Abstract
The analysis of sidescan sonar data and sediment samples around the Egadi Islands, on the NW Sicilian margin (southern Tyrrhenian), revealed the existence of two main sorted bedform fields. Sorted bedforms were mapped along the shelf sectors of the Marettimo and Favignana Islands, organized on elongated patches almost perpendicular to the coastline for a depth range of 15–50 m. Sediment sampling revealed that the bedforms are composed of sandy sediments lying over coarse sandy, gravelly and pebbly substrates. We assessed the long-term stability of the sorted bedforms, which could be related to along-shore transverse bottom currents associated with exceptional storms coming from the NE.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Agate M., Buscemi N., Catalano R., D’Angelo S., Di Maio D., Di Stefano P., Lucido M., Macaluso T., Marsella E., Pantaleone N. A., Pepe F., Sacchi L., Sulli A. (1996). Il Foglio geologico N.0 604 “Isole Egadi”. Un prototipo delle nuova cartografia marina. Atti del convegno del Gruppo Informale di Sedimentologia. 30–34.
Agate M., D’Argenio A., Di Maio D., Lo Iacono C., Lucido M., Mancuso M., Scannavino M. (1998). La dinamica sedimentaria dell’Offshore della Sicilia Nord-Occidentale durante Il Tardo Quaternario. Atti del 791 Congresso Nazionale Societa` Geologica Italiana, Guida alle escursioni, 1, Palermo, Italy, 157–167.
Cacchione D.A., Drake D.E., Grant W.E., Tate G.B. (1984). Rippled scour depressions of the inner continental shelf off central California. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology 54, 1280–1291.
Catalano R., Di Stefano P., Sulli A., Vitale F. (1996). Paleogeography and structure of the Central Mediterranean. Sicily and its offshore. Tectonophysics 260, 291–323.
Cirac, P., Berne, S., Castaing, P., Weber, O. (2000). Processus de mise en place et d’e´volution de la couverture se´dimentaire superficielle de la plate-forme nord-aquitaine. Oceanologica Acta 23, 663–686.
Coco, G., Murray, A.B., Green, M.O. (2007a). Sorted bedforms as self-organized patterns: 1. Model development. Journal of Geophysical Research 112, F03015.
Coco, G., Murray, A.B., Green, M.O., Thieler, E.R., Hume, T.M. (2007b). Sorted bedforms as self-organized patterns: 2. Complex forcing scenarios. Journal of Geophysical Research 112, F03016.
Davis A.C.D., Kvitek R.G., Mueller C.B.A., Young M.A., Storlazzi C.D., Phillips E.L. (2013). Distribution and abundance of rippled scour depressions along the California coast. Continental Shelf Research 69, 88–100.
De Falco G., Budillon F., Conforti A., Di Bitetto M., Di Martino G., Innangi S., Simeone S., Tonielli R. (2015). Sorted bedforms over transgressive deposits along the continental shelf of western Sardinia (Mediterranean Sea). Marine Geology 359, 75–88.
Diesing M., Kubicki A., Winter C., Schwarzer K. (2006). Decadal scale stability of sorted bedforms, German Bight, southeastern North Sea. Continental Shelf Research 26, 902–916.
Durán R., Canals M., Lastras G., Micallef A., Amblas D., Pedrosa-Pàmies R., Sanz J.L. (2013). Sediment dynamics and post-glacial evolution of the continental shelf around the Blanes submarine canyon head (NW Mediterranean). Progress in Oceanography, doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pocean.2013.07.031.
Ferrini V.L., Flood R.D. (2005). A comparison of rippled scour depression identified with multibeam sonar: evidence for sediment transport in inner shelf environments. Continental Shelf Research 25, 1979–1995.
Galparsoro I., Borja A., Legorburu I., Hernández C., Chust G., Liria P., Uriarte A. (2011). Morphological characteristics of the Basque continental shelf (Bay of Biscay, northern Spain); their implications for Integrated Coastal Zone Management. Geomorphology 118, 314–329.
Goff J.A., Mayer L.A., Traykovski P., Buynevich I., Wilkens R., Raymond R., Glang G., Evans R.L., Olson H., Jenkins C. (2005). Detailed investigation of sorted bedforms, or “rippled scour depressions”, within the Martha’s Vineyard Coastal Observatory, Massachusetts. Continental Shelf Research 25, 461–484.
Goldstein E. B., Murray A. B., Coco G. (2011). Sorted bedform pattern evolution: Persistence, destruction and self-organized intermittency. Geophys. Res. Lett., 38, L24402, doi:10.1029/2011GL049732.
Green M.O., Vincent C.E., Trembanis A.C. (2004). Suspension of coarse and fine sand on a wave-dominated shoreface, with implications for the development of rippled scour depressions. Continental Shelf Research 24, 317–335.
Kenyon N.H. (1970). The origin of some transverse sand patches in the Celtic Sea. Geological Magazine 107, 389–394.
Lo Iacono C. (2004). Aspetti geomorfologici, sedimentologici ed ecologici dell’offshore delle Isole Egadi. PhD Thesis in Sedimentary Geology. University “Federico II” of Naples, Italy, pp. 158.
Lo Iacono, C., Guillén, J. (2008). Environmental conditions for gravelly and pebbly dunes and sorted bedforms on a moderate-energy inner shelf (Marettimo Island, Italy, western Mediterranean). Continental Shelf Research 28, 245–256.
Markert E., Holler P., Kröncke I., Bartholomä A. (2013). Benthic habitat mapping of sorted bedforms using hydroacoustic and ground-truthing methods in a coastal area of the German Bight/North Sea. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 129, 94–104.
Murray A.B., Thieler E.R. (2004). A new hypothesis and exploratory model for the formation of large-scale inner-shelf sediment sorting and ‘‘rippled scour depressions’’. Continental Shelf Research 24, 295–315.
Polizzi S. (2013). Caratterizzazione geomorfologica e sedimentaria di un margine continentale sottoalimentato: analisi sismo-acustica del sistema piattaforma-scarpata delle Isole Egadi (Sicilia nord-occidentale). PhD Thesis in Sedimentary Geology, University of Palermo, pp. 158.
Van Oyen T., de Swart H. E., Blondeaux P. (2010). Bottom topography and roughness variations as triggering mechanisms to the formation of sorted bedforms, Geophys. Res. Lett., 37, L18401, doi:10.1029/2010GL043793.
Acknowledgments
Data collection was carried out in the framework of the GebecSud Project (P.I. Prof. R Catalano) supported by the “Ministero Istruzione Università e Ricerca” (MIUR, 488/92, Cluster 10) and directed by the Geology and Geodesy Department of Palermo University.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Iacono, C.L., Guillén, J. (2017). Sorted Bedforms Along the Egadi Islands Continental Shelf (Southern Tyrrhenian). In: Guillén, J., Acosta, J., Chiocci, F., Palanques, A. (eds) Atlas of Bedforms in the Western Mediterranean. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-33940-5_20
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-33940-5_20
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-33938-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-33940-5
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)