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Furrows in the southern Scan Basin, Antarctica: interplay between tectonic and oceanographic influences

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Abstract

Multibeam echosounder data and TOPAS seismic reflection profiles collected during the AntPac 1997, Scan 2004, and Scan 2008 cruises aboard the RV Hespérides reveal a host of surficial geomorphological features as yet poorly investigated in the Scan Basin, south-central Scotia Sea. This area represents one of the deep gateways between the Weddell Sea and the Scotia Sea, since it enables the northward flow of a branch of the Weddell Sea Deep Water (WSDW). Analysis of the data identifies numerous elongated depressions interpreted as furrows in the southernmost sector of the basin. These furrows show two main trends, i.e., either N–NNW parallel to, or NE oblique to regional bathymetric contours. These trends plausibly reflect a tectonic influence on the bottom-flow distribution, conditioned by a set of recent, conjugate strike-slip faults that developed on the seafloor under dominant NNE–SSW compression and orthogonal extension. The furrows exhibit distinct geomorphological patterns at either side of the basin, which can be related to west–east asymmetry in the WSDW flow direction. Consistent with existing knowledge of regional WSDW dynamics, northward WSDW overflows would be channeled along the western part of the basin at higher bottom-current velocities, thereby generating more erosional-type furrows that are straighter, more elongated, and have more abrupt sidewalls than their eastern counterparts. In contrast, weaker southward WSDW would flow along the eastern part of the basin, resulting in more depositional-type furrows that are more curved, less elongated, and have gentler sidewalls.

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Acknowledgements

This work was executed in the framework of the project CGL2004-05646/ANT of the Antarctic Spanish Program and it is also related to the projects CTM2008-06386-C02/ANT (POL2006.13836.C03.01) and CTM 2008-06399-C04/MAR (CONTOURIBER Project). The English style of the manuscript was thoroughly reviewed by Christine Laurin. Susana Díez (CSIC-UTM, Barcelona) and Marcellí Farrán (CSIC-CMIMA, Barcelona) provided very useful advice for reprocessing multibeam bathymetric data and TOPAS profiles, respectively. Michele Rebesco (guest editor) and two anonymous reviewers made very extensive and helpful comments that significantly improved the original version of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto Andaluz de Ciencias de la Tierra, CSIC-Universidad de Granada, Facultad de Ciencias, Avenida de Fuentenueva s/n, 18002, Granada, Spain

    Francisco José Lobo, Jesús Galindo-Zaldívar, Andrés Maldonado, Yasmina Martos & José Rodríguez-Fernández

  2. Departamento de Geociencias Marinas y Ordenación del Territorio, Universidad de Vigo, 36200, Vigo, Pontevedra, Spain

    Francisco Javier Hernández-Molina

  3. Instituto Geológico y Minero de España, Ríos Rosas 23, 28003, Madrid, Spain

    Fernando Bohoyo & Luis Somoza

  4. Departamento de Geodinámica, Universidad de Granada, Facultad de Ciencias, Avenida de Fuentenueva s/n, 18002, Granada, Spain

    Jesús Galindo-Zaldívar

  5. Centro Oceanográfico de Málaga, Instituto Español de Oceanografía, Puerto Pesquero s/n, 29640, Fuengirola, Málaga, Spain

    Juan Tomás Vázquez

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  1. Francisco José Lobo
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  2. Francisco Javier Hernández-Molina
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  3. Fernando Bohoyo
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Correspondence to Francisco José Lobo.

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Responsible guest editor: M. Rebesco

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Lobo, F.J., Hernández-Molina, F.J., Bohoyo, F. et al. Furrows in the southern Scan Basin, Antarctica: interplay between tectonic and oceanographic influences. Geo-Mar Lett 31, 451–464 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00367-011-0240-4

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