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We here present the first comprehensive provenance study of the Zambezi deep-sea fan, based on integrated petrographic, heavy-mineral, elemental-geochemistry, isotope-geochemistry, and detrital-zircon-geochronology analyses of middle Pleistocene to Holocene turbidites. The Zambezi Valley and Fan represent the submarine part of an ∼ 5000-km-long sediment-routing system, extending from the heart of the South African Plateau to the abyssal depths of the Indian Ocean. Sediment is derived not only from the African side, but also from Madagascar Island mostly via the Tsiribihina Valley. Being shed by two dissected rifted margins, detritus supplied from opposite sides of the Mozambique Channel shares similar feldspar-rich feldspatho-quartzose composition, although with significant differences in heavy-mineral and geochemical signatures. The εNd values of Madagascar sand are markedly more negative and TNd model ages notably older. Zircon grains yield mostly Irumide (late Stenian) U-Pb ages in African-derived sand and mostly Pan-African (Ediacaran–Cryogenian) U-Pb ages in Madagascar-derived sand, which also yields a few grains as old as Paleoarchean and many discordant ages reflecting Pan-African reworking of Archean cratonic rocks. Lower Valley and Lower Fan deposits have intermediate fingerprints, indicating that sediment supply from Madagascar is not much less than from Africa despite a much smaller catchment area, which can be explained by deposition of a conspicuous part of Africa-derived sediment in the Intermediate Basin confined between the Zambezi Shelf, the Beira High, and the Îles Éparses. By assuming that compositional differences between Quaternary submarine deposits and modern Zambezi River sands primarily resulted from sediment impoundment by large dams, we could evaluate the anthropogenic impact on natural sediment fluxes. Quaternary turbidites are somewhat higher in quartz and poorer in heavy minerals with higher relative amounts of durable ZTR species, and yield more Ediacaran, Neoarchean, and Carboniferous detrital-zircon ages than modern river sands. The Orosirian peak characterizing the Intermediate Basin sample points to prominent supply from the middle and upper parts of the Zambezi catchment in the middle Pleistocene. Rough calculations suggest that pre-dam Zambezi sediments were generated ≤ 10% in the upper catchment, ∼ 60% in the middle catchment, and only ≥ 30% in the lower catchment that provides the totality of sediment reaching the Indian Ocean today.

Delta systems evolve as a function of interactions between hydroclimatic processes that occur at the watershed level, and coastal marine processes that reshape the coastline. The evolution of these environments is controlled by several factors, like climate, tectonics, and anthropization (by feedback on soils, vegetation, hydrosystems) yet rarely taken into account in models of evolution of sedimentary systems.The Rhone delta has recorded the impact of climatic variations as well as the development and evolution of human societies during the Holocene period. This system has undergone a post-glacial evolution controlled by a global climatic warming punctuated by short periods of cooling, fluvial metamorphoses, and by a rapid marine transgression generated by the melting of the ice caps, which was followed by the initiation of the progradation of the delta from about 7000 BP, and which seems to accelerate during the Roman antiquity (Arnaud-Fassetta, 2002). The dynamics of the system was modified during the Little Ice Age (LIA, 1350-1850), under the combined effects of a climatic cooling that modified the dynamics of the system, and the increasing effect of anthropization forcing (land use, deforestation, damming, …). The evolution of hydroclimatic variations since the end of the LIA corresponds to a decrease in the frequency of floods and the overall decrease in rainfall, favoring the impact of human activities which became increasingly important until the 20th century (canalization of the river, construction of dams...). The industrial revolution and mechanization led to a drastic increase in sediment flows in most major rivers, due to deforestation, deep destructuring of cultivated soils and the generalization of intensive farming (Fanget et al., 2013). In the 1950s, this signal is reversed with the proliferation of dams in many rivers, which generates a reduction in sediment load from upstream to downstream.Sedimentological and chronostratigraphic studies of 17 coredrills complementing an existing dataset on the deltaic plain (Arnaud-Fassetta & Suc, 2015; Amorosi et al., 2013, Vella et al., 2005, 2008), as well as on the prodelta (Jouet, 2007; Fanget et al, 2012, 2014) enabled to the construction of well-constrained stratigraphic correlations, allowing to specify the stratigraphic architecture of the delta and the spatio-temporal evolution of the different lobes composing the Rhone deltaic edifice (lobes of St Ferréol, Ulmet, Peccaïs, Bras de Fer and then Roustan chronologically). The variation of sediment fluxes was evaluated for the different sequences of deltaic progradation phases. This calculation was made possible by the contribution of new dating of cores that helped at constraining the sequential evolution of the lobes. In addition, numerous geochemical data obtained by XRF are carried out on samples of these cores and make it possible to link the deposition of the various sedimentary lobes with the potential contribution of the various sub-watersheds of the Rhone. All these data highlight contrasting periods corresponding to the pre-LIA period (with an increasing impact of human activities on the landscape since the late Neolithic period), the LIA period, the post-LIA period, the industrial revolution and finally the “anthropocene".)

Sediment structures including submarine banks and dune fields are ubiquitous on tide-dominated continental inner shelves such as in the Iroise Sea. These are of current interest to human activities in several respects: they constitute an obstacle to navigation, they are dredged for beach nourishment or exploited for marine aggregates. In addition, the morphodynamic characterising of these sedimentary structures improves the knowledge of the sediment transfers that occur in coastal areas. This study documents a submarine sand dune field located along the northern flank of the Goulet channel connecting the Bay of Brest to the Iroise Sea and the Bay of Biscay. Subject to a macrotidal regime with strong currents, and to large waves during storm events, this sedimentary system features large dunes with very high migration rates. The analysis of six bathymetric datasets (from March 2013 to October 2019) allows specifying the morphodynamic characteristics of this small dune field about 3.5 km in length and 500 m in width. These dunes have heights on the order of 0.5 m–3.7 m with migration rates that can vary significantly within the range from 10 m/yr to 70 m/yr. The results highlight that the ebb tidal current and slope of the channel are the main factors controlling the evolution of these biogenic sandy structures migrating offshore (SW). Furthermore, seasonal variations in coastal hydrodynamics forcing, driven by tidal currents, appear to affect the temporal and spatial evolution of the dunes at this shorter time scale. This paper proposes a model of sediment transport patterns at the mouth of the bay of Brest according dune field characteristic, strong ebb current and residual tidal gyre.

International audience; There is increasing concern with anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions that ocean warming, in concert with summer and winter precipitation changes, will induce anoxia in multiple ocean basins, such as in the Mediterranean Sea. Although the hydrological changes in the eastern Mediterranean are quite well constrained, quantitative evidence of changes in sea surface temperature (SST) and winter rainfall in the western Mediterranean across the past interglacials is relatively scarce. In this study, we use a combination of trace element (Ba/Ca and Mg/Ca) and stable oxygen isotope composition of planktonic foraminifera from a sediment core located off the Golo River, Corsica (northern Tyrrhenian Sea) to reconstruct variations in SSTs and sea surface salinities (SSS) during the Holocene (MIS 1) and warm periods of the past two interglacials (MIS 5, 7). We also analyse PMIP3 model simulations for the mid-Holocene to investigate the mechanism for moisture transport in the western Mediterranean. Our Mg/Ca-SSTs, Ba/Ca-salinity and derived δ18O-seawater records suggest that the warm periods of the past interglacials were characterized by high river discharge and lower SSS in the northern Tyrrhenian Sea. Since this region is ideally located on the trajectory of wintertime storm tracks across the North Atlantic into the Mediterranean Sea and is also outside the influence of the ITCZ-controlled summer monsoon rains, we suggest enhanced winter rainfall during the past interglacials. Our analysis of PMIP3 model simulations for mid-Holocene also support increased south-westerly moisture transport into the western Mediterranean originating from the North Atlantic. We also find evidence that long-term amplitude of the salinity decrease tightly follows eccentricity. We suggest that these hydrologic changes in the western Mediterranean, and the northern Mediterranean borderlands as a whole, were a contributing factor, together with local cyclogenesis and African summer monsoon rainfall, to basin-wide anoxia in the past. Our findings offer new constraints to the amplitude and cause of winter rainfall changes in the Mediterranean during past warm periods.

International audience; High-resolution multichannel seismic reflection data that spans significant parts of the Mozambique margin offshore the Zambezi River permits the study of the Oligocene to present architectural evolution of the Zambezi turbidite system. In this time frame, five major depositional units are recognized that evidence a widespread spatial and temporal occurrence of both turbiditic and contouritic sedimentation. They indicate that the sedimentary regime within the turbidite system changed from dominantly aggradational during the Oligocene to mainly erosional during Miocene to an interplay of erosional and depositional processes during the Plio-Quaternary. Different episodes of incision, linked with the Serpa Pinto, Angoche and Zambezi valleys, are recognized in the upstream portion of the Zambezi Fan and highlight a westward (anticlockwise) shift of feeding axes. The central portion of the Zambezi Valley was affected by a progressive structural doming during the Miocene. The dominance of long-lasting erosional processes generated by the continuous rise of the seabed led to a deep entrenchment of the Zambezi Valley. This tectonically-controlled over-incision is believed to be the cause of the absence of Miocene levees, and has played an important role in the stabilization of the valley at its current position. Finally, our study revealed a quasi-constant development of contourite accumulations since the Late Miocene that occur most often synchronous with turbiditic sedimentation. The present study offers unique insight into the controls and stages of development of one of the largest turbidite systems in the world and demonstrates especially its susceptibility to structural activity.

International audience; The Mozambique and Madagascar margins present major rivers that are responsible for the discharge of large amounts of terrestrial organic matter (OM) which can influence carbon cycling in marine environments. Therefore, the Mozambique channel represents a unique case to study the fate of the organic carbon in deepwater domains. Using a new and extensive data set of sedimentary OM collected from sediment traps, seafloor sediments and core sediments, we address the origin of the OM that is transported and deposited in the Mozambique Channel, its degradation state and preservation conditions. A Rock-Eval 6 survey allowed us to characterize the origin and amount of OM from shallow to deep-water turbidite systems, between 500 and 4400 m water depth. Rock-Eval 6 performed on suspended sediments within particle traps at 47 m above the seabed show that the OM is transported into the deep-water domain with relatively high TOC (between 1.5 and 2.5%). However, the OM is largely oxidized close to the water-sediment interface (Oxygen Index >300 mg CO 2 /g TOC). Seafloor sediments sampled to a maximum depth of 40 cm show lower TOC values compared to those collected from particle traps suggesting that the degradation of the OM is mainly active at the water-sediment interface. Small concentrations of OM are preserved within the recent sediments of the distal area of the Zambezi turbidite system below 2500 m water depth (TOC < 0.5%). Rock-Eval results show that core sediments from the Majunga slope (NW margin of Madagascar) and the Zambezi slope (Mozambique margin) contain the highest concentration of terrestrial OM (TOC between 1 and 2%). However, the OM within core sediments from the deep-water domain is largely oxidized and degraded, probably due to the conjugate effect of low sediment accumulation rates (SARs) and high permeabilities of the coarse-grained sediments. Consequently, the deep-water domain of the Mozambique Channel does not seem to be an important sink of terrestrial OM. This process is reinforced by important bottom water currents which induce the remobilization and transport of seafloor sediments that lead to higher oxygen exposure time in the uppermost centimeters of sediments.

International audience; The Bay of Brest (BB) is a mixed, tide-dominated estuarine system. The shore terraces of this bay are occupied by modern free-living (calcareous) coralline algae locally termed “maerl”, organized in bed-like morphologies (rhodolith deposits). Cores retrieved from around the bay reveal fossilized primitive maerl beds of Holocene age, interbedded in sandy-silt sedimentation. The alternation between biogenic constructions and estuarine sedimentation may provide evidence of varying environmental conditions of the late-Holocene period. This paper mainly focuses on the results of chronostratigraphic and bio-sedimentological interpretations of coring data collected in less than 15 m of water depth in an attempt to decipher the main stages of maerl colonization in the bay. In particular, this study raises several significant points allowing to draw links between centennial to millennial-scale climatic changes in marine estuary sedimentation and episodes within the development of maerl biocenoses. The paleo-bathymetry of the coastal terraces has not changed significantly over the last 5000 years. Yet, the first maerl occurrence only appeared around 2000 cal yr B.P., likely showing that the environmental conditions were not favorable for their emergence prior to that time. Pioneer maerl beds developed on coarse shell deposits inherited from the paleostorms affecting the Atlantic coasts during the colder climatic period of the Iron Age (3100–1950 cal yr B.P.). The accumulations then aggraded at various and discontinuous rates, sometimes reaching up to 2.1 m/kyr. Maerl beds temporarily disappeared in the southern part of the Bay of Brest when sedimentation rates increased throughout the bay during the Dark-Age cold period (1375–1250 cal yr B.P.), suggesting that maerl formations could not keep up with sedimentation rate exceeded a certain threshold. Muddy sedimentation conditions also dramatically changed on two occasions, with the establishment of coarse storm levels, set at the intervals 825–600 cal yr B.P. (MWP) and 113–0 cal yr B.P. But maerl deposits reseed the environment as a result of each new cold period, demonstrating the persistence of such coralline algae against drastic palaeoenvironmental changes in coastal areas.

How and when sediment moves from shallow marine to deep-water environments is an important and poorly understood control on basin-scale sediment dispersal patterns, the evolution of continental margins, and hydrocarbon exploration in deep-water basins. The Golo River (Eastern Corsica, France), its delta, canyons, and fans provide a unique opportunity to study sediment routing from source to sink in a relatively compact depositional system. We studied this system using an array of high-frequency seismic data, multi-beam bathymetry, and five cores for lithology and age control. Movement of sediment to deep water was controlled by interactions between the Golo River, the Golo Delta, and shelf-penetrating submarine canyons. Sediment moved to deep water when lobes of the Golo Delta prograded to the heads of these canyons, or when the Golo River itself flowed directly into one of them. Sand accumulated in canyons, deep-water channels, and submarine fans during glacial periods of low sea level, while mud was deposited throughout the slope, in the relatively short reach of leveed-confined channels, and in the mud-rich fringes around the sandy fans. During interglacial periods of high sea level, the basin was blanketed by mud-rich deposits up to 10 m thick interbedded with distinctive carbonate-rich sediments. Deposition rates in the basin ranged from 0.07 m/ka to 0.59 m/ka over the last 450 ka. Mud deposition rates remained relatively constant at ∼0.16 m/ka during all time periods, while sand deposition only happened during glacial periods of low sea level with an average rate of 0.24 m/ka. In addition to sea-level controls on sediment delivery, avulsions of the Golo River and its deltaic lobes preferentially routed sediment down either the North or South Golo canyons. Thus, while the larger, sequence-scale architecture of the basin is controlled by allogenic sea level forcing, millennial-scale autogenic processes operating on the shelf and in deep water shaped the distribution of sand and mud, and the internal geometry of the deltas and submarine fans that they fed. While some aspects of the Golo system are characteristic of steep, tectonically active margins, others such as the nature of connections between rivers and shelf-penetrating submarine canyons are observed in most margins with active submarine fans regardless of their tectonic setting.

International audience; The morphology and present-day sediment distribution of the Zambezi turbidite system was investigated using new bathymetric and sub-bottom profiler data as part of the PAMELA research project. The Zambezi turbidite system is composed of two depositional systems: a channelized fan (the Zambezi Fan) and a semi-confined fan (in the Intermediate Basin). The Zambezi Fan includes the Zambezi Valley, which is deeply incised in the Mozambique Channel and is more than three times as large and deep as the great Tanzanian and North Atlantic Mid-Ocean channels. The erosion in the Zambezi Valley is evidenced by its V-shaped morphology and the existence of a U-shaped thalweg affected by several generations of incisions. Based on echo facies and cores from literature, sediments of the Zambezi Fan are dominantly coarse-grained and fine-grained overbank deposits are infrequent. The distal portion of the Zambezi Fan is a main depositional area where typical transparent wedged-shape seismic bodies are interpreted as terminal lobes. Seismic facies in the Intermediate Basin are thought to represent mostly fine-grained turbidites intercalated with infrequent coarse-grained sheet-like turbidites. Hydrodynamic circulation (from surface eddies to the deep circulation of NADW) appears to have a great impact on the Mozambique Channel sedimentation and is suggested (1) to be involved in the delivery of the Zambezi River sediments along the Mozambique margin, (2) to entrain the upper suspended load of turbidity currents, contributing to the absence of fine-grained sedimentation and (3) to contribute to the erosion of the valley flanks leading to the exceptionally great dimensions of the valley

Marine mud belts represent potential continuous high-resolution climatic, environmental and anthropogenic archives. In this study, a geochemical record of the Gulf of Lions mud belt, which receives sediments from the Rhône watershed and to a lesser extent from the Languedoc region, is reported from Core KSGC-31. The effects of natural climatic changes and possible anthropogenic disturbances on Holocene sedimentation were ascertained by analysing sedimentation rates, chemical weathering (Al2O3/K2O) and sediment-source shifts (neodymium isotopic ratios; εNd). Measurements of elemental and isotopic lead were used to trace the source and determine the potential vectors of anthropogenic contaminations over the Holocene. High εNd values, recorded from 9000 to 3000 calibrated annum before present (cal. a BP) and around 1500 and 600 cal. a BP, are interpreted as an increase in sediment transport from the Alpine crystalline massifs to the sea induced by enhanced hydro-sedimentary conditions upstream. During the early and middle Holocene, low and stable weathering conditions were persistent, while the late Holocene was characterized by higher and more fluctuating weathering conditions. Sudden changes in the 206Pb/207Pb ratio observed during the Roman and Medieval periods suggest clear shifts in lead source from a natural Holocene background to late Holocene anthropogenic contaminations. Even though those shifts are coeval with atmospheric lead contaminations from Spain and Germany recorded in several sediment and ice archives, the local origin (the Cévennes) and the fluvial contamination is more likely in these cases. Those findings are contemporaneous with historical mining records in the Cévennes and point to an intensification of the merchant shipping.

International audience; Contourites are common morphological features along continental margins where currents encounter the seafloor. They can provide long-term archives of palaeoceanography, may be prone to sediment instability, and can have a great potential for hydrocarbon exploration. Despite their importance and increasingly recognised ubiquitous occurrence worldwide, the link between oceanographic processes and contourite features is poorly constrained. In particular, it is unclear under which specific conditions sediments are mobilised, modified and deposited by bottom currents. Here, we aim to determine key bottom current characteristics (velocity and bottom shear stress) affecting contourite deposition, by assuming that recent oceanographic regimes may be extended back in time over the past glacial-interglacial cycles, with strong winter circulation assumed similar to glacial conditions and weak summer circulation to interglacials. We present an integrated study from the NW Mediterranean Sea that couples results of the MARS3D hydrodynamic model with high-resolution sedimentological and geophysical data (piston cores, multibeam bathymetry and high resolution seismic data). Near bottom circulation was modelled during winter and summer 2013 as representative of past periods of high and low current intensity, respectively. Model results match well with the extent of contourite depositional systems and their different localised morphologic elements. We deduce that higher intensity events control the formation of erosional features such as moats and abraded surfaces. The heterogeneous distribution of bottom-current intensity on slopes explains the development of different types of contourite drifts. Plastered drifts form in zones of low bottom-current velocities constrained upslope and downslope by higher current velocities. Separated elongated mounded drifts develop where fast bottom-currents decelerate at foot of the slope. In contrast, no mounded contourite morphologies develop when the current velocity is homogeneous across the slope, especially in margins prone to downslope sediment transport processes. In confined basins, gyres may transport sediment in suspension from a margin with a high sediment supply to an adjacent starved margin, favouring the development of fine-grained contourites in the latter. Our results provide new insights into how detailed bottom-circulation modelling and seafloor geomorphological analyses can improve the understanding of palaeoflow-regimes, at least over time spans when the overall paleogeography and the distribution of contourite drifts is comparable to present-day conditions. The approach of coupled hydrodynamic models and geomorphological interpretations proposed here for depositional, erosional and mixed contourite features may be used to understand other areas affected by bottom currents, and for a better conceptual understanding of bottom-current processes and their interactions with the seafloor. © 2019 Elsevier B.V.

The Zambezi River rises at the center of southern Africa, flows across the low-relief Kalahari Plateau, meets Karoo basalt, plunges into Victoria Falls, follows along Karoo rifts, and pierces through Precambrian basement to eventually deliver its load onto the Mozambican passive margin. Reflecting its polyphase evolution, the river is subdivided into segments with different geological and geomorphological character, a subdivision finally fixed by man’s construction of large reservoirs and faithfully testified by sharp changes in sediment composition. Pure quartzose sand recycled from Kalahari desert dunes in the uppermost tract is next progressively enriched in basaltic rock fragments and clinopyroxene. Sediment load is renewed first downstream of Lake Kariba and next downstream of Lake Cahora Bassa, documenting a stepwise decrease in quartz and durable heavy minerals. Composition becomes quartzo-feldspathic in the lower tract, where most sediment is supplied by high-grade basements rejuvenated by the southward propagation of the East African rift. Feldspar abundance in Lower Zambezi sand has no equivalent among big rivers on Earth and far exceeds that in sediments of the northern delta, shelf, and slope, revealing that provenance signals from the upper reaches have ceased to be transmitted across the routing system after closure of the big dams. This high-resolution petrologic study of Zambezi sand allows us to critically reconsider several dogmas, such as the supposed increase of mineralogical “maturity” during long-distance fluvial transport, and forges a key to unlock the rich information stored in sedimentary archives, with the ultimate goal to accurately reconstruct the evolution of this mighty river flowing across changing African landscapes since the late Mesozoic.

The purpose of this study is to differentiate and characterise contouritic sands in two different locations with variable sediment compositions (siliciclastic and bioclastic) based on a multiproxy approach that includes the analysis of sedimentary texture, semi-quantitative geochemistry, microfacies and ichnological information, as well as a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) applied to geochemical and sedimentary data on sediment cores. The integration of sedimentological analyses and the PCA permits also to the differentiation between fine-grained deep-water deposits such as hemipelagites, muddy contourites and hyperpycnites. A depositional model is proposed here, based on geochemical and sedimentological characteristics of the Holocene-highstand Mozambique Channel upper slope sands, and glacial-lowstand Corsica Contourite Depositional System middle slope sands. The upper continental slope of the Mozambican margin is characterised by siliciclastic sandy contourites, muddy contourites and muddy hyperpycnites. Mozambique siliciclastic sandy contourites constitute large accumulations of well-sorted very fine to coarse sand with evidences of strong winnowing and reworking under high-energy conditions. The sedimentary facies represents highstand contourite sands and shows a reversely-graded trend. The contourite drift on the Pianosa ridge (eastern flank of the Corsica Trough) consists of bioclastic sandy and muddy contourites and hemipelagites. Bioclastic sandy contourites are made up of shallow-marine winnowed bioclasts with a reversely- and normally-graded trend and represent lowstand contourite sands. The PCA in the two environments —showing a distinctive geochemical signal— allows for differentiation of the contourite deposits. In siliciclastic sands, reworking is marked by an accumulation of Si, Zr, and Sr in fine- to medium-grained sands. In bioclastic sands, reworking is less evident but it is characterised by accumulations of Ca and Sr. The reworking and winnowing bottom current effects are also observed at the microfacies scale. Both types of contourite deposits show evidences of intermittent depositional conditions depending on the ichnodiversity, distribution and abundance of trace fossils. This work is useful to discriminate similar fine-grained deposits in different continental margins which would contribute to a better understanding of sedimentary deposits and processes in deep-marine environments.

International audience; Submarine gravity flow processes on carbonate platform slopes can lead to the deposition of calciturbidite and calcidebrite beds on the adjacent deep-water seafloor. Such deposits have been previously found to occur more frequently during sea-level highstands, leading to increased export of carbonates to the deep sea during interglacial periods. Here, we document a new occurrence of these types of event beds in cores near a series of volcano-cored carbonate platforms in the Mozambique Channel (SW Indian Ocean), describing them from a sedimentological perspective and analyzing the controls on their distribution. 32 event beds, located near four isolated platforms, are composed primarily of uncoated skeletal grains from primarily shallow-water and planktic taxa. Compositional analysis shows that planktic foraminifera are hydrodynamically sorted such that they form a greater proportion of the upper parts of event beds. Age models based on foraminifer δ18O isotope data allow for precise (ky-scale) dating of each gravity flow event; results show that events occurred with frequencies ranging from 2 to 4 events per 100,000 years over the past ~ 800 kyr regardless of the phase within the sea-level cycle (i.e., transgressive, regressive, highstand or lowstand). However, events were most frequent during periods, both relative and absolute, of highest sea level, and are therefore interpreted to be controlled in part by sea-level status or change, though additional causes are also possible.

The Golo River drains a steep catchment (average gradient of 30 m km−1, surface of 1214 km2) in the northeast part of Corsica Island, delivering sediments to the Ligurian Sea. In this study, we review and revise the geologic map and constrain the extent of the Golo coastal alluvial plain formations and their relative and absolute chronology. To update the surface extent of each formation, we performed a geomorphologic analysis with DEMs and satellite imagery data coupled with an extensive pedogenic and sedimentary field observations database, including a new borehole of 117,4 m depth. Additionally, we performed in-situ cosmogenic 10Be analysis from a depth-profile in the well-preserved alluvial terrace Fy2, yielding a minimum age of 70 ka for its emplacement. Our new chronology, based on cosmogenic 10Be and soil chronosequences, implies older ages than those previously obtained with luminescence methods. Soil mixing by bioturbation is proposed as a possibility to explain differences between luminescence and 10Be ages. In this scenario, 10Be dates the original deposition of the alluvial terrace, while luminescence dates a later soil development. We highlighted at least five outcropping alluvial terraces in the Golo coastal plain, which are controlled by sea-level fluctuations and were most likely deposited during past sea-level highstands (close to present-day sea-level). Moreover, we identified from a borehole more than 117 m of coarse fluvial sediments in the plain, that do not outcrop at the surface. New cosmogenic 26Al/10Be burial ages suggest that this sedimentary unit results from a thick accumulation of fluvial material filling a zone significantly affected by subsidence, probably accommodated by a normal fault during the Early Quaternary.

International audience; Evidences for active fluid seepages have been discovered along the Zambezi continental slope (offshore Southern Mozambique). These seepages are mostly associated with pockmarks which are aligned along a trend parallel to the slope and running closely upstream of the headwall scarp of a wide zone of slope destabilization. Fluid seepages are interpreted as a potential trigger for the slope destabilization. Acoustic anomalies within the water column have been interpreted as related to moderate bubble seepages mostly located outside and only punctually inside the destabilization zone. Exploration with the SCAMPI towed camera system in the widest pockmark (diameter 200 m wide) has shown fluid seepages associated to authigenic carbonate crusts and possibly bacterial mats. These fluid seepages are also associated to the presence of chemiosynthetic organisms (Vesicomyidae and Thyasiridae bivalves, Siboglinidae tubeworms). The sampled gas in the sediment corresponds mainly to CH4 of microbial origin, generated by hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis from a substrate of organic origin, i.e. a conventional process of genesis of microbial gas in the marine domain. No evidence for thermogenic gas was detected. Another type of pockmarks has been observed within the core of the slope destabilization zone. Most of these pockmarks are inactive in terms of fluid seepage at present time and are associated to carbonate buildups forming chimney geometries. They probably correspond to diagenetic chimneys of former fluid migration pathways that have been exhumed during the mass sliding and the surrounding depression are related to recurrent activity of strong lateral slope currents which have scoured the sediments around. The spatial organization of the slope destabilization features is considered as representative of the temporal evolution of the landslide giving information about the dynamics of slope instability processes. This proposed evolution started by scattered seepages of formation water with dissolved gas. Then free gas seepages appeared notably in the upper part of the slope. This was followed by progressive shallow deformation in the sediments downslope of the main gas seepages. Finally, the whole slope was destabilized forming imbricated landslides exhuming locally former diagenetic chimneys.

This study investigates the Late Quaternary sediment distribution of the Zambezi turbidite system (Mozambique Channel, Western Indian Ocean) from a set of piston cores that characterizes the sedimentation in the Intermediate Basin and in the proximal and distal parts of the Zambezi Fan. Sedimentological and geochemical analyses permit to define variations in sediment composition, sediment accumulation rates and timing of turbiditic deposits over the past 720 kyr. Our study reveals low sediment inputs and rare turbiditic deposits in the Zambezi turbidite system, and the deep (>2,500 m) Mozambique Channel in general, over the studied time interval. The reconstruction of the terrigenous flux in the upper part of the system suggests monsoon-related precipitation changes as the main forcing for riverine inputs variability in the Zambezi system. However, the occurrence of turbiditic deposits in the cores suggests that there is no genetic link between their triggering and evolving climate and sea-level conditions, thus emphasizing transformation of failed (slide-generated) sediment from the continental slope as the main initiation process for turbidity currents in the Zambezi system. Finally, our data highlight regional-scale changes in sedimentary facies through time, interpreted as successive ‘on-off’ switches in the activity of the distal Zambezi Fan, and by extension, regional-scale depocenter shifts. The last one likely occurred at 350 ± 42 kyr, and is concomitant with a significant increase in terrigenous inputs into the proximal Intermediate Basin. It is speculated that this depocenter shift is related to a major southward migration of the Zambezi delta.

International audience; The NW Madagascar continental margin receives high loads of terrigenous particulate organic matter during the wet season and especially linked to extreme events, originating from two major rivers, the Betsiboka and the Mahavavy Rivers. This particulate matter contains a high content of iron minerals from the weathering of red ferruginous/ferralitic soils of Madagascar. The presence of pockmarks, i.e. gas or fluid expulsion features on the continental slope, testifies to past/present methane migration through the sedimentary column, associated with early diagenetic processes. This study globally aims at deciphering the interactions between episodic sedimentation and geochemical processes influenced by fluids upward migration, using a sediment trap mooring and interface sediment cores at two sites on the continental slope. The present-day sedimentation along this margin undergoes two patterns. During the wet season, high continental fluxes generally result in an increase in particle fluxes on the slope. Longshore currents may deflect river plumes alongslope resulting in some periods of low particle flux on the slope during the wet season. During the dry season, the particles collected in the water column are probably originated from sediment remobilization from the shelf and slope. The observed progradation of the Mahavavy River delta and prodelta between 1984 and 2016 argues for an increase in temporary connections of the river with the canyon head during extreme events, inducing pulsed sedimentation offshore. This pulsed sedimentation could be responsible for enhancing pyritization on surface sediments, due to higher inputs of terrigenous organic matter and iron oxides. Finally, methane upward migration also influences the pyritization process through anaerobic oxidation of methane using sulfate as an electron acceptor and methanotrophs associated with this reaction significantly impact the δ13C of organic carbon towards more negative values.

Evidences of sedimentation affected by oceanic circulation, such as nepheloid layers and contourites are often observed along continental slopes. However, the oceanographic processes controlling sedimentation along continental margins remain poorly understood. Multibeam bathymetry and high‐resolution seismic reflection data revealed a contourite depositional system in the Mozambican upper continental slope composed of a contourite terrace (a surface with a gentle seaward slope dominated by erosion) and a plastered drift (a convex‐shape sedimentary deposit). A continuous alongslope channel and a field of sand dunes (mainly migrating upslope), formed during Holocene, were identified in the contourite terrace at the present seafloor. Seismic reflection data of the water column show internal waves and boluses propagating in the pycnocline near the upper slope. The channel and the dunes are probably the result of the interaction of the observed internal waves with the seafloor under two different conditions. The alongslope channel is located in a zone where intense barotropic tidal currents may arrest internal solitary waves, generating a hydraulic jump and focused erosion. On the other hand, upslope migrating dunes may be formed by bottom currents induced by internal solitary waves of elevation propagating landwards in the pycnocline. These small‐scale sedimentary features generated by internal waves are superimposed on large‐scale contouritic deposits, such as plastered drifts and contourite terraces, which are related to geostrophic currents. These findings provide new insights into the oceanographic processes that control sedimentation along continental margins that will help interpretation of palaeoceanographic conditions from the sedimentary record.

Sediment deposition along continental margins and especially close to the outlets of major river systems is highly dynamic and influenced by changing environmental conditions, such as sea-level variations and the shifting of ocean currents. The upper slope of the Mozambique margin (SE Africa) receives its sediments from the Zambezi River and is the largest river-fed deposition center along the Eastern African Margin. Global sea level rise during the last glacial-Holocene transition led to a re-routing of the Zambezi River sediment plume. This caused order-of-magnitude changes in sedimentation rates along the shelf break of the Mozambique margin. The variable sediment input as well as changing organic matter load and quality resulted in non-steady state early diagenesis leading to changes in formation and upward flow of methane. This is reflected in temporally and spatially variable formation conditions of authigenic minerals (such as pyrite), especially at the sulfate-methane transition zone (SMTZ) where upward-diffusing methane is anaerobically oxidized by sulfate. Pyrite accumulations in sediment cores can be used to define the past positioning of SMTZs. The isotopic composition of sulfur in pyrite can provide information about the geochemical and environmental factors (e.g., availability of methane, sulfate, reactive iron) controlling the formation of these authigenic minerals during different times of sediment deposition.We present geochemical data from sediment cores acquired in 2015 during the PAMELA-MOZ4 campaign onboard R/V Pourquoi Pas? offshore Mozambique. A reactive transport model is used to simulate the evolution of early diagenetic conditions over the time of sediment deposition (i.e., the last 27,000 years). By reproducing the currently observed mineral accumulations, the temporal development of methane generation and upward flux, and the past positioning of the SMTZ, can be reconstructed. With this, we are able to put a time constraint on past events of authigenic mineral accumulation and reveal their response to sedimentation rate changes caused by sea-level rise. We further discuss isotope signatures of small-scale diagenetic processes at the Mozambique margin.This research was co-funded by TOTAL and IFREMER as part of the PAMELA scientific project.

Recently acquired data from the Iles Eparses (southwestern Indian Ocean) reveal new information about the geomorphology, depositional processes, and sedimentary deposits on the slopes of atolls and atoll-like platforms. The deposits discussed here lie on the deepwater flanks of isolated, inactive volcanos that are capped by shallow, relatively flat carbonate platforms 45–210 km2 in area. Much of the slope geomorphology is controlled by the underlying volcanic edifice. Steep (~25–35°) upper slopes consist of outcrops of volcanic basement, smooth banks, failure scarps, and channels. Sedimentary features seen in the lower slope and proximal basin (2000–3500 m deep) consist of channels, levees, lobes, and mass transport deposits (MTDs). In places, channels terminate 13–18 km from the platform margin, ending in lobes up to 3.5 km across, a feature not often seen in modern carbonates. In the subsurface, MTDs are present near all platforms. Within MTDs, seismic character is variable, often consists of chaotic reflections indicative of sediment gravity flow processes. Subsurface units with organized (retro- or progradational) reflections are interpreted as turbidite lobes or MTDs with compressional features. Core taken within lobes and near the base of slopes reveal decimeter-scale turbidites and debrites composed primarily of graded and massive bioclastic grainstones and packstones with abundant neritic skeletal components, interbedded with hemipelagic aragonitic and clay-rich foraminiferal ooze. Slope depositional processes are therefore primarily gravity-driven and occur at different scales; i.e., bed-scale turbidites and muds may be remobilized and redeposited through slope failure and deposition of large MTDs. Dominant wind direction may also play a role in slope sedimentation: leeward slopes are generally less rugose and show increased sedimentation at the toe of the slope. This study thus provides new insight into depositional systems surrounding atoll-like carbonate platforms, and provides a new analogue for similar deposits in the geologic record.

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.

Understanding the impact of tectonic activity and volcanism on long-term (i.e. millions years) evolution of shallow-water carbonate platforms represents a major issue for both industrial and academic perspectives. The southern central Mozambique Channel is characterized by a 100 km-long volcanic ridge hosting two guyots (the Hall and Jaguar banks) and a modern atoll (Bassas da India) fringed by a large terrace. Dredge sampling, geo- physical acquisitions and submarines videos carried out during recent oceanographic cruises revealed that sub- marine fl at-top seamounts correspond to karsti fi ed and drowned shallow-water carbonate platforms largely covered by volcanic material and structured by a dense network of normal faults. Microfacies and well- constrained stratigraphic data indicate that these carbonate platforms developed in shallow-water tropical envi- ronments during Miocene times and were characterized by biological assemblages dominated by corals, larger benthic foraminifera, red and green algae. The drowning of these isolated carbonate platforms is revealed by the deposition of outer shelf sediments during the Early Pliocene and seems closely linked to (1) volcanic activity typi fi ed by the establishment of wide lava fl ow complexes, and (2) to extensional tectonic deformation associat- ed with high-offset normal faults dividing the fl at-top seamounts into distinctive structural blocks. Explosive vol- canic activity also affected platform carbonates and was responsible for the formation of crater(s) and the deposition of tuff layers including carbonate fragments. Shallow-water carbonate sedimentation resumed during Late Neogene time with the colonization of topographic highs inherited from tectonic deformation and volcanic accretion. Latest carbonate developments ultimately led to the formation of the Bassas da India modern atoll. The geological history of isolated carbonate platforms from the southern Mozambique Channel represents a new case illustrating the major impact of tectonic and volcanic activity on the long-term evolution of shallow-water car- bonate platforms

Summary Marine shallow gas characterization challenges industrial and academic research. Shallow gas are a risk for marine infrastructures and a limit to penetration of seismic methods to retrieve information on geological features and soil properties. Gassy areas cannot be investigated using seismic imaging because of the scattering effect of gas bubbles on the acoustic signal. Therefore, combining seismic imaging and marine electrical resistivity tomography (MERT) is considered. We present new geophysical results from the Bay of Concarneau (Brittany, France). This area includes several gassy zones, mainly observed within paleovalleys. We acquired multichannel ultra-high-resolution seismic imaging jointly with MERT data in order to better describe the geology and characterize the soil in presence of gas. Results show that the gassy areas are characterized by low resistivity values, indicating a high porosity of the sediment where gas has accumulated. P-wave velocity and resistivity globally vary in the same way, with low values in unconsolidated sediment filling and increasing values below the erosional surface. Two different laws depending on the depth of the considered area control the relationship between P-wave velocity and resistivity. Higher porosity and water content of the substrate close to the seabed can explain this result.

Megabeds are thick sedimentary layers extending over thousands of square kilometres in deep-sea basins and are thought to result from large slope failures triggered by major external events. Such deposits have been found in at least three areas of the Mediterranean Sea. Although their discovery dates back to the early 1980s, many questions remain concerning their initiation, source area, extent and the nature of their emplacement. One of the largest previously documented megabeds was emplaced during the Last Glacial Maximum across the Balearic Abyssal Plain, with a thickness of 8–10 m in water depths of up to 2800 m. New 3.5 kHz sub-bottom profiles and sediment cores provide greater constraints on the lateral variability of the megabed and allow it to be mapped beyond previous estimates, with a revised areal extent of 90 000– 100 000 km 2. The megabed terminations show a gradual pinchout to the west and an abrupt eastward termination against the steep Sardinia margin. The megabed presents, in seismic profiles and sediment cores, a tripartite subdivision, which most likely corresponds to the changes in flow regimes across the basin, with a central area of sandy facies and an erosional base oriented NNE–SSW; this allows renewed discussions about the sources and triggers of the megabed.

International audience; Over the past ten years, a huge amount of source-to-sink studies have aimed to unravel the tectonic, climatic and other processes that shape the landscape from mountains to the deep ocean. Interestingly, these studies have been mainly dedicated to siliciclastic or mixed systems, for which the connection between drainage basins, continental shelves, slope and basin environments are often well constrained. Here we present a study focusing on a source-to-sink study dedicated to a pure carbonate system, located in the SW Indian Ocean (Glorieuses archipelago). Extensive field sampling and geophysical acquisition across the carbonate platform have allowed us to estimate the composition, the lateral variability, and volumes of neritic sands deposited on the platform top. Additional seismic and bathymetric surveys across the platform interior illustrate the presence of plurimetric sandy bodies deposited along the leeward platform edge, corresponding to the export of carbonate sediments from the platform top toward the platform edge, under the influence of dominant currents and winddriven processes. High-resolution seismic, bathymetric data and sediment cores acquired along the leeward slope and basin adjacent to the carbonate platform highlight the presence of channel-levee complexes and turbiditic lobes, which have accumulated on the seafloor on top of a 250 m-thick sedimentary basin at 2000-3400 m water depth. Our study points out that carbonate sands and aragonitic mud produced on the platform top during the Holocene have been shed to the adjacent basin. We also demonstrate that this routing system was active at least throughout the last three glacial/interglacial cycles. This study has important consequences for our understanding of carbonate sedimentation processes occurring in the vicinity of isolated carbonate platforms: 1 - it highlights the role of oceanographic conditions in the distribution of sediment on a platform top and its export along the platform edge and the adjacent basin; 2 - it contributes to quantify the productivity of a carbonate platform as well as its sediment storage capacity; 3 - a first estimate of a carbonate source-to-sink system is proposed, demonstrating that 0,57 km(3) of sediments have been produced during the Holocene, 0,3 km(3) being presently stored on the platform, and the remaining having been exported to the deep basin.

There is increasing concern with anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions that ocean warming, in concert with summer and winter precipitation changes, will induce anoxia in multiple ocean basins. In particular the Mediterranean Sea is susceptible to severe hydrological changes. Mediterranean hydroclimate is controlled primarily by two phenomena – the latitudinal migration of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone and the North Atlantic climatic processes. While the former brings about the African summer monsoon rainfall the latter drives the wintertime storm tracks into the western Mediterranean. Although the hydrological changes in the eastern Mediterranean are quite well constrained, evidence of past changes in temperature and rainfall in the western Mediterranean across the past interglacials is relatively scarce. In this study, we use trace element and stable isotope composition of planktonic foraminifera from a sediment core off Corsica at the mouth of Golo river in the western Mediterranean to reconstruct variations in sea surface temperature (SST) and sea surface salinities (SSS) during the Holocene and warm periods of the past two interglacials. Our data suggest that the warm periods of the last interglacials were characterised by high river discharge and lower SSS in the northern Tyrrhenian Sea, suggesting increased winter rainfall. We find evidence that enhanced winter rainfall during periods of precession minima and high seasonality across interglacials coincide with changes in the respective eccentricity maxima suggesting a causal link. Our model simulations for representative orbital configurations such as the mid-Holocene support increased south-westerly moisture transport into the western Mediterranean originating from the North Atlantic. We suggest that these hydrologic changes in the western and the northern Mediterranean borderlands were a contributing factor to basin-wide anoxia in the past. Our findings offer new insights into the cause and impact of winter rainfall changes in the Mediterranean during past warm periods.

In the Gulf of Lions (Western Mediterranean), the emplacement of a large (160 km3) mass transport deposit, the Rhone Western Mass Transport Deposit (RWMTD), at the base of slope, aside the Rhone deep-sea fan between 1800 and 2700 m water depth, resulted in a major modification of the sediment routing by clogging a drainage network and blocking at the base of slope sediments that were previously routed into the Valencia channel and the Balearic abyssal plain. The RWMTD was sourced from sediments of the western flank of the Rhone upper fan and the adjacent base of slope. The mass transport deposit is characterized by a transparent seismic facies and sediment cores show that it is composed of a stiff laminated muddy lithofacies characteristic of the Rhone fan turbidites with marked contorted beds indicative of remoulding. AMS radiocarbon dating shows that the RWMTD was emplaced between 19.9 and 21.5 ka cal BP. It is coeval, within dating uncertainties, with the emplacement of a megaturbidite in the Balearic Abyssal Plain and immediately predates a major avulsion of the Rhone turbidite channel that led to the emplacement of an avulsion lobe (the neofan) on top of the RWMTD. It is not possible to affirm a genetic link between these three major gravity events but one can argue that they share a common forcing in relation with massive turbiditic accumulation during the last sea-level lowstand at the end of the Last Glacial Maximum. This study outlines the importance of mass transport deposits in the building of turbidite systems and, more generally, the major control of mass wasting on the routing and dispersal of sediments across continental margins.

The Pianosa Contourite Depositional System (CDS) is located in the Corsica Trough (Northern Tyrrhenian Sea), a confined basin dominated by mass transport and contour currents in the eastern flank and by turbidity currents in the western flank. The morphologic and stratigraphic characterisation of the Pianosa CDS is based on multibeam bathymetry, seismic reflection data (multi-channel high resolution mini GI gun, single-channel sparker and CHIRP), sediment cores and ADCP data. The Pianosa CDS is located at shallow to intermediate water depths (170 to 850 m water depth) and is formed under the influence of the Levantine Intermediate Water (LIW). It is 120 km long, has a maximum width of 10 km and is composed of different types of muddy sediment drifts: plastered drift, separated mounded drift, sigmoid drift and multicrested drift. The reduced tectonic activity in the Corsica Trough since the early Pliocene permits to recover a sedimentary record of the contourite depositional system that is only influenced by climate fluctuations. Contourites started to develop in the Middle–Late Pliocene, but their growth was enhanced since the Middle Pleistocene Transition (0.7–0.9 Ma). Although the general circulation of the LIW, flowing northwards in the Corsica Trough, remained active all along the history of the system, contourite drift formation changed, controlled by sediment influx and bottom current velocity. During periods of sea level fall, fast bottom currents often eroded the drift crest in the middle and upper slope. At that time the proximity of the coast to the shelf edge favoured the formation of bioclastic sand deposits winnowed by bottom currents. Higher sediment accumulation of mud in the drifts occurred during periods of fast bottom currents and high sediment availability (i.e. high activity of turbidity currents), coincident with periods of sea level low-stands. Condensed sections were formed during sea level high-stands, when bottom currents were more sluggish and the turbidite system was disconnected, resulting in a lower sediment influx.

The Mediterranean domain is characterized by a specific climate resulting from the close interplay between atmospheric and marine processes and strongly differentiated regional topographies. Corsica Island, a mountainous area located in the western part of the Mediterranean Sea is particularly suitable to quantify regional denudation rates in the framework of a source-to-sink approach. Indeed, fluvial sedimentation in East-Corsica margin is almost exclusively limited to its alluvial plain and offshore domain and its basement is mainly constituted of quartz-rich crystalline rocks allowing cosmogenic nuclide Be-10 measurements. In this paper, Holocene denudation rates of catchments from the eastern part of the island of Corsica are quantified relying on in situ produced Be-10 concentrations in stream sediments and interpreted in an approach including quantitative geomorphology, rock strength measurement (with a Schmidt Hammer) and vegetation cover distribution. Calculated denudation rates range from 15 to 95 mm ka(-1). When compared with rates from similar geomorphic domains experiencing a different climate setting, such as the foreland of the northern European Alps, they appear quite low and temporally stable. At the first order, they better correlate with rock strength and vegetation cover than with morphometric indexes. Spatial distribution of the vegetation is controlled by morpho-climatic parameters including sun exposure and the direction of the main wet wind, so-called Libecciu'. This distribution, as well as the basement rock strength seems to play a significant role in the denudation distribution. We thus suggest that the landscape reached a geomorphic steady-state due to the specific Mediterranean climate and that Holocene denudation rates are mainly sustained by weathering processes, through the amount of regolith formation, rather than being transport-limited. Al/K measurements used as a proxy to infer present-day catchment-wide chemical weathering patterns might support this assumption.

International audience; During the Pliocene and the Quaternary, the Gulf of Lion, the northern passive margin of the Liguro-Provençal basin in the western Mediterranean Sea, received sediments from a 120 000 km2 drainage area constituted by several structural domains. The denudation of mountainous areas, source of this sedimentary supply, results from complex interactions between tectonics, climate, morphology, and rock erodibility. In this study, denudation rates from the present-day and ranging back to the Quaternary and the Pliocene are quantified using four independent methods allowing an investigation over different time scales: 1) compilation of present-day measured sediment fluxes, 2) determination of catchment-scale cosmogenic denudation rates through measurements of in situ-produced 10Be concentrations in sands sampled at the outlet of present-day rivers, 3) estimation of eroded volumes within catchments using a DEM to quantify long-term averaged Quaternary denudation rates, and 4) quantification of sediment volumes deposited within the marine realm of the Gulf of Lion. The results obtained by these four methods are in agreement within the range of uncertainties. The internal part of the Alps exhibits significantly higher denudation rates (∼700 mm ka-1) than those estimated in the other structural domains: 150-250 mm ka-1 in the foreland Alps, ∼100 mm ka-1 in the Pyrenees, and 55-75 mm ka-1 in the Massif Central. The Alpine domain provides at least 80% of the total eroded volume supplied towards the Gulf of Lion. A quantitative geomorphological approach shows that denudation rates are controlled at the first order by catchment morphologies (slope, relief) over different time scales, suggesting glacial conditioning to be the main driver on denudation from the Quaternary to present-day. Throughout the Pliocene-Quaternary, a doubling of denudation rates related to the mid-Pleistocene Revolution (∼0.9 Ma) is highlighted.

International audience; Long-studied with respect to its sedimentological features (1897), the Bay of Brest (Western Britanny, France) is a textbook example of a tide-dominated estuary. Characterised by macrotidal conditions, this estuary system is sheltered from the open sea (Iroise Sea) by a narrow strait that partitions the wave tide influences and continental/marine inputs. Sediments are supplied to the bay both by rivers (the Aulne and Elorn rivers) and by marine tidal currents. This study presents new analyses of detailed facies and morphological patterns, based on the integration of multisource data compiling seabed sampling, swath and LIDAR bathymetry, and backscatter imagery. The Main Map, at a scale of 1:90,000, contains (1) a sedimentological distribution using the 'Code Manche' classification, (2) a morphological map, and (3) bathymetric mapping which presents the morphology of marine and terrestrial landforms. This work may lay the foundation for a future study on sedimentary transport in a unique and confined coastal environment.

(IF 3.55; Q1); International audience; Little is known about the geological history of the Glorieuses seamount including basic information about its age and origin related to the regional evolution of the southern tip of the Somali Basin. This study focused on describing and reconstructing the long-term stratigraphic evolution of the Glorieuses seamount (SW Indian Ocean) to identify the mechanisms that have occurred through time to finally shape the emerged modern islands. Distinct terrace levels, currently submerged along the flanks of the seamount and surrounding seamounts, have already been interpreted as resulting from successive carbonate development and back-stepping episodes over the last 62 Myr. New isotopic and biostratigraphic dating on the flanks of the seamount, coupled with sequence stratigraphic interpretation of seismic profiles acquired in the adjacent basin, provide new constraints for the Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic vertical evolution of the seamount topped by carbonate platforms and sedimentation in the surrounding deep basin. Even if starved steep slopes prevent a straightforward source-to-sink continuity between the platform and the basin domains, our findings propose a consistent chronostratigraphic framework for the identified seismic markers and sequences in the deep basin, and discuss a long-term geological model that includes the main driving factors behind deposition (volcanic events, subsidence vs uplift phases, climate and hydro-dynamism changes) and their quantitative impact on the evolution of the isolated carbonate sedimentary system. Our results show that: (i) the Glorieuses volcanic seamount emerged from two successive Late Cretaceous magmatic pulses, firstly during the Turonian, then during the Maastrichtian (ii) at least two potential uplift phases are recognized during the Tertiary (Paleogene and/or the Eocene and Tortonian); (iii) basinal sedimentation recorded an abrupt change probably related to major regional hydro-dynamical changes in Late Eocene times in the Western Indian Ocean; (iv) the export of sediments from the platform towards the basin (numerous gravity flow processes) is strongly enhanced after the Mid Miocene, and is probably linked to the onset of the Asian monsoon winds and bipolar circulation. Finally, the Glorieuses seamount, although located in the vicinity of the Comoros islands, appears to have a much longer history and is geologically more comparable to the nearby Seychelles. This long-term study has enabled us to associate the Glorieuses seamount with the SSE-NNW Madagascar-Seychelles alignment rather than with the Comoro hot spot evolution.

The main island of New Caledonia (NC) is surrounded by the second largest barrier reef in the world after the Australian Great Barrier Reef. The Upper Pleistocene evolution of this barrier reef–lagoon complex offers the opportunity to examine the response of a modern mixed tropical siliciclastic/carbonate system to relative sea-level changes and to better constrain the relative role of lagoon backfilling and paleo-drainage system in sediment transfer across the shelf. This paper mainly focuses on the results of chronostratigraphic and sedimentological interpretations of new seismic, bathymetric and coring data collected in the SW NC lagoon. Several significant points are highlighted from this study and allow the construction of a refined model which includes the evolution of both the SW NC mixed shelf and lagoon. New results show that the NC lagoon has not recorded a reciprocal sedimentation during glacial-interglacial sea-level cycles but a unique mixed regime. Strong contrasts are observed and these depend above all on the two lagoon domains: the outer coral plateau and the inner lagoon depression corresponding to a semi-closed proximal basin which is separated from the plateau by a basement ridge. In the depression, clastic sediments remain dominant from early flooding to highstand stages while carbonate sedimentation continued through time across the coral plateau. This spatial contrast between terrigenous and carbonate deposits was maintained throughout various sea level cycles. Thus, even if spatial segregation is also observed for other examples of mixed shelf environments, the SW NC shelf appears quite unique in comparison to the other mixed systems when considering conceptual models of reciprocal sedimentation. Moreover, the presence of a semi-enclosed lagoon depression allows the preservation of larger volume of terrigenous deposits. This semi-filled geometry of the lagoon is assumed to be the result of several factors: a significant subsidence that offers accommodation for aggrading deposits, evacuation through channels of sediments mobilized during storm events, the tidal currents, and fairweather wave dynamics. Lastly, the inherited morphologic and structures may explain the geomorphic evolution of the “escarpment margin” type of the SW NC rimmed shelf and its differentiation with the opposite SE NC ramp type shelf.

International audience; The abundant ichthyofauna on the archaeological site of Beg ar Loued reflects a high consumption of fish by people occupying the island of Molène during the Early Bronze Age. This raises the question of fishing techniques employed, especially from nearby stone fish traps, which are very numerous on the foreshores of Brittany. This study provides an inventory of these structures on the foreshore of the archipelago of Molène, based on aerial, pedestrian, underwater, and high-resolution bathymetric surveys. Functional stone fish traps during the Early Bronze Age were identified from their position in relation to former tide levels. A total of 36 (proven or likely) structures have been identified around the archipelago. Only 10 of them were functional at the Early Bronze Age. Other traps are located at a lower depth, indicating an earlier use, probably from the early Neolithic.; La présence d’une abondante ichtyofaune sur le site de Beg ar Loued témoigne d’une forte consommation de poissons par les populations ayant occupé l’île de Molène à l’âge du Bronze ancien, soulevant la question des techniques de pêche employées et la présence éventuelle de barrages de pêcherie à proximité. Cette étude dresse l’inventaire de ce type de structure sur les estrans de l’archipel, en s’appuyant sur une série de prospections aériennes, pédestres et subaquatiques, ainsi que sur un ensemble de relevés bathymétriques à haute résolution. Les pêcheries fonctionnelles à l’âge du Bronze ancien ont été repérées en se basant sur leur position par rapport aux anciens niveaux de marée. Un total de 36 structures, avérées ou possibles, a été identifié autour de l’archipel. Seulement 10 d'entre elles étaient fonctionnelles au Bronze ancien. Les autres pièges sont situés à une altitude plus basse, indiquant une utilisation plus ancienne, probablement dès le début du Néolithique.

International audience; Mixed turbidite-contourite systems can be found in oceans where bottom currents and turbidity currents interact. The Zambezi turbidite system, located in the Mozambique Channel (SW Indian Ocean), is one of the largest sedimentary systems in the world in length and area of the related catchments. The oceanic circulation in the Mozambique Channel is intense and complex, dominated by eddies flowing southwards and deep currents flowing northwards along the Mozambican margin. Current measurements obtained from moorings at 3400–4050 m water depth in the Zambezi and Tsiribihina valleys show periods of intense currents at the seafloor with peaks of 40–50 cm s−1 that last up to one month and are not related to turbidity currents. These strong bottom-current events are correlated with a change in current direction and an increase in temperature. The periods of current intensification may be related to eddies, since they present similar frequencies (around 7 per year). Moreover, modelling results show that during periods of intense deep circulation an anticyclonic eddy is present between the Mozambican slope and the centre of the Mozambique Channel, which may block the northward transport of the deep water mass and thus enhance the southward transport along the western slope of Madagascar. According to our hydrodynamic modelling of the circulation near the seafloor, intense currents are often present along the Zambezi Valley, especially along the valley flanks. Multi-channel seismic reflection data show that the Zambezi turbidite system does not show the typical characteristics of turbidite systems, being dominated by erosional processes, which mainly affect the valley flanks. Levees associated with the valley are absent in the main axis of the system. The effect of bottom currents on sedimentation in the basin is evidenced by the low sedimentation rates that witness winnowing in the basin, the presence of contouritic sand in the Zambezi Valley flanks and the abundance of current-related bedforms observed in multibeam bathymetry and seismic data. The intense oceanic processes observed in the Mozambique Channel may transport a large part of the fine sediment out of the basin and erode the seafloor even at great depths. Therefore, the Zambezi turbidite system could at present be considered as a mixed turbidite-contourite system, with important implications for source-to-sink studies.

International audience; Subaqueous sand dunes are common bedforms on continental shelves dominated by tidal and geostrophic currents. However, much less is known about sand dunes in deep-marine settings that are affected by strong bottom currents. In this study, dune fields were identified on drowned isolated carbonate platforms in the Mozambique Channel (south-west Indian Ocean). The acquired data include multibeam bathymetry, multi-channel high-resolution seismic reflection data, sea floor imagery, a sediment sample and current measurements from a moored current meter and hull-mounted acoustic Doppler current profiler. The dunes are located at water depths ranging from 200 to 600 m on the slope terraces of a modern atoll (Bassas da India Atoll) and within small depressions formed during tectonic deformation of drowned carbonate platforms (Sakalaves Seamount and Jaguar Bank). Dunes are composed of bioclastic medium size sand, and are large to very large, with wavelengths of 40 to 350 m and heights of 0·9 to 9·0 m. Dune migration seems to be unidirectional in each dune field, suggesting a continuous import and export of bioclastic sand, with little sand being recycled. Oceanic currents are very intense in the Mozambique Channel and may be able to erode submerged carbonates, generating carbonate sand at great depths. A mooring located at 463 m water depth on the Hall Bank (30 km west of the Jaguar Bank) showed vigorous bottom currents, with mean speeds of 14 cm sec−1 and maximum speeds of 57 cm sec−1, compatible with sand dune formation. The intensity of currents is highly variable and is related to tidal processes (high-frequency variability) and to anticyclonic eddies near the seamounts (low-frequency variability). This study contributes to a better understanding of the formation of dunes in deep-marine settings and provides valuable information about carbonate preservation after drowning, and the impact of bottom currents on sediment distribution and sea floor morphology. © 2018 The Authors. Sedimentology © 2018 International Association of Sedimentologists

In this study, the model H(i) = 109.6103 + C1 × F1(i) + C2 × F2(i) + … + C33 × F33(i) obtained from depth modelling based on 33 recent benthic foraminifer species distribution, has been applied to the fossil benthic foraminifers from the borehole GDEC-4-2 drilled at a water depth of 491 m, in the East-Corsica basin, covering the last 550,000 years. The obtained variations of the paleo-depths show a medium correlation with the oscillations of the relative sea level and also with the fluctuations of the oxygen isotopic ratio (δ18O G. bulloides and δ18O C. pachyderma–C. wuellerstorfi). This newly developed transfer function is accompanied by an error margin of ± 86 m, suggesting that this model will probably be more suitable for a time scale of the order of a million years where sea level variations are recorded with larger amplitudes. Without considering these problems related to amplitudes, it also turns out that the “eustatic” signal of the microfauna is accompanied by a “trophic” signal, which should not to be neglected, especially at a millennial scale time resolution. Thus, the application of this method would require taking into account the bottom trophic effects strongly controlling the distribution of benthic foraminifer assemblages.

International audience; A dense grid of high- and very high resolution seismic data, together with piston cores and borehole data providing time constraints, enables us to reconstruct the history of the Bourcart canyon head in the western Mediterranean Sea during the last glacial/interglacial cycle. The canyon fill is composed of confined channel–levee systems fed by a series of successively active shelf fluvial systems, originating from the west and north. Most of the preserved infill corresponds to the interval between Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 3 and the early deglacial (19 cal ka BP). Its deposition was strongly controlled by a relative sea level that impacted the direct fluvial/canyon connection. During a period of around 100 kyr between MIS 6 and MIS 2, the canyon “prograded” by about 3 km. More precisely, several parasequences can be identified within the canyon fill. They correspond to forced-regressed parasequences (linked to punctuated sea-level falls) topped by a progradational-aggradational parasequence (linked to a hypothetical 19-ka meltwater pulse (MWP)). The bounding surfaces between forced-regressed parasequences are condensed intervals formed during intervals of relative sediment starvation due to flooding episodes. The meandering pattern of the axial incision visible within the canyon head, which can be traced landward up to the Agly paleo-river, is interpreted as the result of hyperpycnal flows initiated in the river mouth in a context of increased rainfall and mountain glacier flushing during the early deglacial.

International audience; The timing, routing, and processes of sediment transfer from the continents to the oceans at millennial time-scale are still largely unknown. The potential of turbidite systems (dominantly deposited during sea-level lowstands) to record global or regional environmental fluctuations is usually under-exploited because of the difficulty to obtain robust chronostratigraphic constraints in turbiditic deposits, and therefore to tie changes in sedimentary processes to environmental fluctuations. We were able to obtain a millennial-scale chronostratigraphy based on oxygen isotopes of the scarce foraminifera preserved in turbiditic deposits of the Rhone Turbidite System within the Western Mediterranean. Our results show that 1) objective criteria can be defined for the selection of foraminifera preserved within the pelagic intervals between the turbiditic sequences, in order to obtain a reliable isotope stratigraphy; 2) turbidites triggered by hyperpycnal currents are described for the first time within the Rhone Turbidite System. They are related to the periods of direct fluvial connection with the canyon head (during the sea-level lowstand and early rise), and to a period of high sediment flux in relation to the massive recession of the Rhone glaciers in the Alps; 3) the lithofacies change passing from hyperpycnal to “Bouma-type” is dated at ca 19 cal. ka BP, which might correspond to an acceleration of sea-level rise (19-ka Meltwater Pulse).

International audience; Seismic reflection and multibeam echosounder data were acquired in the Mozambique Channel in 2014 and 2015 during the PTOLEMEE, PAMELA-MOZ02 and -MOZ04 marine surveys aboard the RV Atalante and Pourquoi Pas? These data revealed that an active fault system is deforming the oceanic lithosphere of the Mozambique Basin which has developed during Jurassic-Cretaceous times. The correlation between the fault system and the arrangement of earthquake epicenters suggests that this tectonically active zone directly connects northward with the southern part of the eastern branch of the East African Rift System which corresponds to the seismically active graben system bounding the northern part of the Davie ridge. The fault zone extends southwestward of the Mozambique Ridge along the same trend as the Agulhas-Falkland transform fault zone. The general organization of the fault zone shows the characteristics of an extensional system north of the Mozambique Channel (north of the Europa Island) and a right-lateral transtensional system with coeval normal faults and strike-slip faults south-west of Europa. This tectonic activity is associated with volcanic activity since at least Late Miocene times. Our findings emphasize that the eastern branch of East African Rift System is extending largely toward the south, not only in continental domains but also through the oceanic lithosphere of the Mozambique basin. This fault zone is participating to the complex plate boundary between the main African continent (Nubia Plate) and Madagascar (Somalia Plate).

In this short communication, we present a multidisciplinary study of sedimentary records collected from a deep-sea interfluve proximal to the mouths of major northwestern Madagascan rivers. For the last 60 years, the seafloor has been repeatedly disturbed by the deposition of organic rich, tropical, terrestrial sediments causing marked reductions in benthic biodiversity. Increased soil erosion due to local land-use, deforestation and intensifying tropical cyclones are potential causes for this sedimentary budget and biodiversity shift. Our marine sedimentary records indicate that until now, these conditions have not occurred within the region for at least 20,000 years.