A clearer view of the Kveithola Slide and neighbouring slides, Norwegian Sea
As the smallest of the palaeo-ice stream systems along the northeastern Atlantic Margin, The Kveithola Palaeo-Ice Stream and its related remnants gives a unique opportunity for mapping the entirety of the system. Both due to its size and history, as a small ice stream nestled between its two major counterparts, the Bear Island and Storfjorden Ice Stream, has put the Kveithola System in the focus for several studies during the last decade. Following three recent cruises, the MAREANO-programme has collected new datasets, where this study is focusing on data retrieved from the end member of the Kveithola Palaeo-Ice Stream, the Kveithola Trough-Mouth Fan (TMF). The dataset contains new bathymetry data from the Kveithola TMF, with a higher resolution than previous studies (10 m cell size), and is covering an area of more than 2000 km2, from the shelf edge towards the deep ocean. The surface revealed by the new data display a morphology that is highly influenced by mass movement processes, where the majority are interpreted as either sliding events or glacigenic debris flows. Based on the bathymetry, the slides appear to differentiate in age, where both older and younger events are present (possibly pre- and post- Last Glacial Maximum), and to have occurred both as single or sequenced events. The Kveithola Slide display features that indicates a retrogressive development, and within the new data there have also been observed three minor retrogressive cracks that foreshadows the potential for the occurrence of new events in the future.
