weichselian and holocene growth of the northern high latitude lofoten contourite drift on the continental slope of norway abstract the weichselian and holocene sediments in the lofoten drift comprise six lithofacies brown sandy mud olive grey mud olive grey laminated mud dark brown mud massive sand and dark grey sandy mud during the weichselian the sediment input to the lofoten drift was from two main sources i e glacimarine sedimentation and ocean current winnowing during the holocene the sediment input was only from winnowing the sediment source area was the voring margin and the continental margin further south the sedimentation rate was 190 cm ka during the late weichelian and 9 cm ka during the holocene the weichselian rates are high compared with the deep sea contourite drifts comprising highly bioturbated sediments and probably explain why bioturbation is less pronounced in these slope drift sediments drifts on glaciated margins as exemplified by the lofoten contourite drift represent areas of high sedimentation rate during glacial maxima sediment input was not restricted to glacial maximum periods for sediments also accumulated during other stadial and interstadial periods

effects of slow recovery rates on water column geochemistry in aquitard wells monitoring wells are often installed in aquitards to verify effectiveness for preventing migration of surface contaminants to underlying aquifers however water sampling of aquitard wells presents a challenge due to the slow recovery times for water recharging the wells which can take as long as weeks months or years to recharge depending on the sample volume needed in this study downhole profiling and sampling of aquitard wells was used to assess geochemical changes that occur in aquitard wells during water level recovery wells were sampled on three occasions spanning 11 years 1 year and 1 week after they were purged and casing water showed substantial water chemistry variations temperature decreased with depth whereas ph and specific conductance increased with depth in the water column after 11 years of water level recovery less stable parameters such as dissolved o2 do and eh showed strong zonation in the well column with do stratification occurring as the groundwater slowly entered the well oxidation of reduced till groundwater along with degassing of co2 from till pore water affects mineral solubility and dissolved solid concentrations recommendations for sampling slowly recovering aquitard wells include identifying the zone of do and eh stratification in the well column and collecting water samples from below the boundary to better measure unstable geochemical parameters

morphology and mechanics of submarine spreading a case study from the storegga slide spreading is a common type of ground failure in subaerial environments however this type of mass movement has hardly been documented in submarine settings in this paper we show that spreading covers at least 25 of the storegga slide scar area a giant submarine slide located offshore mid norway the morphological signature of spreading is a repetitive pattern of ridges and troughs oriented perpendicular to the direction of movement two modes of failure can be identified retrogressive failure of the headwall and slab failure and extension both involving the breakup of a sediment unit into coherent blocks these blocks are displaced downslope along planar slip surfaces limit equilibrium modeling indicates that loss of support and seismic loading are the main potential triggering mechanisms the extent of displacement of the spreading sediment is controlled by gravitationally induced stress angle of internal friction of the sediment pore pressure escape and friction the resulting block movement pattern entails an exponential increase of displacement and thinning of the failing sediment with distance downslope sediment properties explain the remaining spatial variation of ridge and trough morphologies associated with spreading

scale invariant characteristics of the storegga slide and implications for large scale submarine mass movements abstract this study documents the fractal characteristics of submarine mass movement statistics and morphology within the storegga slide geomorphometric mapping is used to identify one hundred and fifteen mass movements from within the storegga slide scar and to extract morphological information about their headwalls analyses of this morphological information reveal the occurrence of spatial scale invariance within the storegga slide non cumulative frequency area distribution of mass movements within the storegga slide satisfies an inverse power law with an exponent of 1 52 the headwalls exhibit geometric similarity at a wide range of scales and the lengths of headwalls scale with mass movement areas composite headwalls are self similar one of the explanations of the observed spatial scale invariance is that the storegga slide is a geomorphological system that may exhibit self organized criticality in such a system the input of sediment is in the form of hemipelagic sedimentation and glacial sediment deposition and the output is represented by mass movements that are spatially scale invariant in comparison to subaerial mass movements the aggregate behavior of the storegga slide mass movements is more comparable to that of the theoretical sandpile model the origin of spatial scale invariance may also be linked to the retrogressive nature of the storegga slide the geometric similarity in headwall morphology implies that the slope failure processes are active on a range of scales and that modeling of slope failures and geohazard assessment can extrapolate the properties of small landslides to those of larger landslides within the limits of power law behavior the results also have implications for the morphological classification of submarine mass movements because headwall shape can be used as a proxy for the type of mass movement which can otherwise only be detected with very high resolution acoustic data that are not commonly available

the norwegian greenland sea continental margins morphology and late quaternary sedimentary processes and environment the continental margins surrounding the norwegian greenland sea are to a large degree shaped by processes during the late quaternary the paper gives an overview of the morphology and the processes responsible for the formation of three main groups of morphological features slides trough mouth fans and channels several large late quaternary slides have been identified on the eastern norwegian greenland sea continental margin the origin of the slides may be due to high sedimentation rates leading to a build up of excess pore water pressure perhaps with additional pressure caused by gas bubbles triggering might have been prompted by earthquakes or by decomposition of gas hydrates trough mouth fans tmf are fans at the mouths of transverse troughs on presently or formerly glaciated continental shelves in the norwegian greenland sea seven tmfs have been identified varying in area from 2700 km2 to 215 000 km2 the trough mouth fans are depocentres of sediments which have accumulated in front of ice streams draining the large northwest european ice sheets the sediments deposited at the shelf break upper slope by the ice stream were remobilized and transported downslope mostly as debris flows the trough mouth fans hold the potential for giving information about the various ice streams feeding them with regard to velocity and ice discharge two large deep sea channel systems have been observed along the norwegian continental margin the lofoten basin channel and the inbis channel along the east greenland margin several channel systems have been identified the deep sea channels may have been formed by dense water originating from cooling sea ice formation and brine rejection close to the glacier margin or they may originate from small slides on the upper slope transforming into debris flows and turbidity currents

seabed morphology and shallow sedimentary structure of the storfjorden and kveithola trough mouth fans north west barents sea abstract this study aims to present an overview of the seafloor morphology and shallow sedimentary structure of the storfjorden and kveithola trough mouth fans tmfs on the northwestern barents sea continental margin data have been compiled from two international polar year ipy cruises svais of the bio hesperides and eglacom of the r v ogs explora that yielded 15 340 km2 of multi beam bathymetry and 9500 km of sub bottom seismic profiles in this area the continental shelf edge defines three wide and subdued sedimentary lobes forming storfjorden tmf one single lobe on kveithola tmf and three inter tmf areas on the continental slope the two northernmost lobes of storfjorden tmf lobes i and ii are composed by thick up to 50 m sequences of glacially derived debris flow deposits interbedded with thin a few metres de glacial and interglacial deposits a network of upper slope gullies incises these debris flow deposits as a consequence of subglacial meltwater release at or near the shelf break gullies evolve into channels whose morphologic evidence disappears midslope leaving place to a subdued chevron like morphological pattern inherited by the preceeding glacial maximum debris flow deposits a drastic change occurs on the continental slope of storfjorden tmf lobe iii and kveithola tmf where are several translational submarine landslides mostly originated in the upper slope the majority of which detach at the contact between middle weishelian glacigenic debris flows and the overlying acoustically laminated plumites dendritic canyon systems only develop in inter tmf areas the data suggest that tmf continental slope progradation depends on short lived episodes of extreme sedimentation during glacial maxima and during the early deglaciation phase and that an important controlling factor is the mechanism of ice stream retreat from the continental shelf edge we suggest that the two northern storfjorden sub ice streams were composed of thicker and perhaps faster ice progressively draining a distal and larger ice source mainly located on svalbard conversely the southernmost storfjorden sub ice stream and the kveithola ice stream were fed by a local smaller marine based ice dome grounded on spitsbergenbanken the ice dome persisted after the lgm maintaining a local ice drainage system close to the shelf edge whose sedimentary evidence can be found on the continental slope of the southern lobe of storfjorden tmf and kveithola tmf the high degree of lateral variability in the style of sedimentation on tmf slopes suggests that ice stream dynamics may vary considerably within the same glacial trough and that such variability affects the long term development of the architecture of tmfs

soil conditions and slope stability in the ormen lange area abstract the ormen lange gas field is located in 850 1100 m water depth in the slide scar of the enormous storegga slide this slide occurred about 8200 years ago and left steep and high scarps above and below the planned field development area today s stability of these scarps has been a major concern for the field development work this paper gives an overview of soil investigations evaluation of potential trigger mechanisms and stability analyses performed to demonstrate adequate conditions the area under consideration is large with a limited number of geotechnical borings and integration of geological geophysical and geotechnical information was required to develop a geotechnical model of the area the stress history and the soil conditions are strongly influenced by rapid deposition during glacial periods by the loss of overburden from the storegga slide and glacial loading along the shelf edge natural and project induced triggering sources with potential for generation of renewed slide activity were evaluated with respect to magnitude and location and possible influence area relative to the major scarps stability analyses were carried out for critical sections of the scarps under gravity loading and under combination of gravity and potential triggering sources applying drained analyses for long term gravity loading and undrained analyses considering gravity combined with short term load effects project induced load effects like weight of equipment and rockfills anchor loads and effects of drilling and production activities were found to have insignificant effect on the large scale stability of the headwalls and local surficial slope failure can be handled by adequate engineering and lay out with respect to natural triggering sources it was concluded that an extremely strong earthquake with a very low probability of occurrence is the only realistic mechanism for triggering of new slides in the ormen lange area

effects of tectonism and magmatism on crack structure in oceanic crust a seismic anisotropy study we analyzed 25 675 traveltime residuals from a three dimensional seismic tomographic inversion to investigate crack induced seismic anisotropy in the upper oceanic crust the study covered two regions with contrasting levels of magmatic activity on the western limb of the 9 n overlapping spreading center on the east pacific rise the level of anisotropy gradually decreases with depth in the magmatically and hydrothermally active ridge region in contrast we observed a highly variable anisotropic structure in the magmatically and hydrothermally less active tip region at the end of the dying ridge segment a weakly anisotropic layer beneath strongly anisotropic extrusive volcanic rocks is likely to be the result of relatively shallow cracks closed by hydrothermal precipitation strongly anisotropic dikes with inferred narrow and water saturated cracks provide important along axis pathways for the circulation of hydrothermal fluids beneath the shallow cracks in the less magmatically active regions furthermore a significant clockwise rotation 20 30 of fast directions occurs in both regions with increasing depth such a rotation provides evidence that the geometry of the underlying crack structure of the western limb is significantly different from that defined by the bathymetric ridge crest

the vestfjorden traenadjupet palaeo ice stream drainage system mid norwegian continental shelf abstract an ice stream in the vestfjorden traenadjupet depressions off northern norway transported glacial debris to the shelf edge and into the deep sea during the last glaciation our interpretation is based mainly on regional and detailed bathymetry and 2d and 3d seismic data this palaeo ice stream was approximately 400 km long and covered an area of 20 000 km 2 including a complex system of tributary fjords and valleys in nordland county the drainage basin had an area of ca 150 000 km 2 within the fennoscandian ice sheet fis during the last glacial maximum lgm the location of the palaeo ice stream prevented large ice masses from reaching the montainous areas of lofoten and vesteralen a local ice dome was established in these areas the palaeo ice stream eroded extensively into both mesozoic and cenozoic sedimentary rocks and quaternary sediments a pattern of well developed subglacial sedimentary bedforms was produced e g mega scale lineations drumlins ice stream shear margin moraines are located on both sides of traenadjupet defining the width of the palaeo ice stream 90 km at the shelf edge these moraines are commonly 10 20 m high a few kilometres wide and reach several tens of kilometres in length a large recessional moraine the tennholmen ridge has been mapped in vestfjorden it is 80 m high 20 km wide and 60 km long we have interpreted this ridge as a grounding line moraine formed during a halt or a readvance of the ice stream during the last deglaciation the large transport of glacial debris towards the grounding line occurred during this stage northeast of the tennholmen ridge several smaller moraine ridges were developed at still stands during deglaciation

the role of meltwater in high latitude trough mouth fan development the disko trough mouth fan west greenland abstract the disko trough mouth fan tmf is a major submarine sediment fan located along the central west greenland continental margin offshore of disko trough the location of the tmf at the mouth of a prominent cross shelf trough indicates that it is a product of repeated glacigenic sediment delivery from former fast flowing outlets of the greenland ice sheet including an ancestral jakobshavn isbrae which expanded to the shelf edge during successive glacial cycles this study focuses on the uppermost part of the fan stratigraphy and analyses multibeam swath bathymetry and sub bottom profiler records supplemented by a series of vibrocores up to 6 m in length the swath bathymetry data show that the surface of the fan is prominently gullied and channelled with channels extending downslope from a series of shelf edge incising gullies sub bottom profiles from across and down fan show that the fan sediments are often acoustically stratified glacigenic debris flows gdfs were recovered in sediment cores from the uppermost slope but they are absent in cores from elsewhere on the fan instead glacimarine lithofacies in the disko tmf are dominated by turbidites hemipelagic sediments and ird the gullied and channelled surface of the fan implies erosion at the base of dense sediment laden turbidity currents related to the delivery of meltwater and sediment from an ice sheet grounded at the shelf edge such meltwater related fans have been documented previously on mid latitude glacier influenced margins but they have rarely been described from high latitude settings although gdfs are often regarded as the building blocks of tmfs the morphology and sedimentary architecture of the uppermost late quaternary part of the disko tmf indicates that it represents a clear example of a fan in which sediment delivery is strongly influenced by meltwater this implies that there is a spectrum of tmfs on glaciated continental margins that reflects the relative dominance of meltwater processes vs gdfs it highlights the variability in fan morphology and mechanisms of sediment delivery on high latitude tmfs and shows that the classic polar north atlantic model of gdf dominated fans is but one of a number of styles for such large scale high latitude glacimarine sedimentary depocentres

near surface circulation of the nordic seas as measured by lagrangian drifters in the period june 1991 to august 1993 107 argos tracked drifters drogued to 15 m depth were released in the nordic seas or greenland iceland and norwegian seas the drifter movements revealed the strong and spatially confined current systems along the surface salinity fronts of the iceland faroe frontal zone and of the norwegian coast and along the continental margins and their extensions to the barents sea and spitsbergen the norwegian atlantic current is composed of three distinct streams two continental margin and one coastal branches which join into one single swift mean current west of the lofoten and vesteralen islands where the strongest measured currents are in excess of 110 cm s 1 in addition to the general cyclonic gyre circulation in the nordic seas the drifters indicate smaller cyclonic circulation patterns in all the major subbasins i e the iceland plateau the norwegian the lofoten and the greenland basins no surface signature of the east icelandic current is disclosed by the drifters interpolated and low pass filtered position data were used to construct maps of 15 m depth ensemble mean velocity velocity variability and residence time vigorous eddy fields are dominant in the strong currents and in the lofoten basin eulerian correlations indicate that they tend to propagate to the west in contrast the iceland plateau appears quiescent both in the mean and eddy velocities single particle diffusivities are computed and are found to be in the range 1 7 107 cm2 s 1 the corresponding lagrangian timescale and space scale are 1 3 days and 10 40 km respectively these lagrangian drifter measurements compose the first basin scale accurate near surface velocity data set of the nordic seas

morphology of a submarine slide kitimat arm british columbia a digitally acquired scale corrected side scan sonar survey yielded high resolution imagery of a submarine landslide in british columbia the landslide in a fjord head setting at kitimat was last active in 1975 and created a wide area of deformed sea floor the sediment failure involved shallow rotational movements on the slopes of a fjord head delta marginal tearing translational sliding compressional folding and block gliding of fjord bottom marine clays the slide is shallow and elongate and appears to have been produced by failure in mobile low strength sediments

the lofoten contourite drift off norway abstract based on high resolution and multichannel seismic data a contourite drift the lofoten drift has been identified below ca 1000 m water depth on the continental slope off norway the lofoten drift has a maximum thickness of about 360 m correlation to published seismic stratigraphy implies a neogene age the onset of the lofoten drift may have been a result of increased circulation within the norwegian greenland sea probably controlled by the subsidence of the greenland scotland ridge the drift has probably originated from deposition of suspended sediments derived from winnowing of the continental shelf and upper slope the geometry of the youngest seismic drift unit characterised by a maximum thickness at the crest of the mound indicates that the lofoten drift is active at present the maximum holocene sedimentation rate is ca 1 m ka the downslope sediment input to the study area was probably relatively low during glacial periods because the lofoten islands may have acted as a sediment barrier causing large fluvial and or glacial drainage systems from central fennoscandia to be routed south and north of the study area as a result alongslope sediment transport has been the main sediment input to this part of the continental slope

the nyk slide morphology progression and age of a partly buried submarine slide offshore northern norway abstract the late weichselian nyk slide offshore northern norway was investigated using high resolution seismic data side scan sonar imagery and gravity cores the mapable extent of the slide is 2200 km 2 but parts of the slide were buried by glacigenic debris flows and parts were removed by the younger traenadjupet slide the exposed parts of the nyk slide exhibit extensional and somewhat anomalously compressional ridges in the upper slide area we suggest that the two distinct morphologic zones originate from the same slide event the compressional ridges are related to a particular large scale funnel shape morphology defined by the voring plateau slope facing the continental slope and were generated as the slide reached the foot of the voring plateau slope the extensional ridges were generated on the continental slope as sediments were transported downslope and subjected to stretching dating of the slide deposits indicate an age of 16 3 ka bp synchronous with a time that the fennoscandian ice sheet was fluctuating near the shelf edge nearby sediment cores and seismic reflection data reveal that the slide was both preceded and succeeded by episodes of deposition of glacigenic debris flows the glide plane is located within the same unit of contouritic sediments as the glide plane of the traenadjupet slide and the nyk slide was probably triggered by loading and unloading of a fluctuating ice front the full extent of the slide is yet unknown but the existing data suggest that the headwall continues upslope and follows the shelf edge outside the traenadjupet trough implying that the nyk slide influenced an area substantially larger than the exposed slide deposits

the origin of norwegian sea deep water a nearly homogeneous water mass the norwegian sea deep water is found below 2000 m depth in the norwegian and lofoten basins of the norwegian sea recent observations indicate that this water is a mixture of relatively cold and fresh greenland sea deep water with warmer saltier eurasian basin deep water from the arctic ocean we have found this mixture along the western and southern periphery of the greenland sea near the level where the pressure compensated densities of the parent water masses are equal the along isopycnal mixing produces a remarkably uniform water mass which can be traced only a short distance away from its entry into the norwegian sea through gaps in the mid ocean ridge north of jan mayen island direct measurements of flow through these gaps confirm motion in the proper sense to accomplish this connection

evidence for long term instability in the storegga slide region off western norway abstract shallow seismic surveys around the storegga slide off western norway have allowed greater understanding of the development of this part of the european margin the northern flank of the scarp is formed of seismically well layered hemipelagic and distal glaciomarine deposits in which a variety of luid escape structures probably due to gas are locally abundant there is evidence of slides that substantially pre date the earliest slide previously recognized surveying on the north sea fan to the southwest of the storegga slide shows the markedly different nature of the autochthonous sediments on the southern flank of the storegga slide there is a predominance of glacigenic debris flows in the upper part of the sequence lesser maximum slopes and an apparent absence of interstitial gas and or hydrates this contrast has had considerable effect on slope stability and has influenced the position of the southwestern storegga slide boundary the north sea fan succession includes at least three major buried slides termed the vigra more and tampen slides all of which substantially pre date the storegga event and probably pre date predominantly glacigenic margin sedimentation post late weichselian slope failure is locally significant the region has a long but as yet chronologically poorly defined history of instability in which seismic triggering is considered to have been important

morphology and origin of smaller scale mass movements on the continental slope off northern norway abstract little attention has been paid to smaller scale mass movements on continental slopes even though they occur much more frequently than their large scale counterparts swath bathymetry side scan sonar sub bottom profiler and seismic data from the continental slope offshore the lofoten islands northern norway reveal evidence of repetitive smaller scale translational sliding involving spreading and multi phase retrogression in water depths between 1100 and 2500 m three styles of failure have been identified occurring in close proximity style 1 is characterized by a 4 7 km wide and up to 100 m deep amphitheater shaped headwall a relatively deep glide plane 130 mbsf detached sediment ridges and a run out area with rafted sediment blocks style 2 consists of a staircase pattern of secondary escarpments caused by the activation of several glide planes between 30 and 110 mbsf headwalls and secondary escarpments have a height of up to 30 and 70 m respectively the run out area shows an almost complete sediment evacuation style 3 is more subtle as it is only identified on the side scan sonar data due to its higher spatial resolution this style shows different phases of on going evolution illustrating the gradual disintegration of a slab of sediments moving over a shallow glide plane at 13 mbsf zones with sediment slabs are up to several hundreds of meters wide and are sharply delineated by shear margins or escarpments the spatial variation in the failure style is inferred to have been caused by the activation of different glide planes which is probably a result of the thinning of contouritic sediments towards the south west in the north east the mounded contouritic sediments contain more potential glide planes and higher slope angles the smaller scale mass movements are suggested to have been triggered by undercutting and removal of support at the foot of the slope due to large scale mass movements that have occurred immediately south of the study area such as the traenadjupet or nyk slides the geophysical data indicate that relatively recent mass movement processes have taken place in this area through the formation of shallow cracks and graben structures by the movement of 13 m thick slabs of sediments style 3 which could have severe implications for offshore infrastructure

late pleistocene sedimentation on the norwegian continental slope between 67 and 71 n abstract the northern norwegian continental margin between 67 and 71 n comprises the gentle slope off the barents sea the relatively steep lofoten islands slope and the step like slope of the voring plateau during the late pleistocene these slopes received large amounts of terrigenous sediments from an extensively glaciated norwegian continental margin through the analyses of 17 gravity cores high resolution 3 5 khz and airgun seismic profiles and sea beam bathymetric data we have examined the late pleistocene sedimentation pattern of this region eight sedimentary facies from the gravity core analysis and seven types of 3 5 khz echo characters indicate that the slopes were moulded by hemipelagic sedimentation commonly associated with iceberg rafting slope failure slump slide and debris flow turbidity currents downslope bottom currents and contour following bottom currents ice rafted debris was dispersed over a broad area including the lower slopes off the barents sea and the lofoten islands and the voring plateau and its outer slope slope failures prevailed on the lofoten islands and voring plateau slopes where the broad glacial margin directly released unsorted glacial sediments during glacial periods on the barents sea slope glacial and reworked shelf sediments were supplied by underflows which were probably caused by cooling of surface shelf water during glacial periods on the upper slope sediments were further transported by turbidity currents and slope crossing bottom currents which excavated numerous small scale channels there are indications of deep sea contour currents at the base of slope and the upper slope off the barents sea and on the voring plateau these currents probably resulted from water exchange between the norwegian greenland sea and the north atlantic ocean during interglacial periods

contourites and their relevance for mass wasting along the mid norwegian margin between about 12 and 4 3 ma slope parallel bottom currents dominated the neogene sedimentation on the slope of the mid norwegian margin and large scale sediment bodies accumulated to thicknesses up to 1000 m these bedforms are morphologically classified as sheeted and elongated mounded contourite drifts an increase in sediment supply from about 4 to 3 ma due to onshore uplift and glaciation resulted in a massive influx of downslope derived material onto the continental margin only on the voring plateau was contourite sedimentation little affected by this change in sedimentary style during the last 0 5 my contouritic deposits occurred also in the storegga area as 100 150 m thick infill drifts inside the scars of two palaeo slides r and s holocene post slide deposits in the scar of the storegga slide 8 2 ka have the typical morphological features and distribution of contourite drifts with the upslope limit at the lower base of the warm northward flowing north atlantic current at 500 700 m depth and the downslope limit at depths of approximately 1200 m detailed chronostratigraphy of the post slide sediments show relatively constant high sedimentation rates in the order of 1 2 m ky during the last 8000 years this is equivalent to the estimated rates for the older infill drifts the infill drifts consist mainly of clays with silty and sandy lamina and represents marine and glaciomarine conditions the main influence of contourite drifts on slope stability relates to their physical properties forming a more sensitive and brittle deposit than the glacial deposits and their exposure to downslope sedimentation in addition the potential for build up of excess pore pressure due to rapid loading from subsequent glacial depositions their seabed smoothing effect and great lateral extent make the contourite drift deposits particularly important for slope instability in this region

architecture and sedimentary processes on the mid norwegian continental slope a 2 7 myr record from extensive seismic evidence abstract quaternary architectural evolution and sedimentary processes on the mid norwegian continental slope are investigated using margin wide three and two dimensional seismic datasets of 100 000 km3 sediments delivered to the mid norwegian shelf and slope over the quaternary 75 000 km3 comprise the slope succession the structural high of the voring plateau characterised by initially low 1 2 slope gradients and reduced accommodation space exerted a strong control over the long term architectural evolution of the margin slope sediment fluxes were higher on the voring plateau area increasing up to 32 km3 ka 1 during the middle pleistocene when fast flowing ice streams advanced to the palaeo shelf edge resulted in a more rapid slope progradation on the voring plateau these rates of sediment delivery are high compared to the maximum of 7 km3 ka 1 in the adjacent sectors of the slope characterised by steeper slope 3 5 more available accommodation space and smaller or no palaeo ice streams on the adjacent shelves in addition to the broad scale architectural evolution identification of more than 300 buried slope landforms provides an unprecedented level of detailed process based palaeoenvironmental reconstruction channels dominate the early pleistocene record 2 7 0 8 ma during which glacimarine sedimentation on the slope was influenced by dense bottom water flow and turbidity currents morphologic signature of glacigenic debris flows appear within the middle late pleistocene 0 8 0 ma succession their abundance increases towards late pleistocene marking a decreasing role for channelized turbidity currents and dense water flows this broad scale palaeo environmental shift coincides with the intensification of northern hemispheric glaciations highlighting first order climate control on the sedimentary processes in high latitude continental slopes