Abstract
After obtaining full-coverage swath bathymetry data in 1995 and very high-resolution acoustic profiles in 2002, four slides at the Balearic Margin of the Eivissa Channel in the western Mediterranean Sea were revisited in 2004 when side-scan sonar data were collected using a MAK-1M deep-towed acoustic system. These new findings, higher in resolution than those for the swath bathymetry, show two main features previously undetected within these submarine landslides: (1) a series of step-forming inclined and detached slabs oriented perpendicular to the slide movement and located in the uppermost part of the slides, and (2) arcuate regular positive ridges oriented also normal to the slide movement and located in the depositional lobes of some of the slides. The former are interpreted as extensional ridges, suggesting a retrogressive post-failure evolution of the slides. The latter are interpreted as compression ridges, related to plastic deformation of the sediment before movement freezing. Moreover, the new data show that fluid escape features are even more widespread in the Eivissa Channel than previously thought, dozens of new pockmarks less than 20 m in diameter having been identified.
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Acknowledgements
This research was supported by the HERMES project, EC contract no. GOCE-CT-2005-511234, funded by the European Commission’s Sixth Framework Programme under the priority Sustainable Development, Global Change and Ecosystems, by the projects SPACOMA (01-LEC-EMA14F) and WEST-MED (01-LEC-EMA22F) of the EUROCORES Program on EUROMARGINS of the European Science Foundation, the EURODOM Research Training Network (HPRN-CT-2002-00212) and the VFP project EUROSTRATAFORM (EVK3-2002-00079) of the European Community, and by the Generalitat de Catalunya Grups de Recerca Consolidats grant 2005 SGR-00152. The authors would like to acknowledge suggestions made by two anonymous reviewers and the editors, which greatly helped to improve this paper. The TTR-14 Leg 3 Shipboard Scientific Party also included E. Bileva, V. Blinova, C. Brönnimann, V. Catterall, K. Chumakova, S. Costa, D. Daudin, P. Ferrer, P. Golynchik, I. Gyr’ev, V. Kiselev, D. Korost, E. Kozlova, E. Logvina, V. Malin, A. Micallef, V. Osokin, A. Ovsjannikov, E. Sarantsev, A. Shoronova, A. Shuvalov, A. Sungurov, V. Tarasov, D. Titkova, O. Vidal and A. Zotova. The publication reflects only the views of the authors; the EC is not liable for any use which may be made of this paper.
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Lastras, G., Canals, M., Amblas, D. et al. Eivissa slides, western Mediterranean Sea: morphology and processes. Geo-Mar Lett 26, 225–233 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00367-006-0032-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00367-006-0032-4