Submarine mass movements on an active fault system in the central Gulf of Corinth

Abstract

A very high-resolution shallow-seismic survey along the central part of the fault-bounded Corinth Gulf southern margin (offshore Xylocastro town) revealed that three morphological zones characterize the area: the shelf, the slope and the basin. Three E-W trending, right stepping basin bounding faults define the basin-slope contact, producing a step like configuration along the base of slope. Steep scarps, caused by mass failures, sculpt the fault plane surfaces, which act as part of the slope. The shelf and the slope are dissected by submarine canyons and numerous minor channels. The largest canyons are located immediately off the river mouths, run perpendicular to the slope and are linear. Seismic profiles across the canyons suggest that some of them are fault controlled. The head and the walls of the canyons are affected by mass failures. It is estimated that about 1.1 km3 of mass failed sediments have been removed from the canyons and transported downslope to the basin floor.