| Clinoforms on modern shelves and slopes, as well as in ancient rock records, are widely recognized as a fundamental building element of continental margin growth. Regardless of their dominant lithology, clinoforms are composed of three geometric elements: topset, foreset and bottomset. Traditionally, much emphasis in the study of clinoforms was put on the geometry of the topset, viewed as the most energetic portion of a clinoform and studied to discern if aggradation was active rather than erosional truncation, and on the foreset, the area with the highest sediment accumulation rates. Here we focus on the factors forcing clinoforms to taper out and on the inferred mechanisms for bottomset creation. We base our analysis on muddy shelf clinoforms, a... |
