Exploring the Deep Sea and Beyond, Volume 2, themed issue

Deep-sea fan facies on an active margin

Modern submarine canyon feeder-system and deep-sea fan

growth in a tectonically active margin (northern Sicily)

Fabiano Gamberi1, Marzia Rovere1, Michael P. Marani1, and Mason Dykstra2

1
Istituto di Scienze Marine, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, UOS Bologna, Via Gobetti 101, 40129, Bologna, Italy
2
Statoil Gulf Services, LLC, 6300 Bridge Point Parkway, Building 2, Suite 500, Austin, Texas 78730, USA

ABSTRACT
Widely used sequence stratigraphic mod-
els predict that specific facies assemblages
alternate in the stratigraphy of deep-sea fans,
depending on the cyclic nature of sea-level
variations. Our work tests this assumption
through facies reconstruction of submarine
fans that are growing in a small basin along
the tectonically active Sicilian margin. Con-
nected canyons have heads close to the coast-
line; they can be river connected or littoral
cell–connected, the first receiving sediment
from hyperpycnal flows, the latter intercept-
ing shelf sediment dispersal pathways. Hyper-
pycnal flows directly discharge river-born
sediment into the head of the river-connected
canyon and originate a large turbidite fan. A
drift formed by the longshore redistribution
of sediment of a nearby delta introduces sedi-
ment to the head of the littoral cell–connected
canyon, forming turbidity currents that flow
within the canyon to reach the basin plain.
However, since sediment failure and landslide
processes are common in the slope part of the
system, a mixed fan, consisting of both turbi-
dites and mass-transport deposits, is formed.
Disconnected canyons, with heads at the shelf
edge far from the coastline, are fed by canyon
head and levee-wedge failures, resulting in
mass-transport or mixed fan deposition, the
latter developing when the seafloor gradient
or the lithology of the failed sediment allows
turbidity current formation. Connected can-
yons form in areas with high uplift rates,
where the shelf is narrow and steep and the
shelf edge is at a relatively shallow depth.
Disconnected canyons develop where there
are lower uplift rates or subsidence, where
the shelf is large and relatively gentle with a
deeper shelf edge. It is deduced that the rela-
tive vertical movements of fault-bound blocks
control whether canyons are connected to the
coast at the present day. The role of tectonics
in controlling the canyon feeding processes
and the facies of submarine fan growth dur-
ing highstand periods is therefore highlighted.
A further view that arises from our paper is
that in active margins, the slope portion of
fan systems, through seafloor instability and
variations in channel gradient, is a key factor
in determining the final deep-sea fan facies,
regardless of the distance between the coast
and the canyon. The concomitant growth
of turbidites, mass-transport deposits, and
mixed fans demonstrates that models that
predict changes in submarine fan facies on
the basis of sea-level cycles do not necessarily
apply to systems developed along tectonically
active margins.
INTRODUCTION
Early sequence stratigraphy models assumed
that deep-sea submarine fans grow mainly dur-
ing sea-level lowstands when a direct connec-
tion between rivers and submarine canyons and
channels is established (Vail et al., 1977). These
models were developed mainly from the analysis
of passive margin stratigraphy and derived their
main conceptual framework from the interpre-
tation of conventional seismic and drill cores.
Ideas coming from the functioning of modern
depositional systems were not incorporated in
the model. At that time, the available techniques
of marine geology could not play an important
part in the perception of the multiple aspects
connected with the issue of sediment delivery
processes to the oceans, one of the main assump-
tion that underlies the sequence stratigraphic
model (Posamentier and Kolla, 2003; Catuneanu
et al., 2009, 2011). Since then, the techniques
of marine geology have advanced; in particular,
the advent of multibeam technology has led to
the extensive mapping of continental margins
worldwide, revealing submarine landscapes that
were previously largely unexpected (Sager et al.,
2004). The characteristics of the geomorphic
elements that contribute to sediment delivery to
the deep sea, particularly submarine canyons and
channels, have been highlighted in increasing
detail. Of particular interest for the understand-
ing of sediment delivery to the deep sea is the
discovery that in many cases, particularly along
active margins, canyon heads can incise the shelf
and reach the coastal areas (Harris and White-
way, 2011). Canyon heads can be directly con-
nected with rivers and consequently can some-
times be fed directly by hyperpycnal flows (Piper
and Normark, 2009; Puig et al., 2014). In other
cases, canyon heads are not in direct connection
with rivers, but their activity during the present
sea-level highstand is nonetheless made possible
by longshore currents and littoral cells that sup-
ply sediment to them (Piper and Normark, 2009;
Puig et al., 2014). Landslides are also a possible
source of sediment for the deep sea and can act
also in canyons that are far from the coastline
and stranded at the shelf edge (Piper and Nor-
mark, 2009; Puig et al., 2014). Thus, taking into
account the relationships between the canyon
head and the sediment staging area, the role of
hyperpycnal flows, storms, longshore currents,
littoral cells, dense shelf-water cascading, and
landslides as possible triggers for flows that can
feed sediment to the deep sea during the present-
day highstand has been reevaluated (Piper and
Normark, 2009; Puig et al., 2014). Therefore,
it has been recognized that landward shifts of
shorelines do not always lead to the deactivation
of channels and canyons, and the hypothesis that
deep-sea sediment starvation always occurs dur-
ing sea-level highstands is now negated (Covault
et al., 2007; Covault and Graham, 2010).
Sequence stratigraphic models also recognize
that in areas with narrow shelves, sediment can
be delivered to the deep sea during highstands,
but the implication is that this process is brought
about by coastal progradation (Catuneanu et al.,
2009, 2011). As a consequence, the majority of
river-born sediments are trapped in the coastal
area and shelf and only low-density turbidites
contribute to the growth of fine-grained deep-
sea fans. Therefore, the models envisage the
systematic development of submarine fan facies

Geosphere; April 2015; v. 11; no. 2; p. 307–319; doi:10.1130/GES01030.1; 11 figures.

Received 23 January 2014 ♦ Revision received 1 August 2014 ♦ Accepted 30 January 2015 ♦ Published online 11 March 2015

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driven by the changing character of gravity
flows as coastline positions shift during the dif-
ferent tracts of a sea-level cycle (Posamentier
and Kolla, 2003; Catuneanu et al., 2009, 2011).
This simple model is, however, not in agree-
ment with recent marine geology data indicating
that the processes that feed sediment into can-
yons are highly varied during the present-day
sea-level highstand (Piper and Normark, 2009;
Puig et al., 2014). The nature of the processes
that feed sediment into canyons has been shown
to have a large impact on the volume of deep-
sea highstand sedimentation and consequently
to be largely responsible for the growth rate of
deep-sea fans (Normark et al., 2009; Romans
et al., 2009; Covault and Graham, 2010). Fur-
thermore, the style of canyon feeding systems
has been shown to have a large impact on the
behavior and character of flows within canyons
and channels and in the basin plain, controlling
the efficiency of the system and consequently
being largely responsible for the site of sedi-
ment deposition (Piper and Normark, 2009).
The large variability of fan depositional style
and facies as imposed by the nature of the flow-
triggering mechanisms is further augmented by
the possibility for flows to undergo modifica-
tions imposed by gradient variations along the
slope (Piper and Normark, 2009).
It is well established that fans can be active
during the present sea-level highstand (Covault
and Graham, 2010); an important step forward
in the study of deep-sea sedimentation is to
investigate the potential of tying deep-sea fan
evolution to the processes of sediment delivery
to canyons and to the setting of the slope. Mod-
ern marine geology data must play a prominent
role in the study of this issue. Process-oriented
interpretation of multibeam data can be aimed
at determining the sedimentary processes occur-
ring in modern deep-sea fans, an essential step
toward the understanding of facies develop-
ment. The data deriving from old, but still amply
used, techniques of marine geology can greatly
enhance the strength of facies interpretation
obtained from bathymetric information. Apart
from few instruments with limited availability,
sidescan sonars and high-resolution subbottom
profilers have not undergone revolutionary
development in recent years. However, they still
furnish superior data, the importance of which
is now better appreciated when they are used to
complement interpretation of seafloor bathym-
etry (Sager et al., 2004). The routinely available
techniques of seafloor sampling have remained
largely unchanged in the last years, but never-
theless provide geophysical data ground truth-
ing and facies evaluation.
In this paper we expand the analysis of pres-
ent-day highstand fans to determine how their
308
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Gamberi et al.
facies are controlled by the variation of canyon
connectivity to the coastline along the margin,
and by flow transformation imposed by uneven
gradient along the slope part of the system.
We integrate new multibeam bathymetric and
reflectivity data with sidescan sonar and sub-
bottom images and core data to characterize
modern submarine fans along a tectonically
active margin. We analyze fan dimensions,
processes, and facies and correlate them with
the location of the head of the feeding canyons
and with processes occurring on the canyon
course. We highlight that both turbidites and
mass-transport deposits contribute to the recent
makeup of the submarine fans, showing that in
active margins, deep-sea fan facies development
does not fit in models that rely exclusively on
sea-level variations, but depends largely on tec-
tonic deformation.
GEOLOGICAL SETTING
The Capo d’Orlando Basin is located along
the central part of the northern Sicilian margin
(Fig. 1). The continental shelf is in general nar-
row, attaining a maximum width of 10 km to
the west and becoming progressively narrower
toward the east (Fig. 1A). The shelf break is
located at variable depths, at ~140 m to the west
of Cape Orlando, shallowing significantly to the
east. The upper slope of the Capo d’Orlando
Basin is characterized by canyons that have their
heads at the shelf break or incise the shelf, hav-
ing their heads very close to the coastline (Fig.
1A). In the lower slope, the canyons connect
with leveed channels that have a general south-
east-northwest trend. The basin plain is located
at an average depth of ~1500 m and is character-
ized by lobe deposits formed beyond the chan-
nel mouths. The Capo d’Orlando Basin plain is
confined seaward by the submarine slope of the
Aeolian Islands. An extensional fault bounds the
basin to the west and is responsible for its west-
ward dip (Gamberi and Dalla Valle, 2009). A
submerged structural high, connecting the Sicil-
ian margin with the Aeolian Island arc, bounds
the basin toward the east. The area is affected by
a high rate of regional uplift (Westaway, 1993)
and ongoing fault activity as displayed by the
seismicity of the area (Pondrelli et al., 2006).
DATA AND METHODS
The available data set consists of multibeam
bathymetry acquired in 1999 with a SIMRAD
EM-12 multibeam at depths >500 m (Gamberi
and Marani, 2004; Gamberi and Dalla Valle,
2009). Further multibeam data were succes-
sively acquired to complete the bathymetric
coverage of the area during the cruise TORDE10
Geosphere, April 2015
on board the R/V Urania and various cruises
carried out by ISMAR (Istituto di Scienze
Marine-Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche) in
the frame of the MAGIC (Marine Geohazards
along the Italian Coasts) project funded by the
Italian National Agency for Civil Protection.
The merged bathymetric data cover all the shelf,
slope, and basin plain apart from a narrow zone,
with variable extent, of the very shallow water
areas close to the coastline (Fig. 1A). The 1999
multibeam bathymetric data were also processed
to obtain a backscatter image of the lower slope
and basin plain (Fig. 2). Besides the multibeam
backscatter, a mosaic acquired during the TTR14
cruise on board the R/V Logatchev, with the
MAK II (www.cggeinternational.com/MAK
-1M.htm) deep-towed sidescan sonar is available
in a portion of the study area covering the lower
slope and the proximal basin plain (Fig. 3). A
grid of two-dimensional single-channel seismic
lines acquired in the late 1970s is also available
(Fig. 1B). CHIRP (compressed high-intensity
radar pulse) subbottom profiles spaced at an
average interval of 2 km cover the entire study
area (Fig. 1B). Seafloor samples, with both grav-
ity and box corers, were collected during the
TORDE10 cruise carried out in 2010 on board
the R/V Urania (Fig. 1B); the 60 samples, with
variable penetration (from no recovery to 6 m),
provide control on the facies of the Holocene to
modern succession and allow the ground truth-
ing of the geophysical data.
We use the term mass-transport deposit as in
Nardin et al. (1979) to include all kinds of grav-
ity-driven deposits with the exception of turbi-
dites. The term mixed refers to fans that show
evidence of both turbidites and mass-transport
deposits and not to the hybrid group of sediment
gravity flows (sensu Haughton et al., 2009).
SUBMARINE FAN MORPHOLOGY,
PROCESSES, AND FACIES
The available data set has been used to deter-
mine the sedimentary processes that prevail in
the various parts of the basin. In particular, the
character of the sediment gravity flows in
the canyons, channels, and lobes, was deter-
mined through the combined interpretation of
the genetic significance of the seafloor geo-
morphology and backscatter at different scales,
and core interpretation. As a result, a map of
the different discrete fans in the study area was
produced (Fig. 4). In the study area, the Calavà
and the Orlando canyons have their heads close
to the coastline (<500 m; Fig. 5) and are thus
defined as connected canyons. The Calavà can-
yon head is located in front of a river mouth
(Fig. 4) and is therefore defined as a river-
connected canyon. The Orlando canyon head
 Deep-sea fan facies on an active margin

A 14°10′0″E 14°20′0″E 14°30′0″E 14°40′0″E 14°50′0″E

38°30′0″N
Lipari
Aeolian Island southern slope
N

structural ridge Vulcano

38°20′0″N Naso channel

Calavà channel
Orlando channel

Zappulla channel

38°10′0″N Cape
Calavà
Cape
Orlando

0 10 km 20
–12 m –1797
B C I TA
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LY
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! ! !! ! !
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S I C I LY
focal mechanism instrumental epicenter
hystorical epicenter
! gravity cores
" box cores
single-channel profiles
CHIRP profiles

Figure 1. (A) Shaded relief map from multibeam bathymetric data of the Capo d’Orlando Basin. The southern slope of the Aeolian
Island arc confines the basin to the north. A fault-bounded structural ridge and the slope of the Lipari and Vulcano islands are the
western and eastern boundaries of the basin, respectively. Seismicity (dots), historical earthquakes (stars) and focal mechanisms
are from Pondrelli et al. (2006). (B) Seismic and subbottom CHIRP (compressed high-intensity radar pulse) profile coverage over the
study area. (C) Location of the Capo d’Orlando Basin along the northern Sicilian margin. The box corresponds with the area in A.

Geosphere, April 2015 309

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 Gamberi et al.

14°10′0″E 14°20′0″E 14°30′0″E 14°40′0″E 14°50′0″E

38°30′0″N Calavà fan distributary Ae
channels oli Lipari
an
Isl
an
ds
lop
Calavà fan fringe e
sediment waves

38°20′0″N
Orlando fan distributary Calavà fhannel
channels
Naso levee
Calavà canyon

Naso channel abandoned canyon

system
landslide
Orlando channel
Brolo abandoned canyon Cape
38°10′0″N
landslide Calavà
abandoned canyon system Cape
Orlando

Zappulla fan Zappulla channel

mass-transport lobes

km

0 10 20

Figure 2. Seafloor reflectivity from multibeam data of the Capo d’Orlando Basin. The Zappulla channel and
related mass-transport lobes have a very high backscatter. The Calavà fan distributary channels correspond with
narrow linear stripes with higher backscatter than the surrounding seafloor. Large sediment waves are shown by
alternating stripes of higher and lower backscatter in the Naso and Calavà fans.

does not face a major river, but is located down-
current from a major river delta and is called
a littoral cell–connected canyon (Fig. 4). The
Naso and the Zappulla canyons have their heads
stranded at the shelf edge, far from the coastline
(>2.5 km; Figs. 4 and 5); they are referred to
here as disconnected canyons.
Connected Canyon Fans
Calavà River Connected Turbidite Fan
The head of the Calavà connected canyon
is very close to the coastline adjacent to Cape
Calavà and a few tens of meters from the coast-
line the canyon floor is >100 m deep (Figs. 1, 3,
and 5). Further downslope, the Calavà canyon
has a relatively flat floor where the subbottom
profile lacks penetration and the sidescan sonar
shows a high backscatter, indicating the pres-
ence of coarse-grained deposits (Fig. 6A). At the
base of slope, the canyon passes to the Calavà
channel that heads toward the northwest (Figs.
2 and 4). At the canyon to channel transition
and further downchannel, sediment waves at the
seafloor provide evidence of turbidity current
activity (Fig. 6B). The sediment wave area has
high backscatter in the sidescan sonar and lacks
penetration in the subbottom profile (Fig. 6B),
suggesting that it is composed of coarse-grained
bedforms. The sediment waves have a wave-
length of ~100 m, a suitable indicator of coarse-
grained bedforms (Wynn and Stow, 2002; Gam-
beri and Marani, 2011). Coarse-grained, graded,
and laminated sands sampled at the seafloor in
the sediment wave field (Fig. 6C) provide evi-
dence of Holocene turbidites, confirming the
geophysical interpretation. The Calavà chan-
nel feeds a large lobe (50 km long and 10 km
wide) with a series of diverging channels that
head toward the western part of the basin (Figs.
2 and 4). The channels have low relief, and are
best imaged in the multibeam backscatter image
(Fig. 2). In the middle part of the lobe, the core
of Figure 6E shows that 8 turbidites make up
most of the last 2.80 m of the sedimentary suc-
cession. Turbidites are mainly composed of a
thin, medium sand basal part grading upward
into a thicker mud cap. However, an ~1-m-thick
finer grained parallel-laminated turbidite and a
mudclast-rich coarse to medium sand turbidite
are present. Further westward, the channels die
out distally into a featureless fan fringe (Figs.
2 and 4), where subbottom profiles show that a
succession of relatively thin bedded reflections
account for the upper 50 m of the fan stratig-
raphy (Fig. 6D). This seismic facies is taken
as an indication that turbidites predominate in
the entire most recent sediment package of the
Calavà fan.
Orlando Littoral Cell–Connected Mixed Fan
The Orlando canyon has its head very close
to the coastline adjacent to the Cape Orlando
(Figs. 1 and 5). It connects with the Orlando
channel that crosses the headwall of a landslide
involving a large portion of a preexisting levee
wedge (Fig. 4). Further, smaller scale collapse
events also occurred in the area, as shown by an
abundance of landslide scars and blocky mass-

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 Deep-sea fan facies on an active margin

14°10′0″E 14°20′0″E 14°30′0″E 14°40′0″E 14°50′0″E

38°30′0″N Ae
oli Lipari
an
Isl
an

Fig
Fig. 7E Fig. 6E ds

250
500
.6
lop

D
sediment waves
e
! Figs. 6B,C
Figs. 7C,D Figs. 8A,B
Fig. 9E !
Fig. 7B
38°20′0″N Fig. 9D
!
!
Figs. 9A,B
! " Fig. 6A
!
Calavà channel

blocky texture Cape

Orlando channel Fig. 8C
1400
00

Calavà
15

Fig. 7A
Naso channel 5
38°10′0″N 500 10
200 Cape
Zappulla channel 100 Orlando
Fig. 9C
Fig. 5

50
30
20 10 km

0 10 20

Figure 3. High-resolution deep towed MAK (www.cggeinternational.com/MAK-1M.htm) sidescan sonar mosaic. The
lobes of the Zappulla fan are characterized by a blocky texture. A blocky texture also characterizes mass-transport
deposits due to levee wedge failure in the area of the Naso and Orlando channels. Sediment waves are present in
the eastern levee of the Naso channel and in the floor of the Calavà channel. The boxes correspond with the areas
enlarged in the following figures. Dots and square correspond with the location of respectively gravity and box cores
shown in this paper. The locations of the CHIRP (compressed high-intensity radar pulse) and sparker lines shown in
Figures 6D, 9C, and 9D are also shown. The box corresponds with the area imaged in Figure 5.

transport deposits in the levee and at the channel
mouth (Figs. 7A, 8A). At the channel mouth, a
network of distributary channels forms a rela-
tively large lobe (20 km long and 8 km large)
that in its distal part is in contact with the Calavà
fan lobe (Fig. 4). In the proximal part of the fan
lobe, sediment waves and scours are indica-
tive of turbidity current activity (Figs. 7B, 7C).
However, a blocky seafloor is also relatively
common, indicative of mass-transport deposits
(Fig. 7C). Comet marks are formed in the lee of
some blocks, indicating that turbidity currents
reworked the mass-transport deposits (Fig. 7C).
The core in Figure 7D, located at the channel
to lobe transition, shows that two parallel and
cross-laminated medium sand turbidite layers
overly a mass-transport deposit, consisting of
folded and disrupted thin-bedded turbidites and
mudclast, within a silty matrix. A similar sub-
bottom sedimentation pattern is found in a core
further downsystem (Fig. 7E), confirming that
both turbidites and mass-transport deposits are
present in the Orlando fan.
Disconnected Canyon Fans
Naso Mixed Fan
The Naso canyon head is far from the coast-
line, at a distance of ~2 km, corresponding
with an embayment in the shelf break (Fig. 5).
Upslope from the Naso fan, the sediments of the
last transgressive and highstand sea-level stages
are restricted to the shelf (Pepe et al., 2003). The
Brolo abandoned canyon, 4 km to the east, has
a head physiography similar to that of the Naso
canyon. It has a low backscatter and shows a
thin-bedded drape in the subbottom profile (Fig.
6A), suggesting that is it not a coarse-grained
setting. It is therefore reasonable to assume that
a similar sedimentary setting currently charac-
terizes the Naso canyon. The Naso disconnected
canyon links with the Naso channel (Figs. 1 and
4). The straight western flank of the channel is
interpreted to be fault controlled, including gul-
lies and small landslide headwall scarps that are
positioned on the channel flank (Figs. 8A, 8C).
Downchannel, significantly larger landslide head-
wall scarps continue to modify the western chan-
nel margin. Mass-transport deposits are abundant
on the channel floor, as shown by the widespread
blocky sidescan sonar facies (Fig. 8C). However,
turbidity current activity is also exhibited in the
channel floor through the excavation of two inner
thalwegs, discontinuous fields of sediment waves,
and longitudinal furrows (Fig. 8C). Furthermore,
on the eastern side of the channel, turbidity cur-
rent overspill forms a levee with sediment waves
and scours (Figs. 2 and 4). Seafloor sampling
confirms that both turbidites and mass-transport
deposits are present in the channel floor (Fig. 8B).

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 Gamberi et al.

14°10′E 14°20′E 14°30′E 14°40′E 14°50′E

38°30'N 1500
Lipari
Ae
oli
an

250
Isl

500
an
ds
lop
e

38°20′N 00
15

1400

Calavà canyon
Naso canyon
5
38°10′N 500 10
200
100
Orlando canyon
Zappulla canyon
Cape Orlando Cape Calavà
50
30
20 10
km
0 20
continental continental basin landslide head- fault
shelf slope plain wall scarp along shore current
Zappulla fan Orlando fan Naso fan Calavà fan river delta
active channel/ abandoned mass
canyon system transport turbidite

Figure 4. Map showing the different facies of the fans in the study area. The map results from the integrated inter-
pretation of multibeam bathymetric data, seafloor backscatter, subbottom profiles, and seafloor sampling. Land
data are from Sulli et al. (2013).

Zappulla Mass-Transport Deposit Fan
In the shelf adjacent to the head of the Zap-
pulla canyon, filled incised valleys show that the
lowstand feeding system is currently shut off (Fig.
9C). The Zappulla channel is fed by disconnected
canyon heads within a large shelf edge embay-
ment affected by sediment failure (Figs. 1, 5,
and 9C). The channel parallels the base of slope
and has a very high backscatter and blocky sea-
floor indicative of mass-transport deposits (Figs.
2 and 3). Distally, the Zappulla channel connects
to small lobes (8 km long and 5 km wide) with a
similar backscatter pattern (Figs. 3 and 9A), again
suggesting mass-transport deposits (Fig. 4). The
mass-transport nature of the high backscatter lobes
is confirmed by seafloor samples (Figs. 9B, 9E).
Mass-transport deposits compose the major part
of the subbottom succession of the Zappulla fan
lobe, as shown by a stack of 4 transparent layers
in the last 50 m of the lobe sequence (Fig. 9D).
Abandoned Canyon Systems
Both the eastern and western slope sectors
bounding the described active fan systems dis-
play intermediate backscatter in the canyons
(Fig. 2), providing evidence that coarse-grained
sediment is not currently delivered to the sys-
tems. In the 3-km-wide eastern and 6-km-wide
western shelves, canyons do not indent the shelf
break and thus are currently shut off from a sedi-
ment supply (Figs. 1 and 4).
DISCUSSION
Connected Canyons Fan Facies
The Calavà and the Orlando connected can-
yons form, respectively, a turbidite and a mixed
fan (Figs. 4 and 10A). The fans show abundant
evidence of sediment waves, scours, comet
marks, and sandy turbidites at the seafloor, sug-
gestive of highly turbulent flows, such as those
initiated due to oceanographic processes and
hyperpycnal flows (Piper and Normark, 2009;
Romans et al., 2009). Northern Sicily is a moun-
tainous, high-relief region and the rivers have an
intermittent regime (called fiumara) with river
floods normally occurring twice a year in corre-
spondence with rainy seasons (Regione Siciliana,
2010). The solid discharge of the rivers facing
the study area can reach values of 80,000 m3/yr
(Brambati et al., 1995). The area is also prone
to flash floods, exemplified by three events in
northern Sicily between 2007 and 2009 (Aronica
et al., 2012). During flash floods, exceptionally
large volumes of sediment can be transported to
the river mouths, as shown by the mobilization
of 780,000 m3 of sediment in the 2009 event in a
catchment of only 10 km2 close to the study area
(Aronica et al., 2012). During this episode, the

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 Deep-sea fan facies on an active margin

Figure 5. Shaded relief map from multi-

beam bathymetric data of the continental
shelf and the slope of the Capo d’Orlando
Basin (see location in Fig. 3). The Calavà
and the Orlando are coast-connected can-

Fig. 11A
yons having heads that reach the coastal
area. The Naso and Zappulla canyons are
disconnected canyons with heads at the shelf
break far from the coastline. The boxes cor- Brolo
canyon

Fig. 11B
respond to the areas in Figure 11. Naso (disconnected
canyon abandoned)
(disconnected) Calavà
canyon
Orlando (river connected)
Zappulla canyon
canyon (littoral cell connected)
(disconnected) 10 km

B scour C E
sediment

0.2 m
0.01 m
waves
0.05 m

A 0.1 m

C
" m s vf f m c vc

laminated turbidite mud

600 m
Brolo Calavà channel margin massive turbidite sand
sediment

1m
canyon canyon waves hemipelagic
mud
mud clasts
laminated
25 m turbidite sand
600 m 600 m 25 m

75 m
2m

50 m

25 m

500 m
NW SE m s vf f m c vc

Figure 6. The Calavà fan. Locations of images and cores are in Figure 3. (A) MAK (www.cggeinternational.com/MAK-1M.htm) sidescan
sonar image and subbottom profile of the Calavà connected canyon and the Brolo disconnected canyon. Note their different backscatter and
subbottom facies. (B) Sediment wave field in the floor of the Calavà channel. (C) Box core BC05 (located in B), showing the coarse-grained
sand in the sediment wave field area (m—mud, s—sand, vf—very fine, f—fine, m—medium, c—coarse, vc—very coarse). (D) Subbottom
CHIRP (compressed high-intensity radar pulse) profile in the distal part of the Calavà fan lobe. The thin-bedded reflective facies is indica-
tive of the prevalence of turbidite deposits. (E) Gravity core GC44 showing the turbidite succession in the middle part of the Calavà fan.

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 Gamberi et al.

landslide scar landslide scar

mass transport deposit
mass transport deposit
mass transport deposit Orlando channel

600 m 25 m

D E C mass-transport
deposit
B comet mark
600 m D
0.2 m

mass-transport channel margin sediment waves

deposit

scour
1m

600 m 25 m
hemipelagic
mud
turbidite mud
laminated
turbidite sand
cross-
laminated turbidite sand
chaotic mass
transport deposit
sandstone blocks in
mass transport deposit
massive turbidite sand
2m

m s vf f m c vc

m s vf f m c vc

Figure 7. The Orlando fan. Locations of images and cores are in Figure 3. (A) MAK (www.cggeinternational.com/MAK-1M
.htm) sidescan sonar image and subbottom profile showing the Orlando channel and the widespread seafloor instability and
mass-transport deposits in its surroundings. (B) MAK sidescan sonar image showing the scoured seafloor at the mouth
of the Orlando channel. (C) MAK sidescan sonar image and subbottom profile of the proximal part of the Orlando fan.
In the sidescan sonar, the area with blocky texture is interpreted as the product of mass-transport deposits, whereas the
smoother high-backscatter areas with narrow longitudinal ribbons are interpreted as turbidite deposits. In the eastern
channel margin, thick transparent layers on the subbottom profiles correspond with the mass-transport deposits over-
lying turbidites with thin-bedded reflective facies. (D) Gravity core (located in C), showing that both turbidites and
mass-transport deposits are present at the Orlando channel mouth fan (m—mud, s—sand, vf—very fine, f—fine, m—
medium, c—coarse, vc—very coarse). (E) Gravity core GC43 showing the turbidites and the mass-transport deposits of
the middle part of the Orlando channel.

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 Deep-sea fan facies on an active margin

A Orlando fan Naso fan B X ray

area and are fed directly to the Calavà canyon
head through hyperpycnal flow processes during
! B river floods. A field of sand waves is located west
of the canyon at a depth of ~50 m (Fig. 11A). To

0.2 m
the west of the Calavà canyon, two large rivers
form deltas upslope from the disconnected Naso
and Brolo canyons (Figs. 4, 5, and 10A). Long-
landslide
shore currents trend east (Brambati et al., 1995),
scarp western flank of
mass-transport Naso channel and thus the north-south–trending axis of the
deposit
sediment waves is indicative of an eastward drift
of sediment that, intercepted by the canyon head,
forms turbidity currents. Thus the proximal part

1m
basal shear surface of the Calavà canyon, on the west side of a north-
600 m 25 m Naso
channel ward-projecting cape, is fed both by hyperpycnal
flows and by an eastward-flowing littoral cell of
C furrows sediment
waves
furrows deltaic sediment (Figs. 4 and 10).
The Orlando canyon head is not connected
with a major river, but there is a large river mouth
only ~5 km to the west (Fig. 4). To the east of the
major river mouth, two large west-east elongate
mass-transport depocenters of Holocene sediment are separated
deposit
in coincidence with the canyon head (Fig. 11B).
They are the evidence that the eastward-flowing

2m
littoral cell redistributes the river-born sediment
to form an asymmetric sediment distribution in
gullied W flank 600 m the delta developed at the river mouth. We there-
fore interpret this fan as being fed by sediment
burrows turbidite mud
redistributed by a littoral cell that is intercepted
mud clasts
by the canyon. The Orlando fan shows that even
sandstone blocks in mass transport deposit a coast-connected system can develop a mixed
chaotic mass transport deposit facies (Figs. 4 and 10A). In this case, the substan-
hemipelagic mud
m s vf f m c vc tial mass-transport component of the fan facies is
the result of the abundant landslides generated in
laminated turbidite sand
its slope portion, where extensive failure of the
cross-laminated turbidite sand channel levee wedge occurs (Figs. 4 and 10A).
massive turbidite sand The thickness of the Holocene sediment
is much higher in the coastal and shelf areas
Figure 8. The Naso fan. Locations of images and cores are in Fig- surrounding the Orlando canyon than in those
ure 3. (A) MAK (www.cggeinternational.com/MAK-1M.htm) side- surrounding the Calavà canyon (Figs. 11A,
scan sonar image and subbottom profile showing the widespread 11B). This setting can be the evidence that in
seafloor instability and mass-transport deposit in the areas sur- the case of the river-connected canyon much of
rounding the Naso channel. (B) Gravity core (located by red dot the river-born sediment is bypassed to the deep
in A), showing that both turbidite and mass-transport deposits are sea directly from hyperpycnal flows, and only a
present in the Naso channel floor (m—mud, s—sand, vf—very fine, little amount is stored in the shelf surrounding
f—fine, m—medium, c—coarse, vc—very coarse). (C) MAK side- the canyon head. On the contrary, in the case of
scan sonar image of the floor and western flank of the Naso chan- the littoral cell–connected canyon, a large part
nel. A blocky texture indicative of mass-transport deposits is wide- of river-born sediment is stored in the shelf, and
spread within the Naso channel floor. However, sediment waves and only that involved in the littoral cell escapes the
furrows indicate that turbidity currents are also active within the shelf and is fed to the canyon head. The differ-
channel floor. ent capability of sediment storage in the shelf is
in turn reflected in the size of the two fans, the
river-connected one being much larger than
occurrence of hyperpycnal flows was observed away from the very narrow shallow-water area the littoral cell–connected one.
at fiumara mouths (Casalbore et al., 2011). between the river mouth and the canyon head
The Calavà canyon head is located in front of and form two separated sediment bulges (Fig. Disconnected Canyons and Mass-Transport
the mouth of a relatively large river (Fig. 4). In 11A). This setting is here interpreted as the evi- Deposit Fan Facies
the coastal area between the canyon head and the dence that the area that connects the river, and
river mouth, Holocene deposits have a thickness the canyon head is characterized mostly by sedi- The Zappulla and Naso disconnected can-
of <10 ms twt (two-way traveltime; Fig. 11A), ment bypass. We therefore conclude that much yons feed a mass-transport deposit and a mixed
equivalent to about 10 m. The deposits thicken of the river-born sediments bypass the coastal fan, respectively.

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 Gamberi et al.

X ray
B E

0.2 m
A
B mud clasts

! sandstone blocks in mass transport deposit

chaotic mass transport deposit

hemipelagic mud

mass transport
deposit

1m
600 m 25 m

C
Zappulla canyon
landslide scarp infilled incised valleys

2m
300 ms

600 ms
mass transport
deposits
3 km

D mass-transport deposit 1
75 m

50 m
mass-transport deposit 2
25 m mass-transport deposit 3
mass-transport deposit 4

500 m
W E
Figure 9. The Zappulla fan. Locations of images and core in Figure 3. (A) MAK (www.cggeinternational.com/MAK-1M.htm) sidescan sonar
image and subbottom profile. One of the mass-transport lobes of the Zappulla fan has a blocky texture and corresponds with a laterally
restricted thick transparent layer. (B) Gravity core (located in A) showing the mass-transport deposits that make up the western part of
the Zappulla fan lobes. (C) Sparker profile showing the landslide occurring on the head of the Zappulla canyon. To the east, infilled incised
valleys are present in the continental shelf. (D) Subbottom profile of the Zappulla fan showing that it is due to the stacking of thick trans-
parent layers corresponding to mass-transport deposits. (E) Gravity core GC34 showing the mass-transport deposits in the eastern part of
the Zappulla fan.

In the study area, active block faulting cre-
ates surfaces tilted as much as 0.8° (Sulli et al.,
2013) that can represent a precondition for sedi-
ment failure. The Capo d’Orlando Basin is char-
acterized by local widespread seismicity (Fig.
1A). Earthquake-triggered sediment transport
within a canyon 10 km east of the study area
was revealed by the rupture of a submarine cable
in coincidence with two regional seismic events
(Ryan and Heezen, 1965). It can therefore be
concluded that earthquake-related landslides
favored by seafloor steepening are responsible
for submarine fan growth in the area where the
canyons are not connected.
In these fans, the facies of the failed sediment
is variable, consisting of both muddy slope
deposits of the Zappulla canyon areas and thin-
bedded sandy turbidites formed on the levees

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Coastal area Initiating
Canyon type
vertical movement m echanism
Prevailing hyper-
pycnal flows,
1. connected H igh uplift rate
littoral-cell
capture
2. disconnected Low uplift rate Landslides
Littoral-cell
3. connected H igh uplift rate capture,
landslides
4. disconnected Subsidence Landslides
Figure 10. Factors controlling deep-sea fan facies development. (A) Highstand, active margin fans as a function of shelf setting and canyon
distance from the coastline: 1—Calavà fan, 2—Naso fan, 3—Orlando fan, 4—Zappulla fan. (B) Passive margin fans as a function of the
time along a cycle of sea-level variation (modified from Posamentier and Kolla, 2003; Catuneanu et al., 2011). The colors along the sea-level
curve refer to main fan facies and correspond with those in Figure 4.
of the Naso submarine channels, as shown
by cores. Sandy mass-transport deposits are
transformed into turbidity currents more easily
than muddy ones (Tripsanas et al., 2008). The
capacity of mass-transport deposits to transform
into turbidity flows is also enhanced by higher
seafloor gradients (Piper et al., 1999b; Piper
and Normark, 2009). The gradient of the Naso
channel is 2.5°, whereas that of the Zappulla is
only 1.0°. Thus, in the Naso channel, the seafloor
gradient and the facies of the collapsed mate-
rial cause landslides to readily transform into
turbidity currents in a way similar to the Grand
Banks (Piper et al., 1999a). As a result, the Naso
fan develops a mixed nature that contrasts with
that of the Zappulla fan, where mass-transport
deposits are prevalent (Figs. 4 and 10A).
Tectonics as Ultimate Control
on Fan Facies
All the canyons of the study area were linked
with river mouths during the last sea-level mini-
mum, when incised valleys formed through river
excavation of the exposed shelf, as shown in the
nearby northeastern Sicilian continental shelf
(see Gamberi et al., 2014). During sea-level
fall and lowstand, rivers incise deeper where
the shelf is narrower and steeper and where the
shelf edge is at shallower depth (Tornqvist et al.,
2006; Mattheus and Rodriguez, 2011). In the
study area, a narrower, steeper shelf and a lower
depth of the shelf edge characterizes the areas
where the two connected canyons are located
(Figs. 4 and 10). On the contrary, a relatively
wide, gently sloping shelf is present in the areas
where the Zappulla and the Naso disconnected
canyons are located (Figs. 4 and 10). The geo-
morphology of the shelf therefore substantiates
that the connected canyons are now present
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Deep-sea fan facies on an active margin
length shelf shelf mass-transport
× width (km) edge 1 TIME
w idth / depth turbidite
(km ) gradient (°) (m) mixed
condensed section
3 shelf edge instability: mass
2 transport deposits
70×12 0.5/3.5° 50
4
25×9 3.5/2.5° 70
–50 m
4°
Slope
–120 m
40×10 1.0/4.0° 70
1°
Shelf
Land
25×15 6.5/1.0° 120
where the deeper incised valleys formed during
river incision of the emerged continental shelf.
Active tectonics in the studied margin are
responsible for fault-block tilting and differ-
ential rates of uplift (Fig. 10A). The Orlando
and Calavà Capes are part of a structural high
with high uplift rates (1 mm/yr; Di Stefano
et al., 2012) (Fig. 10A). To the west of the Cape
Orlando, a northeast-southwest–trending exten-
sional fault parallels the coastline and causes
the lowering of the coastal area and of the shelf
(Figs. 4 and 10A). It is apparent that in the study
area, the connected canyons are located in the
areas with the highest uplift rate. We therefore
conclude that it is the rate of vertical movement
of blocks that determines the character of can-
yons, by controlling shelf gradient and width
and thus the degree of incision of rivers during
sea-level lowstand. Connected canyons feeding
turbidite fans are developed only in connection
with blocks characterized by the highest rate of
relative uplift.
Deep-Sea Fan Facies: Active versus
Passive Margins
Sequence stratigraphy models, developed
on passive margins with long-term subsidence,
show that the facies of deep-sea fans are mainly
dependent on shifts of the coastline position
(Catuneanu et al., 2009, 2011) (Fig. 10B).
Models relate deep-sea fan facies to specific
points in time along a cycle of sea-level variation,
each with its own character of sediment delivery
to the deep sea (Catuneanu et al., 2009, 2011).
A long-term 1 mm/yr regional uplift affects the
northeast Sicilian margin (Westaway, 1993) and
block faulting results in local uplift rates as high
as 5 mm/yr (Di Stefano et al., 2012). Our work
therefore offers the possibility to highlight the
Geosphere, April 2015
A coastline far from the shelf egde:
condensed section
high B
stand
coastline progrades to the shelf
edge: fine grained turbidites late
coastline still close to the shelf transgression
edge: turbidites
early
transgression
low
shoreline located near the shelf stand
edge: turbidites dominate
late
coastline progrades closer to the
shelf edge: turbidites sea level fall
shelf edge deltas instability:
mass transport deposits
early
interval of upper slope sea level fall
instability:
mass transports dominate
relative sea level (–) (+)
divergence between deep-sea fan facies develop-
ment in tectonically active margins and in passive
margin models. (Fig. 10B). Our work shows that
it is the landward migration of the canyon heads
that drives the possibility of sediment delivery to
the deep sea during the present highstand. Where
a more efficient connection with river discharge
exists, most of the river-born sediment is directly
fed to the canyon heads, allowing the building of
sandy turbidite fans (Fig. 10A). In addition, our
study suggests that the largest facies variability
in deep-sea fans is to be expected during high-
stands. During highstands the disconnected can-
yons are cut off from coastal sediment supply,
and, depending exclusively on sediment supply
from seafloor instability, build mass-transport
fans. Our work shows that landslides and slope
channel gradient can initiate or modify sediment
delivery to the deep sea, thus controlling the
final facies of deep-sea fans and the formation
of mixed fan deposition. Attributes intrinsic to
the deep-water slope portions of the systems are
therefore vital in modifying deep-sea fan deposi-
tion in active margins. The essential role of the
slope is thus a further aspect that sets apart deep-
sea fan facies in active and passive margins, the
latter being controlled merely by the position of
the coastline and the resultant variation of sedi-
ment delivery processes to the deep sea.
CONCLUSIONS
The integrated interpretation of geophysical
data and seafloor samples provides the oppor-
tunity to study the sedimentary processes and
the facies of present-day deep-sea fans along an
active margin as a function of canyon connec-
tivity to sediment sources, the initiation mecha-
nisms of sediment transfer to canyons, and flow
response to gradient changes. Most of the deep-
317
 Gamberi et al.

4. Coast-connected canyons have the ability

A to build large turbidite fans; eventually sedi-
ment failure in the slope part of the systems can
cause landslides that result in the building of
mixed fans.
5. Both coast-connected and disconnected
canyons can form mixed fans, in the first case
20 as a result of sediment failure in the slope part
10
of the system, and in the latter as a result of flow
transformation of mass-transport processes into
turbidity currents.
6. Coast-connected canyons form in areas
10
20
30

sediment with high uplift rates, with a narrow and steep

waves shelf; disconnected canyons develop where
lower uplift rates or subsidence is occurring and
the shelf is large and relatively gentle.
Overall, we show that, in active margins,
sediment transfer to the deep sea is not merely
B 40
a function of sediment supply to the margin
50

and shelf accommodation space driven by sub-

60
10

Alluvial, coastal plain sidence, as in passive progradational margins.

20

70 Coastal progradation is in fact not a prerequi-

and beach deposit
(Holocene) site for sediment delivery to the deep sea, as
30

90 demonstrated by the Sicilian margin source to

0
10 sink sediment transport system. Regardless of
40

0 90 their absolute volume, sediments can bypass

11 the shelf where river-connected canyons are
6 0 50

80 pre-Holocene
substrate fed by hyperpycnal flows from rivers that, not
having space for the construction of prograd-
70 ing deltas in the shelf, directly feed their load
to the canyon heads. In this case, the lack of
Holocene deposit accommodation for river-born sediment in the
isochronopach shelf is brought about by canyon landward
migration rather than by coastal progradation
(ms TWT two-way time)
as in passive progradational margins. Further-
more, even when rivers, being not directly
connected with canyon heads, have enough
accommodation space to build deltas in the
canyon margin coastal areas, littoral cell–connected canyons
can be active where there is a favorable inter-
play among canyon head, river delta location,
Figure 11. Maps of the thickness (measured seismically: twt—two-way traveltime) of Holo- and the direction of sediment transport by
cene deposits in the areas of the coast-connected canyons (modified from Istituto per la Pro- littoral cells.
tezione e la Ricerca Ambientale, 2014). (A) Calavà canyon area. (B) Orlando canyon area.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We thank the technical crews and colleagues who

sea fans of the study area continue to receive
sediment during the current highstand, as shown
by other examples worldwide. Thus our findings
consolidate the idea that, particularly in active
margins, present-day sediment delivery to the
deep sea is relatively common.
The processes that feed sediment within the
canyons, in turn controlled by the type of con-
nectivity of the canyons to sediment sources,
are a major control on the facies of the deep-sea
fans along the studied active margin.
1. Coast-disconnected canyons are fed by
landslides and form mass-transport deposit
fans; however, depending on the lithology of the
failed masses and on the slope gradient, land-
slides can transform into turbidity currents and
as a final result a mixed fan is formed.
2. Coast-connected canyons, with heads close
to the coastline, can be river connected and are
fed by hyperpycnal flows, or littoral cell–con-
nected canyons fed by longshore currents that
rework coastal and shelf sediment.
3. Single coast-connected canyons can also
be characterized by multiple sediment supply
mechanisms when hyperpycnal flows and
littoral cells combine as sediment sources.
made possible the acquisition of the data set during
oceanographic cruises over a long time span. Ales-
sandra Mercorella and Elisa Leidi reprocessed the
compilation of swath bathymetry data; Andrea Galle-
rani assisted with sample collection. We thank the
participants and the Chief Scientists Michael Ivanov
and Neil Kenyon of the TTR-15 cruise of R/V Profes-
sor Logachev. We also thank Brian Romans and Lorna
Strachan for their reviews on an early version of this
manuscript, and David Piper for insightful comments
and suggestions through the various stages of devel-
opment of this paper. This work was supported by
the “MAGIC project” (Marine Geohazards along the
Italian Coasts) of the Dipartimento della Protezione
Civile and by the “Ritmare project” of the Programme
Nazionale della Ricerca funded by the Ministero
dell’Università e della Ricerca.

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