Marine and Petroleum Geology 57 (2014) 208e232

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Marine and Petroleum Geology

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/marpetgeo

Research paper

Facies and architecture of a tide-dominated segment of the Late

Pliocene Orinoco Delta (Morne L'Enfer Formation) SW Trinidad
Si Chen a, b, *, Ronald J. Steel a, Joshua F. Dixon a, Ariana Osman a
a
Jackson School of Geosciences, The University of Texas at Austin, TX, USA
b
Key Laboratory of Tectonics and Petroleum Resources, MOE, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Exceptionally high shelf-subsidence rates (0.8e6.0þ mm/yr), a marked basinward stepping (to east and
Received 29 January 2014 northeast) of the paleo-Orinoco shelf prism and post-Pliocene uplift of Trinidad all allow the sedimen-
Received in revised form tary facies, process regime and the evolution of the Late Miocene Orinoco Delta to be evaluated from
11 May 2014
extensive outcrops along the southwest, and south coasts of Trinidad. The ca. 200 km easterly growth
Accepted 24 May 2014
Available online 6 June 2014
(late Miocene to present) of the Orinoco shelf-margin was generated by repeated cross-shelf, regressive
etransgressive transits of the Orinoco Delta system. The studied Late Pliocene segment of this shelf-
margin prism allows insight to how this margin was built. The Morne L'Enfer Formation (Late Plio-
Keywords:
Orinoco Delta
cene) along Cedros Bay and Erin Bay in SW Trinidad, provides a window into the facies and process
Late Pliocene regime of the ca. 850 m-thick deltaic succession at an inner-shelf location some 100 km landward of the
Tidal facies and signals coeval shelf edge. Regressive facies associations include tide-inuenced delta-front to prodelta deposits
Morne L'Enfer Formation (FA1) within upward coarsening units, shoreface to offshore deposits, possibly with prograding mud cape
deposits (FA2), and uvial distributary channel inlls (FA3), as well as muddy sediments of oodbasins
and coastal embayments between the distributary channels (FA4), and tide-inuenced bay-head delta
deposits (FA5). Transgressive facies associations show an overall upward ning of grain size and include
inner estuary distributary channels with minimal brackish-water or tidal inuence (FA6), transition zone
uvial-tidal distributary channels (FA7), tide-dominated mid-outer estuary channel-bars (FA8), and
intertidal to supratidal at units (FA9). The tidal signals in both deltaic and estuarine units include bi-
directional paleocurrents (channels), frequent mud drapes within stacked sets of cross-strata (delta-
front), uid mud layers, aser, wavy and lenticular bedding, and ubiquitous spring-neap stratal bundling.
The tide dominated nature of the paleo-delta in SW Trinidad was likely due to its location within an
embayed proto-Columbus Channel, though by analogy with the modern Orinoco Delta, it is predicted
that the same succession becomes wave dominated to the east as the delta emerged to the open ocean
and approached the outer shelf and shelf-edge region. It is difcult to estimate how much of the
abundant mud in the Pliocene deltaic sequences was derived from inner-shelf littoral currents with
suspended Amazon River mud. The studied Late Pliocene Morne L'Enfer succession contains some 17
high-frequency transgressiveeregressive sequences, each ca. 40e60 m thick, estimated to have an
average time duration of 90e120 Ky. By analogy, the last glacial cycle on the Orinoco shelf saw the delta
prograding across the 200 km-wide shelf to the shelf edge in ca. 100 Ky, then transgressing back to its
present position in 20 Ky. A predicted model of the linkage between the study succession on SW Trinidad
and its eastward continuation offshore towards the outer shelf and shelf edge in the Columbus Basin is
suggested.
© 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

1.1. Neogene stratigraphy on Trinidad and study interval

* Corresponding author. JGB 6.136, Jackson School of Geosciences, The University

of Texas at Austin, TX, USA.
The present study sites are within the Upper and Lower Morne
E-mail addresses: sichen720@hotmail.com (S. Chen), rsteel@mail.utexas.edu L'Enfer Formation, outcropping on the southwest coast of Trinidad
(R.J. Steel). at Erin Bay and Cedros Bay (Fig. 1). The strata are of Late Pliocene

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2014.05.014
0264-8172/© 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 S. Chen et al. / Marine and Petroleum Geology 57 (2014) 208e232 209

Figure 1. Geological map of southwest Trinidad (from Kugler, 1959; Saunders, 1997; Vincent et al., 2007, Trinidad and Tobago Geological Map). (A) Cedros Bay. (B) Erin Bay.

age (Carr-Brown and Frampton, 1979), overlying the Early Pliocene
Forest Formation and underlying the Pleistocene Erin Formation
(Table 1). The stratigraphic interval investigated is some 850 m
thick, containing deltaic and estuarine deposits, arranged vertically
in regressive to transgressive units. Although the Morne L'Enfer
Formation is relatively well known locally from subsurface drilling
in a series of oilelds on south western Trinidad, and there is a eld
guide with stops in the Upper Morne L'Enfer Member of the For-
mation (Vincent, 2003), there has been no previous systematic
study of its sedimentary development and no attempt to place it
within the larger scale, shelf-margin sedimentary prism of
onshore-offshore Trinidad.
1.2. The Orinoco Delta and its shelf margin
The exceptionally high Neogene subsidence rates (up to 6 mm/
yr) (Wood, 2000), and systematic rapid, basinward stepping
(150 km in some 10 My) (Croce et al., 1999) of the late Miocene to
Present Orinoco shelf margin, as well as the post Pliocene uplift of
this margin across the Island of Trinidad (Kugler, 1956) allow us
outcrop access to evaluate the process regime and evolution of the
paleo-Orinoco Delta. The Orinoco margin today continues to be
well supplied, with a sediment load of some 150 million tons/year
(Davis and Dalrymple, 2012; Milliman and Syvitski, 1992). The
geomorphology and a sub-environment classication of the delta
210 S. Chen et al. / Marine and Petroleum Geology 57 (2014) 208e232

Table 1 Guayana Shield to the south (Diaz de Gamero, 1996). The Orinoco
The Late Miocene through Pliocene lithostratigraphic units of SW Trinidad (Zyndel, River and delta then migrated along the axis of the East Venezuela
1916).
foreland basin, to emerge towards southern Trinidad by late
Age and clastic Southwest Trinidad Approx. Sequences Miocene. Trinidad lies at the eastern end of the East Ven-
wedge number stratigraphy thickness ezuelaeColumbus foreland basin, and also near the transpressional
Pleistocene Erin Fm. >300 m >2 sequences boundary between the Caribbean and South American plates. Large
Late Pliocene 4 Upper Morne L'Enfer Fm. >1000 m >10 sequences volumes of mud currently are borne and deposited by littoral cur-
Lot 7 Silt (ooding)
rents northwestwards along the inner shelf and on the front of the
Late Pliocene 3 Lower Morne L'Enfer Fm. >370 m >7 sequences
U. Forest Clay (ooding) Orinoco Delta, derived from the Amazon River (Aslan et al., 2003).
Early Pliocene 2 Forest/Gros Morne Fms. >1800 m >3 sequences Similar mud volumes may have contributed to the Pliocene Orinoco
Lr. Forest Clay (ooding) sequences.
Early PlioceneeLate Upper Cruse Fm. >1500 m >8 sequences
Miocene 1 Lower Cruse Fm.
2.2. Regional structure and shelf-margin growth

The two primary structural elements that affected the paleo-

plain of the modern Orinoco Delta was provided by Warne and
others (Warne et al., 1999, 2002a, 2002b). The seismic line of
Figure 2 shows the Pliocene (dating and seismic line from Sydow
et al., 2003) clinoformal architecture of the Orinoco margin, with
thick at-lying, shelf topsets, and a gently seaward dipping conti-
nental slope and basin oor beyond. The amplitude of the clino-
forms (undecompacted) reects a basinal water depth of several
km. and the very thick and aggradational character of the Pliocene
margin architecture reects rapid subsidence and a very large
Orinoco River supply (Sydow et al., 2003; Wood, 2000).
1.3. Purpose of present study
The study locations at Erin Bay and Cedros Bay occur updip
(landward) by some 150 km from the coeval late Pliocene shelf-
slope break (Dixon, 2005; Moscardelli et al., 2006; Sydow et al.,
2003) to the east. The main purpose of the present study is to
document the facies and processes of the Late Pliocene Orinoco
Delta deposits in this well-exposed 850 m succession, and the
reason for doing so is twofold:
1. Provide details of the tide-dominated character of this part of
the paleo-delta; important because tide-dominated deltas are
currently one of the most poorly known coastal environments.
In addition, as the modern Orinoco Delta is mainly wave
dominated, the reason for tide domination in the study segment
is of interest.
2. Illustrate the rapidly subsiding aspect of the shelf-margin suc-
cession and the repeated regressiveetransgressive cross-shelf
transits of this delta in a Pliocene ice-house climate; thereby
also providing a rational for the spectacular aggradationale-
progradational topsets seen on the seismic image of the shelf
margin (Fig. 1).
2. Geological setting
2.1. Sediment sourcing
The modern Orinoco Delta lies near the northeastern tip of
South America, and the area of the later Island of Trinidad lay
squarely in the pathway of the northeastern reaches of the pro-
grading late MioceneePliocene delta. The southern coastlines of
Trinidad provide a westeeast transect across the now-uplifted,
Orinoco shelf margin, exposing deepwater continental slope de-
posits (late Miocene) overlain by Pliocene and younger Orinoco
Delta lobe deposits, as would be shown in any well drilled through
the SEG interval in Figure 2. The Paleogene Orinoco River had
owed directly northwards into the marine Maracaibo Gulf, but by
Middle Miocene times it changed course, owing east between the
Merida Andes and Caribbean Mountains to the north, and the
Orinoco delivery system across Trinidad and into the Columbus
Basin depocenter off eastern Trinidad were (1) transpressional
northeast-southwest trending anticlines induced by compression
from the plate boundary to the north and (2) northwestesoutheast
oriented, down-to-the-northeast, extensional normal growth
faults, likely driven by Orinoco sediment loading, i.e., from one of
the earth's largest rivers (Wood, 2000). Sydow et al. (2003) showed
that the Orinoco River drainage system and sediment supply was
able to exceed the rapid-subsidence accommodation on the shelf
and steadily prograde the shelf-edge since the late Miocene. From
the Late Miocene onward, sedimentation across the Trinidad and
Columbus Basin region was dominated by the prograding and
shifting lobes of the Orinoco River delta (Diaz de Gamero, 1996).
Growth fault rollover structures trending northwest-southeast
were modied by the orthogonal trend of compressional folds
formed during the early Pleistocene (Sydow et al., 2003). The Co-
lumbus basin was lled throughout the Pliocene and Pleistocene by
more than 40,000 ft (>12,200 m) of clastic sediment supplied pri-
marily by the paleo-Orinoco Delta system. The delta built and
prograded eastward over a storm-wave and current-inuenced
shelf during the PlioceneePleistocene, depositing nonmarine to
marine clastic megasequences as a series of prograding wedges
(Steel et al., 2007), sometimes atop a lower Pliocene to pre-Pliocene
mobile shale facies (Wood, 2000). The scale of the paleo-Orinoco
megasequences bounded by major muddy ooding intervals is
well shown in Figure 2 and Table 1.
2.3. Morne L'Enfer and other clastic wedges
The late Miocene through Pliocene sandstone wedges that built
the new Orinoco shelf margin out along the eastern sides of
Venezuela and Trinidad were referred to above and shown in
Table 1. The rst clastic wedge, well exposed along parts of the
southern Trinidad coast is the Upper Miocene to Lower Pliocene
Cruse Formation (Kugler, 1956; Saunders and Kennedy, 1965) and
includes a thick series of muddy upward-coarsening, deepwater
slope units, some highly slump deformed, leading upwards to
shallow-water, outer shelf and deltaic units (Vincent, 2012; Winter,
2006). Some segments of shallow-water shelf deposits have
collapsed down into the underlying slope mudstones (Steel et al.,
2007). The presence of thick deformed Cruse slope deposits in
outcrops on the south coast of Trinidad imply that the shelf edge in
this region lay some short distance to the west, about mid-way
along Trinidad's southern coast (Winter, 2006). Although there
have been many lithostratigraphic works on Cruse Formation from
S. Trinidad's oil and gas elds, Winter's (2006) research is the only
one to investigate the Cruse depositional systems. The Cruse For-
mation is capped by a widespread ooding horizon, the Lower
Forest Clay (Table 1). Sedimentation continued through the Lower
Pliocene with the deltaic growth of the very thick Forest/Gros
Figure 2. (A) Dip-oriented (EeW) seismic line, just off southeast Trinidad and near the Trinidad/Venezuela boundary, showing the aggradationaleprogradational character of the
latest Miocene through Pliocene paleo-Orinoco shelf-margin growth. The deepwater slope deposits off the bottom-left of the section are very latest Miocene in age. The onshore
Morne L'Enfer study location lies >60 km west of the western edge of this line, and a little to the north along strike. The measured 800 m outcrop succession occupies part of the
‘topsets’ off to the left of the line, in the Late Pliocene time interval from about TP 63 to TP90 (Sydow et al., 2003). (B) Interpreted framework of the Pliocene (Tp) shelf-slope
geometry and depositional systems (modied from Dixon, 2005). A very tentative correlation of onshore strata to this offshore succession, based on the published stratigraphic
age dating by Sydow et al. (2003) and Dixon (2005), is suggested along the western edge of this seismic line. (C) Estimated positions of the paleo-Orinoco shelf edge (late Pliocene),
from Dixon, 2005; Sydow et al., 2003. AA' shows the location of the seismic section in Fig. 2a.
Figure 3. a. The Upper Morne L'Enfer Formation succession in both Erin Bay and Cedros Bay. The uppermost 75 m of the succession, capped by Erin Formation, can be seen only at
Erin Bay. At both locations the succession is underlain by the Lot 7 Siltstone. The succession is tentatively sub-divided into transgressive to regressive units with a major ooding
level between the two parts. b. Lower part of the study succession consists of Lower Morne L'Enfer Formation and Lot 7 Silt. It is underlain by the marine, muddy Upper Forest Clay.
As with the Upper Morne L'Enfer (Fig. 3a) the succession here is tentatively subdivided into transgressive to regressive units.
S. Chen et al. / Marine and Petroleum Geology 57 (2014) 208e232 213

Figure 3. (continued).
214 S. Chen et al. / Marine and Petroleum Geology 57 (2014) 208e232
Morne formations, the second clastic wedge, and this in turn was
capped by the Upper Forest Clay ooding unit (Kugler, 1956;
Saunders and Kennedy, 1965). This was followed by the Lower
Morne L'Enfer or third clastic wedge, with a lower muddy but
upward-coarsening deltaic portion (the Morne L'Enfer Siltstones of
Osman, 2006) some 800ft thick in places (Kugler, 1956) and capped
transgressively by a 300 ft-thick series of medium-grained estua-
rine sandstones (Osman, 2006; Wach et al., 2003). This Lr. Morne
L'Enfer wedge is capped by the Lot 7 silt horizon (Kugler, 1956;
Saunders and Kennedy, 1965). The fourth and nal Pliocene clastic
wedge consists of the Upper Morne L'Enfer Formation (Donovan
and Jackson, 1994; Vincent, 2003). The Morne L'Enfer Formation
is generally agreed in the literature to be Late Pliocene in age
(Saunders and Kennedy, 1965; Wach et al., 2003; J. Frampton and A.
Osman personal communications, 2005), on the basis of micro-
paleontology (foraminifera) data.
Hydrocarbons are being produced from Morne L'Enfer Forma-
tion reservoirs within several elds in the Southern Trinidad (North
Palo Seco, Coora, Forest Reserve elds) (Vincent, 2003).
3. Morne L'Enfer succession
The measured succession of Morne L'Enfer Formation at Erin Bay
and at Cedros Bay is some 850 m (2500 ft) thick, most of which is
exposed continuously and lies above the Upper Forest Clay and
below the red Porcellanite beds of Erin Formation (Vincent, 2003).
A summary diagram of Morne L'Enfer Formation shows the
component upward-coarsening regressive and blocky to upward-
ning transgressive parts (Fig. 3a and b). The exact correlation
between Cedros Bay and Erin Bay (some 20 km apart) is tentative
and uncertain. However, the following criteria allow a possible
correlation: (1) the lower levels of both successions are underlain
by the muddy Upper Forest Clay, (2) there is an upward change to
dominantly delta plain deposits with large tree logs in each suc-
cession, (3) the ca. 80 m-thick ne-grained interval of Lot 7 Silt can
be identied in each succession, and (4) the red porcellanite de-
posits of Erin Formation caps the succession at Erin Bay.
The following general features of the study succession are noted
before the individual regressive and transgressive facies associa-
tions are treated in more detail:
1. The Lower Morne L'Enfer (approx. 305 m thick) is dominated by
upward-coarsening delta-front deposits (yellow in the web
version in Fig. 3) and transgressively lled estuaries (red in the
web version in Fig. 3) that ne upwards to levels of marine
ooding (blue dotted lines in the web version). Transgressive to
regressive units average 42.5 m in thickness. The estuarine
cross-stratied sandstones of the upper part of Lr. Morne L'Enfer
are the same sandstones that are mined for asphalt in the
Stollmeyers Quarrie and other quarries some 20 km north of
Erin Bay. Note that the only signicantly wave-dominated parts
of the succession are the two shorefaces at Cedros Bay in Unit 3.
2. The Lot 7 Siltstone interval (approx. 80 m thick) is ne grained
and poorly exposed but well mapped in the subsurface and on
outcrops as a major marine ooding interval across southern
Trinidad, occurring between the lower and upper members of
Morne L'Enfer Formation.
3. The Upper Morne L'Enfer (approx. 413 m thick) has a lower two-
thirds dominated by delta-front deposits (Fig. 3a), the TeR units
are averaging 43 m thick here (excluding unit 12). In the upper
third there is then a distinctive interval of delta-plain mud-
stones, distributaries, coals and tree trunks, seen at both study
locations.
4. A summary of transgressive, regressive and TeR unit thick-
nesses, as well as sandstone/shale ratios, for both Upper and
Lower Morne L'Enfer are given in Table 2. The sandstone per-
centage is 46.9% in Cedros Bay and 38.9% in Erin Bay in the
regressive intervals. The sandstone percentage is 76.4% in
Cedros Bay and 63.8% in Erin Bay in the transgressive intervals.
The slightly sandier character of the Cedros succession is likely
due to its more proximal location. Mudstones generally increase
in thickness distally in all the clastic wedges, despite the fact
that transgressions bring mud landwards.
4. Methodology
Data acquisition was from outcropping strata of the Morne L'Enfer
Formation at both Erin Bay and Cedros Bay locations (Fig. 1), and
included detailed lateral and vertical measurements of sedimentary
facies as well as photo panel interpretations. Bed or set thickness,
grain size, sedimentary structures and trace fossils were recorded.
Paleocurrents were measured and un-tilted, mostly in the cross-
bedded facies. A set of photographs were taken to aid in the facies
association analysis and in reconstruction of the depositional archi-
tecture of the sandstone bodies. Burrows, tracks and trace fossil as-
semblages, including variation of the diversity (number of species) of
benthic invertebrate organisms, their size (i.e., the size of the bur-
rows) and the relative number of individuals were also registered.
5. Facies associations and sedimentary environments
Previous research on the modern Orinoco's geomorphology and
sub-environments (Warne et al., 1999, 2002a, 2002b) suggested the
following subdivisions, with a percentage weighting of total area:
1. Coastlines (9%)
2. Marine-inuenced distributaries (10%)
3. Fluvio-marine transitions (8%)
4. Distributary channels (15%)
5. Interdistributary basins (44%)
In our subdivision of facies associations for Morne L'Enfer For-
mation we attempt to follow the above scheme to some extent,
though our data is rich in vertical facies detail, as compared to the
mainly planview information of the modern delta study. One
modern coastal sub-environment that is prominent in the de-
scriptions of Warne et al. (2002a) and especially in Aslan et al.
(2003), but difcult to identify precisely in the Pliocene record, is
the mud cape. Mud capes are common along the north coast of the
Orinoco Delta today, caused by a northwesterly drift of littoral mud
from coastal currents and ultimately from the Amazon Delta (Aslan
et al., 2003). Although this mud accumulates in the northward-
prograding delta, this is less obvious along the river- and tide-
inuenced sector of the delta in the southeast. However, because
the volume of Amazon-derived mud being transported in suspen-
sion along the front of the Orinoco Delta and around both sides of
Trinidad is so large today, it is likely that there were also Pliocene
littoral currents moving and accumulating mud (Aslan et al., 2003).
Although we did not easily identify coastal mud capes, the large
volumes of mud contained within the basal two-thirds of many
regressive deltaic units, may well include Amazon mud, as dis-
cussed below.
Because the distinction between regressive and transgressive
coastlines is a fundamental one (Boyd et al., 1992; Boyd and Honig,
1992) our primary subdivision is into (1) regressive facies associa-
tions generated when the delta system or associated strandplains
were generally prograding basinwards, and (2) transgressive facies
associations generated when the system was retreating landwards
as an estuary or open-coast muddy tidal at.
 S. Chen et al. / Marine and Petroleum Geology 57 (2014) 208e232 215

Table 2
Transgressiveeregressive unit thickness, and sandstone percentage in both regressive and transgressive parts of units at both locations.

Cedros Cedros R Sandstone Sandstone Cedros T Sandstone Sandstone Delta-plain Sandstone Sandstone TeR Unit
percentage percentage percentage

unit: m unit: m unit: % unit: m unit: m unit: % unit: m unit: m unit: % unit: m

unit16 18 0 0.00 23 14 0.61 41

unit15 49 12 0.24
unit14 26 13 0.50 16 13 0.81 42
unit13 18 8 0.44 7 6 0.86 25
unit12 58 25 0.43 21 18 0.86 79
unit11 48 26 0.54 5 4 0.80 53
unit10 13 13 1.00

Erin Erin R Sandstone Sandstone Erin T Sandstone Sandstone Delta-plain Sandstone Sandstone TeR Unit
percentage percentage percentage

unit17 27 10 0.37 17 15 0.88 44

unit16 33 9 0.27 34 10 0.29 67
unit15 27 6 0.22
unit14 27 19 0.70 28 26 0.93 55
unit13 13 2 0.15 9 1 0.11 22
unit12 73 0 0.00 18 17 0.94 91
unit11 58 26 0.45 4 4 1.00 62
unit10 12 8 0.67 33 17 0.52 45
unit9 26 2 0.08 13 1 0.08 39
unit8 39 4 0.10 11 9 0.82 50
unit7 31 9 0.29 11 6 0.55 42
unit6 28 14 0.50 13 8 0.62 41
unit5 22 7 0.32 33 20 0.61 55
unit4 21 19 0.90 9 8 0.89 30
unit3 36 16 0.44 14 14 1.00 50
unit2 30 12 0.40 7 6 0.86 37

The regressive facies associations include:
 Delta-front to prodelta deposits (FA1)
 Shoreface to offshore deposits (FA2)
 Distributary channel deposits (FA3)
 Embayment and oodbasin deposits (FA4)
 Tide-inuenced bayhead delta deposits (FA5)
The transgressive facies associations include:
 Inner estuary distributary channel deposits (FA6)
 Tidal-uvial distributary channel deposits (FA7)
 Tide-dominated channel-bar deposits (mid to outer estuary)
(FA8)
 Intertidal and supratidal at deposits (estuary margin) (FA 9)
5.1. Regressive facies associations
5.1.1. Tide-dominated delta-front to prodelta deposits (FA1)
5.1.1.1. Description. Facies Association 1 (FA1) contains organic-rich
mudstones or interbedded thin siltstones and mudstones that
grade upwards into interbedded very ne-grained, rippled sand-
stones, grey siltstones and mudstones (Fig. 4). In turn, this coarsens
upwards into thicker beds of very ne to ne-grained rippled
sandstone with continuous or discontinuous uid mud layers.
Sometimes these mud-sand couplets show a very ne scale of
alternation (rhythmites). The association progresses upwards into
ne to medium-grained cross-stratied sandstone sets that
sometimes overlie broad shallow channels or scour surfaces.
Interbedded with the latter there are also thin-bedded, at or
wave-ripple-laminated, ne to medium-grained sandstones and
mudstones. Some of the sharp-based sandstone beds overlie
extremely bioturbated very ne sandstones with carbonaceous
fragments. This type of upward-coarsening and thickening para-
sequence varies between 2 and 11 m in thickness and repeats
vertically to produce thicker (commonly 20e40 m) successions
with an overall increase in the sandstone/mudstone ratio. The
cross-stratal inll of the shallow broad channels that cap or occur
within the parasequences indicate a dominant sediment transport
towards the northeast (Cedros) and east (Erin), but also have a
subordinate, oppositely directed paleocurrent mode.
5.1.1.2. Interpretation. The overall coarsening-upward, muddy to
sandy, marine-bioturbated successions strongly indicates coastline
progradation. The presence of channels at the top of progradational
packages, and the carbonaceous character of mudstones and ne
sandstones further suggest a deltaic coastline. The smaller scale of
upward coarsening suggests sheet-like deltaic lobes up to 10 m-
thick were building (see also Hori et al., 2001; Ta et al., 2002),
together forming deltaic complexes 20e40 m thick. The lower-
energy, muddy lower levels of such deltaic units are interpreted
as the prodelta to shelf deposits, whereas the sandier upper parts
represent higher energy delta-front deposits. Regarding the process
regime of the delta, the absence of delta-front turbidites or of
storm-wave generated hummocky or swaley cross strata (though
there are wave ripples) suggest that neither storm waves nor river
currents entirely dominated the front of the delta. The abundance
of mud layers and mud asers at almost all levels on the prodelta to
delta front (see also Jaeger and Nittrouer, 1995), the frequent dunes
(Willis, 2005) on the delta front (often within broad channels or
scours) the occasional rhythmite lamination (Dalrymple and Choi,
2007), and the bi-directional paleocurrents (albeit with an ebb
dominance) all suggest a strong tidal inuence. However, the
overall abundance of mud, the very gradual character of the
coarsening upwards and the frequent parasequences all suggest
that river inuence was also important. FA1 is interpreted as result
of progradation and lateral shifting of river-inuenced, tide-
dominated delta front lobes, probably within an embayed coastline,
not unlike the southern distributaries region of the present-day
Orinoco Delta (Warne et al., 2002a). The case for tide dominance
on the Morne L'Enfer delta lobes is further developed below in
216 S. Chen et al. / Marine and Petroleum Geology 57 (2014) 208e232

Figure 4. Examples of Morne L'Enfer Formation delta-front to prodelta units with multiple parasequences (FA1).

Section 5.3. The late Pliocene delta lobes on SW Trinidad built to the
east and northeast, i.e., across southern and central present-day
Trinidad.
5.1.2. Shoreface to offshore deposits (FA2)
5.1.2.1. Description. Facies Association 2 (FA2) is relatively rare in the
Morne L'Enfer Formation but occurs at several locations in the lower
half of the Upper Morne L'Enfer at Erin Bay and in the upper parts of
Lower Morne L'Enfer at Cedros Bay. The association shows an up-
ward coarsening from mudstones at the base through thin interbeds
of lenticular, aser and wave-rippled siltstones and sandstones, up to
a fairly abrupt development of highly bioturbated hummocky and
swaley stratied, very ne sandstones in stacked units 3e5 m thick
(Fig. 5). There are also occasionally some organic-rich mudstones.
 S. Chen et al. / Marine and Petroleum Geology 57 (2014) 208e232
Figure 5. Hummocky and swaley cross ¼ stratied shoreface deposits (FA2), as best
developed in Lower Morne L'Enfer Formation at Cedros Bay.
217
5.1.2.2. Interpretation. The heterolithic, upward coarsening suc-
cession is somewhat similar to that described in FA1, but the
abruptly developed sandstone sets represent storm-wave activity
on a shoreline. The hummocky and swaley cross strata (Dumas and
Arnott, 2006; Harms et al., 1975) capping to the succession shows
that any original shoreline was certainly reworked by storm waves
into shorefaces or smaller wave spits. It is quite common for delta
complexes to have wave-dominated segments (Bhattacharya and
Giosan, 2003) or for delta lobes to be abandoned and reworked
by waves (Penland et al., 1988).
It is possible that the signicant volumes of mud contained in
the lower portions of many regressive units, and particularly those
muddy successions associated with wave-inuenced coastlines
(Fig. 5), could be interpreted as accreting mud capes, such as is seen
commonly along the northern Orinoco Delta coast today (Aslan
et al., 2003). The parasequence scale (3e5 m thick), upward-
coarsening muddy packages seen in Figure 5 could well be mud
cape candidates. On the modern Orinoco Delta, such mud capes
reect the huge mud volumes being carried in suspension by
littoral currents on the inner shelf, brought northwards from the
Amazon Delta (Aslan et al., 2003). Aslan et al. (2003) have docu-
mented how such mud capes accrete on the front of the Holocene
delta.
5.1.3. Fluvial distributary channel deposits (FA3)
5.1.3.1. Description. Capping the upward-coarsening delta-front
deposits there are occasional sharp-based, thick sandstone units
that have coaly debris and mud pebbles at their base, followed by
ne to medium-grained sandstones with planar and trough cross-
strata, followed by interbeds of ne to medium grained sand-
stone and mudstone (Fig. 6) (see also Uroza and Steel, 2008). Some
of the larger cross strata form inclined heterolithic strata. Trunca-
tion surfaces are common within these units, producing multi-
storey intervals with multiple internal erosional surfaces between
and current ripple laminae atop the individual sets of cross strata.
Although within a background of coarsening-upward delta-front
deposits, the channels become ner grained upwards. These
erosively-based cross stratied sandstones reach up to 5 m in
thickness, and paleocurrents have a northeastward orientation,
though southeastward-oriented cross strata are also found. From
the exposed outcrops, the estimated minimum width of these
down-cutting channels is about 15 m.
5.1.3.2. Interpretation. The coaly and mudclast debris, erosional
bases and general ning-upward tendency of the individual cross-
stratied sandstone bodies, and their association with underlying
delta-front facies, suggest distributary channels on the delta front
lobes (e.g., see also Bhattacharya and Walker, 1991; Coleman et al.,
1964). The mainly northeastward oriented cross strata (ebb-tide
direction) with occasional southeastward orientations, suggests
that there was some tidal inuence in the channels (see also
Dalrymple and Choi, 2007).
5.1.4. Muddy sediments of oodbasins and coastal embayments
between the distributary channels (FA4)
As in the modern Orinoco Delta, as outlined by Warne and
others (Warne et al., 1999, 2002a, 2002b), it is likely that at least
half of the paleo-Orinoco Delta plain area was composed of muddy
oodbasins between distributaries in the proximal reaches, and
muddy brackish-water embayments between distributaries in the
distal coastal region. These muddy environments would be com-
mon to both regressive and transgressive phases of shelf-prism
building and are especially common associated with distributary
channels in the upper 300 m of the succession in Erin Bay and the
upper 100 m at Cedros Bay.
218 S. Chen et al. / Marine and Petroleum Geology 57 (2014) 208e232

Figure 6. Examples of measured uvial distributary channel deposits (FA3) in Morne L'Enfer Formation.

5.1.4.1. Description. Facies Association 4 (FA4) occurs as almost all
thick muddy parts of the Morne L'Enfer succession other than the
mudstones associated with the delta-front, prodelta and marine-
shelf segments of the stratigraphy. FA4 therefore comprises
muddy overbank and oodbasin deposits between the regressive
delta distributaries (FA3 and FA6) and the muddy embayment de-
posits developed lateral to the bayhead deltas (FA5) and estuaries
(FA7 and FA8) (Fig. 7). The former consist of thick black or grey
mudstones and coaly shales with occasional thin (0.5e2 m) sheet-
like, cross stratied sandstone units. The paleocurrent directions
are southeastward. The interbedded thin sandstone layers contain
rippled, wavy and lenticular laminations. Some large horizontal
Thalassinoides (Th) burrows with diameter up to 6 cm and length of
30e40 cm are found. Some of the grey mudstones are rooted
paleosols and contain standing or fallen tree trunks, plant roots, as
well as coaly shales. The latter muddy association has organic-rich
mudstone units that contain interbedded black bioturbated and
wavy-ripple laminated silty mudstones and thin rippled siltstone
beds, usually passing upwards to thicker mudstone units with thin
coal and coaly shale layers.
5.1.4.2. Interpretation. The mudstones associated with coals in the
uppermost levels of Morne L'Enfer Formation originated in the
proximal oodbasins between distributary channels on the inner
delta plain. The mudstones are only occasionally tidally inuenced,
as would have happened during transgressions across the delta
plain. The thin sandstones occurring in these oodbasins originated
primarily from overbank ooding and crevasse splays from dis-
tributaries in ood. The features of the more intensely bioturbated
muddy association suggest that they are inter-distributary
embayment deposits associated with free-standing brackish-
 S. Chen et al. / Marine and Petroleum Geology 57 (2014) 208e232 219

Figure 7. Muddy sediments of oodbasins and coastal embayments between the distributary channels (FA4). (A) Mudstone facies association that represents areas of brackish
embayment or ood basin between the distributary channels in Erin Bay. (B) Muddy embayment deposits with clear tidal inuence, which are capped by intertidal and supratidal
deposits. (C) Muddy oodbasin deposits with coals and minimal bioturbation. (D) Black, organic-rich mudstone with thin beds of ripple laminated and lenticular sandstones. (E)
Muddy embayment deposits with mud drapes. (F) Mudstone with standing tree trunks.

water mudstone units of embayment margin and with the more
proximal oodbasin deposits of the delta plain.
5.1.5. Tide-inuenced bayhead delta deposits (FA5)
5.1.5.1. Description. Facies Association 5 (FA5) starts with bio-
turbated organic-rich coaly shales, overlain by coarsening-upward
interbedded ripple-laminated sandstone and mudstone with low-
diversity burrows, which include Thalassinoides (Th), and cross
stratied sandstones up to a few metres thick (Fig. 8). The inter-
bedded lenticular sandstones and wavy laminated mudstones
include rhythmites. Thin layers of coal are developed between the
distributary channels occasionally. The paleocurrent directions are
towards northeast and east.
5.1.5.2. Interpretation. The basal organic-rich shale layers and the
coal between distributaries indicate a delta-plain environment,
implying that these very thin coarsening upward deltaic units
developed in a relatively proximal, likely embayment site.
Compared with FA1, the distributaries are of a smaller scale, sug-
gesting a lower energy environment and lower sediment yield
compared to the main deltaic distributary channels (Dalrymple
et al., 1992). The rhythmites and rippled aser and wavy lami-
nated association with brackish water bioturbation suggested
associated intertidal deposits. The paleocurrents indicate an ebb-
dominant direction. Facies Association 4 is interpreted as a tide-
inuenced bay-head delta.
5.2. Transgressive facies associations
The transgressive facies associations are often sharp based and
exhibit a crude upward ning of grain size, at least in their up-
permost parts, into marine or brackish-water mudstones. They
220 S. Chen et al. / Marine and Petroleum Geology 57 (2014) 208e232

Figure 8. Examples of tide-inuenced bayhead delta deposits capped by small distributary channels (FA5).

Figure 9. Inner estuary distributary channels with minimal brackish-water or tidal inuence (FA6) in Morne L'Enfer Formation.
 S. Chen et al. / Marine and Petroleum Geology 57 (2014) 208e232
reect the drowning of the delta lobes and distributary mouths as
they transform into estuary systems, as a result of relative sea-level
rise following delta abandonment and compaction subsidence or
more widespread rise of sea level.
5.2.1. Inner estuary distributary channels with minimal brackish-
water or tidal inuence (FA6)
5.2.1.1. Description. Facies Association 6 (FA6) is similar to the
regressive distributary channel lls described above, though FA6
units tend to be thicker, contain more mudstone interlayers and
become brackish or marine inuenced in their uppermost levels.
They typically consist of a sandstone unit, 4e18 m thick, that
overlies a truncation surface and contains stacked cross-stratied
sandstone sets of both trough and planar type (Fig. 9). Cross-
stratied sandstone sets vary from 5 cm up to 1.5 m in thickness,
are ne to medium-grained and commonly contain mud clasts near
the base of the unit or are soft-sediment deformed. The basal
erosion surface and sometimes erosive surfaces within the thicker
sandy units can be seen to be irregular, variably down-cutting and
usually channel-like. There are also mudstone or siltstone layers
between some of the sandstone sets and in some locations
mudstone lenses within the sandstone sets. In many units of this
type, the uppermost cross-stratied sets are intensively burrowed
by brackish or marine traces, e.g., Thalassinoides burrows. An
important feature of FA6 units is that they have a slight to clear
upward ning of grain size and an upward thinning of cross-
bedded sets. Measured paleocurrents are dominantly unidirec-
tional and suggest eastwards sediment transport.
5.2.1.2. Interpretation. The sharp and erosively based character of
FA6 sandstone units and the shape of the erosion surfaces strongly
suggest that FA6 is channelized. The cross-stratal sets that domi-
nate the channel inll indicate that the ow energy within the
channels was strong enough to generate both 3D and 2D dunes, and
set thicknesses suggest ow depths in the channels of 12e20 m
(Leclair and Bridge, 2001). Mud pebbles indicate that muddy bank
material commonly collapsed into the channels. The burrows in the
upper parts of some channel lls strongly suggest that these
channels were connected to the sea and that they were backlled
transgressively through time as relative sea-level rose (Gingras
et al., 2002; Walker and James, 1992), as is also consistent with
the presence of marine mudstones overlying some of the channels.
The above characteristics suggest that the FA6 channels were dis-
tributary channels. The lack of burrows in the basal levels of the
channels suggest an initial purely uvial setting, but the burrowing
at higher levels and the overlying marine mudstones indicate that
these were likely distributary channels in a transgressive estuary
(Bhattacharya and Walker, 1991; Dalrymple et al., 1992), whereby
backlling of the channels through time successively ‘drowned’ the
channelized system. The cross-stratied sandstones are likely to
have been river-channel bars, though marine inux at their tops
suggests that the river channels became reworked by brackish and
marine water through time.
5.2.2. Transition zone uvial-tidal distributary channels (FA7)
5.2.2.1. Description. Facies Association 7 (FA7) is erosively based
and channelized, and consists of very ne to ne-grained planar
and trough cross-stratied sandstones with frequent interbedded
aser laminae and widespread mud drapes (Fig. 10). There are also
occasional bi-directional ripple laminae, wavy laminations, lentic-
ular sand beds and marine or brackish burrows, as well as channels
lled with inclined heterolithic stratication. These channelized,
cross stratied sandstone units are 5e8 m thick. Compared with
FA6, FA7 contains a signicantly higher proportion of aser beds
and mud layers between the sandstones. There are also occasional
221
intervals with interbedded, ripple-laminated siltstones and mud-
stones with marine or brackish burrows between the sandstone
sets. Some symmetrical ripples are also found. The orientation of
paleocurrents at Cedros Bay is dominantly to the north or northeast
with some south and southwestward oriented cross strata. At Erin
Bay most paleocurrent directions are oriented eastward or north-
westward. FA7 also tends to show an upward ning of grain size.
5.2.2.2. Interpretation. The erosional surface at the base of FA7
sandbodies can sometimes be seen to rise on both sides (see red
dotted line in Fig. 10C), indicating that FA6 is channelized. The bi-
modal paleocurrents in both cross strata (dunes) and ripple
laminae are typical features of tidally inuenced channels. The
muddy IHS in some of the channels is interpreted as tidally inu-
enced point bars possibly in intertidal zones in the marginal or
inner parts of tide-dominated estuaries (see also Gingras et al.,
2002; Thomas et al., 1987). The symmetrical wavy laminated mud
beds, discontinuous mud asers, and interbedded rhythmites of
siltstone-sandstone and mudstone also strongly suggest tidal in-
uence (Reineck and Singh, 1975; Willis et al., 1999). The above
characteristics suggest that FA7 represents uvial-tidal distributary
channels in the inner to central zone of estuaries, perhaps as far
landward as the tidaleuvial transition reaches of estuaries
(Dalrymple and Choi, 2007). The dominating ow direction (uvial
plus ebb-tidal currents) in Cedros Bay is northward, while the
subordinate tidal-current directions (ood currents) are southeast
or southwest. At Erin Bay, on the other hand, the dominant pale-
ocurrents are from the west to east, while a subordinate westwards
current direction can be seen in the thin interbeds of rippled and
aser-laminated sandstone. Compared with FA6, FA7 contains a
signicantly greater proportion of tidal signals.
5.2.3. Tide-dominated channel-bar deposits (mid to outer estuary)
(FA8)
5.2.3.1. Description. Facies Association 8 (FA8) typically consists of
7e19 m thick, sharp-based units of cross-stratied, very ne to
ne-grained sandstones with abundant marine bioturbation,
common organic fragments and some soft-sediment deformation
(Fig. 11). The sharp base of the thick sandstone units is often
associated with mud clasts or mud clast conglomerates (see also
Desjardins et al., 2012). The sets of cross-stratied sandstone
sometimes alternate with cm-thick mudstone layers that are
unbioturbated and unlaminated, and such mud layers are also
present as thin drapes on some foresets. There is also an association
with rhythmic heterolithics that show thick sandier alternating
with thin muddier heterolithics. The sandstone units can some-
times be multistory (up to 6e8 m thick subunits) with a slight
ning upward of grain size highlighting the sub-units. The units are
generally bioturbated with long Ophiomorpha and Thalassinoides
burrows, and these increase in intensity in the upper half of most
sandstone bodies. The largest-scale cross strata in the sandbodies
are master surfaces quite oblique to the small scale dunes, and give
dominantly northeastward paleocurrents, though also some
northwesterly directions (Fig. 11D and F). There is also local evi-
dence of bi-directional paleocurrents. The cross stratied sand-
bodies pass upward into thin, dark-coloured, very bioturbated
interbedded mudstones and sandstones, or into thick mudstone
intervals.
5.2.3.2. Interpretation. The cross-stratied sandstone bodies are
interpreted as tidal bars because of their bioturbation and the ev-
idence of persistent strong currents (sometimes bi-directional) to
produce and move large dunes. The associated unlaminated mud
layers suggesting uid mud (Jaeger and Nittrouer, 1995; Wolanski
et al., 1995), and the bundled rhythmites (Kvale, 2006; Visser,
222 S. Chen et al. / Marine and Petroleum Geology 57 (2014) 208e232

Figure 10. (A) (B) Transition zone uvial-tidal distributary channels (FA7). (C) Channel complex with 5 m-thick lower subtidal channel (yellow) overlain by several thinner
sigmoidal (IHS) cross-stratied channel lls (red-bounded, blue HIS), probably intertidal in origin. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this gure legend, the reader is
referred to the web version of this article.)

1980) are consistent with a tidal interpretation. The sandbodies
were likely to have been mainly subtidal because of their thickness,
though the subunits suggest compound dunes that climbed on each
other to make larger bars (see also Olariu et al., 2012). The erosive
channelized surface at the base of such bars (a hallmark of tidal bars
in estuaries) would represent the channel into which the adjacent
tidal bar obliquely migrates through time (Dalrymple and Choi,
2007). The differing orientation of large-scale bar master surfaces
versus the smaller dunes indicated the lateral or oblique migration
of the bars. Mud clasts are a common feature in the base of such
tidal channels. The middle and upper parts of the tidal bar units,
characterized by increasing bioturbation including large horizontal
and vertical burrows of Thalassinoides (Th) and Ophiomorpha (Op),
suggest increasingly brackish or marine waters entering the estuary
as it backlls during transgressive conditions. The more abundant
bioturbation (compared to the delta front deposits) suggests a
decreased inuence of river input, and an increased low-energy
marine inuence through time. As the estuaries are transgressed
and become potentially deeper water, there is another and more
rapid tendency at work. The estuaries also tend to inll from their
margins, by the lateral accretion of the muddier intertidal and
supratidal facies, thus producing the upward ning to muddier
 S. Chen et al. / Marine and Petroleum Geology 57 (2014) 208e232 223

Figure 11. (A) (B) (C) Tide-dominated channel-bar deposits (Mid to outer estuary) (FA8). (D) Bi-directional cross bedding in sandstone sets with reactivation surfaces, mud pebble
laminae and some mud drapes. Cross strata within sets repeatedly steepen and then decrease in dip along the set, indicating episodic buildup of dunes and then partial lling of
troughs (Willis, 2005). (E) Bundled rhythmites at the level of 403 m in Erin Bay. (F) Lateral bar-growth master surfaces quite oblique to the small scale dunes.

facies seen in the FA8 successions. The sand-rich deposits of FA8 are
therefore likely to represent the elongate, channelized tidal bars of
the middle-outer estuary environment (see also Plink-Bjorklund
and Steel, 2006).
The paleocurrents indicate a dominant sediment transport direc-
tion (river currents plus ebb tidal currents) to the east and northeast
with subordinate transport (ood tidal currents) to the west and
southwest. Compared with the more proximal facies associations (FA3
and FA7), FA8 accumulated in the middle to distal reaches of the es-
tuaries and contains a higher proportion of marine facies.
5.2.4. Intertidal to supratidal at deposits (estuary margin) (FA9)
5.2.4.1. Description. Facies Association 9 (FA9) occurs in the muddy
levels above FA8 estuary sandbars described above. These deposits
are highly bioturbated, very thin-bedded siltstones and occasional
very ne sandstones alternating with dark mudstones, commonly
Figure 12. (A) (B) (C) Intertidal to supratidal at deposits (estuary margin) (FA9). (D) Tidal at to supratidal muds above an estuary bar or tidal channel. (E) Mud-rich upper
intertidal at deposits showing dark grey bioturbated mudstones including burrows of Teichichnus (Te) rectus with very thin lenses of siltstones and sandstones. (F) Lower intertidal
at deposits showing interbedded sandstones and wavy ripple laminated mudstones, with some indication of upward change from spring to neap tidal bundles as the sandstone
beds decrease in thickness. White arrows show double mudstone drapes (G) Mud-conglomeratic deposits at base of a tidal channel.
 S. Chen et al. / Marine and Petroleum Geology 57 (2014) 208e232
Figure 13. Modern Orinoco Delta front is dominated by waves, with lesser areas of tidal inuence (Aslan et al., 2003; Warne et al., 2002b). Red rectangle shows the outcrop area in
Fig. 1. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this gure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)
as aser, wavy and lenticular bedded facies. Bioturbation from a
restricted ichnofauna is frequent and sometimes intense. Bidirec-
tional paleocurrent directions are common. The silt-mud alterna-
tions commonly occur in alternating intervals of thicker (2e10 cm)
and thinner (5e10 mm) bedded intervals. They also tend to pass
upwards to thick, highly bioturbated organic rich mudstones and
occasional thin coals. The general muddy but upward-ning char-
acter of many of these units is characteristic (Fig. 12). There occur
also occasional small but deep (up to 5 m) channels entirely lled
by mud clast conglomerates (Fig. 12C).
5.2.4.2. Interpretation. The highly bioturbated, heterolithic lith-
ofacies and common bidirectional paleocurrents indicate a low-
energy tidal environment; the repetitions of thin siltstone beds
and mudstone layers are interpreted as tidal rhythmites within
broad, sheltered areas that were intermittently subaerially exposed
during tidal cycles (Ta et al., 2002; Zhang and Zhang, 2008). Farther
seaward, the muddy lithofacies contain intervals of mudstone-
siltstone-sandstone heterolithics that show aser and lenticular
rippled siltstones and very ne sandstones in a mud-dominant
environment strongly suggestive of asymmetric tides with
rippled layers deposited by the dominant tide (James and
Dalrymple, 2010; Nio and Yang, 1991). These heterolithic intervals
associate with organic rich, bioturbated mudstones and coal layers
that are interpreted to have been deposited in supratidal areas of
marsh grass and other vegetation (see Fielding, 1985; Guion, 1984).
225
Well-developed distinctive tidal rhythmites evidence seasonal
variations in river discharge and elevation of deposition within the
intertidal zone (Dalrymple, 2010; James and Dalrymple, 2010). The
occasional mudclast-lled channels are interpreted as deep inter-
tidal (sometimes extending down to sub-tidal) gullies. All the above
features suggest low-energy, brackish-water, low-lying areas with
fringing intertidal to supratidal ats such as surround or ank the
funnel-shaped networks of estuary systems.
5.3. Degree of tidal inuence on the Pliocene Orinoco Delta lobes at
Morne L'Enfer and a summary of tidal signals
The Modern Orinoco Delta, with coastal reaches and lobes that
are tide dominated in some few areas and wave and littoral-current
dominated in most other areas, is likely to be a reasonable analogue
for its Pliocene predecessor (Fig. 13) (Aslan et al., 2003). However, in
contrast to the modern Orinoco, the majority of the stratigraphic
sequences in the Morne L'Enfer succession, appear to be tide
dominated and wave dominated in only a few (especially in Lower
Morne L'Enfer in Cedros Bay) prograding shoreface units. It is
suggested that the delta-front tide domination in the Morne L'Enfer
may be due to the study locations lying near the head of the current
Columbus Channel, with some likelihood that there was also a
Pliocene coastal reentrant (paleo-Columbus Channel) in the same
region. This type of coastal conguration would have dampened
oceanic wave inuence and enhanced tidal currents. A 1e2 m tidal
226 S. Chen et al. / Marine and Petroleum Geology 57 (2014) 208e232

Figure 14. Short term cyclic successions of tide-dominated deposits. (A) Double mud drapes at stratigraphic level of 35 m in Cedros Bay. (B) Squishy and irregular uid mud layers
interbedded with sandstones. (C) Bundled thick and thin-bedded rhythmites at the level of 403 m in Erin Bay. (D) Cross bedded sandstones with bi-directional paleocurrents at the
level of 223 m in Erin Bay. (E) Delta-front muddy channels scoured into each other. (F) Outcrop showing repetitive mud asers at the level of 35 m in Cedros Bay.

range in this embayed reach of the paleo-Orinoco Delta (current
tidal range is 1.77 m, according to Davis and Dalrymple, 2012)
would have preserved the tidal facies in the delta-front deposits.
Note that process dominance on deltas is always designated from
the character of the delta-front and not the delta plain (Davis and
Dalrymple, 2012). The delta plain is commonly tidally inuenced
on all types of delta.
To summarize the arguments for tidal-inuence in the Morne
L'Enfer delta lobes, there are three criteria categories that were
used above to suggest signicant tidal inuence to tidal domination
on the paleo-Orinoco deposits described:
1. The strongest evidence comes from (a) successions of double
mudstone drapes (Fig. 14A) that record velocity asymmetry of
ood and ebb tides and the slack-water periods between, from
(b) delta-front successions of tidal bundles with thicker sandy
and thinner muddy strata that can be interpreted as alternating
spring and neap tide periods (Table 3), and (c) from uid mud
layers (unlaminated, unbioturbated mud >1 cm thick) (Fig. 14B)
that were generated in the bedload convergence zone of the
delta where fresh and saline waters mixed (Dyer, 1997), causing
clay occulation and the generation of soupy mud in the dis-
tributary channels and eventually out onto the delta front
(Dalrymple and Choi, 2007). Thin-laminated tidal rhythmites
are also a good tidal signal (Fig. 14C), but these generally are
more prominently developed in delta-plain deposits.
2. Additional tidal evidence comes from the occurrence of thickly
stacked, cross-stratied sandstone sets on the delta front suc-
cession (Fig. 14D), together with evidence of bi-directional
paleocurrent data in the same strata (Fig. 14D). In contrast to
the hyperpycnal ows of river-dominated deltas and the hum-
mocky/swaley strata of wave-dominated deltas and shorefaces,
 S. Chen et al. / Marine and Petroleum Geology 57 (2014) 208e232
the delta front reaches of strongly tide-inuenced deltas tend to
be dominated by dunes, and usually in thicker amounts than
would occur in upper-shoreface deposits (Steel et al., 2008). In
addition, the presence of relatively deep scours on the delta
front, lled with muddy and heterolithic deposits (Fig. 14E) is
suggestive of tidal scouring (Willis, 2005). The inclined hetero-
lithic inll of these scours further suggests that they become
channels with laterally accreting bars, even some 10s of metres
below the top of the delta front.
3. The third and weakest category of tidal evidence, comes from
the general muddiness of the succession and the abundance of
aser (Fig. 14F), lenticular and wavy laminations within these
muddy strata.
6. Discussion of transgressiveeregressive stratigraphic units
6.1. Morne L'Enfer transgressiveeregressive sequences
As noted above, the Morne L'Enfer succession was divided into
regressive intervals (mainly prodelta to delta front deposits with a
capping of delta plain or distributary channel deposits) and trans-
gressive intervals (mainly estuarine channels and bars or interdis-
tributary embayment deposits). The regressive intervals tend to be
very muddy and silty in character (average sandstone percent is
34% at Erin, and 47% at Cedros, Table 2), but are subdivided into
Table 3
Spring-neap cycle thickness (Unit: cm) plotted against cycle number. The points on the plot represent the centre of the muddy neap periods and sandy spring periods. The plot
suggests an inequality between successive fortnightly tidal cycles as well as a longer term change in the strength of both spring and neap tidal currents through a 1 year period.
A shows 3 neap-spring cycles; B shows a series of these cycles changing their thickness.
227
upward-coarsening units (parasequences) that vary from 5 m to
10 m in thickness, and likely represent delta lobes that shifted and
spread laterally as the entire delta complex gradually prograded
across the shelf. The transgressive intervals are usually more sand-
rich (average sandstone percent is 67% at Erin and 76% at Cedros,
Table 2) than the regressive ones. They consist of stacked sets of
cross strata within estuarine channels (best known from the
Stollmayers Quarries on SW Trinidad) and they usually show an
upward ning of grain size and an upward increase in bioturbation
intensity. The transgressive estuarine intervals represent time pe-
riods when either a segment of the deltaic system or the entire
system was drowned and forced to retreat landwards due to rising
relative sea level and creation of an expanded marine shelf. In Erin
Bay, the regressive intervals average about 38 m in thickness,
whereas the transgressive deposits average 8 m. In Cedros Bay, the
regressive and transgressive intervals are 32 m and 14 m thick on
average respectively.
One reason why the regressive intervals are muddier than the
transgressive ones is simply that the lower delta-front and prodelta
areas of deltaic systems are typically muddy by nature
(Bhattacharya and Walker, 1991), with mud accumulating across
most of the delta width and through more than half of the thickness
of the regressive interval. A second possible reason for the mud
abundance in the regressive intervals is the addition of mud,
especially during delta progradation, by muddy littoral currents on
228 S. Chen et al. / Marine and Petroleum Geology 57 (2014) 208e232

the inner shelf that bring suspended sediment from the Amazon
system (Aslan et al., 2003). Such muddy littoral currents interact
with waves to create the mud capes commonly occurring on the
northern segment of the Orinoco Delta today. Transgressive tide-
dominated estuaries, in contrast, are sand-rich in their axial
zones (Dalrymple et al., 1992) and backstep onto an erosive surface
(sometimes a sequence boundary), though they are muddy along
their margins (intertidal to supratidal) and also bring muddy but
relatively thin condensed section across their top during trans-
gression. The upward-ning transgressive motifs are generally far
less muddy (albeit with some exceptions) than the upward-
coarsening regressive ones (Fig. 15).
Because transgressiveeregressive stratigraphic units are boun-
ded by erosion surfaces at the regressiveetransgressive turnaround
level and contain a muddy marine ooding interval within the
transgressive-to-regressive turnaround level in the lower third of
the unit, they are believed to be the basic building blocks of the
succession and are therefore interpreted as stratigraphic se-
quences. Two examples of these basic sequences are shown in
Figure 15. Where the succession becomes dominantly delta-plain
deposits, as in the uppermost 200 m of the formation, the
erosion surfaces that bound the sequences (sequence boundaries)
are less easy to identify, though these can be interpreted where
coals or paleosols lie abruptly on marine or brackish-water de-
posits, indicating a level of marked basinward shift of facies. In Erin
Bay, some 17 sequences were picked, varying from 23 m to 77 m in
thickness and averaging 46 m thick. Each Morne L'Enfer sequence is
interpreted to represent an episode of cross-shelf transgression and
regression in response to Late Pliocene relative sea level change and
sediment ux from the Orinoco River. Consistent with this inter-
pretation of an extensive development of these stratigraphic se-
quences is the occurrence of the marine ooding interval in each.
Because we know from regional mapping that Late Pliocene Morne
L'Enfer deltaic units are present on the east coast of Trinidad and in
the subsurface beyond, out as far as the Late Pliocene shelf edge, we
can conclude that repeated transgressions and marine ooding
crossed the entire width of Trinidad (>100 km) in Late Pliocene
times. Further proof of the great spatial extent of the basic
transgressive-to-regressive sequences comes from the most recent
transgression after the last Glacial Maximum that caused the
modern Orinoco Delta to retreat some 150e200 km back across the
shelf, after it reached and draped the shelf edge some
18,000e21,000 years ago (Garciacaro, 2006; Garciacaro et al., 2011;
Michelson, 1976; Moscardelli, 2007; Sydow et al., 2003; Uroza,
2009; Van Andel, 1967; Warne et al., 2002a). The parasequences
in the Morne L'Enfer (5e10 m in thickness, Fig. 15) likely represent a
short term, autogenic responses (lateral lobe shifting) of the sys-
tem, whereas the thicker stratigraphic sequences (40e60 m thick)
sequences are likely to be allogenic responses to sea-level change
and sediment supply (Muto et al., 2007).

6.2. Interpretation of the duration and extent of the Late Pliocene

sequences in Morne L'Enfer Formation

As noted above, there is general acceptance from micro-

palaeontology that both of the clastic wedges of the Morne L'Enfer
Formation are Late Pliocene in age (Saunders and Kennedy, 1965;
Wach et al., 2003), whereas the underlying Gros Morne/Forest
wedge and part of the Cruse wedge are Early Pliocene (Saunders
and Kennedy, 1965). International chronostratigraphic chart

Figure 15. Two examples of transgressiveeregressive stratigraphic sequences from

Morne L'Enfer succession, (A) Erin Bay (135 me174 m), Upper Morne L'Enfer Forma-
tion. (B) Cedros Bay (12 me68 m), Lower Morne L'Enfer Formation.
S. Chen et al. / Marine and Petroleum Geology 57 (2014) 208e232 229

(2013) gives the 2.74 My duration of the Pliocene. The Pliocene not
only contains the two Morne L'Enfer clastic wedges, but there are
two other clastic wedges also within this 2.7 My time interval, the
Cruse and the Forest/Moruga/Gros Morne wedges. The minimum
thickness of the Morne L'Enfer Formation is 1370 m, and the min-
imum thickness of Pliocene and Pleistocene strata is 4970 m
(Table 1)(Zyndel, 1916). According to previous studies, accumula-
tion rates during the PlioceneePleistocene shelf aggradation were
0.5e1.0 km/My (Croce et al., 1999; Steel et al., 2007; Sydow et al.,
2003). This suggests a maximum time span for the combined
Lower and Upper Morne L'Enfer Formation wedges of approxi-
mately 1.5e2.0 My. Given that we have at least 17 sequences in the
entire Morne L'Enfer succession, our estimate for the duration of
the individual stratigraphic sequences is 90e120 Ky. This is
consistent with the estimate by Sydow et al. (2003) that the Plio-
cene transgressiveeregressive sequences in the Columbus Basin
east of Trinidad had a duration of ca. 50e100 Ky. The importance of
this estimate of sequence duration is that it provides an approxi-
mate time scale for the transgressiveeregressive shelf transits of
the Orinoco Delta during deposition of the Morne L'Enfer Forma-
tion. The minimum distance of these transits was from the position
of the Late Miocene shelf edge in the Columbus Basin (Dixon, 2005)
back to Cedros Bay on SW Trinidad, i.e., >100 km.

6.3. Tide- to wave-regime process change as the delta prograded

towards the shelf edge

A reconstructed planview diagram of how the Morne L'Enfer

paleo-delta system is likely to have changed, during a single
regressiveetransgressive shelf transit, is shown in Figure 16. While
the delta was far back on the inner shelf (>100 km from the coeval
shelf edge, Fig. 16A) during sea-level highstand conditions it was
prograding and aggrading within a proto-Columbus Channel
embayed area, and so was tide dominated with only some few
segments that were reworked by waves. This is the condition of the
paleo-delta system as seen at the Cedros and Erin Bay study loca-
tions. However, there are two arguments as to why the process
regime on the delta changed as it prograded eastwards and
northeastwards beyond the study locations and towards the more
storm-wave dominated open shelf. Firstly, the modern delta front is
spatially dominated by storm waves (and littoral muddy currents)
because it is an open oceanic coast, and has tide inuence only on
smaller embayed segments, as currently in the southernmost rea-
ches (Fig. 13) (Aslan et al., 2003; Warne et al., 1999, 2002a, 2002b).
Secondly all the documented Pleistocene and Pliocene shelf-edge
deltas in the oil and gas elds in the Columbus Basin east of Tri-
nidad are wave dominated (Sydow et al., 2003), as are the outer-
shelf Pliocene deltas documented in outcrops on the southeast
coast of Trinidad (Bowman, 2003).
As the paleo-delta emerged eastwards from the embayed area
the degree of storm-wave reworking would have increased on front
of the delta, as suggested in Figure 16B and the relative sea level

Figure 16. Evolution stages of the deltaic system in planview. (A) Relative sea level
highstand condition. The delta system prograded and aggraded as it transited the pre-
existing shelf; (B) The sea-level falling stage. The delta systems continued to prograde,
but now slightly down-stepping as sea level fell; (C) At the sea-level lowstand stage the
deltaic clastic wedge is likely to have reached the shelf edge; delivery of sand to
deepwater areas is possible at this stage, particularly from river-tide dominated rea-
ches of the deltaic coast (see also Carvajal and Steel, 2012 for delivery problems on
storm-wave dominated shelf edge); (D) During the rise of sea level and transgressive
stage, an estuary system developed and the shoreline back-stepped, though the
transgression may have been punctuated by short-term regressions. The RED box in
16C shows the approximate position of the current study area. Note the scale of the
diagram in 16A. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this gure legend, the
reader is referred to the web version of this article.)
230 S. Chen et al. / Marine and Petroleum Geology 57 (2014) 208e232
would have been falling. On approach to the shelf edge area, at
relative lowstand of sea level, it is suggested that the paleo-delta
would have resembled the present Orinoco Delta, with a wave-
dominated delta front (Fig. 16C). At this stage there may have
been smaller segments with tidal inuence, especially where the
distributary channels were most actively discharging sediment
during periods of river ooding. The nal stage in the evolution of a
single paleo-delta sequence was the transgressive interval, caused
by the relative rise of sea level exceeding the sediment ux to the
coastline. This retreat of the delta system, not unlike the major
retreat of the late Pleistocene Orinoco Delta after the last glacial
lowstand (Sydow et al., 2003), was considerable and typically led to
marine ooding across the earlier delta system and drowning of the
shelf for >100 km landwards. The extensive transgression is sup-
ported by the repeated presence of marine ooding intervals and
estuary development in the Morne L'Enfer succession on south-
western Trinidad. During the transgression the delta system
became drowned and transformed to an estuary system (Fig. 16D),
though there may well have been short intervals of delta regression
if the overall transgression was punctuated by stronger periods of
sediment ux to the coastline.
6.4. Partitioning of the sediment budget during the
transgressiveeregressive transits of the paleo-Orinoco Delta
One of the consequences of the repeated regressiveetrans-
gressive transits of the delta system on the shelf is that the sediment
budget delivered by the Orinoco River would have had a complex
partitioning within the shelf-margin sedimentary prism that was
built. During the initial basinward regression of the delta system, say
during sea-level highstand for any one sequence, sediment was
supplied to the aggrading delta topsets, feeding the growth of suc-
cessive deltaic lobes. At a later stage of regression, as relative sea
level fell, topset aggradation would have been more modest. More
sediment would have been bypassed onto the delta front at this stage
and the forward growth of the system would have accelerated
somewhat. To some extent this increased degree of bypass with
falling sea level would have been counteracted by the increased
degree of storm-wave reworking towards the shelf edge, and the
lateral removal of sediment by longshore drift. During transgression
there would have been further important effects of the complex
sediment routing. Both the reworking of already deposited regres-
sive sediment by the shelf-edge wave regime and yet further
reworking by tidal currents within the coastal estuaries would have
caused the transgressive-phase sands to become clean and well
Figure 17. Schematic prediction of the Morne L'Enfer deltaic succession on SW Trinidad in relation to the paleo-Orinoco shelf prism in the Columbus Basin to the east of Trinidad.
The Pliocene time-line subdivisions on the evolving shelf margin (TP30eTP100) are from Sydow et al. (2003) and from Dixon (2005). The local relationship between the Cedros and
the Erin Bay depositional systems is also shown. Dotted line on right-hand half of gure shows the long-term shelf-trajectory through time.
sorted and to be somewhat coarser grained than the regressive sands
on the delta front. This is conrmed in many of the estuarine tidal
sandstones the Morne L'Enfer Formation; the highly porous and
permeable asphalt-bearing sandstones of the upper part of the
Lower Morne L'Enfer (Osman, 2006) further testify to this.
6.5. Possible linkage between Morne L'Enfer of Erin Bay/Cedros Bay
and the Columbus Basin
A prediction of the possible larger scale continuation of the
Morne L'Enfer and underlying formations across southern Trinidad
to the east coast, and further to the deepwater continental slope in
the Columbus Basin is suggested in Figure 17, though we have not
attempted to add the growth faults which are abundant (Wood,
2000) on the outermost shelf for the various formations. According
to the seismic interpretation showing three marked and widespread
ooding intervals, the framework and architectures of four clastic
wedges have been reconstructed. As the third and fourth clastic
wedges of the succession, the Morne L'Enfer formation was place to
the top of Upper Forest Clay ooding interval (second ooding sur-
face) (Table 1). Figure 17 cross section is of course speculative and
schematic, but it broadly honours the known shelf-edge position for
the Cruse depositional system in the Columbus Channel area off
southern Trinidad (TP25 to 38 in Dixon, 2005), for the Forest/Mayaro
system just off the present southeast coast of Trinidad (TP38e50 in
Dixon, 2005) and for the Lower and Upper Morne L'Enfer system (TP
50 to TP 95 in Dixon, 2005). More onshore work is required to
improve the large-scale architecture of the Pliocene succession from
west coast to east coast of Trinidad, and more onshore-offshore well
correlation is required to extend the margin architecture to the Co-
lumbus Basin. Figure 17 provides a model of shelf to deepwater
deposition linkage as well as a sub-regional prediction of the larger
scale onshore Trinidad to offshore Columbus Basin correlation.
7. Conclusions
(1) Regressive intervals with prodelta, delta-front, distributary
channel and oodbasin/embayment deposits, as well as
transgressive intervals with uvial-tidal channels, subtidal
bars and marginal tidal-at deposits of the paleo-Orinoco
Delta system have been recognized in the ca. 850 m-thick
Morne L'Enfer Fm at Erin Bay and Cedros Bay. These intervals
combine to form some 17 transgressiveeregressive se-
quences within the proximal reaches of the Lower and Upper
Morne L'Enfer clastic wedges that prograded eastwards out
 S. Chen et al. / Marine and Petroleum Geology 57 (2014) 208e232
across Trinidad during the late Pliocene. It is possible that
some of the thick mudstones in the regressive intervals are
derived from longshore littoral currents that carried sus-
pended mud from the Amazon delta, as at the present time.
(2) The paleo-Orinoco Delta during this time on SW Trinidad
was tide dominated, except for two levels of the Lower
Morne L'Enfer in Cedros Bay that are wave dominated. The
tidal signals in the delta-front and estuarine deposits are
ubiquitous. Abundant mud drapes, bi-directional paleo-
currents as well as aser, wavy and lenticular ripple bedding
are the milder signals. Abundant uid mud layers, rhythmi-
tes, well-ordered thickly-stacked cross strata and spectacular
spring-neap bundling of strata are the stronger signals.
(3) The tide dominance in this SW Trinidad region probably
relates to the delta occupying a proto-Columbus Channel and
being partly protected from open ocean waves. It is predicted
that the same paleo-delta became more strongly wave
inuenced as it emerged from this embayment, and became
wave dominated towards the shelf edge, not unlike the
modern Orinoco
(4) The 17 stratigraphic sequences of the Late Pliocene Morne
L'Enfer Formation on SW Trinidad are estimated to have had
a frequency of 90e120 Ky and reect the same number of
transgressiveeregressive cross-shelf transits of the delta
system. By analogy, during the last glacial cycle the Orinoco
Delta is documented to have prograded irregularly across the
200 km-wide shelf for about 100 Ky and then transgressed
back to its present position in the last 20 Ky. Independent
evaluation of high-frequency sequences in the Pliocene-
Pleistocene succession of the Columbus Basin have also
suggested ca. 100 Ky for average sequence duration.
(5). In addition to the high-frequency sequences, both the Lower
and Upper Morne L'Enfer successions show a clear overall
progradational tendency, as does the Upper, in relation to the
Lower Morne L'Enfer, with its more thickly developed delta
plain deposits with coals and fallen tree trunks.
(6) Transgressive deposits are thickly developed in most se-
quences, probably due to the unusually high subsidence rates
of the Orinoco shelf margin (up to 6 mm/yr). Most of these
deposits occupy tide-dominated estuaries that were sand
rich, but with marginal muddy tidal ats. The subtidal
estuarine sandstone are clean, relatively course-grained and
well sorted compared to the underlying delta-front sand-
stones, and they host the well-known asphalt-bearing
sandstones of SW Trinidad
(7) A predictive but schematic model of the linkage between the
Morne L'Enfer Formation of SW Trinidad and its coeval
offshore succession to the east of Trinidad, onto the outer
shelf and shelf edge area of the Columbus Basin, is suggested.
Acknowledgements
We thank the RioMar for their nancial support to cover the
eld work. Thanks to the Jackson School of Geosciences at the
University of Texas at Austin for administrative support. We would
like to thank the National Natural Science Foundation of China
(Grant No. 41272122) for nancial support to cover the interna-
tional travel. We also thank Editor Dr. John Holbrook and reviewer
Dr. Andres Aslan, whose suggestions helped improve the manu-
script greatly. We thank Dr. Erik P. Kvale for valuable comments.
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