Sediment deposition, accumulation, and seabed dynamics in an energetic fine-grained coastal environment

Sedimentary processes on the continental shelf and shoreline northwest of the Amazon River mouth were investigated as part of A Multidisciplinary Amazon Shelf SEDiment Study (AmasSeds) during four field expeditions between 1989 and 1991. Periodic deposition and resuspension of seabed layers as much as a meter thick dominate sedimentary processes for most of the inner shelf and for the shoreface and foreshore north of Cabo Cassipore. Strata forming as a result of this process consist of decimeter-thick mud beds separated by hiatal (scour) surfaces. The volume of sediment resuspended seasonally from the inner shelf surface layer (SL) is of the same order of magnitude as the annual input from the river, indicating that resuspension is an important control on suspended-sediment distributions in shelf waters. Most resuspension from the SL occurs during February–May (the period of maximum wind stress), which is also the time of rapid deposition on the mudflats, suggesting that sediment resuspended from the SL could contribute to shoreface and foreshore accretion for the northern portion of the study area. In addition, some of the sediment resuspended from the SL is transported seaward periodically in the form of near-bottom fluid-mud flows. This results in non-steady-state input of certain particle-reactive trace metals, which is reflected in the occurrence of quasi-cyclic210Ph profiles in the foreset region of the subaqueous delta. As determined using228Ra/226Ra geochronology, sediment accumulation rates in this region are 10–60 cm y−1. Farther seaward, in the bottomset region, accumulation rates decrease and there is increased evidence of biological activity preserved in sedimentary structures. However, episodic (but reduced) sediment input from fluid-mud flows also extends to this region, affecting the fauna and fine-scale stratigraphy.