Page 4 - Maldonado_Stanley_1976

Late Quaternary Sedimentation

and Stratigraphy in

the Strait of Sicily

Andrés Maldonado

and Daniel Jean Stanley

Introduction vironments (Blanc, 1958, 1972; Poizat, 1970; Akal,
1972; Emelyanov, 1972; Colantoni and Borsetti,
1973). The sedimentation patterns in the deeper
GENERAL
environments have received less attention (Blanc,
The Strait of Sicily is the submerged surface of 1958; U.S. Naval Oceanographic Office, 1965, 1967;
the large topographic high which separates the Emelyanov, 1972; Chassefière and Monaco, 1973;
Ionian Sea in the eastern Mediterranean from the and an ongoing investigation of the "Campagne
Tyrrhenian and Algéro-Balearic seas in the west- Gesite 1973" materials collected by the Station de
ern Mediterranean. This morphologically complex Géodynamique de Villefranche of the University
platform lying between Sicily and Tunisia is long, of Paris, Blanc-Vernet et al., 1975 and C. Bobier,
broad, an d trapezoid-shaped (Figure l). The Strait personal communication).
comprises shallow banks, ridges, volcanoes (includ- The present study defines the major Quaternary
ing submerged mounts and islands), gentle depres- lithologic facies in the various Strait environments
sions, and deep basins, and its relief (which locally and compares the sedimentation patterns in this
exceeds l 000 m) and morphologic configuration region with those of the adjacent, but much deeper,
are considerably more irregular than those of Balearic and Ionian basins. More specifically, this
most shelves and continental borderlands. investigation establishes the relationship between
A sedimentological investigation of this region sedimentary processes, associated facies, and sedi-
is warranted for severa! reasons: the Strait includes mentary environments of the Strait. Sedimentary
a series of highly varied environments; it is geo- sequences, defined on the basis of recently collected
logically and hydrographically distinct from the core data, are interpreted in light of the Quaternary
large, deep basins bordering the Strait; and, to dynamics which affected the Mediterranean region.
date, comprehensive regional studies have not
bee n m ade rela ting processes an d deposits in ti me
and space. Earlier studies of the Strait of Sicily ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
have emphasized sediments in the shallower en-
This study, like most modern oceanographic in-
vestigations, is the result of the effort of many
Andrés Maldonado, Seccion de Estratigrafia y Sedimentologia, people and institutions. We are indebted to a num-
C.S.I.C., Universidad de Barcelona, Avenida de ]osé Antonio,
585, Barcelo1Ja, Spain. Daniel ]ean Stanley, Division of Sedi- ber of organizations for their generous hacking,
mentology, National Museum of Natural History, Smith- including financial aid, ship-time, equipment, ma-
sonian lnstitution, Washington, D.C. 20560. terials (including X-radiographs) and facilities.
l