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1.
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   

2.
High resolution seafloor images in the Gulf of Cadiz, Iberian margin   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  
In the Gulf of Cadiz, the hydrodynamic process acting on particle transport and deposition is a strong density-driven bottom current caused by the outflow of the saline deep Mediterranean water at the Strait of Gibraltar: the Mediterranean Outflow Water (MOW). New high resolution acoustic data including EM300 multibeam echo-sounder, deep-towed acoustic system SAR and very high resolution seismic, completed by piston cores collected during the CADISAR cruise allow to improve the understanding of the hydrodynamics of the MOW in the eastern part of the Gulf of Cadiz. Interpretation of data corrects the previous model established in this area and allows, for the first time, the accurate characterization of various bedforms and erosive structures along the MOW pathway and the precise identification of numerous gravity instabilities. The interaction between the MOW, the seafloor morphology and the Coriolis force is presently the driving force of the sedimentary distribution pattern observed on the Gulf of Cadiz continental slope.  相似文献   

3.
《Marine Geodesy》2012,35(1):63-85
Abstract

We introduce an iterative inversion method to address the problems in high-order seafloor topography inversion using gravity data (gravity anomaly and vertical gravity gradient anomaly), such as the difficulty in computing the equation and the uniqueness of the calculation results. A part of the South China Sea is selected as the experimental area. Considering the coherence and admittance function of gravity topography and vertical gravity gradient topography, the inversion band of the gravity anomaly and vertical gravity gradient anomaly in the study area is 30?km–120?km. Seafloor topography models of different orders are constructed using an iterative method, and the performance of each seafloor topography model is analyzed against ETOPO1 and other seafloor topography models. The experimental results show that as the inversion order increases, the clarity and richness of seafloor topographic expression continuously improve. However, the accuracy of seafloor topography inversion does not improve significantly when the inversion order exceeds a certain value, which is related to the contribution of high-order seafloor topography to gravity information. The results show that the accuracy of BGT4 (inversion model constructed by the gravity anomaly) is slightly poorer than that of BVGGT4 (inversion model constructed by the vertical gravity gradient anomaly) in areas with complex topography, such as multi-seamounts and trenches, and the results are generally better in areas with flat seafloor topography.  相似文献   

4.
Integrating novel and published swath bathymetry (3,980 km2), as well as chirp and high-resolution 2D seismic reflection profiles (2,190 km), this study presents the mapping of 436 pockmarks at water depths varying widely between 370 and 1,020 m on either side of the Strait of Gibraltar. On the Atlantic side in the south-eastern Gulf of Cádiz near the Camarinal Sill, 198 newly discovered pockmarks occur in three well localized and separated fields: on the upper slope (n=14), in the main channel of the Mediterranean outflow water (MOW, n=160), and on the huge contourite levee of the MOW main channel (n=24) near the well-known TASYO field. These pockmarks vary in diameter from 60 to 919 m, and are sub-circular to irregularly elongated or lobate in shape. Their slope angles on average range from 3° to 25°. On the Mediterranean side of the strait on the Ceuta Drift of the western Alborán Basin, where pockmarks were already known to occur, 238 pockmarks were identified and grouped into three interconnected fields, i.e. a northern (n=34), a central (n=61) and a southern field (n=143). In the latter two fields the pockmarks are mainly sub-circular, ranging from 130 to 400 m in diameter with slope angles averaging 1.5° to 15°. In the northern sector, by contrast, they are elongated up to 1,430 m, probably reflecting MOW activity. Based on seismo-stratigraphic interpretation, it is inferred that most pockmarks formed during and shortly after the last glacial sea-level lowstand, as they are related to the final erosional discontinuity sealed by Holocene transgressive deposits. Combining these findings with other existing knowledge, it is proposed that pockmark formation on either side of the Strait of Gibraltar resulted from gas and/or sediment pore-water venting from overpressured shallow gas reservoirs entrapped in coarse-grained contourites of levee deposits and Pleistocene palaeochannel infillings. Venting was either triggered or promoted by hydraulic pumping associated with topographically forced internal waves. This mechanism is analogous to the long-known effect of tidal pumping on the dynamics of unit pockmarks observed along the Norwegian continental margin.  相似文献   

5.
Recent multibeam bathymetry and acoustic imagery data provide a new understanding of the morphology of the western part of the Gulf of Cadiz. The gulf is under the influence of a strong current, the Mediterranean Outflow Water (MOW). This current is at the origin of the construction of the giant Contourite Depositional System. Canyons and valleys with erosive flanks are observed. Only the Portimao Canyon is presently connected to the continental shelf. Channels occur on the continental shelf but are presently disconnected from the deeper network of channels and valleys. Slumps are localized in steep slope areas. They are caused by oversteepening and overloading, sometimes probably associated with earthquake activity. Slumps transform sharply into turbidity currents, depositing turbidites on the floor of deep valleys. Interaction of the MOW and gravity currents is suggested by the filling of the incisions located on the drifts below the present seafloor, the shifting of valleys and canyons in the direction of the MOW flow inducing an unusual phenomenon of capture of submarine valleys.  相似文献   

6.
The Valencia Valley is a Quaternary, 200 km long deep-sea valley in the Valencia Trough, Western Mediterranean Sea. A swathmapping survey approximately mid-way along the valley length, where the floor has an average gradient of 1:250 (0.2°), shows valley walls that rise 200 to 350 m above the valley floor, with slopes of 2 to 18°. Sediment forming the walls is undergoing retrogressive, upslope-directed slumping with increasing bedding disruption along steeper walls. The valley exhibits a winding course with steep outer and gentler inner walls around bends, and bedforms on the valley floor. Lateral migration around bends is less than 5 km and the valley is deeply entrenched into Quaternary-bedded sediments.  相似文献   

7.
A new one-minute global seafloor topography model was derived from vertical gravity gradient anomalies (VGG), altimetric gravity anomalies, and ship soundings. Ship soundings are used to constrain seafloor topography at wavelengths longer than 200 km and to calibrate the topography to VGG (or gravity) ratios at short wavelengths area by area. VGG ratios are used to predict seafloor topography for wavelength bands of 100–200 km and to suppress the effect of crust isostasy. Gravity anomalies are used to recover seafloor topography at wavelengths shorter than 100 km. The data processing procedure is described in detail in this paper. The accuracy of the model is evaluated using ship soundings and existing models, including General Bathymetric Charts of the Oceans (GEBCO), DTU10, ETOPO1, and SIO V15.1. The results show that, in the discussed regions, the accuracy of the model is better than ETOPO1, GEBCO, and DTU10. Additionally, the model is comparable with V15.1, which is generally believed to have the highest accuracy. In the north-central Pacific Ocean, the accuracy of the model increased by approximately 29.5% compared with the V15.1 model. This indicates that a more accurate seafloor topography model can be formed by combining gravity anomalies, VGG, and ship soundings.  相似文献   

8.
High-resolution seismic reflection profiles and multibeam bathymetry data collected in 2006 and 2008 around Pantelleria Island show the widespread occurrence of contourite drifts and erosional elements ~30?km from the narrowest part (~145?km) of the Sicily Channel, where water masses from the Eastern Mediterranean flow towards the Western Mediterranean. The contourite drifts are rather small (up to 10?km long and 3.3?km wide), at water depths of ~250?C750?m. Most are elongated separated drifts with quite well-developed moats and crests, aligned roughly parallel to the regional bathymetric contours. Erosional elements include abraded surfaces, moats, scours and sub-circular depressions. In addition, a wide sector of the seafloor adjacent to a seamount located SW of Pantelleria Island is characterized by numerous biogenic build-ups colonized by deep-water corals (Madrepora oculata). The spatial distribution of sediment drifts, erosional features and biogenic build-ups suggests an origin from a north-westward-flowing bottom current, in this case the outflow of Levantine Intermediate Water and transitional Eastern Mediterranean Deep Water via the Sicily Channel. These findings for the Pantelleria offshore sector demonstrate that contourite processes are able to concentrate a high variety of closely spaced depositional and erosional features even in small areas (in this case, about 2,000?km2). This Pantelleria focusing can plausibly be related to a particular configuration of the prevailing bottom-current regime in complex interaction with an uneven bathymetry shaped mainly by tectonic and volcanic activity. The distribution of bottom currents seems to be strongly influenced by morphological features ranging from major seabed obstacles, such as the Pantelleria volcanic complex and the so-called southwest seamount, to smaller-scale escarpments and banks. This is consistent with previous findings for Mediterranean and other settings characterized by neotectonics and large topographic features.  相似文献   

9.
The margin of the Gulf of Cadiz is swept by the deep current formed by the Mediterranean Outflow Water (MOW) flowing from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic. On the northern margin of the Gulf (Algarve Margin, South Portugal), the MOW intensity is low and fine-grained contourite drifts are built up with an alongslope development. From new sedimentological data, this study emphasizes the presence of two types of contourite drifts separated only by a deep submarine canyon incising the slope with a north-south orientation (Portimão Canyon). High-resolution seismic and bathymetry interpretation shows that on the eastern side of the canyon, the MOW forms a thick and large detached drift (Albufeira Drift) prograding toward both north and west, as shown in seismic profiles, with a high sedimentation rate. On this side of the canyon, the MOW intensity is high enough to erode the slope forming a moat channel (Alvarez Cabral). On the western side of Portimão Canyon, the MOW energy is lower, preventing moat channel erosion. Only flat and thin drift develops (Portimão and Lagos Drifts) with slow aggradation and a low sedimentation rate. This difference in drift development is due to the presence of the canyon which generates an important change in hydrodynamic of the MOW, confirmed by temperature-density measurements showing that MOW flows down Portimão Canyon. The canyon is responsible for the deviation of the direction of the MOW as it partly catches the deep-sea current flowing westward (i.e. capture phenomenon). It creates, thus, a decrease of the flow energy, competency and capacity between the east and west sides of the canyon. Through this phenomenon of MOW deep-sea current capture, the canyon constitutes a morphologic feature generating an important change in the contourite deposition pattern.In addition to already known climatic and oceanographic influences, our results show the role of canyons on contourite drift building. This study provides new elements on autocyclic factors influencing the contourite sedimentation, which are important to consider in future sedimentary paleo-reconstruction interpretations.  相似文献   

10.
The Gulf of Cadiz: an unstable giant contouritic levee   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  
Recent multibeam bathymetry and acoustic imagery data provide a new understanding of the sedimentary system located in the Gulf of Cadiz which is under the influence of a strong current, the Mediterranean Outflow Water (MOW). When it comes out from the Strait of Gibraltar, the MOW is either channelled along major or secondary channels, or spills over a sedimentary levee. Frequent earthquakes and the constant current shearing generate widespread sediment deformation and instability of contourite deposits. Secondary channels can form by retrogression following an initial failure. At their mouth, sediment accumulates in the form of small sandy contourite lobes. These observations suggest that the Gulf of Cadiz system shares many similarities with channel–levee complexes formed by turbidity current activity. The main difference is that, in the Gulf of Cadiz, the main process is a strongly flowing saline current which locally interacts with gravity processes.  相似文献   

11.
Gravity data collected at two different levels, sea-surface and seafloor, are compared and interpreted to characterize the effect of hydrothermal circulation on the sediment density in Middle Valley, a deeply sedimented spreading center on the Juan de Fuca Ridge. The sea-surface gravity data constrain density variations at depth beneath the seafloor, whereas sea-bottom measurements are more sensitive to shallow sources. At least two different types of hydrothermal signatures in the sediments can be distinguished from the gravity data: short-wavelength anomalies associated with sulfide deposits and broader anomalies associated with areas of lithified sediments. In Middle Valley, three distinct gravity anomalies were identified. (a) An anomaly over a sulfide mound, south of Bent Hill, shows that the sulfide body extends to depths of 120 to 180 m and has been fed by several near-surface conduits. (b) An anomaly at the base of the fault bordering the valley to the east is interpreted as a regional anomaly combined with the local effect of lithified sediments and possibly sulfide deposits. (c) An anomaly paralleling an intra-valley fault, that limits the deepest part of the graben, is interpreted as indicating lithification of the upper sediment layer. A high heat flow anomaly is located 1 to 2 km east of this fault, suggesting that sediment lithification occurred in a wide band above the fault and eastward to the current high heat flow area, due to the progressive migration of the hot fluid circulation.  相似文献   

12.
The crenulated geometry of the Southeast Indian ridge within the Australian-Antarctic discordance is formed by numerous spreading ridge segments that are offset, alternately to the north and south, by transform faults. Suggested causes for these offsets, which largely developed since ~ 20 Ma, include asymmetric seafloor spreading, ridge jumps, and propagating rifts that have transferred seafloor from one flank of the spreading ridge to the other. Each of these processes has operated at different times in different locations of the discordance; here we document an instance where a small (~ 20 km), young (< 0.2 Ma), southward ridge jump has contributed to the observed asymmetry. When aeromagnetic anomalies from the Project Investigator-1 survey are superposed on gravity anomalies computed from Geosat GM and ERM data, we find that in segment B4 of the discordance (between 125° and 126° E), the roughly east-west-trending gravity low, correlated with the axial valley, is 20–25 km south of the ridge axis position inferred from the center of magnetic anomaly 1. Elsewhere in the discordance, the inferred locations of the ridge axis from magnetics and gravity are in excellent agreement. Ship track data confirm these observations: portions of Moana Wave track crossing the ridge in B4 show that a topographic valley correlated with the gravity anomaly low lies south of the center of magnetic anomaly 1; while other ship track data that cross the spreading ridge in segments B3 and B5 demonstrate good agreement between the axial valley, the gravity anomaly low, and the central magnetic anomaly. Based on these observations, we speculate that the ridge axis in B4 has recently jumped to the south, from a ridge location closer to the center of the young normally magnetized crust, to that of the gravity anomaly low. The position of the gravity low essentially at the edge of normally magnetized crust requires a very recent (< 0.2 Ma) arrival of the ridge in this new location. Because this ridge jump is so young, it may be a promising location for future detailed studies of the dynamics, kinematics, and thermal effects of ridge jumps.The U.S. Government right to retain a non-exclusive, royalty-free license in and to any copyright is acknowledged.  相似文献   

13.
Digital outcrop models help to constrain the interactions of stratigraphic and structural heterogeneity on ancient depositional systems. This study uses a stochastic approach that incorporates stratigraphic and structural modeling to interrogate the three-dimensional morphology of deep-water channel strata outcropping on Sierra del Toro in the Magallanes Basin of Chile. This approach considers the relative contributions, and associated uncertainty, of erosional downcutting versus post-depositional structural folding and small-offset faulting on the present-day configuration of the submarine channel complexes. Paleodepositional channel-belt gradients were modeled using a combination of three-dimensional visualization, stochastic surface modeling, palinspastic restoration, and decompaction modeling that are bound with errors constrained by stratigraphic and structural uncertainty. Modeling results indicate that at least 100 m of downcutting occurs over 6 km, and the resultant thalweg gradient of 64–125 m/km (decompacted) suggests that the Cerro Toro axial channel belt is an out-of-grade depositional system. Furthermore, the presence of steeper segments (100–175 m/km decompacted) suggests the preservation of one or more knickpoints that are similar in magnitude to tectonically-induced knickpoints on the modern seafloor. The interpreted knickpoints are correlated with a decreasing channel width-depth ratio and an increase of channel depth. These results indicate that stochastic surface modeling using digital outcrop models can constrain stratigraphic interpretations and post-depositional structural heterogeneity.  相似文献   

14.
Abstract

We calibrate a technique to use repeated multibeam sidescan surveys in the deep ocean to recover seafloor displacements greater than a few meters. Displacement measurements from seafloor patches (3?km by 20?km) on the port and starboard side of the ship are used to estimate vertical and across-track displacement. We present displacement measurements from a survey of the Ayu Trough southwest of the Marianas Trench using a 12?kHz multibeam. Vertical and across-track displacement errors for the 12?kHz multibeam sonar are typically 0–2?m with RMS uncertainties of 0.25–0.67 m in the across-track and 0.37–0.75 m in the vertical as determined by 3-way closure tests. The uncertainty of the range-averaged sound velocity is a major error source. We estimate that variations in the sound velocity profile, as quantified using expendable bathythermographs (XBTs) during data collection, contribute up to 0.3?m RMS uncertainty in the across-track direction and 1.6?m RMS uncertainty in the vertical direction.  相似文献   

15.
SeaMARC II (11- to 12-kHz) side-scan sonar revealed hundreds of small strong-backscatter spots, tens to 500?m in diameter, along the lips of the Bear Island fan slide valley. New bathymetry, deep-tow side-scan, deep-tow profiles, heatflow, and gravity cores were collected for ground-truth. These mounds are probably mud diapirs (or mud-built mounds) typically 10–75?m high, formed by glacial sediment mobilized by Late Pleistocene slide events. The mounds are arranged along NNE trending lines, suggesting control by intrasedimentary faults ca. 0.5–1 km apart. Diapirs examined on the Vøring Plateau exhibit WNW structural control. No heatflow anomaly was found in four stations on or next to diapirs in either area.  相似文献   

16.
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17.
The Strait of İstanbul (SoI) (Bosphorus) is a narrow valley, which has evolved tectonically from a stream, and in which thick sediment deposits have accumulated in the course of its evolution. Detailed seismic and multi-beam bathymetric data have revealed that the upper parts of the deeper channel deposits consist of parallel strata, which have mostly been eroded subsequently to their deposition. The resulting erosion surface is represented by the present channel floor in the strait, the estimated volume of the eroded material being approximately 2×108 m3 . Erosion rate and seafloor morphology indicate that the flow direction was from the south to the north. This inner channel may have been formed by an abrupt flooding of the Black Sea by Mediterranean waters at the beginning of the latest connection between the Marmara and the Black seas. Subsequently, the Mediterranean bottom current of the modern two-way flow system, which was established at about 5–4 ka b.p., has given the latest shape to the strait floor.  相似文献   

18.
Abstract

Seafloor morphology and ferromanganese nodule occurrence were studied using a multibeam side scan sonar (SeaBeam, 2000) and a deep-sea camera system in the Korea Deep-sea Environmental Study (KODES) area, northeast equatorial Pacific. Seafloor morphology and nodule abundance are highly variable even in this small study area. The NNE-SSW oriented hills are parallel and about 100–200 m high. Valleys are very flat-floored, while hilltops are rugged with depressions of tens of meters. Cliffs to about 100 m bound the valleys and the hills. The study area can be classified into three types based both on nodule occurrence and seafloor morphology, mostly G- and B-types and some M-type. G-type is characterized by high nodule abundance, ubiquitous bioturbation, and flat seafloor morphology, while B-type is characterized by irregular-shaped nodules, variable nodule abundance, occurrence of giant nodules and sediment lumps, rugged bottom morphology with depressions, and white calcareous surface sediments. Medium nodule abundance and a generally flat seafloor characterize M-type. G-type occurs mostly in the valley regions, while B-type is on the hilltop areas. M-type is located between the hilltop and the valley. Tectonic movement of the Pacific plate resulted in the elongated abyssal hills and cliffs. The rugged morphology on hilltops resulted from erosion and redistribution of surface siliceous sediments on hilltops by bottom currents, outcropping of underlying calcareous sediments, and dissolution of the carbonate sediments by corrosive bottom water undersaturated with CaCO3. Sediment eroded from the hills, which is relatively young and organic-rich, is deposited in the valleys, and diagenetic metal supply to manganese nodules in the valley area is more active than on the hills. We suggest that tectonic movement ultimately constrains morphology, surface sediment facies, bottom currents and sediment redistribution, bioturbation, thickness of the sedimentary layer, and other conditions, which are all interrelated and control nodule occurrence. The best potential area for mining in the study area is the G-type valley zones with about 3–4 km width and NNW-SSE orientation.  相似文献   

19.
Seafloor morphology and ferromanganese nodule occurrence were studied using a multibeam side scan sonar (SeaBeam, 2000) and a deep-sea camera system in the Korea Deep-sea Environmental Study (KODES) area, northeast equatorial Pacific. Seafloor morphology and nodule abundance are highly variable even in this small study area. The NNE-SSW oriented hills are parallel and about 100-200 m high. Valleys are very flat-floored, while hilltops are rugged with depressions of tens of meters. Cliffs to about 100 m bound the valleys and the hills. The study area can be classified into three types based both on nodule occurrence and seafloor morphology, mostly G- and B-types and some M-type. G-type is characterized by high nodule abundance, ubiquitous bioturbation, and flat seafloor morphology, while B-type is characterized by irregular-shaped nodules, variable nodule abundance, occurrence of giant nodules and sediment lumps, rugged bottom morphology with depressions, and white calcareous surface sediments. Medium nodule abundance and a generally flat seafloor characterize M-type. G-type occurs mostly in the valley regions, while B-type is on the hilltop areas. M-type is located between the hilltop and the valley. Tectonic movement of the Pacific plate resulted in the elongated abyssal hills and cliffs. The rugged morphology on hilltops resulted from erosion and redistribution of surface siliceous sediments on hilltops by bottom currents, outcropping of underlying calcareous sediments, and dissolution of the carbonate sediments by corrosive bottom water undersaturated with CaCO 3 . Sediment eroded from the hills, which is relatively young and organic-rich, is deposited in the valleys, and diagenetic metal supply to manganese nodules in the valley area is more active than on the hills. We suggest that tectonic movement ultimately constrains morphology, surface sediment facies, bottom currents and sediment redistribution, bioturbation, thickness of the sedimentary layer, and other conditions, which are all interrelated and control nodule occurrence. The best potential area for mining in the study area is the G-type valley zones with about 3-4 km width and NNW-SSE orientation.  相似文献   

20.
The development of an anomalously deep rift appears to be a common characteristic of the evolution of microplates along the East Pacific Rise, including the Galapagos, Easter, and Juan Fernandez microplates. We investigate crustal rifting at Endeavor Deep on the Juan Fernandez microplate using bathymetry, gravity and side scan sonar data. An initial phase of lithospheric extension accompanied by extensive subsidence results in the formation of a very deep rift valley (up to 4 km of relief, 70 km long and 20 km wide). Morphological observations and gravity data derived from GEOSAT satellite altimetry show the subsequent initiation of crustal accretion and development of a mature spreading center. Recent models of the kinematics of microplate rotation allow the amount of opening across Endeavor Deep over the past 1 m.y. to be quantified. We develop a simple mechanical model of rifting involving block faulting and flexural response to explain the gravity signature over the rift valley. The Bouguer gravity anomaly is asymmetric with respect to the surface topography and requires that a shallow-dipping fault on the western wall of the valley dominate the extension at Endeavor Deep. Consideration of three similar microplate rift valleys leads us to suggest that asymmetric rifting is the characteristic process forming microplate deeps.  相似文献   

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