T13B-3005
New multi-beam bathymetric map of the Ionian Sea (Central Mediterranean): Evidence for active sedimentary and morpho-tectonic processes along the Africa-Eurasia plate boundary

Monday, 14 December 2015
Poster Hall (Moscone South)
Marc-Andre Gutscher1, Heidrun Kopp2, Sebastian Krastel3, Gerhard Bohrmann4, Thierry Garlan5, Sébastien Zaragosi6, Ingo Klaucke2, Paul Wintersteller4, Benoit Loubrieu7, Yann Le Faou5, Laurine San Pedro8, Stephane Dominguez9, Marzia Rovere10 and B F Mercier De Lepinay11, (1)IUEM Institut Universitaire Européen de la Mer, Laboratoire Domaines Océaniques, Univ. Brest / CNRS, Plouzané, France, (2)GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Kiel, Germany, (3)Inst fuer Geowissenschaften, Kiel, Germany, (4)University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany, (5)Service Hydrographique et Océanographique de la Marine (SHOM), Brest, France, (6)UMR 5805 – EPOC, Université de Bordeaux, Pessac, France, (7)IFREMER, Plouzané, France, (8)IUEM Institut Universitaire Européen de la Mer, Plouzané, France, (9)University of Montpellier, Montpellier, France, (10)CNR National Research Council, ISMAR, Bologna, Italy, (11)University of Nice-Sophia Antipolis, Nice, France
Abstract:
A combined dataset of multi-beam bathymetry, based on 5 recent marine geophysical surveys since 2010 as well as a compilation of earlier surveys, now spans the vast majority of the Ionian Sea and the active margin of East Sicily and Calabria. (The new surveys are: R/V Meteor cruise 86, 2010 PI - S. Krastel; MocoSed R/V PourquoiPas 2012 PI - T. Garlan; Circee R/V Suroit 2013 PI - M.-A. Gutscher; R/V Meteor cruise 111, 2014 PI’s - H. Kopp, M.-A. Gutscher; R/V Meteor cruise 112, 2014 PI - G. Bohrmann). This new compilation of mostly unpublished bathymetric data is presented as a 2 arc-sec (60m) grid and reveals fine-scale structures on the seafloor in unprecedented detail. These include the deeply incised Malta-Hyblean Escarpment, numerous submarine canyons, broad regions of relatively flat seafloor dominated by fields of sediment waves, the gently undulating anticlinal fold-and-thrust belts of two accretionary wedge complexes related to the Hellenic subduction (W Mediterranean ridge) and to the Calabrian arc. These accretionary wedges intersect and overlap and define two of the three sides of the triangular Ionian abyssal plain. The internal structure of these morpho-tectonic provinces as well as the transition zones between them is also imaged by high-resolution 72-channel seismic reflection profiles. Together these data offer new insights into the interaction and competition between active sedimentary and tectonic processes shaping this part of the Central Mediterranean.

Acknowledgment: The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n° 603839 (Project ASTARTE - Assessment, Strategy and Risk Reduction for Tsunamis in Europe).