Geomorphological characteristics and variability of Holocene mass-transport complexes, St. Lawrence River Estuary, Canada

Abstract

Recently acquired multibeam bathymetry data are used to investigate seafloor instability features along a 310km-long segment of the St. Lawrence River Estuary. The analysis of this dataset indicates that submarine slides occur over a much larger area than previously recognized and that Holocene sediments are reworked by mass-transport along significant portions of both the northwest and southeast margins of the Laurentian Channel. In the surveyed area, 96 individual mass-transport complexes (MTCs) were identified representing 13% of the seabed. MTCs vary in area from less than 1km2 to more than 40km2 and exhibit various geomorphological signatures. Qualitative observation reveals an apparent disparity between MTCs that remain coherent and those that disintegrate during downslope transport evolving into a blocky morphological signature. For all MTCs, morphological parameters have been measured (area, length, and height) or calculated (slope and roughness). This quantitative analysis provides a unique opportunity to study these parameters in a statistically significant and homogeneous dataset located in a relatively small area that experienced a similar Quaternary history.In many cases, mass transport events appear to initiate in the vicinity of steep bedrock walls located along some segments of the estuary. The timing of mass-transport events was not constrained during this study. However, the fact that the region hosts the Charlevoix seismic zone, the most tectonically active area in eastern Canada, strongly suggests that earthquakes acted as a trigger for submarine landsliding.