A few months-old storm-generated turbidite deposited in the Capbreton Canyon (Bay of Biscay, SW France)

A gravity core taken in the canyon of Capbreton shows a succession of sedimentary facies which can be interpreted as three superimposed Bouma sequences. The turbiditic sequences are covered by an oxidised layer which contains live benthic foraminiferal faunas indicating a reprisal of hemipelagic deposition. Activities of ²³⁴Th and ²¹⁰Pb suggest that the most recent turbidite was deposited between early December 1999 and mid-January 2000. During this period, the most probable natural event able to trigger a turbidity current was the violent storm which affected the French Atlantic coast on 27 December 1999. The turbidity current could have been caused by a sediment failure due to an excess in pore pressure generated by the storm waves, an increase of the littoral drift, or the dissipation of the along-coast water bulge through the canyon. This sub-recent turbidite shows that the canyon experiences modern gravity processes, despite the lack of a direct connection with a major sediment source.