Abstract
The eastern Demerara Rise located offshore French Guiana was surveyed in 2003 (GUYAPLAC cruise, part of the French EXTRAPLAC program) using multibeam bathymetry and imagery, 6-channel seismic data and 3–5 kHz echosounding. Analysis of seismic data shows that the flank of the Demerara Rise endures repetitive sliding of its Paleogene to Neogene sedimentary cover towards the ocean. Fluid escapes seem to be closely associated with the activity of those slides and deep faults seems to impact the location of the main headscarp. We suspect fluid overpressures and the specific architecture of transform boundaries (“free border”) to be key parameters in the development of wide MTD’s retrogressively eroding the eastern Demerara Rise.
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Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Extraplac for giving access to this data set and the French Research Program “Action Marges” for supporting this project. We also deeply thank David Mosher and Francky Saint Ange for their very useful reviews and comments.
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Pattier, F. et al. (2012). Mass Movements in a Transform Margin Setting: The Example of the Eastern Demerara Rise. In: Yamada, Y., et al. Submarine Mass Movements and Their Consequences. Advances in Natural and Technological Hazards Research, vol 31. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2162-3_30
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