Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Zambezi continental margin: compartmentalized sediment transfer routes to the abyssal Mozambique Channel

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

Abstract

Sediment delivery to the abyssal regions of the oceans is an integral process in the source to sink cycle of material derived from adjacent continents and islands. The Zambezi River, the largest in southern Africa, delivers vast amounts of material to the inner continental shelf of central Mozambique. The aim of this contribution is to better constrain sediment transport pathways to the abyssal plains using the latest, regional, high-resolution multibeam bathymetry data available, taking into account the effects of bottom water circulation, antecedent basin morphology and sea-level change. Results show that sediment transport and delivery to the abyssal plains is partitioned into three distinct domains; southern, central and northern. Sediment partitioning is primarily controlled by changes in continental shelf and shelf-break morphology under the influence of a clockwise rotating shelf circulation system. However, changes in sea-level have an overarching control on sediment delivery to particular domains. During highstand conditions, such as today, limited sediment delivery to the submarine Zambezi Valley and Channel is proposed, with increased sediment delivery to the deepwater basin being envisaged during regression and lowstand conditions. However, there is a pronounced along-strike variation in sediment transport during the sea-level cycle due to changes in the width, depth and orientation of the shelf. This combination of features outlines a sequence stratigraphic concept not generally considered in the strike-aligned shelf-slope-abyssal continuum.

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

Access this article

Log in via an institution

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

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Beiersdorf H, Kudrass H.-R, von Stackelberg U (1980) Placer deposits of Ilmenite and Zircon on the Zambezi Shelf. Geol Jahrbuch, Hannover, Germany, D36, 5–85, 32 Fig. 4 Tab., 6 Pl

  • Boyd R, Ruming K, Goodwin I, Schröder-Adams C (2008) Highstand transport of coastal sand to the deep ocean: a case study from Fraser Island, southeast Australia. Geology 36:15–18

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buffington EC, Moore DG (1963) Geophysical evidence on the origin of gullied submarine slopes, San Clemente, California. J Geol 71:356–370

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Castelino JA, Reichert C, Klingelhoefer F, Aslanian D, Jokat W (2015) Mesozoic and Early Cenozoic sediment influx and morphology of the Mozambique Basin. Mar Pet Geol 66:890–905. 10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2015.07.028

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Catuneanu O (2006) Principles of sequence stratigraphy. Elsevier, Amsterdam, p 386

    Google Scholar 

  • Chiang C-S, Yu H-S (2008) Evidence of hyperpycnal flows at the head of the meandering Kaoping Canyon off SW Taiwan. Geo Mar Lett 28:161–169

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Covault JA, Graham SA (2010) Submarine fans at all sea-level stands: tectono-morphologic and climatic controls on terrigenous sediment delivery to the deep sea. Geology 38(10):939–942

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Covault JA, Normark WR, Romans BW, Graham SA (2007) Highstand fans in the California borderland: the overlooked deep-water depositional system. Geology 35:783–786

    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 29:1401–1403

    Article  Google Scholar 

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

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dingle RV, Birch GF, Bremner JM, De Decker RH, du Plessis A, Engelbrecht JC, Fincham MJ, Fitton T, Flemming BW, Goodlad SW, Gentle RI, Martin AK, Mills EG, Moir GJ, Parker RJ, Robson SH, Rogers J, Salmon DA, Siesser WG, Simpson ESW, Summerhayes CP, Westall F, Winter A, Woodborne MW (1987) Deep-sea sedimentary environments around southern Africa (SEAtlantic & SW-Indian Oceans). Ann S Afr Mus 98:1–27

    Google Scholar 

  • Donohue KA, Toole JM (2003) A near-synoptic survey of the Southwest Indian Ocean. Deep Sea Res II 50:1893–1931

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Droz L, Mougenot D (1987) The Mozambique upper fan: origin and depositional units. AAPG Bull 71(11):1355–1365

    Google Scholar 

  • Faugères J-C, Stow DAV, Imbert P, Viana AR (1999) Seismic features diagnostic of contourite drifts. Mar Geol 162:1–38

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fekete BM, Vörösmarty CJ, Grabs W (1999) Global composite runoff fields based on observed river discharge and simulated water balances. WMO-Global Runoff Data Centre Report, 22, Koblenz, Germany

  • Flemming BW (1980) Sand transport and bedform patterns on the continental shelf between Durban and Port Elizabeth (southeast African continental margin). Sediment Geol 26:179–205

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Flemming BW (1981) Factors controlling shelf sediment dispersal along the southeast African continental margin. Mar Geol 42:259–277

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gammelsrød T (1992) Variation in shrimp abundance on the Sofala Bank, Mozambique, and its relation to the Zambezi River runoff. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 35:91–103

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heirtzler JR, Burroughs RH (1971) Madagascar’s paleoposition: new data from the Mozambique Channel. Science 174:488–490

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hernández-Molina FJ, Paterlini M, Violante R, Marshall P, de Isasi M, Somoza L, Rebesco M (2009) Contourite depositional system on the Argentine slope: an exceptional record of the influence of Antarctic water masses. Geology 37:507–510

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hsiung K-H, Yu H-S (2011) Morpho-sedimentary evidence for a canyon-channel-trench interconnection along the Taiwan-Luzon plate margin, South China Sea. Geo Mar Lett 31:215–226

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jervey MT (1988) Quantitative geological modeling of siliciclastic rock sequences and their seismic expression. SEPM Spec Publ 42:47–70

    Google Scholar 

  • Jokat W (2006) Südöstlicher Atlantik und südwestlicher Indik: Rekonstruktion der sedimentären und tektonischen Entwicklungen seit der Kreide. AISTEK-II: Mosambik Rücken und Mosambik Becken. Report of the RV Sonne cruise SO-183, Projekt AISTEK-II. 20 May to 7 July 2005. Berichte zur Polar- und Meeresforschung, Reports on Polar and Marine Research, 521, p 71. doi:10.2312/BzPM_0521_2006

  • Jokat W (2014) The expedition of the research vessel “Sonne” to the Mozambique Basin in 2014 (SO230), Berichte zur Polar- und Meeresforschung. Reports on polar and marine research, Bremerhaven, Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, 676, p 125 (hdl:10013/epic.43723)

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

    Article  Google Scholar 

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

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leinweber VT, 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. 10.1016/j.tecto.2011.11.008

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li H, Wang Y, Zhu W, Xu Q, He Y, Tang W, Zhuo H, Wang D, Wu J, Li D (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

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Llave E, Hernández-Molina FJ, Somoza L, Stow DAV, Díaz del Río V (2007) Quaternary evolution of the contourite depositional system in the Gulf of Cadiz. In: Viana AR, Rebesco M (eds) Economic and palaeoceanographic significance of contourite deposits. Geological Society, London, Special Publication, 276 pp 49–79

  • Lutjeharms JRE, Biastoch A, Van der Werf PM, Ridderinkhof H, De Ruijter WPM (2012) On the discontinuous nature of the Mozambique Current. S Afr J Sci 108(1/2):428. 10.4102/sajs.v108i1/2.428

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mahanjan ES (2012) A geotectonic history of the northern Mozambique Basin including the Beira High—a contribution for the understanding of its development. Mar Petrol Geol 36:1–12

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mahanjane ES (2014) The Davie Fracture Zone and adjacent basins in the offshore Mozambique Margin—A 348 Maturity and petroleum systems modelling in Northern Mozambique new insights for the hydrocarbon potential. Mar Pet Geol 57:561–571. 10.1016/jmarpetgeo.2014.06.015

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mahanjane ES, Franke D, Lutz R, Winsemann J, Ehrhardt A, Berglar K, Reichert C (2014) Maturity and petroleum systems modelling in the Offshore Zambezi delta depression and Angoche Basin, northern Mozambique. J Pet Geol 37:329–348

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marchès E, Mulder T, Gonthier E, Cremer M, Hanquiez V, Garlan T, Lecroart P (2010) Perched lobe formation in the Gulf of Cadiz: interactions between gravity processes and contour currents (Algarve Margin, Southern Portugal). Sediment Geol 229:81–94

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Masliln M, Knutz PC, Ramsay T (2006) Millennial-scale sea-level control on avulsion events on the Amazon Fan. Quat Sci Rev 25:3338–3345

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Milliman JD (1981) Transfer of river-borne material to the oceans. In: Martin J-M, Burton JD, Eisma D (eds) River inputs to ocean systems. UNESCO, Paris, pp 5–12

    Google Scholar 

  • Posamentier HW, Allen GE, James DE, Tessom M (1992) Forced regressions in a sequence stratigraphic framework: concepts, examples and exploration significance. Am Assoc Pet Geol Bull 76:1687–1709

    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 

  • 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 

  • Ridderinkhof H, de Ruijter, W.P.M. (2003) Moored current observations in the Mozambique Channel. Deep sea research part II: topical studies. Oceanography 50:1933–1955

    Google Scholar 

  • 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. Glob Planet Change 60:416–428

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schulz H, Lückge A, Emeis K-C, Mackensen A (2011) Variability of Holocene to Late Pleistocene Zambezi riverine sedimentation at the upper continental slope off Mozambique, 15–21 S. Mar Geol 286:21–34

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ullgren JE, van Aken HM, Ridderinkhof H, de Ruijter WPM (2012) The hydrography of the Mozambique channel from six years of continuous temperature, salinity, and velocity observations. Deep Sea Res I Oceanogr Res Pap 69:36–50

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ulrich J, Pasenau H (1973) Untersuchungen zur Morphologie des Schelfrandes vor Mocambique nordöstlich der Sambesi-Mündung. Deutsche Hydrographische Zeitschrift 26:216–225

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vail PR, Mitchum RM Jr, Thompson S (1977) Seismic stratigraphy and global changes of sea level, part 4, global cycles of relative changes of sea level. AAPG Mem 26:83–97.

    Google Scholar 

  • van der Lubbe JJL, Tjallingii R, Prins MA, Brummer GJA, Jung SJA, Kroon D, Schneider RR (2014) Sedimentation patterns off the Zambezi River over the last 20,000 years. Mar Geol 355:189–201

    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 

  • Wiles E, Green A, Watkeys M, Jokat W, Krocker R (2013) The evolution of the Tugela canyon and submarine fan: A complex interaction between margin erosion and bottom current sweeping, southwest Indian Ocean, South Africa. Mar Petrol Geol 44:60–70

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wiles E, Green A, Watkeys M, Jokat W, Krocker R (2014) A new pathway for deep water exchange between the Natal Valley and Mozambique Basin? Geo Mar Lett 1–16

  • Zhu M, Graham S, Pang X, McHargue T (2010) Characteristics of migrating submarine canyons from the middle Miocene to present: implications for paleoceanographic circulation, northern South China Sea. Mar Pet Geol 27:307–319

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank the BMBF (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung) for funding the scientific projects (Contract Numbers 03G0183A, 03G0230A). Further, we thank the Captains and ship crew of the R/V Sonne SO 183 and 230 for their valued support. Reviewers of the original manuscript are thanked for their valuable input and thought provoking comments.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geological Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 4001, South Africa

    E. Wiles, A. N. Green & M. K. Watkeys

  2. Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Alfred Wegener Institute, Bremerhaven, Germany

    W. Jokat

Authors
  1. E. Wiles
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. A. N. Green
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. M. K. Watkeys
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. W. Jokat
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to E. Wiles.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Wiles, E., Green, A.N., Watkeys, M.K. et al. Zambezi continental margin: compartmentalized sediment transfer routes to the abyssal Mozambique Channel. Mar Geophys Res 38, 227–240 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11001-016-9301-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11001-016-9301-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation