012). With permission from IUCN (International Union for Con-
servation of Nature); B-Shaded bathymetric map illustrating the morphology of the western Ligurian margin with six can-
yons, including the Var Canyon. Note the approximate position of the Var sandy lobe inserted in this article from Migeon
et al. (2006) for discussion purposes (not to scale). Map modified after Migeon et al. (2012). With permission from IUCN (In-
ternational Union for Conservation of Nature); C-Six canyon-mouth lobes of western Corsica and north-western Sardinia
Islands. Note that the “Var lobe” listed here is related to the “Var canyon” off Nice, SE France (Migeon et al., 2012). Dark-brown
areas indicate the main canyons (modified from Kenyon et al., 2002). Color map from Würtz M., (2012). With permission from
IUCN.

basinal setting, downslope from the slope proper. Similarly,
the depositional lobe is meant for lower-fan settings (Mutti,
1977) (see Section 5.2.7 below). Casual application of the lobe
terms by Gamberi and Rovere (2011), without regard for the
intended meanings by the original researchers (Mutti and
Bouma), causes confusion.
3.7. The Nile fan, Mediterranean Sea
Migeon et al. (2012) provide a recent review of the Nile-fan
system, which is the largest Plio-Quaternary accumulation
of sediments in the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile River has
delivered particles to the deep sea since the Messinian Salinity
Crisis. The present-day Nile deep-sea fan forms a 2000e2500-
m thick Pliocene and Quaternary sediment bulge. The
continental-slope angle is usually lower than 2 . In the Nile-
fan system, the Rosetta canyon feeds a complex “turbidite”
and meandering channel system, through which most of the
erosion products and nutrients originating from the Nile
drainage are dispersed into the deep Herodotus abyssal plain,
located several hundred kilometers away from the coast line
(Migeon et al., 2012).
Ducassou et al. (2009) provided an overview of the evolution
of the Nile deep-sea “turbidite system” during the last 200 kyr,
over a series of glacial to interglacial cycles. Six individual
deep-sea fans were identified from an extensive field data set.
Each fan comprises a canyon, channel system and terminal
lobes. Ducassou et al. (2009) also reported that sediment
dispersal across the Nile margin was strongly influenced by
monsoon-driven variations in sediment and water discharges
from the Nile River, as well as by eustatic sea-level fluctua-
tions. Arid periods, mostly coeval with sea level lowstands,
are characterized by high rates of coarse-grained supply from
the Nile. In their study, with an emphasis on climate change,
Submarine fans: A critical retrospective (1950e2015) 139

Fig. 21 e A-Location map showing the location of the Sequoia field within the West Delta Deep Marine (WDDM) and Rosetta
concessions, offshore Nile Delta; B-Schematic cross section of the Pliocene Sequoia reservoir illustrating the principal
architectural elements that are likely to impact reservoir behavior; C-Six schematic block diagrams that summarize, in
ascending order, the depositional evolution of the Sequoia channel system. From Cross et al. (2009). With permission from
AAPG.

process sedimentological details are insufficient to under-
stand the true depositional origin of sands (i.e., high-density
turbidite vs. sandy debrite).
Deep-water petroleum reservoirs are of importance in the
Nile-fan system. Cross et al. (2009) documented the three-
dimensional seismic geomorphology of a deep-water slope-
channel system in the Sequoia field, offshore west Nile Delta,
Egypt. Within the Nile Delta gas province, reservoirs are
dominated by Pliocene slope-channel systems (Fig. 21). The
reservoir consists of a succession of sandstones and mud-
stones organized into a composite upward-fining profile. Sand
bodies include laterally amalgamated channels, sinuous
channels, channels with frontal splays, and leveed channels
(Fig. 21B). These sands are interpreted to be the products of
deep-water gravity-flow processes. The depositional evolu-
tion of the Sequoia channel system involved six stages
(Fig. 21C). Initial erosion of the channel (stage I) was followed
by the deposition of laterally amalgamated channels in stage
II. Sinuous channels with aggradational stacking patterns in
stage III imply a relatively high frequency of gravity flows,
whereas an overall waning in sediment caliber and flow fre-
quency is suggested by the channels and frontal splays of
stage IV. The channel system is effectively abandoned during
mudstone deposition in stage V and buried by prograding
sand sheets in stage VI.
3.8. Amazon Fan, Equatorial Atlantic
Modern Amazon Fan is known for its extensive distribution of
mass-transport deposits (Damuth et al., 1988; Piper et al., 1997).
They are known as “Western debris flow” and “Eastern debris
flow” (Fig. 22A). In some cases, these deposits cover an area of
about 15,000 km2 (approximately the size of Jamaica), with a
maximum thickness of 200 m (Maslin, 2009).
3.8.1. Sinuous channels
Submarine channels on mature passive-margin settings tend
to be relatively long, bifurcating, of low gradient, and largely
140 G.Shanmugam

Fig. 22 e A-Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Leg 155 Sites, Amazon Fan; note “Western debris flow” and “Eastern debris flow”;
B-Sedimentological log of channel-fill element at Site 934. Note rafted clasts and deformed clasts in sandy matrix, suggesting
deposition from sandy debris flow. Location map after Normark et al. (1997) and Site Log after Shipboard Scientific Party
(1995a); C-Core photograph showing floating pebble in fine sandy matrix suggesting deposition from sandy debris flow.
ODP Leg 155, Site 934B, channel fill, Amazon Fan. Photo courtesy of J. E. Damuth; D-Core photograph showing sharp-based
and normally graded bed (arrow) with medium sand at the base (39.5 cm) and silt at top from channel-fill deposits. Normal
grading is interpreted as evidence for deposition from turbidity currents. ODP Leg 155, Site 934A, 10He6, 26e44 cm, Amazon
Fan. After Normark et al. (1997). Photo courtesy of Ocean Drilling Program (ODP), College Station, Texas. Figures from
Shanmugam (2006a). Publication: Elsevier Books. Handbook of Petroleum Exploration and Production, Volume 5 (2006). With
permission from Elsevier. Copyright Clearance Center's RightsLink: Licensee: G. Shanmugam. License Number: 501039434.
License Date: License Date: August 22, 2015.

sinuous. The relatively fine-grained (mud-rich) character of
the transported sediment associated with channels on mature
passive-margin fans, such as the modern Amazon Fan
(Damuth et al., 1988), gives rise to excellent bank stability and
favors development of a single, largely sinuous, commonly
meandering channel. According to Pirmez and Flood (1995),
sinuosity of the Amazon Fan channel is smaller than 1.5 over
most of the upper half of the channel, but increases downdip
to about 2.3 becoming a meandering channel (Fig. 22A). In
cross-sectional view, these channel-levee complexes generate
gull-wing geometry because of vertical levee build up.
vThe Amazon Fan with 4 km of sediment core, taken
from 17 drill sites during ODP Leg 155, has provided a great
opportunity to understand the depositional origin of various
fan elements (Normark et al., 1997). The purpose of studying
modern deep-water systems with abundant cores, such as
the Amazon Fan, is to: (a) describe cores from known ele-
ments (i.e., channel, levee, HARP etc.), (b) interpret processes
in each element, and, (c) most importantly, quantify the
relative importance of depositional facies in each element.
Such a quantitative data would help to establish a genetic
link between a given element (e.g., channel-fill) and a pro-
cess (e.g., turbidity currents). Then, sedimentologists could
use this element-process linkage, derived from modern
systems, for reconstructing ancient deep-water
environments. Unfortunately, Normark et al. (1997) did not
quantify depositional facies in various elements of the
Amazon Fan.
To establish a genetic link between processes and ele-
ments in the Amazon Fan, I have examined published
graphic sedimentological columns (Shipboard Scientific
Party, 1995a, their Fig. 4), grain-size variations, core descrip-
tion, and photographs (Shipboard Scientific Party, 1995a).
Using this information, I have interpreted depositional pro-
cesses and quantified the amount of various lithofacies from
the Site 934. This quantification suggests that the principal
sand unit is composed of fine to medium sand (i.e., Unit IV,
Site 934, Shipboard Scientific Party, 1995a) in the Brown
Channel. The cored interval is composed of sediments
deposited by sandy debris flows (30%), muddy slumps (20%),
and mixed sandy debris flows and bottom currents (11%).
The remaining interval is composed of pelagic/hemipelagic
mud (34%) and turbidites (5%) (Shanmugam, 2006a, his Table
6.6).
My interpretations of Unit IV at Site 934 as deposits of
sandy debris flows and Unit III as deposits of muddy slumps
are consistent with the interpretation reached by the
Shipboard Scientific Party (1995a). Also, Normark et al. (1997, p.
632) described that ‘The most prevalent facies is thick-bedded,
disorganized structureless to chaotic sand’. Their description
Submarine fans: A critical retrospective (1950e2015) 141

suggests a dominance of deposition from debris flows and
Contorted mud layers (muddy slump) (Fig. 22B)
slumps in the Amazon channel-fill elements.
Thick units of sand with rafted and deformed clasts (sandy
General characteristics of deposits of sinuous channels of debris flow) (Fig. 22B)
the Amazon Fan are:
Floating pebbles in sandy matrix (sandy debris flow)
(Fig. 22C)

Medium- to fine-grained sand
Thin units of normally graded sand and silt layers

Interbedded mudstone (turbidity currents) (Fig. 22D)

Erosional base
Several meters thick to thin units

Rip-up clasts
Lenticular sandbody geometry.

Fig. 23 e A-Conceptual model showing that channel bifurcation through avulsion on a deep-sea fan can result in unchan-
nelized sandy flows (top diagram) by breaching their confining levee through a crevasse and spreading out initially as
unchannelized flows into a lower interchannel areas. New channel reestablishment over these sandy deposits (bottom di-
agram) can result in sheet-like geometry (Flood et al., 1995) that return high-amplitude reflections (HARPs) on seismic data
(Flood et al., 1991). Sheet-like HARPs overlain by channel-levee complex (gull-wing geometry) are identical to basin-floor fan
overlain by slope fan in a sequence-stratigraphic framework (see Fig. 44 in this article). However, there is a major difference
between a basin-floor fan and HARP. For example, a basin-floor fan is formed by progradation during lowstands of sea level
(allocyclic process), whereas HARPs are formed by channel bifurcation (autocyclic process). Therefore, caution must be
exercised in interpreting seismic geometries in terms of processes. Original figure from Flood et al. (1991). Modified figure
from Shanmugam (2000a). Publication: Marine and Petroleum Geology. With permission from Elsevier. Copyright Clearance
Center's RightsLink: Licensee: G. Shanmugam. License Number: 3694361194578. License Date: License Date: August 22, 2015;
B-Seismic profile showing HARP units (horizontal dashed lines) and overlying Channel 5 with levee units. Note position of
Site 931B, Amazon Fan, modified after Pirmez et al. (1997); C-Core photograph showing floating mud clasts in silty matrix
suggesting deposition from muddy debris flow. Site 931B, HARP unit, Leg 155, Site 931, Amazon Fan. See also Shipboard
Scientific Party (1995c, their Fig. 7B). Photo courtesy of J. E. Damuth. Figures B and C from Shanmugam (2006a). Publica-
tion: Elsevier Books. Handbook of Petroleum Exploration and Production, Volume 5 (2006). With permission from Elsevier.
Copyright Clearance Center's RightsLink: Licensee: G. Shanmugam. License Number: 501039434. License Date: License Date:
August 22, 2015.
142 G.Shanmugam

Graphic sedimentological columns for cores from the Leg
155 Site 944 from a middle fan levee element of the Amazon
Fan show a striking muddy facies in which contorted layers
and mud clasts are common (Shipboard Scientific Party,
1995b, their Fig. 2). This muddy facies is interpreted to be de-
posits of muddy slumps and debris flows in a levee element.
Core evidence is compelling that the Amazon channels and
levees were deposited by debris flows and slumps. This core-
based interpretation, however, is not embraced by all re-
searchers. Pirmez and Imran (2003), for example, concluded
that the Amazon channels were originated by turbidity cur-
rents based mainly on seismic information.
3.8.2. HARP units
In the Amazon Fan, channel bifurcation (Fig. 23A) through
avulsion is thought to lead initially to deposition of non-
channelized sandy flows in the interchannel area (Flood et al.,
1991). Subsequent progradation of channels and levees over
these sandy deposits has produced a sheet-like geometry at
the base of the new channel-levee system. This sheet-like
geometry returns High-Amplitude Reflection Packets
(HARPs) on seismic data (Fig. 23B).
A HARP Unit at Site 931 was cored beneath Channel 5
(Fig. 23B). Core shows floating mud clasts in muddy matrix at
Site 931B (Fig. 23C). These clasts are evidence for deposition
from muddy debris flow. Normark et al. (1997) summarized
facies distribution in HARP units.
In a sequence-stratigraphic model, these sheet-like HARP
Units overlain by a channel-levee system (gull-wing) are
identical in appearance to a basin-floor fan overlain by a slope
fan (Vail et al., 1991). However, there is a major difference be-
tween a basin-floor fan and a HARP unit. A basin-floor fan is
formed by progradation primarily during lowstands of sea level
(allocyclic process), whereas HARPs are formed by channel
bifurcation (autocyclic process). More importantly, a basin-
floor fan and a slope fan are not contemporaneous features
(Vail et al., 1991); whereas a HARP unit and its overlying
channel-levee system are contemporaneous elements. Thus
caution must be exercised in interpreting seismic geometries
in terms of depositional elements (see Section 5.2.13).
HARP Units are also considered to be analogous to depo-
sitional lobes in the conventional submarine fan model
(Normark et al., 1997, their Fig. 4B caption, p. 617). They
described deposits of depositional lobes as deposits with
irregularly shaped mud clasts in poorly sorted, fine to coarse
sand (their Facies 2). This lobe facies is several meters in
thickness. I have interpreted this lobe facies as debrites. A
typical depositional lobe, however, should be composed of
turbidites (Mutti, 1977). Normark et al. (1997, p. 613) wrote, “it is
difficult to explain why thick intervals with numerous mud clasts of
variable size are randomly scattered into the sand matrix and are not
also graded.” The reason is that these sandy intervals with
mud clasts represent debrites, not turbidites.
3.8.3. Lower-fan lobes
Site 946 is located on a lower-fan lobe (Flood et al., 1995, their
Plate 1, inside pocket of back cover). Cores taken from the Leg
155 Site 946, located in the lower-fan setting (Fig. 24A), show
floating siltstone pebbles in a sandy matrix (Fig. 24B). These
pebbles suggest deposition from sandy debris flows. At Site

Fig. 24 e A-Left: Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Leg 155 Sites, Amazon Fan. Right: Sedimentological log of lower-fan lobe and
levee facies at Site 946. Note rafted clasts in sandy matrix, suggesting deposition from sandy debris flow. Location map is
after Normark et al. (1997) and Site Log is after Shipboard Scientific Party (1995d); B-Core photograph showing rafted siltstone
pebbles in sandy (fine- to medium-grained) matrix, suggesting deposition from sandy debris flow in lower-fan lobe envi-
ronments, Site 946A, Amazon Fan. Photo courtesy of J. E. Damuth. Figures from Shanmugam (2006a). Publication: Elsevier
Books. Handbook of Petroleum Exploration and Production, Volume 5 (2006). With permission from Elsevier. Copyright
Clearance Center's RightsLink: Licensee: G. Shanmugam. License Number: 501039434. License Date: License Date: August 22,
2015.
Submarine fans: A critical retrospective (1950e2015) 143

946, normally graded turbidite sand layers have been recog-
nized (Shipboard Scientific Party, 1995d; their Fig. 3), but they
are rare in comparison to deposits of sandy slumps and debris
flows. Legou et al. (2008) reported channel-mouth lobes, based
on bathymetric, acoustic imagery and 3.5 kHz sub-bottom
profiler data. Although these authors assumed the origin of
lobes by turbidity currents, they did not provide any empirical
data using sediment cores on the depositional origin of these
lobes by turbidity currents.
3.9. The Mississippi Fan, Gulf of Mexico
3.9.1. Channelized lobes
The Mississippi Fan in the Gulf of Mexico was the first
modern deep-sea fan from which long DSDP cores were
retrieved. These cores were taken during the Leg 96 (Bouma
et al., 1985b, 1985c). The cores from the Leg 96 suggest a
variety of depositional facies. Interpreted depositional pro-
cesses of these facies are slumps, debris flows, turbidity

Fig. 25 e A-Map showing location of piston and gravity cores taken from ‘channelized lobes’ in the outer Mississippi Fan,
Gulf of Mexico. Compiled from Twichell et al. (1992) and Schwab et al. (1996). After Shanmugam (1997a). Reprinted by
permission of Elsevier; B-Histograms showing dominance of debris-flow facies in cores from ‘channelized lobes’ in the outer
Mississippi Fan (see Fig. 25A for location of cores). Percentages of facies were calculated by the author using published data
from Schwab et al. (1996). Note that all nine cores contain debris flows, whereas only three cores comprise turbidites. In
seven out of nine cores, the amount of debris-flow facies far exceeds the amount of turbidite facies. In core GC 44, debris-flow
facies comprises 100%. This facies distribution has important implications for submarine fan models. After Shanmugam
(1997a). Reprinted by permission of Elsevier; C-SeaMARC 1A sidescan-sonar image mosaic of ‘depositional lobes’ of the
distal Mississippi Fan showing dendritic pattern with abrupt edges. Strong acoustic returns (high backscatter) are white and
light grey; weak acoustic returns (light backscatter) are black and dark grey. Note position of core 44, which contains chaotic
silt beds and floating clay clasts (see Twichell et al., 1995, their Fig. 41.4, p. 286), suggesting deposition from slumps and
debris flows. Core 44 is composed of 100% debris flow (Fig. 25B). (Modified after Lee et al. (1996). Image courtesy of D. C.
Twichell. Figure from Shanmugam (2006a). Publication: Elsevier Books. Handbook of Petroleum Exploration and Production,
Volume 5 (2006). With permission from Elsevier. Copyright Clearance Center's RightsLink: Licensee: G. Shanmugam. License
Number: 501039434. License Date: License Date: August 22, 2015.
144 G.Shanmugam

currents, and bottom currents (Stow et al., 1985;
Shanmugam et al., 1988a).
Conventionally, sheet-like geometries are associated with
turbidites deposited at the terminus of a submarine fan. These
sheet sands are also known as depositional lobes (Mutti, 1977).
The outer fan areas of the Mississippi Fan were used as the
modern analog for turbidite fans with sheet-like geometries
(Shanmugam et al., 1988a). Such an analogy was based strictly
on the parallel and continuous reflection patterns observed on
seismic profiles. However, subsequent SeaMARC 1A sidescan-
sonar data (Twichell et al., 1992) as well as piston and gravity
cores (Nelson et al., 1992; Schwab et al., 1996) taken from
channels in the outer Mississippi Fan have revealed some
important information:
1) The terminus of the Mississippi Fan is not sheet-like as
previously thought.
2) Piston and gravity cores taken from the terminus of the
Mississippi Fan shows channels in the terminus of the
Mississippi Fan (Fig. 25A) are filled with debrites for the
most part (Fig. 25B).
3) Contrary to popular belief, the terminus of the Mississippi
Fan is channelized and dendriitic in nature (Twichell et al.,
1995). SeaMARC 1A sidescan-sonar image mosaic of the
distal Mississippi Fan shows dendritic pattern with abrupt
edges (Fig. 25C). Twichell et al. (1995, their Fig. 41.2 caption,
p. 283) explained this pattern as ‘The association of these
high-backscatter deposits with channels and their abrupt edges
suggest channelized transport of the sediments that compose
these deposits and a sudden freezing of the flows at the site of
deposition.’ Sudden freezing of flows is characteristic of
plastic debris flows. Core 44 taken from these dendritic
distal edges of the Mississippi Fan, composed of chaotic silt
beds with floating clay clasts, has been interpreted to be
composed of 100% debrites (Fig. 25B). These dendritic fea-
tures are called ‘channelized lobes’ in this article for dis-
tinguishing them from non-channelized depositional
lobes. These ‘channelized lobes’ do not imply slope/upper
fan environments as advocated by Nelson et al. (1985).
The application of the term “depositional lobe,” meant for
turbidite-dominated fans (Mutti, 1977), to debrite-dominated
terminus of the Mississippi Fan (Nelson et al., 1992; Twichell
et al., 1992; Schwab et al., 1996) is inappropriate. Such a
misapplication perpetuates the notion that turbidites are
more common in modern fans than they actually are.

Fig. 26 e A-Location map of Monterey Fan showing channel-mouth lobe, offshore California. Note locations of the “Monterey
meander” (Greene and Ward, 2003) and the “Shepard meander” (Fildani and Normark, 2004) associated with the Monterey
Canyon (Modified after Klaucke et al. (2004). Publication: Marine Geology. With permission from Elsevier. Copyright Clearance
Center's RightsLink: Licensee: G. Shanmugam. License Number: 3694500006663. License Date: License Date: August 22, 2015;
B-TOBI (Towed Ocean Bottom Instrument) sidescan-sonar image of boulders on surface of the most recent “depositional
lobe” of the Monterey Fan; C-Interpretation showing distribution of boulders. Lines represent sediment-transport flow
patterns. Arrow on sonograph shows direction of insonification (i.e., sonar illumination). After Gardner et al. (1996; their Figs.
12e17). Figure published by Cambridge University Press, is not subject to U.S. copyright law. Reproduced with permission
from J.V.Gardner.
Submarine fans: A critical retrospective (1950e2015) 145

3.10. The Monterey Fan, North Pacific
The Monterey Canyon in offshore northern California pro-
vides an opportunity to understand the sand distribution in
sinuous submarine canyons (Paull et al., 2005). The tight
meander of the Monterey Canyon was explained by structural
(fault) patterns (Martin and Emery, 1967). Paull et al. (2005)
documented the occurrence of clean massive sand on the
canyon floor of the Monterey Canyon. They described a total
of 92 cores from the Monterey Canyon axis. Core lengths
varied between 19 cm and 252 cm, with an average length of
134 cm. In 21 cores, gravel content varied between 30% and
100%. In 35 cores, sand and silt content varied between 50%
and 100%. Floating rounded cobble grains are up to 7.5 cm in
length. Floating clay clasts commonly occur within the coarse
sand and gravel lithofacies. These floating cobbles and clasts
in sandy matrix are considered evidence for deposition from
sandy debris flows (Shanmugam, 2012a). Individual sand
layers are greater than 50 cm in thickness in 21 cores, and they
are more than a meter in thickness in 11 cores. The density of
core sampling and related grain-size analysis (Paull et al., 2005,
their Fig. 2 and their Table 1) suggests the possibility of rather
continuous distribution of sand-sized material along the
Monterey Canyon floor. Importantly, these massive sands are
clean, with implications for high porosity and permeability.
Similar continuous distribution of clean massive sands in
sinuous canyons has been documented using conventional
cores and RMS (root mean square) seismic amplitude maps in
the KrishnaeGodavari (KG) Basin (Pliocene), Bay of Bengal
(discussed in Section 3.11).
3.10.1. Depositional lobe
Based on surface morphology, interpreted from geophysical
data, the term ‘depositional lobe’ has been applied to this

Fig. 27 e A-Index map showing locations of the KrishnaeGodavari (KG) Basin and the KG-D6 block (offshore, State of Andhra
Pradesh) on the eastern continental margin of India; B-Map showing location of our study area in the Block KG-D6; C-RMS
(root mean square) seismic amplitude map of our study area showing locations of cored wells 1, 2, and 3. RMS map rep-
resents the entire reservoir (400 ms time window). Amplitude color code: bright red, high amplitude (gas-charged sandy
lithologies); yellow, intermediate amplitude (mixed lithologies); blue to dull green, low amplitude (non-sandy or muddy li-
thologies). Sinuous and lobate planform geometries are present. Note position of well 2 in a sinuous form. The seismic
profile, which passes through well 2, represents an oblique strike section across a sinuous form (submarine canyon, see
Fig. 19B in this article). After Shanmugam et al. (2009), with permission from SEPM.
146 G.Shanmugam

modern Monterey Fan (Normark et al., 1985; Gardner et al.,
1996). There are large boulders, which are 20 m or more in
diameter, on the most recent depositional lobe of Monetery
Fan (Fig. 26B). They occur both as isolated individual boulders
and as fields of boulders (Gardner et al., 1996). 492 boulders
were counted. The fields of boulders show a rough alignment
with lineations in backscatter intensity that was interpreted
as sediment-transport flow patterns (Fig. 26C). Gardner et al.
interpreted these boulders as deposits of large mass-
transport flows. Box cores taken from the Monterey Fan
also show floating silt clasts in sand (Lee et al., 1996; their
Fig. 13.11). This lithofacies may be interpreted as sandy
debrites.
In studying channel-mouth lobes of the Monterey Fan,
Klaucke et al. (2004, p. 181) noted, ‘Sand is particularly concen-
trated in finger-like areas of low backscatter intensity and is inter-
preted as the result of non-turbulent sediment-gravity flows
depositing meters thick massive, fine sand.’ This interpretation
clearly implies that finger-like deposits are products of
laminar sandy debris flows (see Fig. 12B).
Studies of the Monterey Fan, the Amazon Fan, and the
Mississippi Fan clearly suggest that lobe-like features on
modern deep-water systems are indeed dominated by debrite
deposition. The routine application of the popular term
“depositional lobe”, implying a dominance of turbidites, to
debrite-dominated modern fans is erroneous.
3.11. The KrishnaeGodavari (KG) Basin, Bay of Bengal
The KrishnaeGodavari (KG) Basin is located on the eastern
continental margin of India (Fig. 27A). Operator Reliance In-
dustries Limited and Niko Resources discovered gas in Plio-
cene deep-water siliciclastic reservoirs of the KG Basin in 2002.
A comprehensive study, based on integration of modern
seafloor bathymetry, long sediment cores, and seismic attri-
butes, was carried out (Shanmugam et al., 2009).
The cored Pliocene intervals in three wells represent the
deep offshore component of the KG Basin. The modern sea-
floor bathymetry of our study area reveals that the upper-
slope setting is characterized by widespread mass-transport

Fig. 28 e Bathymetric image of study area in the KrishnaeGodavari (KG) Basin showing locations of three cored wells (red
dots), widespread distribution of mass-transport deposits (MTD) (i.e., slides, slumps, and debrites), and incipient submarine
canyons on the modern upper-slope setting just seaward of the shelf edge (see location map in Fig. 27A). Linked occurrences
of headwall scarps (slide scars) near the shelf edge, chutes immediately downslope of slide scars, and slide blocks imme-
diately downslope of chutes are evident. Mass-transport deposits (MTD) show slope-confined lobate forms in inter-canyon
areas. Lobate form 2 is 6 km long and 6 km wide. Background scale (0, 500, 1000, 1500, 2000, and 2500 m) represents present-
day water depths. After Shanmugam et al. (2009), with permission from SEPM.
Submarine fans: A critical retrospective (1950e2015) 147

deposits and submarine canyons (Fig. 28). Most canyons are in
their incipient stages of development. The western shelf edge
is characterized by headwall scarps. Slide blocks have de-
tached from these headwall scarps (i.e., slide scars) and moved
downslope developing chutes. As a result, slide blocks occur at
the mouths of chutes (Fig. 28).
Pliocene canyons are sinuous, exhibit 90 deflections, at
least 22 km long, relatively narrow (500e1000 m wide), deeply
incised (250 m), and asymmetrically walled. Based on exami-
nation of 313 m of conventional cores from three wells
(Fig. 27B), five depositional facies have been interpreted: (1)
sandy debrite, sandy slump, sandy slide, and sandy cascading
flow, (2) muddy slump and debrite, (3) sandy tidalite, (4)
muddy tidalite, and (5) hemipelagite. Debrites and slumps
constitute up to 99% in one well. Sand injectites are common.
Pliocene environments are interpreted to be comparable to
the modern upper continental slope with widespread mass-
transport deposits and submarine canyons in the Krish-
naeGodavari Basin. Frequent tropical cyclones, tsunamis,
earthquakes, shelf-edge canyons with steep-gradient walls of
more than 30 , and seafloor fault scarps are considered to be
favorable factors for triggering mass movements.
Sandy debrites occur as sinuous canyon-fill massive sands,
intercanyon sheet sands (1750 m long or wide and 32 m thick),
and canyon-mouth slope-confined lobate sands (3 km long,
2.5 km wide, and up to 28 m thick). Canyon-fill facies are

Fig. 29 e A-Sedimentological log of core 6 for the interval 2033.5e2039.5 m in well 2 showing an amalgamated massive sand
interval with floating quartz granules and floating mudstone clasts indicating deposition from sandy debris flows (lithofacies
1). This sandy interval corresponds to the lobate form 1 (Fig. 29B), which is bright red in seismic amplitude map. Hence,
bright red amplitude areas are inferred to be gas-charged sand in our study area; B-RMS (root mean square) seismic
amplitude map (25 ms time window) showing sinuous planform geometries and canyon-mouth lobate forms. SF ¼ well
developed sinuous form, with 90 deflections (deflected arrow), is at least 22 km long along its thalweg. The downslope reach
along this segment is 16 km. The entire length (22 km) of the sinuous canyon appears to be filled with gas-charged sandy
lithofacies (i.e., bright red amplitude). Note the location of well 3 close to a “cutoff meander”-like feature (dotted line). The
lobate form 1, which is 3 km long and 2.5 km wide, corresponds to the cored interval of amalgamated sandy debrites (more
than 10 m thick) in core 6 of well 2. The sandy debrite interval from core 6 is recovered from the uppermost part of canyon-fill
facies. Lobate form 4 is 6 km long and 5 km wide. Lobate form 4 is composed of non-sandy or muddy? (dull green) lithofacies.
In lobate forms 2 and 3, the proximal areas are gas-charged sandy (bright red), but the distal areas are non-sandy (dull green)
in lithology. After Shanmugam et al. (2009), with permission from SEPM.
148 G.Shanmugam

Fig. 30 e A-The turbidite facies model (i.e., the Bouma Sequence) showing Ta, Tb, Tc, Td, and Te divisions. Conventional
interpretation is that the entire sequence is a product of a turbidity current (Bouma, 1962; Walker, 1965; Middleton and
Hampton, 1973). According to Lowe (1982), the Ta division is a product of a high-density turbidity current and Tb, Tc, and
Td divisions are deposits of low-density turbidity currents. In this article, the Ta division is considered to be a product of a
turbidity current only if it is normally graded, otherwise it is a product of a sandy debris flow; the Tb, Tc, and Td divisions are
considered to be deposits of bottom-current reworking (After Shanmugam, 1997a). Reproduced with permission from
Elsevier; B-Schematic diagram showing downslope changes in turbidite divisions from coarse grained turbidites (Lowe,
1982), through classic turbidites (Bouma, 1962), to fine-grained turbidites (Stow and Shanmugam, 1980). If existing turbi-
dite facies models were realistic, then an ideal turbidite bed should develop 16 divisions. However, no one has ever docu-
mented such a turbidite bed with 16 divisions in the field or in flume experiments. After Shanmugam (2000a), reproduced
with permission from Elsevier.
Submarine fans: A critical retrospective (1950e2015) 149

Table 3 e A summary of various turbidite facies models and turbidite facies association schemes. Note that none of the
facies models is based on direct observations of sandy and gravelly turbidity currents in the modern world's oceans. Nor
are these facies models based on cores from the modern seafloor or using laboratory experiments using sandy and gravelly
turbidity currents.
References Turbidite facies models and facies associations Comments (this article)
Sheldon (1928) Description of the first vertical sequence in the U.S. Based on outcrop study of ancient
strata
Signorini (1936) Description of the first five-part vertical sequence (the pre-Bouma Sequence) Based on outcrop study of ancient
in Italy. strata
Bailey (1936) Introduction of “graded facies” for deep-water sands. Based on outcrop study of ancient
strata
Kuenen and Establishment of the link between graded beds and turbidity currents (i.e., Based on outcrop study of ancient
Migliorini (1950) the dawn of the turbidite paradigm). strata
Ten Haaf (1959a and A basal normally graded part, a middle rippled and convoluted part, and an Based on outcrop study of ancient
1959b) upper laminated mudstone part. strata
Basset and Walton A basal normally graded part, a middle laminated part, and an upper Based on outcrop study of ancient
(1960) mudstone part. strata
Bouma (1962),a a
Introduction of the first turbidite facies model with five divisions (Ta, Tb, Tc, Based on outcrop study of ancient
Td, Te), known as the Bouma Sequence (Fig. 4A), for a “classic” or medium- strata
grained turbidite deposited by a waning turbidity current.
Mutti and Ricci Introduction of the first turbidite facies association scheme. Based on outcrop study of ancient
Lucchi (1972),b strata
Walker and Mutti Modified version of the turbidite facies association scheme of Mutti and Ricci Based on outcrop study of ancient
(1973) Lucchi (1972). strata
Kuenen (1964), Introduction of a turbidite facies model with seven divisions (Ta, Tb, Tc, Td, Modification of the Bouma
Rupke and Stanley Te Tet, Tep). The last two divisions Tet and Tep represent turbiditic and Sequence (Bouma, 1962)
(1974) pelagic (or hemipelagic) mud, respectively.
Harms and Application of flow-regime concepts to the Bouma Sequence. However, there Modification of the Bouma
Fahnestock (1965), is no experimental basis to link traction structures to deposition by turbidity Sequence (Bouma, 1962)
Walker (1965), currents (see Shanmugam, 2000a).
Middleton and
Hampton (1973)
Van der Lingen Introduction of a turbidite facies model with six divisions (Ta, Tb, Tc, Td, Te, Modification of the Bouma
(1969) Tf). Sequence (Bouma, 1962)
Hesse (1975)
Piper (1978) Introduction of a turbidite facies model with eight divisions (Ta, Tb, Tc, Td, Modification of the Bouma
Te1, Te2, Te3, Tf) for fine-grained turbidites. Sequence (Bouma, 1962)
Stow and Introduction of a turbidite facies model with nine divisions (T0, T1, T2, T3, T4, Based on outcrop study of ancient
Shanmugam T5, T6, T7, T8) for fine-grained turbidites. strata
(1980)
Lowe (1982) Introduction of a turbidite facies model with six divisions (R1, R2, R3, S1, S2, Based on outcrop study of ancient
S3) for coarse-grained turbidites deposited by “high-density turbidity strata
currents”.
Walker (1984) Introduction of a turbidite facies model with seven divisions (Ta, Tb, Tc, Td, Modification of the Bouma
Te Tet, Teh). The last two divisions Tet and Teh represent turbiditic and Sequence (Bouma, 1962)
hemipelagic mud, respectively.
Hsü (1989) Revision of the Bouma Sequence with three divisions (Tab, Tc, Te). Modification of the Bouma
Sequence (Bouma, 1962)
Stow (1985) Modified version of the turbidite facies association scheme of Mutti and Ricci Based on outcrop study of ancient
Lucchi (1972) and Rupke (1978) strata
Pickering et al. Modified version of the turbidite facies association scheme of Mutti and Ricci Based on outcrop study of ancient
(1986, 1989) Lucchi (1972). strata
Mutti (1992, his Nine facies recognized: F1, F2, F3, F4, F5, F6, F7, F8, and F9. Each facies is Based on outcrop study of ancient
Fig. 27) clearly labeled in terms of a specific depositional process in the figure as strata. Emphasis on deposits of
follows: F1 ¼ cohesive debris flow; F2 ¼ hyperconcentrated flow; high-density turbidity currents.
F3 ¼ frictional freezing; F4 and F5 ¼ gravelly high-density turbidity currents;
F7 and F8 ¼ sandy high-density turbidity currents; F6 ¼ traction; F9a and
F9b ¼ low-density turbidity currents.
Mutti et al. (2003, Nine facies recognized: F1, F2, F3, F4, F5, F6, F7, F8, and F9. But process label Based on outcrop study of ancient
their Fig. 13) from each facies was removed from the figure by Mutti et al. (2003). Mutti strata. Emphasis is still on deposits
et al. (2003, p. 745) emphasized stratified flows (see Fig. 13B) with a basal of high-density turbidity currents.
“dense flow”, and stated that their “dense flow” is analogous to a variety of
terms such as ‘debris flow’, ‘sandy debris flow’, ‘high-density turbidity
current’, ‘hyperconcentrated flow’, ‘granular flow’ and ‘flowslide’ used by
other authors.
(continued on next page)
150
Table 3 e (continued )
References Turbidite facies models and facies associations
Mutti et al. (2009; Nine facies recognized: F1, F2, F3, F4, F5, F6, F7, F8, and F9. But process label
their Fig. 13) from each facies was removed from the figure by Mutti et al. (2009).
Talling et al. (2012) A new nomenclature for deposits of debris flows and turbidity currents: TE-3,
TE-2, TE-1, TD, TC, TB-1, TB-2, TA, TB-3, DM-1, DM-2, DCS, and DVCS
Postma et al. (2014) An explanation for ideal turbidite facies models of both low- and high-
density turbidity currents,
a
The classic turbidite facies model or the Bouma Sequence.
b
The classioc turbidite facies association scheme.
characterized by the close association of sandy debrites and
tidalites (see Fig. 19B). Reservoir sands, composed mostly of
amalgamated units of sandy debrites, are thick (up to 32 m),
low in mud matrix (less than 1% by volume), and high in
measured porosity (35%e40%) and permeability (850e18,700
mD). Because upper-slope sandy debrites mimic base-of-slope
turbidite channels and lobes in planform seismic geometries
(Fig. 29B), the use of conventional turbidite-fan models as a
template to predict the distribution of deep-water sand is
tenuous, without the validation from process sedimentolog-
ical studies of sediment cores.
3.12. Mass-flow lobes, Ulleung Basin, East Sea, Korea
Lee et al. (2011) conducted a detailed analysis of MR1 sonar and
chirp (2e7 kHz) seismic data with 5 (2.9e9.4 m long) piston
cores and 17 AMS 14C ages. On MR1 sonar image, eight mass-
flow lobes are identified in the western basin plain (>2100 m).
They are covered by 2-m thick Holocene pelagic sediments,
and show the northward flow direction. Lobes 1e4 have large
dimensions (>27 km long and 15e25 km wide) and occupy in
the lower stratigraphic position. In contrast, lobes 5e8,
deposited in the more proximal area, have small dimensions
(8.8e31.5 km long and 1.2e12 km wide) and occur in the upper
stratigraphic position. Lobes 1e4 deposited retrogressively.
Lobes 1 and 2 are characterized by relatively strong back-
scattering intensity with smooth surfaces on MR1 image,
and show flat, sharp bottom echo and several distinct to
diffuse internal reflectors in chirp profiles. Sediments near
their edges consist of fine-grained turbidites (laminated sand/
mud and homogeneous mud) with minor massive clay-rich
sand. However, they change to mud-matrix disorganized
gravel and massive sand with the overlying fine-grained tur-
bidites toward the proximal part. In this study, the term “mass
flow” represents “turbidity currents”, following the classifi-
cation of Middleton and Hampton (1973).
Four other examples from SE Asia are considered. They are:
(1) Distal turbidite lobe, Late Paleozoic Taean Formation,
Western Korea (So et al., 2013), (2) Miocene submarine fan,
Pearl River Mouth Basin, South China Sea (Wang et al., 2012),
(3) lacustrine turbidites in the Eocene Shahejie Formation,
Dongying Sag, Bohai Bay Basin, North China Craton (Wang
G.Shanmugam
Comments (this article)
Based on outcrop study of ancient
strata. Acknowledgement of
problems associated with the use
of the term “turbidite” for coarse-
grained sediments.
Theoretical postulation of a new
set of nomenclature for deposits of
high-density (sandy and gravelly)
turbidity currents.
Based on outcrop study of ancient
strata. Emphasis on deposits of
high-density turbidity currents.
et al., 2013), and (4) deep-water sublacustrine fan system
from the syn-rift Lower Cretaceous Nantun Formation of the
Tanan Depression (Tamtsag Basin), Mongolia (Jia et al., 2014).
However, process sedimentological details on the origin of
these sands are insufficient.
In summary, the three principal fan elements (i.e., canyons,
channels and lobes) are historically considered to be domi-
nated by turbidites. In reality, case studies demonstrate that
modern canyons, channels, and lobes are dominated by mass-
transport deposits (MTD), not turbidites. More importantly,
these examples show that sands are distributed in a variety of
manner in deep-water settings, not just as channels and
lobes. This new information should help petroleum geo-
scientists to develop realistic depositional models in future
deep-water exploration.
4. The turbidite facies model and the Annot
Sandstone
4.1. The turbidite facies model
Since its introduction by Bouma (1962), the turbidite facies
model has become known as the “Bouma Sequence” (Fig. 30A).
The turbidite facies model is a fixed vertical sequence of
structures with five internal divisions in ascending order:
Ta ¼ basal normally graded or massive, Tb ¼ lower parallel
laminated, Tc ¼ current ripple and convolute laminated,
Td ¼ upper parallel laminated, and Te ¼ uppermost pelitic
(Fig. 30A). According to Bouma (1962), the complete Bouma
Sequence with five divisions represents a single depositional
unit. Beds with all five divisions are also called “classic turbi-
dite”. Although earlier workers had recognized similar vertical
sequences, Bouma (1962) was the first to make the link be-
tween the sequence of structures and its origin by turbidity
currents (Table 3). Later workers explained the model with
sophisticated hydrodynamic interpretations (Harms and
Fahnestock, 1965; Walker, 1965; Middleton and Hampton,
1973).
The turbidite facies model (Fig. 4A) was the foundation for
the popular notion that submarine fans are composed entirely
of turbidites (Fig. 4B). The objective of this section is to address
Submarine fans: A critical retrospective (1950e2015) 151

Fig. 31 e A-Schematic diagram showing an ideal turbidite bed with nine turbidite divisions by combining the five divisions of
the “Bouma Sequence” (Bouma, 1962) and the five divisions of the “Lowe Sequence” of high-density turbidites (Lowe, 1982).
Note R1 is not shown. According to Lowe (1982), S3 ¼ Ta. On the right-hand column, I have included my interpretation of
these divisions. Figure from Shanmugam (2012a). Publication: Elsevier Books. Handbook of Petroleum Exploration and
Production. With permission from Elsevier. Copyright Clearance Center's RightsLink: Licensee: G. Shanmugam. License
Number: 3694441228242. License Date: License Date: August 22, 2015; B-Summary diagram revealing the total lack of
empirical data for high-density turbidity currents (see Shanmugam, 2012a for details).
152 G.Shanmugam

^ te d'Azur area on the south east coast of

Fig. 32 e Left: Study area near Peira Cava, north of the city of Nice, located in the Co
France on the Mediterranean Sea. Right: Location map showing sites of 12 measured units of the Annot Sandstone (Eoce-
neeOligocene) along a road section, near Peira Cava area, French Maritime Alps, during a field study by Mobil Oil Company.
Bouma (1962, p.93, his Fig. 23) used this road section, among others, in his Ph.D. study of the Annot Sandstone and other
formations in developing the turbidite facies model. Unit 9 in this study corresponds to Bouma's Layer No.1 in his measured
section K (see Bouma, 1962, Enclosures I in inside pocket of back bookcover). An outcrop photograph of Layer No.1 is pub-
lished by Bouma (1962, see his Plate H1). Each unit in this study represents a major sandstone body and closely related minor
sandstone and mudstone beds. Map is simplified after Lanteaume et al. (1967). Figure from Shanmugam (2002a). Publication:
Earth-Science Reviews. With permission from Elsevier. Copyright Clearance Center's RightsLink: Licensee: G. Shanmugam.
License Number: 3694370352439. License Date: License Date: August 22, 2015.

the inadequacy of the turbidite facies model by using pub-
lished critiques by various authors (Hsü, 1964, 1989; Sanders,
1965; Van der Lingen, 1969; Shanmugam, 1997a, 2002a,
2006a, 2008b, 2009). More importantly, I provide sedimento-
logical field details of the Annot Sandstone exposed in Peira
Cava area, which served as the type locality for the model, in
the French Maritime Alps, SE France.
The fundamental problems with the ideal facies model are
the following:

Anderton (1985) cautioned that facies models are ephem-
eral, and that each facies model is unique to a certain
environment. As a consequence, we are programmed to
align our thinking and observation along a pre-destined
path. To maintain the integrity of the model, we are often
forced to de-emphasize features that are ‘foreign’ to the
model (Kuhn, 1970).

In critiquing vertical facies models of turbidites, Middleton
(1993, p. 90) wrote, “It must first be emphasized that gravity
flows are a very complex class of flows, more complex for
example than open-channel flows such as rivers… No geologist
would expect that rivers could deposit only a single type of
sediment bed, characterized by a single suite of sedimentary
structures and texturesdyet many geologists have such a notion
about turbidites.”

In criticizing the application of rigid fluvial facies schemes
to the rock record, Leeder (1997, p. 374) cautioned, “The
main philosophical reason is that it, and other schemes like it, are
lazy intellectually and deny the great potential richness of the
sedimentary record, full of possible variation not adequately
taped by rigid classification.”

There are no theoretical (Sanders, 1965; Van der Lingen,
1969; Shanmugam, 1997a; Hsü, 2004), experimental
(Leclair and Arnott, 2005), or observational (Shanmugam,
Submarine fans: A critical retrospective (1950e2015) 153

Fig. 33 e A-Sedimentological log of Annot Unit 2. Note conventional description using Bouma notations (Ta, Tb, and Tc); B-
Outcrop photo showing double mud layers (DML). Arrow shows stratigraphic position of photo. Annot Sandstone (Eocene-
eOligocene), Peira Cava area, French Maritime Alps, SE France. Figures A and B from Shanmugam (2003). Publication: Marine
and Petroleum Geology. With permission from Elsevier. Copyright Clearance Center's RightsLink: Licensee: G. Shanmugam.
License Number: 3694360410365. License Date: License Date: August 22, 2015.

2002a, 2006a) basis for validating the complete Bouma
Sequence. The complete “Bouma Sequence” with all five
divisions has never been reproduced in experimental
studies and has never been documented in sediments on
the modern ocean floor.

A popular turbidite myth is that the basal massive sand
(Ta) division of the “Bouma Sequence” is a product of
turbidity current (Bouma, 1962; Middleton and Hampton,
1973). Nonetheless, different researchers have proposed
eight different processes for the origin of the Ta division.
They are: (1) turbidity currents (Bouma, 1962); (2) antidune
phase of the upper flow regime (Harms and Fahnestock,
1965; Walker, 1967); (3) grain flows (Stauffer, 1967); (4)
pseudoplastic quick bed (Middleton, 1967); (5) density-
modified grain flows (Lowe, 1976); (6) high-density
turbidity currents (Lowe, 1982); (7) upper-plane-bed con-
ditions under high rates of sediment feed (Arnott and
Hand, 1989); and (8) sandy debris flow (Shanmugam,
1997a).

Breien et al. (2010), although used the Bouma divisions
analogy in their experiments, do not explain how massive
sand (Ta) transforms vertically upward into laminated (Tb)
sand in the experimental flows. Even in the conventional
origin of the “Bouma Sequence” by turbidity currents, no
one could explain how a suspension turbidity current (Ta)
transforms into an upper flow regime traction current (Tb)
in forming the vertical (Ta and Tb) sequence. In discussing
this fluid dynamical dilemma, Leclair and Arnott (2005, p.
4) acknowledged that “… the debate on the upward change
from massive (Ta) to parallel laminated (Tb) sand in a Bouma-
type turbidite remains unresolved.”

Perhaps, the most problematic issue is the use of traction
bed forms (i.e., plane bed, ripple, dune, upper flow regime
plane bed, and antidune), observed in flume experiments
(Simons et al., 1965; see also Southard, 1975), as analogs for
the five divisions of the Bouma Sequence deposited by
turbidity currents (see Harms and Fahnestock, 1965;
Walker, 1965). Although this analogy is deeply embedded
in our psyche, it is founded on unsound hydrodynamic
principles. Simons et al. (1965, p. 35) conducted flume ex-
periments in unidirectional currents under equilibrium
flow conditions that developed traction structures. Simons
et al. (1965, p. 50) cautioned aptly that traction structures
observed in their flume experiments are meaningful only
for structures developed in subaerial alluvial channels.
Walker (1965, p. 2223) also cautioned that “… the flume
154 G.Shanmugam

Fig. 34 e A-Sedimentological log of amalgamated sandstone Unit 7 showing basal inverse grading overlain by an interval of
complex normal grading with floating granules and mudstone clasts, parallel laminae, and lenticular layers. Note sudden
increase in grain size at 5 m. Note conventional description using Bouma notations (Ta, Tb, and Tc); B-Outcrop photograph of
Unit 7 showing sheet-like geometry; C-Outcrop photograph of Unit 7 showing basal inversely graded interval in coarse- to
granule-grade sandstone; D-Outcrop photograph of a pocket of clasts and matrix in the middle of the unit. Arrow shows
stratigraphic position of photo; E-Outcrop photograph of Unit 7 showing a floating mudstone clast in the middle of the unit.
Annot Sandstone (EoceneeOligocene), Peira Cava area, French Maritime Alps, SE France. Figures from Shanmugam (2002a).
Publication: Earth-Science Reviews. With permission from Elsevier. Copyright Clearance Center's RightsLink: Licensee: G.
Shanmugam. License Number: 3694370352439. License Date: License Date: August 22, 2015.

experiments were conducted under conditions of non-deposition,
whereas many of the sedimentary structures of turbidites are
formed under conditions of netdeposition.” The time required to
establish hydrodynamic equilibrium is greater than the
time required for sedimentation (Allen, 1973). Natural
turbidity currents are waning flows, and waning flows may
never attain equilibrium (Allen, 1973). In most natural
flows, changes in bed configurations tend to lag behind
changes in flow conditions, and there have been almost no
flume experiments on disequilibrium bed configurations
(Southard, 1975, p. 33). Thus, alluvial experimental traction
structures are irrelevant analogs for natural (subaqueous)
turbidite deposits.

The interpretation of deep-water sands with thick di-
visions of “parallel lamination” as upper flow regime flat
beds of turbidity currents is problematic. This is because
thick upper flat beds have never been generated by
experimental turbidity currents. On the other hand,
experimental studies of sandy debris flows have generated
horizontal layers that mimic “parallel lamination”
(Shanmugam, 2000a). In reflecting the complexity of nat-
ural environments, Reading (2001, p. 101) acknowledges
that “Each environment and rock sequence is unique.”

Since the introduction of the Bouma Sequence, other re-
searchers have realized that the muddy division of the
Bouma Sequence (Te) was inadequate to satisfactorily
represent all of the divisions present in muddy turbidites
(e.g., Piper, 1978). This realization led Stow and
Shanmugam (1980) to propose a new vertical facies
model with nine divisions (T0, T1, T2, T3, T4, T5, T6, T7, and
T8) just for fine-grained turbidites. Similarly, Lowe (1982)
introduced a new vertical facies model with six divisions
Submarine fans: A critical retrospective (1950e2015) 155

Fig. 35 e A-Sedimentological log of amalgamated sandstone Unit 8 showing basal inverse grading, floating armored
mudstone balls, lenticular layers, and pockets of gravel. Note conventional description using Bouma notations (Ta); B-
Outcrop photograph of Unit 8 showing a pocket of gravel (bounded by dashed line) with quartz, feldspar, rock fragments, and
mudstone clasts in fine-grained sandstone. Arrow shows stratigraphic position of photo. Annot Sandstone (Eocene-
eOligocene), Peira Cava area, French Maritime Alps, SE France. Figures from Shanmugam (2002a). Publication: Earth-Science
Reviews. With permission from Elsevier. Copyright Clearance Center's RightsLink: Licensee: G. Shanmugam. License
Number: 3694370352439. License Date: License Date: August 22, 2015.

(R1, R2, R3, S1, S2, and S3) exclusively for coarse-grained
turbidites (i.e., deposits of high-density turbidity cur-
rents). If all three turbidite facies models were true, a
turbidity current carrying a gravel- to- mud load should
deposit all of its divisions from gravel (R1) to mud (T8), with
16 divisions (Fig. 30B). In fact, Lowe (1982) suggested a
continuum of deposits from coarse-grained turbidites to
classic turbidites (R1 to Te) totaling 11 divisions (Fig. 31A).
But no one has ever documented a complete turbidite
sequence with all 16 divisions in either modern or in
ancient deposits. The absence of such a complete turbidite
bed in the geologic record suggests that the ideal turbidite
facies models may be incorrect.

To date, no one has ever generated even the simple Bouma
Sequence with five divisions by turbidity currents in flume
experiments.
In summary, the ultimate objective of facies models is to
interpret ancient strata (i.e., the unknown). However, the
turbidite facies models, developed exclusively from the
ancient strata without validation from the modern environ-
ment (i.e., the known), promote circular reasoning (Fig. 31B).
4.2. The Annot Sandstone (EoceneeOligocene), Peira-
Cava area, SE France
Bouma (1962) used the Annot Sandstone (Gres d' Annot For-
mation (EoceneeOligocene), exposed in the Peira Cava area
and vicinity of the French Maritime Alps, for developing the
first turbidite facies model. Later, he extended his study to
Switzerland and other areas in Europe. Bouma (1962) docu-
mented his field observations in eight photographic plates,
seven of which contain outcrop photographs from the Peira
Cava type locality (Plates A, B, C, D, E, F, and H) and the eighth
one contains outcrop photographs from Switzerland (Plate G).
Although the Annot Sandstone appears to show normal
grading, detailed description offers a different story. To un-
derstand the nature of normal grading and related complex-
ities in the Annot Sandstone, Mobil Oil Company initiated a
field research project with three geologists (R.J. Moiola, R.B.
Bloch, and G. Shanmugam) in 1998. We reexamined in detail
12 sandstone units of the Annot Sandstone, exposed along a
road section in the Peira Cava area of French Maritime
Alps (Fig. 32). This is the same road section that Bouma (1962,
p. 93, his Fig. 23) and Lanteaume et al. (1967) first used in their
studies of the Annot Sandstone. Results of our reexamination
of the Annot Sandstone were published (Shanmugam, 2002a,
2003, 2006a). The key features that contradict the conven-
tional turbidite interpretation of the Annot Sandstone are:

Basal contorted layers (Fig. 33A): The contorted intervals
beneath the sandstone are interpreted to be a product of
shearing and slumping produced by stress exerted by
overriding mass flows. Large-scale shear structures have
been reported in the Annot Sandstone in other areas as
well (Clark and Stanbrook, 2001).
156 G.Shanmugam

Fig. 36 e A-Components of a classic ancient submarine fan with a canyon, distributary channels, and lobes. The original
turbidite facies scheme (A, B, C, D, E, F, and G), proposed by Mutti and Ricci Lucchi (1972), is applied to a classic submarine fan.
Note each environment is characterized by a turbidite facies (e.g., channel with Facies B and lobe with Facies C). From
Shanmugam et al. (1985a, 1985b), with permission from Geological Society of America; B-Modified turbidite facies scheme of
Mutti (1992) without labels on depositional processes. In the original classification of Mutti (1992), each facies type shown
here was labeled as follows: F1 ¼ cohesive debris flow; F2 ¼ hyperconcentrated flow; F3 ¼ frictional freezing; F4, F5, F7, and
F8 ¼ high-density turbidity currents; F6 ¼ traction; F9a and F9b ¼ low-density turbidity currents. Note that Mutti et al. (2003,
2009) have removed process labels from each facies (see Table 3). I have added “Bouma divisions” for clarity. From Mutti et al.
(2003, 2009). Figure from Mutti et al. (2009). Publication: Sedimentology. With permission from John Wiley and Sons.
Copyright Clearance Center's RightsLink: Licensee: G. Shanmugam. License Number: 3695390527297. License Date: License
Date: August 25, 2015.

Basal inverse grading (Fig. 34A, C): A combined mechanism
of dispersive pressure, matrix strength, hindered settling,
and buoyant lift would explain the development of inverse
grading. The inverse grading is attributed to a plastic
debris-flow origin.

Basal normal grading: Because these sandstone intervals
are not only amalgamated but composed of complex in-
ternal features, no simple origin is meaningful.

Lenticular layers (Fig. 35A): Lenticular layers with quartz-
ose granules in sandstone may be interpreted as deposits
of non-Newtonian flows with strength. The presence of
planar fabric supports the laminar state of flow (Fisher,
1971). By simply describing these sedimentary features
without using the ‘Bouma’ divisions, lenticular layers
would be interpreted to be deposits of plastic laminar
flows.

Pockets of gravel (Fig. 35A): Unit 8 with pockets of gravel
cannot be explained by a single waning turbidity current.
The depositing flow must have had enough flow strength
to support granules near its upper part. The pockets of
gravels near the top of the bed reflect freezing of a plastic
flow (Fig. 35B).

Floating armored mudstone balls (Fig. 33A): Stanley et al.
(1978) interpreted armored mudstone balls in the Annot
Sandstone to be associated with the filling of canyons by
mass flows.
Submarine fans: A critical retrospective (1950e2015) 157

Fig. 37 e A-The classic fan model, in which depositional lobes are attached to feeder channels, proposed by Mutti and Ricci
Lucchi (1972); B-Subsequent fan model, in which depositional lobes are detached from feeder channels, proposed by Mutti
and Ricci Lucchi (1975); C-Map view of the Hecho Basin in Spain showing the detached lobes with respect to the feeder
channels. Note the position of Boltan  a anticline separating lobes from channels; D-Longitudinal section showing hydro-
dynamic control, proposed by Mutti (1979), for the detached lobes by sediment bypass zone (non-tectonic control); E-Lon-
gitudinal section showing the importance of the Boltan  a anticline in causing the sediment bypass zone proposed by
Shanmugam and Moiola (1985); F-Hydraulic details of the flow in the area of the anticline. See Walker (1981) and Komar
(1983) for hydraulic details. From Shanmugam and Moiola (1985). Publication: Springer eBook, Submarine fans and related
turbidite systems. With permission from Springer. Copyright Clearance Center's RightsLink: Licensee: G. Shanmugam. Li-
cense Number: 3695100767387. License Date: License Date: August 23, 2015.

Floating mudstone clasts (Fig. 34E): In Unit 7, intervals of
floating mudstone clasts are interpreted as deposits of
plastic debris flows. A combination of dispersive pressure,
matrix strength, hindered settling, and buoyant lift is
proposed as the cause of floating clasts.

Floating quartzose granules (Fig. 34A): Even a single
floating quartzose granule in a quartz-rich sandy matrix is
of rheologic and hydrodynamic significance. In the Annot
Sandstone, quartzose granules floating in a sandy matrix
are evidence that the flow had strength and that settling of
the grains is hindered. Because Unit 7 contains floating
quartz granules (Fig. 34A) and amalgamation surfaces, it
has been interpreted to be deposits of multiple episodes of
sandy debris flows and bottom currents.

Double mud layers (Fig. 33A, B): There are no analogous
divisions for double mud layers in the Bouma Sequence.
Double mud layers are unique to shallow-water tidal en-
vironments, and have been ascribed to alternating ebb and
flood tidal currents with extreme time-velocity asymmetry
in subtidal settings (Visser, 1980). In the Annot Sandstone
(Fig. 33A), double mud layers have been interpreted to be
deposits of deep-marine tidal currents (Shanmugam, 2003).
Hydrodynamically, turbidity currents are unsuitable to
explain the DML.

Sigmoidal cross bedding (Shanmugam, 2000a, 2003): There
are no analogous divisions for sigmoidal cross bedding in
the Bouma Sequence. These bedforms, typical of tidal
currents in estuarine environments (Terwindt, 1981;
Banerjee, 1989; Shanmugam et al., 2000), can also be
attributed to deep-marine tidal currents in submarine
canyons (Shanmugam, 2003).
Although the turbidite facies model advocates a simple
origin by turbidity currents, details of the Annot Sandstone
clearly reveal a complex origin by processes involving
slumping, sandy debris flows, and tidal bottom currents.
158
Deposits of true turbidity currents are extremely rare. Our
observations are nothing new. Stanley (1963, 1975) was one of
the early researchers to recognize the importance of slumps,
debris flows, grain flows, and liquefied flows in the origin of
the Annot Sandstone, SE France. In a recent comprehensive
study, Etienne et al. (2012, p.3) have acknowledged the com-
plex origin of the Annot Sandstone by the following
statement:
Fig. 38 e Three types of turbidite systems according to Mutti (1985). NATO. D. Reidel Publishing Company.
G.Shanmugam
“The Annot Sandstones are up to 1200 m thick (Inglis et al.,
1981) and composed of siliciclastic deposits resulting from
various types of gravity flows such as slumps, debris flows
(sensus Hampton, 1972; Middleton and Hampton, 1973), slurry
flows (sensus Lowe and Guy, 2000), high density turbidity
currents (sensus Kuenen, 1966; Middleton, 1967; Lowe, 1982;
Postma, 1986) also defined as sandy debris flows (sensus
Shanmugam, 1996, 2000a) and low density turbidites (sensus
Submarine fans: A critical retrospective (1950e2015)
Bouma, 1962; Middleton and Hampton, 1973) i.e. classical
turbidites.”
The problem remains as to how one can explain deep-
water units that show a partial Bouma Sequence composed
of a basal massive division and an upper parallel-laminated
division. In areas in which both downslope sandy debris
flows and along-slope-bottom currents operate concurrently,
the reworking of the tops of sandy debris flows by bottom
currents may be expected. Such a scenario could generate a
basal massive sand division and an upper reworked division,
mimicking a partial Bouma Sequence (Shanmugam, 2006a,
2012a). The reworking of deep-water sands by bottom cur-
rents has been suggested by other researchers as well (e.g.,
Stanley, 1993; Ito, 2002). Because the real-world oceans are
ubiquitously affected by multiple processes concurrently, the
grand ingrained principle of ‘one deposit for one flow type’ is
nothing more than a misplaced optimism. The turbidite
problem is not just incidental, it is fundamental to the basic
understanding of all deep-water sediments.
In summary, the turbidite facies model is a product of
distillation of field details, which is the inclusion of selective
details and the deliberate exclusion of other details (discussed
above). In stark contrast, process sedimentology is a precise
science that demands the inclusion of all the field details
(discussed above). Paradoxically, the turbidite facies model
has undermined the very foundation of process sedimen-
tology in discovering the truth.
Fig. 39 e A-Canyon-fed submarine fan proposed by Mutti and Ricci Lucchi (1972); B-Delta-fed submarine ramp, without
canyons and feeder channels, proposed by Heller and Dickinson (1985); C-Submarine gully-lobe system proposed by Surlyk
(1987); D-Sand-body geometry of gully-lobe system proposed by Surlyk (1987). Note sand injections (sills). With permission
from AAPG.
159
5. Classification of submarine fans
5.1. The turbidite facies associations
The concept of turbidite facies was first introduced by Mutti
and Ricci Lucchi (1972) based on facies association of Creta-
ceous and Tertiary deep-water systems in the northern
Apennines of Italy and Spanish Pyrenees. Mutti and Ricci
Lucchi (1972, p. 127e128) defined facies as follows: ‘Facies, or
better, lithofacies, are used herein to indicate a group of strata, or
less commonly a single stratum, with well-defined lithology, strati-
fication, sedimentary structures, and texture.’ Subsequently, other
researchers proposed similar facies schemes for deep-water
deposits (Stow, 1985; Pickering et al., 1986; Ghibaudo, 1992).
As the name implies, the turbidite facies scheme was developed
for turbidite-dominated systems. Seven basic turbidite facies,
namely A, B, C, D, E, F, and G, were proposed. These letters
should not be confused with five divisions of the Bouma
Sequence (i.e., Ta, Tb, Tc, Td, and Te). The Bouma Sequence
represents a single depositional unit, whereas a turbidite
facies association scheme represents groupings of multiple
depositional units. The attraction to this facies scheme from
both the petroleum industry and academia was the belief that
the facies association scheme could be used to interpret spe-
cific submarine-fan environments (Fig. 36A). Shanmugam
et al. (1985a), however, questioned the turbidite facies associ-
ations for the following reasons: (1) there are no modern
160
analogs, and (2) there are no objective criteria to establish the
precise boundaries of a lobe in ancient strata using outcrops or
sediment cores. At present, the original facies scheme
(Fig. 36A) and its modified version with emphasis on high-
density turbidity currents (Fig. 36B) are problematic (see de-
tails in Table 3). Shanmugam (2010) and Mutti et al. (2010)
recently debated issues related to the late John E. Sanders
(Shanmugam, 2000b) and high-density turbidity currents.
5.2. Submarine fan models
Submarine fan models are primarily based on types of lobes,
although other factors are also used (Reading and Richards,
1994; Stow and Mayall, 2000). There are, at least, 26 fan and
related models. The basic problem is that some models are
derived from the ancient record and some are derived from
the modern seafloor. Therefore, the models are not compat-
ible in terms of elements. In overcoming this challenge, the
following examples are identified as ancient, modern, or both.
5.2.1. The classic submarine fan model with attached lobes:
ancient systems
The classic submarine model, proposed by Mutti and Ricci
Lucchi (1972) and Mutti and Ghibaudo (1972), refers to sub-
marine fans in which the principal elements are well devel-
oped with the canyon in the upper-fan setting, distributary
Fig. 40 e Conceptual diagrams of submarine fan models with four different types of lobes showing their map view (A) and
their 3-D view (B). Red arrows show the link. Modified after Shanmugam (1990). With permission from SEPM.
G.Shanmugam
channels in the middle-fan setting, and the depositional lobes
in the lower-fan setting (Fig. 36A). In this model, distributary
channels and related lobes diverge away from the primary
feeder canyon, causing the fan-shaped geometry on map view
(Fig. 36A). Importantly, depositional lobes are attached to
feeder channels (Fig. 37A). Each fan environment is charac-
terized by a characteristic association of turbidite facies. For
example, the channel-mouth lobe environment is dominated
by the association of turbidite facies C and D (Mutti, 1977).
5.2.2. The detached-lobe model: ancient systems
The detached-lobe model was first proposed by Mutti and
Ricci Lucchi (1975). The Eocene Hecho Group in Spain is the
type locality for the detached-lobe model (Fig. 37B). Mutti
(1979) claimed a hydrodynamic readjustment of turbidity
currents in front of the channel mouth that resulted in a non-
deposition and related zone of bypassing (Fig. 37D). However,
the distribution of channels and lobes (Fig. 37C) with respect
to the growing Boltan ~ a anticline suggests a tectonic control
(Fig. 37E) for sediment bypassing (Shanmugam and Moiola
(1985). The flow mechanics, based on Walker (1981) and
Komar (1983), over the Boltan ~ a anticline (Fig. 37F) offer a
meaningful solution in explaining the sediment bypassing.
The detached lobes are also dominated by turbidite facies C
and D. This model is a challenge to the petroleum industry
because it is difficult to predict the distribution of such
Submarine fans: A critical retrospective (1950e2015) 161

isolated reservoir facies in the frontier exploration areas. In sediment accumulation and deltaic progradation. As noted
the subsurface, a detached lobe might mimic the Var lobe earlier, detached lobes have implications for predicting
(Fig. 20B) and the delta-fed ramp (discussed below). reservoir facies in the subsurface.

5.2.3. The three types of “turbidite systems”: ancient systems
At the NATO Advanced Study Institute Conference on
“Reading Provenance from Arenites” held in Calabria, Italy,
June 3e11 (1984), Mutti introduced a new type of fan. In
addition to the fans with attached lobes and detached lobes,
Mutti (1985) introduced a third type in which a channel-levee
complex without sandy lobes (Fig. 38). He emphasized the
roles of both eustatic and tectonic controls on fan develop-
ment. This channel-levee complex of ancient system is anal-
ogous to the “fan lobe” of the modern Mississippi Fan (Bouma
et al., 1985b).
5.2.4. The canyon-fed fan vs. the delta-fed ramp models:
ancient systems
Unlike the classic canyon-fed submarine fans with attached
lobes (Fig. 39A), delta-fed submarine ramps do not have the
feeder canyon (Fig. 39B). The lobes are detached or without
connected feeder channels or canyons. The delta-fed system
is dominated by turbidite facies C and D. Heller and Dickinson
(1985) discussed the implications of this variance for rapid
5.2.5. The gully-lobe model
Surlyk (1987) reported that the Upper Jurassic Hareelv For-
mation of Jameson Land, East Greenland, occurs in an area of
60  75 km. It consists of 200e500 m of black shale with thick,
closely spaced sandstone bodies. The sandstones fill deep,
steep-walled gullies and elongate scours, or form more regu-
lar, laterally extensive, parallel-sided, but erosive gully mouth
or lobe deposits. He interpreted that the sands were deposited
in a deep-water shelf basin by high-density turbidity currents
(HDTC) traveling from basin-margin source areas (Fig. 39C).
The problems with HDTC were discussed earlier. Gully-lobe
sands are characterized by sand injections, such as sills
(Fig. 39D).
5.2.6. The suprafan lobe model: modern systems
The concept of “suprafan lobe” (Fig. 5A) was developed from
modern Navy and San Lucas fans in offhsore California
(Normark, 1970, 1978). Walker (1978) combined the major el-
ements of Normark's model for modern suprafan lobes with
the facies schemes of Mutti and Ricci Luchhi (1972) for ancient

Fig. 41 e The nine models for submarine fans, ramps and slope-apron systems, classified on the basis of (1) volume and grain
size of available sediment, and (2) nature of the supply system (number of input points) (from Reading and Richards, 1994;
Stow et al., 1996). Diagram from Stow and Mayall (2000). Publication: Marine and Petroleum Geology. With permission from
Elsevier. Copyright Clearance Center's RightsLink: Licensee: G. Shanmugam. License Number: 3694480766267. License Date:
License Date: August 22, 2015.
162
fans and proposed a general model (Fig. 40A). However, these
models are obsolete because Normark (1991) abandoned his
suprafan lobe model altogether.
5.2.7. The depositional lobe model: ancient systems
Mutti and Ghibaudo (1972) were the first to apply the term
“depositional lobe” to ancient deep-sea fan sequences. It de-
velops at channel-mouth environments (Fig. 40A) and de-
velops upward-thickening trends with turbidite facies C and D
(Fig. 40B) (Mutti, 1977).
5.2.8. The fan lobe model: modern systems
Bouma et al. (1985b) applied the term “fan lobe” to the youn-
gest channel-levee system of the entire modern Mississippi
Fan in the Gulf of Mexico (Fig. 40A). Because Bouma et al.
(1985b) defined the elements of this type acoustically, it is
not practical to apply these acoustic elements directly to
ancient systems. The Type III (Fig. 38) ancient “turbidite sys-
tem” of Mutti (1985) is analogous to the modern “fan lobe”
type. However, the terminus of the Mississippi Fan has neither
the dominance of turbidites nor the typical channel-mouth
lobes. The “fan lobe” concept is a source of confusion.
5.2.9. The ponded lobe model: modern systems
Nelson et al. (1985) applied the term “ponded lobe” to the Ebro
fan that is dominated by Facies F of Mutti and Ricci Lucchi
Fig. 42 e A-Three types of fan models based on tectonic settings. The fourth type, representing a mixed setting, is shown in
Curray et al. (2003, their Fig. 1). From Shanmugam and Moiola (1988); B-Details of a mature passive-margin fan; C-Details of
an active-margin fan. From Shanmugam (1990). With permission from SEPM.
G.Shanmugam
(1972). Because Facies F is dominated by slump deposits
(Fig. 40A), it would be difficult to distinguish a submarine fan
of this type from a typical slope deposit with slumps. The
“ponded lobe” concept is another source of confusion.
5.2.10. The nine models based on grain size and sediment
source: modern and ancient systems
Stow and Mayall (2000; their Fig. 9) proposed a total of nine
models (Fig. 41) for submarine fans, ramps and slope-apron
systems. This classification is based on the basis of (1) vol-
ume and grain size of available sediment, and (2) nature of the
supply system (number of input points). These models are
based on publications by Reading and Richards (1994) and
Stow et al. (1996). Additional models are discussed by Richards
et al. (1998). The underlying assumption is that all these
models are products of mostly turbidity currents and high-
density turbidity currents (HDTC). As mentioned earlier,
there is no documented evidence for the existence of HDTC in
nature in explaining gravelly and sandy turbidites (Fig. 31B).
Therefore, the depositional origin of these gravelly and sandy
deposits is still in doubt.
5.2.11. The four fan models based on tectonic settings: modern
and ancient systems
Barnes and Normark (1985) grouped modern and ancient deep-
water systems under two broad tectonic categories, namely, (1)
Submarine fans: A critical retrospective (1950e2015) 163

active (accretionary, transform, and subduction) and (2) pas-
sive margin settings. Shanmugam and Moiola (1988) classified
deep-water systems into four basic types based on tectonic
settings (Fig. 42A), namely, (1) immature passive margin (North
Sea type), (2) mature passive margin (Atlantic type), (3) active
margin (Pacific type), and (4) mixed setting (Bay of Bengal type).
Pickering et al. (1989) discussed continental margins under: (1)
evolving and mature passive margins, (2) active convergent
margins, and (3) oblique slip margins.
The immature passive margin type (e.g., Balder Fan, North
Sea), which represents an early stage of basin evolution on a
divergent margin, is characterized by proximal source, narrow
shelves, high gradients, high sand/mud ratios, and small ba-
sins (Fig. 42A). The mature passive margin type is character-
ized by distal source, wide shelves, low gradients, low sand/
mud ratios, and large basins (e.g., Amazon Fan, Atlantic
Ocean). Properties of active margin type, such as the Hecho
Group in Spain, are the same as immature passive margin
type. The mixed type is necessary to classify deep-water
systems that cannot be readily grouped into one of the
above three types. An example is the Bengal Fan that is
bounded by both active and passive margins types (Curray
and Moore, 1974).
5.2.12. The Jackfork debrite model: ancient systems
The Pennsylvanian Jackfork Group in the Ouachita Mountains
of Arkansas and Oklahoma (Fig. 43A) has conventionally been
interpreted by many workers (e.g., Briggs and Cline, 1967),
including us (Moiola and Shanmugam, 1984; Moiola et al.,
1988; Shanmugam and Moiola, 1988), as a classic flysch
sequence dominated by turbidites in a submarine-fan setting;
however, normal size grading and Bouma sequences, indica-
tive of turbidite deposition, are essentially absent in these
sandstone beds. They appear massive (i.e., structureless) in
outcrop, but when slabbed reveal diagnostic internal features.
These beds exhibit sharp and irregular upper bedding con-
tacts, inverse size grading, floating mudstone clasts, a planar
clast fabric, lateral pinch-out geometries, moderate to high
detrital matrix (up to 25%), sigmoidal deformation (duplex)
structures (Shanmugam et al., 1988b), and contorted layers. All

Fig. 43 e A-Location map showing the DeGray Spillway section in Arkansas and the Kiamichi Mountain section in Oklahoma
that were used in the study of the Jackfork Group (After Shanmugam and Moiola (1995). Reprinted by permission of the
American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) whose permission is required for further use; B-Turbidite fan model
for the Ouachita flysch by Shanmugam and Moiola (1988) showing a longitudinal fan system in a regional tectonic frame-
work. Note that the fan is not subdivided into inner, middle, and outer segments; C-Sandy debrite model of the Jackfork
Group showing the importance of debris flows and slumps on a slope setting. Tectonic framework is after Thomas (1985).
Paleocurrent data of the Jackfork suggest a westward flow in southeastern Oklahoma (Briggs and Cline, 1967) (After
Shanmugam and Moiola (1995). Reprinted by permission of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) whose
permission is required for further use.
164 G.Shanmugam

Fig. 44 e Conceptual sequence-stratigraphic fan models. A-Seismic geometries showing basin-floor fans (sheet mound) and
slope fans (complex or gull-wing mound); B-Wireline-log motifs showing blocky motif of basin-floor fans; C-Slope-fan
model; D-Basin-floor fan model. Simplified from Vail et al. (1991). After Shanmugam et al. (1995). Reprinted by permission of
the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) whose permission is required for further use.
Submarine fans: A critical retrospective (1950e2015) 165

Fig. 45 e Depositional model of Gryphon Field area, UK North Sea. A-Well-developed blocky log motif. Lower Eocene,
Gryphon Field, Kerr-McGee 9/18b-7; B-Depth-tied sedimentological log showing facies distribution. Stratigraphic positions of
core features C and D are shown by arrows; C-Facies 2: Core photograph showing a large mudstone clast (arrow) in fine-
grained massive sand. Note irregular upper surface of mudstone clast. 5725 ft (1746 m); D-Facies 2: Core photograph
showing steeply dipping layer (arrow), interpreted as internal shear plane at 5726.7 ft (1746.6 m); E-Schematic depositional
model, based on integration of core, log and seismic data, showing mounded seismic facies are a result of slumps and debris
flows. Note that the 9/18b-7 well is located at the intersection of seismic lines KMG-881-35 and KMG-881-8 (shown by
sketches) and that cored interval is shown by a solid black bar. Areal distribution of slump masses is
speculative (Shanmugam et al., 1995). Reprinted by permission of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
whose permission is required for further use.
166
Fig. 46 e Three types of reservoirs in the Auger Field, Gulf of Mexico. Modified after McGee et al. (1994). Credit: GCSEPM.
these features indicate sand emplacement by debris flows
(mass flows) and slumps. Mud matrix in these sandstones was
sufficient to provide cohesive strength to the flow. Discrete
units of current ripples and horizontal laminae have been
interpreted to represent traction processes associated with
bottom-current reworking. As a consequence, we admitted
our earlier misinterpretations as a turbidite fan and proposed
a totally different debite model (Shanmugam and Moiola,
1995). This was our epiphany.
The dominance of sandy debris-flow and slump deposits
(nearly 70% at DeGray Spillway section) and bottom-current
reworked deposits (40% at Kiamichi Mountain section), and
the lack of turbidites in the Jackfork Group had led us to pro-
pose a slope setting. Our rejection of a submarine fan setting
has important implications for predicting sand-body geome-
try and continuity because deposits of Newtonian turbidity
currents in fans are laterally more continuous than those of
plastic debris flows and slumps on slopes. A turbidite-
dominated fan model (Fig. 43B) would predict an outer fan
environment with laterally continuous, sheet-like sandstones
for the Jackfork Group in southern Oklahoma and western
G.Shanmugam
Arkansas, whereas a debrite/slump model (Fig. 43C) would
predict predominantly a slope environment with discon-
nected sandstone bodies for the same area.
Our (Shanmugam and Moiola, 1995) controversial reinter-
pretation had resulted in 42 printed pages of discussions and
replies in the AAPG Bulletin by some of the leading authorities
in the field, which included the following:

Bouma et al. (1997)

Coleman (1997)

D'Agostino and Jordan (1997)

Lowe (1997)

Slatt et al. (1997).
We promptly responded (Shanmugam and Moiola, 1997).
No other paper in the AAPG Bulletin history has generated this
much controversy.
5.2.13. The basin-floor fan model: ancient systems
The concept of basin-floor fan (Vail et al., 1991) in a sequence-
stratigraphic template (Fig. 44) has been popular both in the
Submarine fans: A critical retrospective (1950e2015) 167

Table 4 e Types and duration of triggering mechanisms of sediment failures. Compiled from several sources. Updated after
Shanmugam (2012b, 2015b). The change in numbering is to reflect the change in duration of triggering events.
Types of triggering Environment of Duration
sediment emplacement
1. Earthquake (Heezen and Ewing, 1952; Henstock et al., 2006) Subaerial & submarine Short-term events: a
2. Meteorite impact (Claeys et al., 2002; Barton et al., 2009/2010) Subaerial & submarine few minutes to several
3. Volcanic activity (Tilling et al., 1990) Subaerial & submarine hours, days or months
4. Tsunami waves (Shanmugam, 2006b) Subaerial & submarine
5. Rogue waves (Dysthe et al., 2008) Submarine
6. Cyclonic waves (Bea et al., 1983; Prior et al., 1989; Shanmugam, 2008c) Subaerial & submarine
7. Internal waves and tides (Shanmugam, 2013a, 2013b, 2013c, 2014b) Submarine
8. Ebb tidal current (Boyd et al., 2008) Submarine
9. Monsoonal rainfall (Petley, 2012) Subaerial
10. Groundwater seepage (Bro € nnimann, 2011) Subaerial & submarine
11. Wildfire (Cannon et al., 2001) Subaerial
12. aHuman activity (Dan et al., 2007) Subaerial & submarine
1. bTectonic events: (a) tectonic oversteepening (Greene et al., 2006); (b) Subaerial & submarine Intermediate-term
tensional stresses on the rift zones (Urgeles et al., 1997); (c) oblique events: hundreds to
seamount subduction (Collot et al., 2001), among others thousands of years
2. Glacial maxima, loading (Elverhøi et al., 1997, 2002); glacial meltwater Submarine
(Piper et al., 2012)
3. Salt movement (Prior and Hooper, 1999) Submarine
4. Depositional loading (Coleman and Prior, 1982; Behrmann et al., 2006) Submarine
5. Hydrostatic loading (Trincardi et al., 2003) Submarine
6. Ocean-bottom currents (Locat and Lee, 2002) Submarine
7. Biological erosion in submarine canyons (Dillon and Zimmerman, 1970; Submarine
Warme et al., 1978)
8. Gas hydrate decomposition (Popenoe et al., 1993; Sultan et al., 2004; submarine
Maslin et al., 2004)
1. Sea-level lowstand (Damuth and Fairbridge, 1970; Shanmugam and Moiola, Submarine Long-term events:
1982, 1988; Vail et al., 1991) thousands to millions of
years
a
Although human activity is considered to be the second most common triggering mechanism (next to earthquakes) for known historic
submarine mass movements (Mosher et al., 2010), it is irrelevant for interpreting ancient rock record.
b
Some tectonic events may extend over millions of years.

academia (Catuneanu, 2006) and in the petroleum industry
(Saller et al., 2004).
The conventional basin-floor fans are believed to be
composed of sandy turbidites (Vail et al., 1991). Mobil Oil
Company initiated a major field study in the early 1990s to
understand the depositional origin of deep-water strata in the
North Sea and adjacent regions. Our examination of nearly
12,000 ft (3658 m) of conventional core from Paleogene and
Cretaceous deep-water sandstone reservoirs cored in 50 wells
in 10 different areas or fields reveals that these reservoirs are
predominantly composed of mass-transport deposits, mainly
sandy slumps and sandy debris flows (Shanmugam et al.,
1995). Classic turbidites are extremely rare and comprise
less than 1% of all cores. Sedimentary features indicating
slump and debris-flow origin include sand units with sharp
upper contacts; slump folds; discordant, steeply dipping
layers (up to 60 ); glide planes; shear zones; brecciated clasts;
clastic injections; floating mudstone clasts; planar clast fabric;
inverse grading of clasts; and moderate-to-high matrix con-
tent (5%e30%).
Many of the cored reservoirs either have been previously
interpreted as basin-floor fans or exhibit seismic (e.g., moun-
ded forms) and wireline-log signatures (e.g., blocky motif,
Fig. 45A) and stratal relationships (e.g., downlap onto
sequence boundary) indicating basin-floor fans within a
sequence stratigraphic framework. This model predicts that
basin-floor fans are predominantly composed of sand-rich
turbidites with laterally extensive, sheetlike geometries.
However, calibration of sedimentary facies in our long
(400e700 ft) cores with seismic and wireline-log signatures
through several of these basin-floor fans (including the
Gryphon-Forth, Frigg, and Faeroe areas) shows that these
features are actually composed almost exclusively of mass-
transport deposits consisting mainly of slumps and debris
flows (Fig. 45C and D). Our core studies thus underscore the
complexities of deep-water depositional systems and indicate
that model-driven interpretation of remotely sensed data (i.e.,
seismic and wireline logs) to predict specific sedimentary
facies and depositional features should proceed with caution.
Process sedimentological interpretation, using long sediment
cores, is commonly critical for determining the true origin and
distribution of reservoir sands.
Our reinterpretation of massive sands in the North Sea also
had resulted in a major discussion by Hiscott et al. (1997) and
in a reply by Shanmugam et al. (1997). This debate was mostly
about high-density turbidity currents.
5.2.14. Supercritical and subcritical fans: ancient systems
Based on the basic assumption that submarine fans are
deposited by stratified high-density turbidity currents and
168 G.Shanmugam

Fig. 47 e Three types of triggering events based on duration. A-Short-term events causing abundant sand deposition in the
deep sea; B-Intermediate-term events causing moderate sand deposition in the deep sea; C-Long-term events causing low
sand deposition in the deep sea. Note that short-term events can cause additional sand deposition during lowstands as well.
See Table 4 for details.

non-stratified low-density turbidity currents, Postma and
Cartigny (2014, their Fig. 3) classified various elements of
submarine fans as deposits of supercritical (Fr > 1) and
subcritical (Fr < 1) turbidity currents. In this classification, the
underpinning principle is the Froude Number (Fr).
U
Froude Number : Fr ¼ pffiffiffiffiffiffi
gh
U ¼ flow velocity g ¼ gravitational acceleration h ¼ flow depth
On steep slopes, with gradients >0.5 , supercritical flows
are likely to develop (Komar, 1971). Supercritical flows
generate distinct bedforms in experiments (Cartigny et al.,
2014). In explaining supercritical fans, Hamilton et al. (2015)
conducted experiments with steep slopes and saline density
currents with crushed plastic to emulate sustained turbidity
currents and bed load transport. This bedload transport is
analogous to experimental stratified flows with a basal
laminar-inertia flow and an upper (turbulent) turbidity cur-
rent that was termed as “high-density turbidity currents” by
Postma et al. (1988) (see Fig. 13B). Hoyal et al. (2014) applied the
concept of “Froude supercritical submarine fans” to examples
of ‘steep’ fans that include the Brushy Canyon (Texas), Ainsa
(Spain), Tabernas/Sorbas (Spain), Karoo (South Africa), Golo
(Corsica) and East Breaks (Gulf of Mexico) using outcrop and
high resolution seismic data. They concluded that sandy
submarine fans from steep and tectonically active margins are
typically small in radius (<10 km), and could be dominated by
deposits emplaced at hydraulic jumps.
Despite their popularity in both academia (Postma and
Cartigny, 2014) and in the petroleum industry (Hoyal et al.,
2014), the Froude fan models suffer for the following reasons:

No one has documented supercritical turbidity currents,
which Postma and Cartigny (2014, their Fig. 3) equate with
high-density (stratified) turbidity currents (see Fig. 13B), in
the modern oceans.

There are no experimental basis for Froude fans. For
example, Kostic and Parker (2007) observe that “The tran-
sition from supercritical to subcritical flow is accomplished
through an internal hydraulic jump. Consider a steady
turbidity current flowing from a steep canyon onto a milder fan,
and then exiting the fan down another steep canyon. The flow
might be expected to undergo a hydraulic jump to subcritical
flow near the canyonefan break, and then accelerate again to
Submarine fans: A critical retrospective (1950e2015) 169

Fig. 48 e A-Map showing the Indonesian throughflow (ITF) pathways and estimates of total volume transport in Sv
(Sverdrup ¼ 106 m3 s¡1). Note location of the Kutei Basin along the equator; B-Panel showing the partitioning of transport
above and below the Makassar Strait sill depth of approximately 680 m. After Gordon (2005), with permission from the
Oceanography Society.

critical flow at the fanecanyon break downstream. The prob-
lem of locating the hydraulic jump is here termed the ‘jump
problem’. Experiments with fine-grained sediment have
confirmed the expected behaviour outlined above. Similar ex-
periments with coarse-grained sediment suggest that if the
deposition rate is sufficiently high, this ‘jump problem’ may
have no solution with the expected behaviour, and in particular
no solution with a hydraulic jump. In such cases, the flow
either transits the length of the low-slope fan as a supercritical
flow and shoots off the fanecanyon break without responding
to it, or dissipates as a supercritical flow before exiting the fan.
The analysis presented below confirms the existence of a range
associated with rapid sediment deposition where no solution to
the ‘jump problem’ can be found.” No further explanation is
necessary.

In the Froude-supercritical low (Fr > 1), where the water
surface is in phase with the bed, upstream-migrating
antidune bedforms commonly develop (Simons et al.,
1965). Although antidunes have been recognized in out-
crops (Skipper, 1971; Andreetta, 2009), such bedforms (i.e.,
“backset bedding” or cross-stratification that dips against
the direction of flow of the depositing currents) are
impossible to recognize in the subsurface sediment cores
of ancient deep-water systems.
170
Fig. 49 e Photograph of G. Shanmugam (left) and R. J. Moiola (right) of Mobil Research and Development Corporation was
taken during a special field trip organized by Professor Emiliano Mutti to study classic sumarine fans in the Tertiary strata of
the Spanish Pyrenees. Photo by Professor Mutti near Tremp, Spain, March 1981.

In the Brushy Canyon Formation, Delaware Basin, the
presence of hummocky cross stratification (HCS) in out-
crops has been interpreted as storm-modified hyper-
pycnites in shallow-water environments (Higgs, 2009),
which contradicts deposition by supercritical flows.

In the Golo (Corsica) example, there is uncertainty on the
origin of sand beds (see Section 3.5).

In the East Breaks (Gulf of Mexico) example, the dominance
of sandy debrites and slumps in cores and on seismic data
(Woodbury et al., 1978; Rothwell et al., 1991; Shanmugam,
2006a, his Section 6.3.2) contradicts deposition by super-
critical flows.
Given these uncertainties, one should proceed with
caution in classifying submarine fans using Froude regimes.
5.2.15. Three types of fan reservoirs: ancient systems
McGee et al. (1994) studied the Pliocene-Pleistocene reservoirs
in the Auger Field and concluded that the “S” Sand in the
Garden Banks 427, 470, and 471 blocks of Gulf of Mexico is a
turbidite sheet sand. They recognized three types of reser-
voirs, namely (1) layered sheet sands, (2) amalgamated sheet
sands, and (3) amalgamated channel sands (Fig. 46). The “S”
Sand has a thickness of 61 m and is correlatable over a dis-
tance of 4.4 km (McGee et al., 1994). Although the “S” Sand has
been interpreted to be deposits of turbidity currents, it shows
planar clast fabric and rafted mudstone clasts (McGee et al.,
1994, p. 247). These features suggest that the “S” Sand was
probably emplaced by laminar flows diagnostic of debris
flows, not turbidity currents. Depositional model for the Auger
G.Shanmugam
sand is essentially a conventional submarine fan model (see
Fig. 5B) with new terminologies on sand geometry. For
example, the layered sheet sand is analogous to lower fan
sand; the amalgamated sheet sand is analogous to middle fan
sand; and the amalgamated channel sand is analogous to
upper fan sand.
In summary, each model is unique. At present, there is no
single fan model with universal applicability because their
depositional origin is complex.
6. Short-term trigger control
Conventionally, the development of submarine fans have
been attributed to periods of lowstands of sea levels on a
global scale (Shanmugam and Moiola, 1982; Shanmugam et al.,
1985b). Howvever, during the past two dcades, this conven-
tional wisdom has been proven wrong. For example, deep-sea
sand deposition, triggered by tsunamis and cyclones can also
occur during highstands (Shanmugam, 2008c). In discussing
the La Jolla highstand fan in the California borderland, Covault
et al. (2007, p. 786) state, “Contrary to widely used sequence
stratigraphic models, lowstand fans are only part of the turbidite
depositional record, and this analysis reveals that a comparable
volume of coarse clastic sediment has been deposited in California
borderland deep-water basins regardless of sea level.”
There are at least 21 triggering mechanisms that can
initiate sediment failures in subaerial and submarine envi-
ronments on Earth (Table 4). These mechanisms are grouped
into three major categories based on their duration of activity
Submarine fans: A critical retrospective (1950e2015)
(Table 4): (1) short-term events that last for only a few minutes
to several hours, days or months (e.g., earthquakes, volcanic
eruptions, meteorite impacts, tsunamis, tropical cyclones,
monsoon floods, etc.), (2) intermediate-term events that last
for hundreds to thousands of years (e.g., tectonic events,
glacial maxima and loading, depositional loading, gas hydrate
decomposition, etc.), and (3) long-term events that last for
thousands to millions of years, such as lowstands of sea level
(Shanmugam, 2012a, 2012b). Conceivably, some intermediate-
term events may last for a longer duration. The point here is
that short-term events and long-term events are markedly
different in their duration. Of the 21 potential triggering
mechanisms of sediment failures, frequent short-term events
that last for only a few minutes to several hours or days (e.g.,
earthquakes, meteorite impacts, tsunamis, tropical cyclones,
etc.) are more relevant in controlling deposition of deep-water
sands than sporadic long-term events that last for thousands
to millions of years (e.g., lowstand systems tract) (Fig. 47). The
importance of short-term events, such as tsunamis and cy-
clones, can occur irrespective of sea-level changes. But there
are no criteria to distinguish tsunmi-generated sands from
cyclone-generated sands (Shanmugam, 2012b). More impor-
tantly, there are no criteria to distinguish tsunmi-generated
sands from earthquake-generated sands into the deep sea
during long periods of sea-level lowstands or highstands
(Shanmugam, 2007, 2012b).
Finally, there is a growing interest on the role of climate
change on submarine fans (Ducassou et al., 2009; Pickering
and Hiscott, 2015; Scotchman et al., 2015). Future research on
the function of glacioeustasy (Miller et al., 2011) on the trig-
gering of submarine fans would be useful. However, there are
ongoing debates on this domain. For example, Bickert and
Henrich (2011) dealt with both sides of the controversy sur-
rounding the onset of northern-hemisphere glaciation, and
concluded that “Whatever the correct answer may be, this con-
troversy clearly depicts that we are far away from understanding the
dynamics and processes of the Earth's climate change.”
6.1. The Kutei Basin, Makassar Strait, Indonesian Seas
In the petroleum industry, the sea-level lowstand model is the
norm for explaining the timing of deep-water sands. Saller
et al. (2006), for example, attributed the timing of reservoir
sands in the Kutei Basin in the Makassar Strait, Indonesian
Seas (Fig. 48) to a lowstand of sea-level. Nevertheless, the
location of the Kutei Basin (Fig. 48) is frequently affected by
earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis, tropical cyclones, and
monsoon floods (see Shanmugam, 2008b, 2008c, 2014a). These
daily activities of the solar system (e.g., earthquakes, mete-
orite impacts, tsunamis, cyclonic waves, etc.) do not come to a
total halt during sea-level lowstands. In tectonically and
oceanographically tumultuous locations, such as the Indo-
nesian Seas, the short-term events are the primary triggering
mechanisms of deepwater sediment failures and they occur in
a matter of hours or days during long periods of both high-
stands and lowstands (Shanmugam, 2008c). In other words,
submarine fans can develop during all sea-level stands
(Covault and Graham, 2010).
Saller et al. (2006) interpreted petroleum-producing
Miocene sands with parallel and cross laminae as turbidites
171
using the turbidite facies model of Bouma (1962) in the Kutei
Basin. The problem here is that Saller et al. (2006) overlooked
the existence of empirical data on bottom currents associated
with various modern oceanographic phenomena in the
Makassar Strait (Fig. 48). They are (1) documented Indonesian
throughflow (Gordon, 2005) (Fig. 48), (2) observed internal
waves (Hatayama, 2004), (3) observed internal tides (Ray et al.,
2005), and (4) measured velocities of deep tidal currents
(Nummedal and Teas, 2001; Wajsowicz et al., 2003). These data
are relevant in interpreting Miocene sands alternatively as
deep-marine tidalites or baroclinic sands (Shanmugam,
2008b, 2014a).
In summary, the popular interpretation of deep-water
sands as turbidite fans deposited during periods of sea-level
lowstands is a myth.
7. Epilogue
By looking back the 65 years of research on submarine fans,
the obvious conclusion is that we still have a muddled turbi-
dite paradigm regarding the true depositional origin of grav-
elly and sandy fans that are critical to the petroleum industry.
The continued promotion of turbidite facies models in the 21st
century on fictional basis of high-density turbidity currents,
without the underpinning empirical reality for their existence
in nature, is futile. Turbidite facies models are nothing more
than a “groupthink” (Shanmugam, 2012a, p. 153). By design,
genetic facies models undermine any conceptual innovation
by enforcing a monolithic mindset. Therefore, the future
research should be aimed at developing verifiable models for
the deposits of processes that actually exist in nature and that
can be observed and measured. In an observational science
like physical sedimentology (Allen, 1985b, p. ix), empirical
data matter.
Acknowledgements
I thank Prof. Zeng-Zhao Feng (Editor-in-Chief of Journal of
Palaeogeography; China University of Petroleum, Beijing) and
Prof. Zhong-Qiang Chen (Associate Editor-in-Chief; State Key
Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China
University of Geosciences, Wuhan) for inviting me to
contribute this review. I also thank the editor Dr. Yuan Wang
for her help during the submission process and for meticulous
editing. I am thankful to review comments by Prof. Zhong-
Qiang Chen and Dr. Yin-Ye Wu (PetroChina, Beijing). As al-
ways, I am grateful to my wife, Jean Shanmugam, for her
general comments on all my publications since 1976.
I am deeply indebted to R. J. Moiola for his support and
collaboration with all my studies of submarine fans
throughout my career with Mobil (1978e2000). My field expe-
rience gained from studies of ancient submarine fans with R.J.
Moiola (Spain, Italy, the Ouachitas, and the Annot Sandstone,
SE France), with Garrett Briggs (the Ouachitas), with Kenneth
Walker (the Southern Appalachians, my Ph.D. work at the
University o Tennessee, Knoxville, USA), and on modern
submarine fans with J. E. Damuth at Lamont-Doherty Earth
172
Observatory (Mississippi Fan, DSDP Leg 96 cores) has greatly
enhanced my understanding of submarine fans. My sincere
gratitude to Prof. George Devries Klein, Emeritus Professor at
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, who served as the
Editor of Earth-Science Reviews during the late 1970s and who
handled my first review article on “Submarine fans” for the
journal (Shanmugam and Moiola, 1988). His publications have
been a great souce of inspiration for my research on deep-
water sedimentation.
I am delighted to thank Professor Emiliano Mutti for orga-
nizing a special field trip to the Eocene Hecho Group in the
South-Central Pyrenees (Spain) in March 1981, as a consultant,
for two Mobil geologists (R. J. Moiola and G. Shanmugam)
(Fig. 49). Every night at dinner time, after a long, fruitful, and
grueling day in the field, we would embark on lively and often
heated debates on deep-water sedimentation that would last
until the wee hours of the morning. These debates were the
root cause of my passion for investigating the very foundation
of the turbidite paradigm and submarine fans. As a conse-
quence, my first two critical papers on submarine fans were:
(1) “Is the turbidite facies association scheme valid for inter-
preting ancient submarine fan environments?” (Shanmugam
et al., 1985a) and (2) “Submarine fan models: problems and
solutions” (Shanmugam and Moiola, 1985). Despite our pro-
fessional feud, Emiliano and I have exchanged cordial e-mails
to this day. I also thank the late T. H. Nilsen for organizing a
special field trip to study deep-water “turbidites” in California
in October 1992, as a consultant, for a Mobil geologist (G.
Shanmugam).
This review article has benefited from my participation
in the following academic activities:

As an invited co-author of two book chapters
(Shanmugam and Moiola, 1985; Shanmugam et al., 1985b) to
the COMFAN 1 volume edited by Bouma et al. (1985a), Orga-
nizer: A. H. Bouma.

As an invited participant in the NATO Advanced
Study Institute Conference on “Reading Provenance from
Arenites”, Calabria, Italy (1984), Organizer: G. G. Zuffa.

As an invited participant in the COMFAN II Meeting,
Parma, Italy (1988), Organizer: E. Mutti.

As an invited lecturer in the SEPM Pacific Section
Short Course held in San Francisco as part of the 1990 AAPG
Convention on “Deep-Marine Sedimentation, Depositional
Models and Case Histories in Hydrocarbon Exploration &
Development.” SEPM Course organizers: G. C. Brown, D. S.
Gorsline, W. J. Schweller.

For the first time, to understand mechanics of sandy
debris flows and their deposits, a Mobil-funded experimental
flume study was carried out at St. Anthony Falls Laboratory
(SAFL), University of Minnesota (1996e1998) under the direc-
tion of of Professor G. Parker. Results were published in two
major articles (Shanmugam, 2000a; Marr et al., 2001).

As an invited panelist in the 1997 (April) AAPG/SEPM
Convention Debate, Dallas, Texas
Topic: Processes of Deep-Water Clastic Sedimentation and
Their Reservoir Implications: What Can We Predict?
Moderator: H. E. Clifton.
Panelists: A. H. Bouma, J. E. Damuth, D. R. Lowe, G. Parker,
and G. Shanmugam.
G.Shanmugam

As an invited book reviewer (Shanmugam, 2001), in
response an invitation from Prof. Robert N. Ginsburg for the
journal Episodes, of a book edited by Bouma and Stone (2000).
This book was an outgrowth of a field trip that was organized
as a part of the 1997 AAPG/SEPM Annual Convention in
Dallas, Texas (USA). The purpose of the field trip was to
examine the Pennsylvanian Jackfork Group in Arkansas
(USA) in debating its controversial reinterpretation as de-
posits of sandy debris flows as opposed to its conventional
interpretation as turbidites in deep-water environments
(Section 5.2.12) (see Shanmugam and Moiola, 1995).

As an invited speaker, in response to an invitation
from Professor George Devries Klein, Shanmugam (2000b)
presented a lecture on “John E. Sanders and the turbidite
controversy” with focus on Sanders' seminal contribution on
the myth of high-density turbidity currents at a “Conference
on the History of Geologic Pioneers” held at Rensselaer Center
of Applied Geology, Troy, New York, August 3e5, 2000. Orga-
nizer: The late Professor Gerald M. Friedman.
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