Southwest Approaches and Goban Spur

Abstract

The Southwest Approaches mark the southernmost extension of the Irish seabed and include the Irish part of the continental slope between the shelf area of the Celtic Sea in the east and the Bay of Biscay abyssal plain in the west (Fig. 12.1). This area is typified by numerous submarine canyons. During glacial periods, the Southwest Approaches represented the major pathway for sediments from northern Europe when their northward flow was blocked by the Fennoscandian and British-Irish ice sheets. Towards the northwest, the Southwest Approaches are bordered by the Goban Spur which also defines the south-eastern border of the Porcupine Seabight. The Goban Spur is a triangular extension of continental crust jutting out to the southwest. The Goban Spur was shaped during the opening of the Atlantic when a series of rift basins, partially separated by blocks of continental crust, were formed. Together, the Southwest Approaches and the Goban Spur cover 29,100 km² of the Irish seabed.