Sandwaves on the Southeast Vietnam Shelf recorded by high resolution seismic profiles: formation and mechanism

Viet Dung Bui1,2, Alex Schimanski1, Karl Stattegger1, Phach Van Phung2, The Tiep Nguyen2, Tien Hai Nguyen2, Trung Thanh Nguyen2, Truong Thanh Phi2
1Institutes of Geosciences, Kiel University, Kiel, Germany
2Institute for Marine Geology and Geophysics, Hanoi, Vietnam

Tóm tắt

The application of high resolution seismic data using boomer sound source has revealed a wide distribution of large-scale bedforms (sandwaves) on the Southeast Vietnam continental shelf. Bedforms that are a few meters high in wave height and hundreds of meters long in wavelength are primarily developed in the inner shelf (20–40 m) and considered to be formed under the present-day marine hydrodynamic conditions. Those bedforms developed in the deeper water (120 m) of the northernmost part of the continent can be interpreted as the relict morphological features formed during the latest sea-level lowstand of the late Pleistocene period. Two sediment transport paths have been identified on the basis of the bedform’s leeward orientation: northeast-southwest (along-shore) and north-south (cross-shore). A quantitative bottom current map is constructed from sandwave dimensions, surface sediments and measurement data. The strongest current velocities that gradually decrease toward the southwest are indicated by large sandwaves in the north (field B). Water depth, surficial sediment composition and bottom current are three factors that control the development of bedforms.

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Tài liệu tham khảo

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