A better understanding of the evolution of bottom current circulation and associated deposits is significant for many applications including paleoclimatology and geological hazard. Besides the large contourite drifts, bottom currents may generate fields of large sediment waves that, depending on their height and velocity of migration, may pose severe risk for infrastructures. Conversely, the time span of their paleoceanographic record is generally relatively short. We use bathymetry data, sub-bottom and seismic reflection profiles and legacy oceanographic data to analyze the sediment waves occurring in a deep environment (from 2400 to 3800 m water depth at the foot of the Malta Escarpment in the Mediterranean Sea) to understand their evolution in time, their significance for paleoceanography, and their relation to present day hydrographic conditions. In the absence of direct stratigraphic information, we use the information from nearby studies and from ODP Site 964 and DSDP Site 374 to constrain the age of the sedimentary successions. We discover that these waves (about 2.5 km in wavelength, 50 m in height, with crest sub-perpendicular to the continental slope trend) have been steadily growing and migrating northward since about 500 ka, although an irregular growth and unsteady migration is distinguishable since about 1800 ka. The waves are generated by predominantly alongslope southward flowing bottom currents compatible with modern hydraulic conditions (mean flow speed of ~5 cm s⁻¹, peaks of 15 cm s⁻¹). The rate of crest migration (~ 2.0–3.2 mm a⁻¹) and the average sedimentation rate (0.64–0.69 mm a⁻¹) are unusually high for deep sea environments away from turbidity currents paths. We infer that the steady development of sediment waves is produced by a drastic increase in sediment input to the Ionian Basin resulting from the tectonic uplift in NE Sicily and Calabria and the onset of a relatively steady, low energy bottom current regime following the Mid-Pleistocene Transition. We attempt to extract information on orbital cyclicity preserved in the seismic record from the power spectra of virtual seismic traces from the well preserved succession of 5 visually discernible, regularly spaced sub-units consisting of alternation of high-amplitude and low-reflectivity packages within the last 500 ka. Peaks in the power spectra can be identified around orbital obliquity and precession periodicities, while eccentricity appears not to be recorded. We discuss the results of seismic cyclicity analysis relative to uncertainties of stratigraphic and petrophysical constraints. The sediment waves along the foot of the Malta escarpment are an excellent candidate for the extraction of a long, continuous and high resolution sedimentary record of the paleo circulation changes and climate cycles in the Mediterranean Sea since about 500 ka.

更好地了解底流环流和相关沉积物的演变对于包括古气候学和地质灾害在内的许多应用具有重要意义。除了大的等高线漂移外，底流可能会产生大的沉积波场，这取决于它们的高度和迁移速度，可能对基础设施构成严重风险。相反，他们的古海洋记录的时间跨度通常相对较短。我们使用测深数据、海底和地震反射剖面以及遗留海洋学数据来分析发生在深部环境（地中海马耳他悬崖脚下 2400 至 3800 米水深）中的沉积波，以了解它们的演变随着时间的推移，它们对古海洋学的意义，以及它们与当今水文条件的关系。在缺乏直接地层信息的情况下，我们使用来自附近研究以及来自 ODP 站点 964 和 DSDP 站点 374 的信息来限制沉积序列的年龄。我们发现这些波（波长约 2.5 km，高度 50 m，波峰与大陆坡趋势亚垂直）自约 500 ka 以来一直稳定增长并向北迁移，尽管自约 1800 卡。波浪主要由与现代水力条件兼容的沿斜坡向南流动的底流产生（平均流速约为 5 cm s 我们使用来自附近研究以及来自 ODP Site 964 和 DSDP Site 374 的信息来限制沉积序列的年龄。我们发现这些波（波长约 2.5 km，高度 50 m，波峰与大陆坡趋势亚垂直）自约 500 ka 以来一直稳定增长并向北迁移，尽管自约 1800 卡。波浪主要由与现代水力条件兼容的沿斜坡向南流动的底流产生（平均流速约为 5 cm s 我们使用来自附近研究以及来自 ODP Site 964 和 DSDP Site 374 的信息来限制沉积序列的年龄。我们发现这些波（波长约 2.5 km，高度 50 m，波峰与大陆坡趋势亚垂直）自约 500 ka 以来一直稳定增长并向北迁移，尽管自约 1800 卡。波浪主要由与现代水力条件兼容的沿斜坡向南流动的底流产生（平均流速约为 5 cm s 尽管自大约 1800 ka 以来可以区分出不规则的增长和不稳定的迁移。波浪主要由与现代水力条件兼容的沿斜坡向南流动的底流产生（平均流速约为 5 cm s 尽管自大约 1800 ka 以来可以区分出不规则的增长和不稳定的迁移。波浪主要由与现代水力条件兼容的沿斜坡向南流动的底流产生（平均流速约为 5 cm s^-1，15 cm s ^{-1 的}峰）。波峰迁移率 (~ 2.0–3.2 mm a ^-1 ) 和平均沉降率 (0.64–0.69 mm a ^-1) 在远离浊流路径的深海环境中异常高。我们推断沉积波的稳定发展是由于西西里岛东北部和卡拉布里亚的构造抬升导致爱奥尼亚盆地的沉积物输入急剧增加以及中更新世之后相对稳定的低能量底流状态的开始过渡。我们试图从保存完好的连续 5 个视觉上可辨别的、规则间隔的子单元的虚拟地震道的功率谱中提取保存在地震记录中的轨道周期信息，这些子单元由高振幅和低反射率包的交替组成。最后 500 ka。可以在轨道倾角和进动周期性周围识别功率谱中的峰值，而偏心率似乎没有被记录下来。我们讨论了与地层和岩石物理约束的不确定性相关的地震周期性分析的结果。马耳他悬崖脚下的沉积波是提取自大约 500 ka 以来地中海古环流变化和气候循环的长、连续和高分辨率沉积记录的绝佳候选者。