Characteristics of axially-sourced turbidite sedimentation on an active wedge-top basin (Annot Sandstone, SE France)

In order to develop viable depositional models for wedgetop basins, the control exerted by active structural relief on turbidite depositional patterns should be well understood at different scales (from limb slope to interconnected synclinal troughs). This is particularly the case for systems with axial sediment supply, for which little data are available. This paper presents a detailed field study of two depocentres in the Upper Eocene – Lower Oligocene Annot Sandstone of the alpine foreland basin of SE France, which was fed axially from the Corsica–Sardinia Massif to the south. The depocentres are partially preserved in a series of outliers. The Annot outlier preserves turbidites deposited on the gently dipping limb of an asymmetrical syn-depositional syncline, while, to the north, the NE Grand Coyer outlier preserves highly confined turbidites deposited on a steep and complex synclinal limb. Structural, stratigraphic and sedimentological data demonstrate that these turbidite depocentres were controlled by active folding and faulting, including oblique structures. Structural controls were more complex on the steep eastern synclinal limbs than on shallowly dipping western limbs. Integration of palaeocurrent data allow feeder pathways and their evolving interconnections to be traced between successive downstream depocentres in space and time. A 3D depositional model for axially supplied active wedgetop depocentres is proposed and compared to transversely fed wedgetop systems, particularly in terms of facies distributions and variations in reservoir quality. Axially supplied systems are marked by a higher lateral confinement and, as a consequence, are more sensitive to relief created by oblique structures. As a result facies distributions are more strongly controlled by (active or inactive) substratum relief than by intrinsic flow properties, leading to a higher potential for stratigraphic traps.