Gardner, JV, Peakall, J orcid.org/0000-0003-3382-4578, Armstrong, AA et al. (1 more author) (2020) The Geomorphology of Submarine Channel Systems of the Northern Line Islands Ridge, Central Equatorial Pacific Ocean. Frontiers in Earth Science, 8. 87. ISSN 2296-6463
Abstract
More than 844,000 km² of the northern Line Islands Ridge mapped with multibeam bathymetry and backscatter provide unprecedented views of the geomorphology of this isolated area in the central equatorial Pacific Ocean. A compilation of all available multibeam data in the area reveals six extensive submarine dendritic channel systems that encompass a combined drainage area that exceeds 60,000 km². The channel systems occur in a predominately carbonate environment and are the longest calciclastic submarine channel systems mapped in the oceans to date. The channel systems occur in a carbonate-dominated region well above the carbonate compensation depth and have developed into the surface of basins that are surrounded by small guyots and seamounts that make up a discontinuous rim around the summit of the northern Line Island Ridge. The channels have mostly straight or gently curved well-developed tributaries and main reaches. Although the Line Island Ridge has been dated at 86 to 68 Ma old, the channels occur on the surface and are not buried by any significant sediment accumulations. Levees are very rare along the channel banks and no bathymetric expression of submarine fans was found where the channels exit onto the adjacent abyssal basins. There is sparse evidence of landslide deposits throughout the ridge although the flanks of the guyots exhibit numerous headwall scarps. The presence of plunge pools below the northwest escarpment, together with well-defined channels meters to hundreds of meters deep relative to the surrounding seafloor, suggests the channels might be relatively recent (perhaps late Neogene or even younger) features developed long after the ridge subsided more than a kilometer below sea level.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2020 Gardner, Peakall, Armstrong and Calder. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. |
Keywords: | Line Island Ridge, submarine channels and tributaries, plunge pools, multibeam bathymetry, multibeam backscatter |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Earth and Environment (Leeds) > Institute for Applied Geosciences (IAG) (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 20 May 2020 15:39 |
Last Modified: | 20 May 2020 15:39 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Frontiers Media |
Identification Number: | 10.3389/feart.2020.00087 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:160842 |