Abstract
The Peach 4 debrite is the most recent in a series of large scale Pleistocene MTDs within the Barra fan on the northwest British continental margin. Geophysical data indicate that Peach 4 was formed through a combination of blocky and muddy debris flows and affects an area of ~700 km2. BGS core sample 56–10 36, located directly over the Peach 4 debrite, provides a minimum age of 14.68 ka cal BP for the last major failure. An upwards fining turbidite sequence in BGS core sample 56–10 239 is associated with increased As and S concentrations, indicators of diagenetic pyrite which forms under anoxic conditions. It is proposed that As and S concentrations may provide a method of distinguishing between contourite and turbidite sedimentation, although further research is required.
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Acknowledgments
The authors thank the reviewers R Wynn and E Tripsanas for their constructive comments; G Tulloch, J Hope, T Maxted and I Patmore for assistance with sediment analysis. MO thanks the UCL Graduate School, the ECRC and ENSIS trust fund. DL publishes with permission of the Executive Director, British Geological Survey (NERC).
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Owen, M., Day, S., Long, D., Maslin, M. (2010). Investigations on the Peach 4 Debrite, a Late Pleistocene Mass Movement on the Northwest British Continental Margin. In: Mosher, D.C., et al. Submarine Mass Movements and Their Consequences. Advances in Natural and Technological Hazards Research, vol 28. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-3071-9_25
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