Multibeam bathymetry and depositional environment in Kongsfjorden and Krossfjorden, western Spitsbergen, Svalbard.

• Published in: Polar Research
• Main Authors: Howe, John, Moreton, Steven, Morri, Clara, Morris, Peter
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2003
• Subjects: EXTENT; Geosciences; Multidisciplinary; Environmental Sciences; NORTHWEST SPITSBERGEN; Oceanography; ICE-SHEET; FACIES; GLACIAL MAXIMUM; Ecology; Geography; Physical; HISTORY; CONTINENTAL-MARGIN; SEDIMENTATION; FJORDS; Svalbard; Kronebreen; Krossfjorden; glacier; Ice Sheet; Kongsfjord*; Kongsfjorden; Krossfjord*; Spitsbergen
• Online Access: https://pure.uhi.ac.uk/en/publications/f6be3c08-1b57-4f58-b688-3d9e47171fb5; https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-8369.2003.tb00114.x

Kongsfjorden and Krossfjorden are two ice-proximal fjords on the western coast of Spitsbergen which have been surveyed using multibeam bathymetry, sub-bottom profiling and gravity coring. Central and outer Kongsfjorden is dominated by a 30 km(2) outcrop of bedrock, with a thin (<10 m) sediment cover. The bedrock displays a relict sub-glacial, ice-scoured topography produced during the glacial re-advances of the Weichselian (20 Ky BP) and again during the last major Holocene re-advance of the Little Ice Age (550 - 200 yrs BP). Drumlins and glacial flutes are common across the floor of Kongsfjorden, with lengths of 1.5-2.5 km and widths of <100 m, rising up to 10 m in water depths of <100 m. This topography is smoothed by bottom currents from the wind-driven forcing of surface waters. The flow is counter-clockwise, matching boundary layer movement under the influence of Coriolis force. Both fjords are characterized by a variable acoustic character, based on sub-bottom profile data. The deepest basins are dominated by parallel, well-laminated reflectors and an irregular-transparent acoustic character indicating the presence of Holocene-age fine-grained sediments up to 30 m thick. A parallel, irregular-transparent acoustic character with waveform morphology in inner Kongsfjorden is interpreted as moraines, originating from the 1948 and 1869 surges of Kronebreen glacier. Mass-flows are common on the flanks of topographic highs as acoustically chaotic-transparent lensoid and wedge-shaped reflectors. The sediments of outer and central Kongsfjorden are characterized by bioturbated, gas-rich homogeneous muds interpreted as being the result of the settling of fine-grained sediment and particulate suspensions.