Autogenic Dynamics


The spatial and temporal variability of sedimentation can affect models that scientists use to interpret the stratigraphic record. Not all of this variability arises do to changing environmental conditions. Internally generated, or autogenic, terrestrial and marine sediment-transport dynamics can produce depositional patterns similar to those associated with climatic, tectonic, or sea level changes. Examples of autogenic processes include channel avulsion, dune and bar migration, and channel migration. A central challenge in accurately interpreting the sedimentary archive is determining what scales and types of deposits reflect autogenic controls on sedimentation in different environments. In addition, some of these autogenic dynamics can smear or “shred” environmental signals out over space and time, making it difficult to reconstruct Earth history from preserved strata. Our research group is tackling these questions using physical laboratory experiments, analysis of field data, and numerical models.

Projects:

Morphodynamic Coupling between River Deltas and Marshes

The influence of floods on sediment storage partitioning in alluvial stratigraphy

Identifying autogenic sedimentation in fluvial-deltaic stratigraphy: evaluating the effect of outcrop-quality on the compensation statistic

Influence of sediment cohesion on deltaic morphodynamics and stratigraphy over basin-filling time scale

Linking autogenic dynamic scales to hydrodynamics in deepwater fans

Development of a mass-extraction framework for mixed bed and suspended load systems