We analyzed in detail the seabed morphology of the seamounts and surroundings on the Djibouti Marginal Shelf (northern Alboran Sea) using high resolution (Sparker) and very high resolution (TOPAS) seismic reflection profiles and multibeam bathymetry. The aim of the study was to determine the recent geological processes, and in particular the contouritic processes associated with Mediterranean waters. Six groups of morphologic features were defined: structural features (seamount cap, tectonic depressions), fluid dynamics-related features (pockmarks), mass-movement features (gullies, slides), bottom-current features (moats, scour marks, terraces, elongated and separated drifts, plastered drifts, confined drifts, sheeted drifts), mixed features (ridges) and bioconstructions (carbonate mounds). The main processes controlling feature formation are Late Cenozoic tectonic activity and the interaction of Mediterranean waters with the seafloor topography. Seamounts act as topographic barriers that affect the pathway and velocity of Mediterranean water flows, which are subdivided into strands that interact with the surrounding seafloor. Sedimentary instability and fluiddynamic processes play a minor role, and their occurrence is probably triggered by seismicity.
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