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Morphobathymetric analysis and evidence of submarine mass movements in the western Gulf of Taranto (Calabria margin, Ionian Sea)

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Abstract

The western part of the Gulf of Taranto, southern Italy, is a seismically active area with high sediment supply. New swath bathymetry and sub-bottom profiler (CHIRP) data were acquired on board R/V OGS-Explora during the WGDT cruise. The data were analyzed to describe the seafloor morphology and the acoustic facies of relevant morphologic features. Special attention was given to the features produced by mass wasting and soft-sediment deformations. The features identified include: slides and slide scars, debris flow deposits, enigmatic dip-slope trending sub-parallel linear depressions, and along-slope undulations inferred to have been produced either by creeping or sediment deposition by hyperpycnal flows. The description of these features contributes to the characterization of the Calabria foreland basin system and provides an analogue for other basins similarly affected by a close relation between sediment supply and active tectonics.

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Acknowledgments

The dataset on which this paper is built was acquired during the WGDT cruise (P.I. Salvatore Critelli, University of Calabria) on board OGS-Explora, supported with OGS institutional funds. Data processing has been performed within GEMAR and PROS groups from OGS. The authors acknowledge the support given by the shipboard party of R/V OGS Explora. We thank the referees Antonio Cattaneo, Galderic Lastras and Ruth Duran and guest editor Miquel Canals for their thoroughly review and helpful suggestions. NRC would like to thank the EC-FPV Research and Training Network EURODOM (European Deep Ocean Margins) for partially funding this research study and Danilo Morelli for constructive comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale (OGS), Borgo Grotta Gigante 42/C, Sgonico, 34010, Trieste, Italy

    M. Rebesco, R. C. Neagu, D. Accettella, A. Cova & A. Caburlotto

  2. 3D Lab, School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, Cardiff University, Main Building, Park Place, Cardiff, CF10 3YE, UK

    R. C. Neagu

  3. Dipartimento di Scienze Geologiche Ambientali e Marine, Università degli Studi di Trieste, Via E. Weiss 2, 34127, Trieste, Italy

    A. Cuppari

  4. Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università degli Studi della Calabria, 87036, Arcavacata di Rende (CS), Italy

    F. Muto, R. Dominici & C. Romano

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  1. M. Rebesco
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  5. D. Accettella
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Correspondence to R. C. Neagu.

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Rebesco, M., Neagu, R.C., Cuppari, A. et al. Morphobathymetric analysis and evidence of submarine mass movements in the western Gulf of Taranto (Calabria margin, Ionian Sea). Int J Earth Sci (Geol Rundsch) 98, 791–805 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-009-0429-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-009-0429-1

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