Western Mediterranean shelf-incised submarine canyons: multi-proxy evidence of Late Holocene natural and human-induced environmental changes

作者：Adrián López‐Quirós, Ángel Puga‐Bernabéu, Francisco José Lobo, Elvira Ruíz-Caballero, Javier Cerrillo-Escoriza, José Noel Pérez-Asensio, Isabel Mendes, Anxo Mena, Natalia Puche-Polo, Tomás Alberjón-Peñas, Lukas Wacker · 发表于：Frontiers in Earth Science · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.3389/feart.2025.1597056 · 被引用次数：3 · 研究领域：Geology and Paleoclimatology Research、Geological formations and processes、Maritime and Coastal Archaeology

Submarine canyons play a critical role in continental margin sediment transport, functioning both as sediment traps and conduits. This study examines the depositional dynamics of the Motril, Carchuna, and Calahonda canyons in the northern Alboran Sea (western Mediterranean) to assess their role in Holocene sediment storage and transfer. Comprehensive sedimentological and elemental geochemical analyses reveal distinct sedimentation patterns driven by geomorphology, diverse transport mechanisms, and hydroclimatic variability. The Motril Canyon primarily functioned as a river-fed sediment trap, accumulating fine-grained terrigenous material from the Guadalfeo River. At the same time, the Carchuna Canyon was dominated by longshore drift and turbidity currents mobilizing coarse-grained sediments. In contrast, the Calahonda Canyon displays an intermediate behavior, influenced by alongshore drift and fluvial inputs. The Late Holocene sedimentary record from the Motril Canyon provides a high-resolution sedimentary archive of paleoenvironmental changes over the last ∼2000 years Current Era, reflecting both climatic variability and human-induced landscape alterations. Four phases are identified based on the relationships between sediment physical and mineral-chemical characteristics: the Iberian Roman Humid Period (2600–1600 cal. yr Before Present), characterized by diminished terrigenous input despite increased late-phase humidity; the Dark Ages (1500–1000 cal. yr BP), marked by eleva...