Seafloor morphology and acoustic facies of the George V Land shelf

• Published in: Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography
• Main Authors: Beaman, RJ, Harris, PT
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Pergamon-Elsevier Science Ltd 2003
• Subjects: Earth Sciences; Oceanography; Physical Oceanography; East Antarctica; George V Land; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0967-0645(03)00071-7; http://ecite.utas.edu.au/28235

To study the seafloor morphology on the George V Land shelf, East Antarctica, over 2000 km of high-frequency 3.5-27 kHz, echo-sounder data were collected between February and March 2000. The shelf can be divided into four acoustic facies: (a) Type IA-2 seabed is ice-keel turbate found on mid- to outer-shelf banks on seaftoor less than 500 m deep; (b) Type IB seabed is siliceous mud and diatom ooze drift, drape and fill deposits within the George V Basin between 750 and 850 m depth; (c) Type IIB seabed is smooth diamicton below 500 m depth, and occasionally has low-relief megaflutes or ridge and swale features; (d) Type IIIC seabed is high relief ridges and canyons from the coast to the deepest part of the George V Basin. The acoustic facies are explained in terms of glacial and oceanographic influences on the shelf since the Last Glacial Maximum. 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.