Eustatic and oceanographic control on sedimentary evolution of middle-late Quaternary shelf margin-to-upper slope deposits on the Egadi Islands offshore (Italy)

During the past decades a number of sequence stratigraphy studies illustrated how, during Quaternary, interaction between sea level changes and sediment supply controlled the depositional evolution along continental margins, giving a cyclic signature to the sedimentary infilling. However, as both deposition and erosion are processes ultimately controlled by balance between environmental energy and sedimentary influx, also the oceanographic regime takes part in controlling the sedimentary growth along the continental margin. This is exactly what occurs on physiographic settings as islands offshore areas, where bottom currents can be very energetic. In the western Sicily offshore, southwards …