Structure and Development Processes of the Sediment Ridges on the Continental Rise off the Prydz Bay Margin, East Antarctica

Abstract:

Several sediment ridges (SRs) are located on the continental slope and rise off the Prydz Bay margin, East Antarctica. These SRs contain the history of the regional glacial movements and bottom current activities. Multichannel seismic reflection data and bathymetric data in this region have been interpreted to know the planar distribution, cross-section structures along strike, and the formation and development processes of the SRs. Based on the above work, two different groups of the SRs have been identified. The first one includes two SRs which were asymmetric levees on both sides of the Wild Canyon in the western part of the study area. The second one includes SRs in the eastern part of the study area whose formation and development are closely related to the local, diachronous hiatuses generated by the turbidity flow. The onset time of the turbidity activities in different canyons are not concurrent. For Wild Canyon in the west, the onset time is P1, which is the base of the glaciomarine deposit on the continental rise, while for Wilkins and Murray Canyon in the east, it is a later time P3 (~26.1 Ma), which represents an expansion of the glaciers in Prydz Bay area. All the canyons and the turbidity currents within them both extend seaward with time and so does the consequent SRs. In the areas north of the seaward edge of the SRs, large deep-sea sediment waves consisting of fine-grain sediments supplied mainly by down-slope turbidity currents were generated under westward-flowing bottom currents.