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The distribution and timing of Neogene extensional structures along the offshore Tanzania margin and their influence on submarine sediment dispersal pathways remain poorly constrained. This knowledge gap limits understanding of the propagation of the East African Rift System (EARS) in the western Indian Ocean. In this study, we use 2D and 3D seismic reflection data to explore a portion of the upper slope region offshore the Rufiji River delta which led to the discovery of a new extensional structure. Horizon maps and seismic sections extracted from the 3D volume reveal that the slope was intersected by W‐E‐oriented turbidite channels during the Cenozoic until the early Pliocene (5.3 Ma). Since then, the opening of this graben, whose timing is also constrained by stratigraphic horizon flattening, has led to a southward reorientation of these channels, a pattern that persists today, as evidenced by the flow direction of the channels at the modern seafloor. 2D seismic profiles reaching depths of 10 s two‐way travel time (TWT) indicate that the formation of this graben is not related to the reactivation of Mesozoic structures. In detail, seismic data show that the acoustic basement is intersected by extensional faults, likely related to the Jurassic rift tectonics, which is reactivated during the middle Cretaceous forming a gentle monocline. The lack of deformation in the post‐Cretaceous suggests a period of tectonic quiescence which persists until the establishment of a new extensional regime responsible for the graben's opening, indicating a decoupling between Mesozoic and Neogene tectonics. Considering the similarity in kinematics, orientation and timing between the graben and other structures along the margin, onshore and offshore, we interpret this graben to be generated by a later tectonic phase of the EARS. These new results may indicate that tectonic stresses associated with the EARS migrated from the Tanzania craton, where the oldest rift structures are dated to ca. 25 Ma, to the western Indian Ocean, where the tectonic activity started during the middle‐late Miocene to Pliocene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Continental shelf sediments contain some of the largest stocks of organic carbon (OC) on Earth and play a vital role in influencing the global carbon cycle. Quantifying how much OC is stored in shelf sediments and determining its residence time is key to assessing how human activities can accelerate the process of OC remineralization into carbon dioxide. Spatial variations in terrestrial carbon stocks are well studied and mapped at high resolution, but our knowledge of the distribution of marine OC in different seafloor settings is still very limited, particularly in the highly dynamic and spatially variable shelf environments. The lack of knowledge reduces our ability to understand and predict how much and for how long oceans sequester CO2. In this study, we use high-resolution multibeam echosounder (MBES) data from the Eastern Shore Islands offshore Nova Scotia (Canada), combined with OC measurements from discrete samples, to assess the distribution of OC content in seafloor sediments. We derive three different spatial estimates of organic carbon: i) assuming a homogenous seafloor the carbon stock estimates were scaled to the entire study region; ii) using a high-resolution substrate map, the estimates were scaled to the areas of soft substrate only, and, finally, iii) using Empirical Bayesian Regression Kriging (EBRK) regression prediction within the area of soft substrate, carbon stock estimates in areas of soft substrate were refined to account for spatial variability in the concentration of OC. These three distinct spatial models yielded dramatically different estimates of average standing stock of OC in our study area, 1275, 259 and 203 Mt of OC respectively. Our study demonstrates that high-resolution mapping is critically important for improved estimates of OC stocks on continental shelves, and to the identification of carbon hotspots that need to be considered in seabed management and climate mitigation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing availability of high-resolution bathymetric and seismic data along the slope of continental margins has allowed a step change in understanding processes and products of turbidity currents. Yet, many questions [...]

The Southeastern portion of the East African Rift System reactivates Mesozoic transform faults marking the separation of Madagascar from Africa in the Western Indian Ocean. Earlier studies noted the reactivation of the Davie Fracture Zone in oceanic lithosphere as a seismically active extensional fault, and new 3D seismic reflection data and exploration wells provide unprecedented detail on the kinematics of the sub‐parallel Seagap fault zone in continental/transitional crust landward of the ocean‐continent transition. We reconstruct the evolution of the seismically active Seagap fault zone, a 400‐km‐long crustal structure affecting the Tanzania margin, from the late Eocene to the present day. The Seagap fault zone is represented by large‐scale localized structures affecting the seafloor and displaying growth geometries across most of the Miocene sediments. The continuous tectonic activity evident by our seismic mapping, as well as 2D deep seismic data from literature, suggests that from the Middle‐Late Jurassic until 125 Ma, the Seagap fault acted as a regional structure parallel to, and coeval with, the dextral Davie Fracture Zone. The Seagap fault then remained active after the cessation of both seafloor spreading in the Somali basin and strike‐slip activity on the Davie Fracture Zone, till nowaday. Its architecture is structurally expressed through the sequence of releasing and restraining bends dating back at least to the early Neogene. Seismic sections and horizon maps indicate that those restraining bends are generated by strike‐slip reactivation of Cretaceous structures till the Miocene. Finally based on the interpretation of edge‐enhanced reflection seismic surfaces and seafloor data, we shows that, by the late Neogene, the Seagap fault zone switched to normal fault behaviour. We discuss the Seagap fault's geological and kinematic significance through time and its current role within the microplate system in the framework of the East African rift, as well as implications for the evolution and re‐activation of structures along sheared margins. The newly integrated datasets reveal the polyphase deformation of this margin, highlighting its complex evolution and the implications for depositional fairways and structural trap and seal changes through time, as well as potential hazards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-latitude fiords are susceptible to hazardous subaerial and submarine slope failures. Recent investigations have shown that past slope failures in fiords of Greenland and Alaska have generated devastating landslide induced [...]