A highstand shelf-margin delta system from the Eocene of West Spitsbergen, Norway

The sand-rich, shelf-edge portion of Clinoform 17 consists of (1) a 30-35 m thick regressive deltaic unit with offshore mudstones and thin tempestite layers, wave-dominated delta-front sandstones, and tidal-fluvial-distributary channels on the delta topsets, (2) an overlying 15-23 m thick, aggrading-to-transgressive shoreface/barrier unit with associated tidal-inlet/estuarine channel-fill deposits, and (3) an uppermost, < 20 m thick regressive deltaic unit similar to (1). The slope successions of the units described in (1) and (3), beyond and below the shelf-edge, contain thin upper-slope tempestite sheet sandstones, within an otherwise shale-dominated environment. Neither sandy slope channels nor basin-floor fans are observed within the otherwise shale-prone deepwater segments of the clinoform.