Geomorphologic and infilling characteristics of the slope-confined submarine canyons in the Pearl River Mouth Basin, northern South China Sea

Su, Ming; Lin, Zhixuan; Wang, Ce; Kuang, Zenggui; Liang, Jin; Chen, Hui; Liu, Shan; Zhang, Boda; Luo, Kunwen; Huang, Shuqin; Wu, Qiong

doi:10.1016/j.margeo.2020.106166

Cited by 47 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…However, most of the published works have focused on constraining local, coeval, intra‐canyon MTCs ( sensu detached MTCs; Moscardelli & Wood, 2008) with the evolution of canyons (i.e. Green & Uken, 2008; Gong et al ., 2011; He et al ., 2014; Su et al ., 2020). The relationship between canyons with regional distributed MTCs (i.e.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of mass‐transport complexes in the initiation and evolution of submarine canyons

Nugraha

Zhong

et al. 2022

Sedimentology

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The offshore area of the Otway Basin (south‐eastern Australia) is dominated by multibranched canyons where mass‐transport complexes are widely distributed. This study integrates high‐resolution multibeam and seismic data to investigate the importance of mass‐transport complexes in dictating the evolution of canyons. The study interprets three regionally distributed mass‐transport complexes that fail retrogressively and affect almost 70% of the study area. Within the mass‐transport complexes, seven canyons that initiated from the continental shelf edge and extended to the lower slope are observed. Although the canyons share common regional tectonics and oceanography, the scales, morphology and distribution are distinctly different. This is linked to the presence of failure‐related scarps that control the initiation and formation of the canyons. The retrogressive failure mechanisms of mass‐transport complexes have created a series of scarps on the continental shelf and slope. In the continental shelf, where terrestrial input is absent, the origin of the canyons is related to local failures and contour current activities, occurring near the pre‐existing larger headwall scarps (ca 120 m high, 3 km long). The occurrence of these local failures has provided the necessary sediment input for subsequent gravity‐driven, downslope sediment flows. In the continental slope, the widespread scarps can capture gravity flows initiated from the continental shelf, developing an area of flow convergence, which greatly widens and deepens the canyons. The gradual diversion and convergence through mass‐transport complex related scarps have facilitated the canyon confluence process, which has fundamentally changed the canyoning process. Thus, this study concludes that the retrogressive failure mechanism of mass‐transport complexes has a direct influence on the initiation, distribution and evolution of the canyons. The scarps associated with mass‐transport complexes have greatly facilitated the delivery of sediments and marine plastics from the shelf edge into the deep oceans, especially in areas where fluvial input is missing.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of mass‐transport complexes in the initiation and evolution of submarine canyons

Nugraha

Zhong

et al. 2022

Sedimentology

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“…3, 4). Mass-transport deposits, including slumps, are reported as a common phenomenon in the sediments deposited along canyon flanks (Cronin et al 2005;He et al 2014;Mulder et al 2019;Su et al 2020;Janocko and Basilici 2021), including the continental margin of Israel (Druckman et al 1995;Frey Martinez et al 2005).…”

Section: Sediment Delivery By Gravity-driven Processesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolution of a Miocene canyon and its carbonate fill in the pre-evaporitic eastern Mediterranean

Reolid

Bialik

Puga‐Bernabéu

et al. 2022

Facies

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Extensive canyons, excavated into the margins of the Levant Basin during the Oligocene–Miocene, are interesting case-studies for canyon fills in carbonate settings. The carbonate Pattish Formation, developed along the margins of the pre-evaporitic Messinian Beer Sheva Canyon in Israel, was investigated using both onshore seismic imaging and field data. The canyon has three main seismic facies of fill (1) Subparallel reflections mimicking the canyon´s morphology; (2) chaotic reflections overlying the subparallel ones, and (3) sigmoidal reflections, locally with sharp edges at the canyon margins. The first seismic facies corresponds to the pelagic marls of the Bet Eshel Formation. The other two seismic facies are, respectively, equivalent to bioclastic calcarenite clinobeds with slumps and channels, and to coral–stromatolite reefs and reef slopes of the Pattish Formation observed at outcrop. There were three phases of canyon development: (1) slope incision and headward erosion due to tectonic uplift and eustatic sea-level fall during the Early Oligocene, and large slope failure during the latest Middle Miocene; (2) platform incision and connection with a fluvial system in the Late Miocene related to falling sea level and tectonic uplift; and (3) canyon filling first by pelagic marls at the centre of the canyon, followed by calcarenite clinobeds at the canyon flanks formed by gravity flows. Finally, carbonate production at the margins of the canyon resulted in reefs and associated slopes prograding towards the canyon axis. The late canyon filling phase ended with the deposition of evaporites during the Messinian Salinity Crisis.

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“…Most of the published works have focused on constraining local, coeval, intra-canyon MTCs (senus detached MTCs; Moscardelli and Wood, 2008) with the evolution of the canyons (i.e. Green and Uken, 2008;Gong et al, 2011;He et al, 2014;Su et al, 2020). The relationship between canyons with the regional distributed MTCs (i.e.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of mass-transport complexes (MTCs) in the initiation and evolution of submarine canyons

Wu¹,

Nugraha²,

Zhong³

et al. 2022

Preprint

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The offshore area of the Otway Basin, located within the SE continental margin of Australia, is dominated by a multibranched canyon system where submarine mass-transport complexes (MTCs) are widely distributed. We integrate high-resolution multi-beam bathymetric and seismic reflection data to investigate the importance of regionally distributed MTCs in dictating the evolution of canyon systems. We interpret three regionally distributed MTCs that fail retrogressively and affect almost 70% of the study area. Within the MTCs, we observed seven canyons that initiated from the continental shelf edge and extended to the abyssal plain. Although these canyons share common regional tectonics and oceanography, the scales, morphology, and distribution are distinctly different. This is devoted to the presence of failure-related scarps (i.e. headwall and sidewall scarps) that control the initiation and formation of the canyons. The retrogressive failure mechanisms of MTCs have created a series of the headwall and lateral scarps on the continental shelf and slope regions. In the continental shelf, where terrestrial input (i.e. fluvial systems) is absent, the origin of the canyons is related to the local failure events and the contour current activities occurring near the pre-existing, massive headwall scarps (c. 120 m high, 3km long). The occurrence of these local failures has provided the necessary sediment input for subsequent gravity-driven, downslope sediment flows. In the continental slope region, the widespread scarps can capture gravity flows initiated from the continental shelf, developing an area of flow convergence, which greatly widens and deepens the canyon system. The gradual diversion and convergence through MTCs related scarps have facilitated the canyon confluence process, which has fundamentally changed the canyoning process. Thus, we conclude that the retrogressive failure mechanism of MTCs has a direct contribution to the initiation, distribution, and evolution of the canyons, especially in areas where fluvial input is missing. Moreover, the retrogressive failure mechanism is responsible for the canyon deepening and confluence process, which can greatly facilitate the delivery of sediment into deep oceans.

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Geomorphologic and infilling characteristics of the slope-confined submarine canyons in the Pearl River Mouth Basin, northern South China Sea

Cited by 47 publications

References 45 publications

The role of mass‐transport complexes in the initiation and evolution of submarine canyons

The role of mass‐transport complexes in the initiation and evolution of submarine canyons

Evolution of a Miocene canyon and its carbonate fill in the pre-evaporitic eastern Mediterranean

The role of mass-transport complexes (MTCs) in the initiation and evolution of submarine canyons

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