At the Castle Creek study area a remarkably well exposed section in the Isaac Formation, Windermere Supergroup, was measured to document potential lateral and vertical changes in facies. Here, a consistent lateral succession of facies was observed consisting of matrix-poor sandstone to clayey sandstone to bipartite bed to sandy claystone, collectively overlain by a thin-bedded turbidite and mudstone cap. These changes are interpreted to reflect particle settling in a negligibly-sheared sand-mud suspension following detachment from the margins of an avulsion jet. Vertically, similar facies stack to form packages 2-7 beds thick implying temporary stabilization of jet-margin dynamics. At a larger scale facies stack to form three stratal assemblages. SA-1: intercalated matrix-rich and matrix-poor strata and SA-2: matrix-rich strata stack vertically and laterally but then are sharply overlain everywhere by classical turbidites of SA-3, indicating a dramatic change from deposition immediately downflow of an avulsion node to conventional levee deposition.

Although levee deposits make up a significant part of modern and ancient deep-marine slope systems, details of their internal lithological composition and stratal architecture remain poorly documented. At the Castle Creek study area, strata of the Neoproterozoic Isaac Formation (Windermere Supergroup) crop out superbly in a kilometre-scale section through a sinuous deep-water channel-levee system (ICC3). Levee deposits near the outer bend of the channel consist of sandstone-rich (sandstone-to-mudstone ratio of 68:42), medium- to thick-bedded turbidites interstratified with thinly-bedded turbidites. Structureless sandstone (Ta), planar laminated sandstone (Tb), non-climbing ripple cross-stratified sandstone (Tc) and massive and laminated siltstone (Td) are common. Thick beds generally thicken and then thin and fine laterally over about 300 m. Thin-bedded strata, in contrast, thin and fine negligibly over similar distances. In the distal part of the outer-bend levee (up to 700 m laterally away from the channel) strata consist predominantly of thin-bedded Tcd turbidites with a much lower sandstone-to-mudstone ratio (35:65). On the opposite side of the channel, inner-bend levee deposits are mudstone-rich, locally as low as 15:85, and consist mostly of thin-bedded, Tcd turbidites, although thicker-bedded, Ta-d turbidites are more common in the lower part of the section. Lateral thinning and fining of beds is more rapid than their outer-bend counterpart. Levee deposits of ICC3 comprise three stacked decametre-scale upward-thinning and -fining successions. Each is interpreted to record a depositional history consisting of lateral channel migration, levee deposition, channel filling, and distal levee deposition. During the early stage of increasing levee relief it is proposed that the termini of individual beds progressively backstep towards the channel margin resulting in an overall lateral thinning of the stratal profile. This interpretation notably contrasts the common assumption that levee morphology is the result of the vertical stacking of beds that dip. In addition to field studies, laboratory experiments were conducted to determine the depositional threshold of non-climbing ripple cross-stratification, which is common in levee strata of ICC3. It was determined that non-climbing ripples form when bed aggradation rates are less than 0.015 cm/sec, and most probably in flows made up of poorly sorted sediment.

Although levee deposits make up a significant part of modern and ancient deep-marine slope systems, details of their internal lithological composition and stratal architecture remain poorly documented. At the Castle Creek study area, strata of the Neoproterozoic Isaac Formation (Windermere Supergroup) crop out superbly in a kilometre-scale section through a sinuous deep-water channel-levee system (ICC3). Levee deposits near the outer bend of the channel consist of sandstone-rich (sandstone-to-mudstone ratio of 68:42), medium- to thick-bedded turbidites interstratified with thinly-bedded turbidites. Structureless sandstone (Ta), planar laminated sandstone (Tb), non-climbing ripple cross-stratified sandstone (Tc) and massive and laminated siltstone (Td) are common. Thick beds generally thicken and then thin and fine laterally over about 300 m. Thin-bedded strata, in contrast, thin and fine negligibly over similar distances. In the distal part of the outer-bend levee (up to 700 m laterally away from the channel) strata consist predominantly of thin-bedded Tcd turbidites with a much lower sandstone-to-mudstone ratio (35:65). On the opposite side of the channel, inner-bend levee deposits are mudstone-rich, locally as low as 15:85, and consist mostly of thin-bedded, Tcd turbidites, although thicker-bedded, Ta-d turbidites are more common in the lower part of the section. Lateral thinning and fining of beds is more rapid than their outer-bend counterpart. Levee deposits of ICC3 comprise three stacked decametre-scale upward-thinning and -fining successions. Each is interpreted to record a depositional history consisting of lateral channel migration, levee deposition, channel filling, and distal levee deposition. During the early stage of increasing levee relief it is proposed that the termini of individual beds progressively backstep towards the channel margin resulting in an overall lateral thinning of the stratal profile. This interpretation notably contrasts the common assumption that levee morphology is the result of the vertical stacking of beds that dip. In addition to field studies, laboratory experiments were conducted to determine the depositional threshold of non-climbing ripple cross-stratification, which is common in levee strata of ICC3. It was determined that non-climbing ripples form when bed aggradation rates are less than 0.015 cm/sec, and most probably in flows made up of poorly sorted sediment.

Although levee deposits make up a significant part of modern and ancient deep-marine slope systems, details of their internal lithological composition and stratal architecture remain poorly documented. At the Castle Creek study area, strata of the Neoproterozoic Isaac Formation (Windermere Supergroup) crop out superbly in a kilometre-scale section through a sinuous deep-water channel-levee system (ICC3). Levee deposits near the outer bend of the channel consist of sandstone-rich (sandstone-to-mudstone ratio of 68:42), medium- to thick-bedded turbidites interstratified with thinly-bedded turbidites. Structureless sandstone (Ta), planar laminated sandstone (Tb), non-climbing ripple cross-stratified sandstone (Tc) and massive and laminated siltstone (Td) are common. Thick beds generally thicken and then thin and fine laterally over about 300 m. Thin-bedded strata, in contrast, thin and fine negligibly over similar distances. In the distal part of the outer-bend levee (up to 700 m laterally away from the channel) strata consist predominantly of thin-bedded Tcd turbidites with a much lower sandstone-to-mudstone ratio (35:65). On the opposite side of the channel, inner-bend levee deposits are mudstone-rich, locally as low as 15:85, and consist mostly of thin-bedded, Tcd turbidites, although thicker-bedded, Ta-d turbidites are more common in the lower part of the section. Lateral thinning and fining of beds is more rapid than their outer-bend counterpart. Levee deposits of ICC3 comprise three stacked decametre-scale upward-thinning and -fining successions. Each is interpreted to record a depositional history consisting of lateral channel migration, levee deposition, channel filling, and distal levee deposition. During the early stage of increasing levee relief it is proposed that the termini of individual beds progressively backstep towards the channel margin resulting in an overall lateral thinning of the stratal profile. This interpretation notably contrasts the common assumption that levee morphology is the result of the vertical stacking of beds that dip. In addition to field studies, laboratory experiments were conducted to determine the depositional threshold of non-climbing ripple cross-stratification, which is common in levee strata of ICC3. It was determined that non-climbing ripples form when bed aggradation rates are less than 0.015 cm/sec, and most probably in flows made up of poorly sorted sediment.

Although levee deposits make up a significant part of modern and ancient deep-marine slope systems, details of their internal lithological composition and stratal architecture remain poorly documented. At the Castle Creek study area, strata of the Neoproterozoic Isaac Formation (Windermere Supergroup) crop out superbly in a kilometre-scale section through a sinuous deep-water channel-levee system (ICC3). Levee deposits near the outer bend of the channel consist of sandstone-rich (sandstone-to-mudstone ratio of 68:42), medium- to thick-bedded turbidites interstratified with thinly-bedded turbidites. Structureless sandstone (Ta), planar laminated sandstone (Tb), non-climbing ripple cross-stratified sandstone (Tc) and massive and laminated siltstone (Td) are common. Thick beds generally thicken and then thin and fine laterally over about 300 m. Thin-bedded strata, in contrast, thin and fine negligibly over similar distances. In the distal part of the outer-bend levee (up to 700 m laterally away from the channel) strata consist predominantly of thin-bedded Tcd turbidites with a much lower sandstone-to-mudstone ratio (35:65). On the opposite side of the channel, inner-bend levee deposits are mudstone-rich, locally as low as 15:85, and consist mostly of thin-bedded, Tcd turbidites, although thicker-bedded, Ta-d turbidites are more common in the lower part of the section. Lateral thinning and fining of beds is more rapid than their outer-bend counterpart. Levee deposits of ICC3 comprise three stacked decametre-scale upward-thinning and -fining successions. Each is interpreted to record a depositional history consisting of lateral channel migration, levee deposition, channel filling, and distal levee deposition. During the early stage of increasing levee relief it is proposed that the termini of individual beds progressively backstep towards the channel margin resulting in an overall lateral thinning of the stratal profile. This interpretation notably contrasts the common assumption that levee morphology is the result of the vertical stacking of beds that dip. In addition to field studies, laboratory experiments were conducted to determine the depositional threshold of non-climbing ripple cross-stratification, which is common in levee strata of ICC3. It was determined that non-climbing ripples form when bed aggradation rates are less than 0.015 cm/sec, and most probably in flows made up of poorly sorted sediment.