The Mudline: Variability of its Position Relative to Shelfbreak
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Published:January 01, 1983
ABSTRACT
The mudline, the depth of substantially increased silt and clay content and the level below which deposition prevails on continental margins, often occurs near, but is only rarely coincident with, the shelf-to-slope transition. An evaluation of the mudline off the U.S. Mid-Atlantic States and northern Gulf of Mexico highlights marked differences between depth and position of this horizon and those of the shelfbreak, and is summarized in four relationships. Type I = Off Cape Hatteras and portions of the west Florida shelf, offshelf transport of sand-size material results in a mudline position well below the shelfbreak. Spillover at Cape...
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Contents
The Shelfbreak: Critical Interface on Continental Margins

The shelfbreak is that point where the first major change in gradient occurs on the outermost edge of the continental shelf. Although this environment delimits the boundary between two principal and well-defined provinces, the continental shelf and slope - and thus is of the first order of importance on continental margins - it has received surprisingly little specific attention in either modern oceans or in the rock record. This volume, the first compendium dedicated specifically to the shelfbreak, was derived from an SEPM Research Symposium convened at the joint Annual Meeting of SEPM and AAPG on June 2, 1981. The material is organized in a manner to illustrate examples of the shelfbreak in both modern oceans and the rock record.