Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The impact of the last European deglaciation on the deep-sea turbidite systems of the Celtic-Armorican margin (Bay of Biscay)

  • Original
  • Published:
Geo-Marine Letters Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The compilation of results obtained on three giant piston cores from the Whittard, Shamrock and Guilcher turbidite levees reveals a high-resolution stratigraphic record for the Bay of Biscay. Due to the abundance of reworked sediments in these sedimentary environments, a specific methodological approach, based on an X-ray-assisted subsampling phase associated with sedimentological, geochemical and micropalaeontological analyses, was implemented. With an accurate chronological framework, this multi-proxy investigation provides observations on the ‘Fleuve Manche’ palaeoriver and the British-Irish Ice Sheet (BIS) histories over the last 20,000 years. The results obtained highlight the direct influence of the decay of the BIS on the Bay of Biscay deep-sea clastic sedimentation during the last European deglacial phase. During this period, the annual BIS cycle of meltwater seems enough to generate seasonal turbidity currents associated with exceptional sedimentation rates in all the Celtic and Armorican turbidite systems. With very high sedimentation rates, the turbidite levees represent the main deep-sea clastic depositional area. Long coring combined with a very careful subsampling method can provide continuous high-resolution palaeoenvironmental signals.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Auffret GA, Zaragosi S, Voisset M, Droz L, Loubrieu B, Pelleau P, Savoye B, Bourillet J-F, Baltzer A, Bourquin S, Dennielou B, Coutelle A, Weber N, Floch G (2000) Premières observations sur la morphologie et les processus sédimentaires récents de l‘Eventail celtique. Océanol Acta 23(1):109–116

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bard E (1998) Geochemical and geophysical implications of the radiocarbon calibration. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 62:2025–2038

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bénard Y (1996) Les techniques de fabrication des lames minces de sol. Cah Tech INRA 37:29–42

    Google Scholar 

  • Bouma AH (1962) Sedimentology of some flysch deposits: a graphic approach to facies interpretation. Elsevier, Amsterdam

    Google Scholar 

  • Bourillet J-F, Lericolais G (2003) Morphology and seismic stratigraphy of the Manche paleoriver system, Western Approaches margin. In: Mienert J, Weaver PP (eds) European Margin sediment dynamics: side-scan sonar and seismic images. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 229–232

    Google Scholar 

  • Bourillet J-F, Loubrieu B (1995) Carte bathymorphologique de la marge des entrées de la Manche au 1:250.000. IFREMER, Plouzané

    Google Scholar 

  • Bourillet J-F, Turon J-L (2003) Rapport scientifique de la mission MD133/SEDICAR. OCE/2003/04. Les Rapports de Campagne à la Mer, IPEV, Brest

    Google Scholar 

  • Bourillet J-F, Reynaud J-Y, Baltzer A, Zaragosi S (2003) The “Fleuve Manche”: the sub-marine formation from the outer shelf to the deep-sea fans. J Quat Sci 18:261–282

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bowen DQ, Phillips FM, McCabe AM, Knutz PC, Sykes GA (2002) New data for the last glacial maximum in Great Britain and Ireland. Quat Sci Rev 21(1/3):89–101

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crémer M, Orsolini P, Ravenne C (1985) Cap-Ferret Fan, Atlantic Ocean. In: Bouma AH, Normark WR, Barnes NE (eds) Submarine fans and related turbidite systems. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 113–120

    Google Scholar 

  • Droz L, Auffret GA, Savoye B, Bourillet JF (1999) L‘éventail profond de la marge Celtique: stratigraphie et évolution sédimentaire. C R Acad Sci Paris 328:173–180

    Google Scholar 

  • Faugères JC, Imbert P, Mézerais ML, Crémer M (1998) Seismic patterns of a muddy contourite fan (Vema Channel, South Brazilian Basin) and a sandy distal turbidite deep-sea-fan (Cap Ferret system, Bay of Biscay): a comparison. Sediment Geol 115:81–110

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gibbard PL (1988) The history of great northwest European rivers during the past three millions years. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B318:59–602

    Google Scholar 

  • Grousset F, Pujol C, Labeyrie L, Auffret GA, Boelaert A (2000) Were the North Atlantic Heinrich events triggered by the behavior of the European ice sheet? Geology 28(2):123–126

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jensen JHF, Van der Gaast SJ, Koster B, Vaars AJ (1998) CORTEX, a shipboard XRF-scanner for element analyses in split sediment cores. Mar Geol 151:143–153

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lambeck K (1995) Late Devensian and Holocene shorelines of the British Isles and North Sea from models of glacio-hydro-isostatic rebound. J Geol Soc 152:437–448

    Google Scholar 

  • Larsonneur C, Auffret JP, Smith AJ (1982) Carte des paléo-vallées et des bancs de la Manche orientale (1/50 000). BRGM, Brest

    Google Scholar 

  • Lekens WAH, Sejrup HP, Haflidason H, Petersen GO, Hjelstuen B, Knorr G (2005) Laminated sediments preceding Heinrich event 1 in the Northern North Sea and Southern Norwegian Sea: origin, processes and regional linkage. Mar Geol 216(1/2):27–50

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lericolais G, Auffret J-P, Bourillet J-F (2003) The Quaternary Channel River: seismic stratigraphy of its palaeo-valleys and deeps. J Quat Sci 18(3/4):245–260

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Le Suavé R (2000) Synthèse bathymétrique et imagerie acoustique. Zone économique exclusive (ZEE). Atlantique Nord-Est, IFREMER, Brest

    Google Scholar 

  • Manley PL, Pirmez C, Busch W, Cramp A (1997) Grain-size characterization of Amazon fan deposits and comparison to seismic facies units. In: Flood RD, Piper DJW, Klaus A, Peterson LC (eds) Proc Ocean Drilling Program, Scientific Results, pp 35-52

  • Martin GB, Thorrold SR, Jones CM (2004) Temperature and salinity effects on Sr incorporation in otoliths of larval spot (Leiostomus xanthurs). Can J Fish Aquat Sci 61:34–42

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCabe M, Clark PU (1998) Ice sheet variability around the North Atlantic Ocean during the last deglaciation. Nature 392:373–377

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Migeon S, Weber O, Faugères JC, Saint-Paul J (1999) SCOPIX: a new imaging system for core analysis. Geo-Mar Lett 18:251–255

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mojtahid M, Eynaud F, Zaragosi S, Scourse J, Bourillet J-F, Garlan T (2005) Palaeoclimatology and palaeohydrography of the glacial stages on Celtic and Armorican margins over the last 360,000 yrs. Mar Geol 224(1/4):57–82

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reynaud JY, Tessier B, Proust JN, Dalrymple R, Marsset T, DeBatist M, Bourillet JF, Lericolais G (1999) Eustatic and hydrodynamic controls on the architecture of a deep shelf sand bank (Celtic Sea). Sedimentology 46(4):703–721

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Richter TO, Lassen S, van Weering TCE, de Haas H (2001) Magnetic susceptibility patterns and provenance of ice-rafted material at Feni Drift, Rockall Trough: implications for the history of the British-Irish ice sheet. Mar Geol 173(1/4):37–54

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scourse JD, Hall IR, McCave IN, Young JR, Sugdon C (2000) The origin of Heinrich layers: evidence from H2 for European precursor events. Earth Planet Sci Lett 182(2):187–195

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Skene KI, Piper DJW, Hill PS (2002) Quantitative analysis of variations in depositional sequence thickness from submarine channel levees. Sedimentology 49:1411–1430

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Turon JL, Bourillet J-F, Equipe ALIENOR (2004) Résultats préliminaires de la mission ALIENOR-MD141-Partie 2. IPEV, Brest

    Google Scholar 

  • Zaragosi S, Auffret GA, Faugères JC, Garlan T, Pujol C, Cortijo E (2000) Physiography and recent sediment distribution of the Celtic Deep-sea Fan, Bay of Biscay. Mar Geol 169:207–237

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zaragosi S, Eynaud F, Pujol C, Auffret GA, Turon J-L, Garlan T (2001a) Initiation of the European deglaciation as recorded in the northwestern Bay of Biscay slope environments (Meriadzek Terrace and Trevelyan Escarpment): a multi-proxy approach. Earth Planet Sci Lett 188(3/4):493–507

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zaragosi S, Le Suave R, Bourillet J-F, Auffret GA, Faugères J-C, Pujol C, Garlan T (2001b) The deep-sea Armorican depositional system (Bay of Biscay), a multiple source, ramp model. Geo-Mar Lett 20(4):219–232

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to IPEV and the crew of the RV Marion Dufresne II for their technical assistance during the SEDICAR and ALIENOR cruises. We wish to thank Y. Balut for his assistance at sea and J. Duprat, G. Floch, B. Martin, J. St. Paul, D. Poirier, R. Kerbrat and O. Ther for their laboratory assistance. Thanks are due to W. Banks and W. Fletcher for assistance with language. We also thank L. Droz and M. Frenz for their very constructive reviews and comments. We acknowledge financial support by the EU project PALEOSTUDIES (contract no. HPRI-CT-2001-0124), the French Programme ‘GDR Marges’ and the ARTEMIS 14C Accelerator Mass Spectrometry French Project. This is U.M.R./EPOC 5805 (Université Bordeaux I-C.N.R.S.) contribution no. 1607.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Aurélie Van Toer

    Present address: Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l‘Environnement, Avenue de la Terrasse, 91198, Gif sur Yvette Cedex, France

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Département de Géologie et Océanographie, Université Bordeaux I, UMR 5805 EPOC, 33405, Talence Cedex, France

    Sébastien Zaragosi, Frédérique Eynaud, Samuel Toucanne, Benjamin Denhard, Aurélie Van Toer & Valentine Lanfumey

  2. Laboratoire Environnements Sédimentaires, Géosciences Marines, Institut Français de Recherche pour l‘Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER), B.P. 70, 29280, Plouzané Cedex, France

    Jean-François Bourillet

Authors
  1. Sébastien Zaragosi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jean-François Bourillet
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Frédérique Eynaud
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Samuel Toucanne
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Benjamin Denhard
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Aurélie Van Toer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Valentine Lanfumey
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sébastien Zaragosi.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Zaragosi, S., Bourillet, JF., Eynaud, F. et al. The impact of the last European deglaciation on the deep-sea turbidite systems of the Celtic-Armorican margin (Bay of Biscay). Geo-Mar Lett 26, 317–329 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00367-006-0048-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00367-006-0048-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation