The Le Danois Contourite Depositional System (Cantabrian margin): a record of the MOW palaeoceanography

• Jorge Iglesias ^[1] ; David Van Rooij ^[4] ; F. Javier Hernández-Molina ^[5] ; Gemma Ercilla ^[1] ; María Gomez-Ballesteros ^[2] ; David Casas ^[1] ; Estefanía Llave ^[3]
  1. [1] Instituto de Ciencias del Mar

     Instituto de Ciencias del Mar

     Barcelona, España

     
  2. [2] Instituto Español de Oceanografía

     Instituto Español de Oceanografía

     Madrid, España

     
  3. [3] Instituto Geológico y Minero de España

     Instituto Geológico y Minero de España

     Madrid, España

     
  4. [4] Renard Centre of Marine Geology (RCMG)
  5. [5] Facultad de Ciencias del Mar, Dpto. Geociencias Marinas, Univ. Vigo

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• Localización: Geotemas (Madrid), ISSN 1576-5172, Nº. 11, 2010 (Ejemplar dedicado a: Deep-Water Circulation: Processes & Products. International Congress. Baitona, Pontevedra, Spain. 16 & 17 June 2010), págs. 79-80
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • We describe the morphology and Plio-Quaternary seismic stratigraphy and evolution of the Le Danois Contourite Depositional System (DCDS) in order to decode Mediterranean Outflow Water (MOW) paleoceanography. This system is composed of several drift depositional (elongated mounded and separated drifts and plastered drifts) and erosive (moats) features. The seismic stratigraphic analysis allows us to define seismic divisions at three different scales: sequences, units and subunits. The major regional discontinuities LPR (4.2 Ma), UPR (2.4 Ma) and MPR (0.9/0.92 Ma) define the three main sequences (from oldest to youngest: A1c, A1b and A1a). These sequences are characterized by different types of contouritic deposits (confined, mounded elongated and separated, and plastered drifts with superimposed sediment waves). The DCDS depositional history involved several relocation sand changes in drift type. The DCDS is a consequence of MOW action. From early to middle Pleistocene, development and evolution of the DCDS was controlled by MOW interaction with the seafloor along the continental slope. From middle Pleistocene to the present-day the key factors controlling the DCDS have been: the local morphology of the margin, sediment supply and the local oceanographic behaviour of MOW.