Importance of mass transport complexes in the development of the central and western Quaternary Nile fan

Increased interest in deep-water sedimentation processes over the past two decades has revealed the ubiquity of submarine slope mass failures on continental margins. Slope failure appears to be a particularly critical process in the development of large deep-water sedimentary fans. A 7,000 km2 3D and a regional 2D seismic grid of hydrocarbon seismic reflection exploration data are used to construct a Quaternary stratigraphy and assess controls on sedimentation processes for the central and western deep-water Nile fan, offshore Egypt. These results will help understand the role of mass failure processes in the Quaternary construction of the Nile fan.; These data show a link between large slope failure events and the development of submarine canyons and channel systems. These particular large slope failures initiate on the upper slope creating extensive regions of sediment evacuation, extensive headwall scarps, and are accompanied by thick accumulations of MTCs on the mid-slope. Submarine canyons establish on the upper slope within headwall scarps immediately following a major slope failure event. These canyons then serve as the principal conduits for sediment transport to deepwater, probably as turbidity current. By this mechanism, large slope failures may mark major shifts in deepwater turbidite depocenters that can be traced on regional seismic data. This model of fan development is important to explorationists searching for turbidite-hosted hydrocarbon plays.