Late quaternary sedimentary processes on the upper North Sea-Mid Norwegian margin

The Northern North Sea - Mid Norwegian Margin is characterized by large-scale geological processes during the Late Quaternary. Glacial debris flows, turbidites and huge translational slides together with contourites and large-scale hemipelagic deposits oc cur in a complex area around the North Sea Fan. The high variability of these processes and their interrelation together with the fluctuations of the Northern European ice sheets is still poorly understood. This project focuses on the continuous hemipelag ic deposits southwest on the North Sea Fan and around the Storegga Slide. These deposits enable to understand the timing and mechanisms of the different events during the last 200 ka. Through detailed sedimentological and geochemical work the different signals of different events can be detected within the regional oceanographic and climatic record. Detailed records from recently gathered long continuous cores together with high resolu tion seismics allow the reconstruction of the sedimentation history during the last interglacial/glacial cycle. Within this work emphasis will be put on the understanding of the sedimentological signal of different processes and in particular the investig ation of hemipelagic deposits with very high sedimentation rates in the area. These are believed to originate from massive meltwater plumes related to the Norwegian Channel Ice Stream and the Scandinavian ice sheet. The increased material flux provides an alternative explanation for gravitational processes shaping the margin.