Submarine mass wasting in isfjorden, spitsbergen

Abstract

The fjords of the Isfjorden system, Spitsbergen, have been exposed to recurrent submarine mass wasting during the past c. 14,100 years. Slides, slumps, debris-flows and turbidites are mainly deposited in front of tidewater glaciers and river deltas, but also in areas without the influence of such major sediment sources. Slope failures are most often related to high sediment supply and earthquakes. Mass- Transport activity in the Isfjorden area shows several similarities to sub-polar and temperate fjord settings with regard to submarine landform assemblages, runout distances and the amount of reworked sediments. However, a striking difference to other glaciated fjords is the absence of turbidites distal to terminal moraines deposited during the late Holocene. © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2012.