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Depositional mechanism of the upper Pliocene-Pleistocene shelf-slope system of the western Malta Plateau (Sicily Channel)
- Publication Year :
- 2021
- Publisher :
- Elsevier B.V., 2021.
-
Abstract
- A high resolution seismic stratigraphic study of the western edge of the Malta Plateau (central Mediterranean Sea) was conducted to reconstruct the depositional mechanisms of the shelf-slope system since the end of the Messinian salinity crisis (MSC; 5.3 Ma). The accurate interpretation of a large grid of variable-resolution seismic reflection profiles (multichannel and Sub Bottom) allows us to identify and map a Plio-Quaternary sedimentary sequence overlying the Messinian evaporites. The stratal pattern of this sequence is the result of a clinoform prograding system that constitutes the internal structure of a sedimentary shelf developed in a ramp about 2° slope with bathymetries that do not exceed 200 m. This type of shelf is a physiographic feature where the shelf edge separates littoral from bathyal realms, differing from the definition of continental shelf that implies the presence of a continent-ocean margin. The evolution of the western edge of Malta Plateau differs from adjacent sectors. Unlike to the nearby Gela Basin, where the Plio-Quaternary sedimentary sequences were affected by the thrusting of the Sicilian-Maghrebian chain until Middle Pleistocene, in the Malta Plateau the post-Messinian sedimentation was mainly controlled by subsidence and sea level fluctuations. In particular, the Malta Plateau represents a back bulge depozone where moderate fluvial sediment supply together with continuous subsidence favoured the progradation of the upper Pliocene-Pleistocene shelf-slope system at bathymetries not exceeding 200 m.
- Subjects :
- 010506 paleontology
geography
geography.geographical_feature_category
Plateau
Messinian salinity crisis
Evaporite
Continental shelf
Stratigraphy
Plio-Quaternary
Geology
Subsidence
010502 geochemistry & geophysics
01 natural sciences
Sedimentary depositional environment
Paleontology
Sedimentary rock
Malta Plateau
Sicily
Progradation
Sea level
0105 earth and related environmental sciences
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....6cc6192b9fd76d952e5d3dd14b20e1aa