Sediment transport mechanisms from the slopes and canyons to the deep basins south of Crete Island (southeast Mediterranean).

Sediment transport processes from the slopes to the deep basins were studied in the southern Cretan margin (Eastern Mediterranean) by means of swath bathymetry, seismic reflection (airgun) profiling, and gravity coring. Mud/silt turbidites, developed in structureless or laminated patterns, appear to dominate the continental slope and the 2700–3600-m deep depressions of Samaria, Messara, and Gortys. These deposits are the result of successive mass transport events and turbidity currents. Over-steepening caused by strike–slip shearing associated with extensional tectonic activity in the shallow crustal levels, shaking due to significant seismic activity, and the presence of weak sediment layers are responsible for frequent triggering of slope failures and the subsequent formation of turbidity currents on the Gavdos slope. On the Cretan slope, sediments channeled as turbidity currents through canyons proved to be the major delivery mechanism, together with debris flows. Subordinate contributions of hemipelagic sediments occur only in the Messara basin. Moreover, steep non-incised slope areas and slope-confined canyons of the Gavdos slope were found to provide comparable sediment contribution with the fluvially connected canyons of the Cretan slope. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]