Sediment burial velocity

Plot of oceanic water depth versus sediment burial velocity (burial velocity is equal to sedimentation rate when the latter is constant over time and diagenetic loss is minimal). Source From Boudreau, B. P. (1997). Diagenetic Modeis and Their implementation. Springer-Verlag, p. 164. 

A complete understanding of the factors that regulate the magnitude of activity of bed sediment macrofauna is not available. However, some theory and evidence exist that allows the extrapolation of site-specific Du. data to other locales or conditions. In the case of temperature, it is safe to assume the standard correction/t = lE[(r — 20°)/33] where T is °C. This predicts a 2 x increase in Dbs for each lO C rise in temperature. In the case of carbon food source in the bed the Dbs vs burial velocity empirical correlation (Boudreau, 1997) may be used to adjust between site conditions. This relationship assumes the energy available to sustain the macrofauna community is derived from material settling from the water column onto the bed surface. In the case of corrections for population density, the Levy flight-random walk theoretical model (Reible and Mohanty, 2002) result of Dbs where n is... 

Particle sinking rates are of considerable interest because the fester a particle can make the trip to the seafloor, the shorter the time it is subject to decomposition or dissolution and, hence, the greater its chances for burial in the sediments. The length of the trip is dictated by the depth to the seafloor, the horizontal current velocity, and the particle sinking rates. As shown in Figure 13.5, sedimentation rates decrease with increasing water depth. This relationship reflects the preservation issue and the feet that coastal waters tend to have larger sources of particles to the surfece zone. 

The physical properties of sediments change continuously during burial as a function of the mechanical and chemical processes described above. This changes also the seismic velocities and attributes. Inverting the seismic signals to interpret sediment properties, like porosity and fluid content is very difficult because the solutions are rarely unique. 

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