Sand Waves in the Messina Strait, Italy

Abstract

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Characteristics of a black coral meadow in the twilight zone of the central Mediterranean Sea

“…This site was selected on the basis of a previous survey conducted in the shallower limit of distribution (50 to 60 m) of Antipathella subpinnata (Bo et al 2008). The northern part of the Strait is oriented NE-SW and is characterised by a group of exposed rocky pinnacles emerging from a seabed of coarse sand and gravel (Santoro et al 2002).…”

“…1). There is a prevailing S-N current arriving from the Messina Strait (Vercelli 1925, Castaldini & Franzini 1979, Santoro et al 2002.…”

Tectonics and sedimentation of the Lower and Middle Pleistocene mixed siliciclastic/bioclastic sedimentary successions of the Ionian Peloritani Mts (NE Sicily, Southern Italy): the onset of opening of the Messina Strait

“…In the study area, the Pleistocene hydrodynamic conditions were probably very similar to the present-day marine circulation: microtidal conditions are enhanced by the amplification of strong tidal currents in the local straits and coastal embayments located between the Tyrrhenian and Ionian seas [123]. An impressive example of this phenomenon is represented by the presentday Messina Strait, whose southward-sloping sublittoral to bathyal floor is dominated by descending tidal currents with velocities up to 1-3 m/s [71,124]. All significant accumulations of Neogene tidal deposits in onshore Calabria and northern Sicily owe their origin to such specific settings, including the straits and embayments lo-cated in central-southern Calabria and northern-eastern Sicily [106].…”

“…Where sediment accumulation is present, strong currents flowing along the axis of the strait [69,70] generate coarse-grained sandwaves that migrate from north to south and vice versa. Currents, ranging in velocity from 1 to 3 m/s [71], are generated by amplification of out-of-phase tidal cycles that occur every six hours [70]. The sedimentary succession examined in this study (cycles R2 and R3 in Figure 1 and Figure 2B) represents part of the Plio-Pleistocene deposits characterizing the emerged Calabrian (to the north) and Sicilian (to the south) margins of the present Messina Strait (eastern Peloritani Mts) ( Figure 1).…”

Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union Volume 87, Number 29, 18 July 2006

“…Examples of features of comparable scale have also been noted at Cook Inlet in Alaska [Bouma, et al, 1977], the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia [Dalrymple, et al, 1978], the Dutch coast [Verhagen, 1989], and the Messina Strait of Italy [Santoro, et al, 2002], although none of these sites contains the combination of features comparable to the giant sand waves of the Golden Gate. September and 30 October.…”