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Global contourite distribution database, version 3 Citable as data publication Flanders Marine Institute; Renard Centre of Marine Geology - Ugent (2019). Global contourite distribution database, version 3. Available online at https://www.marineregions.org. https://doi.org/10.14284/346 Availability:  This dataset is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.Description This product offers a global overview of contourite distribution. Contourites are sedimentary units which are deposited or substantially reworked by alongslope bottom currents. They refer to the lithological unit and the terminology reflects the grain size of the sediment. Drifts refer to the same sedimentary unit as a contourite, but the word 'drift' reflects the morphological appearance of the sedimentary unit. The product was elaborated digitizing the information from several hundred published scientific papers. more Scope Themes: Geology - Geophysics - Sedimentation, Physical > Currents - drift - dispersion - tracers Keywords: Marine/Coastal, Contourites, World Oceans Geographical coverage World Oceans [Marine Regions] Contributors Related datasets Previous version: Global contourite distribution database, version 2, more Publication Used in this dataset Collart, T. et al. (2018). Sedimentary processes and cold-water coral mini-mounds at the Ferrol canyon head, NW Iberian margin. Prog. Oceanogr. 169: 48-65. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pocean.2018.02.027, more Juan, C.; Van Rooij, D.; De Bruycker, W. (2018). An assessment of bottom current controlled sedimentation in Pacific Ocean abyssal environments. Mar. Geol. 403: 20-33. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2018.05.001, more Kim, S. et al. (2018). Seismic stratigraphy of the Central Basin in northwestern Ross Sea slope and rise, Antarctica: Clues to the late Cenozoic ice-sheet dynamics and bottom-current activity. Mar. Geol. 395: 363-379. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2017.10.013, more Llave, E. et al. (2018). Geomorphological and sedimentary processes of the glacially influenced northwestern Iberian continental margin and abyssal plains. Geomorphology (Amst.) 312: 60-85. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2018.03.022, more Miramontes, E. et al. (2018). Morphological control of slope instability in contourites: a geotechnical approach. Landslides 15(6): 1085-1095. https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10346-018-0956-6, more Pepe, F. et al. (2018). Seismic stratigraphy of upper Quaternary shallow-water contourite drifts in the Gulf of Taranto (Ionian Sea, southern Italy). Mar. Geol. 397: 79-92. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2017.12.004, more Cattaneo, A. et al. (2017). Contourite identification along Italian margins: The case of the Portofino drift (Ligurian Sea). Mar. Pet. Geol. 87: 137-147. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2017.03.026, more Gong, C. et al. (2017). Flow processes and sedimentation in contourite channels on the northwestern South China Sea margin: A joint 3D seismic and oceanographic perspective. Mar. Geol. 393: 176-193. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2016.11.002, more Ercilla, G. et al. (2016). Significance of bottom currents in deep-sea morphodynamics: An example from the Alboran Sea. Mar. Geol. 378: 157-170. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2015.09.007, more Foglini, F. et al. (2016). The reshaping of the South West Adriatic Margin by cascading of dense shelf waters. Mar. Geol. 375: 64-81. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2015.08.011, more Hernández-Molina, F.J. et al. (2016). A contourite depositional system along the Uruguayan continental margin: Sedimentary, oceanographic and paleoceanographic implications. Mar. Geol. 378: 333-349. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2015.10.008, more Ivanova, E. et al. (2016). Late Pliocene–Pleistocene stratigraphy and history of formation of the Ioffe calcareous contourite drift, Western South Atlantic. Mar. Geol. 372: 17-30. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2015.12.002, more Marini, M. et al. (2016). Role of the mid-Adriatic deep in dense water interception and modification. Mar. Geol. 375: 5-14. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2015.08.015, more Miramontes, E. et al. (2016). The Pianosa Contourite Depositional System (Northern Tyrrhenian Sea): Drift morphology and Plio-Quaternary stratigraphic evolution. Mar. Geol. 378: 20-42. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2015.11.004, more Rebesco, M. et al. (2016). Evolution of a high-latitude sediment drift inside a glacially-carved trough based on high-resolution seismic stratigraphy (Kveithola, NW Barents Sea). Quat. Sci. Rev. 147: 178-193. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2016.02.007, more Rodriguez, M. et al. (2016). The Sawqirah contourite drift system in the Arabian Sea (NW Indian Ocean): A case study of interactions between margin reactivation and contouritic processes. Mar. Geol. 381: 1-16. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2016.08.004, more Soulet, Q. et al. (2016). Erosional versus aggradational canyons along a tectonically-active margin: The northeastern Ligurian margin (western Mediterranean Sea). Mar. Geol. 382: 17-36. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2016.09.015, more Tallobre, C. et al. (2016). Description of a contourite depositional system on the Demerara Plateau: Results from geophysical data and sediment cores. Mar. Geol. 378: 56-73. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2016.01.003, more (2015). The U.S. Board on Geographic names (USBGN: Advisory Committee on Undersea Features (ACUF). Report to GEBCO/SCUFN 28; 12-16 Oct, 2015. Advisory Committee on Undersea Features (ACUF): [s.l.]. 6 pp., more Hanebuth, T.J.J. et al. (2015). Oceanic density fronts steering bottom-current induced sedimentation deduced from a 50 ka contourite-drift record and numerical modeling (off NW Spain). Quat. Sci. Rev. 112: 207-225. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2015.01.027, more Pellegrini, C. et al. (2015). Pliocene–Quaternary contourite depositional system along the south-western Adriatic margin: changes in sedimentary stacking pattern and associated bottom currents. Geo-Mar. Lett. 36(1): 67-79. https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00367-015-0424-4, more Tournadour, E. et al. (2015). Origin and architecture of a Mass Transport Complex on the northwest slope of Little Bahama Bank (Bahamas): Relations between off-bank transport, bottom current sedimentation and submarine landslides. Sediment. Geol. 317: 9-26. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sedgeo.2014.10.003, more Owen, M.J. et al. (2014). Control of sedimentation by active tectonics, glaciation and contourite-depositing currents in Endurance Basin, South Georgia. Global Planet. Change 123: 323-343. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2014.08.003, more Brackenridge, R.E. et al. (2013). A Pliocene mixed contourite–turbidite system offshore the Algarve Margin, Gulf of Cadiz: Seismic response, margin evolution and reservoir implications. Mar. Pet. Geol. 46: 36-50. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2013.05.015, more Li, H. et al. (2013). Seismic characteristics and processes of the Plio-Quaternary unidirectionally migrating channels and contourites in the northern slope of the South China Sea. Mar. Pet. Geol. 43: 370-380. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2012.12.010, more Martos, Y.M. et al. (2013). Tectonics and palaeoceanographic evolution recorded by contourite features in southern Drake Passage (Antarctica). Mar. Geol. 343: 76-91. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2013.06.015, more Micallef, A. et al. (2013). The submerged paleolandscape of the Maltese Islands: Morphology, evolution and relation to Quaternary environmental change. Mar. Geol. 335: 129-147. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2012.10.017, more Preu, B. et al. (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., Part 1, Oceanogr. Res. Pap. 75: 157-174. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr.2012.12.013, more Rebesco, M. et al. (2013). Quaternary contourite drifts of the Western Spitsbergen margin. Deep-Sea Res., Part 1, Oceanogr. Res. Pap. 79: 156-168. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr.2013.05.013, more Gong, C. et al. (2012). Sediment waves on the South China Sea Slope off southwestern Taiwan: Implications for the intrusion of the Northern Pacific Deep Water into the South China Sea. Mar. Pet. Geol. 32(1): 95-109. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2011.12.005, more Muñoz, A. et al. (2012). Sediment drifts and cold-water coral reefs in the Patagonian upper and middle continental slope. Mar. Pet. Geol. 36(1): 70-82. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2012.05.008, more Campbell, D. Calvin (2011). The Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic geological history of the outer continental margin off Nova Scotia, Canada: Insights into margin evolution from a mature passive margin. PhD Thesis. Dalhousie University: Halifax. 280 pp., more Martorelli, E. et al. (2011). Contourites offshore Pantelleria Island (Sicily Channel, Mediterranean Sea): depositional, erosional and biogenic elements. Geo-Mar. Lett. 31(5-6): 481-493. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00367-011-0244-0, more Palomino, D. et al. (2011). Interaction between seabed morphology and water masses around the seamounts on the Motril Marginal Plateau (Alboran Sea, Western Mediterranean). Geo-Mar. Lett. 31(5-6): 465-479. https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00367-011-0246-y, more Martorelli, E. et al. (2010). Analysis and modeling of contourite drifts and contour currents off promontories in the Italian seas (Mediterranean Sea). Mar. Geol. 278(1-4): 19-30. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2010.08.007, more Van Rooij, D.; Iglesias, J.; Hernández-Molina, F.J.; Ercilla, G.; Gomez-Ballesteros, M.; Casas, D.; Llave, E.; De Hauwere, A.; Garcia-Gil, S.; Acosta, J.; Henriet, J.-P. (2010). The Le Danois Contourite Depositional System: Interactions between the Mediterranean Outflow Water and the upper Cantabrian slope (North Iberian margin). Mar. Geol. 274(1-4): 1-20. dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2010.03.001, more Hernández-Molina, F.J. et al. (2009). Contourite depositional system on the Argentine Slope: An exceptional record of the influence of Antarctic water masses. Geology (Boulder Colo.) 37(6): 507-510. https://dx.doi.org/10.1130/g25578a.1, more Koenitz, D. et al. (2008). Internal structure of a contourite drift generated by the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst. 9(6): 1-27. https://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2007gc001799, more MacLachlan, S.E. et al. (2008). Investigations of the bottom current sculpted margin of Hatton Bank, NE Atlantic. Mar. Geol. 253(3-4): 170-184. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2008.05.012, more Llave, E. et al. (2007). Quaternary evolution of the contourite depositional system in the Gulf of Cadiz, in: Viana, A.R. et al. Economic and palaeoceanographic significance of contourite deposits. Geological Society Special Publication, 276: pp. 49-79. https://dx.doi.org/10.1144/gsl.sp.2007.276.01.03, more Lucchi, R.G; Rebesco, M. (2007). Glacial contourites on the Antarctic Peninsula margin: insight for palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic conditions, in: Viana, A.R. et al. Economic and palaeoceanographic significance of contourite deposits. Geological Society Special Publication, 276: pp. 111-127. https://dx.doi.org/10.1144/gsl.sp.2007.276.01.06, more Surlyk, F.; Lykke-Andersen, H. (2007). Contourite drifts, moats and channels in the Upper Cretaceous chalk of the Danish Basin. Sedimentology 54(2): 405-422. https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3091.2006.00842.x, more Van Rooij, D. et al. (2007). Small mounded contourite drifts associated with deep-water coral banks, Porcupine Seabight, NE Atlantic Ocean, in: Viana, A.R. et al. Economic and palaeoceanographic significance of contourite deposits. Geological Society Special Publication, 276: pp. 225-244. https://dx.doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.2007.276.01.11, more Venuti, A. et al. (2007). Magnetic proxy for the deep (Pacific) western boundary current variability across the mid-Pleistocene climate transition. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 259(1-2): 107-118. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2007.04.032, more Hernández-Molina, F.J. et al. (2006). Miocene reversal of bottom water flow along the Pacific Margin of the Antarctic Peninsula: Stratigraphic evidence from a contourite sedimentary tail. Mar. Geol. 228(1-4): 93-116. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2005.12.010, more Jones, E.J.W.; Okada, H. (2006). Abyssal circulation change in the equatorial Atlantic: Evidence from Cenozoic sedimentary drifts off West Africa. Mar. Geol. 232(1-2): 49-61. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2006.07.002, more Scheuer, C. et al. (2006). Variability in Cenozoic sedimentation along the continental rise of the Bellingshausen Sea, West Antarctica. Mar. Geol. 227(3-4): 279-298. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2005.12.007, more Gilli, A. et al. (2005). Seismic stratigraphy, buried beach ridges and contourite drifts: the Late Quaternary history of the closed Lago Cardiel basin, Argentina (49°S). Sedimentology 52(1): 1-23. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3091.2004.00677.x, more Laberg, J.-S. et al. (2005). Cenozoic alongslope processes and sedimentation on the NW European Atlantic margin. Mar. Pet. Geol. 22(9-10): 1069-1088. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2005.01.008, more Knutz, P.C.; Cartwright, J.A. (2004). 3D anatomy of Late Neogene contourite drifts and associated mass flows in the Faroe-Shetland Basin, in: Davies, R.J. et al. 3D Seismic Technology: Application to the exploration of sedimentary basins. Geological Society Memoir, 29: pp. 63-72. https://dx.doi.org/10.1144/gsl.mem.2004.029.01.07, more Kuvaas, B. et al. (2004). Input of glaciomarine sediments along the East Antarctic Continental Margin; depositional processes on the Cosmonaut Sea Continental Slope and Rise and a regional acoustic stratigraphic correlation from 40° W to 80° E. Mar. Geophys. Res. 25(3-4): 247-263. https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11001-005-1321-4, more Hernández-Molina, F.J. et al. (2003). Looking for clues to paleoceanographic imprints: A diagnosis of the Gulf of Cadiz contourite depositional systems. Geology (Boulder Colo.) 31(1): 19. https://dx.doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(2003)031<0019:lfctpi>2.0.co;2, more Maldonado, A. et al. (2003). Contourite deposits in the central Scotia Sea: the importance of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and the Weddell Gyre flows. Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol. 198(1-2): 187-221. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0031-0182(03)00401-2, more Mulder, T. et al. (2003). The Gulf of Cadiz: an unstable giant contouritic levee. Geo-Mar. Lett. 23(1): 7-18. https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00367-003-0119-0, more Carter, L.; McCave, I.N. (2002). Eastern New Zealand Drifts, Miocene-Recent, in: Stow, D.A.V. et al. Deep-water contourite systems: Modern drifts and ancient series, seismic and sedimentary characteristics. Geological Society Memoir, 22: pp. 385-407. https://dx.doi.org/10.1144/GSL.MEM.2002.022.01.27, more Cunningham, A.R. et al. (2002). Contourite sedimentation in the Falkland Trough, western South Atlantic, in: Stow, D.A.V. et al. Deep-water contourite systems: Modern drifts and ancient series, seismic and sedimentary characteristics. Geological Society Memoir, 22: pp. 337-352. https://dx.doi.org/10.1144/GSL.MEM.2002.022.01.24, more Ercilla, G. et al. (2002). The Ceuta Drift, Alboran Sea, southwestern Mediterranean, in: Stow, D.A.V. et al. Deep-water contourite systems: Modern drifts and ancient series, seismic and sedimentary characteristics. Geological Society Memoir, 22: pp. 155-170. https://dx.doi.org/10.1144/GSL.MEM.2002.022.01.12, more Knutz, P.C. et al. (2002). Glacimarine slope sedimentation, contourite drifts and bottom current pathways on the Barra Fan, UK North Atlantic margin. Mar. Geol. 188(1-2): 129-146. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0025-3227(02)00278-5, more Rebesco, M. et al. (2002). Sediment drifts and deep-sea channel systems, Antarctic Peninsula Pacific Margin, in: Stow, D.A.V. et al. Deep-water contourite systems: Modern drifts and ancient series, seismic and sedimentary characteristics. Geological Society Memoir, 22: pp. 353-371. https://dx.doi.org/10.1144/GSL.MEM.2002.022.01.25, more Stoker, M.S. (2002). Late Neogene development of the UK Atlantic margin, in: Doré, A.G. et al. Exhumation of the North Atlantic Margin, timing, mechanisms and implications for petroleum exploration. Geological Society Special Publication, 196: pp. 313-329. https://dx.doi.org/10.1144/gsl.sp.2002.196.01.17, more Uenzelmann-Neben, G. (2002). Contourites on the Agulhas Plateau, SW Indian Ocean: indications for the evolution of currents since Palaeogene times, in: Stow, D.A.V. et al. (Ed.) Deep-water contourite systems: Modern drifts and ancient series, seismic and sedimentary characteristics. Geological Society Memoir, 22: pp. 271-288, more Camerlenghi, A. et al. (2001). Glacial morphology and post-glacial contourites in northern Prince Gustav Channel (NW Weddell Sea, Antarctica). Mar. Geophys. Res. 22(5-6): 417-443. https://dx.doi.org/10.1023/a:1016399616365, more Laberg, J.-S. et al. (2001). Seismic analyses of Cenozoic contourite drift development in the Northern Norwegian Sea. Mar. Geophys. Res. 22(5-6): 401-416. https://dx.doi.org/10.1023/a:1016347632294, more Llave, E. et al. (2001). Seismic stacking pattern of the Faro-Albufeira contourite system (Gulf of Cadiz): a Quaternary record of paleoceanographic and tectonic influences. Mar. Geophys. Res. 22(5/6): 487-508. https://dx.doi.org/10.1023/a:1016355801344, more Niemi, T.M. et al. (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(2-4): 237-258. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0025-3227(99)00062-6, more Faugeres, J.-C. et al. (1999). Seismic features diagnostic of contourite drifts. Mar. Geol. 162(1): 1-38. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0025-3227(99)00068-7, more Laberg, J.S. et al. (1999). The Lofoten contourite drift off Norway. Mar. Geol. 159(1-4): 1-6. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0025-3227(98)00198-4, more Faugeres, J.-C. et al. (1998). Seismic patterns of a muddy contourite fan (Vema Channel, South Brazilian Basin) and a sandy distal turbidite deep-sea fan (Cap Ferret system, Bay of Biscay): a comparison. Sediment. Geol. 115(1-4): 81-110. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0037-0738(97)00088-2, more Massé, L. et al. (1998). The interplay between turbidity and contour current processes on the Columbia Channel fan drift, Southern Brazil Basin. Sediment. Geol. 115(1-4): 111-132. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0037-0738(97)00089-4, more Faugeres, J.-C. et al. (1993). Contourite drift types and their distribution in the North and South Atlantic Ocean basins. Sediment. Geol. 82(1-4): 189-203. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0037-0738(93)90121-k, more Locker, S.D.; Laine, E.P. (1992). Paleogene-Neogene depositional history of the middle U.S. Atlantic continental rise: mixed turbidite and contourite depositional systems. Mar. Geol. 103(1-3): 137-164. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0025-3227(92)90013-8, more Reed, D.L. et al. (1987). Contourite sedimentation in an intraoceanic forearc system: Eastern Sunda Arc, Indonesia. Mar. Geol. 76: 223-241. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0025-3227(87)90031-4, more Gonthier, E.G. et al. (1984). Contourite facies of the Faro Drift, Gulf of Cadiz, in: Stow, D.A.V. et al. Fine-grained Sediments: deep-water processes and facies. Geological Society Special Publication, 15: pp. 275-292. https://dx.doi.org/10.1144/gsl.sp.1984.015.01.18, more Lonsdale, P. (1981). Drifts and ponds of reworked pelagic sediment in part of the southwest Pacific. Mar. Geol. 43(3-4): 153-193. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0025-3227(81)90180-8, more Embley, R.W.; Langseth, M.G. (1977). Sedimentation processes on the continental rise of northeastern South America. Mar. Geol. 25(4): 279-297. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0025-3227(77)90058-5, more Tucholke, B.E.; Ewing, J.I. (1974). Bathymetry and sediment geometry of the Greater Antilles outer ridge and vicinity. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 85(11): 1789-1802. https://dx.doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(1974)85<1789:BASGOT>2.0.CO;2, more Lonsdale, P. et al. (1972). Sedimentation and erosion on Horizon Guyot. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 83(2): 289. https://dx.doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(1972)83[289:saeohg]2.0.co;2, more Dataset status: Completed Data type: GIS maps Metadatarecord created: 2019-03-11 Information last updated: 2019-03-18 | ||||
