Sediment Flux, East Greenland Margin

• Main Authors: Andrews, J. T., Williams, K. M.
• Other Authors: COLORADO UNIV AT BOULDER INST OF ARCTIC AND ALPINE RESEARCH
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1991
• Subjects: Cartography and Aerial Photography; *SEDIMENT TRANSPORT; DENSITY; CORES; RESOLUTION; SURVEYS; GRAVITY; HIGH LATITUDES; GREENLAND SEA; FJORDS; GREENLAND; SEDIMENTS; ACOUSTICS; SHEETS; ICE; HIGH RESOLUTION; CONTINENTAL SHELVES; SEDIMENT FLUX; ACOUSTIC DENSITY; Greenland; East Greenland; Greenland Sea; Ice Sheet
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA258067; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA258067

We investigated sediment flux across an ice-dominated, high latitude continental margin, using cores from the East Greenland Shelf (ca. 68 deg N). Density, weight percentages of the various sediment components, and sediment/age relations (AMS C- 14 dates) were investigated from cores collected 1988 and 1990. High-resolution DTS Huntec surveys indicated 10-20 m of acoustically transparent sediment. Maximum core length was 3 m and most of the gravity cores were between 1-2 m. The radiocarbon assays show that basal core sediments date between ca. 9,000 and 14,500 BP. The acoustic characteristics, the low dry volume densities (ca. 600 kg/m3 and the faunal and floral assemblages suggest ice-distal conditions between ca. 14,500 and the present. Net sediment flux in the Kangerdlugssuaq Trough during the last 14,500 years has been low; this might be explained by either (1) cold-based glaciological conditions of the East Greenland ice sheet; and/or (2) efficient sediment trap(s) lying along the inner shelf/fjords of East Greenland.