Deep-water seafloor geomorphic features of the Santos Basin, Southeastern Brazilian Margin, shown by analyses and integration of an extensive 3-D seismic data set
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1590/Keywords:
Seafloor Geomorphology, Seafloor Deposits, Near-surface Seismic Features, Multibeam Bathymetry, 3D Seismic DataAbstract
The extensive coverage of 3-D seismic data on the Santos Basin deep water offered an integrated vision of the
local physiography and medium- to small-scale geomorphological features, which enhances the understanding
of its constructive/deconstructive natural processes and their interrelations. The Santos Basin is a divergent
marginal basin composed of three main physiographic provinces: its continental shelf, continental slope, and the
São Paulo Plateau, whose dimensions, orientation, gradients, and relief interact with oceanographic, biological,
and geological processes. This study geologically contextualized environmental data related to the Regional
Environmental Characterization Project of the Santos Basin (hereinafter referred to as PCR-BS), especially
regarding the regional physiographical architecture and deep-water geomorphological provinces as a background
for the benthic communities and the distribution of several of its geochemical parameters. The integrated analysis
of 3-D seismic and multibeam bathymetric data and its derivatives (gradient and edge maps) — calibrated
by 108 piston cores — aimed to evaluate its seafloor physiographic features and geological processes. Edge
detection seismic attributes enhance gradient contrast, which, in turn, can map innumerous medium- to smallscale geomorphic features (features solved in maps at a 1:1,000,000 scale or larger), such as canyons, channels,
ravines, pockmark units, pockmark fields, lineaments, carbonate and coral mounds, salt-related features (crests,
minibasins, and crestal grabens), scars and rugous relief associated with mass-transport deposits, and bottom
current-related features (depressions and furrows). The slope and the gently dipping plateau (São Paulo Plateau)
that follow it eastward show four geomorphological domains based on their direction, profile, average gradient,
shelf break isobath, distribution of its medium-small scale geomorphic features, and the presence or absence of
evaporites at subsurface. The central-northern São Paulo Plateau contains salt-related topographic elevations
(salt diapirs and walls) and depressions (minibasins) that give a rough aspect to the seafloor relief.
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