Flow pattern within a Permian submarine slump recorded by oblique folds and deformed fossils, Ulladulla, south-eastern Australia

The flow pattern within a slump in Permian marine rocks of the southern Sydney Basin, Australia, is recorded by folds and deformed fossils. Abundant brachiopod and bryzoan fossils in the slumped rocks are relatively undeformed, but fossil crinoid stems have been deformed by relative rotation of individual ossicles. Measurement of the strain indicates that the deformation of the crinoids is consistent with flexural now folding within the slump. Previous models assume that curved slump fold axes remain parallel to the enveloping bedding surface of a slump sheet. Detailed measurements of the orientation of slump folds in this study found fold axes to be oblique to bedding, which is interpreted as a result of folds plunging downward towards the flanks of the slump or slump lobes. In the present model, fold axes are not generally parallel to the strike of the fold axial surface, and this can explain differences between the orientations of slump fold axes and axial surfaces when these are used as directional indicators of slump movement.