Unlike low-latitude river-fed submarine fans, high-latitude trough-mouth fans (TMFs) are dominated by stacked sequences of mainly diamictic glacigenic debris-flows (e.g. Vorren et al. 1989; Dowdeswell et al. 1996; King et al. 1996). Individual debris-flow deposits have a lobe-shaped geometry and can be traced for up to about 200 km down continental slopes of very low gradient (<1°). A number of TMFs, of which the Bear Island Fan is the largest (Fig. 1), have been identified around the margins of the Norwegian–Greenland Sea (Laberg & Vorren 1995).
(a) Side-scan sonar imagery of the northern part of the Bear Island TMF. Individual debris-flow lobes are shown in dark grey tones (adapted from Taylor et al. 2002). Acquisition system Geological LOng-Range Inclined Asdic (GLORIA) side-scan sonar. Frequency 6.5 kHz. (b) Observed and (c) interpreted side-scan sonar imagery of a debris-flow lobe with possible compressional ridges on the northern Bear Island Fan (adapted from Vogt et al. 1993). Acquisition system SeaMARC II side-scan sonar. Frequency 11–12 kHz. (d) Oblique view of debris-flow lobes identified in side-scan sonar imagery of the Bear Island Fan, draped onto IBCAO …
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Glacigenic debris-flows on the Bear Island Trough-Mouth Fan, Barents Sea margin
