The INBIS Channel System: a unique deep-sea sediment route in the NW Barents Sea (May 2017)

The INBIS Channel System is an inter-fan deep-marine channel system located on the lower reaches of the continental slope in the Norwegian-Greenland Sea, West of Bjørnøya, Barents Sea. Upslope of the INBIS Channel System a complex series of gullies and tributary canyons incise the upper parts of the continental slope; these are inferred to have originated from erosion by turbidity currents and possibly also from cascading of dense cold water from the continental shelf. These features merge and grow in dimensions down slope and converge into the deep main trunk channel, called the INBIS Channel. The formation of this channel system was possible due to its location between the Kveithola Trough Mouth Fan (TMF) and the Bjørnøya TMF. Due to this, the Inbis Channel System was protected and, in consequence, only partially fed from the massive sediment gravity flows produced by ice streams during the Last Glacial Maximum, as well as modified by the Spitsbergen Current, a northward flowing ocean current that affects the shallower parts of the channel boundaries, controlling its asymmetry. These particular conditions are rare on this part of the margin, making the INBIS Channel System a unique example in this part of the NW Barents Sea.