Editorial: Source or sink? Erosional and depositional signatures of tectonic activity in deep-sea sedimentary systems

A recent break-through in sedimentological research is the application of ‘source-to-sink’ type studies to aid our understanding of continental margin evolution (e.g., Sømme et al., 2009; Carvajal and Steel 2011; Helland-Hansen et al., 2016; Snedden et al., 2018). “Source-to-sink” being the study of sediments from their source area, their transport to, and deposition in a sink or basin. Whilst the continental slope was conventionally perceived to primarily experience sediment bypass in source-to-sink studies, the net bypass character of the slope is the result of alternation of deposition and erosion over various magnitudes and time-scales (e.g., Prather et al., 2017). Although the basin-plain is typically considered as a sink, the same concept applies, with varying degrees of erosion and deposition occurring in the deep-ocean (e.g., Talling et al., 2022). Hence, the deep-sea has a diverse capacity for sediment storage but also great potential for redistribution (e.g., Shumaker et al., 2018). Consequently, sediment routing may be divided into discrete cells with different sedimentary behaviour, due to a variety of processes, some affecting the land and the shelf, some the slope, and others the basin-plain (e.g., Gamberi, 2020). Amongst those occurring in the deep-sea, a major role is played by tectonics, which modify seafloor topography; this in turn dictates where and when sediments are generated, stored, and remobilised in the deep-sea (e.g., Butler et al., 2020; McArthur et al., 2022). This Research Topic aimed to assemble contributions that investigated the distribution of erosion and deposition in the deep-sea and to explore its linkage with tectonic activity. A diverse range of fourteen papers cover the sedimentary processes (e.g., turbidity currents, mass-wasting), geomorphic elements (e.g., canyons, basins) and stratigraphic architectures (e.g., channels, lobes) that are indicative of tectonic shaping of the deep-sea environment across a range of tectonic settings, e.g., extensional, convergent, and strike-slip. Contributions covered a range of modern studies to those in deep geological-time and utilised a range of research approaches, from fieldwork to subsurface studies, to yield new insights on one or more of the research areas highlighted above. The resulting collection forms an anthology of Original Research and Reviews, which better constrain sediment routing systems in the slope and basin-plain and develops new concepts for the advancement of future source-to-sink studies. Hence, this Research Topic documents sedimentary processes, geomorphic elements and stratigraphic architectures of erosional and depositional signatures of tectonic activity in deep-sea sedimentary systems.