Bedforms feeding and bedforms fed by canyon activity around Punta Alice Promontory (Calabria Ionian Margin, Italy)

Submarine canyons along the Ionian Calabria margin indent large shelf sectors as the coalescing of smaller failure scarps progresses under the control of tectonic deformation and high sedimentation rates, promoted by regional uplift and rejuvenation of the drainage basin. The Punta Alice Canyon and the Cirò Canyon show such complex canyon heads, almost completely eroding the shelf and thus affecting sediment pathways along and across strike. Wavy bedforms of variable shape and size are observed both outside and inside the two canyon systems, providing an indication of how sediment is sourced and transported. We analyse the distribution of bedforms in order to define how both open shelf currents and confined sediment fluxes contribute to their formation outside and inside canyons. We also remark on the importance of the orientation of canyon heads and channels relative to flow direction of currents, and of slope failure as a sediment source.