Turbidite origin of some laminated mudstones

SummaryMany deep water marine muds, including lower Palaeozoic mudstones from Britain, have thin graded beds in which mud and silt laminae alternate, with the silt becoming finer and less abundant upwards. Of the known deep-sea depositional processes, turbidity currents are the most likely cause of such graded laminated beds. The lamination may be produced by alternating cohesive and granular bed conditions. Much more careful examination of laminated fine grained terrigenous sediment is needed.