CapTimiris Canyon: A newly discovered channel system offshore of Mauritania

Abstract

Intensive research over the past decades has greatly improved our understanding of processes operating in the deep ocean. There has been a particular focus on continental margins, as sediments deposited in these areas can provide a high‐resolution record of past climatic changes, as well as serve to host some of the world's major hydrocarbon reservoirs. However, the exploration and understanding of the deep ocean remains one of the great challenges of the 21st century [Stow and Mayall, 2000], and many fascinating features still wait to be found. The potential for new deep‐water discoveries was recently highlighted during Meteor cruise M58/1 (depart Dakar, Senegal, 21 April 2003, return Las Palmas, Spain, 12 May 2003) of the Research Center Ocean Margins at the Universität Bremen in Germany. A spectacular 400‐km‐long submarine meandering channel system was discovered off Mauritania. In this article, the system is called the Cap Timiris Canyon (Figure 1). Although a series of incisional gullies at the shelf break and uppermost slope have been described before [e.g., Rust and Wienecke, 1973], the enormous size and complex morphology of this submarine channel system were previously unknown.

Late Quaternary sedimentation within a submarine channel–levee system offshore Cap Timiris, Mauritania

“…1), which were recovered from the Cap Timiris Canyon system offshore Mauritania during RV Meteor cruise Krastel et al (2004). It is plotted from Hydrosweep data of RV Meteor cruise M58/1 (Schulz and cruise participants, 2003) and indicates the investigated core positions along this meandering system offshore Saharan Africa.…”

“…Beside the dominantly pelagic and hemipelagic sedimentation, i.e., settling of dead planktonic organisms or terrigenous particles accomplished by large dust plumes, the spectrum of sedimentary regimes off Mauritania also includes sediment redistribution processes such as alongslope transport by bottom currents, and downslope, gravity-driven processes involving mass wasting (e.g., Bein and Fütterer, 1977;Jakobi and Hayes, 1982;Krastel et al, 2004;Krastel et al, 2006;Wien et al, 2006).…”

“…Previous studies have shown that a number of smaller channels and incised valleys exist along the Mauritanian and Senegalese margins (Jakobi and Hayes, 1982). During RV Meteor expedition M58/1 of the Research Center Ocean Margins (RCOM) at the University of Bremen (Schulz and cruise participants, 2003) a large submarine meandering canyon system, which was named the Cap Timiris Canyon, was discovered offshore Mauritania (Krastel et al, 2004).…”

Mauritania Slide Complex: morphology, seismic characterisation and processes of formation

“…The continental slope displays gradients which vary between 1°and 3°. The shelf and slope areas to the immediate north of the Mauritania Slide Complex are deeply incised by a system of canyons and gullies including the Tiolit Canyon (Wissmann 1982) and farther to the north, the Cap Timiris Canyon, a prominent canyon system recently discovered off the latitude of Cap Timiris (Schulz et al 2003;Krastel et al 2004). The entire continental rise off Mauritania is very broad, and occurs at water depths of between 2,000 and 2,500 m where slope angles are typically < 1°.…”

Mapping Palaeohydrography in Deserts: Contribution from Space-Borne Imaging Radar

“…Recently, a large 400 km-long submarine channel system, the Cap Timiris Canyon, has been discovered on the western Sahara margin off Mauritania [22]. The Cap Timiris Canyon was very likely connected to a major river system in the past, and potential flow pathways simulated from present-day topography indicates the existence of a large river system in western Sahara, taking its sources in the Hoggar highlands and the southern Atlas Mountains.…”