Age and extent of the Yermak Slide north of Spitsbergen, Arctic Ocean

• Published in: Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems
• Main Authors: Winkelmann, Daniel, Jokat, W., Niessen, F., Stein, R., Winkler, A.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: AGU (American Geophysical Union) 2006
• Subjects: Arctic; Arctic Ocean; Barents Sea; Kapp Ekholm; Norway; Storegga; Svalbard; Ice Sheet; Sea ice; Svalbard-Barents Sea Ice sheet; Spitsbergen
• Online Access: https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/11013/; https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/11013/1/2005GC001130.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1029/2005GC001130

The extent of the Yermak Slide has been revised on the basis of new acoustic and detailed bathymetric data. The true geometry, with an affected area of at least 10,000 km2 and more than 2400 km3 of involved sedimentary material, puts the Yermak Slide among the largest exposed submarine slides worldwide, comparable to the Storegga Slide off central Norway. Details from the side's internal structure give evidence for one main slide event during MIS 3 followed by repeated minor events. The timing coincides with the transition of the Kapp Ekholm Interstadial into Glaciation G of Svalbard (Mangerud et al., 1998) and the buildup phase of the Svalbard-Barents Sea Ice Sheet. Thus the slide occurred during a period of falling sea level, increasing ice volume, and, presumably, increasing glaciotectonic activity. The side's geometry and internal physical appearance point to a tectonically induced partial shelf collapse.