Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

A Deep-sea Channel in the Northwestern Mediterranean Sea: Morphology and seismic structure of the Valencia Channel and its surroundings

  • Published:
Marine Geophysical Researches Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The 400 km long Valencia Channel occupies the axis of the Valencia Trough in the Northwestern Mediterranean. Four different types of seismic reflection profiles were used to analyze the morphology and structure of the Valencia Channel with regard to the role played by both margins, Balearic and Iberian, of the Valencia Trough. From a detailed morphoseismic analysis of the Valencia Channel, its upper, middle, and lower courses can be characterized as follows: (1) in the upper course, tributaries are short and only slightly incised, with recent mass-transport deposits occurring on the adjacent continental slopes; (2) in the middle course, the channel deepens, and tributary valleys merge into it; and (3) the lower course begins after a sudden change in the direction of the channel, has a meandering path, is flanked by levees, and is fed by some valleys.

During the Pliocene and Quaternary, at least four erosional and filling phases are observed in seismic profiles of the lower course of the Valencia Channel. The varying intensity of mass-transport processes and associated retrogressive slumping, which are related with fluctuations in sediment supply and relative sea-level changes, have played a major role in the formation, maintenance and deepening of the Valencia Channel. In addition to these sedimentary processes, a basement tectonic control and some morphostructural features affect the direction of the Valencia Channel locally.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alla, G., Dessolin, D., Leenhardt, O., and Pierrot, S., 1972, Données du sondage sismique continu concernant la sédimentation Plio-Quaternaire en Méditerranée nord-occidentale, in: Stanley, D.J., (ed.),The Mediterranean Sea: A Natural Sedimentation Laboratory, Stroudsburg, Dowden, Hutchinson and Ross, pp. 471–481.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alonso, B., Díaz, J.I., Farrán, M., Giró, S., Maldonado, A., and Vázquez, A., 1984, Cañones submarinos del margen catalán meridional: morfología y evolución (abstract),I Congreso Español de Geología, Segovia, Spain,1, pp. 301–311.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alonso, B., Kastens, K.A., Maldonado, A., Malinverno, A., Nelson, C.H., O'Connell, S., Palanques, A., and Ryan, B.W.F., 1985, Morphology of the Ebro fan valleys from SeaMARC and Sea Beam profiles,Geo-Marine Lett. 5, 141–148.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alonso, B., Field, M., Gardner, J., and Maldonado, A., 1990, Sedimentary evolution of the Pliocene and Pleistocene Ebro margin, northeastern Spain, in: Nelson, C.H., and Maldonado A., (eds.), The Ebro Continental Margin, Northwestern Mediterranean Sea,Mar. Geol. 95, 313–331.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alonso, B., Canals, M., Got, H., and Maldonado, A., 1991, Sea valleys and related depositional systems in the Gulf of Lion and Ebro continental margins,Am. Assoc. Petrol. Geol. Bull. 75 (7), 1195–1214.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baronne, A. and Ryan, W.B.F., 1987, Morphology from subaerial erosion of a Mediterranean seamount,Mar. Geol. 74, 159–172.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bartrina, M.T., Cabrera, L., Jurado, M.J., Guimerá, J., and Roca, E., 1992, Evolution of the central Catalan margin of the Valencia trough (western Mediterranean),Tectonophysics 203, 219–247.

    Google Scholar 

  • Biju-Duval., B., Letouzey, J., and Montadert, L., 1978, Variety of margins and deep basins in the Mediterranean, in: Watkins, I.S., Montadert, L., and Wood, P., (eds.),Geological and Geophysical Investigations of Continental Margins, Am. Assoc. Geol., Memoir 29, pp. 293–317.

    Google Scholar 

  • Canals, M. and Got, H., 1986, La morphologie de la pente continentale du Golfe du Lion: une résultante structuro-sédimentarie,Vie et Milieu 36 (3), 153–163.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carter, R.M., 1988, The nature and evolution of deep-sea channel systems,Basin Res. 1, 41–54.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cherkis, N.Z., Fleming, H.S., and Feden, R.H., 1973, Morphology and structure of Maury channel, northeast Atlantic Ocean,Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 84, 1601–1606.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cita, M.B., Ryan, W.B.F., and Kidd, R.B., 1978, Sedimentation rates in Neogene deep-sea sediments from the Mediterranean and geodynamic implications of their change, in: Hsü, K.J., Montadert, L., and others, (eds.),Initial Reports of the Deep Sea Drilling Project 42, Part I, Washington, D.C. Government Printing Office, pp. 991–1002.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coumes, F., 1987, Seismic stratigraphy of giant mass movements, including megaturbidites, on recent continental margins,Geo-Marine Lett. 7, 113–117.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dañobeitia, J., Alonso, B., and Maldonado, A., 1990, Geological framework of the Ebro continental margin and surrounding areas, in: Nelson, C.H. and Maldonado A., (eds.), The Ebro Continental Margin, Northwestern Mediterranean Sea,Mar. Geol. 95, 265–287.

    Google Scholar 

  • Droz, L. and Bellaiche, G., 1985, Rhône deep-sea fan: morphostructure and growth pattern,Am. Assoc. Petrol. Geol. Bull. 69 (1), 460–479.

    Google Scholar 

  • Escutia, C. and Maldonado, A., 1992, Palaeographic implications of the Messinian surface in the Valencia trough, northwestern Mediterranean Sea,Tectonophysics 203, 263–284.

    Google Scholar 

  • Farre, J.A., McGregor, B.A., Ryan, W.B.F., and Robb, K.M., 1983, Breaching the shelfbreak: passage from youthful to mature phase in submarine canyon evolution, in: Stanley, D.J. and Moore, G.T., (eds.),The Shelfbreak: Critical Interface on Continental Margins, Soc. Econ. Paleont. Mineral. Sp. Publ.33, 25–39.

    Google Scholar 

  • Farrán, M. and Maldonado, A., 1990, The Ebro continental shelf: Quaternary seismic stratigraphy and growth patterns, in: Nelson, C.H. and Maldonado, A., (eds.), The Ebro Continental Margin, Northwestern Mediterranean Sea,Mar. Geol. 95, 289–312.

    Google Scholar 

  • Field, M.E. and Gardner, J., 1990, Plio-Pleistocene growth of the rio Ebro margin, northeast Spain: a prograding-slope model,Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 102, 721–733.

    Google Scholar 

  • Field, M.E. and Gardner, J.V., 1991, Valencia Gorge: possible messinian refill channel for the western Mediterranean Sea,Geology 19, 1129–1132.

    Google Scholar 

  • Got, G. and Stanley, D.J., 1974, Sedimentation in two Catalonian canyons, northwestern Mediterranean,Mar. Geol. 16, M91-M100.

    Google Scholar 

  • Griggs, G.B. and Kulm, L.D., 1970, Origin and development of Cascadia deep-sea channel,J. Geophys. Res. 78, 6325–6339.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haq, B.U., Hardenbol, J., and Vail, P.R., 1988, Mesozoic and Cenozoic chronostratigraphy and eustatic cycles, in: Wilgus, C.K., Hastings, B.S., Kendall, C.G.St.C., Posamentier, H.W., Ross, C.A., and Van Wagoner, J.C., (eds.),Sea-Level Changes: An Integrated Approach, SEPM Spec. Publ.42, 39–45.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heezen, B.C., Johnson, A.S., and Hollister, C.D., 1969, The Northwest Atlantic Mid-Ocean Canyon,Can. J. Earth Sc. 6, 1441–1453.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lefevbre, D., 1980, Evolution morphologique et structurale du Golfe de Lion. Essai de traitement statistique des donneés [unpublished Ph.D. thesis]: Paris, France, The University “Pierre et Marie Curie”, 163 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lonsdale, P., Hollister, C.D., and Mayer, L., 1981, Erosion and deposition in interplain channels of the Maury channel system, northeast Atlantic,Oceanol. Acta 4, 185–201.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lowe, D.R., 1979, Sediment gravity flows: their classification and some problems of application to natural flows and deposits,Soc. Econ. Paleont. Mineral. Sp. Publ. 27, 75–82.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maillard, A. and Mauffret, A., 1993, Structure et volcanisme de la fosse de Valence (Méditerranée Nord-Occidental),Bull. Soc. Géol. France 164 (3), 365–383.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maldonado, A., Got, H., Monaco, A., O'Connell, S., and Mirabile, L., 1985a, Valencia Fan (Northwestern Mediterranean): distal deposition fan variant,Mar. Geol. 62, 295–319.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maldonado, A., Palanques, A., Alonso, A., Kastens, K.A., Nelson, C.H., O'Connell, S., and Ryan, W.B.F., 1985b, Physiography and deposition on a distal deep-sea system: the Valencia Fan (Northwestern Mediterranean),Geo-Marine Lett. 5, 157–165.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martí, J., Mitjavila, J., Roca, E., and Aparicio, A., 1992, Cenozoic magmatism of the Valencia Trough (Western Mediterranean): relationship between structural evolution and volcanism,Tectonophysics 203, 145–165.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mauffret, A., 1979, Etude géodynamique de la marge des îles Baléares,Soc. Géol. France 132, 90 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Medialdea, J., Maldonado, A., Alonso, B., Díaz, J.I., Farrán, M., Giró, S., Vazquez, A., and Sainz, E., 1986. Mapa geológico de la plataforma continental española y zonas adjacentes. Escala 1: 200.000. Tortosa-Tarragona, Hojas 41–42, 78 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morgenstern, N.R., 1967, Submarine slumping and the initiation of turbidity currents, in: Richards, A.F., (ed.),Mar. Geotechn. University of Illinois Press, Urbana (USA), pp. 189–220.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nelson, C.H., 1990, Estimated post-Messinian sediment supply and sedimentation rates on the Ebro continental margin, Spain, in: Nelson, C.H. and Maldonado, A., (eds.), The Ebro Continental Margin, Northwestern Mediterranean Sea,Mar. Geol. 95, 395–418.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nelson, C.H. and Maldonado, A., 1988, Factors controlling depositional patterns of Ebro turbidity systems, Mediterranean Sea,Am. Assoc. Petrol. Geol. Bull. 72 (6), 698–716.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nelson, C.H. and Maldonado, A., 1990, Factors controlling late Cenozoic continental margin growth from the Ebro Delta to the western Mediterranean deep sea.Mar. Geol. 95, 419–440.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ness, G.E. and Kulm, L.D., 1973, Origin and development of Surveyor deep-sea channel,Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 84, 3339–3354.

    Google Scholar 

  • O'Connell, S., 1986, Anatomy of modern submarine depositional and distributary systems [unpublished Ph.D. thesis]: Columbia, USA, The University of Columbia, 298 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • O'Connell, S., Alonso, B., Kastens, K.A., Maldonado, A., Malinverno, A., Nelson, C.H., Palanques, A., and Ryan, B.W.F., 1985, Morphology and evolution of a mid-ocean channel, the Valencia Valley (NW Mediterranean),Geo-Marine Lett. 5, 149–157.

    Google Scholar 

  • O'Connell, S., Ryan, W.B.F., and Normark, W.R., 1987, Modes of development of slope canyons and their relation to channel and levee features on the Ebro sediment apron, off-shore northeastern Spain,Mar. Petrol. Geol. 4, 308–319.

    Google Scholar 

  • Palanques, A. and Maldonado, A., 1983, La superficie de erosión y las evaporitas del Messiniense en el sector septentrional de la Fosa de Valencia (abstract),X Congreso Nacional de Sedimentología, GES, Menorca, pp. 7.18–7.21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Palanques, A., Alonso, B., and Farrán, M., 1994, Progradation and retreat of the Valencia fanlobes controlled by sea level changes during the Plio-Pleistocene (Northwestern Mediterranean),Mar. Geol. 117, 195–205.

    Google Scholar 

  • Posamentier, H.W. and Vail, P.R., 1988, Eustatic controls on clastic deposition II-Sequence and systems tract models, in: Wilgus, C.K., Hastings, B.S., Kendall, C.G.St.C., Posamentier, H.W., Ross, C.A., and Van Wagoner, J.C., (eds.),Sea-Level Changes: An Integrated Approach, SEPM Spec. Publ.42, 125–154.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roca, E. and Desegaulx, P., 1992, Geological evolution and vertical movements analysis of the Valencia Trough area (western Mediterranean),Mar. Petrol. Geol. 9, 167–185.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ryan, W.B.F. and Cita, M.B., 1978, Messinian erosional surfaces in the Mediterranean,Mar. Geol. 37, 193–263.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ryan, W.B.F., Hsü, K.J., Cita, M.B. Dumitrica, P., Lort, J., Maync, W., Nesteroff, W.D., Pautot, G., Sttadner, H., and Wezel, F.C., 1973, Valencia Trough Sites 122 and 123, in: Ryan, W.B.F. and Hsü, K.J., (eds.),Init. Reports of the Deep Sea Drilling Project, XIII (Leg 13), U.S. Printing Office, Washington, pp. 91–123.

    Google Scholar 

  • Soler, R., Martínez del Olmo, W., Megías, A.G., and Abeger, J.A., 1983, Rasgos básicos del Neógeno del Mediterraneo Español.,Mediterranea Ser. Geol. 1, 71–82.

    Google Scholar 

  • Torres, J., Bois, C., and Burms, J., 1993, Initiation and evolution of the Valencia Trough (Western Mediterranean): Constraints from deep seismic profiling and subsidence analysis,Tectonophysics 228, 57–80.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weaver, P.P.E. and Thompson, J., 1993, Calculating erosion by deepsea turbidity currents during initiation and flow,Nature 364, 136–138.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. de Geologia Marina i Oceanografia Física, Institut de Ciències del Mar, CSIC, Passeig Joan de Borbó s/n, 08039, Barcelona, Spain

    Belen Alonso & Alberto Palanques

  2. Grup de Recerca en Geociències Marines, Dept. de Geologia Dinàmica, Geofísica i Paleontologia, Universitat de Barcelona, 08071, Barcelona, Spain

    Miquel Canals

  3. Département des Sciences de la Terre, Université de Bretagne Occidentale, Avenue Le Gorgeu, 29287, Brest, France

    Jean-Pierre Rehault

Authors
  1. Belen Alonso
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Miquel Canals
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Alberto Palanques
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Jean-Pierre Rehault
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Alonso, B., Canals, M., Palanques, A. et al. A Deep-sea Channel in the Northwestern Mediterranean Sea: Morphology and seismic structure of the Valencia Channel and its surroundings. Mar Geophys Res 17, 469–484 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01371788

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01371788

Key words

Search

Navigation