Suspension sedimentation of coarse silt and sand in

northern Skagerrak: textural and mineralogical trends

AIVO LEPLAND & RODNEY L. STEVENS
Lepland, A. & Stevens, R.L. 1996: Suspension sedimentatio n of coarse silt and sand in northern Skagerrak: textural
and miner alogi cal trend s. Nor . geo l. unders. Bull. 430, 35-46 .
The minor coarse-silt and sand fraction of mudd y bottom sediments at 74 sites in northern Skagerrak is int erp reted
t o have been mostly tran sport ed in suspension, aided by frequent reworking and th e buoyancy of large aggregates.
The overall sediment fin ing trend t owards the Norwegian Trench is consist ent w it h changes of bath ym etry.
Sediments in shallow shelf sett ings are mainly tr ansport ed by a combination of tract ion and near-bottom suspension processes. Near-bottom suspension processes predom inate on the tr ench slopes, w hereas in the bottom of th e
t rench there is a more balanced combinatio n of near-bottom suspension and hemi pelagic suspension depositi on.
Heavy-m ineral di stributi on s have weak geog raphic tr end s, due to th e natural variability, and relat ively non -selecti ve
and rando m character of th e processestransport ing coarse-silt and sand in suspension. Only biotite has a well developed distri butio n pattern and a relati vely goo d correl ation w it h grain size, prob ably related to single-partic le tr ansport together w it h fin e silt. Wit h considerat io n for th e inte rpretat ive limitation s of th e individu al heavy-min eral di st ributi on s, it is valuable to evaluate several miner al tr end s simulta neously, as well as th e grain-size t rend s, in order
t o inter pret patte rns. Transport from sout hern areas and from th e north is indic ated.
Aivo Lepland " & Rodney L. Stevens', (7) Depa rtme nt of Geology, Earth Sciences Centre, Goteborq University, 5-4138 1,
Goteborq, Sweden, (2) Institute of Geology, Eston ian Academy ofSciences, EE-OOO l Tallinn, Estonia.

Introduction
The grain-size distribution of the bottom sediments in
the Skagerrak is clearly controlled by the circulation pattern and basin bathymetry, resulting in different geographically associated transport and deposition mechanism s (Olausson 1975, van Weering 1981, 1982,
Jerqensen et al. 1981, Fait 1982, Stevens et al. 1996). The
transport to the Skagerrak and Kattegat of suspended
sediment derived f rom shallow areas of the southern and
cent ral North Sea is well documented (van Weering 1981,
Eisma & Kalf 1987a, b, Eisma & Irion 1988), and ca. 50-70%
accumulates in the areas of low current velocity, especially in the Norwegian Trench and in the surrounding areas
with water depths greater than 200 m (Eisma & Kalf
1987a, Eisma 1990, Salge & Wong 1988, North Sea Task
Force 1993). This predominantly suspension-derived
deposition in northern Skagerrak is respon sible for a very
fine and uniform sediment texture, consisting no rmally of
mo re than 90% clay and fi ne silt. The sed iment g rain-size
distribution is characte rised by a majo r clay mode and a
slig ht mode in the coarse-silt fract ion (Stevens et al.
1996), whereas the content of very coarse silt and sand is
negligible (1-2%). The bimodality of these sediments has
been related to a comb ination of suspension and tr action processes fo r the depo sition of the fine and coarse
fractions, respectively (van Weering 1981, Pederstad et al.
1993). The coexistence or alternation of the se two
mechanisms is not well understood (van Weering et al.
1993).
A principle objective of this paper is to addre ss the
transport and depositional processes of the very-coarse-

silt and sand population (coarser than 6 <jl ), which is consistently present in the very fine-grained sediments of the
Norwegian Trench. The int erpret at ion of fine-sediment
transport is also necessary since we suggest that suspension processes strongly influence both fine and coarse
fractions. The emphasis upon coarse silt and sand is motivated because in these fractions the mineralogy can be
routinely and quantitatively documented using petrographic mic roscopy . The combined treatment of sediment mineralogy and texture is used to evaluate the sediment transport pathways and processes. This approach is
especially import ant in complex environments where
single parameters are less diagnostic.

Materials and methods

The samples invest igated with in t his study were collected from 74 locat ions in northern Skagerrak (Fig. 1)
dur ing two crui ses, in 1992 and 1993, w ith the Bergen
Unive rsity research vessel 'Hakon Mosby', arranged by
Bergen University and the Geological Survey of Norway.
Surface sediments were subsampled w ithin the upper 7
cm from short co res of approximately 50 cm, obtained
using a mo dified Niemi stb corer (Niernisto 1974).
Parti cle-size analyses of the samples were carried out
using wet sieving at '/ 2-<jl intervals for the fractions coarser than 5.5 <jl and pipette analysis for the finer fractions
(see Krumbein & Pettijohn 1938, McManus 1988, for standard procedures). The pre-treatment of the samples
included the oxidation of organ ic matter with hydrogen
pero xide, subsequent washing and final dispersion in

36

Aivo Lepland & Rodney L. Stevens

GU-BULL430. 1996

59"N

saON
........,..........~...,ikm
20 40

0.05 M sodium hexametaphosphate while rotation tumbling for 4 hours.

The characterisation of sediment minera logy is based
upon the qualitative analysis of x -ray diffractio n using
powdered sam ples and t he quantitative microscope analysis of the heavy-mineral concentrate (density > 2.9
q/crn '), separated using sodium po lytungstate (Callahan
1987). Grain counts were performed wi t hin a narrow size
range of the very-coarse-silt fraction (4.5-4 <1 in order to
limit hydrodynamic differences. The fine -sand fract ion (43 <1 is typ ically used for heavy-mineral analyses (Mort on &
Hallsworth 1994), but a finer fraction was chosen in th is
stud y because of its relatively higher content compared
with fine sand. Ribbon -traverse counts of up to 800 grain s
(t ranslucent heavy mineral s, opaq ue m inerals, carbon ates, micas) were made in order to include at least 300
t ranslucent heavy mine rals (Krum bein & Pettijohn 1938).
The 8 presented contour maps of minera l percentages
refer to the content w ith in the heavy concentrates . These
percentages are calculated differently to avoi d depe ndency on t he variati ons of predom inant min erals. Biotit e
content s are given as percentages of all counted grains;
carbonate contents are percentages of all g rains except
micas; magnetite and hematite conten ts are percent ages
of opaque minerals plus t ranslucent heavy mi nerals;
horn blend e, epidote group, garne t and pyrox ene contents are percentages of the transl ucent heavy min erals.
In 20 selected sam ples, the proportion s of terrigenous
(mainly quartz and feld spar) and bioge nic (mainly foraminife ra and shell fragm ent s) comp onent s in the sediment
we re determined by count s of 200 sand grains.

Results
Sediment characterand grain size
The uppermost 50 cm of the sediment cores fro m northe rn Ska gerra k are quite homogeneous, character ised
by an alm ost tota l lack of appa rent sedi ment ary stru ctu-

Fig. 1. Sample stations and generalised barhymerry in northern Skagerrak. Arrows

show rhe direction of the main oceanographic surfa ce currents, rhick arrows correspon d ro strong flow and thin arrows ro weak
flow (after Svansson 1975).

res except for a down-core increase in consoli dati on and

a decrease in water cont ent. The top 10-15 cm of most
cores consist of very loose material. This unconsolidated
material at t he sediment surface is absent in samples or iginating from the southwestern area wh ere relat ively
coarse sedi ments are common .
In spite of the predominance of clay and fine-silt part icles in northern Skagerrak, a limited amount of sand 4
<1 and very coarse silt (4-5 <1 is always present in these
sediments. The sediment gen erally contain s less tha n 1%
sand, and in most areas of the Norwegian Trench deeper
t han 400 m the sand fr action decreases to less than 0.4%
(Fig. 2a). Sand content decreases from 8 to 0.4% northward , do wn th e sout hern slope, and from 3 to 0.4% in t he
north eastern end of the t rough. The sand size is generally
limi t ed to t he very-fin e-sand fract ion , main ly wi t hi n the
interval 3.5-4 <1>, which constitutes 50-70% of the tota l
sand fracti on. In most of the area only occasional grains
offine sand or coarser grains occur.
Grain count s of t he sand fraction show the predominance of terrigenous (quartz and feldspar) components
in most of the study area. Terrigenous components tend
to be most abundant in the relatively coarse sediments in
th e south, th e nort hw est, and along the Norwegian mainland , wher e they consti tute 70-85%. In the deepest area
of t he Norweg ian Trench the content of biogen ic components incr eases, accounting in some samp les for up to
75% of t he sand g rains.
The con t ours for very coarse silt (4-5 <1 follow the same
pattern as for sand, but the content is approximate ly one
order of magn itude highe r (Fig 2b). In t he deepest part of
t he Norw egian Trench the bottom sediment consists of
1-1.5% very coarse silt, and towards the Norwegian main land t he value s gradually increase to 2-3%. A pronounced
down-slope decrease of the very-coarse-silt content
occurs on t he northeastern and southeastern slopes of
the No rweg ian Trench, whe re t he values change from
> 10 to <2%. The relat ive abundance of the 4-4.5 <1> fracti on appears to deviate slightly from the systematic trend
of decreasing coarse-fraction abundance (seen on ly wi t h

AivoLepland & Rodney L. Stevens

NGU-BULL 430, 1996

N
59"00 '

59"00'

58"40 '

58"40'

58"20 '

58"20 '

58"00'

58"00 '

8"30'

9"00 '

9"3 0'

,--_ _

10"00'

1 100' E

-3 ~

c::=S-:-\0-~
~/
/[~~

5840 '

~~,j
,~~

58"20 '

58"0 0'

574 0''--_

.~

'

57 40' I----,-----,----c----,----~'--__,-'
9"30'
8"3 0'
1100' E
9"00'
10"00'
10"30'

N
59"00 '

~~

4-5 <jI (% of total)

10"30'

. . .
. . .
. . .

./~VERY COARSE SILT

SAND <4 <j1

(% of total)
-,-_ _--,-_ _----,

7.-

~~~\('

~
W?
.

5740' l -_

37

~~20

-,.-_
8"30 '

---,

VERY COARSE SILT AND SAND

< 5 <jI (% of total)

9"00 '

,--_ _,--_ _-'''i--'-_- ,- '

9"30 '
1100' E
10"00 '
10"30 '

59"00'

58"40 '

58"20'

58"00 '

CLAY >8 <jI

(% of total)
57"40' 1 - - _-,--_
8"30'

--,-

9"00 '

'T"":"_ _.....
, -' -_

9"30'

10"00 '

10"30 '

__,-'

1100' E

Fig. 2. The distrib ution of (a) sand 4 rp); (b) verycoarse silt (4-5 rp); (c) sand and very coarsesilt 5 rp); and (d) clay (> 9 rp),

half <\J intervals, Fig . 3). Thi s resu lts in a slo p e break or

slight peak at 4-4.5 <1> on the size distribution curves.

A negative correlation expectedly occurs between the
coarsest 5 <1 and finest (> 9 <1> = clay) fractions (Table 1,
Figs, 2c and 2d), but notably not in the deepest part of
the Norwegian Trench, where the highest abundance of
clay and the lowest abundance of very coarse silt and
sand do not geographically coincide with each other. In
compa rison w ith other grain-size classes, the clay cont ent
shows the mo st pronounced relat ionsh ip wi t h water
depth (r = 0.653, Table 1). Coarse silt is mo re negatively
correlated wi t h both water depth and clay than is fine silt.
In other word s, the changes in the clay content in northern Skagerrak are largely compensated by opposite
variat ion s in the coarse-silt content, wh ile the proportion
of the fine silt remains relatively stable.

Mineralogy of th e h eavy-min eral concentrate

The components of the heavy-m ineral concentrate (referred to below as heavy minerals) are divided into four
major groups: micas, carbonates, opaque and translu cent. Micas are predominant in most extracts, and among
them biotite is more abundant than muscovite. Biotite is
the only mineral which correlates relatively well with
sediment grain size (r = 0.433, Table 2). The highest biotite contents (30-35%) occur in the deepest part of the
Norweg ian Trench and to the northeast (Fig. 4a). Biotite
contents gradually decrease towards the Norwegian
mainland, to 10-15%. On the Danish side of the
Norwegian Trench, lower biotite percentages occur in the
northeast 20%) and southeast 10%), whereas in the
central part of the study area, 30% isocon lines extend
almost perpendicular to the slope.
The carbonate grains are mainly dolomite, but since
the optic properties of calcite and dolomite are poorly

38

Aivo Lepfand & Rodney L. Stevens

20 .0 1

: : 1 ~ 4~
"* 021

o~ I(~
[

5.0

"* 2.0
1.0
05

10.0

-1

"

11
-'
1f t,;
J

-1

0.1

1 Y;\
-J

r,r

-.

0 .5

1.0 -:

0.1

---,--- ----..,

3
20.0

fi

r'~

10. 0 ~

UP PER
DA NISH
SL OPE

0 .1 .J;-:

~..,

l C

..,

"* 2.0 J

NGU-BULL 430 , 1996

{f:ri

-1

LI' (I
-r

DA NI SH
S LOPE

~-y /

iF

~ f__ ~
3

9
20 .0

10.0

-1

5 .0 J

NORWEGIAN

';f. 2 .0 -

--

>~

.'

TRENC H
BOTTOM

S LOP E

r;?;/

: ~. If(J

~...:..-J,

Fig. 3. Grain-size frequency distribu tions showing the overall fining trend
from the slop es of the Norwe gian Trench (a, b, c) towards its bo ttom (d).
Sediments of the Norwegian slope (b) and trench ba ttom (d) show the relatively greater ab undan ce of the coarse-silt fract ion due to the biog enic
deposition in these areas. The resultin g curve break is indicated by the
arrows.

Table 1. Cor relatio n coefficients fo r the gra in-size fractions and wa ter dept h.
clay (> 9 0)

wate r dept h

n=74
cla y (> 9 0)

0 .653

fine-silt (6-9 0)

-0 .467

-0.549

'coa rse -silt' (4-60)

-0 .501

-0.827

v. coa rse silt (4- 5 0)

-0 .455

-0.779

sand (< 4 0)

-0 .29 1

-0.596

distinguished in grain mounts they were not subd ivided.

The content of carbonates generally increases from the
northeast 10%) to southwest (>20%), wi th one int ermittent zone of lower values 10%) in between (Fig. 4b).
The trends cross th e grain-size and bathymetry contours.
The opaqu e mi nerals are main ly represented by the
mag netite-ilme ntite and hematite-Iimonite groups (referred to below as magnetite and hematite, respecti vely).

Table 2. Correlation coefficients for the mean grain size of the sediments and the
separate heavy-mineral components.
n=74

mean

St

St

0.433

Dol

-0 017

0.220

Dol

Mag

Hem

Hlb

Ep

Mag

0.182

-0.104

-0.051

Hem

-0.263

0.433

0.053

-0.140

Hlb

-0.056

0.148

-0.213

-0.159

0.275

Ep

0.067

0.025

0.248

0.129

0.125 -0.508

Pyr

0.139

-0.172

0.003

0.132

-0.175 -0.475

0.057

Gar

0.138

-0.190

0.101

-0.053

-0.136 -0.551

0.001

Pyr

-0.041

Sing le grains of leucox ene and pyrite occur in a few samples, The hematite cont ent is consistently between 4 and
8% in the central part of studied area. It increases to th e
east, at a few sites to > 12% (Fig. 4c)_A genera lly decreasing t rend of hematite contents can be fo llo wed to wards
the north and southwest, The magnetite distribution is
much more variab le, with several zones of low 7%) and
high (> 11 %) content orientated rough ly perpend icular to
the bathymetric contours (Fig, 4d),
Translucent heavy minerals are character ised by a predominance of hornblende, w hich accounts for 45-60% of
all minerals in th is group. The hornblende distribution
pattern is fairly irregular (Fig, 4e), chang ing bet ween 45
and 60% over relative ly short distances, Hornblende content is generally higher (>55%) in t he nort hern and sout heastern parts of the stud y area, w hereas low values
occur in patches along th e Norwegia n Trench and to the
south . The second most abundant catego ry is the epido te grou p, namely epidote, zoisite and clino zoisite, w hich
are considered togeth er because of th eir tr ansit iona l
optic properties, In most of t he area th e epido te group
varies unsystematically between 22 and 30%, reaching a
maximum value (>32%) in th e southern part and minimu m values 20%) in the western part (Fig, 4f), One map
is presented for all pyroxenes because of th e low contents of individual minerals of both mon oclini c and
ortho rho mbic varieti es. Among pyroxenes, hypersth ene
and augite are oft en most abunda nt , alt hough enstatite
and diopside also occur in th e majority of samples. The
pyroxene con tent varies rath er irregul arly fr om less th an
5% to more t han 11 %, commonly ea. 8% (Fig, 4g). A slight
dec rease towards t he Norw egian mainland is observed,
Garnet is mainly rep resented by a colourless variety, and
the total content is usually bet ween 4 and 10% (Fig, 4h).
Zircon and sphe ne (t itanit e) are present in mo st of th e
sam ples. The contents range from less than 1% up to 7%,
normally 1-2%. Tou rmalin e, stauro lite, kyanite, andalusit e, sillim anit e, rut ile, apat ite and barite were sporadically
fou nd in a limit ed number of samples, usually in trace
amounts,
The correlation coeffic ient s, w hich are mainly wi t hin
the range 0,2 to -0.2, indi cate a lack of sig nificant relat ion ships between the different minerals or between
m ineral varieti es and grain size (Table 2). The slight correlat io n bet wee n bioti te and grain size and hornbl ende's
weak negat ive correlat ions wi t h epidote, pyro xene and
garnet are t he only except ions, The correlatio ns between
epidote, pyroxene and garnet are very low, showing sim ilar values, roug hly one order of magni tude lower than
t heir corre latio n wi th hornblende . This indi cat es that
among t ranslucent heavy minerals there are no strong
associations in th e popu lation as a w hole, The content
changes of horn blende are random ly compe nsated by
epidote, pyr oxene or garnet, but none of t hese min erals
has priority .

Aivo Lepland & Rodney L.Stevens

NGU-BULL430, 1996

Discussion
Fine-grained sedimentation

The sediment samples are not time or event specific, since they include deposition over numerous years and give
a time-integrated, net reflection of sedimentation.
Therefore, the additional influence of bioturbation is
expected to further homogenise and integrate the sampled sediment, as is assumed for the surface subsamples .
Although we do not have information regarding possible
size-specific enrichment by biogenic processes, we do
not expect this to have an overrid ing effect, and the
grain-size data interpreted below do not seem to require
such an explanation .
The unsorted character of the laboratory-d isagg regared, inorganic, fine-silt and clay fractions of the bottom
sediments (Fig. 3) is consistent with sedimentation largely from flocculated suspensions. Van Weering et al. (1993)
have shown that large amounts of suspended sediments
are transported within the bottom nepheloid layer in the

N
59"00

Skagerrak. The sediment concentration (transmission) of

this layer was reported to decrease towards areas of
increasing water depth, consistent with continued sedimentation along the paths of prevailing oceanographic
currents. In the deepest portion of the Norwegian Trench,
no distinctive differences in transm ission were observed
separating the intermediate and bottom nepheloid layers, suggesting the predominance of hemipelagic suspension deposition (cf. Stow 1985) in this area.
It has been demonstrated that the flocculation process
(including biogenic and inorganic aggregates of several
types, cf. Syvitski 1991) is not size-selective and that similar contributions from all size fractions result in relatively
flat frequency distributions (Kranck 1975, Kranck &
Milligan 1991). The only portions of the inorganic grain size distribution that are consistently sorted in suspension transport are the coarsest fractions where the distribution curve falls off sharply (Fig. 3). This may indicate that
minor single-particle transport occurs simultaneously
with the predominant floc transport, which allows the
hydraulic sorting of coarse fractions. Alternatively, larger,
heavier floes enriched with coarser particles might also

N
59"00'

~ 'O

5640'

.
56"20 '

56"20'

56"00'

56"00'

BIOTITE

9"00'

-t-r-_

9"30 '

- , -_

10"00 '

-4L_--,-~

10"30'

s.:/6' . -,

' ,~

CA RB ONAT ES

(% of all heavy minerals except micas)

57"40 ~ _

1100 ' E

N
59"00'

~~~~

(% of all heavy minerals)

6"30'

. j . tfd

--::r_ _--,_

..c

J "

5640'

57"40 '--_

-r-r-'_

6"30 '

...,...-_

9"00'

if

9"30'

10"00'

10"30'

59"00'

d
.~s

5640'

...-'
,
J
./

'-.....

56"40'

'

'

."~
. (-

'~ 'l\~ '

56"20'

56"20'

56"00 '

56"00'

HEMATITE
(% of translucent and opaque heavy minerals)
57"40' L.--::r-:-:------,----,------.----4-L--,-~

39

.: '::):8~ '.

.~,~ ) .

MAGNETITE
(% of translucent and opaque heavy minerals)

40

Aivo Lepland & Rodney L. Stevens

GU-BULL 430, 1996

"'\r2

N
5gooo'

~
. ~~.
i;~'\Jjro ~
. '

58"40'

58"20'

58"00'

.'~.'

55 -

N
59"00 '

( SO

tJ

.r~.

"/
.
.
' p~'l-"~
\~?X~;:

58"40 '

56'20'

'%~,

JfO.Uzj

'. ~
~
' . . (1~'
~J
"
.~ ' .
EPIDOTE

58"00 '

HORNBL ENDE
(% of translucent heavy min erals)
574 0' '-------,------,,
8"30'
goOD'

----,-----rgo30'

10'00'

-4-L

10'30'

--,.--.J

1100' E

(% of tra nslucent heavy mi nerals)

5740' '--- - r -- - - - - , - -----,6' 30'
9"3D'
9"00'

59"00

59"00

58"40'

58"40'

-----,- --4-.L----r--'
10'00 '
10' 30'
11"00' E

.~. ) .

(,

58"00 '

--,.10'00'

- - 4....L..10'30 '

--,.--.J
11"'00' E

be hydrau lically sorted. Single-particle transpo rt is interpreted to be reflected , at least, by the systematic increase
of mica to wards the deeper portions of the Norwe gian
Trench. Floc sort ing as a control of the silt-sized mi ca is
unlikely since t he flocculation process would not incorporate mica preferentially into smaller floes, w hich are interpreted to be increasingly repre sented in calm and deep
areas, as discussed below.
Single-particle transport and hydraulic sorting probably also occur to a limited exten t wi thi n fine-silt sizes, but
th is is masked by the predo mi nance of un sorted flocculated particles. Studies by Kranck & Milligan (1985) have
show n th at singl e-particl e tr ansport can be effe ct ive for
sizes as small as 5-10 urn . Eisma (1993) has sugg ested
that the coexistence of floes and single part icles in suspension , as indicated by variable Silt/clay ratios, is related
to the sediment concentration and is favoured on ly in
very low concentrations 0.3 rnq/l ), wh ere floccu lation is
limited because of low collision frequ ency. The suspended -sedime nt concentration in the area of t he
Norweg ian Trench is approximately at th is crit ical concentration (Eisma & Kalf 1987b), th eor etically allowing the

6~

;~ .. ~

C~

4
.

PYROXE NE
(% of translucent heavy minerals)
57"40' -,' ----,c----,- - - -6' 30'
9"30'
9"00'

'

. ~ . \q? .

58"20 '

58"00'

"4; '

.r

'

.~8

4'8

"

\'

GARNET
(% of tran slucent heavy minerals)

57"40 ' ' - - ---,-6'30 '

---,--

--.-9"30 '

-..,..-

1eco

-4....L--

--,---.J

10' 30'

11"00' E

tr ansport of fine -siIt-sized single particles .

The relationship bet ween t he fin e-silt (6-9 <jl) and clay
contents in th e sedim ents of t he Norwegian Trench
changes wi th t he relative grain size (Fig. Sa ). An overall
posit ive corre lation (clay increase is coupl ed with fine-silt
increase) exist s for relatively coarse sediments 45%
clay) and a negative corre lation for fine sediments. The
consistent increase of clay and fine silt in coarse sediments indicates that both clay and fine silt occur in floe s
and are not influenced by differential sorti ng in areas of
relatively greater turbulence. The opposite trend for relativel y finer sediments suggests that a selective sorti ng of
fine silt does occur in some areas, presumably ind icating
the simul taneous deposition of fine silt as both single
part icles and flo es. The comparison of relationships bet ween clay and thre e sub-fraction s of fine silt (1-<jl intervals) show s th at hydraulic sorting is most eff ect ive in the
coarsest portion of fin e silt (6-7 <jl; Fig. Sb), whereas the
evidence for sorti ng in th e finer sub-fracti ons (7-8, 8-9 <jl;
Fig. Se, d) is less well defined, but a weakly defined 'break
po int' is interpreted to successively shift to ward higher
clay conte nt s.

Aivo Lepland& Rodney L. Stevens

NGU-BULL430, 1996

41

b
40

40

"0'

"0'

r-

0\

\0

\0

....
' Uj

30

20

20

0
0

Q)

10

10

30

40
clay > 9

50
<jl

60
clay >9 <jl ("10)

("10)

d
40

40 -

30-

"0'

00

0\

30

r--

00

.-M.....,. . -'. ..-

20-

.:- .. ,

20

~... ~ . ......
..- .~";' . . . .
---..
.
....
-.. . . . .

.....

10

--- ---

~.

40

50

60

30

40

50

<jl ("10)

_-1"-'-0: __ "'....
"

_ _-:r _. _...

30

clay >9

~-~-;~.~

10-

-,.

clay > 9

<jl

,.

"

60

("10)

Fig. 5. Relat ionshipsofclay to total fine silt, 6-9 11. (a), and clay to the sub-fractions of fine silt, i.e. 6-7 11 (b), 7-8 1fJ. (c), and 8-9 1fJ. (d). The negati ve slope is indicative ofhydraulic sorting of the fine-silt particles in relatively fine sediments (> 45% clay; a). Themost effective hydraulic sorting occursin the coarsest portion of
fine-silt (b), whereassorting is less developed in the finer sub-fractions (c; d). Thetrendsare visually estimated, solid linesimplying strong evidenceand dashed
linesimplying weak evidence for hydraulic sorting.

Most grain-size distrib ut io ns can be div ided int o t wo

slightly overlapping subpopulati ons in wh ich either flo es
or sing le part icles predominate . The t ransit ion bet ween
t hese two is marked by t he t runcation po int on th e distr ibu tion curve where the coarse end falls off. Most of the
sediments in northern Skagerrak have th is truncation
point at abo ut 7 <1>, but in the deepest portion of the
Norwegian Trench it is at 8 <1>. and in an area of higher current velocity to the south at 6 <I> (Fig. 3). Normally the floc
subpopu lation makes up 75-85% of the total sediment,
and the tr uncat ion-point shift from 6 <I> to 8 <I> is coupled
with an overall fining of t he singl e-particle subpopulat i-

on. The common truncat ion point at 7-8 <I> for predom inant ly floc sedi mentat ion is more fine grai ned than the
tru ncation po int observations made in environments
w it h greate r suspended -sediment
concentrations
(Amazon subaqueos delta : Nittrouer et al. 1985, Kuehl et
al. 1988. San Francisco Bay: Kranck & Milligan 1992, and
Quaternary glaciomarine settings: Stevens 199 1). The
truncati on-point positio n is most likely related t o both
the suspended sediment concent rat io n and t he energ y
level of each parti cular environment, cont rolling th e size
of floes and single part icles th at can be kept in suspension and transported .

42

Aivo Lepland& Rodney L. Stevens

Larger floes tend to have larger ind ivid ual components

(Kranck 1975) and, in spite of decreasing density w ith
increasing floc size (Dyer 1989), t he settling velocity
increases tow ards coarse floc sizes. The associati on between fl oc size, component size and settling velocity may
lead to floc sorti ng and a related change in the size d istribution if t ime and consistent transport cond it ion s permit .
The floc sorting is also dependent on floc stability since
larger floes are sensitive to breakage and would not surv ive the t ransport in relatively turbulent environments. The
sensitivity for breakage appl ies main ly fo r very large
aggregates, such as macro flocs or 'marine snow ', as discussed belo w, but in the very-fine-g rained sediments of
northern Skagerrak the changes in floc size occur most
probably wi thi n the microfloc type and these floes are
very stable (Eisma 1986, Eisma & Kalf 1987b). Assuming
relatively consistent floc stabil ity , the sort ing of increasingly finer fractions and the truncation-point shift observed fo r different fracti ons (Fig. 5) is relat ed to the selective deposition of coarse floes coupled with a fining of the
sing le-parti cle subpopulation .

Coarse-silt and sand sedim enta tion

The fine grain size and unsorted character of the top 50
cm of sediments in the Norwegian Trench and adjacent
areas support earlier conclus ions regarding the predom inance of suspension sedimen tation and the lim ited influence of bottom t ransport on sediments in th is deep part
of t he Skage rrak (van Weerin g 1981, van Weering et al.
1993). However, t hese sedim ent s always conta in at least
1-2% of very coarse silt and fine sand, the size fract ion
that in the rest of Skagerrak and in most other env ironments is interpreted to be primarily t ransported and
deposited by traction pr ocesses.
There are four main options for interpreting t he verycoarse-silt and sand sedim entol ogy in t he Norweg ian
Trench. The fi rst hypothesis is t he altern atio n of suspension and tracti on de posit ional mechani sms. Against t he
backg round of suspension deposit io n, infrequent and
short episodes of sig nifi cant bottom-current activ it ies
might exp lain t he limi ted amounts of coarse silt and
sand. This altern ative is consistent w it h oceanog raph ic
docu mentat ion of t he tem poral and spatial variabil ity of
t he bott om c urren ts (Sva nsso n 197 5, Ro d he 198 7). It ha s
also been shown t hat relatively str on g bottom-current
velocit ies (15-20 cm/s) occasion ally occur even in the
deeper po rt ions of the Norweg ian Trench (Rodhe 1987),
and t hese currents cou ld perhaps be respon sibl e for tract ion t ransport of coarse silt and sand. Nevertheless, the loose character of the surface sediments in t he
Norweg ian Trench does not support a frequent bot t om current act ivity that would be able to t ransport coarse silt
and fin e sand. If coarse silt and fine sand have been primarily tra nsported by tra ction pro cesses, select ive coarse-part icle depositi on and erosional effects would be
expected to be reg ion ally significant and occasionall y
recorded in t he sedi ment colum n despite th e signal

GU-BULL 430, 1996

modification due to bioturbation.

The second alte rnat ive involves anothe r type of bottom current tha t could mobilise very coarse silt and fine
sand fo r down-slope transport, that is, turbid ity-current
flo w . This process has not been conside red in earlier
Skagerrak stud ies, presumably because of th e lack of
obvio us sedimentary struct ures. Investi gati ons of mudd y,
low-density t urbidites on con t inenta l marg ins and basin
slope s have demons tra ted tha t turb id ites do not always
need to be graded; nor do they dist inctl y dev iate from
the background sedimentation of simila rly fine- grained
sedim ent s (St anley 1985, McCave & Jones 1988, Jones et
al. 1992). Blanp ied & Stanley (1981) have show n t hat unifo rm t urbid it ic mud has a sig nificant ly low er conte nt of
forams and ot her biogenic debris tha n in suspensio ndeposited hem ipe lagic mud . These un iform t urbid ite s,
wh ich normally contain less than 0.5% sand, have a predominance of terrigenou s component s (Blanpied &
Stanley 1981,Jones et al. 1992), comp arable to sediments
from the Norwegian Trench. Although gravit y flo ws may
occur in this setting, for instance in connec t io n w ith high
sedimentat ion rates on t he Danish slope of t he
Norweg ian Trench, no direct evidence has yet been do cumented.
The thi rd hypothesis is t hat all grain sizes, inclu din g
very coarse silt and sand, are t ransported in suspension.
Since the current velocitie s in northern Skagerrak are not
stron g enough to keep coarse silt and sand in suspension
as individ ual part icles, t hese g rains might be incorporated within large but low-density aggr egates, termed
macrofl ocs w hen predo minant ly inorganic part icles are
invo lved (Eisma 1986, Eisma & Ka lf 1987a, b) or 'marine
snow ' wi t h mainl y organic part icles (cf. Alld redge & Silver
1988). Depending largely on the organic cont ent, t he
effective density of t he floes w it h incorporated coarse
part icles can be signifi cantly reduced, enhancing the possib le suspension residence t im e and allo w ing t ransport
over long distances into calm-water environments.
St ud ies of floc de nsit ies and sizes have shown a general
te ndency for decreasing den sity wi t h increasing floc size
(Dyer 1989, Kranck & Mill igan 1992, Lick et al. 1992).
Recent in situ measurements have demonstra ted t hat in
add it ion to organic matter and clay-sized min erals, flocculat ion may involve grain sizes up to coarse sand
(Kranck & Milligan 1992, Kranck 1993).
However, t he macroflocs or 'marine snow' t hat are
capable of carrying coarse particl es are sensit ive to shear
and are st able only in relatively calm waters (velocit ies
less t han 15 cm/ s; Eisma 1986). Van Weering et al. (1993)
have show n t he extensive development of bottom nepheloid layers in t he Skagerrak, and it is believed that t his
near-bo ttom layer is t he main medium of suspended
sediment tr ansport. Because of shear stresses in the botto m nepheloid layer th e transp ort of very large aggregates ('marine snow ') could be limited, but the more stable
macrofloc s may be largely preserved and t ranspo rted
int o th e Norwegian Trench. If 'marine snow ' is involved in
coarse-part icle trans port, it is probab ly formed and t rans-

AivoLepland & Rodney L. Stevens

NGU-BULL 430, 1996

ported by hemipelagic processes, presumably incorporating sediment that has settled down from turbulent
transport higher up in the water column . Favourable conditions for incorporating coarse particles during 'marine
snow' formation may be rare, but this mechanism is still
viable considering the low coarse-grain percentages. The
involvement of hemipelagic sediment transport processes in the deepest area is indicated by the composition of
the sand fraction . Consistent with the diminishing importance of sediment supplied by near-bottom suspension
transport, the sand fraction of this sediment has a predominance of forams and other biogenic debris of pelag ic
origin (50-75%, cf. Blanpied & Stanley 1981).
The forth alternative hypothesis also involves flotation
of coarse particles, in this case within the poorly consoli dated and relatively mobile, surface muds . In areas supplied with coarse silt and sand, the formation of a mobile
surface mud during periods of qu iescence could incorporate these coarser components due to mixing by bioturbation or occasional resuspension . Subsequent resuspension and movement of these mobile sediment s, including
the relatively light mud aggregates w ith coarse grains,
could help explain the occurrence of coarse-grained
components in deep and calm-water setting s. Although
speculative, this mechanism is supported by the sediment character and the known variability of near-bottom
turbulence.
Thus, although the fine-grained, poorly sorted sediments in the Norwegian Trench are generally typical for
marine suspension deposition, specific considerations
seem necessary to explain the coarsest fractions.
Although obscured by bioturbation or by the predominantly muddy texture, low-fr equency turbid ity currents
and occasional bottom-current traction transport cannot
be excluded within this setting. On the other hand, coarse-particle buoyancy is likely through macrofloc or 'marine snow ' formation, allowing tran sport in the mobile surface layer, the near-bottom nepheloid layer and the
upper wate r column.

43

se-silt size. As discussed above, the source of buoyancy,

possibly provided by low-density macroflocs or 'marine
snow', is necessary to keep heavy minerals of coarse-silt
size in suspension for long distance transport. If the
heavy-mineral transport is largely controlled by floes, the
hydraulic sorting of heavy minerals cannot be well developed, as is indicated in this study by their very low correlation with grain size (Table 2). Still, the heavy-mineral
distributions should be source related and informative of
sediment transport pathways.
The interpretation of the heavy-mineral contour maps
(Fig. 4a-h) with respect to sediment transport pathways is
complicated because of several features : 1) variable
mineral contents over short distances , 2) relat ively non selective transport, probably in flocculated suspension s,
and 3) very low heavy-mineral proportions of the total
sed iment (normally less than 0.1 %). The variability of the
mineral contents in our data (below) does not generally
allow identification of distinct, adjacent populations at
the 95% confidence level (Folk 1974, Bridgland, 1986).
This is log ical since the regional sediment sources are not
strongly contrasting, and provenance inte r-pretations
have only been possible for large, generalised provinces
(Bengtsson & Stevens this volume) .
On the other hand , despite the low heavy-mineral concentrations and their variability, certain geographic
trends were noted above. Most important, since the concentrations of several heavy-mineral species preferentially increase towards the north, south and southeast away
from the Norwegian Trench, the supply of these minerals
is interpreted to be by sediment transport in the opposite
directions (Fig. 6).ln spite of the relatively non -conclusive
evidence behind the transport interpretations of individual minerals, the occurrence of similar directional indications from several minerals strengthens the probability
of these conclusions. In addition, the predominant pathways are consistent with the transport directions separate ly interpreted from grain -size trends (Stevens et al.

Mineralogical interpretations
N

Heavy-mineral compositions have been widely used in

provenance studies (van Andel & Poole 1960, Morton
1985, Singh et al. 1993, Bengtsson & Stevens this volume) .
Also, the progressive modification of the heavy-mineral
suite along the sediment transport pathway, where heavier minerals are preferentially deposited and lighter
ones are carried further, is a well documented process
(Komar & Wang 1984, Trask & Hand 1985, Li & Komar
1992). Most studies of provenance or selective heavymineral sorting have dealt with sandy environments
where sediments were transported predominantly by
traction processes. The structureless, fine-grained sedi-

59"00 '

5840'

. 'q}.~~"

58"20 '

.,~ . ~
.

58"0 0'

hornbl ende
c=;> garnet
c=f> hematite
. . . magnetite
~ . pyroxene
,.... .. epidote
,.... dolomite

ments of northern Skagerrak do not i n d ic a t e bottom trac-

tion transport. On the other hand , the documented current velocities (Rodhe 1987) do not support the suspension transport of heavy mine rals as single particles of coar-

57"40' '--------,-8"30'

--,-9"00'

-,--9"30 '

-,--- 1 rroo'

-'T-...L-1cr30 '

---,--- '
1100' E

Fig. 6. Transport directions toward theNorwegian Trenchcorresponding to

specific heavy-mineralcomponents.

44

Aivo Lepland & RodneyL. Stevens

NGU-BULL 430. 1996

hemipelagic
near-bottom suspension
traction

NW

===:>

.-:

-: '.~ '<,
~ '~

-: - : ' .

20~
10

.:

'
t-

~A> "~-:
~~;/~ ~P~!:::

-: .'.

.:

I
~

/.

1:

<=

..
%2
1
05

'.'
.'.

SE

Q1

%~

.. . .: . . . . ..
.....

05
013 4 5 6 7 8 9

~~t J
5

7 8 9

tra ction.

20~ %~

10
near -bottom susp e nsion % 5~

3 4 5 :

near- bottom suspe nsion

0.5
01
34 5 6789

4>

05
o1

4>

ne a r-bottom suspension

3 4 56 78 9

4
near-bottom susp e nsio n.
he m ipelagic

1996) and wi th t rend s in mi neral-magneti c parameters

(unpublished data).
Particula r caut ion is approp riate wi t h regard to th e
possibly dependent relationships between concentrations of different tran slucent heavy-mineral species since
t hey are summ ed to 100%, but t here are no str ong correlations, positive or negat ive, observed betwe en minerals
(Table 2). Neverth eless, signifi cant changes in t he major
min eral varieties would be expecte d to change percentages of ot her com ponents, for exam ple, th e pronounced
dow n-slope decrease of horn blende on the southwestern
side of t he trench coincides with an opposite t rend of epidote (Fig. 4). The simil ar lack of correlatio n between the
mineral species (or g rou ps) and grain size also sugg ests
t hat hydraulic sorting has not cont rolled t he coarse-silt
min eral dist ribu ti ons in th e fine -grained depo sits. This is
consistent with t he int erpr eted im port ance of suspension
t ransport and t he influ ence of flocculation. In contrast,
stron g mineralogic sort ing effects are comm on ly associated w it h traction transport of sandy sedim ent s (Trask &
Hand 1985, Li & Komar 1992), as is interprete d in the adjacent, shallower areas t o t he sout h (Bengt sson & Stevens
t his volume).
The distributio n of biotite in th e coarse-silt fracti on
(hyd raulically equivalent to very-fine-s ilt quartz, Doyle et
al. 1983) does, however, ind icate that suspension transport can provide consistent mineralogic trends related to
source character and sorting during t ransport if t hese
minerals are not exclusively included in fl oes, Increasing

Fig. 7. Transport and deposition al mecha nisms as indica ted by the sediment par ticlesize distribution, by the concentration s of
water-column suspended matter (Eisma &
Kalf 1987b), and by transm ission measurements (van Weering et al. 1993 ). The shallo w
shelf has traction -depo sited sand and coar se silt comb in ed wi th near-bottom suspension deposition (bottom nepheloid) of unsorted clay and fine-silt flocs. Near-bottom suspension mechan isms predom inat e on the
trench slopes. In the deepest portion of the
Norw egian Trench the cont ribut ion to the
mi nerogenic sediment from hemipelag ic
depo sition becomes more pron ounc ed, as is
indicated by the relative abundance of coar se-silt of hemipelagic origin (biogenic
debris). On the grain -size distribut ion diagrams the thin lin es are fro m the adjacent
positions for reference with respect to downslop e changes.

mica conte nt s suggest that sing le part icle sedimentation

beco mes significant in the central Norweg ian Trench due
to th e diminished supply by nepheloid suspensions.
Because of its fl at crysta l form , mi ca is hydraulically more
mobile t han ot her minerals of the same size, and it is considered to be a sensitive hyd raulic indicator of sediment
depo sit ion and transport cond it ion s (Doyle et al. 1983,
Komar et al. 1984). The relatively hig her current velocit ies
limit mica depos it ion on the slope s of t he Norwegi an
Trench and in shallow areas, result ing in its winnowing
and deposition in ca lmer an d deep er area s.

A minimal disturbance of the mineral dispersal patte rns is a prerequisite if source interpretations are to be
made upon relative ly weak pattern s of low-percentage
component s, as those discussed above. We expect that
suspension processes t hemselves are variable wi th t ime
and location, so that much of t he irregularity of t he
heavy-m iner al contents is inherent to this enviro nment.
The general sediment sources ind icated by the t ransport
direct ions are logica l wi th respect to the principle oceanog raphic curr ents (cf. Figs. 1 & 6). However, in ou r interpretat ion of transport path ways the do w n-slope directions are more pronounced and are important as a reflecti on of the net sediment accumu lat ion .

Conclusions
Sedimen t grain-size tr ends in nort hern Skagerrak are con-

Aivo Lepland & Rodney L. Stevens

NGU-BULL 430, 1996

sistent wi th bat hymetry, showing systemat ic fin ing and

depletion of the coarsest fractions towards the deepe st
portion of the Norwegian Trench . The unsorted character
of the predominant fine-silt and clay fractions suggest s
that most of the sediments are transported as flocculated
aggregates. As interpreted from sediment grain-size distr ibution s, the modal size of ind ividual, inorganic particles included in floe s decreases from 6 <I> in the shallow
and more turbulent areas to 8 <I> in the calm areas of the
trench bottom. At the same t ime, agg regate buoya ncy is
believed to permit a lim ited amount of coarse-silt and
sand transport in suspension into the se areas.
Weak patterns character ise the heavy-mineral dist ribution of the bottom sediment s (biot ite is the on ly exception). Different species do not correlate with each other or
with grain size. The irregularity of the spati al d ist rib ut ion
is mainly related to the variability of suspension tr ansport
proce sses. Still, the gen eralised concentratio n changes
ind icate the main sediment t ransport from sout hern areas and from the north to ward s t he Norwe gian Trench
(Fig. 6.) The com bined analysis of mineral tre nd s helps to
compensate fo r the lim ited interpretati ve basis of each
mineral. This is especially imp ort ant in t he case of muddy
sedi ments in which the tr ansport mechani sms and t heir
effects upon sediment composit ion are complex.
The sediments of northern Skagerrak indicat e that t he
formation of geographically variable g rain-size distribut ions is related to at least t hree different sediment t ransport processes: t ractio n, near-bottom (bott om nephelo id
layer) suspension and hemipelagic t ransport (Fig. 7). In
shallower areas of relat ively high current velo cit ies the
near-bottom suspension t ranspo rt of fine-g rained floes is
combined w ith t ractio n coarse-silt and sand tran sport,
result ing in bimodal grai n-size d istr ibutions. The importance of t racti on t ransport decreases with water depth
and the correspond ing sediment character was not documented below 200 m on th e Norweg ian slop e or belo w
400 m on t he Danish slop e of th e Norw egi an Trench . The
unsorted fine-g rained sediments at int ermediate depth s
on t he t rench slopes are deri ved predominantly from
floes t ranspo rt ed in near-bo ttom suspension . As indicated by t he fi ning of t hese poorly sort ed sediments, the
capacity of near-bottom suspensio n t ranspo rt consist ent ly decreases to wards t he bo ttom of th e t rench. Below 400
m on the Norwegian slop e and below 500 m on t he
Danish slope, hem ipelag ic depositi on is ind icat ed by a
relati ve abu ndance of biogenic coarse silt.
Acknowl edgeme nts
Th is st udy has been po ssibl e t h rou g h co-o perat io n w it h Bergen
University (Prof. H. Sch rad er and Dr. M . Paetzel) and th e Geo log ical
Su rv ey of Norway (Dr. O. Lon g va). Ms Mare Viid ing, Tallinn , is ackno w led g ed for her hel p w it h heavy-min eral ident ifi cat ion. Revi ewe rs Dr. M .
Paet zel and Dr. E. Roald set are t hanked for t heir he lpful crit icism of th e
ma nu script. Thi s pape r is part of Lep land 's doc toral d issert at ion w o rk,
fi nan ced by th e Swed ish Natu ral Science Research Coun ci l. The fund ing
p ro vided by t he Hiert a-Rezielius Fond fo r analyses is also ap p reciated.
The Sw edi sh Envi ro nmental Protect ion Age ncy has prov ided a more
g ene ral fi nancial and interdiscip linary basis for our wo rk w it hin the
'Vasterhavsp roj ektet' fo r several years.

45

References
Alldred g e, A.L. & Silv er, M .W. 1988: Characte rist ics, dyna m ics and sig nificance of m arine snow. Progr. Ocea nogr. 20, 41 -82.
And el va n, T.H. & Poo le, D.M. 1960: Sou rces of recent sed im ent s in th e
no rthern Gu lf of Mexico. J. Sed. Petro l. 30,91-122 .
Bengtsson, H. & St evens, R.L.: Heavy-mineral Prov inces in sout hern
Skage rrak and north ern Kattegat . Th is vo lume.
Blan p ied, e. & Sta nley, D.J. 198 1: Unifor m m ud (un ifit e) de po sit io n in t he
Hellenic Trench, Eastern Me di te rranea n. Smithson ia n Contr. M ar. Sci.
13,1 -40 .
Brid gl an d, D.R. 1986: Discussion on p roc edu res and reco m medat io ns. In
D.R. Bridg land. Clast lith ol ogi cal ana lysis. Qua ternary Research
Associatio n Technical Guide 3, 1-33.
Calla han , J. 1987. A no ntoxic heavy liquid and inex pensive filters for
sepa rat io n of mi neral gra ins. J. Sed. Petro l. 57, 765-766.
Doyle, L.J., Carder, K.L. & Stewa rd, R.G. 1983: Th e hyd rauli c eq uiva lence
of mi ca. J. Sed. Petrol . 52, 643-648.
Dyer, K.R. 1989: Sed imen t processes in estua ries: Fut ure research req uirem ent s. J. Geop h. Res. 94, 14327-14339.
Eisma, D. 1986: Flocc ulat ion and de- flocculation of suspended m at ter in
estua ries. Neth. J. Sea Res. 20, 1451 - 1464 .
Eisma, D. 1990: Transport and de pos it io n of suspend ed m atter in t he
North Sea and t he relati o n to coast al silta t io n, poll uti on , and bo ttom fau na di st rib utio n. Rev. Aquat. Sci. 3, 18 1- 216.
Eism a, D. 1993: Suspended Matter in the Aquatic Enviro nment. Sp ringerVerlag, Berlin Heidelbe rg, 1-315.
Eisma, D. & lrion , G. 1988: Suspende d ma t ter and tra nspo rt . In Salomons,
W., Bayne, B. 1.., Dursma, E.K. & Fb rstn er, U. (eds.) Po llu ti a n af th e
North Sea - An assessme n t. Springer Verlag, New York, USA, 20-35 .
Eisma, D. & Kalf, J. 1987a: Dispe rsal, concent rat ion and deposit io n of suspend ed ma tte r in th e No rt h Sea. J. Geol. Soc. London 144, 16 1- 178.
Eisma, D. & Kalf, J. 1987 b: Distri but ion, organic co nte nt and particle size
of suspended matter in th e Nort h Sea. Net h. J. Sea Res. 2 1,265-285 .
Folk, R.L. 1974: Petr ol o gy of sed ime nta ry rocks. Hem phi ll Publi shi ng Co.,
Austin , 1-158.
Fait , L.M. 1982. Late Qu ate rna ry sea floor deposit s off the Swed ish w est
coast . Chalmers Univ . Tech. & Univ. Got eborq, Publ . A3 7, 1-259 .
Jone s, K.P.N., McCave, I.N. & Weaver, P.P.E. 1992: Text ural and d isper sal
pattern s of t hick mud tu rbi d ites from t he Madeira Aby ssal Plain.
Mar. Geol . 107, 149- 173.
Jorgensen, P., Erlenkeuser, H,. Lange , H., Nagy, J., Rumoh r, J. & We rne r, F.
1981. Sed im ent olog ical and st rat ig rap h ical studies of t w o cores
from the Skag errak. In Nio , S.-D., Sch Ut tenhelm, R.T.E. & va n
Weering , T.e.E. (eds.) Ho lo cene Marine Sedim ent at ion in the North
Sea Basin. Spe c. Pub l.lnt. Assoc. Sed ime ntol. 5,397-4 14.
Koma r, PD ., Bab a, J. & Cui, B. 1984: Grain-size ana lyses of mica w it h in
sed im ent s and t he hydr aul ic equ ivalence of mica and qua rt z. J. Sed.
Petro l. 54, 1379- 1391.
Kom ar PD . & Wang, e. 1984: Pro cesses of select iv e gra in t ran sport and
t he form at ion of p lacers on beach es. J. Geol . 92, 637-655.
Kranck, K. 1975: Sedim ent d epo sit ion from floc culated suspensions.
Sed im en to logy 22, 111-123.
Kran ck, K. 1993: Floccu lation and sedim ent pa rt icle size. Arch . Hydro biol.
Supp l. 75, 299-309.
Kran ck, K. & M illigan, T.G. 1985: Origin of g rain size spect ra of suspe nded
depo site d sed im ent . Geo Mar. Lett. 5, 61-66 .
Kranck , K. & Mi lli g an, T.G. 199 1: Grai n size in ocea nography. In Syv itski ,
J.M.P (ed .) Princip les, m eth ods, and application of particl e size analy sis. Cam b ridg e Uni versity Press, 332-3 45.
Kranck K. & Millig an, T.G. 1992: Charact erist ics of Suspended Part icle s at
an l l -Ho u r Anc hor Stat ion in San Francisc o Bay, Califo rn ia. J. Geop h.
Res. 97, 11 373- 11 382.
Krumbein, W.e. & Pett ijoh n, F.J. 1938: M an ual of Sed im entary
Petr ograp hy . Ap p leto n Cent u ry-Cro fts , New York, 1-549 .
Kuehl, SA, Nittroue r, A. & DeMa ster, D.J. 1988: M icrofabric st udy of fi neg rained sedim ent s: Observat ions from t he Amazo n su baq ueous
d elta . J. Sed. Petrol. 58, 12-23.
Li, M.Z. & Komar , PD . 1992: Longs ho re grai n sort ing and beach p lacer
format ion adjace nt to t he Colum b ia River. J. Sed. Petro l. 62, 429 -44 1.
Lick, W., Lick, J. & Zieg ler, C.K. 1992: Flocc ulat ion and it s effect on t he
vert ical transport of fi ne-gr ained sed im ents. Hy drob iol ogi a 235 / 236,
1-16.

46

Aivo Lepl and & Rodney L. Stevens

McManus, J., 1988: Grain size determ inat ion and int erpret ation , In
Tucke r, M. E. (ed.) Techniques in Sedimenrolo gy, Blackw ell s, Oxfor d,
63-85 .
McCave, I.N. &Jo nes, K.P.N. 1988: Deposition of ungraded muds of nonturbulent turb id ity curren ts. Nature 333,250-252.
Morton, A.C 1985: Heavy min erals in pr oven ance stu dies . In Zuffa , G.G.
Prov ena nce ofAre nites . Reidel, Dord recht, 249-277.
Morton, A.C & Hallsworth , C 1994: Ide ntifying proven ance-specifi c feature s of detrita l heavy mineral assemblages in sandstones. Sed.
Geol. 90, 24 1-256.

North Sea Task Force 1993: North Sea Subregion 8 Assessm ent Report
199 3. Oslo and Paris Comm issions, London. Olsen & Olsen,
Fredensbo rg, Denm ark, 1-80.
Nittrou er, C A., DeMaster, D.J., Kuehl , SA, McKee, B. A. & Thor bjarn arson,
K.W. 1985: Some quest ions and answe rs about th e accum ulation of
fine-grained sediment in continenta l ma rg in env ironment. Geo M a r.
Lett. 4, 211-2 13.
Niem istb, L. 1974: A gravity corer for st udi es of soft sedi m ents.
M erentutkimuslait. Ju tl. / Hav sfo rskningsi ns t. Skr. 238,33-38.
Olausson, E. 1975: Man -made effect on sediments from Kattegat and
Skagerrak. Geol. Foren . Stockh. Fotb . 97, 3-12.
Pederstad, K., Roaldset, E. & Ronn lnqsland, T.M. 1993: Sed imen tation
and environment al co nd it ions in the inner Skagerra k - outer
Oslofj ord. Ma r. Geol. 717, 245-268.
Rodhe, J. 1987: The large scale circulation in the Skagerrak: in te rpr eta t ions of som e observat ions. Tel/us 39A. 245- 253.
Salge, U. & Wong , H. K. 1988: The Skagerrak: A Depo -Environme nt fo r
Recent Sed im ents in the Nort h Sea. M itt . Geol-Palaont. inst., Univ.
Ha mburg 65,367-380.
Sing h, A., Bahard w aj, B.o . & Ahma d, A.H.M. 1993: Tectonic setting and
sedim entology of Ganga River sed im ents, Ind ia. Bareas 22, 38-46.
Stanley, D.J. 1985: Mud Redep osit io nal Processes as a Major Influence
on Med it erranean Marg in-Basin Sediment at io n. In Stanley, D.J. &
Wezel, F.-C (eds.) Geological Evolution of the M edi terranean Basin .

NGU-BULL 430, 1996

Springer-Verlag New York, 3774 10.

Stevens, R.L. 1991: Triangle plo ts and text ural nomenclat ure fo r muddy
sedim ents. Geo Mar. Lett . u , 166- 168.
St even s, R.L., Beng t sson, H. & Lepl and, A. 1996: Text ural pro vinces and
tran sport interpretations w ith fi ne-g rained sedi m ents in the
Skagerra k. J. Sea Res. 35, 99-110.
Stow, DAV. 1985: Deep -sea c1ast ics: wh ere are we and wh ere are w e
going ? In Brenc hley, PJ . & Williams, BJ .P (eds.). Sedimentology:
Recent Developm ents an d Applied Aspects. Geol. Soc. Lo nd. Pub l. 78,

67-93.
Svansson, A. 1975: Physical and chemi cal oceanog raphy o f th e
Skagerrak and t he Katt egat . Fishery Board Swed en, Inst . Mar. Res..
Rep. 7, 1-88.
Syvitski , J.M.P. 1991: The changing mi crofabric o f suspended part iculate
matter - the flu vial to marine tr ansition : flocculat ion , agglome ratio n
and pe llet izati o n. ln Bennett, R.H, Bryant , W.R. & Hulb ert , M.H. (eds.)
The microstructu re of fine -grained sedimenrs: From muds to shale.
Frontiers in Sedim enr ary Geology . Springe r-Verlag, New York, 131-

137.
Trask, C B. & Hand , B.M. 1985: Different ial transport of fall- equivalen t
sand gra in s, Lake Onta rio, New Yo rk. J. Sed. Petrol. 55, 226-234.
van Wee ring , T.CE. 198 1: Recent sedi m ents and sedim ent tra nsp ort in
t he no rt hern Nort h Sea; surfa ce sediments of th e Skag err ak.ln Nio,
S.-D, Schu tten helrn , R.T.E. & van Weering, T.CE (ed s.) Holocene
M arine Sedimentation in the North Sea Basin . Spec. Pub l. Int. Assoc.
Sedime ntal. 5, 335-359 .

van Weering, T.CE. 1982: Shallow seismic and acous tic refl ect ion pro files from th e Skage rrak: im plications for recen t sedimentat ion . Proc.
Konin Akad. Wetensch . Seri es B85, 129-154.
van Weering , T.C E., Berger , G.W. & Okkels, E. 1993: Sedim en t transport,
resuspension and accumulat io n rates in t he no rth eastern
Skagerrak. In Lieb ezeit, G,. van Weeri ng, T.CE. & Rumo hr, J. (ed s.)
Holocene sedimenta tion in th e Skage rrak. Ma r. Geol . 117,269-285.

Manuscript received June 1995; revised version accep ted January 1996.