Debris flows deposition in the Northwind Basin, western Arctic Ocean

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1001-909X.2023.02.001

Abstract

Abstract:

Subaqueous debris flows are widely developed on polar continental margins, many of which are glacigenic, representing the products of ice sheets reaching the shelf edge. In the western Arctic Ocean, a large number of debris flows have been identified at the continental margin west of the Northwind Basin, however research on debris flows within this basin has hardly been carried out. In this study, the distribution of debris flows was outlined and their formation ages were determined using the high-resolution sub-bottom profiler data. Then the mega-scale glacial lineations (MSGL) was used as the judgment indicators to infer the origin of these debris flows. It is found that the debris flows in the study area are mainly distributed on the southwestern and northern-central slope of the western sub-basin, in the southeastern part of the eastern sub-basin, and on the slopes of some seamounts and cliffs. They are from the surrounding continental shelf, ridges and seamounts. Most debris flows coexist with MSGL and are presumed to be glacigenic. More than 9 glacigenic debris flows have been found on the southwestern slope, which may indicate more than 9 ice streams advances through the Broad Bathymetric Trough. The number of ice streams advances are much more than the previous speculation (3-5). There are also some debris flows with no ice-grounding landforms (e.g. MSGL) have been found in the nearby seamounts and are presumed to be non-glacigenic. The shock caused by the grounding of the ice sheets/shelves in the nearby area or tectonic movement may be the trigger factors for this kind of debris flows.

Key words: Northwind Basin, Chukchi Borderland, glacigenic debris flows, MSGL

CLC Number:

P512.4

XU Yixin, SHEN Zhongyan, YANG Chunguo, ZHANG Tao. Debris flows deposition in the Northwind Basin, western Arctic Ocean[J]. Journal of Marine Sciences, 2023, 41(2): 1-13.

Figures/Tables 6

Fig.1 The geographic map of the location of the Northwind Basin (Fig.a shows the topography, ice sheet and glacial trough extents in the northern continental margin of Beringia. Bathymetric data are from GEBCO[22]. Red rectangle: the range of fig.b; Blue shaded areas: glacial trough; White dashed line: suggested maximum extent of East Siberian-Chukchi Ice Sheet. Yellow arrows: ice flows from Laurentide Ice Sheet; Black arrows: ice flows from East Siberian-Chukchi Ice Sheet; Red sector in thumbnail: the range of fig.a. Fig.b shows the bathymetric characteristics of the survey area (Northwind Basin, red dotted rectangle with white edge) and its adjacent regions with distribution of geophysical lines. Bathymetric data are from IBCAO 4.0[23]. Solid line: sub-bottom profiling (SBP) data used in this study; Red thick line: China’s 11th Arctic expedition (ARC11); Black thick line: MGL1112, that at the same time with multi-channel seismic (MCS) survey; Black thin line: HLY cruises and ARK-XXIII-3; Yellow thick line: SBP sections shown in this article; Green thick line: MGL1112 MCS survey profiles shown in this article; Black shaded areas: maximum extent of debris flows (regardless of their different ages) identified in this study.)

Fig.2 Debris flows in the southwestern slope of the western sub-basin (Fig.a shows the distribution of SBP, MCS data and debris flows. Red arrow: inferred sediment transportation direction. Fig.b shows the MCS profile of MGL1112-MCS-09C. Stratigraphic interpretation, especially the bottom of the glacial strata is based on LEHMANN et al[15]. Black thick line: glacial strata; Gray thin line: preglacial strata. Fig.c shows the part of SBP profile of ARC11-2-1. The lowermost reflector in section CC' corresponds to the bottom of glacial strata in section AA' in fig.b. In stratigraphic units, red fonts indicate debris flows, and blue fonts indicate general strata. Fig.d shows the part of SBP profile of ARC11-2-2. Fig.e shows the part of SBP profile of MGL1112_MCS03_2.)

Fig.3 Debris flows in the northern-central slope of the western sub-basin (Fig.a shows the distribution of SBP, MCS data and debris flows. White dotted line: the debris flows of U6. Fig.b shows MCS profile of MGL1112-MCS-07B. Stratigraphic interpretation, especially the bottom of the glacial strata is based on LEHMANN er al[15]. Black thick line: glacial strata; Gray thin line: preglacial strata. Fig.c shows the part of SBP profile of MGL1112-SBP-07_2. Section BB' correspond to section AA' in the zoom in fig.b. Fig.d shows the part of SBP profile of MGL1112-SBP-03_1. Fig.e shows the part of SBP profile of HLY0905_256_0906_LF_153.)

Fig.4 Debris flows in the southeastern part of eastern sub-basin (Fig.a shows the distribution of SBP data and debris flows. Fig.b shows the part of SBP profile of MGL1112-SBP-10_3. Fig.c shows the part of SBP profile of MGL1112-SBP-04_1. Fig.d shows the part of SBP profile of ARC11_1_5.)

Fig.5 Debris flows around seamounts and cliffs (Fig.a shows the distribution of SBP data and debris flows. Fig.b shows the part of SBP profile of MGL1112_MCS03_2. Fig.c shows the part of SBP profile of HLY0805_229_0456_LF_066. Fig.d shows the part of SBP profile of MGL1112-SBP-04_2. Fig.e shows the part of SBP profiles of MGL1112-SBP-08_2 and MGL1112-SBP-04_2. Fig.f shows the part of SBP profile of MGL1112_MCS09_1. Fig.g shows the part of SBP profile of ARC11_1_4. Fig.h shows the part of SBP profile of MGL1112_MCS010_2.)

Fig.6 Distribution map of various landforms in study area (Fig.a shows the distribution of MSGL (red bidirectional arrow) and gullies (green line). Most of them come from DOVE et al[11], JAKOBSSON et al[12,14], POLYAK et al[6,10], SHEN et al[20], KIM et al[9]. A small part is reinterpreted based on SBP and multi-beam data. Black areas: glacigenic debris flows; White areas: non-glacigenic debris flows; Grey areas: uncertain debris flows. Fig.b shows part of SBP profile of HLY0805_229_0409_LF_061. Fig.c shows part of SBP profile of MGL1112-SBP-04_2. Fig.d shows part of SBP profile of HLY0703_2007_1249_LF_127. Fig.e shows part of SBP profile of HLY1202_267_0653_LF_310.)

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