Micromorphological evidence supporting Late Weichselian glaciation of the northern North Sea

Thirteen samples from three cores and boreholes are examined using micromor phology to test existing interpretations of Late Quaternary sedimentary seq uences from the Norwegian Channel, North Sea Fan and the North Sea Plateau. Previous studies have interpreted these sediments using arbitrary paramete rs as reflecting Late Weichselian subglacial and glacimarine conditions ass ociated with the Scandinavian Ice Sheet and Norwegian Channel ice stream. T his study develops existing micromorphological criteria to interpret the sa mples as reflecting specific processes of subglacial deformation and proxim al and distal glacimarine sedimentation during and subsequent to the Last G lacial Maximum. The study concludes by outlining diagnostic criteria for th e identification of these sediment types from core and borehole samples of other Quaternary sediments.