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Contourite

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Marine Geosciences

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Synonyms

Bottom-current deposit

Definition

Contourites are the sediments deposited or significantly affected by the action of bottom currents (Stow et al., 2002a; Rebesco, 2005; Stow and Faugères, 2008). They comprise a group of essentially deepwater facies, typically formed below 300 m water depth under the influence of semipermanent currents (Stow et al., 2008).

Bottom Currents

Any semipermanent water current that affects the seafloor by resuspending, transporting, and/or controlling the deposition of sediments may be called a bottom current (Rebesco et al., 2008; Stow et al., 2008). They are persistent features within specific regions of the ocean basin (detailed below), more or less continuously affecting the pattern of sedimentation over periods of hundreds to up to millions of years.

In modern oceans, contourites are formed mainly under the influence of bottom currents driven by the major thermohaline and wind-induced circulation systems (Faugères and Stow, 2008). In addition,...

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Bibliography

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Geographie und Geologie, Ernst Moritz Arndt Universität, Friedr.-Ludwig-Jahn-Str. 17A, D-17487, Greifswald, Germany

    Heiko Hüneke

Authors
  1. Heiko Hüneke
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Correspondence to Heiko Hüneke .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, University of Szczecin, Szczecin, Poland

    Jan Harff

  2. Institute of Geography and Geology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany

    Martin Meschede

  3. Leibiniz Institute of Marine Sciences, University of Kiel, Kiel, Germany

    Sven Petersen

  4. Academy of Sciences, Humanities, and Lit c/o Helmholtz-Center for Ocean Research, Kiel, Germany

    Jörn Thiede

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Hüneke, H. (2014). Contourite. In: Harff, J., Meschede, M., Petersen, S., Thiede, J. (eds) Encyclopedia of Marine Geosciences. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6644-0_49-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6644-0_49-1

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  • Online ISBN: 978-94-007-6644-0

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