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DC Field | Value | Language |
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dc.contributor.author | Micallef, Aaron | - |
dc.contributor.author | Georgiopoulou, Aggeliki | - |
dc.contributor.author | Mountjoy, Joshu J. | - |
dc.contributor.author | Huvenne, Veerle A.I. | - |
dc.contributor.author | Iacono, Claudio Lo | - |
dc.contributor.author | Bas, Timothy Le | - |
dc.contributor.author | Carlo, Paola Del | - |
dc.contributor.author | Cunarro Otero, Daniel | - |
dc.date.accessioned | 2018-02-22T10:37:09Z | - |
dc.date.available | 2018-02-22T10:37:09Z | - |
dc.date.issued | 2016 | - |
dc.identifier.citation | Micallef, A., Georgiopoulou, A., Mountjoy, J., Huvenne, V. A., Iacono, C. L., Le Bas, T., ...Otero, D. C. (2016). Outer shelf seafloor geomorphology along a carbonate escarpment: the eastern Malta Plateau, Mediterranean Sea. Continental Shelf Research, 131, 12-27. | en_GB |
dc.identifier.uri | https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar//handle/123456789/27207 | - |
dc.description.abstract | Submarine carbonate escarpments, documented in numerous sites around the world, consist of thick exposures of Mesozoic shallow water carbonate sequences - primarily limestones and dolomites - with reliefs of >1 km and slope gradients of >70°. Whilst most research efforts have focused on the processes that shaped carbonate escarpments into complex and extreme terrains, little attention has been paid to the geomorphology of shelves upslope of carbonate escarpments. In this study we investigate high resolution geophysical, sedimentological and visual data acquired from the eastern Malta Plateau, central Mediterranean Sea, to demonstrate that the outer shelf of a carbonate escarpment is directly influenced by escarpment-forming processes. We document forty eight erosional scars, six long channels and numerous smaller-scale channels, three elongate mounds, and an elongate ridge across the eastern Malta Plateau. By analysing their morphology, seismic character, and sedimentological properties, we infer that the seafloor of the eastern Malta Plateau has been modified by three key processes: (i) Mass movements – in the form of translational slides, spreading and debris flows – that mobilised stratified Plio- Pleistocene hemipelagic mud along the shelf break and that were likely triggered by seismicity and loss of support due to canyon erosion across the upper Malta Escarpment; (ii) NNW-SSE trending sinistral strike-slip deformation in Cenozoic carbonates – resulting from the development of a mega-hinge fault system along the Malta Escarpment since the Late Mesozoic, and SE-NW directed horizontal shortening since the Late Miocene – which gave rise to NW-SE oriented extensional grabens and a NNW-SSE horst; (iii) Flow of bottom currents perpendicular and parallel to the Malta Escarpment, associated with either Modified Atlantic Water flows during sea level lowstands and/or Levantine Intermediate Water flows at present, which was responsible for sediment erosion and deposition in the form of channels and contouritic drifts. | en_GB |
dc.language.iso | en | en_GB |
dc.publisher | Pergamon Press | en_GB |
dc.rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess | en_GB |
dc.subject | Submarine topography -- Mediterranean Sea | en_GB |
dc.subject | Submarine topography -- Malta | en_GB |
dc.subject | Carbonate minerals -- Malta | en_GB |
dc.subject | Geomorphology -- Malta | en_GB |
dc.subject | Sedimentology -- Malta | en_GB |
dc.title | Outer shelf seafloor geomorphology along a carbonate escarpment : the eastern Malta Plateau, Mediterranean Sea | en_GB |
dc.type | article | en_GB |
dc.rights.holder | The copyright of this work belongs to the author(s)/publisher. The rights of this work are as defined by the appropriate Copyright Legislation or as modified by any successive legislation. Users may access this work and can make use of the information contained in accordance with the Copyright Legislation provided that the author must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the prior permission of the copyright holder | en_GB |
dc.description.reviewed | peer-reviewed | en_GB |
dc.identifier.doi | 10.1016/j.csr.2016.11.002 | - |
dc.publication.title | Continental Shelf Research | en_GB |
Appears in Collections: | Scholarly Works - FacSciGeo |
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Outer_shelf_seafloor_geomorphology_along_a_carbonate_escarpment.pdf Restricted Access | 4.65 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open Request a copy |
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