Marine and Petroleum Geology 28 (2011) 716e727 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Marine and Petroleum Geology journal homepage: ate/marpetgeo A model of submarine channel-levee evolution based on channel trajectories: Implications for stratigraphic architecture Zoltán Sylvester*, Carlos Pirmez 1, Alessandro Cantelli Shell Projects and Technology, Houston, TX 77001-0481, USA article info abstract Article history: Channel-levee systems are frequently interpreted as having a long history of cut-and-fill by channel- Received 28 November 2009 shaped features of different scales. Results from a simple geometric model based on a centerline Received in revised form migration bined with a vertical channel trajectory show that an incising-to-aggrading 2 May 2010 trajectory of a single channel can produce realistic morphologies similar to systems observed on the Accepted 25 May 2010 seafloor and subsurface, including features such as a basal erosional surface, coeval inner and outer Available online 2 June 2010 levees, internal erosional boundaries, and terraces draped by inner levee deposits. Channel migration results posite erosional surfaces that are distinct from topographic surfaces, and their formation Keywords: flfi Submarine channels does not require larger than usual erosional ows. Many submarine channels interpreted as under t fl Lateral migration were probably carved by ows similar to the ones that eroded and deposited the entire channel system. Aggradation We suggest that the features of most submarine channel-levee systems do not require large temporal Incision variations in flow magnitude but can be explained by a simpler model whereby incision, migration and Channel-levee system aggradation of a single channel form over time results in an plex system. Stratigraphic architecture Ó 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Chronostratigraphic diagram Turbidity current 1. Introduction later filled by lower discharge or ‘underfit
