Under present-day conditions, rivers are the main source of fine sediments
dispersed to the Bay of Biscay. They deliver about 2.5 x 10(6) t yr(-1) of
continental fine sediments, 60% of which is derived from the Gironde estuar
y. Of this flux, 65% is believed stored on the shelf. Two kinds of mud fiel
ds can be found in the Bay of Biscay: coastal mud and shelf mud belts. The
total mass of fine sediments stored during the past 2000 years is 3.2x10(9)
t. Consequently, about 0.9 x 10(6) t yr(-1) could reach the shelf edge and
eventually the open sea. From this amount of displaced material and the de
position surface areas, an evaluation of sediment fluxes across the margin
during the late Holocene period is discussed. This evaluation is compared w
ith results obtained from ECOsysteme du canyon du cap-FERret (ECOFER) data
from sediment traps and surficial box cores. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd.
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