Abstract
Canada Basin of the Arctic Ocean is the least studied ocean basin in the World. Marine seismic field programs were conducted over the past 6 years using Canadian and American icebreakers. These expeditions acquired more than 14,000 line-km of multibeam bathymetric and multi-channel seismic reflection data over abyssal plain, continental rise and slope regions of Canada Basin; areas where little or no seismic reflection data existed previously. Canada Basin is a turbidite-filled basin with flat-lying reflections correlateable over 100s of km. For the upper half of the sedimentary succession, evidence of sedimentary processes other than turbidity current deposition is rare. The Canadian Archipelago and Beaufort Sea margins host stacked mass transport deposits from which many of these turbidites appear to derive. The stratigraphic succession of the MacKenzie River fan is dominated by mass transport deposits; one such complex is in excess of 132,000 km2 in area and underlies much of the southern abyssal plain. The modern seafloor is also scarred with escarpments and mass failure deposits; evidence that submarine landsliding is an ongoing process. In its latest phase of development, Canada Basin is geomorphologically confined with stable oceanographic structure, resulting in restricted depositional/reworking processes. The sedimentary record, therefore, underscores the significance of mass-transport processes in providing sediments to oceanic abyssal plains as few other basins are able to do.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Adams J, Atkinson G (2003) Development of seismic hazard maps for the proposed 2005 edition of the National Building Code of Canada. Can J Civil Eng 30:255–271
Campbell JS, Clark DL (1977) Pleistocene turbidites of the Canada Abyssal Plain of the Arctic Ocean. J Sediment Petrol 47:657–670
Gramberg IS, Verba VV, Verba ML, Kos’ko MK (1999) Sedimentary cover thickness map – sedimentary basins of the Arctic. Polarforschung 69:243–249
Grantz A, May SD (1983) Rifting history and structural development of the continental margin north of Alaska. In: Watkings JS, Drake C (eds) Studies in continental margin geology, vol 34, American Association of Petroleum Geologist Memoir. American Association of Petroleum Geologist, Tulsa, pp 77–100
Grantz A, Hart PE, May SD (2004) Seismic reflection and refraction data acquired in Canada Basin, Northwind Ridge, and Northwind Basin, Arctic Ocean in 1988, 1992, and 1993, US Geological Survey open-file report 2004-1243. U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park
Haflidason H, Lien R, Sejrup HP, Forsberg CF, Bryn P (2002) The dating and morphometry of the Storegga Slide. Mar Petrol Geol 22:123–136
Hutchinson DR, Jackson HR, Shimeld JW, Chapman CB, Childs JR, Funck T, Rowland R (2009) Acquiring marine data in the Canada Basin, Arctic Ocean. EOS Trans Am Geophys Union 90:197–204
Hyndman RD, Cassidy JF, Adams J, Rogers GC, Mazzotti S (2005) Earthquakes and seismic hazard in the Yukon-Beaufort-Mackenzie. Can Soc Explor Geophys Recorder 30:32–66
Jackson HR, Oakey GN (1990) Sedimentary thickness map of the Arctic Ocean. In: Grantz A, Johnson L, Sweeney JF (eds) The Arctic Ocean Region, the Geology of North America, L Plate 5. Geological Society of America, Boulder
Jakobsson M, Grantz A, Kristoffersen Y, MacNab R (2003) Physiographic provinces of the Arctic Ocean seafloor. Geol Soc Am Bull 115:1443–1455
Jakobsson M, Macnab R, Mayer L, Anderson R, Edwards M, Hatzky J, Schenke H-W, Johnson P (2008) An improved bathymetric portrayal of the Arctic Ocean: Implications for ocean modeling and geological, geophysical and oceanographic analyses. Geophys Res Lett 35:L07602–L07635. doi:10.1029/2008GL033520
Kenyon SC, Forsberg R (2008) New gravity field for the Arctic. EOS Trans 89(32):289–290
Kumar N, Helwig J, Dinkelman MG (2009) Preliminary evaluation of a potential major petroleum province from BeaufortSPAN seismic data: Canadian Arctic passive margin, Banks Island segment. Can Soc Expl Geophys Recorder 34:26–33
Lawver LA, Scotese CR (1990) A review of tectonic models for the evolution of the Canada Basin. In: Grantz A, Johnson L, Sweeney JF (eds) The Arctic Ocean Region, Geology of North America, L: 93–618. Geological Society of America, Boulder
Loncke L, Gaullier V, Bellaiche G, Mascle J (2002) Recent depositional patterns of the Nile deep-sea fan from echo-character mapping. Am Assoc Petrol Geol B 86:1165–1186
Mienert J, Weaver P (eds) (2002) European margin sediment dynamics. Springer, Berlin, 446 pp
Mohrig D, Marr JG (2003) Constraining the efficiency of turbidity current generation from submarine debris flows and slides using laboratory experiments. Mar Petrol Geol 20:883–899
Mosher DC (2009) Submarine landslides and consequent tsunamis in Canada. Geosci Canada 26:179–190
Mosher DC, Shimeld JW, Hutchinson DR (2009) 2009 Canada Basin seismic reflection and refraction survey, western Arctic Ocean: CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent expedition report, Geological Society of Canada open file 6343, 266 p
Mosher DC, Moscardelli L, Shipp C, Chaytor J, Baxter C, Lee H, Urgeles R (2010) Submarine mass movements and their consequences. In: Mosher DC, Shipp C, Moscardelli L, Chaytor J, Baxter C, Lee H, Urgeles R (eds) Submarine mass movements and their consequences IV, vol 28, Advances in Natural and Technological Hazards Research. Springer, Dordrecht, pp 1–10. doi:10.1007/978-90-481-3071-9
Mosher DC, Shimeld JW, Chapman CB (2011a) 2010 Canada Basin seismic reflection and refraction survey, western Arctic Ocean. CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent expedition report, Geological Survey of Canada open file 6720, 252 p
Mosher DC, Shimeld J, Jackson R, Hutchinson D, Chapman CB, Chian D, Childs J, Mayer L, Edwards B, Verhoef J (2011b) Sedimentation in Canada Basin. Geological Survey of Canada open file 6759, poster, 1 sheet
Newton CS, Shipp RC, Mosher DC (2004) Importance of mass transport complexes in the Quaternary development of the Nile Fan, Egypt. In: Offshore technology conference, paper 16742, May, 2004, Houston
Nisbet EG, Piper DJW (1998) Giant submarine landslides. Nature 392:329–330
Paull CK, Ussler W, Dallimore DR, Blasco SM, Lorenson TD, Melling H, Mediloi BE, Nixon FM, McLaughlin FA (2007) Origin of pingo-like features on the Beaufort Sea shelf and their possible relationship to decomposing methane gas hydrates. Geophys Res Let 34: L01603, doi:10.1029/2006GL027977, 5 p
Piper DJW, Normark WR (2009) Processes that initiate turbidity currents and their influence on turbidites: a marine geology perspective. J Sediment Res 79:347–362. doi:10.2110/jsr.2009.046
Piper DJW, Pirmez C, Manley PL, Long D, Flood RD, Normark WR, Showers W (1997) Mass-transport deposits of the Amazon Fan. In: Flood RD, Piper DJW, Klaus A, Peterson LC (eds) Proceeding ODP, Science Results, 155. College Station (Ocean Drilling Program), pp 109–146. doi:10.2973/odp.proc.sr.155.212.1997
Shipp C, Weimer P, Posamentier H (eds) (2011) Mass-transport deposits in deepwater settings, vol 96, SEPM special publication. Society for Sedimentary Geology, Tulsa, OK, 520 p
Taylor PT, Kovacs LC, Vogt PR, Johnson GK (1981) Detailed aeromagnetic investigation of the Arctic Basin. J Geophys Res 86:6323–6333
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to express their appreciation to the officers and crew of the Canadian icebreaker Louis S. St-Laurent and the US Icebreaker Healy, as well as to the Canadian and US Extended Continental Shelf mapping programs. There are too many colleagues involved in data acquisition and analysis to name, but to all of them, we thank you. D. Long and M. Jakobsson conducted the external review for publication. P. Hart, J. Chaytor, D. C. Campbell and J. Shaw conducted internal reviews. The authors would like to express our appreciation to all of these reviewers.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2012 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
About this paper
Cite this paper
Mosher, D.C., Shimeld, J., Hutchinson, D., Lebedeva-Ivanova, N., Chapman, C.B. (2012). Submarine Landslides in Arctic Sedimentation: Canada Basin. In: Yamada, Y., et al. Submarine Mass Movements and Their Consequences. Advances in Natural and Technological Hazards Research, vol 31. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2162-3_13
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2162-3_13
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-2161-6
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-2162-3
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)