ACTIVE SEABED PROCESSES AND POTENTIAL GEOHAZARDS IN THE CENTRAL NILE DEEP-SEA FAN FROM INTEGRATED SWATH BATHYMETRY AND 3D SEISMIC DATA

Geohazards are consequences of geological processes. If not identified, they may put at risk industrial activity such as subsea installation or drilling, with potential impact on safety and environment. Previous studies showed that the Central Nile Deep-Sea Fan (NDSF) is characterized by a rough and chaotic seabed surface and affected by numerous gravitational instabilities such as landslides as well as by fluid seepages [1]. Mapping this area from swath bathymetric and seismic investigation of the seafloor allowed identify several features directly on the seabed such as active fault scarp, fluid seepages, mass-wasting and mass-flow, or detected in subsurface sedimentary layers such as shallow fault, buried channels, mass transport deposits (MTDs), and shallow gas-charged sediments, which may induce potential and considerable geohazards