Abstract Sortable silt particle-size data and stable isotope analyses from the Corsica Trough, western Mediterranean Sea, provide a continuous palaeoceanographic record of the inflow, ventilation and vertical fluctuations of the Levantine Intermediate Water (LIW) in the northern Tyrrhenian Sea for the last 130,000 years. The results presented herein reveal that climate changes drive the Mediterranean intermediate circulation on Milankovitch to millennial time-scales. Intensified intermediate inflow and ventilation in the Corsica Trough occurred throughout the last glacial interval, with a cold/faster – warm/slower pattern existing between the Dansgaard-Oeschger climatic oscillations (including Heinrich events) and the LIW variability. By contrast, a weak intermediate ventilation characterised the Holocene and the Last Interglacial period, especially during insolation maxima and the sapropel deposition in the eastern Mediterranean. This variability probably reflects the changes of the eastern Mediterranean net evaporation, as well as the propagation to the western Mediterranean of the profound hydrographic adjustments of the Levantine Sea and adjacent areas to climate forcing. The implications for the formation and ventilation of the Western Mediterranean Deep Water (WMDW) in the northwestern Mediterranean basin, as well as for Mediterranean–Atlantic exchange through the Strait of Gibraltar are discussed.

/pdf/a-130-000-year-record-of-levantine-intermediate-water-flow-1ed2no1w3v.pdf

A 130,000-year record of Levantine Intermediate Water flow variability in the Corsica Trough, western Mediterranean Sea

The Pianosa Contourite Depositional System (Northern Tyrrhenian Sea): Drift morphology and Plio-Quaternary stratigraphic evolution

Contourite drifts are sediment bodies formed by the action of bottom currents. They are common features found on continental slopes and are often affected by slope failure. However, processes controlling slope instability in contourite depositional systems are still not well constrained, and it is not clear whether contourites have particular properties that make them more susceptible to slope failure. In this study, we compare sedimentological and geotechnical properties of contouritic and hemipelagic sediments within the Corsica Trough (northern Tyrrhenian Sea) using geophysical data sets and sediment cores in order to get a better understanding of the controlling factors of slope stability. Geomorphological and slope stability analyses reveal that differences in sediment properties have little influence on the location of submarine landslides, in comparison with the morphology of the drifts. Hence, the steep downslope flanks of plastered drift deposits are the most susceptible zones for local failure initiation. Moreover, as erosion is common at the foot of plastered drifts, undercutting is thought to contribute to the development of large-scale failure up to the point that submarine landslides are triggered.

/pdf/morphological-control-of-slope-instability-in-contourites-a-3qhj8p4xae.pdf

Morphological control of slope instability in contourites: a geotechnical approach

The Pliocene–Quaternary history of the south-western Adriatic margin, represented by a complex contourite depositional system, records the palaeoceanography of the basin and the interactions between oceanographic processes and the uneven slope morphology that resulted from tectonic deformation. Three main stages can be recognized: (1) during the Pliocene, a giant sediment drift formed on the southern flank of the slope-transverse Gondola anticline that focused and accelerated the flow of slope-parallel bottom currents; (2) since the early to middle Pleistocene transition, a reorganization of bottom-current pathways led to a sharp change in the sedimentary architecture of the margin that became dominated by the growth of contourite deposits; (3) as of 350 ka, landward-migrating contourites on the outer shelf (less than 120 m water depth) reflect the presence of bottom currents also in shallow waters. This analysis of the sedimentary stacking pattern of the contourite depositional system that developed along the south-western Adriatic margin since the Pliocene enables disentangling the processes that controlled changes in bottom-current activity, demonstrating that bottom-current deposits constitute the bulk of depositional sequences at the Milankovitch timescale.

Pliocene–Quaternary contourite depositional system along the south-western Adriatic margin: changes in sedimentary stacking pattern and associated bottom currents

The influence of bottom currents on the sedimentary evolution of the Alboran Sea during the Pliocene and Quaternary = La influencia de las corrientes de fondo en la evolución sedimentaria del Mar de Alborán durante el Plioceno y Cuaternario

The Corsica Trough between the island of Corsica and the mainland of Italy is dominated on its western side by turbidite channel-lobe systems fed by high-gradient rivers during glacial epochs, while the eastern side is markedly different. It is flanked by the Pianosa Ridge, a prominent tectonic structure confining the distal reaches of turbidite lobes and it is characterized by the development of contourite drifts with evident seafloor expression. The southern part of the Pianosa Ridge hosts a submarine landslide called ‘Pianosa Slump’ (PS, 6 km long, 14 km wide). Multichannel Sparker and Chirp profiles reveal the internal geometry of the PS, formed by two sediment bodies of up to 0.85 and 0.34 km3. A buried submarine landslide below the PS shows that mass wasting is a recurrent process in this area. Preliminary results suggest that submarine landslides have volumes and ages comparable with those of turbidite lobes from the Golo turbidite system and contribute actively to their confinement and to basin filling. Relatively steep gradients, rapid contourite drift accumulation during times of sea level lowstands, and fluid escape from distal turbidite sandy lobes are the main factors conducive to seafloor instability.

Submarine Landslides and Contourite Drifts Along the Pianosa Ridge (Corsica Trough, Mediterranean Sea)

Geophysical data and sampling of the Golo Basin (East Corsica margin) provide the opportunity to study mass balance in a single drainage system over the last 130 kyr, by comparing deposited sediments in the sink and the maximum eroded volume in the source using total denudation proxies. Evaluation of the solid sediments deposited offshore and careful integration of uncertainties from the age model and physical properties allow us to constrain three periods of sedimentation during the last climatic cycle. The peak of sedimentation initiated during Marine Isotopic Stage (MIS) 3 (ca. 45 ka) and lasted until late in MIS 2 (ca. 18 ka). This correlates with Mediterranean Sea palaeoclimatic records and the glaciation in high altitude Corsica. The yield of solid sediment into the Golo Basin drops in the observed present day Mediterranean basins (gauging stations), whereas the palaeo-denudation estimate derived from the sediments over the last glacial period is one to ten times higher than that predicted using cosmogenic or thermochronometer estimates of exhumation. The catchment-wide denudation rate calculated from deposited solid sediment ranges from 47 to 219 mm kyr � 1 , which is higher than the estimate from palaeosurface ablation in the proximal part of the source (9–140 mm kyr � 1 ) and lower than the distal, narrow, incised channel of the Golo River (160–475 mm kyr � 1 ). This mismatch raises questions about the investigation of denudation at millennial-time scale (kyr) and at higher integrating times (Myr) as a reliable tool for determining the effect of climate change on mountain building and on sedimentary basin models.

Inferringdenudationvariationsfromthesediment record; anexampleof thelastglacialcyclerecordof the Golo Basinandwatershed,East Corsica, western Mediterraneansea

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Submarine Landslides and Contourite Drifts Along the Pianosa Ridge (Corsica Trough, Mediterranean Sea)

Inferringdenudationvariationsfromthesediment record; anexampleof thelastglacialcyclerecordof the Golo Basinandwatershed,East Corsica, western Mediterraneansea