Distinguishing among deep-water sedimentary facies has been a difficult task. This is possibly due to the process continuum in deep water, in which sediments occur in complex associations. The lack of definite sedimentological features among the different facies between hemipelagites and contourites presented a great challenge. In this study, we present detailed mudrock characteristics of the three main deep-water facies based on sedimentological characteristics, laser diffraction granulometry, high-resolution, large area scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and the synchrotron x-ray diffraction technique. Our results show that the deep-water microstructure is mainly process controlled, and that the controlling factor on their grain size is much more complex than previously envisaged. Retarding current velocity, as well as the lower carrying capacity of the current, has an impact on the mean size and sorting for the contourite and turbidite facies, whereas hemipelagite grain size is impacted by the natural heterogeneity of the system caused by bioturbation. Based on the microfabric analysis, there is a disparate pattern observed among the sedimentary facies; turbidites are generally bedding parallel due to strong currents resulting in shear flow, contourites are random to semi-random as they are impacted by a weak current, while hemipelagites are random to oblique since they are impacted by bioturbation.

中文翻译：

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泥岩显微结构：一种区分深水细粒沉积物的技术

区分深水沉积相一直是一项艰巨的任务。这可能是由于深水中的连续过程，其中沉积物以复杂的组合发生。半远洋岩和等高岩之间不同相之间缺乏明确的沉积学特征是一个巨大的挑战。在这项研究中，我们根据沉积学特征、激光衍射粒度、高分辨率、大面积扫描电子显微镜 (SEM) 和同步加速器 X 射线衍射技术，详细介绍了三种主要深水相的泥岩特征。我们的研究结果表明，深水微观结构主要受过程控制，其晶粒尺寸的控制因素比以前设想的要复杂得多。延迟当前速度，以及水流的较低承载能力，对等高岩和浊流岩相的平均尺寸和分选有影响，而半薄层岩晶粒尺寸受生物扰动引起的系统自然非均质性的影响。根据微结构分析，在沉积相之间观察到不同的模式；浊流岩由于强流产生切变流，一般呈平行层理，等高岩受弱流影响呈随机至半随机分布，而半长纹岩受生物扰动影响呈随机至斜向分布。在沉积相之间观察到不同的模式；浊流岩由于强流产生切变流，一般呈平行层理，等高岩受弱流影响呈随机至半随机分布，而半长纹岩受生物扰动影响呈随机至斜向分布。在沉积相之间观察到不同的模式；浊流岩由于强流产生切变流，一般呈平行层理，等高岩受弱流影响呈随机至半随机分布，而半长波岩受生物扰动影响呈随机至斜向分布。