Morphology, seismic characteristics and development of Cap Timiris Canyon, offshore Mauritania: A newly discovered canyon preserved-off a major arid climatic region.

Antobreh, Andrew A. and Krastel, Sebastian (2006) Morphology, seismic characteristics and development of Cap Timiris Canyon, offshore Mauritania: A newly discovered canyon preserved-off a major arid climatic region. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 23 (1). pp. 37-59. DOI 10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2005.06.003.

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Abstract

We employ a combined interpretation of Hydrosweep swath bathymetry and high resolution multi-channel seismic reflection data to investigate the development of Cap Timiris Canyon, a newly discovered submarine canyon offshore Mauritania. The dominantly V-shaped and deeply entrenched canyon exhibits many fluvial features including dendritic and meander patterns, cut-off loops and terraces, and is presently incising. Distal meander patterns, confined within a narrow fault-controlled corridor, show several stages of evolution, the latest of which is dominated by a down-system meander-loop migration. Terraces exhibit a variety of internal structures suggesting they originated through different processes including sliding/slumping, uplift-induced incision and lateral accretion. We ascribe canyon origin to an ancient river system in the adjacent presently arid Sahara Desert that breached the shelf during a Plio/Pleistocene sea level lowstand and delivered sediment directly into the slope area. Our data suggest that the initial invading unchannelised sheet of sand-rich turbidity flows initiated canyon formation by gradually mobilising along linear seafloor depressions and fault-controlled zones of weakness. We propose that the development of canyon morphology and structure was influenced by the stages of active flow of the coupling river system, and hence could act as a proxy for understanding the paleo-climatic evolution of a ‘green’ Sahara since Plio/Pleistocene times.

Document Type: Article
Keywords: Submarine canyon; Meander; Terraces; RV Meteor; M58/1; Cap Timiris Canyon, offshore Mauritania
Refereed: Yes
Open Access Journal?: No
Publisher: Elsevier
Date Deposited: 03 Apr 2017 08:22
Last Modified: 06 Apr 2017 06:11
URI: https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/37350

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