TY - GEN
T1 - Large-scale mass wasting on the northwest African continental margin
T2 - 5th International Symposium on Submarine Mass Movements and Their Consequences
AU - Krastel, Sebastian
AU - Wynn, Russell B.
AU - Georgiopoulou, Aggeliki
AU - Geersen, Jacob
AU - Henrich, Rüdiger
AU - Meyer, Mathias
AU - Schwenk, Tilmann
PY - 2012/1/1
Y1 - 2012/1/1
N2 - The continental margin off Northwest Africa is shaped by a complex interplay of sediment transport processes, directed both downslope and alongslope. During several recent cruises, sediment transport processes between 12°N and 29°N off Senegal, Mauritania, and Western Sahara were investigated by means of geophysical and sedimentological methods. Sediment transport on the Northwest African continental margin operates with different rates and styles: some sections of the margin show a large concentration of upper slope canyons but no indication for significant mass wasting, whereas other sections are characterized by large-scale mass wasting with no canyons or gullies. Four mega-slides, each affecting over 20,000 km2 of seafloor, have been identified along the continental slope off Northwest Africa. All slides are complex in morphology and show a stepped headwall pattern typical for retrogressive failure. Several buried mass transport deposits are seismically imaged beneath all near-surface slides indicating a long history of mass wasting for some sections of the margin. Two of the mega-slides show headwalls at atypically large water depths, deeper than 3,000 m.
AB - The continental margin off Northwest Africa is shaped by a complex interplay of sediment transport processes, directed both downslope and alongslope. During several recent cruises, sediment transport processes between 12°N and 29°N off Senegal, Mauritania, and Western Sahara were investigated by means of geophysical and sedimentological methods. Sediment transport on the Northwest African continental margin operates with different rates and styles: some sections of the margin show a large concentration of upper slope canyons but no indication for significant mass wasting, whereas other sections are characterized by large-scale mass wasting with no canyons or gullies. Four mega-slides, each affecting over 20,000 km2 of seafloor, have been identified along the continental slope off Northwest Africa. All slides are complex in morphology and show a stepped headwall pattern typical for retrogressive failure. Several buried mass transport deposits are seismically imaged beneath all near-surface slides indicating a long history of mass wasting for some sections of the margin. Two of the mega-slides show headwalls at atypically large water depths, deeper than 3,000 m.
KW - Acoustic imaging
KW - Canyons
KW - Geohazards
KW - Submarine landslides
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84904107366&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/978-94-007-2162-3_17
DO - 10.1007/978-94-007-2162-3_17
M3 - Conference contribution with ISSN or ISBN
AN - SCOPUS:84904107366
SN - 9789400721616
T3 - Submarine Mass Movements and Their Consequences - 5th International Symposium
SP - 189
EP - 199
BT - Submarine Mass Movements and Their Consequences - 5th International Symposium
PB - Kluwer Academic Publishers
Y2 - 24 October 2011 through 26 October 2011
ER -