TY - JOUR
T1 - Glaciomarine sedimentation in epicontinental seas exemplified by the northern Barents Sea
AU - Elverhøi, Anders
AU - Pfirman, Stephanie L.
AU - Solheim, Anders
AU - Larssen, Bengt B.
PY - 1989/1
Y1 - 1989/1
N2 - Sediments on high Arctic shelves result from modern processes and the effect of former glaciations. Based on data from the northern Barents Sea, an area with input from large and numerous surging glaciers, we define two principal zones with different environmental regimes and corresponding sedimentary facies: (1) a glacier-proximal zone influenced by grounding-line processes and the immediately adjacent areas affected by glacial sediment input, and (2) a glacier-distal, sea-ice and current-controlled zone, which also includes a wide sediment-starved region dominated by biogenic carbonate accumulation. Characteristic of the glacier-proximal zone are glacial surges which affect sedimentation rates and leave a diagnostic pattern of sea-floor morphologies. Extensive ice gouging causes a homogeneous sediment texture. In the glacier-distal zone, fine-grained mud supplied from sea ice and infrequent coarser material deposited from icebergs is reworked by modern oceanographic processes. On shallow banks, in 30-50 m of water, carbonates accumulate from a prolific bottom fauna formed in response to extensive reworking and nutrient supply.
AB - Sediments on high Arctic shelves result from modern processes and the effect of former glaciations. Based on data from the northern Barents Sea, an area with input from large and numerous surging glaciers, we define two principal zones with different environmental regimes and corresponding sedimentary facies: (1) a glacier-proximal zone influenced by grounding-line processes and the immediately adjacent areas affected by glacial sediment input, and (2) a glacier-distal, sea-ice and current-controlled zone, which also includes a wide sediment-starved region dominated by biogenic carbonate accumulation. Characteristic of the glacier-proximal zone are glacial surges which affect sedimentation rates and leave a diagnostic pattern of sea-floor morphologies. Extensive ice gouging causes a homogeneous sediment texture. In the glacier-distal zone, fine-grained mud supplied from sea ice and infrequent coarser material deposited from icebergs is reworked by modern oceanographic processes. On shallow banks, in 30-50 m of water, carbonates accumulate from a prolific bottom fauna formed in response to extensive reworking and nutrient supply.
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U2 - 10.1016/0025-3227(89)90155-2
DO - 10.1016/0025-3227(89)90155-2
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0024567476
SN - 0025-3227
VL - 85
SP - 225
EP - 250
JO - Marine Geology
JF - Marine Geology
IS - 2-4
ER -