Review of research in internal-wave and internal-tide deposits of China

Abstract

Study of internal-wave and internal-tide deposits is a very young research field in deep-water sedimentology. It has been just twenty years since the first example of internal-wave and internal-tide deposits was identified in the stratigraphic record. Since that time, Chinese scholars have made unremitting efforts and gained some significant research achievements in this field. This paper briefly outlines the history and main achievements of research of internal-wave and internal-tide deposits in China, describes depositional characteristics, sedimentary successions, types of lithofacies, and depositional models of internal-wave and internal-tide deposits identified mainly from ancient strata, and summarizes the existing problems in this research field. New advances in marine physics should be applied to research of the subject of internal-wave and internal-tide deposition, whereas the sedimentary characteristics of internal-wave and internal-tide deposits may be used to deduce the physical processes of their creation. Flume experiments on internal-wave and internal-tide deposition should also be put in practice as often as possible, so that the mechanisms of internal-wave and internal-tide deposition can be explored.

Keywords

• internal-wave deposits
• internal-tide deposits
• bidirectional cross-bedding
• sedimentary succession
• depositional model