Abstract The Cobequid Highlands of northern Nova Scotia lie at the intersection of two major dextral intra-continental shear zones which developed during closure of the Rheic Ocean and formation of Pangea. The Cobequid Shear Zone was an ENE–WSW transfer zone in a NE–SW-trending, orogen-parallel, shear system in the late Devonian–early Carboniferous (Neo-Acadian phase), in which syntectonic granite–gabbro plutons and volcanic strata <4 km thick were progressively deformed along multiple faults. In the Late Carboniferous–Permian, the Alleghanian collision of Africa with Laurentia formed the east–west-trending Minas Fault Zone, reactivating parts of the Cobequid Shear Zone. This deformation was mostly taken up on the master Cobequid–Chedabucto Fault. Deformation chronology is well constrained by the biostratigraphy of syntectonic sedimentary rocks, and by radiometrically dated igneous rocks and minerals in faults and veins. Early strike-slip faults were lubricated by magmatic heating, leading to dyke-to-pluton construction along multiple faults. During cooling, rooted gabbro was more resistant than ductile granite, thereby deflecting solid-state deformation. Neo-Acadian strike-slip displacement across the shear zone is estimated as >50 km. The location of Alleghanian deformation was influenced by the paucity of magmatism and the resistance offered by older stitching plutons.

Abstract The Laurentian Fan is one of the largest submarine fans on the western margin of the North Atlantic. Recently acquired high-resolution multibeam bathymetric data (60 m horizontal resolution) reveal a major mass-transport deposit (MTD) on the Western Levee of Western Valley (WLWV), covering >14 000 km 2 in water depths from 3900 to >5000 m. Typical submarine landslide features are observed such as headscarps that in places reach the crest of the levee, crown cracks, extensional ridges, blocky debris and flow lineations. Multiple headwalls are observed on 3.5 kHz sub-bottom profiles, indicating that the landslide retrogressed upslope. While the upper parts of the MTD consist of intact blocks that were displaced downslope as ridges and troughs, the lower parts exhibit a c. 30 m thick incoherent to transparent acoustic facies, typical of debris flows. Landslide geomorphology therefore suggests that it was generated as a retrogressive spread and that slide blocks disintegrated downslope to become a blocky landslide with a surficial debris flow. The blocky landslide/debris flow extends downslope c. 90 km and partially fills a submarine channel. The superposition of the MTD filling the channel and its location at the top of the stratigraphic succession in the levee suggests that it is late Quaternary in age, possibly Holocene. Deeper seismic reflection data also show that this is a rare event during the Quaternary; it is the largest MTD observed in the upper c. 375 m of the levee succession and among the largest and deepest in the western North Atlantic.

Abstract A M w 7.2 earthquake centred beneath the upper Laurentian Fan of the SW Newfoundland continental slope triggered a damaging turbidity current and tsunami on 18 November 1929. The turbidity current broke telecommunication cables, and the tsunami killed 28 people and caused major infrastructure damage along the south coast of Newfoundland. Both events are believed to have been derived from sediment mass failure as a result of the earthquake. This study aims to identify the volume and kinematics of the 1929 slope failure in order to understand the geohazard potential of this style of sediment failure. Ultra-high-resolution seismic reflection and multibeam swath bathymetry data are used to determine: (1) the dimension of the failure area; (2) the thickness and volume of failed sediment; (3) fault patterns and displacements; and (4) styles of sediment failure. The total failure area at St Pierre Slope is estimated to be 5200 km 2 , recognized by escarpments, debris fields and eroded zones on the seafloor. Escarpments are typically 20–100 m high, suggesting failed sediment consisted of this uppermost portion of the sediment column. Landslide deposits consist mostly of debris flows with evidence of translational, retrogressive sliding in deeper water (>1700 m) and evidence of instantaneous sediment failure along fault scarps in shallower water (730–1300 m). Two failure mechanisms therefore seem to be involved in the 1929 submarine landslide: faulting and translation. The main surficial sediment failure concentrated along the deep-water escarpments consisted of widely distributed, translational, retrogressive failure that liquefied to become a debris flow and rapidly evolved into a massive channelized turbidity current. Although most of the surficial failures occurred at these deeper head scarps, their deep-water location and retrogressive nature make them an unlikely main contributor to the tsunami generation. The localized fault scarps in shallower water are a more likely candidate for the generation of the tsunami, but further research is needed in order to address the characteristics of these fault scarps.

Abstract Monazite geochronology was applied to an east–west transect of latest Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous deltaic sandstones of the Scotian Basin, to assess sediment sources and dispersal pathways. More than 200 detrital monazite grains yielded 694 electron microprobe age determinations with 1σ errors <±20%. Based on age, external morphology, zoning, inclusions and major element chemistry (rare earth element [REE], Th, Y), monazite grains represent more than 20 discrete sources. Similar proportions of euhedral and subhedral compared with irregular and rounded monazite grains in most age classes, together with comparison with detrital muscovite and zircon geochronology, suggest that most monazite is first cycle. Six types of REE distribution are recognized (A–F). Many igneous monazites show chemical zoning, contain sparse euhedral inclusions, and have REE distributions of types A and E. Many metamorphic monazites contain inclusions, commonly aligned, are generally rounded–subhedral to rounded, and have REE distributions of types B, C and D. Monazite geochronology shows important supply to the Scotian Basin from the Labrador rift shoulder as early as Tithonian; from Avalonian sources in the Tithonian; from Ordovician sources in northern New Brunswick, apparently via the Chaswood River; and from the inner continental shelf, particularly in the Hauterivian–Barremian.

Abstract The Palaeogene Pindos Flysch of the Peloponnese shows important differences from the flysch of northern Greece. Stratigraphic sections and palaeocurrent indicators were measured in the Pindos Flysch Formation and the underlying Kataraktis Passage Member throughout the Peloponnese. The Kataraktis Passage Member records carbonate-dominated sedimentation from the Apulian continental margin to the west, with intercalated terrigenous sediment also derived from the west. Variations in thickness and turbidite facies show that the overlying Pindos Flysch Formation was deposited in channels with levees and in channel-termination lobes in the western Peloponnese and in a distal basin plain, locally ponded, in the east. At least in the central Peloponnese, facies variation, palaeocurrents and detrital petrology show that the Pindos Flysch was derived from the Apulian margin. The Pindos Flysch of northern Greece, of late Paleocene to Oligocene age, was deposited in a foreland basin and derived from the rising Pelagonian nappes to the east. A younger microcontinental collision south of the Gulf of Corinth line resulted in the Pindos Flysch of the Peloponnese being incorporated in the accretionary prism by Mid-Eocene time.

Abstract The modern sandy Golo turbidite system (500 km 2 ) is located in a confined basin on the eastern margin of Corsica. The Golo turbidite system is fed by a single river, which supplies coarse sand derived from active weathering of the neighbouring mountains. The late Quaternary deposits have been imaged using a closely spaced grid of 1000 km of sparker seismic-reflection profiles (line spacing close to 1.6 km, vertical resolution of 2m). The turbidite system is composed of four non-coalescent fans that were at times active simultaneously and of two small deposits onto the slope. The resulting sedimentation pattern is characterized by stacked turbidite deposits. At a regional scale, there is a continuum of fan morphologies and geometries from south to north. The use of both seismic and sedimentary facies, together with mapped seismic geometry of sedimentary bodies, allowed definition of four architectural elements: (1) submarine valley (canyon and gully), (2) sandy channel, (3) muddy levee, and (4) sandy lobe. Some of these architectural elements can be recognized at a scale that is comparable to outcrop examples. Features such as progressive lateral migration and avulsion, or complex longitudinal evolution (progradation and retrogradation), can also be accurately described. Despite the active tectonics along the studied margin, the main variations in sedimentation appear to be controlled by eustatic changes, pre-existing seafloor topography, and sediment source characteristics. The general pattern of sedimentation is controlled by the influence of a confining slope, leading to the predominance of aggradation and to specific morphology and architecture of sedimentary bodies.