This paper presents the morpho-sedimentary characterization and interpretations of the assemblage of landforms of the East Greenland continental slope and Greenland Basin, based on swath bathymetry and sub-bottom TOPAS profiles. The interpretation of landforms reveals the glacial influence on recent sedimentary processes shaping the seafloor, including mass-wasting and turbidite flows. The timing of landform development points to a predominantly glacial origin of the sediment supplied to the continental margin, supporting the scenario of a Greenland Ice Sheet extending across the continental shelf, or even to the shelf-edge, during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Major sedimentary processes along the central section of the eastern Greenland Continental Slope, the Norske margin, suggest a relatively high glacial sediment input during the LGM that, probably triggered by tectonic activity, led to the development of scarps and channels on the slope and debris flows on the continental rise. The more southerly Kejser Franz Josef margin has small-scale mass-wasting deposits and an extensive turbidite system that developed in relation to both channelised and unconfined turbidity flows which transferred sediments into the deep Greenland Basin.
Positions approximate. For a more detailed view on the transects see Figure 10 of the article. Data extracted in the frame of a joint ICSTI/PANGAEA IPY effort, see http://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.150150
Supplement to: García, Marga M; Dowdeswell, Julian A; Ercilla, Gemma; Jakobsson, Martin (2012): Recent glacially influenced sedimentary processes on the East Greenland continental slope and deep Greenland Basin. Quaternary Science Reviews, 49, 64-81