Influence of bottom currents on the sedimentary processes at the western tip of the Gulf of Corinth, Greece

[en] We investigated the sedimentary processes that were active during the Holocene in the Gulf of Corinth, using high-resolution seismic reflection profiles and gravity cores. Seismic reflection data clearly show the presence of shallow-water sediment drifts at the western end of the Gulf, close to the Rion Sill that links the gulf to the Ionian Sea. Short cores indicate that drifts are composed of homogenous bioturbated mud in their upper part. The drift deposits flank a wide central area where the sea floor is eroded and where pre-Holocene deposits locally outcrop. The sea floor morphology in this area is marked by furrows oriented in different directions and by a depression attributed to the action of bottom-currents. The magnetic fabric of sediment samples from the drift, shelves, sub-basins and from the basin floor show a significant anisotropy and a similar orientation of Kmax axes along core. The largest anisotropy (P = 1.043 ± 0.007) is observed in the drift and is interpreted as resulting from the action of bottom currents. The similar orientation of Kmax axes in the other cores, collected from areas East of the drifts, suggests that bottom currents also affect sediment deposition in the rest of the study area, even if seismic profiles and core analyses demonstrate that gravitational processes such as submarine landslides and turbidity currents exert the main control on sediment transport and deposition. Average Kmax axes for four cores were reoriented using the declination of the characteristic remanent magnetization. Kmax axes show variable orientations relatively to the slope of the sea floor, between along-slope and roughly parallel to the contour lines.

Disciplines :

Physics

Author, co-author :

Beckers, Arnaud ; Université de Liège > Département de géographie > Géomorphologie et Géologie du Quaternaire

Beck, Christian

Hubert, Aurelia ; Université de Liège > Département de géographie > Géomorphologie et Géologie du Quaternaire

Tripsanas, Efthymios

Crouzet, Christian

Sakellariou, Dimitris

Papatheodorou, Georges

De Batist, Marc

Language :

English

Title :

Influence of bottom currents on the sedimentary processes at the western tip of the Gulf of Corinth, Greece

Publication date :

2016

Journal title :

Marine Geology

ISSN :

0025-3227

eISSN :

1872-6151

Publisher :

Elsevier Science, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Peer reviewed :

Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi

Name of the research project :

SISCOR

Funders :

ANR - Agence Nationale de la Recherche [FR]

Available on ORBi :

since 17 June 2015

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