J. Baraza

Influence of the Atlantic inflow and Mediterranean outflow currents on Late Quaternary sedimentary facies of the Gulf of Cadiz continental margin

Abstract The late Quaternary pattern of sedimentary facies on the Spanish Gulf of Cadiz continental shelf results from an interaction between a number of controlling factors that are dominated by the Atlantic inflow currents flowing southeastward across the Cadiz shelf toward the Strait of Gibraltar. An inner shelf shoreface sand facies formed by shoaling waves is modified by the inflow currents to form a belt of sand dunes at 10–20 m that extends deeper and obliquely down paleo-valleys as a result of southward down-valley flow. A mid-shelf Holocene mud facies progrades offshore from river mouth sources, but Atlantic inflow currents cause extensive progradation along shelf toward the southeast. Increased inflow current speeds near the Strait of Gibraltar and the strong Mediterranean outflow currents there result in lack of mud deposition and development of a reworked transgressive sand dune facies across the entire southernmost shelf. At the outer shelf edge and underlying the mid-shelf mud and inner shelf sand facies is a late Pleistocene to Holocene transgressive sand sheet formed by the eustatic shoreline advance. The late Quaternary pattern of contourite deposits on the Spanish Gulf of Cadiz continental slope results from an interaction between linear diapiric ridges that are oblique to slope contours and the Mediterranean outflow current flowing northwestward parallel to the slope contours and down valleys between the ridges. Coincident with the northwestward decrease in outflow current speeds from the Strait there is the following northwestward gradation of contourite sediment facies: (1) upper slope sand to silt bed facies, (2) sand dune facies on the upstream mid-slope terrace, (3) large mud wave facies on the lower slope, (4) sediment drift facies banked against the diapiric ridges, and (5) valley facies between the ridges. The southeastern sediment drift facies closest to Gibraltar contains medium–fine sand beds interbedded with mud. The adjacent valley floor facies is composed of gravelly, shelly coarse to medium sand lags and large sand dunes on the valley margins. By comparison, the northwestern drift contains coarse silt interbeds and the adjacent valley floors exhibit small to medium sand dunes of fine sand. Because of the complex pattern of contour-parallel and valley-perpendicular flow paths of the Mediterranean outflow current, the larger-scale bedforms and coarser-grained sediment of valley facies trend perpendicular to the smaller-scale bedforms and finer-grained contourite deposits of adjacent sediment drift facies. Radiocarbon ages verify that the inner shelf shoreface sand facies (sedimentation rate 7.1 cm/kyr), mid-shelf mud facies (maximum rate 234 cm/kyr) and surface sandy contourite layer of 0.2–1.2 m thickness on the Cadiz slope (1–12 cm/kyr) have deposited during Holocene time when high sea level results in maximum water depth over the Gibraltar sill and full development of the Atlantic inflow and Mediterranean outflow currents. The transgressive sand sheet of the shelf, and the mud layer underlying the surface contourite sand sheet of the slope, correlate, respectively, with the late Pleistocene sea level lowstand and apparent weak Mediterranean outflow current.

The most recent megalandslides of the Canary Islands: El Golfo debris avalanche and Canary debris flow, west El Hierro Island

Two major landsliding events have been identified west of the island of El Hierro: The El Golfo debris avalanche and the Canary debris flow. These landslides were identified from swath bathymetry, seismic reflection, and TOpographic PArametric Sonar (TOPAS) data obtained in December 1994 during a cruise on board the Spanish R/V Hesperides. The El Golfo debris avalanche originated subaerially on the western flank of the island of El Hierro and has an associated 150 km3 rock debris deposit on the base of slope. The Canary debris flow, which dislocated some 400 km3 of sediment, resulted from a different failure originated between 3200 and 3700 m depth at the base of slope of the island of El Hierro. According to the studied data set, its source area seems to have been covered by the El Golfo debris avalanche deposit. The triggering of the El Golfo debris avalanche (between 136 and 21 ka) is related to tensional stresses on the rift zones of the island. These rift zones control the emplacement and morphology of the landslide scar. In the Canary Islands, a relation between landslide ages and island ages can be established, indicating a link between subsidence history, age of shield phases, and giant landslides.

Mediterranean undercurrent sandy contourites, Gulf of Cadiz, Spain

Abstract The Pliocene—Quaternary pattern of contourite deposits on the eastern Gulf of Cadiz continental slope results from an interaction between linear diapiric ridges that are perpendicular to slope contours and the Mediterranean undercurrent that has flowed northwestward parallel to the slope contours and down valleys between the ridges since the late Miocene opening of the Strait of Gibraltar. Coincident with the northwestward decrease in undercurrent speeds from the Strait there is the following northwestward gradation of sediment facies associations: (1) upper slope facies, (2) sand dune facies on the upstream mid-slope terrace, (3) large mud wave facies on the lower slope, (4) sediment drift facies banked against the diapiric ridges, and (5) valley facies between the ridges. The southeastern sediment drift facies closest to Gibraltar contains medium-fine sand beds interbedded with mud. The adjacent valley floor facies is composed of gravelly, shelly coarse to medium sand lags and large sand dunes on the valley margins. Compared to this, the northwestern drift contains coarse silt interbeds and the adjacent valley floors exhibit small to medium sand dunes of fine sand. Further northwestward, sediment drift grades to biogenous silt near the Faro Drift at the Portuguese border. Because of the complex pattern of contour-parallel and valley-perpendicular flow paths of the Mediterranean undercurrent, the larger-scale bedforms and coarser-grained sediment of valley facies trend perpendicular to the smaller-scale bedforms and finer-grained contourite deposits of adjacent sediment drift facies. The bottom-current deposits of valleys and the contourites of the Cadiz slope intervalley areas are distinct from turbidite systems. The valley sequences are not aggradational like turbidite channel—levee complexes, but typically exhibit bedrock walls against ridges, extensive scour and fill into adjacent contourites, transverse bedform fields and bioclastic lag deposits. Both valley and contourite deposits exhibit reverse graded bedding and sharp upper bed contacts in coarse-grained layers, low deposition rates, and a regional pattern of bedform zones, textural variation, and compositional gradation. The surface sandy contourite layer of 0.2–1.2 m thickness that covers the Gulf of Cadiz slope has formed during the present Holocene high sea level because high sea level results in maximum water depth over the Gibraltar sill and full development of the Mediterranean undercurrent. The late Pleistocene age of the mud underlying the surface sand sheet correlates with the age of the last sea-level lowstand and apparent weak Mediterranean undercurrent development. Thus, the cyclic deposition of sand or mud layers and contourite or drape sequences appear to be related to late Pliocene and Quaternary sea-level changes and Mediterranean water circulation patterns. Since its Pliocene origin, the contourite sequence has had low deposition rates of

Seafloor evidence of a subglacial sedimentary system off the northern Antarctic Peninsula

Swath-bathymetry data and high-resolution seismic reflection profiles allow us to portray a subglacial sedimentary system off the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, in the Central Bransfield Basin, during the Last Glacial Maximum with unprecedented detail. Postglacial reworking and sedimentation are weak enough for the subglacial morphology of the Last Glacial Maximum to be preserved on the present seafloor. The studied sedimentary system extends 250 km, from ∼1000 m above sea level to ∼2000 m water depth. The data set supports a model for subglacial sedimentary systems that consists of: (1) an upper ice catchment or erosional zone on the innermost continental shelf, extending onshore; (2) a transitional erosional-depositional zone on the inner shelf with drumlinized seafloor; (3) a depositional outer shelf zone with mega-scale bundle glacial lineations; and (4) a debris apron on the continental slope and base of slope formed under floating ice shelves with debris delivery linked to grounding lines along the shelf break.

POTENTIAL GEOLOGIC HAZARDS ON THE EASTERN GULF OF CADIZ SLOPE (SW SPAIN)

Abstract Geologic hazards resulting from sedimentary, oceanographic and tectonic processes affect more than one third of the offshore Gulf of Cadiz, and are identified by interpreting high-resolution seismic profiles and sonographs. Hazards of sedimentary origin include the occurrence of slope instability processes in the form of single or multiple slumps occupying up to 147 km 2 mainly concentrated in the steeper, upper slope area. Besides the presence of steep slopes, the triggering of submarine landslides is probably due to seismic activity and favoured by the presence of biogenic gas within the sediment. Gassy sediments and associated seafloor pockmarks cover more than 240 km 2 in the upper slope. Hazards from oceanographic processes result from the complex system of bottom currents created by the interaction of the strong Mediterranean Undercurrent and the rough seafloor physiography. The local intensification of bottom currents is responsible for erosive processes along more than 1900 km 2 in the upper slope and in the canyons eroded in the central area of the slope, undermining slopes and causing instability. The strong bottom currents also create a mobile seafloor containing bedforms in an area of the Gulf that extends more than 2500 km 2 , mostly in the continental slope terraces. Hazards of tectonic origin are important because the Gulf of Cadiz straddles two major tectonic regions, the Azores–Gibraltar fracture zone and the Betic range, which results in diapir uplift over an area of more than 1000 km 2 , and in active seismicity with earthquakes of moderate magnitude. Also, tsunamis produced by strong earthquakes occur in the Gulf of Cadiz, and are related to the tectonic activity along the Azores–Gibraltar fracture zone.

The Gebra Slide: a submarine slide on the Trinity Peninsula Margin, Antarctica

A large submarine slide – the Gebra Slide – has been discovered on the continental margin of Trinity Peninsula, Central Bransfield Basin, Antarctic Peninsula. The slide scar is clearly expressed in the bathymetry and is cut into the toe of the glacial-period slope-prograding strata on the lower continental slope. Seismic data give evidence of an associated debris-flow deposit embedded in the interglacial-period basin-fill strata of the basin floor. The total volume of sediment involved in the mass movement is about 20 km3. Indirect dating of the mass-wasting event, based on seismic–stratigraphic relationships of the slide scar and associated debris-flow deposit with underlying glacial-period slope units and the overlying interglacial-period basin-floor units, suggests that it took place at the transition between the last glacial period and the present-day interglacial. The initiation of the Gebra Slide is attributed to a combination of several factors, such as high sedimentation rates during the last glacial period, the unloading effect of a retreating ice sheet during deglaciation, pre-existing tectonic fabric and high seismicity in the area. This is the first recent submarine slide of this size identified on the glacial, continental margins of Antarctica. In morphology and general characteristics it is quite similar to the well-known large-scale submarine slides from the northern hemisphere glacial margins, although it is smaller. Its most striking characteristic is its lower-slope position (at 1500–2000 m of water depth), which remains up to now difficult to explain.

Late glacial to recent paleoenvironmental changes in the Gulf of Cadiz and formation of sandy contourite layers

Planktonic foraminifera and coccoliths were analyzed from six gravity cores obtained on a deep terrace located on the upper continental slope of the Gulf of Cadiz, between 400 and 700 m water depth. The lithology of these cores consists mainly of muds with some interbedded sandy or silty foraminifer-rich layers that have been reported as contourites originated by the action of the Mediterranean Outflowing Waters (MOW) sweeping the sea-bottom today. After the Last Glacial, characterized by muddy sedimentation, sandy contourites start to deposit in the Gulf of Cadiz during the Bolling–Allerod (14–11 14C kyr BP) climatic optimum. This trend was broken during the Younger Dryas (11–10 14C kyr BP) and started again after the end of the Younger Dryas. This pattern is recorded in most of the cores by a single sandy contourite layer formed during the first deglaciation stage (Bolling–Allerod time) and a sandy contourite interval that initiates immediately after the end of the Younger Dryas, during the second stage of the deglaciation and continues during the Holocene. The stratigraphy and climatic reconstruction was based on the evolution of the calcareous plankton assemblages during the last climatic transition, from the Last Glacial to the recent Holocene. The sharp reduction of sinistral N. pachyderma along with the reduction of G. quinqueloba mark the base of Bolling–Allerod time. This is also related to a prominent peak of the subtropical species (G. sacculifer and G. ruber). The Younger Dryas is identified by a reduction in abundance of the subtropical species, that again increase just after this period. The second step of deglaciation is marked by a sharp decrease in the relative abundance of dextrally coiled N. pachyderma. In previous papers the sequence of sandy contourites has been related to sea level rise, greater Gibraltar sill depth and enhanced energy of the MOW. In this work, we suggest that the individual sand layer episodes are condensed layers originating during times of rapid warming and relative sea-level rise within the last deglaciation. During these times the coastline migrated more rapidly landward and the terrigenous input decreased as it began to be trapped on land and on the shelf, resulting in a major drop in sedimentation rate on the upper continental slope. In times of low sedimentation rate the particles would have a longer residence time within the upper mixed layer of the near surface sediment and therefore the energy of currents would act longer, producing a more efficient winnowing of the sediment. At the same time more generations of benthic organisms would rework the mixed layer, favoring this winnowing.

Sedimentary evolution of the northwestern Alboran Sea during the Quaternary

Five depositional bodies occur within the Quaternary deposits of the northwestern Alboran Sea: Guadalmedina-Guadalhorce prodelta, shelf-edge wedges, progradational packages, Guadiaro channel-levee complex, and debris flow deposits. The sedimentary structure reflects two styles of margin growth characterized: 1) by an essentially sediment-starved outer, shelf and upper slope and by divergent slope seismic facies; 2) by a prograding sediment outer shelf, and parallel slope seismic facies. Eustatic oscillations, sediment supply, and tectonic tilting have controlled the type of growth pattern, and the occurrence of the depositional bodies. Debris flows were also controlled locally by diapirism.

Geotechnical characteristics and slope stability in the Gulf of Cadiz

Abstract Sedimentological and geotechnical analyses of thirty-seven core samples from the Gulf of Cadiz continental margin were used to define the regional variability of sediment properties and to assess slope stability. Considering the sediment property data set as a whole, there is an association between grain size, plasticity and water content. Any one of these properties can be mapped regionally to provide an indication of the dominant surface sediment lithology. Based on static sediment strength, a simplified slope stability analysis showed that only steep slopes (>16° for even the most vulnerable sediment) can fail under static loading conditions. Accordingly, transient loads, such as earthquakes or storms, are needed to cause failure on more moderate slopes. A regional seismic slope stability analysis of the Cadiz margin was performed based on detailed geotechnical testing of four gravity core samples. The results showed that the stability of these slopes under seismic loading conditions depends upon sediment density, the cyclic loading shear strength, the slope steepness, and the regional seismicity. Sediment density and cyclic loading shear strength are dependent upon water content, which can act as a proxy for plasticity and texture effects. Specifically, sediment in the water content range of 50–56% is most vulnerable to failure under cyclic loading within the Cadiz margin. As a result, for a uniform seismicity over the region, susceptibility to failure during seismic loading conditions increases with increasing slope steepness and is higher if the sediment water content is in the 50–56% range than if it is not. The only sampled zone of failure on the continental slope contains sediment with water content in this critical range. Storm-wave-induced instability was evaluated for the continental shelf. The evaluation showed that a storm having hundreds of waves with a height in the range of 16 m might be capable of causing failure on the shelf. However, no sediment failures were observed on the shelf that might have been caused by this mechanism.

Post-Calabrian sequence stratigraphy of the northwestern Alboran Sea (southwestern Mediterranean)

Abstract The post-Calabrian sedimentary column of the northwestern Alboran Sea comprises three depositional sequences. The two older depositional sequences are defined by lowstand systems tracts (shelf-margin deltas, slope, base-of-slope, and basin deposits, and the Guadiaro channel-levee complex). In contrast, the most recent depositional sequence also includes transgressive (relict shelf facies) and high-stand (the Guadalmedina-Guadalhorce prodelta and hemipelagic facies) systems tracts. The stratigraphic architecture of these depositional sequences is controlled by the synchronism between high frequency sea-level changes, variations in sediment supply, and sedimentary processes. The configuration of the depositional sequences is variable and their distribution is complex, as a result of the relative importance played by sea-level changes and tectonism through the area. The sequence boundaries are represented by polygenetic surfaces in the proximal margin, and by monogenetic surfaces in the distal margin and basin. Each polygenetic surface results from the interaction between the sequence boundary with the lowstand erosional truncation surface and the transgressive surface, both developed during the previous sea-level cycle. The monogenetic surfaces correspond to unconformities and their correlative conformities, formed during sea-level lowstands. This pattern of depositional sequences developed in the margin and basin of the northwestern Alboran Sea shows differences with the Exxon Sequence Stratigraphy Model as traditionally applied: sea-level change control is essentially recognized through lowstand systems tracts, and sequence boundary coincides with lowstand erosional truncation surface and transgressive surface, both developed during the previous sea-level cycle.