ELSEVIER Sedimentary Geology 130 (2000) 183–203

A gravel lobe deposit in the prodelta of the

Doumsan fan delta (Miocene), SE Korea
J.W. Kim Ł , S.K. Chough
School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742, Korea
Received 12 January 1999; accepted 23 August 1999

Abstract

The Doumsan fan-delta system in the Pohang Basin (Miocene), SE Korea comprises tripartite components of
Gilbert-type topset, foreset, and bottomset environments with an extended prodelta in the deeper part (a few hundred
metres deep). The present study documents sedimentologic features and origin of a gravel body (here interpreted as a
gravel lobe) formed in the prodelta region of the Doumsan fan delta. The gravel lobe lies on sandy mud deposits and is
capped by a thick massive sand bed. It extends for more than 1.5 km with a height of up to 30 m and shows a narrow
tongue-like geometry. Eight sedimentary facies have been distinguished to describe characteristic features of the gravel lobe
and the associated deposits. Of these, three types of gravelly sedimentary facies are important with regard to volumetric
contribution and depositional processes: (1) crudely stratified pebble-grade conglomerate; (2) disorganized, clast-rich
pebble(-to-cobble)-grade conglomerate; and (3) matrix-rich, bimodal cobble-grade conglomerate. The former two types
dominate the central part of the lobe where they are not accompanied by sand beds, whereas the latter, as subordinate units,
is prevalent in the fringe which otherwise is dominated by thick sandy mud deposits. The stacked successions of crudely
stratified pebble-grade conglomerate are representative of the active aggradational phases of the gravel lobe, whereas the
occurrence of channels within the lobe reflects that the gravel lobe prograded under the influence of subaqueous channel
systems. The gravel lobe resulted from catastrophic disturbance (slumping) on the foreset region that further caused the
development of channel systems, promoting efficient transport of gravelly sediments. This type of deposit may represent
an important additional category of low-efficiency subaqueous fans.  2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: fan delta; prodelta; gravel lobe; subaqueous fans; terrigenous clastic rocks; Miocene

1. Introduction Gardner et al., 1996). For fan-delta systems, these

Our understanding of submarine depositional en-
vironments has benefited from high-resolution stud-
ies of the present seafloor that permit detailed and
continuous observation of geomorphic components
on a basin-wide scale (e.g. Prior et al., 1981; Bouma
et al., 1985; Piper et al., 1985; Schwab et al., 1993;
Ł Correspondingauthor. Fax: C82-2-872-0311;
E-mail: sedlab@plaza.snu.ac.kr
studies reveal that: (1) mass-flow processes are an
important agent for the development of fan deltas;
(2) the configuration of alluvial feeder systems has
a crucial influence on the gross geometry of fan
deltas and also on the distribution of subaqueous
geomorphic elements; and (3) the delta slopes are
heavily sculpted by various erosional features, which
leave sediment piles at their termini (Ferentinos et
al., 1988; Prior and Bornhold, 1988, 1990; Bornhold
and Prior, 1990; Liu et al., 1995).

0037-0738/00/$ – see front matter  2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 0 3 7 - 0 7 3 8 ( 9 9 ) 0 0 1 1 1 - 6
184 J.W. Kim, S.K. Chough / Sedimentary Geology 130 (2000) 183–203
These observations have been confirmed in some
ancient fan-delta deposits, but the causal relationship
between depositional processes and their deposits
on the slope and prodelta remains poorly defined.
Studies of modern fan-delta systems demonstrate
that coarse-grained sediments are deposited in the
lower slope to prodelta area by slope failure and also
by transport through channel systems on the slope
segment (Prior and Bornhold, 1988, 1989, 1990).
Although a few studies on ancient deposits reason-
ably account for the wedge-shaped gravel deposits
encased in bottomset fines as resulting from slope
failure and ensuing flow evolution processes (e.g.
Postma and Roep, 1985), there have been few at-
tempts to address the internal organization and facies
relationship of such a gravel mass under the recon-
struction of prevailing geomorphic constraints. Fur-
thermore, the build-up of a voluminous base-of-slope
gravel mass by prolonged supply through a channel
system, rather than from a mass-wasting process, has
not been verified in any ancient fan-delta system.
These features can be mapped in a mass-flow-
dominated Gilbert-type system, the Miocene Doum-
san fan delta (SE Korea) (Chough et al., 1993). In
this study, we describe and interpret depositional
characteristics of a subaqueous gravel lobe, based on
a detailed facies analysis of coarse-grained prodelta
deposits of the Doumsan fan delta, and analyze its
origin as a corollary of foreset disturbance. The
present study sheds light on the processes that may
lead to the development of subaqueous (gravel) lobes
in a coarse-grained and steep-gradient basin margin
system.
2. Geological setting
The Pohang Basin was formed as a subsidiary
basin by back-arc opening of the Ulleung Basin
during the Miocene (Yoon and Chough, 1995). The
sedimentary fill of the Pohang Basin, the Yeonil
Group, comprises conglomerates, sandstones, and
mudstones, forming a more than 1-km-thick silici-
clastic sequence. According to the palaeontologic
studies on foraminifers, molluscs, diatoms, nanno-
fossils and palynomorphs (Kim, 1965; Kim and
Choi, 1977; Lee, 1984; Bong, 1985; Koh, 1986),
the Yeonil Group was deposited under progres-
sively deepening basinal conditions. Sedimentologi-
cal studies based on analyses of sedimentary facies
and architecture have revealed that the Yeonil Group
comprises six fan-delta systems that prograded east-
ward along the western margin of the Pohang Basin
(Choe and Chough, 1988; Hwang and Chough, 1990;
Chough et al., 1993; Hwang et al., 1995).
The Doumsan fan-delta system developed in a
radial shape, supplied from a point source, and it
displays a full spectrum of basin marginal facies
ranging from alluvial fan, braided stream to subma-
rine Gilbert-type topset, foreset, toeset, prodelta (bot-
tomset), slope apron, and basin plain environments
(Fig. 1). The exposed part of the Doumsan fan-delta
foreset is about 150 m high and reveals progradation
for about 1.5 km with a depositional slope angle
of 15–30º. Delineation of sedimentary facies asso-
ciations disclosed that the fan delta evolved through
four stages (Hwang, 1993; Hwang et al., 1995).
Stage 1 marks inception of the fan delta in a shallow
marine setting. In stage 2, syndepositional tectonic
movements led to the creation of a steep foreset
slope on which the gravelly foreset was developed.
In stage 3, significant modification took place, i.e.
the fine-grained foreset unit was deposited and sub-
sequently large-scale slope failure occurred. After
the perturbation in stage 3, the Doumsan fan delta
ceased to develop and was masked by basinwide
sedimentation of hemipelagic sediments (stage 4).
In this evolutionary context, the development of the
prodelta gravel lobe proceeded in stage 3.
3. Sedimentary facies analysis
Detailed lithofacies mapping was carried out at
the 1 : 5000 scale to trace the extent of gravel body
developed in the prodelta region and to address
its sedimentologic characteristics (Fig. 2). The field
work revealed that eight sedimentary facies, differ-
entiated by grain size and sedimentary structures,
occur within the prodelta deposits (Table 1).
3.1. Facies Gs: crudely stratified pebble
conglomerate
Facies Gs refers to regularly thin-bedded (<20 cm
thick) pebble conglomerate that shows crude stratifi-
 J.W. Kim, S.K. Chough / Sedimentary Geology 130 (2000) 183–203 185

Fig. 1. Simplified geologic map and a cross-section of the Doumsan fan delta (Miocene), showing the distribution of fan-delta
components (after Hwang et al., 1995). The black area in the inset indicates the extent of the Tertiary deposits in SE Korea.

cation. The stratification is defined by an alternation
of gravelly and sandy layers, and also by an align-
ment of pebble streaks within the pebbly units. The
gravelly layer is pebble-dominated with very rare
cobble clasts, and the sandy layer is poorly sorted
and composed of coarse to very coarse sands. Lo-
cally, the two are prominently coupled and occur as
a composite sequence, a few metres thick (Fig. 3A).
Though the parallel-stratified appearance is evident,
neither bed displays an ordered pattern in fabric
186 J.W. Kim, S.K. Chough / Sedimentary Geology 130 (2000) 183–203
Fig. 2. Location map of measured sections. A–A0 represents a cross-section (Fig. 4) and the circled numbers refer to locations of
simplified columnar logs (Fig. 6).
Table 1
Summary of sedimentary facies
Facies type (code)
Crudely stratified pebble-rich conglomerate (Gs)
Disorganized, clast-supported conglomerate (Gd)
Bimodal (cobble) conglomerate (Gb)
Inversely graded conglomerate (Gi)
Very thick-bedded massive sandstone (St)
Alternating sandstone and mudstone (SM)
Homogeneous (sandy) mudstone (Mh)
Chaotic (C)
Characteristics
Medium- to thin-bedded; alternation of pebbly layer and sandy layer; poor to weak
imbrication; diffuse boundary; gradual diffusion, thinning and wedging-out of
layers
Thick- to very thick-bedded; randomly oriented, tightly packed clasts; poorly
sorted matrix; bearing intraclasts; basal inverse grading; sharp and flat base
Association of cobble to boulder clasts and sand; very rare pebbles; cohesionless
matrix; laterally variable clast content; dispersed or clustered clasts
Medium- to very thick-bedded; small pebble- to boulder-grade clasts; a-axis
flow-parallel imbrication; thin, fine-grained basal zone; flat base
Very thick-bedded (up to 20 m); abundant intraclasts, wide range of size from
huge block to pebble-grade; dominantly massive; rare vague stratification
Repetition of sandstone and mudstone layers; sharp, nonerosional boundary; either
tabular or mildly irregular bed shape
Thick- to very thick-bedded; structureless; abundant lignite fragment; highly
scattered pebble clasts
Lumping of a variety of sedimentary facies; folded and flamed
 J.W. Kim, S.K. Chough / Sedimentary Geology 130 (2000) 183–203 187

Fig. 3. A sketch and photographs of representative facies. For section location, see Fig. 2. (A) Crudely stratified pebble conglomerate
(facies Gs). Section MG-2. (B) Disorganized gravel bed (facies Gd), containing a conglomeratic intraclast (arrow). Section IN-1. Scale
(circled) is 20 cm long. Also refer to Fig. 10B for entire section. (C) Bimodal conglomerate (facies Gb) in Section IR-1 (the lower
left part of Fig. 9). Note intercalation of thin, discontinuous lignite lamina encased in sand, suggesting that the sand was deposited
incrementally. Scale is 20 cm long. (D) Inversely graded conglomerate (facies Gi) in the lower half of the photo (indicated with white
triangle bar), resting on homogeneous mud deposits (facies Mh). The upper cobbly zone, in which long-axis flow-parallel imbrication is
prominent, shows textural bimodality. Palaeoflow was from right to left. Scale is 20 cm long. (E) Very thick-bedded massive sandstone
(St) in Section MG-4. Note the massive appearance and the abundant mudchips that are various in size and shape. Some large mudchips
are indicated with arrows. Person at base provides scale. (F) Chaotic deposit (facies C). Section IN-2. Note the intermixing of various
lithofacies, massive sand, disorganized pebble conglomerate, isolated boulder, and interlayered sand and mud, forming folds and flames.

or grading, and is hardly traceable laterally at an There is no evident record of significant scouring.
outcrop scale (a few metres) due to amalgamation, Thin-bedded gravel units that lack inverse-grad-
pinch-out, and mound formation of gravelly layers. ing and flat-lying fabric, but consist of dispersed
188 J.W. Kim, S.K. Chough / Sedimentary Geology 130 (2000) 183–203
clasts, often one grain thick, and alternate with a
sandy layer are difficult to account for by thin de-
bris flows (cf. Hampton, 1975; Major, 1997); instead
these features suggest deposition under the influence
of fluidal flows (cf. Lowe, 1982; Massari, 1984). The
general absence of erosional relief at stratal bound-
aries and the lack of cross-stratified intervals indicate
that the flows were neither fully turbulent to produce
defects to the substratum nor prolonged enough to
allow the development of bedforms with slip faces.
The overall characteristics of facies Gs are also in-
consistent with fully turbulent fluidal flows, which
commonly generate a clast-supported texture, sharp
(erosional) boundaries, well-developed grading and
fabric, and especially cross-stratification (e.g. Winn
and Dott, 1977; Hein, 1982). The poor organization
and the gentle inclination of strata suggest that the
sediments were dispersed on a gently mounded floor
and that deposition took place under a condition in
which the high rate of suspended sediment fall-out
inhibits grain-by-grain movement and leads to rapid
aggradation (Lowe, 1988; Arnott and Hand, 1989;
Allen, 1991; Kneller and Branney, 1995).
3.2. Facies Gd: disorganized, clast-supported
pebble-rich conglomerate
The beds of this facies are generally thick- to very
thick-bedded. Internally, the bed is dominated by
tightly packed and randomly oriented pebble clasts
in a poorly sorted mixture of granule, sand, silt, and
mud, where mud content is very high (Fig. 3B). The
lower boundary is generally sharp and flat, though
occasionally irregular through erosion. The basal
part is finer-grained and inversely graded, whereas
the remaining bulk of the bed is apparently struc-
tureless. The conglomerate of facies Gd often occur
as a hollow fill. Some facies Gd beds include sandy
intraclasts which are of rectangular shape and retain
intact pebble streaks (Fig. 3B). Although the beds
are generally structureless, in rare cases, cobble to
boulder clasts are crudely aligned in a series of rows
formed at a high angle (>30º) to the bedding plane.
The dominantly random clast orientation and the
poorly sorted muddy matrix suggest that debris flows
were responsible for the deposits (Lindsay, 1968;
Johnson, 1970; Hampton, 1979). The presence of
unconsolidated sandy intraclasts with their origi-
nal bedding features, in spite of such a high clast
concentration, also demands emplacement by a slug-
gish, laminar flow with higher viscosity and cohesive
strength, which prevents active interactions among
clasts during flow (Rodine and Johnson, 1976; Pier-
son, 1981; Shultz, 1984; Major and Pierson, 1992).
Curved traces of some clasts, diagonal to the bedding
plane, may represent a transitory shear surface suc-
cessively formed along the margin of a channelized
debris flow (Postma et al., 1983; Cas and Landis,
1987).
3.3. Facies Gb: bimodal cobble conglomerate
This facies represents a contrasting association
of two groups of grain-size populations, cobble to
boulder clasts and sand, with a virtual lack of inter-
mediate grades, and thus exhibits textural bimodality
(Fig. 3C). The host, sandy beds consist of granule-
bearing, very coarse to coarse sand without cohesive
fines and are moderately to well-sorted. It often con-
tains discontinuous lignitic mud layers. Two types
of facies Gb bed are recognized according to the
amount of clasts: one type mostly contains 1–2 lay-
ers of well-rounded cobble to boulder clasts that
are dispersed, and the other type preserves a high
amount of clasts that are clustered or in grain-to-
grain contact, and occurs as a sheet or lens form
(0.3–1 m thick).
The thinness of the host sandy bed and apparent
lack of cohesive fine materials suggest that buoyancy
force by matrix strength played a less important role
for the maintenance of the flow and for the support
of the gravel fractions. The low concentration of
clasts also suggests that grain collisions were not
efficient in generating dispersive pressure. In this
context, it is doubtful that the clasts and encasing
sands were transported and emplaced together. The
biased gravel size instead implies that the clasts were
preferentially segregated in the way of transportation
upon a steep slope. It seems that facies Gb bed
might be produced by two simultaneous but separate
processes, namely debris fall (for gravel fraction) and
turbidity current (for sand fraction) (Nemec, 1990;
Kim et al., 1995; Sohn et al., 1997). The thicker
units that are often clustered and clast-supported may
represent deposits emplaced by a grain-assemblage
debris fall which acquires enhanced mobility from
 J.W. Kim, S.K. Chough / Sedimentary Geology 130 (2000) 183–203
its high volume concentration of debris (Nemec,
1990).
3.4. Facies Gi: inversely graded conglomerate
Conglomerate of this facies is medium- to very
thick-bedded. Clasts in the thicker beds are com-
monly clast-supported with sand matrices, whereas
those in thinner beds are in loose contact and the ma-
trix is less sand-prone. Compared to the disorganized
conglomerate facies (Gd), the range of clast size is
more variable. In many instances, the thicker-bedded
units could be resolved into subunits by intervening,
highly concentrated pebble layers. The coarser clasts
commonly exhibit textural bimodality where imbri-
cation, a-axis flow-parallel and upslope-dipping, is
marked (Fig. 3D).
The overall features such as inverse grading, high
clast content, and long-axis flow-parallel imbrica-
tion suggest that this facies represents cohesionless
debris flows (Nemec and Steel, 1984). The dis-
persive pressure generated from clast collision was
the primary means for efficient momentum transfer,
thereby maintaining the debris flow (Bagnold, 1954).
Several repetitions of similar subunits demarcated by
pebble layers most probably originated from surg-
ing behaviour of debris flow (Davies, 1990; Major,
1997).
3.5. Facies St: thick massive sandstone
Facies St refers to very thick-bedded sandstone
where most of the beds are devoid of grading or
stratification. The beds are extremely thick, exceed-
ing 20 m, and contain abundant intraclasts and cal-
careous nodules. The constituent grains are fine sand
to granule-grade, with minimal amounts of silt and
clay, and poorly sorted. The intraclasts comprise un-
consolidated dark grey mudstone and exhibit a broad
range in size, from small pebbles to blocks up to sev-
eral metres long (Fig. 3E). The intraclasts are highly
variable in shape: rounded, angular, stretched and
flamed. Larger blocks and boulder-sized intraclasts
often exist in isolation, whereas the smaller ones are
often aligned in a row, imparting a crudely stratified
impression to a massive bed.
Thick sand beds that are massive and show nei-
ther systematic grading nor tractional structures have
189
been commonly attributed to rapid deposition of
highly concentrated sediment dispersions. Abrupt
dumping of high-density turbidity currents due to
flow unsteadiness or en masse freezing of sandy de-
bris flows could generate a thick massive sand bed,
but both cases assume a very thick sediment gravity
flow carrying a great volume of sediment. However,
gradual aggradation under prolonged, quasi-steady
high-density turbidity currents could equally be pos-
sible as shown by a number of recent studies (e.g.
Lowe, 1982, 1989; Kneller and Branney, 1995). It
seems that the beds of facies St were formed by
amalgamation of many recurrent flows. The abun-
dant occurrence of intraclasts that are subject to
abrasion implies that turbulence was not prevalent
but was damped shortly after the erosional stage
of the flow, and that the intraclasts were further
transported along a rheological interface that formed
above an active sediment interacting layer (Postma
et al., 1988). The crudely multiple-layered intraclasts
may represent a transitory position of the rising de-
positional flow boundary between successive flows
(cf. Kneller and Branney, 1995).
3.6. Facies SM: alternation of sandstone and
mudstone
Facies SM represents beds characterized by a
repetition of sandstone and mudstone layers. Each
stratum is thin- to medium-bedded and forms a
succession with a thickness range of decimetres to
several metres. The bounding surfaces of each layer
are generally nonerosional and sharp, and have a
shape that is either planar or undulatory. The sand
layers are very fine- to medium-grained and poorly to
moderately sorted. Grading is not evident. The mud
layers are poorly sorted, mottled or homogeneous,
and commonly include abundant lignite filaments.
The facies SM beds often include isolated pebble- to
cobble-grade clasts.
This facies is interpreted as a deposit of low-den-
sity turbidity currents (Bouma, 1962). The poor de-
velopment of tractional structures, parallel or cross-
lamination, in the sandy layer indicates that grains
falling out of suspension were buried rapidly rather
than moved as a bedload (Arnott and Hand, 1989).
The very rare occurrence of the complete Bouma
sequence may be due to the short travel distance and
190 J.W. Kim, S.K. Chough / Sedimentary Geology 130 (2000) 183–203
insufficient time for turbidity currents to evolve into
the sustained flow state.
3.7. Facies Mh: homogeneous (sandy) mudstone
This facies refers to thick muddy beds that con-
sist of poorly mixed sandy mud and are absolutely
structureless. Most beds of this facies type are very
thick-bedded (on the order of metres) and thicker
ones commonly reach up to several metres. It rarely
includes highly scattered pebble clasts.
Facies Mh seems to represent a mixed-type de-
posit of both primary and secondary processes. The
thick muddy beds with mottled appearance may have
originated from thick, fine-grained turbidites, which
suffered extensive deformation through post-deposi-
tional dewatering and bioturbation. In contrast, the
highly scattered pebble clasts suggest that these de-
posits represent thick muddy debris flows, which
were transported as a homogeneous mixture of sedi-
ments and then frozen en masse.
3.8. Facies C: chaotic deposit
This facies refers to disturbed beds or sediment
masses, which lost their original bedded features
and coherence. It typically involves more than one
lithofacies. A variety of lithofacies, such as float-
ing intraclasts, isolated boulders, interlayers of sand
and lignitic mud, and bimodal conglomerate blocks,
Fig. 4. A schematic diagram of cross-section A–A0 in Fig. 2. The sedimentary succession comprises fine-grained prodelta deposits, a
gravel lobe, very thick-bedded massive sands, slope apron deposits, and basin plain deposits, in ascending order, forming an overall
fining-upward sequence.
are severely mixed and form recumbent folds and
flow escape structures (Fig. 3F). Disruption is also
observable in thick conglomerate beds such that a
pod-like dolomite nodule more than 3 m long is bent
in an arc shape and a detached, discrete conglomer-
ate block is tilted nearly vertical.
This facies is typical of slump=slide deposits
in the prodelta region. Slope-detached materials by
means of slope failures tend to be liquefied=fluidized
in their downslope movement and be mingled by
assimilation with bed materials, losing their origi-
nal coherence (Hampton et al., 1996). Differential
loading of water-saturated finer material by the em-
placement of gravel masses and shearing by the
successive attachment of detached blocks also cause
such distortions in the prodelta deposits (Postma and
Cruickshank, 1988; Chough et al., 1990).
4. Gravel lobe deposits
Lithofacies analysis suggests that the deposits in
the prodelta region can be represented as a fining-
upward sequence of five sedimentary successions, in
ascending order: (1) fine-grained ‘normal’ prodelta
deposit; (2) gravel lobe deposit; (3) thick massive
sand bed; (4) slope apron deposit; and (5) basin
plain deposit (Fig. 4). The thick massive sand bed
immediately above the gravel lobe has a widespread
distribution, encompassing the slope and prodelta re-
 J.W. Kim, S.K. Chough / Sedimentary Geology 130 (2000) 183–203 191

gions (Fig. 4). The sedimentary features of the thick
massive sand bed (facies St) are reminiscent of the
‘megaturbidite’ (Table 1; Fig. 3E) of Bouma (1987)
that has a wide application in the stratigraphic cor-
relation. In the study area, the thick massive sand
bed serves as a marker bed, by which the spatio-tem-
poral organization of the gravel lobe system can be
reasonably defined.
4.1. Morphology and zonal distribution
Stratigraphic relationships suggest that the gravel
lobe has a positive relief and extends for more
than 1.5 km southeastward (Figs. 4 and 5). The
mud deposit underlying the gravel lobe exhibits
no appreciable depositional dip, and thus the ex-
posed segment of the gravel lobe rests on the low-
gradient basin floor off the steep foreset slope.
The prodelta area outside of the gravel lobe is
dominated by thick homogeneous mud deposits
(facies Mh) and interlayered sand and mud de-
posits (facies SM), but the proximal prodelta re-
gion retains a large volume of coarse-grained de-
posits.
On the basis of variation in constituent facies
types and relative proportion of gravel and sand=mud
fraction, the gravel lobe system can be zoned into
three parts, i.e. the axial, marginal, and fringe part,
that are roughly arranged in bands along the axis
(Figs. 5 and 6). The most proximal part of the gravel
lobe is exposed along the Megol valley, where the
exposed thickness of gravel lobe reaches about 30
m before being capped by a thick massive sand bed
(Figs. 4 and 6). The axial part of the lobe crop-
ping out in the Megol valley consists dominantly
of crudely stratified pebble conglomerate (facies
Gs) and clast-rich cobble beds. The disorganized
bouldery beds are very rare and mostly decimetres
thick. The pebble conglomerate beds are apparently
thin-bedded and rather regularly stacked up to 10 m,
maintaining its stratified character. Locally, the peb-
ble conglomerate succession exhibits marked wedg-
ing-out relationships between beds (Fig. 7A). There
exists no consistent pattern in vertical textural trend,

Fig. 5. Interpretative presentation of facies distribution based on detailed analysis of sedimentary facies and their association. The gravel
lobe shows elongated geometry and is zoned into three parts: axial, marginal, and fringe part.
192 J.W. Kim, S.K. Chough / Sedimentary Geology 130 (2000) 183–203

Fig. 6. Schematic columnar logs for the axial, marginal and fringe parts of the gravel lobe based on the correlation of thick massive
sand bed, showing a spatial change in constituent facies types and relative proportion of gravel and fine-grained deposits. For location,
see Fig. 2. Note the abrupt decrease in amounts of gravel deposit toward the outer part of the gravel lobe (circled 1 ! 2 ! 3) within
short distances. Refer to Table 1 for descriptions of the facies codes. Also shown are the stratigraphic positions of sections illustrated
elsewhere.
 J.W. Kim, S.K. Chough / Sedimentary Geology 130 (2000) 183–203
but the upper part of the lobe shows an increase in
number and thickness of disorganized conglomerate
beds (facies Gd). The pebble conglomerate succes-
sion that is in large part consistently stratified still
persists to the outer limit of the gravel lobe along the
axis (Figs. 5 and 7B–D).
The marginal part of the gravel lobe is charac-
terized by the association of gravel deposits and
fine-grained deposits, in roughly equal proportions
(Fig. 6). The fine-grained units, mostly of alternating
sand and mud (facies SM), reach up to 5 m in thick-
ness. When these occur within a gravelly succes-
sion, they are rather thin, generally decimetres thick.
Within the succession of sand=mud deposits occur
some isolated boulders and well-sorted sand beds
containing thin pebble and cobble sheets (Figs. 6
and 8). The gravel deposits are largely similar to
those in the axial part but rather coarser-grained
and thicker-bedded. The contacts between the gravel
beds and the fine-grained deposits are very sharp,
and both are generally tabular in shape.
The lobe fringe is dominated by thick, homoge-
neous sandy mud deposits (facies Mh), and gravel
deposits are only subordinate. This region is thus
similar to normal prodelta environment. The gravel
deposits abruptly occur in the form of chutes that
are filled with disorganized, clast-supported pebble
conglomerate with large amounts of mud matrix
(facies Gd). The fringe part is only differentiable
from prodelta deposits by the occurrence of bimodal
gravel deposits (facies Gb) (Figs. 6 and 9).
The most fundamental features of the axial zone
are that it is exclusively dominated by gravel deposits
devoid of any discrete, thick sand bed (Fig. 6), and
also it contains chutes in both the proximal part and
distal part. This implies that the coarse-grained de-
bris was supplied from an axial source that remained
relatively stable, and the deposition took place in
a relatively narrow area. The marginal part of the
lobe is characterized by repetition of gravelly facies
(facies Gs, Gd) and alternating sand=mud deposits
(facies SM). This feature may reflect punctuated
deposition of coarse gravels associated with lateral
shift of the main depositional loci, i.e. switching of
a sublobe from the axial part toward the marginal
part, where deposition of fine-grained turbidities was
prevalent (Fig. 5). Alternatively, the gravel beds may
have been emplaced by large-scale debris flows that
193
overspilled their loads to the marginal parts of the
lobe. The lobe fringe is a site starved of coarse-
grained sediment input, and instead dominated by
suspension sedimentation from dilute, low-density
turbidity currents. The fringe region is not greatly
different from the ‘normal’ prodelta environment,
except that there is an increase in the amount of bi-
modal gravel deposits (facies Gb). These deposits are
intimately associated with sand beds which preserve
features of amalgamation and truncation produced
by powerful turbulent flows. The emplacement of
bimodal gravel deposits requires at least two con-
ditions — the segregation process of the clasts and
the driving force such as gravity pull — and both
are met with during movement across the steep slope
(Sohn et al., 1997). The bimodal gravel deposits
of the lobe fringes were probably emplaced when
the gravel lobe was oversteepened through aggrada-
tion.
4.2. Growth pattern of the gravel lobe
The gravel lobe appears to have accumulated dur-
ing both aggradational and progradational phases.
The aggradational phase is represented by stacked
successions of thin, crudely stratified gravelly beds
(e.g. Section MG-2), whereas the progradational
phase is characterized by the channels cutting the
crudely stratified gravel deposits. Similar to modern
submarine fans, the channels on the lobe surface
guided the progradation of the lobe. The channels
were, however, unable to move freely by changing or
bifurcating their courses, as the gravel lobe system
was dominated by gravelly sediment with high fric-
tional strength and extended outwards from the steep
(gradient 20–30º) slope. The channel systems on the
gravel lobe were most probably developed in a linear
fashion, controlled largely by the local palaeoslope
(e.g. Prior and Bornhold, 1988, 1989). Three chan-
nels (chutes) with pronounced walls are recognized,
all of which excavated the stratified gravel deposit.
Two are filled with debris flow deposits (Sections
MG-3 and IN-1; Fig. 10A,B) and one is occupied
by a slump deposit (Section IN-2; Fig. 10C). The
latter by itself formed a small lobe that spread onto
the most distal part of the gravel lobe (see Fig. 5,
Fig. 7B and Fig. 10C). Through the channel sys-
tems, coarse-grained sediments were transferred to
194 J.W. Kim, S.K. Chough / Sedimentary Geology 130 (2000) 183–203
 J.W. Kim, S.K. Chough / Sedimentary Geology 130 (2000) 183–203 195

Fig. 8. Photograph illustrating the marginal part of the gravel lobe (Section HC-1). For section location, see Fig. 2. Note the occurrence
of a thick unit of fine-grained deposits from turbidity currents (facies SM), and isolated boulder clasts of high sphericity emplaced by
debris fall (black arrows).

the outer reach of the lobe, enabling the gravel lobe
to prograde further basinward.
4.3. Origin of the gravel lobe
The promontory form as well as the coarse-
grained nature of the prodelta gravel lobe assumes
the existence of a large-scale feeder system on the
slope sector that acted as a long-lived point-source
supplying coarse debris. The stratigraphic relation-
ship suggests that the large-scale slump scar on the
foreset slope bears a close relevance to the genera-
tion of the gravel lobe on the prodelta (Fig. 5). The
slump scar is bounded by a steep head scarp with an
exposed thickness of more than 20 m, which is then
followed downslope by the sharp- and flat-based scar
floor, dipping at 30º (Fig. 11). The scar, traceable
along the strike for more than 500 m, exhumed the
whole fine-grained foreset and part of the gravelly
foreset.
Although the limited exposure hampers assess-
ing the relationship between the slump scar and the
gravel lobe, it is presumed that a slumping and en-
suing modification of the steep slope generated a pit
that most probably extended its course to the end of
slope. The occurrence of large intraclasts of bedded
sand=mud deposit (facies SM) at the base-of-slope
provides some reliable constraints that are support-

Fig. 7. Photographs of the axial part of gravel lobe. For section location, see Fig. 2. (A) Photograph of Section MG-1, dominated by
crudely stratified gravel beds with a wedging-out relationship. Scale arrow (circled) is 20 cm long. (B) Photograph of Section IN-3
that represents the most distal part of the gravel lobe system. The outcrop comprises an upwards facies succession of inversely graded
conglomerate (facies Gi), crudely stratified pebble conglomerate (facies Gs), and chaotic bed (facies C; slump deposit). (C) Detail of
the lower right part of (B). The inversely graded bed is divided into two parts by the concentrated layer of pebble gravels (arrows),
suggesting that the bed was deposited from two surges of cohesionless debris flows. (D) Downstream equivalent, 5 m apart, to the
inversely graded bed of (C). Note the bimodal nature of bouldery division (prominent in the lower right) that probably resulted from
efficient downward percolation of small pebble clasts during transportation. Scale arrow (circled) is 20 cm long.
196 J.W. Kim, S.K. Chough / Sedimentary Geology 130 (2000) 183–203

Fig. 9. Sketch and photograph of the fringe part of the gravel lobe (Section IR-1), showing the prevalence of bimodal conglomerate beds
(circled numbers). For section location, see Fig. 2. Note the truncation surface (left arrow in sketch) draped by sand=mud layer and
abrupt wedging-out of granule layer (right arrow), both evidencing turbulent flow. Palaeoflow direction is out of the outcrop face and
slightly to the right. Scale arrow in the photo is 20 cm long.

ive of this interpretation. The intraclast is identical to
the fine-grained foreset unit and must have orig-
inated from a collapse of the scar wall, which,
in turn, implies that the slump-pit expanded and
acted as a stable conduit to feed the prodelta gravel
lobe. This interpretation that the slump-pit lasted
for most periods of gravel lobe development is also
consistent with the facies distribution characteristics.
There exists a sharp break in sedimentary facies
across the base-of-slope and proximal prodelta re-

Fig. 10. Examples of channel=chute (morphology) in the axial part of the gravel lobe. (A) Photograph of a channel filled with debris
flow deposit (Section MG-3). Note the steep wall and flat base of the disorganized pebble conglomerate (facies Gd), characteristics
of channelized debris flow deposits. Scale is 20 cm long. (B) Photograph of Section IN-1. Crudely stratified and dispersed pebble
conglomerate deposits (left; facies Gs) are sharply dissected by another gravel unit (channel fill) that comprises densely packed pebble
clasts (facies Gd). Note the steepness of the channel wall. The height of the channel wall exceeds 7 m. (C) Photograph of Section IN-2.
Note the abrupt contact between gravel body (right) and slump bed filling the channel (left). This slump bed expanded to form the lobe
seen in Fig. 7B.
J.W. Kim, S.K. Chough / Sedimentary Geology 130 (2000) 183–203 197
198 J.W. Kim, S.K. Chough / Sedimentary Geology 130 (2000) 183–203

Fig. 11. Photograph of the slump scar (arrows) filled with thick, disorganized gravel deposit (facies Gd). Section S-1. For section
location, see Fig. 2. Note the fine-grained foreset deposit underlying the gravel deposit of scar fill, and the steep scar wall. Downslope
direction is to the right of the photo.

gion where the gravel lobe is exposed; the former 5. Discussion

is dominated by a thick, disorganized, chaotic con-
glomerate mass (facies Gd, C), whereas the latter
by a consistently bedded gravel deposit (facies Gs).
It suggests that the two components record the dif-
ferent stages of system development, i.e. the gravel
lobe was built up by mass flows that bypassed the
slope through the slump-pit, while the slump-pit was
filled with large-scale debris flows in the later stage
of gravel lobe development. In addition, the fact that
channels in the gravel lobe are plugged by debris-
flow deposits (facies Gd), identical to the slump fill
on the slope sector also reflects that the filling of
the slump-pit was coeval with that of channels in the
gravel lobe.
To summarize, a slope-failure-induced erosional
pit stimulated the development of the prodelta gravel
lobe. Progressive aggradation of the lobe caused the
development of channels on the lobe surface. Large-
scale debris flows plugged the channels in the lobe
and, in turn, the slump-pit on the slope, which resulted
in an overall cessation of the lobe growth (Fig. 12).
Subaqueous lobe deposits can be assigned to two
categories in terms of genetic processes. One results
from dislocation of a large volume of slope mate-
rial in the form of slide=slump, often with transition
to debris flow. This kind of deposit generally lacks
channels and is dominated by chaotic muddy facies
(e.g. ‘ponded lobes’ of Nelson et al., 1985). Studies
of modern Arctic fan-delta systems also demonstrate
that slide and debris flow deposits accompany nu-
merous curvilinear pressure ridges produced by suc-
cessive loading of large volume of sediment masses
(Prior and Bornhold, 1988, 1989). The other cate-
gory of lobe deposits results from an accumulation
of sediment beyond channel mouths by expansion
and deceleration of mass flows as a result of decreas-
ing slope gradient. Side-scan sonar imagery reveals
that modern fan-delta fronts are heavily dissected by
radiating swales=chutes, which merge downslope to
form channels with coarse-grained splays or lobes
(Ferentinos et al., 1988; Prior and Bornhold, 1988,
 J.W. Kim, S.K. Chough / Sedimentary Geology 130 (2000) 183–203 199

Fig. 12. Simplified block diagram depicting the genesis of the gravel lobe. A slope failure event after the deposition of the fine-grained
foresets led to the development of a subaqueous channel system on the steep slope. The diagram shows the elongated morphology and
zonation of the gravel lobe system, and partly plugged channels on the lobe surface, which are comparable to those shown in Fig. 10.

1989, 1990). The physiographic condition of the
Doumsan fan delta before the onset of gravel lobe
deposition may be envisaged as a suite of genetically
related morphologies, which are often pictured from
modern seafloors, such as a source-bowl generated
from slope failure, a succeeding erosional channel,
and sediment masses displaced further downslope
(Prior and Bornhold, 1990, p. 84). Therefore, in a re-
stricted sense of morphology, the Doumsan fan delta
spans both genetic categories: the slope instability
and the channel–lobe complex (Fig. 12).
The deposition of gravel lobe in the Doumsan
fan delta is rather peculiar in comparison with the
mode of coarse-grained sediment deposition in the
deeper part of both modern and ancient fan deltas. In
modern fan deltas, coarse-grained sediments are gen-
erally present at the fan apex near the efficient river
distributary channels, and on the fan-flank boulder
streams that often extend to the fjord bottom (Prior
and Bornhold, 1990). In the latter case, the dominant
mode of transport is avalanching, and coarse debris
tend to be scattered rather than forming a lobe. In
ancient fan-delta systems, a slope failure has been
considered as a dominant process that leads to depo-
sition of large volumes of conglomerate to the lower
slope region. A number of studies on ancient gravel-
dominated fan deltas suggest that slope failure is of
small magnitude and the failed masses, due to great
frictional resistance from rough beds, seldom reach
the prodelta region but tend to be arrested upon the
slope toe (Colella et al., 1987; Massari and Parea,
1990). In addition, it should be noted that even the
best studied modern fan-delta systems do not repre-
sent a full spectrum of fan-delta systems: (1) many
examples have very short histories and thus could
not represent mature fan deltas; (2) their occurrence
is strongly biased towards a specific depositional set-
ting such as fjords under protected and glacier-fed
200 J.W. Kim, S.K. Chough / Sedimentary Geology 130 (2000) 183–203
conditions; and (3) the slope material is dominated
by muddy sediments of Holocene highstand sea level
(Colella et al., 1987). It is, therefore, difficult to find
an example from either modern or ancient fan-delta
systems that is comparable with the prodelta gravel
lobe of the Doumsan fan delta.
The diagnostic features of the Doumsan prodelta
gravel lobe, i.e. the elongated morphology and the
banded facies distribution along the lobe axis, are
significantly different from the previously recog-
nized development pattern of subaqueous fans. In
these examples, the deposition mainly occurs on the
depositional lobe at the end of the channel, con-
trolled by (dendritic) distributary channels on the fan
surface that freely shift their courses in response to
subtle changes in gradient of depositional surfaces.
As a consequence, such fans attain a radial shape
and a concurrent zonal distribution of facies that is
arranged radially with distance from the slope break.
On the other hand, the elongated morphology and
the banded facies distribution of the Doumsan gravel
lobe can be ascribed to specific conditions of the
Doumsan system, i.e. availability of coarse-grained
sediment and steep slope gradient. The steep slope
must have ensured linear channels, and the high
frictional resistance of the gravelly sediments may
have inhibited channels on the low-gradient lobe
surface from freely seeking pathways for the topo-
graphic lows. The occurrence of channels, dissecting
the crudely stratified gravel beds in the distal reach
of the gravel lobe (axial part), demonstrates that
the flows responsible for the channel scouring were
highly energetic and the channels were undoubtedly
continued from the high-gradient slope segments.
With regard to the facies distribution in coarse-
grained deltas, there is general agreement that the
proportion of facies displaying matrix-supported tex-
ture tends to increase toward the delta toe, due to
reworking and mixing with fine-grained bottomset
sediment (textural inversion), and that progressive
fining and thinning of gravel beds are achieved by
water incorporation and acceleration (e.g. Walker,
1975; Nemec et al., 1980; Clifton, 1984; Postma and
Roep, 1985). In the Doumsan system, however, there
is no conspicuous facies change downslope within
the gravel lobe. Instead, there exists a lateral tran-
sition outwards from the lobe axis. This pattern is
probably related to the limited ability of gravel-rich
mass flows to spread laterally and to the elongate
depositional tendency of channelized mass flows as
envisaged by Schwab et al. (1996) for the outer
Mississippi Fan (depositional) lobe.
The subaqueous chute systems in the gravel lobe
promoted concentration of gravelly sediment flows
which otherwise would have spread and been de-
posited as thin, unconfined flows. The observation
that all the channels are plugged by debris flows
or slump deposits (Fig. 10) implies that the inter-
nal organization and behaviour of the gravel lobe
were determined primarily by the magnitude and
state of the mass flows. It can be deduced that the
channels could not be sustained as stable conduit
but were subject to filling and readily abandoned
when a large-scale mass flow overwhelmed the ca-
pacity of channels. This process probably inhibited
lobe progradation and eventually resulted in upslope
retreat of deposition, and plugging of the feeder
channel system on the slope.
In the classification of subaqueous depositional
systems, the nature of the feeder system and the
constituent sediment types are important in order to
determine overall characteristics of the sedimentary
body. This relationship can be illustrated by the ‘ef-
ficiency’ of a depositional system (Mutti, 1979). A
mud-dominated system, fed by a river delta, devel-
ops a large, elongate, muddy submarine fan (high-
efficiency type, e.g. the Mississippi Fan), whereas
a sand-dominated system leads to a small, radial,
sandy fan in the vicinity of the slope break (low-
efficiency type, e.g. the Navy Fan). Although some
current approaches, such as architectural element
analysis suitably categorize the sand- and mud-dom-
inated deep-marine systems (Reading and Richards,
1994; Clark and Pickering, 1996), gravel-dominated
systems, i.e. fan deltas, remain poorly understood
and lack a sound conceptual base, compared to the
sand=mud submarine-fan system. However, gravel
bodies can develop on the basin floor in association
with a fan-delta system and such a system may repre-
sent an end member of the submarine-fan spectrum
(i.e. fan-delta-fed, very low-efficiency type as op-
posed to the large river- or delta-fed, high-efficiency
type). The present study confirms that the processes
governing the construction of sandy submarine-fan
lobes in deep-marine turbidite systems operate in
coarser-grained (i.e. gravel-dominated) systems.
 J.W. Kim, S.K. Chough / Sedimentary Geology 130 (2000) 183–203
6. Conclusions
Detailed mapping within the prodelta sector of the
Doumsan fan-delta system has delineated a gravel
lobe with narrow tongue geometry. The gravel lobe
owes its existence to catastrophic failure events on
the steep foreset slope that occurred at a late stage
in the fan-delta development. Three types of gravelly
facies are important constituents of the gravel lobe.
(1) Crudely stratified pebble-grade gravel deposits
are the most voluminous and are distributed along
the lobe axis. They represent an aggradational phase
of the lobe growth.
(2) Thick-bedded, disorganized gravel deposits
occur in the outer reach of the lobe, accompanying
the fine-grained deposits of comparable volume. This
facies also occurs as channel fills.
(3) Bimodal gravel deposits characterize the lobe
fringe, which is otherwise dominated by fine-grained
sediment.
The elongated morphology of the gravel lobe and
the lateral facies change outward from the lobe axis
are interpreted to reflect shifting of depositional loci
and flow behaviour with a tendency of inefficient
dispersal of gravelly sediments. The progradation
of the lobe was guided by channel systems de-
veloped on the lobe surface that funnelled coarse
sediments to the outer sector. The processes govern-
ing the growth of gravel lobes are largely similar
to some of the modern submarine fans. Within the
spectrum of submarine-fan types, the gravel lobe of
the Doumsan system represents a fan-delta-fed, very
low-efficiency type.
Acknowledgements
This study is part of JWK’s M.S. thesis supervised
by SKC and supported by grants of the Korea Sci-
ence and Engineering Foundation and Basic Science
Research Institute Program, Ministry of Education
(1988=1989). Critical comments by Drs. G. Kelling,
M. Itoh and an anonymous reviewer significantly
improved the earlier version of the manuscript. We
thank Drs. I.G. Hwang and Y.K. Sohn for discus-
sion in the field. Discussions with H.R. Jo, W.H.
Ryang, S.B. Kim, S.H. Lee, J.J. Bahk, Y.K. Kwon,
Y.H. Kim, and H.K. Ha of the Sedimentology Lab-
201
oratory, Seoul National University, have been use-
ful.
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