ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Mar. Sci.
Sec. Deep-Sea Environments and Ecology
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmars.2025.1605830
Effects of slope instability on pockmark deformation on the continental slope in the southern South China Sea
Provisionally accepted
- 1School of Oceanography, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
- 2Second Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China
- 3Department of Marine Science, Ocean College, Zhejiang University, Zhoushan, Zhejiang Province, China
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Pockmark development and slope instability are key geological processes shaping the continental slope. In this study, high-resolution multibeam data, subbottom profiles, and a reprocessed two-dimensional seismic profile were used to identify and analyze the complex geomorphic features of landslides and pockmarks in the southern South China Sea. We analyzed the morphology of a landslide and 340 surrounding pockmarks, which are distributed on both sides of the landslide and exhibit a stepped pattern. Different from the pockmark deformation only along the slope, pockmarks in the study area exhibited deformation cross the slope. Based on the feature and distribution of pockmarks relative to the landslide, it is inferred that the development of the pockmarks triggers the landslide. Within the same depth interval, gravity and shear forces acting on the pockmarks intensify progressively from the center toward the flanks. In addition, tensile fracturing of the pockmarks significantly influences cross-slope deformation. On this basis, we established a three-stage model of pockmark evolution.
Keywords: Submarine pockmarks, Slope Instability, landslide, Southern South China Sea, Deformation pattern
Received: 04 Apr 2025; Accepted: 16 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Liu, Wu, Liu, Shang, Zhou and Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Ziyin Wu, zywu@sio.org.cn
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