Skip to main content

Advertisement

Springer Nature Link
Log in

Seafloor morphology in the Mozambique Channel: evidence for long-term persistent bottom-current flow and deep-reaching eddy activity

  • Original Research Paper
  • Published:
Marine Geophysical Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The Mozambique Channel plays a key role in the exchange of surface water masses between the Indian and Atlantic Oceans and forms a topographic barrier for meridional deep and bottom water circulation due to its northward shoaling water depths. New high-resolution bathymetry and sub-bottom profiler data show that due to these topographic constraints a peculiar seafloor morphology has evolved, which exhibits a large variety of current-controlled bedforms. The most spectacular bedforms are giant erosional scours in the southwest, where northward spreading Antarctic Bottom Water is topographically blocked to the north and deflected to the east forming furrows, channels and steep sediment waves along its flow path. Farther north, in the water depth range of North Atlantic Deep Water, the seafloor is strongly shaped by deep-reaching eddies. Steep, upslope migrating sediment waves in the west have formed beneath the southward flow of anticyclonic Mozambique Channel eddies (MCEs). Arcuate bedforms in the middle evolved through an interaction of the northward flow of MCEs with crevasse splays from a breach in the western Zambezi Channel levee. Hummocky bedforms in the east result from an interplay of East Madagascar Current eddies with overspill deposits of the crevasse and Zambezi Channel. All bedforms are draped with sediments indicating that the present-day current velocities are not strong enough to erode sediments. Hence, it can be concluded that the seafloor morphology developed during earlier times, when bottom-current velocities were stronger. Assuming a sedimentation rate of 20 m/Ma and a drape of at least 50 m thickness the bedforms may have developed during the Pliocene Epoch or earlier.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12
Fig. 13
Fig. 14
Fig. 15
Fig. 16

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adams DK, MacGillicuddy DJ Jr, Zamudio L, Thurnherr AM, Liang X, Rouxel O, German CR, Mullineaux LS (2011) Surface-generated mesoscale eddies transport deep-sea products from hydrothermal vents. Science 332:580–582

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Amante C, Eakins BW (2009) ETOPO1 1 Arc-Minute Global reflief model: procedures, data sources and analysis. NOAA Technical Memorandum NESDIS NGDC-24. National Geophysical Data Center, NOAA. doi:10.7289/V5C8276M

  • Anderson RS, Anderson SP (2011) Geomorphology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Beal LM, de Ruijter WPM, Biastoch A, Zahn R, SCOR, WRCP/IAPSO Working Group 136/ (2011) On the role of the Agulhas system in ocean circulation and climate. Nature 472:429–436

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blumsack SL (1993) A model for the growth of mudwaves in the presence of time-varying currents. Deep Sea Res II 40:963–974

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blumsack S, Weatherly GL (1989) Observations of the nearby flow and a model for the growth of mudwaves. Deep Sea Res I 36:1327–1339

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boswell SM, Smythe-Wright D (2002) The tracer signature of Antarctic Bottom Water and its spread in the Southwest Indian Ocean: part I—CFC-derived translation rate and topographic control around the Southwest Indian Ridge and the Conrad Rise. Deep Sea Res I 49:555–573

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boyer TP, Antonov JI, Baranova OK, Garcia HE, Johnson DR, Locarnini RA, Mishonov AV, O’Brien TD, Seidov D, Smolyar IV, Zweng MM (2009) World Ocean Database 2009. In: Levitus S (ed) NOAA Atlas NESDIS 66. U.S. Goverment Printing Office, Washington, DC, 216 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Bulat J, Long D (2001) Images of the seabed in the Faroe-Shetland Channel from commercial 3D seismic data. Mar Geophys Res 22:345–367

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cacchione DA, Pratson LF, Ogston AS (2002) The shaping of continental slopes by internal tides. Science 296:724–727

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Calais E, Ebinger C, Hartnady C, Nocquet JM (2006) Kinematics of the eastern African Rift from GPS and earthquake slip vector data. Geol Soc Lond Spec Publ 25:9–22

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cartigny MJB, Postma G, van den Berg JH, Mastbergen DR (2011) A comparative study of sediment waves and cyclic steps based on geometries, internal structures and numerical modeling. Mar Geol 280:40–56

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Castelino JA, Reichert C, Klingelhoefer F, Aslanian D (2015) Mesozoic and early Cenozoic sediment influx and morphology of the Mozambique basin. Mar Petrol Geol 66:890–905

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Castelino JA, Reichert C, Jokat W (2017) Response of Cenozoic turbidite system to tectonic activity and sea-level change off the Zambezi Delta. Mar Geophys Res. doi:10.1007/s11001-017-9305-8

    Google Scholar 

  • Chapman P, Di Marco SF, Davis RE, Coward AC (2003) Flow at intermediate depths around Madagascar based on ALACE float trajectories. Deep Sea Res II 50:1957–1986

  • Coffin MF, Rabinowitz PD (1987) Reconstruction of Madagascar and Africa: evidence from the Davie Fracture Zone and Western Somali Basin. J Geophys Res 92:9385–9406

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Courgeon S, Jorry SJ, Camoin GF, BouDagher-Fadel MK, Jouet G, Révillon S, Bachèlery P, Pelleter E, Borgomano J, Poli E, Droxler AW (2016) Growth and demise of Cenozoic isoloated carbonate platforms: new insights from the Mozambique Channel seamounts (SW Indian Ocean). Mar Geol 380:90–105

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Damuth JE, Hayes DE (1977) Echo character of the East Brazilian continental margin and its relationship to sedimentary processes. Mar Geol 24:73–95

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Ruijter WPM, Ridderinkhof H, Lutjeharms JRE, Schouten MW, Veth C (2002) Observations of the flow in the Mozambique Channel. Geophys Res Lett 29. doi:10.1029/2001GL013714

  • de Ruijter WPM, van Aken HM, Beier EJ, Lutjeharms JRE, Matano RP, Schouten MW (2004) Eddies and dipoles around South Madagascar: formation, pathways and large-scale impact. Deep-Sea Res II 51:383–400

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DiMarco SF, Chapman P, Nowlin Jr WD, Hacker P, Donohue K, Luther M, Johnson GC, Toole J (2002) Volume transport and property distributions of the Mozambique Channel. Deep Sea Res II 49:1481–1511

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Donohue K, Toole J (2003) A near-synoptic survey of the Southwest Indian Ocean. Deep Sea Res II 50:1893–1932

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Droghei R, Falcini F, Casalbore D, Martorelli E, Mosetti R, Sannino G, Santoleri R, Chiocci FL (2016) The role of Internal Solitary Waves on deep-water sedimentary processes: the case of up-slope migrating sediment waves off the Messina Strait. Sci Rep 6: 36376. doi:10.1038/srep36376

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Droz L, Mougenot D (1987) Mozambique Upper Fan: Origin of depositional units. AAPG Bulletin 71:1355–1365

    Google Scholar 

  • Eiken O, Hinz K (1993) Contourites in the Fram Strait. Sediment Geol 82:15–32

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ercilla G, Alonso B, Estrada F, Chiocci FL, Baraza J, Farran M (2002a) The Magdalena Turbidite System (Carribean Sea): present-day morphology and architecture model. Mar Geol 185:303–318

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ercilla G, Alonso B, Wynn RB, Baraza J (2002b) Turbidity current sediment waves on irregular slopes: observations from the Orinoco sediment-wave field. Mar Geol 192:171–187

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Faugères J-C, Gonthier E, Mulder T, Kenyon N, Cirac P, Griboulard R, Berné S, Lesuavé R (2002) Multi-process generated sediment waves on the Landes Plateau (Bay of Biscay, North Atlantic). Mar Geol 182:279–302

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Flood RD (1988) A lee wave model for deep-sea mudwave activity. Deep Sea Res I 35:973–983

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Franke D, Jokat W, Ladage S, Stollhofen H, Klimke J, Lutz R, Mahanjane S, Ehrhardt A (2015) The offshore East African Rift system: structural framework at the toe of a juvenile rift. Tectonics 34:2086–2104

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • García M, Hernández-Molina FJ, Alonso B, Vázquez JT, Ercilla G, LLave E, Casas D (2016) Erosive sub-circular depressions on the Guadalquivir Bank (Gulf of Cadiz): interaction between bottom current, mass-wasting and tectonic processes. Mar Geol 378:5–19

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gourlan AT, Meynadier L, Allègre CJ (2008) Tectonically driven changes in the Indian Ocean circulation over the last 25 Ma: Neodymium isotope evidence. Earth Planet Sci Lett 267:353–364

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Habgood EL, Kenyon NH, Masson DG, Akhmetzhanov A, Weaver PPE, Gardner J, Mulder T (2003) Deep-water sediment wave fields, bottom current sand channels and gravity flow channel-lobe systems: Gulf of Cadiz, NE Atlantic. Sedimentology 50:483–510

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hanquiez V, Mulder T, Lecroart P, Gonthier E, Marchès E, Voisset M (2007) High-resolution seafloor images in the Gulf of Cadiz, Iberian margin. Mar Geol 246:42–59

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hebbeln D, Van Rooij D, Wienberg C (2016) Good neighbours shaped by vigorous currents: cold-water coral mounds and contourites in the North Atlantic. Mar Geol 378:171–185

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heezen BC, Hollister CD (1964) Deep-sea current evidence from abyssal sediments. Mar Geol 1:141–174

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heezen BC, Hollister CD (1971) The face of the deep. Oxford University Press, Inc., New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Heezen BC, Hollister CD, Ruddiman WF (1966) Shaping of the continental rise by deep geostrophic contour currents. Science 152:502–508

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hernández-Molina FJ, Larter RD, Rebesco M, Maldonado A (2006a) Miocene reversal of bottom water flow along the Pacific Margin of the Antarctic Peninsula: stratigraphic evidence from a contourite sedimentary tail. Mar Geol 228:93–116

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hernández-Molina FJ, Llave E, Stow DAV, García M, Somoza L, Vásquez JT, Lobo FJ, Maestro A, Díaz del Río V, León R, Medialdea T, Gardner J (2006b) The contourite depositional system of the Gulf of Cádiz: a sedimentary model related to the bottom current activity of the Mediterranean outflow water and its interaction with the continental margin. Deep-Sea Res II 53:1420–1463

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hernández-Molina FJ, LLave E, Stow DAV (2008) Continental slope contourites. In: Rebesco M, Camerlenghi A (eds) Contourites. developments in sedimentology, vol 60. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 379–408

    Google Scholar 

  • Hernández-Molina FJ, Paterlini M, Somoza L, Violante R, Arecco MA, de Isasi M, Rebesco M, Uenzelmann-Neben G, Neben S, Marshall P (2010) Giant mounded drifts in the Argentine Continental Margin: origins, and global implications for the history of thermohaline circulation. Mar Pet Geol 27(7):1508–1530

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hernández-Molina FJ, Soto M, Piola AR, Tomasini J, Preu B, Thompson P, Badalini G, Creaser A, Violante RA, Morales E, Paterlini M, De Santa Ana H (2016a) A contourite depositional system along the Uruguayan continental margin: sedimentary, oceanographic and paleoceanographic implications. Mar Geol 378:333–349

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hernández-Molina FJ, Wåhlin A, Bruno M, Ercilla G, Llave E, Serra N, Roson G, Puig P, Rebesco M, Van Rooij D, Roque D, González-Pola C, Sáchez F, Gómez M, Preu B, Schwenk T, Hanebuth TJJ, Sánchez Leal RF, Garciá-Lafuente J, Brackenridge RE, Juan C, Stow DAV, Sánchez-González JM (2016b) Oceanographic processes and morphosedimentary products along the Iberian margins: a new multidisciplinary approach. Mar Geol 378:127–156

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jokat W (2006) Southeastern Atlantic and southwestern Indian Ocean: reconstruction of the sedimentary and tectonic development since the Cretaceous, AISTEK-II:Mozambique Ridge and Mozambique Basin, Report of the RV “Sonne” cruise SO-183, Project AISTEK-II 20 May to 7 July 2005, vol 64. Alfred-Wegener-Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven

  • Jokat W, Boebel T, Koenig M, Meyer U (2003) Timing and geometry of early Gondwana breakup. J Geophys Res 108:2428. doi:10.1029/2002JB001802

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Karas C, Nürnberg D, Gupta AK, Tiedemann R, Mohan K, Bickert T (2009) Mid-Pliocene climate change amplified by a switch in Indonesian subsurface throughflow. Nat Geosci 2: 434–438

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kolla V, Eittreim S, Sullivan L, Kostecki JA, Burckle LH (1980a) Current-controlled, abyssal microtopography and sedimentation in Mozambique Basin, Southwest Indian Ocean. Mar Geol 34:171–206

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kolla V, Kostecki JA, Henderson L, Hess L (1980b) Morphology and Quaternary sedimentation of the Mozambique Fan and environs, southwestern Indian Ocean. Sedimentology 27:357–378

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • König M, Jokat W (2010) Advanced insights into magmatism and volcanism of the Mozambique Ridge in the view of new potential field data. Geophys J Int 180:158–180

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kostic S (2011) Modeling of submarine cyclic steps: controls on their formation, migration, and architecture. Geosphere 7:294–304

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kubo Y, Nakajima T (2002) Laboratory experiments and numerical simulation of sediment-wave formation by turbidity currents. Mar Geol 192:105–121

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kuijpers A, Hansen B, Hühnerbach V, Larsen B, Nielsen T, Werner F (2002) Norwegian Sea overflow through the Faroe-Shetland gateway as documented by its bedforms. Mar Geol 188:147–164

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kusky TM, Toraman E, Raharimahefa T, Rasoazanamparanv C (2010) Active tectonics of the Alaotra-Ankay Graben system, Madagascar: possible extension of Somalian-African diffuse plate boundary. Gondwana Res 18:274–294

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Laberg JS, Vorre TO, Knutsen SM (1999) The Lofoten contourite off Norway. Mar Geol 159:1–6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee HJ, Syvitski JPM, Parker G, Orange D, Locat J, Hutton EWH, Imran J (2002) Distinguishing sediment waves from slope failure deposits: field examples, including ‘Humboldt slide’, and modelling results. Mar Geol 192:79–104

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leinweber V, Jokat W (2012) The Jurassic history of the Africa-Antarctica Corridor—new constraints from magnetic data on the conjugate continental margins. Tectonophysics 530–531:87–101

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • León R, Somoza L, Medialdea T, Hernández-Molina FJ, Vázguez JT, Díaz-del-Rio V, González FJ (2010) Pockmarks, collapses and blind valleys in the Gulf of Cádiz. Geo-Mar Lett 30:231–247

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Long D, Bulat J, Stoker MS (2004) Sea bed morphology of the Faroe-Shetland Chaannel derived from 3D seismic datasets. In: Davies RJ, Cartwright JA, Stewart SA, Lappin M, Underhill JR (eds) 3D Seismic technology: application to the exploration of sedimentary basins, vol 29. Geological Society, Memoirs, London, pp 53–61

    Google Scholar 

  • Lutjeharms JRE (2006) The Agulhas current, vol 12. Springer, Berlin

    Google Scholar 

  • Macdonald HA, Wynn RB, Huvenne VAI, Peakall J, Masson DG, Weaver PPE, McPhail SD (2011) New insights into the morphology, fill, and remarkable longevity (>0.2 m.y.) of modern deep-water erosional scours along the northeast Atlantic margin. Geosphere 7:845–867

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mahanjane ES (2012) A geotectonic history of the northern Mozambique Basin including the Beira High—a contribution forthe understanding of its development. Mar Petrol Geol 26:1–12

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mahanjane ES (2014) The Davie Fracture Zone and adjacent basins in the offshore Mozambique Margin—a new insights for hydrocarbon potential. Mar Petrol Geol 57:561–571

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martorelli E, Bosman A, Casalbore D, Falcini F (2016) Interaction of down-slope and along-slope processes off Capo Vaticano (southern Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy), with particular reference to contourite-related landslides. Mar Geol 378:43–55

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Masson DG, Wynn RB, Bett BJ (2004) Sedimentary environment of the Faroe-Shetland and Faroe Bank Channels, northeast Atlantic, and the use of bedforms as indicators of bottom-current velocity in the deep ocean. Sedimentology 51:1207–1241

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCave IN, Tucholke BE (1986) Deep current-controlled sedimentation in the western North Atlantic. In: Vogt P, Tucholke BE (eds) The geology of North America Volume M. The western North Atlantic Region. Geological Society of America, Boulder CO, pp 451–469

    Google Scholar 

  • McGregor D (2015) History of the development of the East African Rift System: a series of interpreted maps through time. Afr J Earth Sci 101:232–252

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Michaud F, Chabert A, Collot J-Y, Sallarès V, Flueh ER, Charvis P, Graindorge D, Gutscher M-A, Bialas J (2005) Fields of multi-kilometer scale sub-circular depressions in the Carnegie Ridge sedimentary blanket: effect of underwater carbonate dissolution? Mar Geol 216:205–219

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nielsen T, Knutz PC, Kuijpers A (2008) Seismic expression of contourite depositional systems. In: Rebesco M, Camerlenghi A (eds) Contourites. Developments in sedimentology, vol 60. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 301–321

    Google Scholar 

  • Niemi TM, Ben-Avraham Z, Hartnady CJH, Reznikov M (2000) Post-Eocene seismic stratigraphy of the deep ocean basin adjacent to the southeast African continental margin: a record of geostrophic bottom current systems. Mar Geol 162:237–258

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Normark WR, Hess GR, Stow DAV, Bowen AJ (1980) Sediment waves on the Monterey Fan levee: a preliminary physical interpretation. Mar Geol 37:1–18

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Preu B, Spieß V, Schwenk T, Schneider R (2011) Evidence for current controlled sedimentation along the southern Mozambique continental margin since Early Miocene times. Geo-Mar Lett 31:427–435

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Preu B, Hernández-Molina FJ, Violante R, Piola AR, Paterlini CM, Schwenk T, Voigt I, Krastel S, Spiess V (2013) Morphosedimentary and hydrographic features of the northern Argentine margin: the interplay between erosive, depositional and gravitational processes and its conceptual implications. Deep-Sea Res I 75:157–174

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Quartly GD, Srokosz MA (2004) Eddies in the Southern Mozambique Channel. Deep-Sea Res II 51:69–83

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rebesco M, Hernández-Molina FJ, Van Rooij D, Wåhlin A (2014) Contourites and associated sediments controlled by deep-water circulation processes: state-of-the-art and future considerations. Mar Geol 352:111–154

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reeder DB, Ma BB, Jang Yang Y (2011) Very large subaqueous sand dunes on the upper continental slope in the South China Sea generated by episodic, shoaling deep-water internal solitary waves. Mar Geol 279:12–18

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ribó M, Puig P, Muñoz A, Iacono CL, Masque P, Palanques A, Acosta J, Guillén J, Ballesteros MG (2016) Morphobathymetric analysis of the large fine-grained sediment waves over the Gulf of Valencia continental slope (NW Mediterranean). Geomorphology 253:22–37

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ridderinkhof H (2000) RV Pelagia cruise report, Cruise 64PE156, Project ACSEX-I, Mozambique Channel, 20 March – 13 April 2000. Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Texel, Netherlands

  • Ridderinkhof H, de Ruijter WPM (2003) Moored current observations in the Mozambique Channel. Deep Sea Res II 50:1933–1955

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ridderinkhof H, van der Werf PM, Ullgren JE, van Aken HM, van Leeuwen PJ, de Ruijter WPM (2010) Seasonal and interannual variability in the Mozambique Channel from moored current observations. J Geophys Res 115:1–18

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sætre R (1985) Surface currents in the Mozambique Channel. Deep Sea Res 32:1457–1467

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sætre R, Jorge da Silva A (1984) The circulation of the Mozambique Channel. Deep Sea Res 31:485–508

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schlitzer R (2011) Ocean Data View, http://odv.awi.de.

  • Schlüter P, Uenzelmann-Neben G (2007) Seismostratigraphic analysis of the Transkei Basin: a history of deep sea current controlled sedimentation. Mar Geol 240:99–111

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schlüter P, Uenzelmann-Neben G (2008) Indications for bottom current activity since Eocene times: the climate and ocean gateway archive of the Transkei Basin, South Africa. Global Planet Change 60:416–428

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schott FA, Xie S-P, McCreary Jr. JP (2009) Indian Ocean circulation and climate variability. Rev Geophys 47. doi:10.1029/2007RG000245

  • Schouten MW, de Ruijter WPM, Van Leeuwen PJ, Ridderinkhof H (2003) Eddies and variability in the Mozambique Channel. Deep Sea Res II 50:1987–2003

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stoker MS, Long D, Bulat J (2003) A record of mid-cenozoic strong deep-water erosion in the Faroe-Shetland Channel. In: Mienert J, Weaver P (eds) European margin sediment dynamics, vol 22. Springer, Berlin, pp 145–148

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Stow DAV, Hernández-Molina FJ, Llave E, Sayago-Gil M, Díaz-del-Río V, Branson A (2009) Bedform-velocity matrix: The estimation of bottom current velocity from bedform observations. Geology 37:327–330

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sumner EJ et al (2013) First direct measurements of hydraulic jumps in an active submarine density currents. Geophys Res Lett 40:1–5

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Swart NC, Lutjeharms JRE, Ridderinkhof H, de Ruijter WPM (2010) Observed characteristics of Mozambique Channel eddies. J Geophys Res 115:1–14

    Google Scholar 

  • Symons WO, Sumner EJ, Talling PJ, Cartigny MJB, Clare MA (2016) Large-scale sediment waves and scours on the modern seafloor and their implications for the prevalence of supercritical flows. Mar Geol 371:130–148

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tucker ME (2004) Sedimentary petrology. Blackwell Publishing, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Turnewitsch R, Reyss J-L, Chapman DC, Thomson J, Lampitt RS (2004) Evidence for a sedimentary fingerprint of an asymmetric flow field surrounding a short seamount. Earth Planet Sci Lett 222:1023–1036

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van Aken HM, Ridderinkhof H, de Ruijter WPM (2004) North Atlantic deep water in the south-western Indian Ocean. Deep Sea Res I 51:755–776

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walford HL, White NJ, Sydow JC (2005) Solid sediment load history of the Zambezi Delta. Earth Planet Sci Lett 238:49–63

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wessel P, Smith WHF (1991) Free software helps map and display data. EOS Trans Am Geophys Union 72:441 and 445–446

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wiles E, Green AN, Watkeys MK, Jokat W (2017a) Zambezi continental margin: compartmentalized sediment transfer routes to the abyssal Mozambique Channel. Mar Geophys Res. doi:10.1007/s11001-016-9301-4

    Google Scholar 

  • Wiles E, Green A, Watkeys M, Jokat W (2017b) The Zambezi Channel: a new perspective on submarine channel evolution at low latitudes. Geomorphology. doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2017.02.014

    Google Scholar 

  • Wynn RB, Stow DAV (2002) Classification and characterisation of deep-water sediment waves. Mar Geol 192:7–22

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank the captain and crew of the RV Sonne cruise SO-183 for their efficient help and support during the expedition. Eric Firing (Department of Oceanography, University of Hawai’i at Manoa) kindly provided the LADCP data from WOCE section I4 and Herman Ridderinkhof (Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research) the LADCP data from the ACSEX-1 cruise via the CODIS data management group. The maps and the bathymetry profiles were produced using the free software GMT (Wessel and Smith 1991), and the hydrographic sections were produced using the free software Ocean Data View (Schlitzer 2011). The analysis and interpretation of the data were done within two cooperation projects between the Alfred-Wegener-Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven and the Universität Bremen. The project was funded by the German Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF) under contract no. 03G0183A. We thank the editor Wu-Cheng Chi, Eleonora Martorelli and an anonymous reviewer for their critical and valuable comments, which helped to improve the manuscript significantly.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geosciences, Universität Bremen, Klagenfurter Straße, D-28359, Bremen, Germany

    Monika Breitzke

  2. School of Agricultural, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Private Bag X 54001, Durban, 4000, Republic of South Africa

    Errol Wiles & Michael K. Watkeys

  3. Alfred-Wegener-Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Am Alten Hafen 26, D-27568, Bremerhaven, Germany

    Ralf Krocker & Wilfried Jokat

Authors
  1. Monika Breitzke
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  2. Errol Wiles
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  3. Ralf Krocker
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  4. Michael K. Watkeys
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  5. Wilfried Jokat
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Monika Breitzke.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (PDF 20113 KB)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Breitzke, M., Wiles, E., Krocker, R. et al. Seafloor morphology in the Mozambique Channel: evidence for long-term persistent bottom-current flow and deep-reaching eddy activity. Mar Geophys Res 38, 241–269 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11001-017-9322-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11001-017-9322-7

Keywords