Contourites are sediments deposited or substantially reworked by bottom currents. The study of contourites is nowadays crucial for several fields of fundamental and applied research: palaeoclimatology and paleoceanography, since these fairly continuous and relatively high-resolution sediments hold the key for priceless information on the variability in circulation patter, current velocity, oceanographic history and basin interconnectivity; hydrocarbon exploration, since accumulation of source rocks may be favoured by weak bottom currents, whereas "clean" deep-sea sands may be formed by robust flows; slope stability, since low-permeability fine-grained contourites facilitate the formation of overpressurized gliding planes when fresh contourites with a high pore-water content becomes rapidly loaded, or when their rigid biosiliceous microfabric collapses due to diagenetic conditions.

Contourite Research -- Personal reminiscences on the history of contourites -- Methods for contourite research -- Bottom currents -- Abyssal and contour currents -- Deep-water bottom currents and their deposits -- Dynamics of the bottom boundary layer -- Processes -- Sediment entrainment -- Size sorting during transport and deposition of fine sediments: sortable silt and flow speed -- The nature of contourite deposition -- Sediments -- Traction structures in contourites -- Bioturbation and biogenic sedimentary structures in contourites -- Some aspets of diagenesis in contourites -- Contourite facies and the facies model -- Morphology, geometry and palaeoceanographic reconstructions -- Contourite drifts: nature, evolution and controls -- Sediment waves and bedforms -- Seismic expression of contourite depositional systems -- Identification of ancient contourites: problems and paleoceanographic signifance -- Domains -- Abyssal plain contourites -- Continental slope contourites -- Shallow water contourites -- Mixed turbidite-contourite systems -- High latituted contourites -- Importance -- Economic relevance of contourites -- Paleoceanographic significance of contourite drifts -- The significance of contourites for submarine slope stability.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Print version record.

Elsevier ScienceDirect All Books