Editorial Carbonate slopes and gravity deposits J.J.G. Reijmer a, ⁎, T. Mulder b , J. Borgomano c a Sedimentology and Marine Geology Group, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, VU University Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands b Université de Bordeaux, UMR 5805 EPOC, Bat B18, Allée Geoffroy St Hilaire, 33615 7 Pessac cedex, France c Total Centre Scientifique et Technique Jean Féger, 64018 Pau cedex, France abstract article info Available online 16 December 2014 Keywords: Carbonate slopes Gravity deposits Sedimentation patterns Bahamas Jurassic Cretaceous In this special volume a series of papers are presented that concentrate on sedimentation patterns observed on the slopes and within the basins surrounding shallow-water carbonate depositional systems. Four papers discuss depositional patterns on the slope to basin transect of the Cainozoic sedimentary system of the Bahamas; four other papers examine gravity deposits of Jurassic and Cretaceous carbonate depositional systems. © 2014 Published by Elsevier B.V. 1. Introduction Re-sedimented deposits on carbonate slopes and adjacent ba- sins have recently gained renewed interest because they represent a substantial part of the sediment volume deposited along carbon- ate platforms. The main reasons for this are probably the increased focus on new industrial targets, particularly for the oil and gas industry and the academic interest to integrate these deposits in global and local models of carbonate depositional systems. However, compared to their equivalents along siliciclastic margins carbonate slope deposits remain less understood and do need further research, especially because they are the product of com- plex interacting processes that control carbonate systems such as: the carbonate production depending on the carbonate factories, the geodynamic and oceanographic evolution and climatic and eustatic changes. For almost 50 years, numerous data on carbonate platform to basin sedimentation patterns were collected with a large focus on the modern and ancient Bahamian sedimentary system and various outcrop examples on the Tethyan margins. However, with the improvement of offshore geo-data acquisition and outcrop geo-modelling techniques new discoveries are still being made, especially in 3D, that call for the re-evaluation of depositional processes shaping the slopes and basinal deposits of carbonate depositional systems. In this volume a series of four papers concentrates on the offshore theme using Cainozoic examples. The volume is completed by four studies on gravity deposits of various Mesozoic depositional systems. 2. Bahamian carbonate platform systems and slopes Read (1985) extensively described various models of slope systems within ramp-type, shelf and rimmed flat-topped carbonate platform sedimentary bodies. Various facies models associated with these con- cepts were also highlighted in Read's study. Carbonate ramp systems show a maximum slope declivity of 1° by definition, but in the literature angles of up to 5° are commonly accepted as general angles of repose in carbonate ramp systems. The transition through rimmed flat-topped carbonate systems to distally steepened ramps and carbonate shelves shows many variations (Read, 1985). Rimmed flat-topped carbonate platforms, like Great Bahama Bank, show a fairly protected shallow (present-day water depth b 10 m) inner platform environment with de- positional environments dominated by muds to coarse-grained sands (Enos, 1974; Reijmer et al., 2009; Swart et al., 2009; Kaczmarek et al., 2010; Harris et al., 2014). On the Bahamas, the inner platform areas are, at many places, protected from the open ocean high-energy waves by an elevated topography (barrier) marking the transition to the slope. The barrier may consist of reefs made up of lithified frame- building organisms, sand shoals, including ooid sand bars (Harris, 1979; Rankey and Reeder, 2011) or islands. This consolidated carbonate margin can be a source of lithified blocks avalanching on the barrier-toe and further along the steepened slope (Crevello and Schlager, 1980; Mullins and Hine, 1989; see Reijmer et al., this volume). The latest studies describing the facies patterns on the rimmed flat topped carbon- ate platform of the Bahamas are given by Harris et al. (2014) for Great- Sedimentary Geology 317 (2015) 1–8 DOI of original article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sedgeo.2014.10.011. ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail address: j.j.g.reijmer@vu.nl (J.J.G. Reijmer). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sedgeo.2014.12.001 0037-0738/© 2014 Published by Elsevier B.V. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Sedimentary Geology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/sedgeo