Atlas of Bedforms in the Western Mediterranean (Springer Geography)

This atlas illustrates the characteristics of present-day bedforms, from the shoreline to deep-sea environments, and it also includes short reviews of the main mechanisms that generate such bedforms. The atlas is aimed at the research community, in addition to students, the public at large and companies with interests in the marine environment. The book is divided into seven sections composed of a number of short chapters: 1) bedform analysis and the main physical processes, 2) bedforms in the coastal zone, 3) bedforms on prodeltas and sorted bedforms, 4) bedforms on the continental shelf, 5) bedforms and benthos, 6) bedforms in submarine canyons and 7) slope and deep-sea bedforms. This atlas offers a comprehensive, though not exhaustive, view of the diversity of bedforms and associated processes and of the morphological and temporal scales in the enclosed tideless western Mediterranean Sea. Front Matter....Pages i-xiii Front Matter....Pages 1-1 Bedform Mapping: Multibeam Data Processing, Metadata and Spatial Data Services....Pages 3-6 Methods for Analysing Bedform Geometry and Dynamics....Pages 7-13 Principles of Physical Modelling of Bedforms Under Waves and Currents....Pages 15-17 Modelling Bedforms on the Continental Shelf....Pages 19-24 Internal Waves and Bedforms....Pages 25-28 Turbidity Current Bedforms....Pages 29-33 Dense Shelf Water Cascading and Associated Bedforms....Pages 35-40 Currents in the Western Mediterranean Basin....Pages 41-47 Front Matter....Pages 49-49 Bedforms as Self-organized Patterns....Pages 51-53 Beach Cusps....Pages 55-57 Km-Scale Shoreline Sand Waves....Pages 59-63 KM-Scale Shoreline Sand Waves In The Western Mediterranean Sea....Pages 65-72 Nearshore Sand Bars....Pages 73-79 Nearshore Sand Bars on Western Mediterranean Beaches....Pages 81-88 Contemporary Subaqueous Dune Field Development Over an Abandoned River Mouth (Ebro Delta)....Pages 89-93 Bedforms on the Lowermost Reach of the Tiber River (Rome, Italy): Preliminary Results from Integrated Geophysical Surveys and Samplings....Pages 95-98 Front Matter....Pages 99-99 Holocene Muddy Bedforms on the Llobregat River Prodelta Wedge....Pages 101-106 Prodeltaic Undulations and Hyperpycnal Flows (I): Morphological Observations....Pages 107-112 Prodeltaic Undulations and Hyperpycnal Flows (II): Evolutionary Trends....Pages 113-120 Sorted Bedforms Along the Egadi Islands Continental Shelf (Southern Tyrrhenian)....Pages 121-126 Front Matter....Pages 99-99 Sorted Bedforms Developed on Sandy Deposits Derived from Small Ephemeral Streams (Catalan Continental Shelf)....Pages 127-133 Dynamics of Sorted Bedforms on a Shallow Infralittoral Prograding Wedge Influenced by Dredging (El Masnou, NW Mediterranean)....Pages 135-141 Sorted Bedforms Along the Continental Shelf of Western Sardinia....Pages 143-147 Front Matter....Pages 149-149 Sedimentary Bedforms in the Menorca Channel Region, Balearic Islands (Western Mediterranean)....Pages 151-157 Dome Dunes on the Inner to Middle Shelf Transition on a Temperate-Water Carbonate Sediment Shelf. Pitiusas Islands....Pages 159-165 Trawl Marks and Dredge Spoils as Examples of Seabed Anthropic Alteration on Sediments (Menorca Shelf)....Pages 167-172 Sand Ridges on the Mid-Outer Valencia Continental Shelf....Pages 173-177 Subaqueous Dune Fields on the Marine Protected Area Around the Cabrera Archipelago (Balearic Islands)....Pages 179-185 Subaqueous Dunes Over Sand Ridges on the Murcia Outer Shelf....Pages 187-192 Front Matter....Pages 193-193 Bedforms as Benthic Habitats: Living on the Edge, Chaos, Order and Complexity....Pages 195-198 Benthic Communities on Shallow Sedimentary Bottoms in the Western Mediterranean....Pages 199-206 Characterization of Benthic Communities in a Subaqueous Dune Field on the Continental Shelf (Mar Menor, Western Mediterranean)....Pages 207-214 Bio and Anthropogenic Disturbance of Maërl Communities Settled on Subaqueous Dunes on the Mar Menor Continental Shelf (Western Mediterranean)....Pages 215-219 Front Matter....Pages 221-221 Bedforms in the Southern Submarine Canyons of the Balearic Islands (Western Mediterranean) Interpreted as Cyclic Steps....Pages 223-228 Cyclic Steps at the Head of Channelized Features Along the Calabrian Margin (Southern Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy)....Pages 229-233 Potential Cyclic Steps in a Gully System of the Gulf of Palermo (Southern Tyrrhenian Sea)....Pages 235-240 Bedforms Feeding and Bedforms Fed by Canyon Activity Around Punta Alice Promontory (Calabria Ionian Margin, Italy)....Pages 241-246 Examples of Sediment Waves in and Around Submarine Canyons of the North Alboran Sea....Pages 247-252 Sediment Waves at the Mouth of the Almanzora-Alías-Garrucha Canyon....Pages 253-256 Front Matter....Pages 257-257 Large Sediment Waves Over the Gulf of Roses Continental Slope (NW Mediterranean)....Pages 259-264 Front Matter....Pages 257-257 Large-Scale Fine-Grained Sediment Waves Over the Gulf of Valencia Continental Slope (NW Mediterranean)....Pages 265-271 Generation of Bedforms by the Mediterranean Outflow Current at the Exit of the Strait of Gibraltar....Pages 273-280 Bedforms on the Distal Valencia Channel and Turbidite System....Pages 281-285 Small-Scale Bedforms Generated by Gravity Flows in the Aeolian Islands....Pages 287-292 Large-Scale Bedforms on Volcaniclastic Aprons Around the Aeolian Islands (Italy)....Pages 293-298 Deep-Water, Large-Scale Sediment Waves Bounded by the Valencia Channel....Pages 299-305 Back Matter....Pages 307-307