Southern Weddell Sea shelf edge geomorphology: Implications for gully formation by the overflow of high-salinity water
Submarine gullies are the most common morphological features observed on Antarctic continental slopes. The processes forming these gullies, however, remain poorly constrained. In some areas, gully heads incise the continental shelf edge, and one hypothesis proposed is erosion by overflow of cold, de...
Published in: | Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface |
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2012
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Online Access: | https://research.manchester.ac.uk/en/publications/ab212977-6adc-461a-a0b9-a65bf2842699 https://doi.org/10.1029/2012JF002357 |
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ftumanchesterpub:oai:pure.atira.dk:publications/ab212977-6adc-461a-a0b9-a65bf2842699 2024-09-30T14:26:00+00:00 Southern Weddell Sea shelf edge geomorphology: Implications for gully formation by the overflow of high-salinity water Gales, J. A. Larter, R. D. Mitchell, N. C. Hillenbrand, C. D. Sterhus, S. Shoosmith, D. R. 2012 https://research.manchester.ac.uk/en/publications/ab212977-6adc-461a-a0b9-a65bf2842699 https://doi.org/10.1029/2012JF002357 eng eng https://research.manchester.ac.uk/en/publications/ab212977-6adc-461a-a0b9-a65bf2842699 info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess Gales , J A , Larter , R D , Mitchell , N C , Hillenbrand , C D , Sterhus , S & Shoosmith , D R 2012 , ' Southern Weddell Sea shelf edge geomorphology: Implications for gully formation by the overflow of high-salinity water ' , Journal of Geophysical Research , vol. 117 , no. 4 , F04021 . https://doi.org/10.1029/2012JF002357 article 2012 ftumanchesterpub https://doi.org/10.1029/2012JF002357 2024-09-02T08:17:27Z Submarine gullies are the most common morphological features observed on Antarctic continental slopes. The processes forming these gullies, however, remain poorly constrained. In some areas, gully heads incise the continental shelf edge, and one hypothesis proposed is erosion by overflow of cold, dense water masses formed on the continental shelf. We examined new multibeam echo sounder bathymetric data from the Weddell Sea continental slope, the region that has the highest rate of cold, dense water overflow in Antarctica. Ice Shelf Water (ISW) cascades downslope with an average transport rate of 1.6 Sverdrups (Sv) in the southern Weddell Sea. Our new data show that within this region, ISW overflow does not deeply incise the shelf edge. The absence of gullies extending deeply into the glacial sediments at the shelf edge implies that cold, high salinity water overflow is unlikely to have caused the extensive shelf edge erosion observed on other parts of the Antarctic continental margin. Instead, the gullies observed in the southern Weddell Sea are relatively small and their characteristics indicative of small-scale slides, probably resulting from the rapid accumulation and subsequent failure of proglacial sediment during glacial maxima. © 2012 American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Ice Shelf Weddell Sea The University of Manchester: Research Explorer Antarctic The Antarctic Weddell Weddell Sea Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface 117 F4 n/a n/a |
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Open Polar |
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The University of Manchester: Research Explorer |
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ftumanchesterpub |
language |
English |
description |
Submarine gullies are the most common morphological features observed on Antarctic continental slopes. The processes forming these gullies, however, remain poorly constrained. In some areas, gully heads incise the continental shelf edge, and one hypothesis proposed is erosion by overflow of cold, dense water masses formed on the continental shelf. We examined new multibeam echo sounder bathymetric data from the Weddell Sea continental slope, the region that has the highest rate of cold, dense water overflow in Antarctica. Ice Shelf Water (ISW) cascades downslope with an average transport rate of 1.6 Sverdrups (Sv) in the southern Weddell Sea. Our new data show that within this region, ISW overflow does not deeply incise the shelf edge. The absence of gullies extending deeply into the glacial sediments at the shelf edge implies that cold, high salinity water overflow is unlikely to have caused the extensive shelf edge erosion observed on other parts of the Antarctic continental margin. Instead, the gullies observed in the southern Weddell Sea are relatively small and their characteristics indicative of small-scale slides, probably resulting from the rapid accumulation and subsequent failure of proglacial sediment during glacial maxima. © 2012 American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Gales, J. A. Larter, R. D. Mitchell, N. C. Hillenbrand, C. D. Sterhus, S. Shoosmith, D. R. |
spellingShingle |
Gales, J. A. Larter, R. D. Mitchell, N. C. Hillenbrand, C. D. Sterhus, S. Shoosmith, D. R. Southern Weddell Sea shelf edge geomorphology: Implications for gully formation by the overflow of high-salinity water |
author_facet |
Gales, J. A. Larter, R. D. Mitchell, N. C. Hillenbrand, C. D. Sterhus, S. Shoosmith, D. R. |
author_sort |
Gales, J. A. |
title |
Southern Weddell Sea shelf edge geomorphology: Implications for gully formation by the overflow of high-salinity water |
title_short |
Southern Weddell Sea shelf edge geomorphology: Implications for gully formation by the overflow of high-salinity water |
title_full |
Southern Weddell Sea shelf edge geomorphology: Implications for gully formation by the overflow of high-salinity water |
title_fullStr |
Southern Weddell Sea shelf edge geomorphology: Implications for gully formation by the overflow of high-salinity water |
title_full_unstemmed |
Southern Weddell Sea shelf edge geomorphology: Implications for gully formation by the overflow of high-salinity water |
title_sort |
southern weddell sea shelf edge geomorphology: implications for gully formation by the overflow of high-salinity water |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
https://research.manchester.ac.uk/en/publications/ab212977-6adc-461a-a0b9-a65bf2842699 https://doi.org/10.1029/2012JF002357 |
geographic |
Antarctic The Antarctic Weddell Weddell Sea |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic The Antarctic Weddell Weddell Sea |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Ice Shelf Weddell Sea |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Ice Shelf Weddell Sea |
op_source |
Gales , J A , Larter , R D , Mitchell , N C , Hillenbrand , C D , Sterhus , S & Shoosmith , D R 2012 , ' Southern Weddell Sea shelf edge geomorphology: Implications for gully formation by the overflow of high-salinity water ' , Journal of Geophysical Research , vol. 117 , no. 4 , F04021 . https://doi.org/10.1029/2012JF002357 |
op_relation |
https://research.manchester.ac.uk/en/publications/ab212977-6adc-461a-a0b9-a65bf2842699 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2012JF002357 |
container_title |
Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface |
container_volume |
117 |
container_issue |
F4 |
container_start_page |
n/a |
op_container_end_page |
n/a |
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1811646540615254016 |