Sediment transport processes in the Rockall Through (North Atlantic) with special emphasis on submarine mass wasting

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The Rockall Trough and its margins offshore Western Ireland form a valuable natural laboratory holding information on slope stability, sediment transport, bottom ocean currents, and glacial/interglacial history and yet it is a relatively lightly-studied area. New seismic and sedimentological data across the northern Rockall Trough will be collected during a cruise with the Irish Research Vessel Celtic Explorer in September 2011. This interdisciplinary cruise aims in i) studying the submarine landslide deposits and especially their spatial extent and temporal distribution as well as internal architecture, ii) examining the effect glacial cycles, and in particular the last British-Irish Ice Sheet (BIIS), had on the sedimentary processes occurring on the NW Irish continental slope, and iii) determining the relationship between the temperature-salinity structure of the water column and backscatter observed on acoustic data. In the frame of this project we propose to acquire and process the seismic data needed for all objectives. Interpretation after the cruise will focus on submarine mass wasting and associated hazards but will also include the characterization of glacial features.