Description of a contourite depositional system on the Demerara Plateau: Results from geophysical data and sediment cores

doi:10.1016/j.margeo.2016.01.003

Marine Geology

Volume 378, 1 August 2016, Pages 56-73

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2016.01.003 Get rights and content

Highlights

•
A Contourite Depositional System (CDS) is present on the Demerara Plateau.
•
The marginal plateau forms a bathymetry high promoting the formation of contourite.
•
The formation of longitudinal waves seems to be associated to this contourite.

Abstract

The Demerara Plateau, belonging to the passive transform margin of French Guiana, was investigated during the IGUANES cruise in 2013. The objectives of the cruise were to explore the poorly-known surficial sedimentary column overlying thick mass transport deposits as well as to understand the factors controlling recent sedimentation. The presence of numerous bedforms at the seafloor was observed thanks to newly acquired IGUANES bathymetric, high resolution seismic and chirp data, while sediment cores allowed the characterization of the deposits covering the mass transport deposits. Modern oceanographic conditions were determined in situ, using mooring monitoring over a 10-month period. Our data indicate the presence of a Contourite Depositional System along the Demerara Plateau, most likely related to bottom current activity of the North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW). However, at the regional scale, large longitudinal waves parallel the NADW flow. Their shape and orientation seem to be inherited from interactions between bottom currents and paleomorphologies expressed at the top of mass transport deposits. Their evolution is possibly driven by the intensity of bottom current activity that might have changed over time. Overall, this work presents an integrated approach combining seismic and sedimentological evidence to study the processes at the origin of contourite formation in the Demerara Plateau. Other regional factors, such as local slope values and slope instability, also control sedimentation.

Introduction

Contourites correspond to deposits generated by deep ocean currents and are typically associated with graded bioturbated sediment sequences (Faugères et al., 1984, Gonthier et al., 1984, Stow et al., 2002a, Rebesco et al., 2014, Hanebuth et al., 2015). The concept of contourites was introduced in the 1960s (Heezen and Hollister, 1964, Hollister, 1967) and mainly refers to deposits related to deep thermohaline ocean circulation. Today, the definition embraces all types of sediment deposited or substantially reworked by the action of persistent bottom currents (Stow et al., 2002b). Contourites are typically part of a larger sedimentary structure, usually called a “Contourite Depositional System” or CDS (Rebesco and Camerlenghi, 2008). The study of contourite deposits may provide information on environmental and oceanographic conditions and a large community is today interested in these sedimentological archives to (1) investigate the variability of paleoceanographic conditions in connection with the paleoclimate, or (2) to better understand the role of currents in sediment transport/erosion in the construction of continental margins.

The sedimentary characteristics of the western margin of South America are well known thanks to the large number of existing studies. The Brazil (Faugères et al., 1993, Massé et al., 1998, Viana, 1998) and Argentina margins (Faugères et al., 1993, Hernández-Molina et al., 2009, Hernández-Molina et al., 2010) have been well documented and a number of studies have described the presence of contourites and the different elements that compose a CDS. In contrast, the northeastern margin of South America is poorly documented. The first description of along-slope processes on the continental rise of the western equatorial Atlantic Ocean was first proposed by Damuth and Kumar (1975), who demonstrated the significant role of contour currents on the depositional processes in this area. Belonging to the South America northeastern margin, the Demerara marginal plateau (hereinafter referred to as DP) occupies a specific place: it forms a long continental salient off the coasts of Surinam and French Guiana and is emplaced between the Central and Equatorial Atlantic oceans. The plateau stretches about 380 km long along the coast and is ~ 250 km wide from the shelf-break, with water depths ranging from 150 m to 4500 m. Mercier de Lépinay et al., (personal communication) have shown that such marginal plateaus typically form along transform margins (example of the Demerara and Guinean plateaus, Falkands and Agulhas marginal plateaus, Vøring Plateau). Their specific structure and bathymetric characteristics may exert a control on sediment processes and guide deep currents.

The marginal DP has been recently studied on the basis of geophysical data (Loncke et al., 2009, Pattier et al., 2013, Loncke et al., 2015). Those analyses highlight the fact that this continental margin was affected by significant slope instability apparently controlled by the structure and the steepness of the transform border of the plateau (Pattier et al., 2013).

New data (sediment cores and high resolution geophysical data) were acquired along the DP during the IGUANES survey (2013) in order to better understand the sedimentary processes ongoing along such marginal plateau. This new high resolution dataset highlights the role of contourite processes that seem to interfere with slope instability on the DP. This new dataset suggests that the impact of contourite processes has probably been under-estimated up to now on the DP.

The aim of this study is to better describe recent sedimentary processes and the role of contourite processes along the DP, based on new multidisciplinary dataset (high resolution geophysics, sediment cores, mooring). It allows us in discussing about the interplay between oceanic conditions at the origin of the contourite and slope instability processes. The structural control that may exert along such type of marginal plateau is also discussed.

Section snippets

Geological setting

The DP is located at the junction between the central and equatorial Atlantic Ocean, off the northern South American margin (French Guiana and Suriname; Fig. 1). It forms a promontory (380 km long and 220 km wide) which extends the continental platform seawards, with water depths ranging from 150 m to 4500 m (Fig. 2). The DP is bounded on the north by a steep continental slope, which corresponds to an abrupt transform-derived continent–ocean transition zone and two divergent continent–ocean

Geophysical data

The geophysical dataset acquired during the IGUANES cruise includes EM122 multibeam echosounder data (bathymetry, backscatter imagery and water column) and chirp data. High resolution 72-channel seismic data were also acquired during the IGUANES cruise (acquisition speed c.5 kN, the source is made of 6 GI-Guns). In this paper, only four high resolution seismic lines (Fig. 3) have been used to illustrate the geometry of sedimentary units. Seismic data were processed using Ifremer QC-Sispeed

Bathymetry

The bathymetry illustrates the main characteristics of the lower DP (Fig. 3). On its shallower part (~ 1400 m of water depth), a linear NW–SE slope failure headscarp forms an abrupt incision delimiting a stable upper domain from an instable domain (Pattier et al., 2013). Further down the slope failure headscarp, the plateau deepens gently towards the continental slope. At 51°50 W, 8°05 N, a seamount-like structure can be observed, which corresponds to an outcropping basement high associated with

Characterization of modern oceanographic conditions on the DP

The results confirm that the study area at 3000 m depth on the DP is directly influenced by the NADW, one component of the DWBC, which flows southeastwardly along the continental slope (Fig. 10). These observations are consistent with previous hydrological and hydrodynamic observations collected in the same region (Molinari et al., 1992).

The low value of the turbidity (Fig. 10D) can be explained by the fact that the mooring on the DP is distant from the main Amazon and Orinoco rivers and distant

Conclusions

The main results can be resumed in two major points: (1) a Contourite Depositional System (CDS) is present on the DP, and (2) the formation and the evolution of singular longitudinal waves seem to be associated with this CDS.

(1)
The NADW bottom current generated a CDS on the DP. Bathymetric and seismic data highlight the complexity of the sedimentary bodies, the presence of incisions and moats along the main regional slope failure headscarp, elongated drifts, infill drifts, patch drifts, and

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the crew of the N/O Atalante. We also thank Shell for supporting Cédric Tallobre's PhD Project, IFREMER for technical support, Angélique Roubi and Mikael Rovere, the CEFREM, Christophe Menniti and Stéphane Kunesch for access to laboratory facilities and assistance. Many thanks to the graduate students who worked on this topic: Mirjam Randla, Lea Bonnin and Simon Faye. Finally, authors thank reviewers and editors for their contributions to improve this paper.

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Description of a contourite depositional system on the Demerara Plateau: Results from geophysical data and sediment cores

Highlights

Abstract

Introduction

Section snippets

Geological setting

Geophysical data

Bathymetry

Characterization of modern oceanographic conditions on the DP

Conclusions

Acknowledgments

Radiometric dating of submarine hydrocarbon seeps in the Gulf of Mexico

Geol. Soc. Am. Bull.

Chapter two forcing functions and responses

Correlated millennial-scale changes in surface hydrography and terrigenous sediment yield inferred from last-glacial marine deposits off northeastern Brazil

Quat. Res.

Structure and evolution of the Demerara Plateau, offshore French Guiana: rifting, tectonic inversion and post-rift tilting at transform–divergent margins intersection

Tectonophysics

Géologie de la matière organique, coédition avec la Société Géologique de France ed

The Guinea continental margin: an example of a structurally complex transform margin

Tectonophysics

The Pleistocene to recent geological development of the Ormen Lange area

Mar. Pet. Geol.

Observations of the nearby flow and a model for the growth of mudwaves

Deep Sea Res. Part A

Elongate depressions on the southern slope of the Norwegian Trench (Skagerrak): morphology and evolution

Mar. Geol.

Accumulation of organic matter in bottom sediments

Mar. Geol.

Sources of organic matter in marine basins

Mar. Geol.

Transformation of organic matter in bottom sediments and its early diagenesis

Mar. Geol.

Contourites and their relevance for mass wasting along the Mid-Norwegian margin

Mar. Pet. Geol.

Contribution of the Rhône River to organic carbon inputs to the northwestern Mediterranean Sea

Cont. Shelf Res.

Late Quaternary depositional processes on the continental rise of the western equatorial Atlantic: comparison with the western north Atlantic and implication for reservoir–rock distribution

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Significant dissipation of tidal energy in the deep ocean inferred from satellite altimeter data

Nature

LEG 207 summary, in: Proceedings of the Ocean Drilling Program, I.R (Ed)

A Note on the Transport of the Brazil Current

J. Phys. Oceanogr.

Contourite drift molded by deep Mediterranean outflow

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Seismic features diagnostic of contourite drifts

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