02593nas a2200325   4500000000100000000000100001008004100002260000800043653008200051653006000133653001200193653001900205653006100224653001600285653002100301653001700322653002200339653001200361653001400373100002700387700001900414700001700433700002200450245007600472856004300548300001100591490000700602520164400609020001402253       2010                            d  bAGU10a3022 Marine Geology and Geophysics: Marine sediments: processes and transport10a3045 Marine Geology and Geophysics: Seafloor morphology10ageology10aand geophysics10a3070 Marine Geology and Geophysics: Submarine landslides10adebris flow10anorthwest Africa10aSahara Slide10aslope instability10atsunami10aturbidite1 aAggeliki Georgiopoulou1 aDouglas Masson1 aRussell Wynn1 aSebastian Krastel00aSahara Slide: Age, initiation, and processes of a giant submarine slide  uhttp://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2010GC003066  aQ070140 v113 aThe Sahara Slide is a giant submarine landslide on the northwest African continental margin. The landslide is located on the open continental slope offshore arid Western Sahara, with a headwall at a water depth of \~2000 m. High primary productivity in surface waters drives accumulation of thick fine-grained pelagic/hemipelagic sediment sequences in the slide source area. Rare but large-scale slope failures, such as the Sahara Slide that remobilized approximately 600 km<sup>3</sup> of sediment, are characteristic of this sedimentological setting. Seismic profiles collected from the slide scar reveal a stepped profile with two 100 m high headwalls, suggesting that the slide occurred retrogressively as a slab-type failure. Sediment cores recovered from the slide deposit provide new insights into the process by which the slide eroded and entrained a volcaniclastic sand layer. When this layer was entrained at the base of the slide it became fluidized and resulted in low apparent friction, facilitating the exceptionally long runout of \~900 km. The slide location appears to be controlled by the buried headwall of an older slope failure, and we suggest that the cause of the slide relates to differential sedimentation rates and compaction across these scarps, leading to local increases of pore pressure. Sediment cores yield a date of 50\textendash60 ka for the main slide event, a period of global sea level rise which may have contributed to pore pressure buildup. The link with sea level rising is consistent with other submarine landslides on this margin, drawing attention to this potential hazard during global warming.  a1525-2027