Morphology and Holocene activity of a high-latitude canyon – channel system: The proximal Lofoten Basin channel system (Norwegian Sea)

Abstract

Canyon – channel systems have the potential to be biological and marine litter “hotspots”, and they can act as important carbon sinks. However, knowledge about the modern (Holocene) activity of many of these systems remains poor. This includes the high-latitude Andøya Canyon - Lofoten Basin Channel located in the Norwegian Sea (∼69oN). This study focuses on the proximal Lofoten Basin Channel and associated deposits (the Andøya Canyon is previously reported). The Lofoten Basin Channel includes two channel branches representing the canyon continuation beyond the foot of the continental slope, terminating in an area resembling a braidplain including braided channels, bars, as well as MTDs. Sediment cores included sandy turbidites. Based on their age and Ca/Fe ratios, we infer that the youngest sandy turbidites were deposited during the same event, suggesting that the event covered an area of c. 120 km × 20 km. Assuming an average thickness of ∼10 cm, this result in a volume of ∼0,24 km³ of terrigenous sand deposited in the basin over an area of ∼2400 km2 sometime during the period from 3.7 to 2.4 kyrs BP. This equals a sand thickness of 4.8 m in the c. 50 km long and 1 km wide thalweg part of the Andøya Canyon, here considered to be the source area. The sand could derive from failure of sandy accumulations within the canyon and/or from sand piracy. Another aspect of this Holocene turbidite event is that it represented a substantial export of inorganic carbon into the deep sea which in this way got buried, representing a carbon sink removing carbon from the carbon cycle (a carbon draw-down effect). These results shows that the canyon is a potential source and route for sediments that may cover ∼2400 km² of the sea floor, large deep-sea areas that also represent carbon sinks so far not well accounted for.