Antonio Cattaneo

• PhD
• Senior Researcher at Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer

The seismic potential of the Lesser Antilles subduction zone is poorly known and highly debated. Only two damaging earthquakes have been reported in the historical period, in 1839 and 1843, but their sources and magnitude are still uncertain. Global Navigation Satellite Systems and coral data contradict each other, and no conclusion has been reache...

Hadal trenches are unique geological and ecological systems located along subduction zones. Earthquake-triggered turbidites act as efficient transport pathways of organic carbon (OC), yet remineralization and transformation of OC in these systems are not comprehensively understood. Here we measure concentrations and stable- and radiocarbon isotope...

The interaction of sedimentary systems with oceanographic processes in deep-water environments is not well understood yet, despite its importance for palaeoenvironmental reconstructions, and for a full understanding of source-to-sink sediment transport. The aim of this study is to improve the understanding of how contourite moats, elongated depress...

Understanding and quantifying the hazards related to earthquake-induced submarine liquefaction and landslides are particularly significant offshore of tropical volcanic-carbonate islands, where carbonate production competes with volcanism to create highly contrasted lithological successions. To improve the detection of liquefaction-prone layers, we...

Three main types of factors commonly control the nature of the clasts, the arrangement of the distinctive lithologies, and the general architecture of turbidite systems: sedimentation rate and carbonate production; climates and glacio-eustatism; and morphology and tectonics. The coexistence of adjacent systems of distinctive nature is, however, sca...

The numerous processes (superficial and deep) occurring on margins, their origins, consequences, interactions and quantifications are only very partially described and understood. The identification of the relative role of factors is sometimes completely contradictory between authors. Here, we showed the results of a long-term multidecadal and mult...

Depositional systems accumulating under the combined influence of along-slope currents and downslope sediment-gravity flows are frequent in several continental margins. Despite being well-documented in terms of how these opposing depositional processes shape the margin architecture, many aspects related to their interaction and distinctive characte...

Oceanic currents can profoundly reshape the seafloor and even modify the characteristics of turbidite systems. Multiple erosional and depositional features directly formed by bottom currents (i.e. contourites), as well as by the interaction between bottom currents and turbidity currents or turbidite systems (i.e. mixed turbidite-contourite systems)...

The purpose of this study is to differentiate and characterise contouritic sands in two different locations with variable sediment compositions (siliciclastic and bioclastic) based on a multiproxy approach that includes the analysis of sedimentary texture, semi-quantitative geochemistry, microfacies and ichnological information, as well as a Princi...

This study presents novel findings on the Pliocene and Quaternary evolution of the Gela Basin (Strait of Sicily, Mediterranean Sea), an area recording the interaction between tectonics, climate change at Milankovitch and sub-Milankovitch timescales, and dynamic water masses exchange between the eastern and western Mediterranean Sea. The calibration...

The Lesser Antilles arc is a mixed siliciclastic and carbonate active margin made of active volcanic and flat plio-quaternary carbonate islands. It was built as a result of a complex tectonic history at the slowly converging boundary between the American plates and the Caribbean plate. The sedimentary processes as a consequence of external forcing...

Evidences for active fluid seepages have been discovered along the Zambezi continental slope (offshore Southern Mozambique). These seepages are mostly associated with pockmarks which are aligned along a trend parallel to the slope and running closely upstream of the headwall scarp of a wide zone of slope destabilization. Fluid seepages are interpre...

Megabeds are thick sedimentary layers extending over thousands square kilometres in deep sea basins and are thought to result from large slope failures triggered by major external events. Such deposits have been found in at least three areas of the Mediterranean Sea. Although their discovery dates back to the early 1980s, many questions remain, con...

Megabeds are thick sedimentary layers extending over thousands square kilometres in deep sea basins and are thought to result from large slope failures triggered by major external events. Such deposits have been found in at least three areas of the Mediterranean Sea. Although their discovery dates back to the early 1980s, many questions remain, con...

The Gulf of Lions presents recurring mass-transport deposits (MTDs) within the Plio-Quaternary sediments, suggesting a long history of mass movements. The two large, surficial MTDs are located on the eastern and western levee of the Rhone canyon over an area exceeding 6000 km ² and volumes exceeding 100 km ³ . Both MTDs were emplaced 21 ka ago (pea...

Evidences of sedimentation affected by oceanic circulation, such as nepheloid layers and contourites are often observed along continental slopes. However, the oceanographic processes controlling sedimentation along continental margins remain poorly understood. Multibeam bathymetry and high‐resolution seismic reflection data revealed a contourite de...

The Gulf of Lions (NW Mediterranean Sea) is a SW-NE oriented passive continental margin formed since the Oligocene. It presents small to large scale mass movement features suggesting a long history of seafloor instability. Of particular interest are the two surficial large mass-transport deposits along the Rhone turbiditic levee, known as the Rhone...

Submarine landslides have been identified in almost all ocean basins worldwide. The largest submarine landslides occur on very shallow slopes and can be far larger than any terrestrial landslide. Submarine landslides can produce tsunami whose far‐reaching effects can rival those produced by earthquake‐tsunamis and threaten increasingly populated co...

Fluid migration within the sedimentary column contributes significantly to slope failure and pockmark formation and can be an effective triggering mechanism to generate submarine landslides. Pockmarks are thus commonly listed among geohazards. Contrary to these accepted notions, we propose here an alternative view of pockmarks with an example from...

In geotechnical laboratory testing, we simulate the effect of initial static shear stress on inclined grounds analogous to those found on submarine continental slopes by performing various triaxial experiments on anisotropically compacted samples. If such slopes are subjected to seismic shakings, as they are near subduction zones, the experiments m...

The Gulf of Lion (NW Mediterranean Sea) is a SW-NE oriented passive continental margin formed after the starting of the convergence between Europe and Africa in the Oligocene. It presents several small to large-scale mass movement features suggesting a long history of mass movements. Of particular interest are the two surficial giant mass transport...

Laser reflectometry (BOTDR), commonly used for structural health monitoring (bridges, dams, etc.), will for the first time be applied to study movements of an active fault on the seafloor 25 km offshore Catania Sicily. The goal of the European funded FOCUS project (ERC Advanced Grant) is to connect a 6-km long strain cable to the EMSO seafloor obse...

Contourites are common morphological features along continental margins where currents encounter the seafloor. They can provide long-term archives of palaeoceanography, may be prone to sediment instability, and can have a great potential for hydrocarbon exploration. Despite their importance and increasingly recognised ubiquitous occurrence worldwid...

In the Gulf of Lions (Western Mediterranean), the emplacement of a large (160 km³) mass transport deposit, the Rhone Western Mass Transport Deposit (RWMTD), at the base of slope, aside the Rhone deep-sea fan between 1800 and 2700 m water depth, resulted in a major modification of the sediment routing by clogging a drainage network and blocking at t...

The Gulf of Lion is a SW-NE oriented passive continental margin formed after the starting of the convergence between Europe and Africa in the Oligocene. The continental slope is incised by about 15 submarine canyons, feeding the distal Rhône sedimentary system. One of the distinctive features of the NNW-SSE oriented channel-levee complex is the pre...

One of the main concerns regarding the development of submarine landslides is the role played by weak layers in the failure process and, in particular, their impact in terms of volume, shape and evolution of mass movements. In the present study we identified a weak layer in the eastern margin of the Corsica Trough (northern Tyrrhenian Sea) that for...

Beside classical turbidites representing fluidized gravity-reworked sediments (different from flood-induced ones), homogenites may occur, either as unique separate layers, or overlying, and associated to, a normally graded coarse interval similar to the basal terms of a turbidite. In this so-called homogenite+turbidite (HmTu), a third specific laye...

Contourite drifts are sediment bodies formed by the action of bottom currents. They are common features found on continental slopes and are often affected by slope failure. However, processes controlling slope instability in contourite depositional systems are still not well constrained, and it is not clear whether contourites have particular prope...

The Romanian sector of the Black Sea deserves attention because the Danube deep-sea fan is one of the largest sediment depositional systems worldwide and is considered the world's most isolated sea, the largest anoxic water body on the planet and a unique energy-rich sea. Due to the high sediment accumulation rate, presence of organic matter and an...

This study, focusing on the northern zone of the Lesser Antilles, aims to identify sedimentary facies (turbidite, homogeneite, hemipelagite) in sediment cores and then to correlate them in order toestablish the spatial distribution of turbidite deposits. The questions we try to answer in this preliminary study are: 1)Can several turbiditic sequence...

Landsliding processes are relatively well-constrained on clastic sedimentary margins but remain poorly documented along carbonate slope and guyots. The southern central Mozambique Channel, between Mozambique and Madagascar, hosts several isolated carbonate platforms called the “Iles Eparses” and adjacent seamounts, which developed in shallow-water...

Submarine paleoseismology is a discipline based on the recognition and study of past earthquakes from submarine records such as turbidite deposits. The Ionian Sea is located in the central Mediterranean Sea and bounded by two accretionary wedges formed at two subduction zones: the Mediterranean Ridge to the east and the Calabrian Arc to the northwe...

A brief review of the published evidence of current deposits around Italy is the occasion to test the robustness of matching bottom current velocity models and seafloor morphologies to identify contourite drifts not yet documented. We present the result of the regional hydrodynamic model MARS3D in the Northern Tyrrhenian and Ligurian Sea with horiz...

In the Ionian Sea (Central Mediterranean Sea), several thick acoustically transparent layers are present including the Augias deposit. The Augias deposit is the most recent, thick layer covering the entire floor of the Ionian Abyssal Plain with an average thickness of 10–12 m and a maximum thickness of up to 24 m in the Sirte Abyssal Plain. This de...

The Pianosa Contourite Depositional System (CDS) is located in the Corsica Trough (Northern Tyrrhenian Sea), a confined basin dominated by mass transport and contour currents in the eastern flank and by turbidity currents in the western flank. The morphologic and stratigraphic characterisation of the Pianosa CDS is based on multibeam bathymetry, se...

Session NH5.4: Marine paleoseismology in the Mediterranean The Ionian Sea is a deep and narrow basin in the Central Mediterranean Sea, bounded by two accretionary wedges formed by the Calabrian and the Hellenic subduction zones, respectively to the North West and to the East. Eastern Sicily and Calabria have been repeatedly struck by destructive hi...

The Pianosa Ridge forms the eastern flank of the Corsica Trough in the Northern Tyrrhenian Sea: it is the site of preferential accumulation of contourites and Mass Transport Deposits (MTDs). Along the Pianosa Ridge, 11 MTDs with a total volume of 6.5 km3 were identified. These MTDs are distributed in three areas: (A) one small MTD associated to can...

Subduction of a narrow slab of oceanic lithosphere beneath a tightly curved orogenic arc requires the presence of at least one lithospheric scale tear fault. While the Calabrian subduction beneath southern Italy is considered to be the type example of this geodynamic setting, the geometry, kinematics and surface expression of the associated lateral...

The Ionian Sea is located in the central Mediterranean Sea and bounded by two accretionary wedges formed at two subduction zones: the Mediterranean Ridge to the east and the Calabrian Arc to the northwest. Thick acoustically transparent deposits are observed in the deep sedimentation of the Ionian abyssal plain. They are named “homogenites” or “meg...

Ongoing evidence for earthquake clustering calls for records of numerous earthquake cycles to improve seismic hazard assessment, especially where recurrence times overstep historical records. We show that most turbidites emplaced at the Africa-Eurasia plate boundary off west Algeria over the past ~8 k.y. correlate across sites fed by independent se...

E Sicily and Calabria have been repeatedly struck by destructive historical earthquakes and tsunamis (1693 Catania M7.4, 1908 Messina 7.2). The latter triggered a submarine landslide and turbidity current that ruptured submarine cables. We present the preliminary results of a paleoseismological investigation on a set of deep marine sediment cores f...

La mer Ionienne est bordée par deux prismes d’accrétion associés à des zones de subduction : la ride méditerranéenne et le prisme calabrais. Cette région est soumise à de grands séismes de magnitude supérieure à 7, parfois associés à des tsunamis, au cours de la période historique. Ces évènements extrêmes peuvent engendrer des déstabilisations sur...

The Pianosa Contourite Depositional System (Corsica Trough, North Tyrrhenian Sea) results from the interaction of the Levantine Intermediate Water (LIW) with the Pianosa Ridge. Seismic reflection data and Calypso piston cores show cyclicity in drift morphology and migration, as well as in the lithology, that might be linked to sea-level changes. Ma...

The Pianosa Ridge is a tectonic structure in the Northern Tyrrhenian Sea that forms the eastern flank of the Corsica Trough (between Corsica and the Tuscan shelf). The eastern part of the Golo Basin is characterised by submarine landslides and the Pianosa Contourite Depositional System, while the western part is dominated by the Golo turbidite chan...

Submarine landslides on continental slopes are triggered by diverse mechanisms such as sea-level variations, climate-driven sediment supply fluctu-ations, slope steepening related to long term tectonics, earthquakes and human activities. In the present work, we try to discriminate the origin of major gravity events recorded in three sediment cores...

The Ionian Sea is a deep and narrow basin in the Central Mediterranean Sea, bounded by two accretionary wedges formed by the Calabrian and the Hellenic subduction zones, respectively to the North West and to the East. The Ionian Sea and specifically the East Sicily Calabria region has been the site of strong historical earthquakes and tsunami. Sedi...

Gas seeping to the seafloor through structures such as pockmarks may contribute significantly to the enrichment of atmospheric greenhouse gases and global warming. Gas seeps in the Gulf of Lions, Western Mediterranean, are cyclical and pockmark “life” is governed both by sediment accumulation on the continental margin and Quaternary climate changes...

The Corsica Trough between the island of Corsica and the mainland of Italy is dominated on its western side by turbidite channel-lobe systems fed by high-gradient rivers during glacial epochs, while the eastern side is markedly different. It is flanked by the Pianosa Ridge, a prominent tectonic structure confining the distal reaches of turbidite lo...

Seamounts are currently considered hotspots of biodiversity and biomass for macro- and megabenthic taxa, but knowledge of meiofauna is still limited. Studies have revealed the existence of highly diverse meiofauna assemblages; however most data are mainly qualitative or focused only on specific groups, thus preventing comparisons among seamounts an...

Linear sand bodies with pronounced mounded topography are known from modern continental margins. These deposits are commonly referred to as sand-ridges, although they may include sedimentary bodies formed in markedly different environments and shaped by distinct depositional and post-depositional processes. The most typical sand ridges on modern sh...

Submarine landslides on continental slopes are triggered by diverse mecha-nisms such as sea-level variations, climate-driven sediment supply fluctuations, slope steepening related to long term tectonics, earthquakes and human activities. In the present work, we try to discriminate the origin of major gravity events recorded in three sediment cores...

A series of pockmarks observed at the seabed matches well the perimeter of a large submarine landslide, called NG1, located on the outer shelf and continental slope of the Eastern Gulf of Guinea. NG1 extends over 200 km2, is covered by a 120-m thick sedimentary layer which tapers downslope, and has an internal structure clearly identified in 3D sei...

According to simple models, stress build-up along a given fault is proportional to the time elapsed since the previous earthquake. Although the resulting « seismic gap » hypothesis suits well for moderate magnitude earthquake (Mw 4-5), large events (Mw>6) are hardly predictable and show great variation in recurrence intervals. Thus, models based on...

Most Mediterranean prodeltas show undulated sediments on the foresets of their Holocene wedges. These features have been described all along the Mediterranean and interpreted as either soft sediment deformation or, more recently, as sediment bedforms. We present a detailed analysis of these features using ultrahigh-resolution seismic and bathymetri...

Shaking by moderate to large earthquakes in the Mediterranean Sea has proved in the past to potentially trigger catastrophic sediment collapse and flow. On 21 May 2003, a magnitude 6.8 earthquake located near Boumerdas (central Algerian coast) triggered large turbidity currents responsible for 29 submarine cable breaks at the foot of the continenta...

On seismic profiles, the Eastern Niger Submarine Delta displays spectacular prograding wedges separated by discontinuities on the continental shelf and correlative conformities seawards. In spite of the numerous studies focused on deep oil reservoirs in this area, and because of the presence of pronounced syndepositional deformation, the detailed g...

The continental slope offshore Nice is a natural laboratory to investigate submarine landslides and gravity-flow processes. Using EM300 bathymetry data (spatial resolution of 25 m), about 250 scars with volume less than 8 × 108 m3 were identified. The AUV bathymetric data (spatial resolution of 2 m) revealed a greater number of scar-related failure...

The integration between seismic-reflection and bathymetric data highlighted more than one thousand and three hundred ancient and recent scars and Mass Transport Deposits (MTDs) related to submarine failures along the whole northern margin of the Ligurian Basin. Several types of failures are pointed out along the margin according to their morphology...

Fluid seepage has been considered as the most plausible explanation to account for slope instabilities in the Eivissa Channel in between the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands, Western Mediterranean Sea. In situ geotechnical tests and sediment cores obtained in the Ana Slide area, on the Balearic slope of the Eivissa Channel, suggest that t...

The present study provides an overview of recent sedimentation patterns on the central Algerian continental margin. Recent sedimentation patterns were assessed from morphological analysis, which is based on swath bathymetry and echo-facies mapping. It appears that sedimentation along the Algerian margin is controlled by two processes:(1) gravity-in...

Morphological Signature of Fluid Flow Seepage in the Eastern Niger Submarine Delta (ENSD) ABSTRACT Pockmarks are crater-like depressions resulting from fluid flows at the seabed. Fluids may be of different types (water, gas, oil) and origins (dewatering, biogenic, thermogenic). In the Eastern Niger Submarine Delta (ENSD), pockmarks are generally c...

During the last two decades, increasing use of full-coverage sonic mapping of the seafloor has made us more aware of the large and different number of seafloor processes and events bearing significant geohazard potential. This awareness combines with the increasing use of the seafloor for infrastructure and with the high density of population and s...