A series of individual turbidites, correlated over distances[100 km, are present in the recent fill of the Agadir Basin, offshore northwest Africa. The aim here is to unravel multiple turbidite source areas and flow pathways, and show how turbidite provenance studies contribute to interpretation of flow processes. Agadir Basin turbidites are sourced from four main areas, with the majority originating from the siliciclastic Morocco Shelf; their sand-mud distribution is strongly controlled by flow sediment volume, with relatively low-volume flows dying out within the Agadir Basin and large-volume flows bypassing significant sediment volumes to basins further downslope. Two largevolume volcaniclastic turbidites are attributed to a Canary Islands landslide source, while several small mud-dominated turbidites are interpreted to be locally sourced from hemipelagic-draped seamounts (e.g. Turbidite AB10). Finally, Turbidite AB1 (*1 ka) is only present in the western Agadir Basin, and is linked to recent ''re-activation'' of the Sahara Slide headwall. The muddy suspension clouds of three large-volume flows, all linked to large-scale landslides, have covered huge areas of seafloor and flowed along or even slightly upslope for long distances. It is proposed that northeastwards-flowing bottom currents have aided transport of these dilute flow fractions into and across the Agadir Basin.

Controls of sediment dynamics at the Galician continental slope (NW Iberia) during the past 30 ka were reconstructed from three new gravity cores (GeoB11035-1, 130206-1, 13071-1) based on sedimentological (e.g. sortable silt, IRD), micropalaeontological (e.g. coccoliths), geochemical (AMS 14 C, XRF) and geophysical (e.g. magnetic susceptibility) diagnostics. The data are consistent with existing regional knowledge that, during marine isotope stages 3-1, variations in detrital input, marine productivity and sea level were the essential drivers of sediment availability on the slope, whereas deep-water current velocities controlled sediment deposition: (1) the period prior to 30 cal ka BP is characterized by minor but systematic variations in various proxies which can be associated with D-O cycles; (2) between 30 and 18 cal ka BP, high detrital input and steady slope-parallel currents led to constant sedimentation; (3) from the LGM until 10 cal ka BP, the shelftransgressive sea-level rise increased the detrital particle flux; sedimentation was influenced by significantly enhanced deep-water circulation during the Bølling/Allerød, and subsequent slowing during the Younger Dryas; (4) an abrupt and lasting change to hemipelagic sedimentation at ca. 10 cal ka BP was probably due to Holocene warming and decelerated transgression; (5) after 5 cal ka BP, additional input of detrital material to the slope is plausibly linked to the evolution of fine-grained depocentres on the Galician shelf, this being the first report of this close shelfslope sedimentary linkage off NW Iberia. Furthermore, there is novel evidence of the nowadays strong outer shelf Iberian Poleward Current becoming established at about 15.5 cal ka BP. The data also demonstrate that small-scale morphologic features and local pathways of sediment export from the neighbouring shelf play an important role for sediment distribution on the NW Iberian slope, including a hitherto unknown sediment conduit off the Ría de Arousa. By implication, the impact of local morphology on alongand down-slope sediment dynamics is more complex than commonly considered, and deserves future attention.

No abstract

Over the Uruguayan shelf and uppermost slope, the coalescence of northward flowing Subantarctic Shelf Water and southward flowing Subtropical Shelf Water forms a distinct thermohaline front termed the Subtropical Shelf Front (STSF). Running in a SW direction diagonally across the shelf from the coastal waters at 32°S toward the shelf break at ca. 36°S, the STSF represents the shelfward extension of the Brazil‐Malvinas Confluence zone. This study reconstructs latitudinal STSF shifts during the Holocene based on benthic foraminifera δ18O and δ13C, total organic carbon, carbonate contents, Ti/Ca, and grain size distribution from a high‐accumulation sedimentary record located at an uppermost continental‐slope terrace. Our data provide direct evidence for: (1) a southern STSF position (to the South of the core site) at the beginning of the early Holocene (>9.4 cal ka BP) linked to a more southerly position of the Southern Westerly Winds in combination with restricted shelf circulation intensity due to lower sea level; (2) a gradual STSF northward migration (bypassing the core site toward the North) primarily forced by the northward migration of the Southern Westerly Winds from 9.4 cal ka BP onward; (3) a relatively stable position of the front in the interval between 7.2 and 4.0 cal ka BP; (4) millennial‐scale latitudinal oscillations close to 36°S of the STSF after 4.0 cal ka BP probably linked to the intensification in El Niño Southern Oscillation; and (5) a southward migration of the STSF during the last 200 years possibly linked to anthropogenic influences on the atmosphere.

The high-energy, low-accumulation NW Iberian shelf features three confined Holocene mud depocentres. Here, we show that the evolution of such depocentres follows successive steps. The flooding of inner shelf zones and river catchment areas by the late deglacial sea-level rise provided the precondition for shelf mud deposition. Following this, the Holocene deceleration of the sea-level rise caused a rapid refill of the accommodation space within river valleys. Subsequently, the export of major amounts of fines was initiated. The initial onset and loci of shelf mud deposition were related to deposition-favouring conditions in mid-shelf position or to the presence of morphological highs, which act as sediment traps by providing protection against stronger hydrodynamic energy. The detailed reconstruction of the Holocene depocentre evolution shows for the first time that the expansion of such shelf mud deposits cannot only occur by linear growth off the associated sediment source. Rather, they might develop around centres that are fully disconnected from the source of original sediment supply, and expand later into specific directions. Based on these differences and on the connection of the individual mud depocentres to the material source we propose a conceptual subdivision of the group “mid-shelf mud depocentres”.