Morphology of the Ebro fan valleys from SeaMARC and sea beam profiles

The Ebro Fan system is located on the northwestern Mediterranean continental rise between the Ebro River and Valencia Valley West of the Balearic Islands. The purpose of this study is to examine the morphologic and near-surface acoustic character of the active and inactive channel-levee complexes and the ponded lobe; to compare the intersection of the ponded lobe and fan valleys with the adjacent slope and Valencia Valley; and to define the factors that control the different types of channel-levee and lobe development. The northern continental slope off the Ebro delta has badland topography indicating major slope erosion and mass movement of material that deposits sediment into a ponded lobe. The southern slope has a low degree of mass movement activity and slope valleys feed channel levee-complexes on a steep continental rise. The last active fan valley is V-shaped with little meandering and its thalweg merges downstream with the Valencia Valley. The older and larger inactive channel-levee complex is smoother, U-shaped, and meanders more than the active fan valley.