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Holocene evolution of mud depocentres on a high-energy, low-accumulation shelf (NW Iberia)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Hendrik Lantzsch ,
Till J.J. Hanebuth  and
Vera B. Bender
Hendrik Lantzsch*
Affiliation:
MARUM — Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, and Faculty of Geosciences, University of Bremen, P.O. Box 330440, 28334 Bremen, Germany
Till J.J. Hanebuth
Affiliation:
MARUM — Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, and Faculty of Geosciences, University of Bremen, P.O. Box 330440, 28334 Bremen, Germany
Vera B. Bender
Affiliation:
MARUM — Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, and Faculty of Geosciences, University of Bremen, P.O. Box 330440, 28334 Bremen, Germany
*
⁎Corresponding author. Fax: + 49 421 218 65219. E-mail address:[email protected] (H. Lantzsch).
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Abstract

The high-energy, low-accumulation NW Iberian shelf features three confined Holocene mud depocentres. Here, we show that the evolution of such depocentres follows successive steps. The flooding of inner shelf zones and river catchment areas by the late deglacial sea-level rise provided the precondition for shelf mud deposition. Following this, the Holocene deceleration of the sea-level rise caused a rapid refill of the accommodation space within river valleys. Subsequently, the export of major amounts of fines was initiated. The initial onset and loci of shelf mud deposition were related to deposition-favouring conditions in mid-shelf position or to the presence of morphological highs, which act as sediment traps by providing protection against stronger hydrodynamic energy. The detailed reconstruction of the Holocene depocentre evolution shows for the first time that the expansion of such shelf mud deposits cannot only occur by linear growth off the associated sediment source. Rather, they might develop around centres that are fully disconnected from the source of original sediment supply, and expand later into specific directions. Based on these differences and on the connection of the individual mud depocentres to the material source we propose a conceptual subdivision of the group “mid-shelf mud depocentres”.

Keywords

HoloceneShelf sedimentationMud beltRadiocarbon datingSediment dispersalNW Iberian Peninsula
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 72 , Issue 3 , November 2009 , pp. 325 - 336
Copyright
University of Washington

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