Morphobathymetric analysis and evidence of submarine mass movements in the western Gulf of Taranto (Calabria margin, Ionian Sea)

The western part of the Gulf of Taranto, southern Italy, is a seismically active area with high sediment supply. New swath bathymetry and sub-bottom profiler (CHIRP) data were acquired on board R/V OGS-Explora during the WGDT cruise. The data were analyzed to describe the seafloor morphology and the acoustic facies of relevant morphologic features. Special attention was given to the features produced by mass wasting and soft-sediment deformations. The features identified include: slides and slide scars, debris flow deposits, enigmatic dip-slope trending sub-parallel linear depressions, and along-slope undulations inferred to have been produced either by creeping or sediment deposition by hyperpycnal flows. The description of these features contributes to the characterization of the Calabria foreland basin system and provides an analogue for other basins similarly affected by a close relation between sediment supply and active tectonics.