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Sediment dynamics and geohazards off Uruguay and the de la Plata River region (northern Argentina and Uruguay)

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Abstract

The continental margin off Uruguay and northern Argentina is characterized by high fluvial input by the de la Plata River and a complex oceanographic regime. Here we present first results from RV Meteor Cruise M78/3 of May–July 2009, which overall aimed at investigating sediment transport processes from the coast to the deep sea by means of hydroacoustic and seismic mapping, as well as coring using conventional tools and the new MARUM seafloor drill rig (MeBo). Various mechanisms of sediment instabilities were identified based on geophysical and core data, documenting particularly the continental slope offshore Uruguay to be locus of submarine landsliding. Individual landslides are relatively small with volumes <2km3. Gravitational downslope sediment transport also occurs through the prominent Mar del Plata Canyon and several smaller canyons. The canyons originate at a midslope position, and the absence of buried upslope continuations strongly suggests upslope erosion as main process for canyon evolution. Many other morphological features (e.g., slope-parallel scarps with scour geometries) and abundant contourites in a 35-m-long MeBo core reveal that sediment transport and erosion are controlled predominantly by strong contour currents. Despite numerous landslide events, their geohazard potential is considered to be relatively small, because of their small volumes and their occurrence at relatively deep water depths of more than 1,500 m.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the scientists and crew of Meteor Cruise M78/3 for their help in collecting the data. The paper was greatly strengthened by reviews from Aggeliki Georgiopoulou, Frank Strozyk, and the journal editors. Our research was funded by grants of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft in the frame of the Excellence Cluster “The Future Ocean” and the DFG-Research Center/Excellence Cluster “The Ocean in the Earth System”.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cluster of Excellence: The Future Ocean, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences (IFM-GEOMAR), Wischhofstr. 1-3, 24148, Kiel, Germany

    Sebastian Krastel & Daniel Winkelmann

  2. MARUM—Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, and Faculty of Geosciences, University of Bremen, Klagenfurter Strasse, 28359, Bremen, Germany

    Gerold Wefer, Till J. J. Hanebuth, Tim Freudenthal, Benedict Preu, Tilmann Schwenk & Michael Strasser

  3. Exploro Geoservices AS, Kjørbokollen 30, 1337, Sandvika, Norway

    Andrew A. Antobreh

  4. Department of Oceanography, Division of Marine Geology and Geophysics, Argentina Hydrographic Survey, Av. Montes de Oca 2124, C1271ABV, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Roberto Violante

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  1. Sebastian Krastel
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Correspondence to Sebastian Krastel.

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Krastel, S., Wefer, G., Hanebuth, T.J.J. et al. Sediment dynamics and geohazards off Uruguay and the de la Plata River region (northern Argentina and Uruguay). Geo-Mar Lett 31, 271–283 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00367-011-0232-4

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