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1.
Sleeve-gun, 3.5-kHz, and 12-kHz profiles from the Labrador Slope provide the basis for an analysis of sedimentary facies, processes, and evolution of a continental slope adjacent to an ice margin. The upper slope is deeply incised by numerous canyons reflecting headward canyon branching. The less rugged middle-slope topography has fewer canyons and large slide and slump scars followed downslope by debris-flow deposits. Echo character of seismic profiles reflects the difference in sediment types supplied from mud-dominated sources and sand-, gravel- and till-dominated sources. On the rise, debris-flow deposits are largely confined to canyons. Intercanyon areas are dominated by spill-over turbidites alternating with hemipelagic sediments, which on some of the southern to southwestern levees occur in sediment-wave fields formerly attributed to bottom-current activity.  相似文献   

2.
Multibeam bathymetry, high (sleeve airguns) and very high resolution (parametric system-TOPAS-) seismic records were used to define the morphosedimentary features and investigate the depositional architecture of the Cantabrian continental margin. The outer shelf (down to 180–245 m water depth) displays an intensively eroded seafloor surface that truncates consolidated ancient folded and fractured deposits. Recent deposits are only locally present as lowstand shelf-margin deposits and a transparent drape with bedforms. The continental slope is affected by sedimentary processes that have combined to create the morphosedimentary features seen today. The upper (down to 2000 m water depth) and lower (down to 3700–4600 m water depth) slopes are mostly subject to different types of slope failures, such as slides, mass-transport deposits (a mix of slumping and mass-flows), and turbidity currents. The upper slope is also subject to the action of bottom currents (the Mediterranean Water — MW) that interact with the Le Danois Bank favouring the reworking of the sediment and the sculpting of a contourite system. The continental rise is a bypass region of debris flows and turbidity currents where a complex channel-lobe transition zone (CLTZ) of the Cap Ferret Fan develops.The recent architecture depositional model is complex and results from the remaining structural template and the great variability of interconnected sedimentary systems and processes. This margin can be considered as starved due to the great sediment evacuation over a relatively steep entire depositional profile. Sediment is eroded mostly from the Cantabrian and also the Pyrenees mountains (source) and transported by small stream/river mountains to the sea. It bypasses the continental shelf and when sediment arrives at the slope it is transported through a major submarine drainage system (large submarine valleys and mass-movement processes) down to the continental rise and adjacent Biscay Abyssal Plain (sink). Factors controlling this architecture are tectonism and sediment source/dispersal, which are closely interrelated, whereas sea-level changes and oceanography have played a minor role (on a long-term scale).  相似文献   

3.
A sediment study suggests that Washington and Norfolk canyons off the Mid-Atlantic States are not inactive, but have served periodically since the Late Pleistocene as conduits of sediment originating on the adjacent shelf and upper slope. Large quantities of sand occur in the canyon heads as thin beds and laminae, and on the continental slope as mixtures of sand (to >40%), silt and clay that are extensively reworked by burrowing organisms. Sandy turbidites occur in the canyons on the rise. Basinward dispersal, from the outer shelf and uppermost slope, is recorded by heavy mineral suites and bioclastic components, primarily foraminifera of shallow marine origin, in the lower slope and upper continental rise canyon cores. The down-axis movement of material, presumably episodic, in the Holocene to recent results from offshelf spillover into canyon heads, failure on the steep walls bordering canyons on the slope, and resuspension by bottom currents.  相似文献   

4.
Most submarine canyons are erosive conduits cut deeply into the world’s continental shelves through which sediment is transported from areas of high coastal sediment supply onto large submarine fans. However, many submarine canyons in areas of low sediment supply do not have associated submarine fans and show significantly different morphologies and depositional processes from those of ‘classic’ canyons. Using three-dimensional seismic reflection and core data, this study contrasts these two types of submarine canyons and proposes a bipartite classification scheme.The continental margin of Equatorial Guinea, West Africa during the late Cretaceous was dominated by a classic, erosional, sand-rich, submarine canyon system. This system was abandoned during the Paleogene, but the relict topography was re-activated in the Miocene during tectonic uplift. A subsequent decrease in sediment supply resulted in a drastic transformation in canyon morphology and activity, initiating the ‘Benito’ canyon system. This non-typical canyon system is aggradational rather than erosional, does not indent the shelf edge and has no downslope sediment apron. Smooth, draping seismic reflections indicate that hemipelagic deposition is the chief depositional process aggrading the canyons. Intra-canyon lateral accretion deposits indicate that canyon concavity is maintained by thick (>150 m), dilute, turbidity currents. There is little evidence for erosion, mass-wasting, or sand-rich deposition in the Benito canyon system. When a canyon loses flow access, usually due to piracy, it is abandoned and eventually filled. During canyon abandonment, fluid escape causes the successive formation of ‘cross-canyon ridges’ and pockmark trains along buried canyon axes.Based on comparison of canyons in the study area, we recognize two main types of submarine canyons: ‘Type I’ canyons indent the shelf edge and are linked to areas of high coarse-grained sediment supply, generating erosive canyon morphologies, sand-rich fill, and large downslope submarine fans/aprons. ‘Type II’ canyons do not indent the shelf edge and exhibit smooth, highly aggradational morphologies, mud-rich fill, and a lack of downslope fans/aprons. Type I canyons are dominated by erosive, sandy turbidity currents and mass-wasting, whereas hemipelagic deposition and dilute, sluggish turbidity currents are the main depositional processes sculpting Type II canyons. This morphology-based classification scheme can be used to help predict depositional processes, grain size distributions, and petroleum prospectivity of any submarine canyon.  相似文献   

5.
Three mooring arrays were deployed in the Palamós Canyon axis with sediment traps, current meters and turbidimeters installed near the bottom and in intermediate waters. Frequent sharp and fast turbidity peaks along with current speed increases were recorded, particularly at 1200 m depth in spring and summer. During these events, near-bottom water turbidity increased by up to more than one order of magnitude, current velocity by two to four times and horizontal sediment fluxes by one to three orders of magnitude. When these events occurred, 9–11 days integrated downward particle fluxes collected by the near-bottom sediment trap increased by two to three times. These events were identified as sediment gravity flows triggered by trawling activities along the northern canyon wall. Sediment eroded by the trawling nets at 400–750 m depth on this wall seems to be channeled through a gully and transported downslope towards the canyon axis, where the 1200 m mooring was located. The sediment gravity flows recorded at the 1200 m site were not detected at deeper instrumented sites along the canyon axis, suggesting that they affect local areas of the canyon without traveling long distances downcanyon. These observations indicate that trawling can generate frequent sediment gravity flows and increase sediment fluxes locally in submarine canyons. Furthermore, in addition to the various natural processes currently causing sediment gravity flows and other sediment transport events, human activities such as trawling must be taken into account in modern submarine canyon sediment dynamics studies.  相似文献   

6.
海底峡谷在全球陆缘广泛分布，是浅海沉积物向深海运移的主要通道，对于理解深海浊流触发机制、深海沉积物的搬运模式、深海扇的发育历史和深海油气资源勘探等均具有重要意义。本文基于高分辨率高精度的多波束测深数据，首次对南海东北部海底峡谷体系进行了研究，精细刻画了高屏海底峡谷、澎湖海底峡谷、台湾浅滩南海底峡谷和东沙海底峡谷等4条大型海底峡谷的地貌特征并分析其发育控制因素。海底坡度、构造运动、海山与海丘是影响南海东北部峡谷群走向与特征的重要因素，其中，海底坡度对于峡谷上游多分支与“V”字特征有显著的控制作用；构造运动是控制高屏海底峡谷走向的因素，澎湖海底峡谷的走向则与菲律宾海板块与欧亚板块碰撞有关，东沙海底峡谷的走向则与东沙运动相关，台湾浅滩南海底峡谷上段受NW向断裂构造的控制；海山的阻挡作用造成峡谷局部走向和特征改变。海底峡谷群输送大量陆源沉积物到深海盆并形成大面积的沉积物波，海山和沉积物波的发育导致东沙海底峡谷下段“回春”和转向。  相似文献   

7.
The Pearl River Canyon system is a typical canyon system on the northern continental slope of the South China Sea, which has significant implications for hydrocarbon exploration. Through swath bathymetry in the canyon area combined with different types of seismic data, we have studied the morphotectonics and controlling factors of the canyon by analyzing its morphology and sedimentary structure, as well as the main features of the continental slope around the canyon. Results show that the Pearl River Canyon can be separated into three segments with different orientations. The upper reach is NW-oriented with a shallowly incised course, whereas the middle and lower reaches, that are located mainly in the Baiyun Sag, have a broad U-shape and have experienced consistent deposition. Seventeen deeply-cut canyons have developed in the slope north of the Baiyun Sag, playing an important role in the sedimentary processes of the middle and lower reaches of the Pearl River Canyon. These canyons display both asymmetrical V- and U-shapes along their lengths. Numerous buried channels can be identified below the modern canyons with unidirectionally migrating stacking patterns, suggesting that the canyons have experienced a cyclic evolution with several cut and fill phases of varying magnitude. These long established canyons, rather than the upper reach of the Pearl River Canyon, are the main conduits for the transport of terrigenous materials to the lower slope and abyssal basin during lowstand stage, and have contributed to the formation of vertically stacked deep-water fans in the middle reach. Canyon morphology is interpreted as a result of erosive sediment flows. The Pearl River Canyon and the 17 canyons in the slope area north of the Baiyun Sag probably have developed since the Miocene. Cenozoic tectonics, sea level change and sediment supply jointly control the morphology and sedimentary structure. The middle and lower reaches of the Pearl River Canyon developed on the paleo-terrain of the Baiyun Sag, which has been a persistently rapid depositional environment, receiving most of the materials transported via the canyons.  相似文献   

8.
The Yithi submarine canyons,composed of four canyons less than 60 km in length,are located on the narrowest part of the East China Sea(ECS) slope.They extend from the shelf break at 160 m down to water depth of 1 500 m with an average gradient(along the canyon axis) of 3°(<1 000 m) and 0.7°(>1000 m).The sinuosity of the canyons ranges form 1.02 to 1.14 and their pathways extend radially from the shelf break to the axis of the Okinawa Trough.Structural and evolution pattern of the Yithi canyons are mainly controlled by sediment mass-movements and turbidity current and similar with that of the canyons in Ebro continental slope.The whole canyon system consists of three parts:the canyon,the channel and the fan.Slumps and slides often develop in the upper part of canyon where the water depth is less than 1000 m,and the turbidities usually developed on the fan.The scale of turbidites becomes smaller and their inner structures become more regular towards the ends of the canyons.Canyon-fans are often associated with small angle progradational reflection.Most canyon-fans and levees were transversely cut by active normal faults with NEE-SWW trending that are coupled to the modern extension of the Okinawa Trough.According to the age of formation of canyon-fans and sediments incised by canyons,we can infer that the Yithi canyons were formed since the middle the Medio-Pleistocene.  相似文献   

9.
A geomorphological and statistical analysis of slope canyons from the northern KwaZulu-Natal continental margin is documented and compared with submarine canyons from the Atlantic margin of the USA. The northern KwaZulu-Natal margin is characterized by increasing upslope relief, concave slope-gradient profiles and features related to upslope growth of the canyon forms. Discounting slope-gradient profile, this morphology is strikingly similar to canyon systems of the New Jersey slope. Several phases of canyon incision indicate that downslope erosion is also an important factor in the evolution of the northern KwaZulu-Natal canyon systems. Despite the strong similarities between the northern KwaZulu-Natal and New Jersey slope-canyon systems, key differences are evident: (1) the concavity of the northern KwaZulu-Natal slope, contrasting with the ∼linear New Jersey slope; (2) the relative isolation of the northern KwaZulu-Natal canyons, rather than the dense clustering of the New Jersey canyons; and (3) the absence of strongly shelf-breaching canyons along the northern KwaZulu-Natal margin. In comparison with the New Jersey margin, we surmise a more youthful stage of canyon evolution, a result of either the canyons themselves being younger or the formative processes being less active. Less complicated patterns of erosion resulting from reduced sediment availability have developed in northern KwaZulu-Natal. The reduction in slope concavity on the New Jersey margin may be the result of grading of the upper slope by intensive headward erosion, a process more subdued—or less evident—on the KwaZulu-Natal margin.  相似文献   

10.
The upper part of the continental slope in the northern South China Sea is prone to submarine landslide disasters,especially in submarine canyons. This work studies borehole sediments, discusses geotechnical properties of sediments, and evaluates sediment stability in the study area. The results show that sediment shear strength increases with increasing depth, with good linear correlation. Variations in shear strength of sediments with burial depth have a significantly greater rate of change in the canyon head and middle part than those in the canyon bottom. For sediments at the same burial depth, shear strength gradually increased and then decreased from the head to the bottom of the canyon, and has no obvious correlation with the slope angle of the sampling site. Under static conditions, the critical equilibrium slope angle of the sediments in the middle part of the canyon is 10° to 12°, and the critical slope angle in the head and the bottom of the canyon is 7°. The results indicate that potential landslide hazard areas are mainly distributed in distinct spots or narrow strips on the canyon walls where there are high slope angles.  相似文献   

11.
Very large subaqueous sand dunes were discovered on the upper continental slope of the northern South China Sea. The dunes were observed along a single 40 km long transect southeast of 21.93°N, 117.53°E on the upper continental slope in water depths of 160 m to 600 m. The sand dunes are composed of fine to medium sand, with amplitudes exceeding 16 m and crest-to-crest wavelengths exceeding 350 m. The dunes' apparent formation mechanism is the world's largest observed internal solitary waves which generate from tidal forcing on the Luzon Ridge on the east side of the South China Sea, propagate west across the deep basin with amplitudes regularly exceeding 100 m, and dissipate extremely large amounts of energy via turbulent interaction with the continental slope, suspending and redistributing the bottom sediment. While subaqueous dunes are found in many locations throughout the world's oceans and coastal zones, these particular dunes appear to be unique for two principal reasons: their location on the upper continental slope (away from the influence of shallow-water tidal forcing, deep basin bottom currents and topographically-amplified canyon flows), and their distinctive formation mechanism (approximately 60 episodic, extremely energetic, large amplitude events each lunar cycle).  相似文献   

12.
Several types of sediment failures in the Gulf of Cadiz were observed using multibeam bathymetry, acoustic imagery and high-resolution seismic. These instabilities are mainly sediment failures and flows. Their width and length vary from 1 to more than 10 km. The failures are mainly related to high sedimentation rates, particularly in places where the Mediterranean Outflow Water (MOW) spills over, such as channel bends and the outer side of the giant contourite levee. Steep slopes are also a trigger for failure at the continental shelf-slope transition, on valley sides, on canyon flanks, and on the sides of bathymetric highs. Other mass movements are related to fluid escape (mud volcanoes) and earthquakes. In areas where the MOW flows along the seafloor, the constant shearing and related erosion can add to the overall stresses. The frequency of failures can be estimated using the deposits resulting of their distal transformations into turbidites.  相似文献   

13.
In order to define the nature and distribution of the organic matter (OM) preserved in the modern Ogooué deep sea turbidite system (Gabon), bulk geochemical techniques (Rock-Eval pyrolysis, elemental and isotopic analyses) and palynofacies were applied to three piston cores collected in the Cape Lopez Canyon and lobe and on the continental slope, north of the canyon.The hemipelagic sedimentation in the study area is characterized by high accumulations of well-preserved OM (∼2-3 wt. TOC %). Bulk geochemical and palynofacies analysis indicate both a marine and terrestrial origin of the OM. Contribution of the marine source is higher on the slope than in the canyon and lobe.OM accumulation in turbidites is strongly controlled by the combined influence of the Cape Lopez Canyon and littoral drift. In the canyon and lobe, turbidites show generally low TOC content (0.5 wt. %) and OM is oxidized. The origin of the OM is interpreted as both marine and terrestrial, with a higher contribution of continental source versus marine source. The low TOC contents are due to the large siliciclastic fraction transported by the littoral drift and diverted in the Cape Lopez Canyon during high energy processes (e.g. storms) which tend to dilute the OM in the turbidites. Transport by long-shore currents and/or turbiditic flows leads to oxidation of the OM.On the continental slope located north of the Cape Lopez Canyon, large amounts of OM are deposited in turbidites (up to 14 wt. %). The OM is predominantly derived from terrestrial land plants and has not been subjected to intense oxidation. These deposits are characterized by high hydrocarbon potential (up to 27 kg HC/t rock), indicating a good potential as gas-prone source rock. Because Cape Lopez Canyon captures a significant part of the sediment transported by the littoral drift, the siliciclastic sedimentary flux is reduced north of the canyon; OM is thus concentrated in the turbidites. Variation in TOC content within turbidite laminae can be explained by the burst and sweep deposition process affecting the boundary layer of the turbulent flow.This study confirms that gravity flows play a preponderant role in the accumulation and preservation of OM in deep water and that deep sea turbidite systems could be regarded as an environment where organic sedimentation occurs.  相似文献   

14.
Based upon 2D seismic data, this study confirms the presence of a complex deep-water sedimentary system within the Pliocene-Quaternary strata on the northwestern lower slope of the Northwest Sub-Basin, South China Sea. It consists of submarine canyons, mass-wasting deposits, contourite channels and sheeted drifts. Alongslope aligned erosive features are observed on the eastern upper gentle slopes (<1.2° above 1,500 m), where a V-shaped downslope canyon presents an apparent ENE migration, indicating a related bottom current within the eastward South China Sea Intermediate Water Circulation. Contourite sheeted drifts are also generated on the eastern gentle slopes (~1.5° in average), below 2,100 m water depth though, referring to a wide unfocused bottom current, which might be related to the South China Sea Deep Water Circulation. Mass wasting deposits (predominantly slides and slumps) and submarine canyons developed on steeper slopes (>2°), where weaker alongslope currents are probably dominated by downslope depositional processes on these unstable slopes. The NNW–SSE oriented slope morphology changes from a three-stepped terraced outline (I–II–III) east of the investigated area, into a two-stepped terraced (I–II) outline in the middle, and into a unitary steep slope (II) in the west, which is consistent with the slope steepening towards the west. Such morphological changes may have possibly led to a westward simplification of composite deep-water sedimentary systems, from a depositional complex of contourite depositional systems, mass-wasting deposits and canyons, on the one hand, to only sliding and canyon deposits on the other hand.  相似文献   

15.
We investigated Oceanographer Canyon, which is on the southeastern margin of Georges Bank, during a series of fourteen dives in the “Alvin” and “Nekton Gamma” submersibles. We have integrated our observations with the results of previous geological and biological studies of Georges Bank and its submarine canyons. Fossiliferous sedimentary rocks collected from outcrops in Oceanographer Canyon indicate that the Cretaceous—Tertiary boundary is at 950 m below sea level at about 40°16′N where at least 300 m of Upper Cretaceous strata are exposed; Santonian beds are more than 100 m thick and are the oldest rocks collected from the canyon. Quaternary silty clay, deposited most probably during the late Wisconsin Glaciation, veneers the canyon walls in many places, and lithologically similar strata are present beneath the adjacent outer shelf and slope. Where exposed, the Quaternary clay is commonly burrowed by benthic organisms that cause extensive erosion of the canyon walls, especially in the depth zone (100–1300 m) inhabited by red crabs (Geryon) and/or jonah crabs (Cancer). Bioerosion is minimal on high, near-vertical cliffs of sedimentary rock, in areas of continual sediment movement, and where the sea floor is paved by gravel. A thin layer of rippled, unconsolidated silt and sand is commonly present on the canyon walls and in the axis; ripple orientation is most commonly transverse to the canyon axis and slip-faces point downcanyon. Shelf sediments are transported from Georges Bank over the eastern rim and into Oceanographer Canyon by the southwest drift and storm currents; tidal currents and internal waves move the sediment downcanyon along the walls and axis. Large erratic boulders and gravel pavements on the eastern rim are ice-rafted glacial debris of probable late Wisconsinan age; modern submarine currents prevent burial of the gravel deposits. The dominant canyon megafauna segregates naturally into three faunal depth zones (133–299 m; 300–1099 m; 1100–1860 m) that correlate with similar zones previously established for the continental slope epibenthos. Faunal diversity is highest on gravelly sea floors at shallow and middle depths. The benthic fauna and the fishes derive both food and shelter by burrowing into the sea floor. In contrast to the nearby outer shelf and upper slope, Oceanographer Canyon has not been extensively exploited by the fishing industry, and the canyon ecosystem probably is relatively unaltered.  相似文献   

16.
南海北部陆坡发育众多海底峡谷,其形成、发育、演化过程都存在较大差异。本文选取南海北部陆坡典型的珠江口外海底峡谷群、东沙海底峡谷、台湾浅滩南海底峡谷和澎湖海底峡谷进行研究,通过高分辨率多道地震数据和多波束测深数据,结合前人研究成果,对4条典型海底峡谷的形态特征、沉积充填特征及结构、形成发育过程及控制因素进行研究。结果表明,南海北部陆缘各个海底峡谷的形成受多个控制因素的影响,其影响程度及方式都有差别。构造活动、海平面变化及沉积物重力流与海底峡谷的演化密切相关,而陆地河流和局部构造因素也以不同方式影响着海底峡谷的发育。对于发育在主动大陆边缘的台湾岛东南侧的澎湖海底峡谷,其板块运动和岩浆活动活跃,其上发育的海底峡谷的控制因素以内营力地质作用为主。而具有被动大陆边缘属性的其他3条峡谷,由于构造运动较少或停止,其上发育的海底峡谷的控制因素以外营力地质作用为主。  相似文献   

17.
Abstract

Fine‐grained sedimentary deposits on the Kodiak continental shelf and upper slope comprise three distinct compositional types: terrigenous mud, diatomrich mud, and ash‐rich sandy mud. The sediment types can be distinguished on the basis of geotechnical properties as well as by composition. The terrigenous mud has properties largely within the normal range for fine‐grained marine sediment, except for the low compressibility of many samples. This sediment underlies the walls of canyons that incise the upper slope, and analyses of undrained static and cyclic loading indicate potential instability in the steepest areas. The diatom‐rich mud has high water content, plasticity index, and compression index but low grain specific gravity. The ash‐rich sandy mud is nonplastic and has low water content and compressibility. It has high drained and undrained static strength but is extremely weakened by cyclic loading. Extensive deposits of sedimentary bedrock and coarsegrained glacial sediment in the region apparently are relatively stable, but low sediment strength or high compressibility may be encountered at the local sites of soft sedimentary deposits.  相似文献   

18.
The continental shelf and the upper slope of the Gulf of Palermo (Southern Tyrrhenian Sea) in the depth interval ranging from 50 to 1,500 m were mapped for the first time with Multi Beam echosounder and high resolution seismic. Seven submarine canyons are confined to the upper slope or indent the shelf-edge and enter the Palermo intraslope basin at a depth of around 1,300 m. The canyons evolved through concurrent top-down turbiditic processes and bottom-up retrogressive mass failures. Most of the mass failure features of the area are related to canyon-shaping processes and only few of them are not confined to the upper slope. In general, these features probably do not represent a significant tsunami hazard along the coast. The geological element that controls the evolution of the canyons and induces sediment instability corresponds to the steep slope gradient, especially in the western sector of the Gulf, where the steepest canyons are located. The structural features mapped in the Palermo offshore contributed to the regulation of mass failure processes in the area, with direct faults and antiform structures coinciding with some of the canyon heads. Furthermore, the occurrence of pockmarks and highs that probably consist of authigenic carbonates above faulted and folded strata suggests a local relationship between structural control, fluid escape processes and mass failure. This paper presents a valuable high-resolution morphologic dataset of the Gulf of Palermo, which constitutes a reliable base for evaluating the geo-hazard potential related to slope failure in the area.  相似文献   

19.
The first continuous overview of a large segment of the continental slope and rise off the northeastern United States has been obtained using the GLORIA II long-range sidescan-sonar system. Extensive dissection by canyon and gully systems and evidence of possible large-scale sediment sliding are seen on the slope. The style and degree of incision, as well as the numbers and locations of canyons, have been found to differ significantly from previously published maps. It is suggested that the slope is a significant source of the sediment that has been deposited on the rise, and that some abrupt changes in the courses of canyons may be the result of local structural control.  相似文献   

20.
Previously undocumented, migrating submarine canyons have developed in the Pearl River Mouth Basin along the northern continental margin of the South China Sea from the middle Miocene to present. A grid of high-resolution, 2-D multi-channel seismic profiles calibrated by borehole information permits documentation of these northeastward migrating submarine canyons, as the result of the interplay of gravity flows and bottom currents. The modern canyons have lengths of 30–60 km, widths of 1–5.7 km, and relief of 50–300 m in water depths of 450–1500 m. Buried ancient submarine canyon successions were originally eroded by basal erosional discontinuities and partially filled by canyon thalweg deposits. These are overlain by lateral inclined packages and hemipelagic drape deposits. Basal erosional discontinuities and thalweg deposits are probably created principally by turbidity currents and filled with turbidites. Lateral inclined packages likely were formed by along-slope bottom currents. The evolution of these migrating submarine canyons reveals that northeastward bottom currents have consistently occurred at least from the middle Miocene to present in the study area. It might further imply that thermohaline intermediate water circulation of the South China Sea has been anti-cyclonic from the middle Miocene to present. The initiation of migrating submarine canyons possibly signals commencement of strong bottom currents after the middle Miocene in the South China Sea. The intensification of bottom currents also possibly may reflect shoaling of the major ocean seaways and increased vigor in oceanic circulation forced by global cooling after the middle Miocene.  相似文献   

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