Long-range sonar views of submarine canyons

Submarine canyons on the northern margin of the Bay of Biscay have been viewed with side-scan sonar at slant ranges carying from 1 km to 22 km. First results indicate the importance of secondary gullying, and that while published charts may show the correct number of canyons the trends are sometimes more oblique to the regional slope than shown (probably fault-controlled). In general the similarity to subaerial fluvial drainage patterns is striking.     

Progress of internal waves along submarine canyons

Alternating up- and downcanyon currents with velocities up to 50 cm/sec are found in submarine canyons. These alternations have patterns that usually can be matched between adjacent stations in the same canyon, even where separated by as much as 16 km. The matching of curves from adjacent stations is obtained by time shifts. In 20 out of 23 comparisons, the patterns were best fitted by shifting so that a later time of arrival is indicated for the upcanyon station. This indicates that internal waves (mostly tidal in period) are advancing up the submarine canyons or rarely downcanyon. Because the data come from canyons off California, the East Coast of the United States, and the Hawaiian Islands and include depths to as much as 3,500 m, it is suggested that these canyon internal waves may be worldwide. The exceptional downcanyon advances appear to be the result of unusual canyon bathymetry, perhaps combined with unusual tides.     

地质学家眼中的加拿利群岛

加拿利群岛位于大西洋摩洛哥沿岸西南方向。群岛由7个大岛和一系列小岛组成。东部组合是费尔特文图拉和兰萨洛结岛,离非洲海岸100km,西部组合耶洛和帕尔马岛则离海岸超过500km。它们之间分布着最有名的和旅行者访问最多的特内里费岛以及戈梅拉岛和格兰—加拿利亚岛。加拿利群岛     

The Canary Islands fishing policy

In the last 20 years the Canary Islands fishing fleet has gone from the privileged position of enjoying abundant catches in the old “Canary Islands-Saharan” fishing grounds to the precarious situation in which it currently finds itself. This paper aims to determine what the future holds for The Canaries fishing sector. Hence, fishing rights and policies are analysed and the special aids received from the EC are compared with those applied in other similar ultraperipheric regions. The adoption of a more interventionist role by the Canary Islands administration may solve at least part of the problem faced by this sector.     

Sediment transport in Washington and Norfolk submarine canyons

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 $\text{>40\%}$), 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.     

Geoid anomalies over the Canary Islands Group

The Canary Islands geoid anomaly shows only a short-wavelength high associated with island topography. The predicted anomaly best matches the observed geoid when we assume that the lithosphere is a very stiff plate. We find no evidence for shallow reheating or a mantle plume, since there is no evidence of a midplate swell and the corresponding elastic thickness is appropriate for the age of the seafloor on which the island group rests.     

尼日利亚西部大陆边缘海底峡谷下部结构研究

Multi-beam,sub-bottom and multichannel seismic data acquired from the western Nigerian continental margin are analysed and interpreted to examine the architectural characteristics of the lower parts of the submarine canyons on the margin.The presence of four canyons: Avon,Mahin,Benin,and Escravos,are confirmed from the multi-beam data map and identified as cutting across the shelf and slope areas,with morphological features ranging from axial channels,moderate to high sinuosity indices,scarps,terraces and nickpoints which are interpreted as resulting from erosional and depositional activities within and around the canyons.The Avon Canyon,in particular,is characterised by various branches and sub-branches with complex morphologies.The canyons are mostly U-shaped in these lower parts with occasional V-shapes down their courses.Their typical orientation is NE–SW.Sedimentary processes are proposed as being a major controlling factor in these canyons.Sediments appear to have been discharged directly into the canyons by rivers during the late Quaternary low sea level which allows river mouths to extend as far as the shelf edge.The current sediment supply is still primarily sourced from these rivers in the case of the Benin and Escravos Canyons,but indirectly in the case of the Avon and Mahin Canyons where the rivers discharge sediments into the lagoons and the lagoons bring the sediments on to the continental shelf before they are dispersed into the canyon heads.Ancient canyons that have long been buried underneath the Avon Canyon are identified in the multichannel seismic profile across the head of the Avon Canyon,while a number of normal faults around the walls of the Avon and Mahin Canyons are observed in the selected sub-bottom profiles.The occurrence of these faults,especially in the irregular portions of the canyon walls,suggests that they also have some effect on the canyon architecture.The formation of the canyons is attributed to the exposure of the upper marginal area to incisions from erosion during the sea level lowstand of the glacial period.The incisions are widened and lengthened by contouric currents,turbidity currents and slope failures resulting in the canyons.     

Variability in the Canary Islands area of filament-eddy exchanges

The physical background to a suite of biological studies carried out in the Canary Islands upwelling region is presented. The area is unique in that the coastal transition zone is spanned by an archipelago of islands that shed mesoscale eddies of diameter 50–100 km into the alongshore flow. A recurrent filament and eddy system was sampled intensively to study the changing properties of waters as they are advected towards the open ocean in the filament and to investigate the exchanges between filament and eddies. The system was more complex than previously revealed. In early August, a single filament extended offshore from near Cape Juby. Two weeks later, a second filament had developed slightly farther north and extended offshore to merge with the first at 100 km offshore. The merged filament was entrained around a recurrent, topographically trapped cyclonic eddy and interacted with transient cyclonic and anticyclonic eddies shed from the island of Gran Canaria. Between the two filaments and the coast, a pair of counter-rotating eddies re-circulated water parcels for several weeks. Surface layer drifters cycled around this near-shore re-circulation several times before following convoluted paths that demonstrate significant exchange between continental shelf and open ocean waters.     

Morphology and architecture of the typical erosion-genesis submarine canyons on the East China Sea slope

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.     

海底峡谷内浊流流动与沉积特征数值模拟研究

数值模拟已成为研究海底浊流的重要方式,开展海底浊流的流动与沉积特征的数值模拟,对深水沉积体系特征研究、海底工程设施稳定性评价以及深海油气勘探均具有重要意义。本文基于不可压缩流体Navier-Stokes方程与湍流k-ε模型构建了浊流数值计算模型,设定不同粒径、速度与悬浮颗粒物浓度等初始条件,模拟并分析了单粒径悬浮颗粒驱动的持续入流的海底浊流沿海底连续坡折带的流动过程及沉积特征。模拟结果显示,浊流在斜坡段处于加速状态,水平段流速骤减并逐渐沉积,且浊流在小坡度的加速不改变浊流的沉积趋势。浊流由于环境水体的夹带效应逐渐增厚,且浊流头部形态与流动特征与实测资料吻合良好。本文另对多频次持续入流浊流进行了模拟,并将模拟结果与实测地层沉积特征对比,结果显示,多频次持续入流的海底浊流在纵向上可能会形成多个不连续鲍玛层序的叠积。     

Dispersal of natural and anthropogenic lead through submarine canyons at the Portuguese margin

Submarine canyons represent natural conduits for preferential transport of particulate material, including anthropogenic contaminants, from coastal zones directly to the deep sea. To assess related dispersal of natural and anthropogenic lead (Pb), we analyzed Pb concentrations and stable isotope ratios in surface sediments and sediment trap particulate material from the Portuguese margin Nazaré and Setúbal/Lisbon canyons. Geochemical data are integrated with previously obtained data on near-bottom hydrodynamics and processes and pathways of sediment transport. The two canyon systems are located in close geographic proximity to each other, but represent contrasting settings in terms of sediment input and down-canyon sediment transport processes.Concentration–isotope diagrams and three-isotope plots (²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁷Pb vs. ²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁶Pb) suggest binary mixing between natural and anthropogenic end members. The inferred isotopic signature of pollutant Pb (²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁷Pb=1.143 [1.134–1.149, 95% confidence interval]) is most consistent with industrial Pb; ongoing influence from gasoline Pb additives is at most of minor importance. Two proposed natural end members most likely bracket the isotopic signature of natural Pb. Accordingly, binary mixing calculations indicate that on average 20–45% vs. 35–55% of total Pb is derived from anthropogenic sources in the Nazaré and Setúbal–Lisbon canyon systems, respectively. Enhanced anthropogenic influence in the latter area is consistent with its proximity to heavily populated and industrialized areas and with sediment input from the Tagus and Sado rivers, potential major carriers of pollutant particles. In both canyon systems, the anthropogenic component generally decreases with increasing water depth.Isotopic signatures of sediment trap particulate material are generally consistent with surface sediment data at similar water depth, but show large variability in the upper Nazaré canyon and major deviations from surface sediments in the lower canyon. In the lower canyon, Pb isotopic ratios of sediment trap particulate material mostly reflect low pelagic fluxes from the overlying water column, whereas surface sediment signatures are dominated by episodic down-canyon mass transport events. Such gravity flows appear to incorporate older (pre-industrial) material masking the isotopic signature of pollutant Pb. Large variability in the upper canyon reflects continuous sediment resuspension by bottom currents. Stronger average bottom currents are associated with higher ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁷Pb ratios of sediment trap particulate material and hence decreased influence of pollutant Pb. This may reflect preferential resuspension of natural Pb at the canyon floor and/or additional remobilization of older, less-polluted sediment in adjacent areas such as the canyon walls.     

A multidisciplinary approach to the understanding of hydromedusan populations inhabiting Mediterranean submarine canyons

Studies carried out in four submarine canyons in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea have resulted in the discovery of a new fauna composed chiefly of hydromedusae. This finding has led us to postulate the existence of a singular planktonic community in these canyons that is probably maintained by the flux and deposit of organic material from the continental shelf. The specific composition and abundance of the populations differ from canyon to canyon and seem to be related to vertical fluxes, topography, and both the hydrographic and ecological features of each canyon. This hydromedusan fauna is characterized by meroplanktonic species that appear to live out their entire life cycles inside the canyons. Those cycles seem to be linked to seasonal production processes related to factors such as canyon topography, sedimentation, and circulation of water masses within the canyons. The present study indicates that submarine canyons could be a new key habitat to an understanding of the biodiversity of coastal and shelf zones. The origin of the deep-water Mediterranean fauna is reviewed, and the hypothesis of a Tethys origin for some of the deep-water hydromedusae endemic to the Mediterranean is entertained.     

Age and composition of the Amanay Seamount, Canary Islands

A number of samples have been dredged from the upper parts of Amanay and El Banquete Seamounts, yet volcanic materials have been collected only on Amanay Seamount. Based on textural features and the presence or absence of kaersutite, two main types of olivine pyroxene basaltic rocks have been identified. The rocks are basanites with high enrichment in the most incompatible elements, similar to that displayed by Ocean Island Basalts. Samples from Amanay Seamount formed due to a low degree of melting of an enriched mantle, very similar to that which probably caused the Miocene volcanic activity of Fuerteventura. The age of Amanay volcanic rocks, 15.3 ± 0.4 and 13.1 ± 0.3 Ma, is similar to those of the older volcanic units exposed in the nearby islands (Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura and Lanzarote). This proves the formation of a separate submarine volcanic edifice coeval with the other edifices of the Eastern Canarian Volcanic Ridge. Volcanic activity on the submarine edifice is thought to have ceased at about 13 Ma, simultaneous with the adjacent main volcanic construction.     

南海陆坡海底峡谷地形复杂度分析方法

地形复杂度指数是描述地形变化程度的综合指标,本文基于南海陆坡北港隆起区的水深网格数据,采用均值变点分析法确定地形起伏度的最佳统计单元,建立计算海底地形复杂度的模型,融合研究区坡度、地形起伏度、地表切割深度和高程变异系数4种地形因子,分析研究区的地形特征和地形复杂度。结果表明,研究区地形起伏度最佳分析窗口大小为19×19网格,最佳统计窗口面积为1.768 9 km2;研究区北部及南部区域地形平坦,地形复杂程度较低,复杂度指数<2.35;中部区域存在规模不同的峡谷,地形复杂程度较高,复杂度指数平均>3.37,其中,中部偏东区域因海底峡谷最为发育,地形复杂度指数可达7.77。研究区地形复杂度的定量分析结果与海蚀作用的强弱程度呈现出较好的正相关性,这对系统开展南海海底峡谷形态特征及演化过程研究、维护海洋工程设施安全等具有重要借鉴意义。     

Two fundamentally different types of submarine canyons along the continental margin of Equatorial Guinea

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.     

亚洲大陆边缘海底峡谷的形态、分布及演化进程

基于SRTM15_Plus水深数据,利用地形表面流水分析与等高线几何分析相结合的方法对亚洲大陆边缘海底峡谷进行识别,分析峡谷的形态、分布及演化进程。共识别出海底峡谷531条,按照平面形态分为直线型、蛇曲型和树枝型三种,数量分别为239条、75条和217条。直线型峡谷主要分布在白令海盆地、千岛盆地、南海等海域;蛇曲型峡谷主要分布在孟加拉湾东部俯冲带海域;树枝型峡谷主要分布在日本海沟、伊豆小笠原海沟和南海海槽交界处,南海以及苏门答腊俯冲带海域。根据峡谷的形态与分布,结合研究区内构造背景,讨论了峡谷“直线型-蛇曲型”的形态演化进程,并依据树枝型峡谷主干谷的形态信息,推测存在“蛇曲型-树枝型”、“直线性-树枝型”的形态演化进程。     

Morphologic signatures in submarine canyons and gullies,central USA Atlantic continental margins

The accumulation of bathymetric and seismic data on many continental margins has provided valuable new insights into variability of seascape morphology. The present challenge is in finding appropriate manners to characterise that morphology so that variations between areas and between potential influences can be recorded. In this paper, we employ hypsometry (area-elevation analysis) and present parameters derived from 65 hypsometric curves which represent distinct slope-basin shapes, based on data from the central USA Atlantic continental slope. The distinction of morphologic signatures has derived from the statistical moments, such as skewness and kurtosis, in describing the hypsometric curves of the submarine basins. Moreover, basin geometry in planview and network structure, have shown to be remarkably well reflected in the shape of the hypsometric curve. Based on the combined analysis of morphology and submarine processes and scenarios, we propose that concave hypsometry is characteristic of trellis networks that probably initiated by sporadic erosion by sedimentary flows, spilling over the shelf edge. The convex hypsometry that characterises poor- to well- developed dendritic networks, heading at or below the shelf break, is attributed to retrograde erosion and sediment fallout events, respectively. These results present initial step in helping to infer submarine processes from morphology, and provide initial information about the environmental scenarios for areas where the erosional record is unknown.     

Hawaiian submarine terraces,canyons, and Quaternary history evaluated by seismic-reflection profiling

The numerous submarine and elevated terraces that fringe shorelines of the Hawaiian Islands have been used as classic examples of mid-ocean Quaternary eustatic terraces. Submarine canyons are important geomorphic features of island slopes. Later reef growth often partly masks both the terraces and canyons. Although difficult to match from one side of an island to the other, some of the terraces have been correlated to successions of higher and lower Quaternary sea levels determined elsewhere in the world. Subbottom seismic reflection profiling now permits a new view of the problem, especially as related to the most recent marine history of Oahu. The geophysical work allows a partial deciphering of former terraces, now buried by younger reefs and sand, and at the same time shows that the heads of submarine canyons do connect with subaerial valleys beneath the succession of Quaternary nearshore deposits. However, the work has disclosed so many additional buried terraces as to raise serious doubts whether it will be possible, without improved techniques of dating the deposits themselves, to unravel the history of Quaternary sea-level changes in Hawaii, much less to correlate them with events recorded elsewhere.