ORIGINAL Control of sediment supply, palaeoceanography and morphology on late Quaternary sediment dynamics at the Galician continental slope Vera B. Bender & Till J. J. Hanebuth & Anxo Mena & Karl-Heinz Baumann & Guillermo Francés & Tilo von Dobeneck Received: 18 January 2012 / Accepted: 15 February 2012 / Published online: 11 March 2012 # Springer-Verlag 2012 Abstract 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. sort- able silt, IRD), micropalaeontological (e.g. coccoliths), geo- chemical (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 avail- ability 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 sed- imentation; (3) from the LGM until 10 cal ka BP, the shelf- transgressive sea-level rise increased the detrital particle flux; sedimentation was influenced by significantly en- hanced 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, addi- tional 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 shelf– slope 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 along- and down-slope sediment dynamics is more complex than commonly considered, and deserves future attention. Introduction At centennial to millennial timescales, the essential drivers of sedimentation along passive continental margins are (1) the sources and magnitude of detrital input with (2) primary production providing the basic ‘ingredients’, whereas (3) oceanographic (especially intermediate- and deep-water cur- rents) and (4) sea-level conditions regulate transport and depositional processes. These four elements are ultimately controlled by climate at various spatiotemporal scales. Within the framework of the European OMEX (Ocean Margin EXchange) projects, the NW Iberian margin has Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00367-012-0282-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. V. B. Bender (*) : T. J. J. Hanebuth MARUM – Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, P.O. Box 330 440, 28334 Bremen, Germany e-mail: vbender@uni-bremen.de A. Mena : G. Francés Departamento de Xeociencias Mariñas e O.T., Facultad de Ciencias do Mar, Universidade de Vigo, 36310 CUVI, Vigo, Spain K.-H. Baumann : T. von Dobeneck Faculty of Geosciences, University of Bremen, P.O. Box 330 440, 28334 Bremen, Germany Geo-Mar Lett (2012) 32:313–335 DOI 10.1007/s00367-012-0282-2