| Title | Southwind Fiord, Baffin Island, Nunavut: a natural laboratory to explore modern turbidity currents, submarine landslides and iceberg scouring in an Arctic environment |
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| Author | Normandeau, A ;
Mackillop, K; Macquarrie, M; Philibert, G; Bennett, R |
| Source | Canada-Nunavut Geoscience Office, Summary of Activities 2020, 2021 p. 81-91  Open Access |
| Links | Online - En ligne
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| Image |  |
| Year | 2021 |
| Alt Series | Natural Resources Canada, Contribution Series 20200643 |
| Publisher | Canada-Nunavut Geoscience Office |
| Document | serial |
| Lang. | English |
| Media | paper; on-line; digital |
| File format | pdf |
| Province | Nunavut |
| NTS | 16L/09; 16L/16 |
| Area | Southwind Fiord; Baffin Island |
| Lat/Long WENS | -62.5000 -62.0000 67.0000 66.6167 |
| Subjects | marine geology; surficial geology/geomorphology; sedimentology; geophysics; Nature and Environment; Science and Technology; Health and Safety; continental margins; marine environments; fiords; marine
sediments; turbidity currents; landslides; mass wasting; landslide deposits; slope stability analyses; slope failures; icebergs; scouring; depositional environment; depositional history; erosion; bedforms; geophysical surveys; acoustic surveys,
marine; marine sediment cores; core analysis; grab samples; currents; conductivity; temperature; bathymetry; water analyses; geophysical logging; Arctic; Infrastructures |
| Illustrations | location maps; geoscientific sketch maps; schematic representations; photographs; geophysical profiles; time series; geophysical logs; geophysical images; plots |
| Program | Public Safety Geoscience
Baffin Bay |
| Program | Program of Energy Research and Development (PERD) |
| Released | 2021 03 01 |
| Abstract | The Geological Survey of Canada has a long history of regional assessment of marine geohazards in Arctic environments. Regional mapping allows identification of the distribution of hazards on the
seafloor and is a critical part of hazard assessments. However, it does not shed light on understanding the recurrence and triggers of marine geohazards because it consists of one static view of the seafloor. In order to better understand the dynamic
nature of seafloor environments, an experiment in Southwind Fiord, Nunavut began by monitoring and recording active marine geohazards. The preliminary data allowed recording of the effect of active turbidity currents and iceberg groundings in the
fiord. Both these processes have led to erosion and deposition of sediment on the seafloor. A submarine landslide recorded in the fiord in 2018 appeared to have been triggered by an iceberg grounding on the fiord slope. A submarine landslide
triggered by iceberg grounding is a significant discovery, as icebergs ground in many fiords and across the continental margin of Baffin Bay, therefore representing a previously unknown hazard on the seafloor. These results show that Arctic
environments are areas of active seafloor processes that can have consequences on future marine infrastructure. Understanding the triggers of marine geohazards, in combination with standard regional assessments performed by the Geological Survey of
Canada, will allow stakeholders and decision-makers to properly manage seabed infrastructure in a changing and active marine environment. |
| Summary | (Plain Language Summary, not published)
Our results show that Arctic environments are areas of active seafloor processes that can have consequences on future seafloor infrastructures.
Understanding the triggers of marine geohazards, in combination with standard regional assessments performed by the Geological Survey of Canada, will allow stakeholders and planners to properly manage seabed infrastructure in a changing and active
marine environment. |
| GEOSCAN ID | 327915 |
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