Seismic-Stratigraphic Record of Glaciation on the Hebridean Margin, North-West Britain

Abstract

The record of ice-rafting from the Hebrides Slope (Fig. 1) indicates that the continental margin off north-west Britain has been accumulating glacially-derived sediment since the late Pliocene, about 2.48Ma [Stoker et al., 1994]. The glacial influence was distal in character until the early mid-Pleistocene when ice-sheets expanded across the Hebrides Shelf, and locally deposited vast amounts of sediment onto the adjacent slope [Stoker, 1995]. This contribution illustrates single-channel airgun and sparker profiles (Table 1) supplemented by borehole data from the Hebridean margin (Fig. 1), to show how the seismic architecture reflects the impact of glaciation.