Sediment provenance and turbidity current processes at the Lametini Seamounts and Stromboli Canyon, SE Tyrrhenian Sea

Abstract

Sedimentary processes related to turbidity current interaction with bathymetric obstacles were studied in the area of the Lametini Seamounts and Stromboli Canyon. Four types of turbidite were identified on the basis of their compositional and sedimentological characteristics, and they were interpreted in terms of provenance, transport, and depositional processes. At the bend of the Stromboli Canyon, south of the Lametini Seamounts, the fine fraction of large turbidity currents can spill over and either (1) expand within the canyon embayment; (2) cross the saddle that divides the two volcanic cones of the Lametini Seamounts; or (3) be reflected by the steep slopes of the seamounts.