Amazon fluid mud impact on tide- and wave-dominated Pliocene lobes of the Orinoco Delta

The volumes of Pliocene Amazon mud transported along the innermost shelf and arriving on the Orinoco Delta were likely influenced by high-amplitude, Pliocene glacio-eustatic sea level fluctuations. During sea-level fall and lowstand periods, increased volumes of Amazon mud would have bypassed to the deep water and thus decreased mud volumes drifted and became incorporated in the Orinoco delta front. In contrast, sea-level rise and highstand periods would have promoted increased volumes of Amazon mud both on the shelf and onto the Orinoco, similar to the Holocene and modern muddy system.