Large-scale mass wasting on the north Spitsbergen continental margin, Arctic Ocean

Closely spaced, single-beam bathymetric and side-scan sonar investigations on the northern slope of the western Svalbard insular platform have revealed the presence of a Late Quaternary slump complex forming a hanging-wall slump canyon near the head of the Malene Bukta (Malene Bay) bathymetric embayment in the northern continental margin. Repeated slump erosion may be responsible for development of this young feature and the Malene Bukta Embayment. Focusing of the slumping may be due to the trapping of gas at shallow sea-floor depths by gas hydrate, with the consequent formation of subjacent gas-rich, low shear-strength decollement zones. Faults have likely controlled the upward migration of gas into the younger sedimentary prism.