Revisiting morphological relationships of modern source-to-sink segments as a first-order approach to scale ancient sedimentary systems

Accommodation versus sediment supply in relation to relative sea level change are important controls on the position of the shoreline which vary considerably from system to system over time and space, thus influencing morphological relationships between source-to-sink segments. The continental shelf should therefore be viewed as a transient geomorphic feature rather than a segment of a source-to-sink system. Furthermore, the continental slope length should not be used to scale other segments of the source-to-sink system, which contradicts previous research. The underlying tectonic and sedimentological control on the continental shelf and slope segments, in addition to the subjective interpretation of their basinward boundaries, may render those segments unsuitable for scaling the morphology of other segments. The study highlights both the temporal variability and complexity of controls that influence the morphology and scaling relationships of internal and adjacent linked source-to-sink segments, and the need to place this in a framework of both tectonic and sedimentological history.