Assessment of Short-Term Sediment Deposition Patterns Along the Palamós Submarine Canyon (NW Mediterranean) Using 234Th

Sierks, Maria; Paradis, Sarah; Roca-Martí, Montserrat; Puigcorbé, Viena; Puig, Pere

doi:10.3390/jmse13122383

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Assessment of Short-Term Sediment Deposition Patterns Along the Palamós Submarine Canyon (NW Mediterranean) Using ²³⁴Th

by

Maria Sierks

^1,2,*,

Sarah Paradis

³

,

Montserrat Roca-Martí

^2,4

,

Viena Puigcorbé

^1,*,†

and

Pere Puig

^1,†

¹

Institut de Ciències del Mar, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 08003 Barcelona, Spain

²

Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra, Spain

³

Environmental Physics, Institute of Biogeochemistry and Pollutant Dynamics, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH) Zürich, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland

⁴

Physics Department, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), 08193 Bellaterra, Spain

^*

Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.

^†

These authors contributed equally to this work.

J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2025, 13(12), 2383; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse13122383

Submission received: 30 September 2025 / Revised: 4 November 2025 / Accepted: 10 November 2025 / Published: 16 December 2025

(This article belongs to the Section Marine Environmental Science)

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Abstract

Sedimentary dynamics in the Palamós Canyon are influenced by river inputs and storm resuspension, as well as by bottom trawling on the canyon flanks. In this study, we estimate recent sediment deposition patterns along the canyon axis using the excess activity concentration of the short-lived radiotracer ²³⁴Th (half-life of 24.1 days). Sediment cores were obtained at various locations along the canyon axis from a depth of approximately 800 m to 2100 m in June 2023 and August 2024. Excess ²³⁴Th (²³⁴Th_xs) was detected in all sampled sites with variable penetration depths (0.5–3.5 cm). ²³⁴Th_xs-derived estimations of mixing rates decreased downcanyon from up to 15.6 cm² y⁻¹ at the canyon head (~800 m) to negligible mixing at the canyon mouth (~2100 m). ²³⁴Th_xs inventories, a proxy of recent sediment deposition, were high (1800–3490 Bq m⁻²) at the canyon head and at the upper canyon (~1400 m) close to fishing grounds and decreased downcanyon (82–694 Bq m⁻²) at the lower canyon (~1800 m) and canyon mouth. Inventories varied 2-fold across years presumably attributed to enhanced riverine and bottom trawling sediment fluxes. Similar ²³⁴Th-derived sediment deposition patterns can be found in submarine canyons worldwide, highlighting the value of this radiotracer for sedimentary dynamics studies in such complex environments.

Keywords: ²³⁴Th; particle tracer; environmental radioactivity; submarine canyon; Mediterranean Sea; recent sedimentation; surface sediment; mixing rate; riverine inputs; bottom trawling

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MDPI and ACS Style

Sierks, M.; Paradis, S.; Roca-Martí, M.; Puigcorbé, V.; Puig, P. Assessment of Short-Term Sediment Deposition Patterns Along the Palamós Submarine Canyon (NW Mediterranean) Using ²³⁴Th. J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2025, 13, 2383. https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse13122383

AMA Style

Sierks M, Paradis S, Roca-Martí M, Puigcorbé V, Puig P. Assessment of Short-Term Sediment Deposition Patterns Along the Palamós Submarine Canyon (NW Mediterranean) Using ²³⁴Th. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering. 2025; 13(12):2383. https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse13122383

Chicago/Turabian Style

Sierks, Maria, Sarah Paradis, Montserrat Roca-Martí, Viena Puigcorbé, and Pere Puig. 2025. "Assessment of Short-Term Sediment Deposition Patterns Along the Palamós Submarine Canyon (NW Mediterranean) Using ²³⁴Th" Journal of Marine Science and Engineering 13, no. 12: 2383. https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse13122383

APA Style

Sierks, M., Paradis, S., Roca-Martí, M., Puigcorbé, V., & Puig, P. (2025). Assessment of Short-Term Sediment Deposition Patterns Along the Palamós Submarine Canyon (NW Mediterranean) Using ²³⁴Th. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, 13(12), 2383. https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse13122383

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Assessment of Short-Term Sediment Deposition Patterns Along the Palamós Submarine Canyon (NW Mediterranean) Using ²³⁴Th

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