The Lofoten contourite drift off Norway

Based an high-resolution and multichannel seismic data, a contourite drift, the Lofoten Drift, has been identified below ca. 1000 m water depth on the continental slope off Norway. The Lofoten Drift has a maximum thickness of about 360 m. Correlation to published seismic stratigraphy implies a Neoge ne age. The onset of the Lofoten Drift may have been a result of increased circulation within the Norwegian-Greenland Sea, probably controlled by the subsidence of the Greenland-Scotland Ridge. The drift has probably originat ed from deposition of suspended sediments derived from winnowing of the con tinental shelf and upper slope. The geometry of the youngest seismic-drift unit, characterised by a maximum thickness at the crest of the mound, indic ates that the Lofoten Drift is active at present. The maximum Holocene sedi mentation rate is ca. 1 m/ka. The downslope sediment input to the study are a was probably relatively low during glacial periods because the Lofoten Is lands may have acted as a sediment barrier causing large fluvial and/or gla cial drainage systems from central Fennoscandia to be routed south and nort h of the study area. As a result, alongslope sediment transport has been th e main sediment input to this part of the continental slope. (C) 1999 Elsev ier Science B.V. All rights reserved.