Contributors: Maldonado, Andres, Stanley, Daniel J.

Date: 2006-11-15

late Quaternary to the present, while upper (Holocene) sequences in the...sediment. Five major sediment types (coarse calcareous sand, sand- to ...cores on the Ionian slope east of the Strait. The direct relation between...core analysis shows that the late Quaternary sections in the different...late Quaternary to the present, while upper (Holocene) sequences in the...cores collected in shallow platform and neritic-bathyal environments; ...core analysis shows that the late Quaternary sections in the different...Late Quaternary Sedimentation and Stratigraphy in the Strait of Sicily...Quaternary events, particularly climatic changes and eustatic sea level ... The Strait of Sicily, a broad, elongate, topographically complex platform in the central Mediterranean, separates the deep Ionian Basin from the Algéro-Balearic and Tyrrhenian basins to the west. A detailed core analysis shows that the late Quaternary sections in the different sectors of the Strait are distinct from those in the deep Mediterranean basins. Strait lithofacies are characteristically uniform, highly bioturbated, and contain significant amounts of coarse calcareous sediment. Five major sediment types (coarse calcareous sand, sand- to silt-size sediment, ash, mud, and sapropel) are grouped into natural vertical successions termed sequences. The three major sequences defined in the Strait are upward-coarsening and upward-fining, uniform, and turbiditic (including both mud and sand-silt turbidites); sapropel sequences are recovered in cores on the Ionian slope east of the Strait. The direct relation between sediment type, lateral lithofacies distribution, water depth, and structural displacement is demonstrated. For example, the proportion of turbiditic mud increases while that of hemipelagic mud and bioturbated strata decreases with depth. The effects of regional Quaternary events, particularly climatic changes and eustatic sea level oscillations, are well recorded in cores collected in shallow platform and neritic-bathyal environments; here the upper sediment sequences are truncated and fining- and coarsening-upward sequences, which include coarse calcareous sand layers interbedded with mud and sandy lutite, prevail. In contrast, well stratified units comprising sand (including gravity flow units and volcanic ash) alternating with hemipelagic and turbiditic mud form the surficial deposits in the deep (>1000 m) elongate Linosa, Pantelleria, and Malta basins. Homogeneous bioturbated light olive gray to dusty yellow muddy sequences predominate in the intermediate depth neritic-bathyal environments. Stratigraphic correlation of cores based on carbon-14 analyses shows that individual units or sequences are not correlatable across the Strait or even within small basins, although it is possible to recognize a general vertical succession of depositional patterns. Sedimentation rates generally decrease with increasing depth. Rates in the deep basins have been relatively uniform from the late Quaternary to the present, while upper (Holocene) sequences in the shallow platform and neritic-bathyal environments have been truncated. Correlation of reflectors on high-resolution subbottom profiles indicates that faulting in many sectors of the Strait is of recent or subrecent origin and that the vertical displacement rate is locally in excess of the average sedimentation rate (i.e., greater than 20 cm per 1000 years). The absence of sapropel layers in the Strait basins indicates that these depressions remained ventilated during periods when anaerobic conditions prevailed in the deep basins in the eastern and central Mediterranean. An early Holocene paleooceanographic model depicting a possible reversal of currents in the Strait of Sicily region is postulated.

Contributors: Stanley, Daniel J., Swift, Donald J. P., Silverberg, Norman, James, Noel P., Sutton, Robert G.

Date: 2006-11-15

core traverses normal to the shelf edge, including one passing down the...Late Quaternary Progradation and Sand Spillover on the Outer Continental...late Quaternary sea above the margin of Sable Island Bank. As the sea...sediment types have prograded seaward from the outer shelf to the slope...late Pleistocene unit is exposed on the floor of The Gully and on its ...late Quaternary time. On the slope, the oldest facies recovered in cores...late Quaternary time. On the slope, the oldest facies recovered in cores...late glacial time, fines winnowed from fluvioglacial sediment were moved ... Three distinct sediment types have prograded seaward from the outer shelf to the slope and rise in the vicinity of Sable Island Bank southeast of Nova Scotia during late Quaternary time. On the slope, the oldest facies recovered in cores is a brown to brick red, irregularly stratified, pebbly-sandy-clayey silt. Locally it is covered by an olive gray, clayey silt with a low sand and pebble content. This more homogenous gray facies displays abundant biogenic structures. A third facies, a thin layer of very fine, gray sand and muddy sand, locally covers brown and olive gray sediments on the slope and upper rise. All three facies contain similar light, heavy, and clay mineral suites. The regional distribution of these facies has been determined by core traverses normal to the shelf edge, including one passing down the axis of The Gully (largest submarine canyon in the area), and another extending down the dissected slope off Sable Island Bank. The brown, late Pleistocene unit is exposed on the floor of The Gully and on its dissected deep-sea fan; postglacial bottom processes have kept younger sediments from accumulating in these areas. The brown beds also are exposed on the lower slope and rise off Sable Island in areas of slumping or nondeposition. The olive gray facies, late Pleistocene-Holocene in age, occurs primarily on the slope; it is thicker on flanks of slope valleys and thinner or absent on the divides. It is absent on part of the lower slope and upper rise. On the lower rise, tan mud with a coarse fraction rich in Foraminifera and shell debris may be the equivalent of the olive gray slope facies. These sediments reflect changes in the sedimentary regimen during the post-Wisconsinan transgression. The observed sequence starts with the Wisconsin low stand of the sea when glacial drift, including reddish-brown, fluvioglacial sediments, were deposited over the Nova Scotian Shelf as far as Sable Island Bank. Periglacial outwash spread across the bank and flowed seaward around it. Deposition of the slope and rise brown facies is associated with this period; textural inhomogeneity suggests downslope transport by mass movement. Pebbly lenses resulted, in part, from ice-rafting prevalent during this phase. The contact between brown and the overlying olive gray, clayey silt facies is often abrupt, commonly occurring within several centimeters; this change is correlated with the rise of the late Quaternary sea above the margin of Sable Island Bank. As the sea transgressed across Sable Island Bank in late glacial time, fines winnowed from fluvioglacial sediment were moved north of the Bank (into the Gully Trough) and seaward onto the slope. Coarse materials no longer reached the slope with former frequency, and the fines were supplied at a markedly lower rate. This decrease in sedimentation rate on the slope coincides with an increase in the organic fraction and bioturbation. Suspended fines were reduced to a gray hue as they passed through the sediment-water interface whose rate of upward growth was now an order of magnitude smaller. The Pleistocene-Holocene boundary of approximately 10,000 years B.P. occurs within the olive gray facies. As sea level attained its near-present position, and the present configuration of bottom currents was established, the lag (modified relict or palimpsest) sands on the Nova Scotian Shelf began a pattern of radial dispersal that may now be observed on Sable Island and associated banks. This bottom current activity has resulted in the development of spillover sands on the upper slope and deposition of thin discontinuous layers (including some turbidites) on the slope and rise and in The Gully Canyon.

Contributors: Kelling, Gilbert, Maldonado, Andres, Stanley, Daniel Jean

Date: 2014-09-30

cores emphasizes the effects of a variety of sedimentary processes and...core samples yields average sedimentation rates of 6 to 7 cm per thousand...core samples yields average sedimentation rates of 6 to 7 cm per thousand...Late Miocene time, the rise has acquired a sedimentologically diverse ...cored sediments fall into five main types: bioclastic (and terrigenous...Sediment Distribution on the Balearic Rise, Western Mediterranean...sediment types form three principal associations or sequences: channel...Plio-Quaternary sediments. A study by means of high-resolution reflection...core assemblages are also recognized, on the basis of predominant sediment ... The Balearic Rise is a morphologically and structurally complex feature on the southern margin of the Balearic Platform, in the western Mediterranean. Originating as a foundered block in Late Miocene time, the rise has acquired a sedimentologically diverse cover of Plio-Quaternary sediments. A study by means of high-resolution reflection profiling (3.5 kHz) and gravity/piston cores emphasizes the effects of a variety of sedimentary processes and of structural controls in the genesis of these Plio-Quaternary sequences. During this geologically recent time interval the Menorca Canyon-Valley-Fan system has exerted an important influence on the sedimentary development of this marginal feature.On the basis of the 3.5kHz profiles, eight categories of acoustic response of the seafloor and shallow subbottom sediments have been defined and can be linked to distinctive sub-environments of the rise that are characterized by specific sedimentary and structural attributes. Abrupt variations in thickness of the Plio-Quaternary sequence attest to the continuing activity of faulting, which has generated a horst-and-graben morphology across most of the rise. More continuous subsidence is evident below the Menorca Fan but even here subrecent fracturing, accompanied by salt-diapirism, has produced a physiographic and sedimentologic complexity which differs significantly from most of the currently accepted submarine fan models.The cored sediments fall into five main types: bioclastic (and terrigenous) sand, silt, turbidite mud, hemipelagic mud, and calcareous ooze. Combinations of these sediment types form three principal associations or sequences: channel sands, turbiditic sequences, and hemipelagic sequences. Four distinct core assemblages are also recognized, on the basis of predominant sediment type and sequence: channel sand assemblage, proximal turbiditic/hemipelagic assemblage, hemipelagic/turbiditic mud assemblage, and basin plain assemblage.Radiocarbon dating of core samples yields average sedimentation rates of 6 to 7 cm per thousand years, the highest rates being encountered on the Balearic Basin plain and in the main Menorca Fan channel while the lowest rates occur in the hemipelagic muds of the elevated regions of the rise. Most of the thick channel sands were deposited between 23,000 and 16,000 years BP, during the last major lowering of sea level.The Menorca Fan differs significantly in physiography and sediment distribution from most other modern submarine fans, mainly because of the reduced importance of overbank flow and channel migration, which results from the activity of shallow fractures and the blocking effects of salt-diapirs, together with the exceptionally coarse grade of material supplied to the fan.

Contributors: Stanley, Daniel J., Kelling, Gilbert, Juan-Antonio Vera, Sheng, Harrison

Date: 2006-11-15

sediment entering the basin. Significant sample-to-sample changes in ...cores shows a provenance from the Serranía de Ronda complex in the Betic...sediments are transported in a southwestward direction toward Gibraltar...sedimentation in one type of elongate enclosed basin bounded by regions...sediment dispersal. Marine transport agents have a more pronounced effect...sediment since the late Quaternary have been essentially longitudinal....sediment since the late Quaternary have been essentially longitudinal. ... The Alboran Sea, an almost totally land-enclosed, mountain-bounded (Rif, Betic ranges) basin, lies east of Gilbraltar in the westernmost Mediterranean. A petrologic study of the sand fraction in river, river mouth, and beach samples collected on the coast of the Alboran Sea defines the composition and distribution of the principal light and heavy mineral groups along its margins. The investigation details 20 mineralogical provinces on the southern Iberian and northern Moroccan margins and the Strait of Gibraltar sector and identifies the major source terrains and fluvial and marine point sources of terrigenous sediment entering the basin. Significant sample-to-sample changes in the proportion of mineralogical components are attributed to marine processes, particularly nearshore currents, which move sands laterally along the coast and, while so doing, modify the proportions of light and heavy mineral components. Lateral trends observed within Moroccan and Spanish mineralogical provinces provide evidence on the actual sense of nearshore sediment dispersal. Marine transport agents have a more pronounced effect on the light mineral fraction, while even unstable heavy mineral species appear to suffer less modification as a result of the transport in the marine environment. The paths followed by the sands between source terrain and final depositional site in deepwater environments are complex ones. A comparison of mineral assemblages in coastal sands and in sands in deep-sea cores shows a provenance from the Serranía de Ronda complex in the Betic range west of Málaga. After initial deposition on the coast, these river-borne sediments are transported in a southwestward direction toward Gibraltar and then eventually are funneled downslope in a southeastward direction toward the Western Alboran Basin through the Gibraltar Canyon and submarine valley. In geological terms, the Alboran. Sea study can serve as a model for sedimentation in one type of elongate enclosed basin bounded by regions of high relief. Although the geographic and geologic configuration of the Alboran Sea and contiguous land conforms to a multisource basin model, the transport paths of sediment since the late Quaternary have been essentially longitudinal. This longitudinal input, with filling as a result of currents primarily from the Strait of Gibraltar sector, is independent of a major delta source and is thus unlike many elongate, deep-sea basins examined in present oceans and troughs (including flysch) mapped in the ancient rock record.