Geology and Geochemistry

of Abyssal Plains
 7

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Photograph of piston core D10688 from the Madeira Abyssal Plain. Lettered units are interpreted as turbidites
and numbered units are intervening pelagic layers (the numbers refer to oxygen isotope stage determination).
Note bioturbation of pelagic units and tops of turbidites; coarser laminated bases of turbidites B, B 1 and G
and to a lesser extent in turbidites E and F; structureless make-up of the thick turbidites; distinct colour changes
in organic-rich turbidites A 1, E, F and H representing relict oxidation fronts; chemical laminae above colour
changes.
For more detailed discussion of these sediments see papers by Jarvis & Higgs, De Lange et al. and Weaver &
Rothwell.
GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY SPECIAL PUBLICATION N O 31

Geology and Geochemistry

of Abyssal Plains
E D I T E D BY

P. P. E. W E A V E R & J. T H O M S O N
Institute of Oceanographic Sciences,
Wormley, Godalming

1987

Published for
The Geological Society by
Blackwell Scientific Publications
OXFORD LONDON EDINBURGH

BOSTON P A L O A L T O M E L B O U R N E
 Geological Society Special Publications
Series Editor K. COE

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First published 1987 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

9 1987 The Geological Society. Authorization to Geology and geochemistryof abyssal plains.--
photocopy items for internal or personal use, or the (Geological Society special publications,
internal or personal use of specific clients, is granted ISSN 0305-8719; no. 31)
by The Geological Society for libraries and other users 1. Abyssal zone 2. Chemical oceanography
registered with the Copyright Clearance Center I. Weaver, P.P.E. and Thomson, J. II. Series
(CCC) Transactional Reporting Service, providing 551.46'083 GC87
that a base fee of $02.00 per copy is paid directly to
CCC, 27 Congress Street, Salem, MA 01970, USA. ISBN 0-632-01744-9
0305-8719/87/$02.00
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Typeset, printed and bound in Great Britain by
William Clowes Limited, Beccles and London. Geology and geochemistryof abyssal plains.
(Geological Society special publication; no. 31)
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
1. Submarine geology. 2. Chemical
oceanography.
3. Abyssal zone. 4. Marine sediments. I. Weaver,
P. P. E. and Thomson, J. II. Series.
QE39.G454 1987 551.46'08 86-29978
ISBN 0-632-01744-9
 Contents

WEAVER, P. P. E., THOMSON,J. & HUNTER, P.M. Introduction vii

PILKEY, O.H. Sedimentology of basin plains 1

KUIJPERS, A., DE LANGE, G. J. & DUIN, E. J. Th. Areal sedimentation rate patterns of the 13
southern Nares Abyssal Plain, Western N Atlantic

LEDBETTER,M. T. & KLAUS, A. Influence of bottom currents on sediment texture and sea- 23
floor morphology in the Argentine Basin

KIDD, R. B., HUNTER, P. M. & SIMM, R.W. Turbidity-current and debris-flow pathways to 33
the Cape Verde Basin: status of long-range side-scan sonar (GLORIA) surveys

SEARLE, R.C. Regional setting and geophysical characterization of the Great Meteor East 49
area in the Madeira Abyssal Plain

WEAVER, P. P. E. & ROTHWELL,R.G. Sedimentation on the Madeira Abyssal Plain over 71

the last 300 000 years

WILLIAMS,S. R.J. Faulting in abyssal-plain sediments, Great Meteor East, Madeira 87

Abyssal Plain

HUGGETT, Q.J. Mapping of hemipelagic versus turbiditic muds by feeding traces observed 105
in deep-sea photographs

SCHULTHEISS,P. J. & NOEL, M. Evidence of pore-water advection in the Madeira Abyssal 113
Plain from pore-pressure and temperature measurements

SHEPHARD, L. E., RUTLEDGE,A. K., BRYANT,W. R. & MORAN, K.M. Geotechnical 131
characteristics of fine-grained turbidite sequences from the Nares Abyssal Plain

DE LANGE, G. J., JARVIS,I. & KUIJPERS, A. Geochemical characteristics and provenance of 147
late Quaternary sediments from the Madeira Abyssal Plain, N Atlantic

THOMSON,J., COLLEY,S., HIGGS, N. C., HYDES, D. J., WILSON, T. R. S. & SORENSEN,J. 167
Geochemical oxidation fronts in NE Atlantic distal turbidites and their effects in the
sedimentary record

JARVIS, I. & HIGGS, N. Trace-element mobility during early diagenesis in distal turbidites: 179
late Quaternary of the Madeira Abyssal Plain, N Atlantic

HEGGIE, D., MARLS,C., HUDSON,A., DYMOND,J., BEACH,R. & CULLEN, J. Organic carbon 215
oxidation and preservation in NW Atlantic continental margin sediments

INDEX 237
 Introduction

P. P. E. Weaver, J. Thomson & P. M. Hunter

In this publication is assembled a set of 14 papers teristics of the 'Great Meteor East' (GME) area.
from the presentations at a meeting of the Marine This area lies in the centre of the Madeira Abyssal
Studies Group of the Geological Society, held on Plain and, as a result of the activities of the
the 29th and 30th January 1986. The papers cover Seabed Working Group, is probably the most
various aspects of the geophysics, sedimentology, extensively surveyed area of abyssal plain in the
geochemistry and geotechnics of abyssal-plain world's ocean. This volume contains several
sediments. papers relating to the GME area.
Abyssal plains are among the least studied The distribution of individual turbidites and
areas of the earth's surface. They are poorly entry points of the turbidity currents into the
preserved in the sedimentary record because they GME area is discussed by Weaver & Rothwell.
tend to be consumed by subduction in the long Williams describes fault structures which are
term. They were not recognized as distinct common in the sediments of part of the area, and
physiographic features of the present sea-floor proposes a model in which differential compac-
until the late 1940s, and systematic investigations tion initiates the faults which may then act as
of relatively few examples have been made. seals to pore-water flow, leading to normal or
During the late 1970s an international research reverse directions of throw. Huggett, in a novel
programme began to examine selected areas of approach, shows how the turbidite sediments on
the N Atlantic and Pacific Ocean seabeds to the plain can be identified on the basis of
assess the feasibility of disposal of radioactive macrofaunal feeding and burrowing traces from
waste in deep-sea sediments. This work was seabed photographs.
coordinated through the Seabed Working Group Papers by Shephard et al. and Schultheiss &
of the Nuclear Energy Agency (OECD, 1984). Noel concentrate on geotechnical properties of
The considerations of sea-floor properties re- abyssal-plain sediments. The former paper de-
quired for such studies (Laine et al. 1983; Searle scribes the geotechnical properties of sediments
1984) had the result that some of the N Atlantic from the Nares Abyssal Plain, and the latter
study areas were in abyssal plains. The availabil- discusses conflicting evidence of pore-water flow
ity of new geological information from this through the GME sediments derived from tem-
programme provided the impetus for convening perature and pressure measurements. The heat-
this meeting, but the papers are not restricted to flow data suggest large downward advection,
those deriving from such studies. whereas the pore-pressure data suggest at most a
The first paper by Pilkey sets the scene by small downward movement.
summarizing the sedimentological work which The paper by de Lange et al. demonstrates by
has been carried out at Duke University on 13 compositional arguments that the turbidites
abyssal plains. 12 factors controlling the forma- emplaced on the Madeira Abyssal Plain have at
tion and development of abyssal plains are least three distinct sources. Few previous geo-
discussed. The paper by Kuijpers et al. tackles chemical studies have contrasted the conditions
the difficult problem of estimating accumulation developed in sediment columns containing abys-
rates in the Nares Abyssal Plain, where the sal-plain turbidites with those which would
sediments consist of pelagic and turbiditic clays otherwise obtain in the pelagics of deep basins
containing little calcium carbonate and few (Wilson et al. 1985). The papers by Jarvis &
dateable fossils. Ledbetter & Klaus show that Higgs and Thomson et al. illustrate that the
sediments are supplied to the Argentine Basin by importation of labile organic carbon with turbi-
down-slope processes but can be picked up by dites has consequences for the redox status,
bottom currents and redistributed. The Argentine sediment colour and post-depositional redistri-
Abyssal Plain thus consists of areas of coarse bution of several elements. (A recent edition of
terrigenous sediments and areas of mud-waves. M a r i n e Geology (Vol. 68, 1985) contains further
In this, the Argentine Abyssal Plain contrasts papers on the contrasts between turbidites and
sharply with the Madeira Abyssal Plain (in the other sediment types in the Venezuela Basin.)
Cape Verde Basin) which is dominated by the The final paper by Heggie et al. compares
input of fine-grained turbidites. estimates by different methods of the amount of
Kidd et al. show the regional picture of parts organic carbon oxidation in the sediments of the
of the Cape Verde Basin using GLORIA sono- Hatteras Abyssal Plain and its environs. It is
graphs, and Searle describes in detail the charac- suggested in this paper that dissolved organic

vii
viii P. P. E. W e a v e r , J. T h o m s o n & P. M . H u n t e r

compounds may be more important than previ- depressions in the seabed become flattened, and,
ously appreciated. although there may be a small regional slope,
To place the papers of this Special Publication undulations in the seabed of more than a few
in context we present below a brief history of metres are rare. This serves to distinguish abyssal
research into abyssal plains and an account of plains from other relatively fiat areas of seabed,
their distribution in the oceans. The abyssal such as the central parts of the Pacific, which
plains discussed here form a very small proportion have been termed 'archipelagic aprons' by Men-
of those listed in Table 1, and are limited almost ard (1958).
exclusively to the Atlantic Ocean. This reflects in One early study of sediments on an abyssal
part the relative inaccessibility of the abyssal plain was by Belderson & Laughton (1966), who
plains in high latitudes, and the impetus for obtained a series of sediment cores from the
research in specific abyssal plains given by the Madcap area of the Cape Verde Basin which
Seabed Working Group's research programme contained turbidites, some with coarse bases, that
relating to the feasibility of radioactive waste could be correlated across distances of over
disposal in the deep ocean. 65 km. They recognized colour sequences within
individual turbidites but did not investigate the
geochemical processes responsible. Later studies
History of research
by Horn et al. (1971) and Horn et al. (1972)
Before the late 1920s bathymetric data were revealed the importance of turbidity currents in
collected by discontinuous soundings using lines forming abyssal plains in the Atlantic, Pacific
lowered to the seabed. These were never taken in and Mediterranean regions. These workers also
sufficient numbers to enable the detailed physiog- showed how turbidity-current entry points into
raphy of the world's oceans to be delineated, abyssal plains could be identified by grain-size
although maps such as those by Murray & Renard analyses, with the coarsest sizes lying most
(1891 ) and Thoulet (1904) did outline other major proximally. Recently, the distribution and thick-
features such as the edge of the continental nesses of individual turbidites have been mapped
shelves and the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. During the between closely spaced cores on several Atlantic
1920s acoustic sounding equipment was devel- abyssal plains (Bennetts & Pilkey 1976; Ditty et
oped which could be operated much more rapidly al. 1977; Elmore et al. 1979; Schorsch 1980; van
than the sounding lines, thus enabling the Meteor Tassell 1981; Weaver & Rothwell 1987). Ulti-
expedition of 1925-1927 to take soundings every mately, these studies should help to elucidate
20 min on E-W Atlantic transects. Maps pro- characteristics of the turbidity currents, such as
duced from these techniques (Maurer & Stocks their velocity, density and rates of settling.
1933; Stocks & Wust 1935) show clearly the major One feature which has emerged from studying
Atlantic basins, but the depth precision of these individual turbidites is the very large volume of
early instruments was not sufficient to reveal the material which can be involved in a single flow.
flat featureless floors of the basins, now known as Elmore et al. (1979) estimated the volume of the
abyssal plains. As the equipment became more Black Shell turbidite on the Hatteras Abyssal
refined the depth precision became greater and Plain as over 100 km 3, and Weaver & Rothwell
the profiling became continuous. The accumula- (1987) estimate a volume of over 120 km 3 for the
tion of such data allowed accurate and detailed f turbidite on the Madeira Abyssal Plain. Such
maps to be drawn of large areas of the ocean- volumes are comparable with those calculated for
floor and consequently features such as the abyssal the sediment slides and debris flows along the
plains could be recognized. Tolstoy & Ewing NW African margin (Embley 1982), one of which
(1949) identified the first abyssal plain to the S of (the Saharan slide) travelled in the direction of
Newfoundland--now known as the Sohm Abys- the Madeira Abyssal Plain, reaching almost to
sal Plain. Following this discovery many other the plain-lower rise boundary (Simm & Kidd
examples were found in all the oceans (Heezen et 1983/84). It is possible that in some cases slides,
al. 1954, 1959; Koczy 1954; Menard 1955; Hurley debris flows and turbidites may be generated as
1960; Heezen & Laughton 1963). part of the same event. The initiation of the
The first cores taken from abyssal plains turbidity currents reaching the Madeira Abyssal
revealed sediments containing sands, often with Plain has been linked to sea-level changes
displaced shallow-water foraminifera (Locher associated with ice advances and retreats
1954; Phleger 1954) and it became evident that (Weaver & Kuijpers 1983), and similar explana-
abyssal plains were formed by the infilling of tions have been invoked for turbidites in the
basins, and other deep areas of the ocean-floor, southern Brazil Basin (Johnson & Rasmussen
by turbidity currents (Heezen et al. 1951 ; Heezen 1984). Weaver et al. (1986) speculated that the
& Laughton 1963). As a result of this infilling, all Madeira Abyssal Plain was initiated by the onset
 Introduction ix

of major glaciation in the late Miocene, and that plains. An indication is given in Table 1 of the
this abyssal plain, at least, is a relatively recent area occupied by each abyssal plain, but it should
feature. be recognized that such estimates are subject to
considerable uncertainty. Errors can be caused
by inadequate mapping, especially since some of
Distribution of abyssal plains
the largest abyssal plains occur in the less-well-
Abyssal plains were defined by Heezen et al. known Antarctic Ocean. Other errors occur in
(1954) as 'areas of the deep ocean floor in which defining the boundaries of the features, and they
the ocean bottom is fiat and the slope of the can only be resolved by detailed studies of each
bottom is less than 1:000'. The flat seabed is abyssal plain. The Cape Verde Abyssal Plain,
produced by the ponding of transported sedi- which lies to the S of the Madeira Abyssal Plain,
ments beyond the bases of slopes, which causes for example, was shown by detailed studies
an infilling of the deeper areas between abyssal (Auffret et al. 1984; Kidd & Searle 1984) to have
hills. The hills gradually become submerged as more 6f the character of the lower continental
the area of the plain extends, although few plains rise than of an abyssal plain sensu stricto. It is
have become so mature as to have no protruding therefore omitted from our table.
hills left. With the exception of trenches, abyssal The distribution of abyssal plains is not
plains often form the deepest parts of the oceans, uniform, with the Pacific, for example, having a
and in the Atlantic the largest abyssal plains are total of seven and the Atlantic having 29. The
located between the base of the continental rise comparatively small Arctic Ocean has 10 abyssal
and the distal parts of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, or plains, and the Caribbean four. Abyssal plains
other topographic highs such as the Madeira- develop preferentially on sea-floor which can
Tore rise. receive a large sediment input from a nearby
Approximately 75 abyssal plains have been continental shelf or upper rise. They are thus
identified in the world's oceans (Fig. 1, Table 1). precluded from forming adjacent to margins
This list excludes the fiat areas on the floors of bounded by trenches, the situation common
trenches and the flat areas on shelves such as are around most of the Pacific. In the N Pacific the
found off California, as well as the numerous only true abyssal plains have formed in the NE,
areas of ponded turbidites which occur in very to the N of the Mendocino Fracture Zone. In this
localized basins throughout the oceans. Emery area sediment supply from N America has infilled
(1960) named flat areas of seabed in shallow much of the trench, thus allowing sediment to
water as 'basin plains', although later workers cross the trench axis and pond in the areas of the
have used this term interchangeably with abyssal Tufts and Cascadia Abyssal Plains. Rivers

120 E 180 W 120 60 0 60 120 E

60

o ~
i060

120 E 180 W 120 60 0 60 120 E

FIG. 1. Distributionof abyssalplainsin the world'soceans(seeFig. 2 for Arcticabyssalplains).The keyto the

numbers is given in Table 1.
x P . P . E . Weaver, J. Thomson & P. M. Hunter

TABLE 1. List o f named abyssal plains by ocean with approximate locations and areas
Lat Long Area (km 2) Lat Long Area (km 2)

Antarctic 46 Town 39~ 11 ~ 136 000

1 Amundsen 63~ 128~ 570 000 Caribbean
2 Bellinghausen 65~ 90~ 385 000 47 Colombian 13~ 76~ 168 000
3 Enderby 60~ 35~ 3 703 000 48 Grenada 13~ 62~ 42 000
4 South Indian 58~ 125~ 865 000 49 Jamaican 15~ 79~ 42 000
5 Valdivia 62~ 68~ 420 000 50 Panama 1I~ 79~ 93 000
6 Weddell 65~ 20~ 1 298 000 51 Venezuela 14~ 67~ 75 000
Arctic 52 Yucatan 20~ 85~ 75 000
7 Barents 85~ 40~ 870 Gulf of Mexico
8 Boreas 77~ I~ 1 100 53 Florida 25~ 86~ 18 000
9 Canada 76~ 150~ 8 700 54 Sigsbee 23~ 93~ 135 000
10 Chukchi 77~ 172~ 1 700
11 Dumshaf 70~ 5~ 9 000 Indian
12 Fletcher 87~ 180~ 110 55 N Australian 14~ 117~ 196 000
13 Greenland 75~ 3~ 4 200 56 Mid Indian 4~ 82~ 1 025 000
14 Mendeleyev 81~ 170~ 1 500 57 Cocos 3~ 93~ 536 000
15 Northwind 76~ 161~ 1 400 58 Cuvier 22~ lll~ 45 000
16 Pole 88~ 90~ 360 59 Gascoyne 16~ 110~ 430 000
17 Wrangel 82~ 177~ 1 800 60 Mascarene 19~ 52~ 496 000
61 Perth 28~ 110~ 398 000
Atlantic (IV) 62 Somali I~ 51~ 542 000
18 Barracuda 17~ 56~ 34 000 63 S Australian 37~ 130~ 436 000
19 Biscay 45~ 7~ 268 000
20 Blake Bahama 28~ 76~ 54 000 JapaneseSea
64 Japan 41~ 135~ 160 000
21 Ceara I~ 38~ 303 000
22 Demerara 10~ 48~ 380 000 Mediterranean
23 Gambia 12~ 28~ 175 000 65 Adriatic 42~ 18~ 13 000
24 Guinea l~ 3~ 508 000 66 Alboran 36~ 4~ 2600
25 Hatteras 31~ 71~ 460 000 67 Balearic 40~ 6~ 238 000
26 Hispaniola 20~ 71~ 11 000 68 Sicilia 36~ 18~ 17 000
27 Horseshoe 36~ 12~ 36 000 69 Sidra 34~ 19~ 3800
28 Iberian 44~ 14~ 107 000 70 Tyrrherian 40~ 12~ 30 000
29 Madeira 32~ 21~ 54 000 North Sea
30 Nares 23~ 63~ 338 000 71 Norway 65~ 4~ 19 000
31 Para 6~ 41~ 215 000
32 Porcupine 49~ 16~ 165 000 Pacific(N)
33 Seine 34~ 12~ 63 000 72 Alaska 55~ 143~ 718 000
34 Sierra Leone 5~ 17~ 368 000 73 Aleutian 49~ 160~ 988 000
35 Silver 22~ 69~ 71 000 74 Cascadia 47~ 127~ 35 000
36 Sohm 36~ 55~ 309 000 75 Tufts 47~ 140~ 793 000
37 Tagus 37~ 12~ 41 000 Pacific(S)
38 Vidal 15~ 55~ 39 000 76 Mornington 54~ 86~ 9200
Atlantic (S) 77 Raukumara 36~ 179~ 21 000
39 Angola 15~ 2~ 1 001 000 Sea of Okhotsk
40 Aghulas 46~ 23~ 52 000 78 Okhotsk 52~ 149~ 76 000
41 Argentine 47~ 50~ 140 000
42 Burdwood 54~ 62~ 66 000 S China Sea
43 Cape 35~ 6~ 104 000 79 S China Sea 17~ 117~ 129 000
44 Namibia 31~ 5~ 53 000 Tasman Sea
45 Pernambuco 7~ 27~ 393 000 80 Tasman 34~ 153~ 303 000

d r a i n i n g into the A t l a n t i c f r o m t h e large d r a i n a g e u n b r o k e n c h a i n f r o m 50~ to 30~ In t h e S

area o f N A m e r i c a h a v e s u p p l i e d e n o u g h sedi- A t l a n t i c abyssal p l a i n s are less f r e q u e n t (Fig. 1).
m e n t to f o r m the very large H a t t e r a s a n d S o h m E m e r y & U c h u p i (1984) e s t i m a t e d t h a t abyssal
Abyssal Plains, w i t h N a r e s Abyssal P l a i n receiv- plains in the A t l a n t i c O c e a n o c c u p y o n e - s e v e n t h
ing its s e d i m e n t via an overflow c h a n n e l (the o f t h e area o f all p h y s i o g r a p h i c units t h a t are d u e
V e m a G a p ) f r o m the H a t t e r a s A b y s s a l Plain to s e d i m e n t a r y processes.
( T u c h o l k e 1980). I n the e a s t e r n A t l a n t i c there is In t h e polar regions abyssal plains are c o m m o n ,
a series o f abyssal plains f o r m i n g an a l m o s t w i t h 10 in t h e A r c t i c O c e a n (Fig. 2) a n d six
 Introduction xi

FIG. 2. Distribution of abyssal plains in the Arctic Ocean. The key to the numbers is given in Table 1.

surrounding the Antarctic continent. S e d i m e n t 3.7 x l06 k m 2, three times larger t h a n the second
supply is high in these areas owing to ice erosion largest Weddell Abyssal Plain. These vast abyssal
on the adjacent continents and the absence of plains off the Antarctic c o n t i n e n t have been able
trenches. The largest abyssal plains of all are to form because of the absence of trenches and
those surrounding the Antarctic continent, with the prolonged erosion of the A n t a r c t i c continent
the E n d e r b y Abyssal Plain occupying an area of by ice ( V a n n e y & J o h n s o n 1976).

References
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BENNETTS,K. R. W. & PILKEY,O. H. 1976. Character- --,--& 1954. Further evidence for a turbidity
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