Controls on sedimentary architecture of basin margins

地球历史被记录在沉积盆地中，来自周围陆地的碎屑与颗粒状有机物和生物遗骸一起积累，稍后可能转化为石油、天然气或煤炭。盆地边缘是过渡区，碎屑堆积受海平面波动、海浪和海流侵蚀以及重力驱动的密度暗流(称为“浊流”)向下输送悬浮泥沙的调节。土耳其西部的小海(黑海、马尔马拉海、爱琴海)为研究对所有沉积盆地演化至关重要的地质过程提供了无与伦比的机会。低盐度水体与全球海洋隔离，然后重新连接的时期，在沉积记录中产生了可用于了解地质过程的强烈化学和生物信号。希斯科特和合作伙伴阿克苏已经在该地区收集了100个沉积物岩芯，总长度为400米-几个岩芯将用于新的研究生项目。2009-2014年研究的一个关键部分是监测一种独特的咸水潜流，该潜流是由密集的地中海水在穿过低盐度黑海的西南陆架时形成的。这是地球上唯一一个具有类似深海浑浊流性质的密度潜流可用于水深100米监测的地方。关键问题涉及这种流的速度结构及其与深海中常见的弯曲水道的相互作用。2005年和2008年绘制了相关的航道网络图；2010和2011年将与英国合作伙伴一起使用英国自主潜水器自动潜水器3进行复杂的监测和海底采样项目。该区域的其他工作将解决有机物沉积、盐河河岸和沙洲的沉积物来源以及过去15,000年来中亚气候从冰川模式转变为间冰期模式时重大洪水事件的时间安排等问题。两名博士生和四名新学生将接受海洋地球科学多个方面的培训-其中几人将参加研究巡航并学习实用的采样和测量方法。

Earth history is recorded in sedimentary basins where detritus from surrounding lands accumulates along with particulate organic matter and biological remains that may later be transformed into oil, natural gas, or coal. The margins of basins are transitional areas where accumulation of detritus is regulated by fluctuating sea levels, wave and current erosion, and downslope transport of suspended sediment by gravity-driven density underflows called "turbidity currents". The small seas of western Turkey (Black Sea, Marmara Sea, Aegean Sea) provide unparalleled opportunities to study geological processes important to the evolution of ALL sedimentary basins. Periods of isolation of low-salinity water bodies from the global ocean, then reconnection, have generated strong chemical and biological signals in the sedimentary record that can be used to understand geological processes. Hiscott and collaborator Aksu have collected >100 sediment cores totaling >400 m in combined length in this region - several cores will be used for new graduate-student projects. A key part of the 2009-2014 research is monitoring of a unique saline underflow formed by dense Mediterranean water as it crosses the SW shelf of the low-salinity Black Sea. This is the only place on Earth where a density underflow with properties similar to deep-sea turbidity currents is assessible for monitoring in water depths <100 m. Key questions relate to the velocity structure of such currents and their interaction with bends of sinuous channels so common in the deep sea. The associated channel network was mapped in 2005 & 2008; a sophisticated program of monitoring and seabed sampling will be undertaken in 2010 & 2011 with British collaborators using the UK autonomous submersible AutoSub3. Other work in the region will address questions of organic-matter deposition, sources of sediment in the saline-channel banks and bars, and timing of major floodwater events in the last 15,000 years as the climate of central Asia shifted from a glacial to interglacial mode. Two current PhD students and four new students will receive training in multiple aspects of marine geoscience - several will participate in research cruises and learn practical sampling and surveying methods.