Presenter: Zheng-Wei Su
Date: 2015/12/03
Abstract
Submarine slides are a well-documented phenomenon along the glaciated Norwegian, Barents Sea and Svalbard continental margins. This study uses multibeam bathymetry, sub-bottom profiles and side-scan sonar data to present seafloor morphology of two submarine slides: the Molloy Slide and the Hinlopen Slide. The Molloy Slide located the western Svalbard continental margin, an area known to contain gas hydrates. The Slide is estimated to have transported >65 of sediments over the deep axial valley of the Molloy Ridge, and further into the Molloy Hole. The slide materials run-out distance is <5 km and vertical displacement ca. 3,100 m. The Hinlopen Silde, located the northern Svalbard continental margin, is a large slope failure affecting a seafloor area of ca. 10,000 and mobilizing ca. 1,250 of shelf sediments. The Molloy Slide was most likely triggered by seismic activity and/or gas-hydrate destabilization. The Hinlopen Slide was triggered by a strong earthquake.
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