QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE GEOMETRY OF SINUOUS SUBMARINE CHANNELS: A CASE FROM THE RIO MUNI BASIN OF EQUATORIAL GUINEA

As a kind of important sedimentary elements in deep-water depositional systems, submarine channels have long been a focus of research in deep-water sedimentology and stratigraphy. Based on the interpretation of high-resolution 3D seismic data from the slope area of the Rio Muni Basin in the Gulf of Guinea, West Africa, quantitative analysis method for seismic attributes and parameters are used to analyze the Quaternary continental slope gravity flow channels in both profiles and plane views. It is observed that: (1) the slope and length of a channel are the key factors that affecting the profile and plane shape of the deep water channel. As the slope becomes gentler, the channel extends longer, and the water channel develops from "deep and wide" to "deep and narrow". However, the depth of the channel adjacent to the slope break of shelf is greater than the channels on other types of slopes; (2) the sinuous channel usually begins to develop on the middle-lower part of a slope, and the heights of the inner bank and the outer bank of the channel control the length of banks, and the length of the inner bank in the channel is greater than that of the outer bank; (3) as the curvature of the channel increases, the difference in the height of channel banks is getting larger, and the average length of the bank is longer; (4) in the steep slope area, the curvature of the channel is small, and the curvature increases as the slope becomes gentler.