Chabaud

K Fauquembergue

E Ducassou

T Mulder

J J G Reijmer

J Borgomano

A Recouvreur

V Hanquiez

C Betzler

M Principaud

L Chabaud

N Fabregas

J Giraudeau

V Bout-Roumazeilles

P Moal-Darrigade

M.-C Perello

E Poli

Quaternary sedimentary processes on the Bahamas: From platform to abyss

Keywords:

Introduction

At present a large series of major sedimentary systems can be found around the world that are exclusively composed of carbonate sediments, e.g., the Bahamas, the Maldives, the Mascarene Plateau (Indian Ocean). Carbonate factories in these settings reflect carbonate sediment production linked to strict environmental conditions such as water temperature, light conditions, and nutrient availability [START_REF] Schlager | Benthic carbonate factories of the Phanerozoic[END_REF][START_REF] Michel | Heterozoan carbonates: when, where and why? A synthesis on parameters controlling carbonate production and occurrences[END_REF][START_REF] Reijmer | Marine carbonate factories: Review and update[END_REF]. This combination of environmental parameters enables prolific sediment production and significant export of shallow-water skeletal and non-skeletal platform sediments to deeper slopes and basins. A clear and accurate understanding of the mechanisms driving the export of these sediments, coarse to fine, to the deep seafloor is essential to assess the overall depositional processes and the reservoir aspect of these deposits. Previous studies have highlighted that the efficiency of sediment export for all grain-size fractions depends on factors such as platform morphology and the presence of reefs, e.g. [START_REF] Puga-Bernabéu | Morphology and controls on the evolution of a mixed carbonate-siliciclastic submarine canyon system, Great Barrier Reef margin, North-Eastern Australia[END_REF], 2013, 2014) for the mixed Great Barrier Reef system and [START_REF] Etienne | Large-scale margin collapses along a partly drowned, isolated carbonate platform (Lansdowne Bank, SW Pacific Ocean)[END_REF] for the Lansdowne Bank (SW Pacific Ocean), or dominant wind direction interacting along the platform margin that may support or restrain the export of sediments [START_REF] Schlager | Bahama carbonate platforms-the deep and the past[END_REF][START_REF] Tournadour | Architecture and dynamique sédimentaire d'une pente carbonatée moderne: exemple de la pente Nord de Little Bahama Bank[END_REF].

At the Bahamas, passing winter fronts and daily processes mainly determine sediment export out of the shallow-water realms (e.g., [START_REF] Wilber | Accumulation of bank-top sediment on the western slope of Great Bahama Bank: rapid progradation of a carbonate megabank[END_REF]Wilson andRoberts, 1992, 1995;[START_REF] Hickey | Dense saline plumes in Exuma Sound, Bahamas[END_REF]Roth andReijmer, 2004, 2005;[START_REF] Principaud | Recent morphology and sedimentary processes along the western slope of Great Bahama Bank (Bahamas)[END_REF]. Hurricanes are often highlighted as main sediment export events, but have only reduced impact on sedimentation patterns on the platform [START_REF] Rankey | Lack of impact of hurricane Michelle on tidal flats, Andros Island, Bahamas: integrated remote sensing and field observations[END_REF][START_REF] Reeder | Controls on morphology and sedimentology of carbonate tidal deltas, Abacos, Bahamas[END_REF] as they mainly stir up muds in the shallow carbonate platform realm. Hence, indirectly they facilitate the export of fine sediment through continuous processes like tidal and ocean cur-rents. Preferential sediment export is illustrated by the progradation-aggradation geometries visible in seismic profiles of Great Bahama Bank (Eberli and[START_REF] Eberli | Cenozoic Progradation of Northwestern Great Bahama Bank, a Record of Lateral Platform Growth and Sea-Level Fluctuations[END_REF]. These profiles demonstrate a leeward-margin dominated closing of intraplatform seaways and west-ward progradation of the Cenozoic Great Bahama Bank margin. Other leeward and windward margin sedimentation processes were detailed through ODP Leg 101 [START_REF] Schlager | Proceedings of the Ocean Drilling Program, 101 Initial Reports[END_REF] and IODP Leg 166 (Swart et al., 2000) studies.

Slope morphologies vary throughout the Bahamas depending on the interaction between sediment export, tides, platform margin morphology i.e., presence or absence of shoals or islands, as well as shallow-and deep-water ocean currents (e.g., [START_REF] Wilber | Accumulation of bank-top sediment on the western slope of Great Bahama Bank: rapid progradation of a carbonate megabank[END_REF]Har-wood and Towers, 1988;[START_REF] Rankey | Geomorphology of carbonate platform-marginal uppermost slopes: Insights from a Holocene analogue, Little Bahama Bank, Bahamas: Uppermost carbonate platform slope, Bahamas[END_REF][START_REF] Betzler | Periplatform drift: the combined result of contour current and offbank transport along carbonate platforms[END_REF]. Variations in the grain-size spectrum of the exported sediment (Rendle-Bühring and Reijmer, 2005), and their quantity related to eustatic sea-level variations ('highstand shedding"; [START_REF] Droxler | Quaternary aragonite cycles and oxygen-isotope record in Bahamian carbonate ooze[END_REF][START_REF] Schlager | Highstand shedding of carbonate platforms[END_REF] together with in-situ submarine [START_REF] Grammer | Rapid growth rates of syndepositional marine aragonite cements in steep marginal slope deposits, Bahamas and Belize[END_REF] and microbial binding of the upper slopes [START_REF] Reolid | The importance of microbial binding in neogenequaternary steep slopes[END_REF], as well as terrestrial cementation [START_REF] Dravis | Rapidity of freshwater calcite cementation-implications for carbonate diagenesis and sequence stratigraphy[END_REF] and karst processes during exposure of the shallow-water carbonate platform (e.g. [START_REF] Labourdette | Process-like modeling of flank margin caves: from genesis to burial evolution[END_REF][START_REF] Rankey | Geomorphology of carbonate platform-marginal uppermost slopes: Insights from a Holocene analogue, Little Bahama Bank, Bahamas: Uppermost carbonate platform slope, Bahamas[END_REF] determine the sedimentation processes on the slope and the ultimate morphology of the platform margin and slope itself.

The upper slopes along the Bahamas are marked by a very steep cliff-like upper slope with a series of terraces [START_REF] Wilber | Accumulation of bank-top sediment on the western slope of Great Bahama Bank: rapid progradation of a carbonate megabank[END_REF][START_REF] Grammer | Rapid growth rates of syndepositional marine aragonite cements in steep marginal slope deposits, Bahamas and Belize[END_REF][START_REF] Rankey | Geomorphology of carbonate platform-marginal uppermost slopes: Insights from a Holocene analogue, Little Bahama Bank, Bahamas: Uppermost carbonate platform slope, Bahamas[END_REF][START_REF] Mulder | Canyon morphology on a modern carbonate slope of the Bahamas: evidence of regional tectonic tilting[END_REF]. The middle slope displays varying angles of repose and slope adjustment processes related to the sediment composition [START_REF] Harwood | Seismic sedimentologic interpretation of a carbonate slope, north margin of Little Bahama Bank[END_REF][START_REF] Kenter | Match between late Pleistocene Great Bahama Bank and deep-sea oxygen isotope records of sea level[END_REF], combined with slope channels [START_REF] Mulder | Canyon morphology on a modern carbonate slope of the Bahamas: evidence of regional tectonic tilting[END_REF][START_REF] Tournadour | Submarine canyon morphologies and evolution in modern carbonate settings: the northern slope of Little Bahama Bank, Bahamas[END_REF], Mass Transport Deposits (MTD; [START_REF] Tournadour | Origin and architecture of a Mass Transport complex on the northwest slope of Little Bahama Bank (Bahamas): Relations between off-bank transport, bottom current sedimentation and submarine landslides[END_REF][START_REF] Wunsch | Sedimentary dynamics along carbonate slopes (Bahamas archipelago)[END_REF][START_REF] Goff | On the architecture of intra-formational Mass-Transport deposits: Insights from the carbonate slopes of Great Bahama Bank and the Apulian Carbonate Platform[END_REF] and sediment sorting processes related to deep-water currents [START_REF] Betzler | Periplatform drift: the combined result of contour current and offbank transport along carbonate platforms[END_REF]. Latter processes also relate to the development of a series of contourite deposits bordering Great Bahama Bank and Little Bahama Bank (Berg-man, 2005;[START_REF] Eberli | Characteristics of modern carbonate contourite drifts[END_REF][START_REF] Mulder | Contour current imprints and contourite drifts in the Bahamian archipelago[END_REF].

All in all, the Quaternary slopes of the Bahamian slopes offer the opportunity to investigate the interaction between oceanic processes and platform sediment production/export at a regional scale. The Bahamian archipelago is made up of >700 islands that occur dispersed along extensive carbonate platforms on which the maximum water depth does not exceed 20 m (Fig. 1). Sediment production on these platforms itself and its export towards the associated slope deposits has been discussed extensively over the last few decades, focusing on stratigraphic architectures and platform-to-slope transition and physiography [START_REF] Playton | Carbonate slopes[END_REF][START_REF] Betzler | Periplatform drift: the combined result of contour current and offbank transport along carbonate platforms[END_REF]Reijmer et al., 2015aReijmer et al., , 2015b;;[START_REF] Chabaud | Sedimentary processes determining the modern carbonate periplatform drift of Little Bahama Bank[END_REF][START_REF] Wunsch | Sedimentary dynamics along carbonate slopes (Bahamas archipelago)[END_REF]Mulder et al., 2017).

This study focuses on analysing sedimentation patterns observed in cores obtained from the Great Abaco Canyon positioned on the northern Bahamian slope of Little Bama Bank (LBB), the northernmost platform of the Bahamian archipelago. A comparison of the sedimentation history in this area with existing sedimentological and seismic data will be made to generate a detailed assessment of slope sedimentation patterns on this carbonate margin to (i) assess the factors controlling the skeletal and non-skeletal sediment transfer from the shallow-water platform to the adjacent slope and basin during the Quaternary (Fig. 1); (ii) evaluate sediment production, export, deposition and redistribution of both fine-and coarse-grained deposits; and (iii) finally make a comparison with other platform slopes of the Bahamas to appraise the variations for leeward (e.g., western GBB) and windward (e.g., LBB) orientated slopes.

Geological and Oceanographic setting

Geological setting

The Great Abaco Canyon (GAC) runs more or less parallel to the northern margin and the northern slope of the LBB (Fig. 1). It actually marks a regional structural boundary between the Bahamas and the Blake Plateau and can be linked to the Great Abaco Fracture Zone that dates back to pre-Santonian time [START_REF] Mullins | +. Geology of Great Abaco Submarine Canyon (Blake Plateau): Observations from the research submersible[END_REF]. Vertical move-ment along this fracture zone during the Upper Cretaceous to Eocene are related to the Cuban orogenesis and probably resulted in the formation of the early Great Abaco Canyon. Another expression of the kinematic evolution of the Cuban fold and thrust belt within the associated Bahamian foreland is the Santaren Anticline [START_REF] Masaferro | Palaeogene-Neogene/present day(?) growth folding in the Bahamian foreland of the Cuban fold and thrust belt[END_REF][START_REF] Masaferro | Episodic folding inferred from syntectonic carbonate sedimentation: the Santaren anticline, Bahamas foreland[END_REF]. This NW-SE trending fold runs parallel to other folds and thrusts observed onshore and offshore of Cuba and displays fold growth between the latest Mid-Eocene to Pliocene and possibly even at present [START_REF] Masaferro | Palaeogene-Neogene/present day(?) growth folding in the Bahamian foreland of the Cuban fold and thrust belt[END_REF]. Over time the Great Abaco Channel environ-ment experienced a series of events with partial infill [START_REF] Schlager | Leg 101-An Overview[END_REF] during the Paleogene succeeded by increased sediment transport towards the Blake-Bahama Basin during the Oligocene to Middle Miocene [START_REF] Benson | Introduction and Principal Results[END_REF][START_REF] Mullins | +. Geology of Great Abaco Submarine Canyon (Blake Plateau): Observations from the research submersible[END_REF][START_REF] Bliefnick | Deposition and provenance of Miocene intraclastic chalks, Blake-Bahama Basin, western North Atlantic[END_REF][START_REF] Schlager | Leg 101-An Overview[END_REF]. Finally, GAC acted as transport channel for the redeposition of sediments derived from the Blake Bahama Ridge as well as sediment that originated from LBB [START_REF] Mulder | Canyon morphology on a modern carbonate slope of the Bahamas: evidence of regional tectonic tilting[END_REF][START_REF] Tournadour | Submarine canyon morphologies and evolution in modern carbonate settings: the northern slope of Little Bahama Bank, Bahamas[END_REF][START_REF] Fauquembergue | Genesis and growth of a carbonate Holocene wedge on the northern Little Bahama Bank[END_REF][START_REF] Recouvreur | Geomorphology of a modern carbonate slope system and associated sedimentary processes: example of the giant Great Abaco Canyon, Bahamas[END_REF].

Sediment export from platforms to slopes and climate control

During periods of falling sea level and sea-level lowstands, active cementation occurs on the platforms [START_REF] Schlager | Highstand shedding of carbonate platforms[END_REF][START_REF] Dravis | Rapidity of freshwater calcite cementation-implications for carbonate diagenesis and sequence stratigraphy[END_REF]Kievman, 1998) and karstification affects previously formed highstand deposits [START_REF] Mylroie | Karst development on carbonate islands 1 (2)[END_REF][START_REF] Ford | Karst Hydrogeology and Geomorphology[END_REF]. When the platforms are subsequently flooded, the water mass that cover the platform will be subjected to seasonal variations in tem-perature, and associated changes in salinity, wind patterns, tides, and fluctuations in nutrient and carbonate saturation levels. Platform flooding is the first-order prerequisite controlling platform-top sediment production and subsequent sediment export of tropical carbonate plat-forms [START_REF] Schlager | Highstand shedding of carbonate platforms[END_REF][START_REF] Jorry | From platform top to adjacent deep sea: new source-to-sink insights into carconate sediment production and transfer in the SW Indian ocean (Glorieuses archipelago)[END_REF][START_REF] Paul | Relationship between late Pleistocene Sea-level variations, carbonate platform morphology and aragonite production (Maldives, Indian Ocean): Sea-level and aragonite on the Maldives[END_REF]. In the Bahamas, where platforms water depth does not exceed 20 m, this scenario occurred only during 17% of the last 400 kyr (Fig. 2; [START_REF] Bintanja | Modelled atmospheric temperatures and global sea levels over the past million years[END_REF]. Sediment export during these high sea-level conditions is called "highstand shedding" [START_REF] Droxler | Glacial versus interglacial sedimentation rates and turbidite frequency in the Bahamas[END_REF][START_REF] Schlager | Highstand shedding of carbonate platforms[END_REF]. Wilson andRoberts (1992, 1995) and [START_REF] Hickey | Dense saline plumes in Exuma Sound, Bahamas[END_REF] demonstrated that turbid waters are exported from the platform to the Bahamian slopes during passing winter cold fronts. Cold fronts can last between five and seven days and affect the Florida surroundings be-tween 15 and 25 times per winter [START_REF] Hardy | Cold Front Variability in the Southern United States and the Influence of Atmospheric Teleconnection patterns[END_REF]. During cold fronts, the atmosphere chills the water masses on the shallow car-bonate bank, which densify and subsequently flow offbank forced by tidal currents [START_REF] Hickey | Dense saline plumes in Exuma Sound, Bahamas[END_REF]. After cold fronts have move away, the atmosphere warms and evaporation increases leading to a higher water mass salinity, which maintains the off-bank flow. This mecha-nism, recognized as the source of most off-bank export, is called "density cascading" [START_REF] Wilber | Accumulation of bank-top sediment on the western slope of Great Bahama Bank: rapid progradation of a carbonate megabank[END_REF]Wilson andRoberts, 1992, 1995;[START_REF] Chabaud | Sedimentary processes determining the modern carbonate periplatform drift of Little Bahama Bank[END_REF][START_REF] Fauquembergue | Transferts sédimentaires sur une marge carbonatée moderne de la plate-forme `a la plaine abyssale : marge nord de Little Bahama Bank[END_REF][START_REF] Eberli | Characteristics of modern carbonate contourite drifts[END_REF]. Depending on their trajectories, hurricanes can also induce conditions for platform sediment remobilization and export to deep-water settings. In the Bahamas, hurricane frequency varies and may occur up to three times per year during summer [START_REF] Cry | Tropical Cyclones of the North Atlantic Ocean: Tracks and Frequencies of Hurricanes and Tropical Storms[END_REF][START_REF] Park | Comparing two long-term hurricane frequency and intensity records from San Salvador Island, Bahamas[END_REF]. Evidence of sediment export after hurricanes have been highlighted by aerial photography and satellite images [START_REF] Perkins | Hurricane Betsy in the Florida-Bahama Area: Geologic Effects and Comparison with Hurricane Donna[END_REF][START_REF] Major | Recent evolution of a Bahamian ooid shoal: Effects of Hurricane Andrew[END_REF][START_REF] Rankey | Lack of impact of hurricane Michelle on tidal flats, Andros Island, Bahamas: integrated remote sensing and field observations[END_REF][START_REF] Reeder | Interactions between tidal flows and Ooid Shoals, Northern Bahamas[END_REF][START_REF] Fauquembergue | Genesis and growth of a carbonate Holocene wedge on the northern Little Bahama Bank[END_REF] and also by the sedimentological record on platforms and slopes [START_REF] Boss | Impacts of Hurricane Andrew on carbonate platform environments, northern Great Bahama Bank[END_REF][START_REF] Shinn | Lime-mud layers in high-energy tidal channels: a record of hurricane deposition[END_REF][START_REF] Major | Recent evolution of a Bahamian ooid shoal: Effects of Hurricane Andrew[END_REF][START_REF] Rankey | Lack of impact of hurricane Michelle on tidal flats, Andros Island, Bahamas: integrated remote sensing and field observations[END_REF][START_REF] Reeder | Controls on morphology and sedimentology of carbonate tidal deltas, Abacos, Bahamas[END_REF][START_REF] Park | After the hurricane hits: Recovery and response to large storm events in a saline lake, San Salvador Island, Bahamas[END_REF][START_REF] Toomey | Reconstructing 7000 years of North Atlantic hurricane variability using deep-sea sediment cores from the western Great Bahama Bank[END_REF][START_REF] Fauquembergue | Genesis and growth of a carbonate Holocene wedge on the northern Little Bahama Bank[END_REF]. Tidal flushing can also export turbid water generated by hurricanes towards the slopes [START_REF] Mulder | Carbonate slope morphology revealing sediment transfer from bank-to-slope (Little Bahama Bank, Bahamas)[END_REF][START_REF] Fauquembergue | Genesis and growth of a carbonate Holocene wedge on the northern Little Bahama Bank[END_REF]. However, two hurricanes with similar strength and trajectory may induce different sediment export patterns and hence could produce different sedimentary archives [START_REF] Perkins | Hurricane Betsy in the Florida-Bahama Area: Geologic Effects and Comparison with Hurricane Donna[END_REF].

Bahamian slopes: Sediment transfer influenced by ocean currents and water masses

While sediment remobilization on the platforms is affected by meteorological and, more generally, climatological factors, slope morphologies from platform margins to abyssal plains are influenced by (i) tectonic processes, (ii) the distribution, amount and composition of platform sediment exported to the slopes, (iii) surface to deep ocean current circulation (Fig. 1), (iv) intensity of cementation, (v) microbial activity or (vi) the presence of biological constructions [START_REF] Mullins | Deep carbonate bank margin structure and sedimentation in the Northern Bahamas[END_REF][START_REF] Grammer | Rapid growth rates of syndepositional marine aragonite cements in steep marginal slope deposits, Bahamas and Belize[END_REF][START_REF] Reolid | The importance of microbial binding in neogenequaternary steep slopes[END_REF]. Two ocean currents relate to the occurrence of drifts on the Bahamian slopes: the Antilles Current and the Florida Current (Fig. 1; [START_REF] Mullins | Carbonate sediment drifts in Northern Straits of Florida[END_REF][START_REF] Meinen | Transport variability of the deep western boundary current and the antilles current off Abaco Island, Bahamas[END_REF][START_REF] Bergman | Seismic Analysis of Paleocurrent Features in the Florida Straits : Insight into the Paleo-Florida Current, Upstream Tectonics, and the Atlantic-Caribbean Connection[END_REF][START_REF] Meinen | Structure and Variability of the Antilles current at 26.5•N[END_REF]. The Antilles Current circulates as eddies (Fig. 1); it borders the Blake Bahama Escarpment (BBE) and merges with the Florida Current on the north-western edge of LBB to form the Gulf Stream (Fig. 1). These currents are counterbalanced by the southward flowing Deep Western Boundary Current (DWBC) that circulates along the deeper part of the BBE and contribute to drift development (below 2000 m depth;Fig. 1;Cart-wright, 1985;[START_REF] Bilo | The deep western boundary current and adjacent interior circulation at 24•-30•N: mean structure and mesoscale variability[END_REF]. The DWBC corresponds to the lower part of the North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) in the deep Nares Abyssal Plain.

Platform derived sediments are enriched in aragonite, allowing their tracing in deep waters [START_REF] Droxler | Late Quaternary Glacial Cycles in the Bahamian Deep Basins and Un the Adjacent Atlantic Ocean[END_REF]. Currently, there is no consensus on the Aragonite Compensation Depth (ACD) around the Bahamas. Indeed, [START_REF] Balsam | Carbonate Dissolution on the Muir Seamount (Western North Atlantic): Interglacial/Glacial changes[END_REF] and Droxler et al. (1988aDroxler et al. ( , 1988b) ) propose an ACD that deepens to >4100 m east of the Bahamas, James and Cho-quette (1983) propose this limit to be at about 2000 m. Carbonates, especially aragonite, are already partially dissolved at two water depths levels in the Florida Straits: 800-1000 m and below 1500 m [START_REF] Schwarz | Controls on modern carbonate preservation in the southern Florida Straits[END_REF].

Hydrodynamics

Wave energy resulting from swells and winds mostly hit the northern LBB from the northeast to the southwest (Fig. 1; [START_REF] Hine | Shallow carbonate-bank-margin growth and structure, Little Bahama Bank, Bahamas[END_REF][START_REF] Rankey | Geomorphology of carbonate platform-marginal uppermost slopes: Insights from a Holocene analogue, Little Bahama Bank, Bahamas: Uppermost carbonate platform slope, Bahamas[END_REF]. This results in the development of a windward platform margin where shallow currents mostly move from the open ocean to the platform [START_REF] Hine | Shallow carbonate-bank-margin growth and structure, Little Bahama Bank, Bahamas[END_REF]. The wind direction influences carbonate sedimentation in two ways. Firstly, it influences the distribution of shallow-water platform facies, with fine-grained sediment concentrated in areas protected by shoals and islands (Fig. 1). Secondly, it determines the quantity of sediment exported to the slopes, with winds mainly driving sediment transport from the platform top down the slope along leeward margins, as platform-top sediment exported to slopes is limited along windward margins.

The windward northern LBB slope: Sedimentology and geomorphology

Seven main depositional areas with distinctive sedimentation pat-terns can be distinguished on the Bahamian slopes (Fig. 3) like along the LBB northern slope [START_REF] Mullins | Carbonate sediment drifts in Northern Straits of Florida[END_REF][START_REF] Chabaud | Sedimentary processes determining the modern carbonate periplatform drift of Little Bahama Bank[END_REF][START_REF] Tournadour | Architecture and dynamique sédimentaire d'une pente carbonatée moderne: exemple de la pente Nord de Little Bahama Bank[END_REF][START_REF] Tournadour | Origin and architecture of a Mass Transport complex on the northwest slope of Little Bahama Bank (Bahamas): Relations between off-bank transport, bottom current sedimentation and submarine landslides[END_REF][START_REF] Chabaud | Mod`ele stratigraphique and processus sédimentaires au Quaternaire sur deux pentes carbonatées des Bahamas (leeward and windward)[END_REF]Tourna-dour et al., 2017;[START_REF] Recouvreur | Geomorphology of a modern carbonate slope system and associated sedimentary processes: example of the giant Great Abaco Canyon, Bahamas[END_REF]. The descriptive features of the LBB area are detailed in Fig. 4. They consist of: (1) the uppermost slope which includes four terraces and four escarpments that gave rise to a Holocene, a few kilometres wide, sediment wedge. This wedge was only observed on the western uppermost slope; (2) the upper slope that extends to small canyon heads and landslides developed on (3) the middle slope; (4) the lower slope that is more extensive in the west and reduced in the east as the eastern area is dissected by the GAC head that incises (5) the Blake Plateau. The GAC canyon incises the (6) BBE and connects with the (7) Nares abyssal plain. The sedimentation patterns present on the LBB platform margin to basin transect can also be distinguished on other Bahamian slopes (Fig. 4).

The Holocene wedge located on the (1) northern LBB uppermost slope was fed by sediment produced on the four terraces that were shaped during stagnations in sea level (e.g., between meltwater pulses periods; [START_REF] Rankey | Geomorphology of carbonate platform-marginal uppermost slopes: Insights from a Holocene analogue, Little Bahama Bank, Bahamas: Uppermost carbonate platform slope, Bahamas[END_REF][START_REF] Mulder | Carbonate slope morphology revealing sediment transfer from bank-to-slope (Little Bahama Bank, Bahamas)[END_REF][START_REF] Fauquembergue | Transferts sédimentaires sur une marge carbonatée moderne de la plate-forme `a la plaine abyssale : marge nord de Little Bahama Bank[END_REF]. The development of the oldest part of the wedge occurred before the flooding of the platform at 6 ka [START_REF] Fauquembergue | Genesis and growth of a carbonate Holocene wedge on the northern Little Bahama Bank[END_REF]. Once the platform was reflooded, a strong increase in platform-derived sediment input to the slope was observed. Although some facies could be directly related to sediment export due to hurricane impact, sediment supply to the wedge mainly occurred by density cascading after the passage of cold fronts over the archipelago [START_REF] Fauquembergue | Genesis and growth of a carbonate Holocene wedge on the northern Little Bahama Bank[END_REF]. The mean sedimentation rate for the entire wedge is ~1.25 m/kyr [START_REF] Fauquembergue | Genesis and growth of a carbonate Holocene wedge on the northern Little Bahama Bank[END_REF].

The (2) upper and (3) middle LBB slope domains are characterized by numerous small-sized canyons and a mass transport complex (MTC) that developed at the surface of the LBB drift [START_REF] Mulder | Canyon morphology on a modern carbonate slope of the Bahamas: evidence of regional tectonic tilting[END_REF]Tourna-dour et al., 2015Tourna-dour et al., , 2017;;[START_REF] Recouvreur | Geomorphology of a modern carbonate slope system and associated sedimentary processes: example of the giant Great Abaco Canyon, Bahamas[END_REF]. The morphology of the canyons displays an east-west variability (Fig. 4), which may be due to a regional tectonic tilting and/or the impact of processes related to the westward progression of the GAC head [START_REF] Mulder | Canyon morphology on a modern carbonate slope of the Bahamas: evidence of regional tectonic tilting[END_REF][START_REF] Recouvreur | Geomorphology of a modern carbonate slope system and associated sedimentary processes: example of the giant Great Abaco Canyon, Bahamas[END_REF] combined with the increased influence of the LBB drift morphology moving westward (Fig. 4). Earlier studies highlighted the reduced influence of gravity processes in the north-western LBB slope but also stressed the impact of ocean circulation on the overall sedi-mentation pattern [START_REF] Chabaud | Sedimentary processes determining the modern carbonate periplatform drift of Little Bahama Bank[END_REF][START_REF] Chabaud | Mod`ele stratigraphique and processus sédimentaires au Quaternaire sur deux pentes carbonatées des Bahamas (leeward and windward)[END_REF]. The highest sedimentation rates, >15 cm/kyr [START_REF] Chabaud | Sedimentary processes determining the modern carbonate periplatform drift of Little Bahama Bank[END_REF][START_REF] Chabaud | Mod`ele stratigraphique and processus sédimentaires au Quaternaire sur deux pentes carbonatées des Bahamas (leeward and windward)[END_REF], were measured during sea-level highstands, which agrees with the highstand shedding model of [START_REF] Schlager | Highstand shedding of carbonate platforms[END_REF]. In the eastern slope area, canyons are more prone to erosion than those present in the west (Fig. 4; [START_REF] Recouvreur | Geomorphology of a modern carbonate slope system and associated sedimentary processes: example of the giant Great Abaco Canyon, Bahamas[END_REF].

The (4) lower slope morphology varies between the eastern and western slope. Distributary furrows leading to small depositional areas characterize the mouths of the western canyons (Fig. 4; [START_REF] Tournadour | Origin and architecture of a Mass Transport complex on the northwest slope of Little Bahama Bank (Bahamas): Relations between off-bank transport, bottom current sedimentation and submarine landslides[END_REF]. The across-slope extension of the eastern lower slope is short (< 10 km) compared to the western slope and shows a rapid transition to the Blake Plateau (Fig. 4; [START_REF] Recouvreur | Geomorphology of a modern carbonate slope system and associated sedimentary processes: example of the giant Great Abaco Canyon, Bahamas[END_REF]. Contourite drift deposits cover the GAC northern side (Mulder et al., 2018;[START_REF] Recouvreur | Geomorphology of a modern carbonate slope system and associated sedimentary processes: example of the giant Great Abaco Canyon, Bahamas[END_REF]. However, the origin of the currents that shaped these deposits is under discussion with the Antilles Current or the DWBC as the most likely candidates [START_REF] Recouvreur | Geomorphology of a modern carbonate slope system and associated sedimentary processes: example of the giant Great Abaco Canyon, Bahamas[END_REF].

The (5) Blake Plateau is incised by two giant canyons that are orientated perpendicular to the (6) BBE and cross it: the Little Abaco Canyon (LAC) and the GAC (Fig. 4; [START_REF] Mulder | Carbonate slope morphology revealing a giant submarine canyon (Little Bahama Bank, Bahamas)[END_REF][START_REF] Recouvreur | Geomorphology of a modern carbonate slope system and associated sedimentary processes: example of the giant Great Abaco Canyon, Bahamas[END_REF]. Despite the fact that the GAC is three times longer than the LAC, both canyons share numerous similarities as they both are u-sha-ped and have steep morphologies with distinct plunge pools [START_REF] Mulder | Carbonate slope morphology revealing a giant submarine canyon (Little Bahama Bank, Bahamas)[END_REF][START_REF] Recouvreur | Geomorphology of a modern carbonate slope system and associated sedimentary processes: example of the giant Great Abaco Canyon, Bahamas[END_REF]. Southward, two other giant canyons incise the BBE: the Great Bahama Canyon (GBC) and the Exuma Canyon (Figs. 1 and4). Sedimentation at the (7) mouths of these canyons, on the Nares abyssal plain, is dominated by DWBC-derived clay supply that occurs interbedded with carbonate gravity deposits, especially in the coarse-grained deposits at the mouth of Exuma Canyon [START_REF] Droxler | Late Quaternary Glacial Cycles in the Bahamian Deep Basins and Un the Adjacent Atlantic Ocean[END_REF][START_REF] Cartwright | Provenance and Sedimentology of Carbonate Turbidites from Two Deep Sea Fans, Bahamas[END_REF][START_REF] Ravenne | Dépoˆts carbonatés profonds des Bahamas[END_REF][START_REF] Ravenne | Stratigraphy and Oil: a Review -part 2: Characterization of Reservoirs and Sequence Stratigraphy: Quantification and Modeling[END_REF].

At present, the slopes of the windward margin of LBB and the leeward margin of GBB display morphological similarities. Both include a Holocene sediment wedge, enclose mass transport deposits, and contain contourite drifts, but also display some differences such as the presence of a channel-levee system, and gullies that are only present on the GBB slope [START_REF] Betzler | Periplatform drift: the combined result of contour current and offbank transport along carbonate platforms[END_REF][START_REF] Principaud | Synth`ese sédimentaire sur les pentes carbonatées bahamiennes : pente ouest du Great Bahama Bank and pente nord du Little Bahama Bank[END_REF][START_REF] Wunsch | Sedimentary dynamics along carbonate slopes (Bahamas archipelago)[END_REF][START_REF] Wunsch | Sedimentary dynamics and high-frequency sequence stratigraphy of the southwestern slope of Great Bahama Bank[END_REF]. For the Holocene sediment wedge on the western GBB slope [START_REF] Wilber | Accumulation of bank-top sediment on the western slope of Great Bahama Bank: rapid progradation of a carbonate megabank[END_REF]Roth andReijmer, 2004, 2005;[START_REF] Principaud | Synth`ese sédimentaire sur les pentes carbonatées bahamiennes : pente ouest du Great Bahama Bank and pente nord du Little Bahama Bank[END_REF] and on LBB density cascading is the main process supplying muds to the entire slope depositional environment as smaller-sized sediment plumes produced during hurricanes tend to have a more local impact [START_REF] Perkins | Hurricane Betsy in the Florida-Bahama Area: Geologic Effects and Comparison with Hurricane Donna[END_REF][START_REF] Boss | Impacts of Hurricane Andrew on carbonate platform environments, northern Great Bahama Bank[END_REF]. However, because the sedimentation rate is higher along the GBB margin (11 m/kyr; [START_REF] Wilson | Carbonate-periplatform sedimentation by density flows: a mechanism for rapid off-bank and vertical transport of shallow-water fines[END_REF][START_REF] Roth | Holocene Atlantic climate variations deduced from carbonate periplatform sediments (leeward margin, Great Bahama Bank)[END_REF] than for the northern LBB Holocene wedge with ~1.25 m/kyr [START_REF] Fauquembergue | Genesis and growth of a carbonate Holocene wedge on the northern Little Bahama Bank[END_REF]. In addition, the downslope extent of the GBB wedge is further than for the LBB wedge; the GBB mud-prone sedimentary wedge distribution reaches over 10 km and the LBB wedge covers <3 km.

Material and methods

Oceanographic cruises

This study discusses and summarizes the results of sedimentological and stratigraphic analyses on sediment cores collected on the north-eastern LBB slope and GAC area during the CARAMBAR 2 -Leg 1 cruise [START_REF] Mulder | Carbonate slope morphology revealing a giant submarine canyon (Little Bahama Bank, Bahamas)[END_REF] with the R/V L'Atalante operated by Genavir (Fig. 4). To develop a regional model of sediment deposition during the Quaternary along the northern LBB, the results obtained will be combined with studies of sediment cores retrieved during two other cruises that were part of the CARAMBAR project (Fig. 4): (i) the R/V Le Suroît (Ifremer) CARAMBAR -Leg 2 (2010) cruise, north-western LBB slope [START_REF] Mulder | Canyon morphology on a modern carbonate slope of the Bahamas: evidence of regional tectonic tilting[END_REF], and (ii) the R/V H.G. Walton Smith (University of Miami) CARAMBAR 1.5 (2014) cruise, north-western LBB uppermost slope.

Acoustic data

In this study, results obtained from the cores will be added to the previously published acoustic data that were acquired along the north-ern LBB, which are summarized in Table 1. A total of ~21,000 km2 of multibeam echosounder bathymetry and reflectivity data, and ~8000 km of Very High Resolution (VHR) 2D seismic-reflection data were collected during the various marine campaigns to study the subsurface geometry of the deposits [START_REF] Mulder | Canyon morphology on a modern carbonate slope of the Bahamas: evidence of regional tectonic tilting[END_REF][START_REF] Mulder | Carbonate slope morphology revealing sediment transfer from bank-to-slope (Little Bahama Bank, Bahamas)[END_REF][START_REF] Mulder | Carbonate slope morphology revealing a giant submarine canyon (Little Bahama Bank, Bahamas)[END_REF][START_REF] Tournadour | Architecture and dynamique sédimentaire d'une pente carbonatée moderne: exemple de la pente Nord de Little Bahama Bank[END_REF][START_REF] Recouvreur | Geomorphology of a modern carbonate slope system and associated sedimentary processes: example of the giant Great Abaco Canyon, Bahamas[END_REF].

Sedimentation analysis

Cores database and stratigraphy

A total of 42 Küllenberg cores were used to develop the regional model, including 29 cores previously dated and analysed [START_REF] Chabaud | Sedimentary processes determining the modern carbonate periplatform drift of Little Bahama Bank[END_REF][START_REF] Chabaud | Mod`ele stratigraphique and processus sédimentaires au Quaternaire sur deux pentes carbonatées des Bahamas (leeward and windward)[END_REF][START_REF] Fauquembergue | Genesis and growth of a carbonate Holocene wedge on the northern Little Bahama Bank[END_REF], and 13 cores collected during the CARAMBAR 2 -Leg 1 cruise [START_REF] Mulder | Carbonate slope morphology revealing a giant submarine canyon (Little Bahama Bank, Bahamas)[END_REF]; GAC area and eastern slope) that were analysed for this study (Table 2; Fig. 5). Core lengths varied between 1 m and 12 m. The total core length spans ~225 m. Sedimentological analyses and interpretation of the CARAMBAR-Leg 2 (2010) and CARAMBAR 1.5 (2014) cores were presented in [START_REF] Chabaud | Sedimentary processes determining the modern carbonate periplatform drift of Little Bahama Bank[END_REF], [START_REF] Chabaud | Mod`ele stratigraphique and processus sédimentaires au Quaternaire sur deux pentes carbonatées des Bahamas (leeward and windward)[END_REF] andFauquembergue (2018).

Facies analysis

Lithological descriptions are based upon visual descriptions, photo-graphs and X-ray radiographs that were obtained using a Digital X-ray imaging system SCOPIX at the UMR EPOC of the CNRS-University of Bordeaux EPOC. Density differences present in the cores were analysed using the SCOPIX X-ray image-processing tool. Grain-size measurements were conducted on 2021 sediment samples using a laser particle size analyser (Malvern Mastersizer 2000). A 63 μm wet sieving was conducted on each sediment core at 40 cm resolution. The fine (smear slides) and coarse fractions were analysed under a reflected light binocular and an optical microscope, respectively, in order to qualify and quantify the grains and help to establish the stratigraphy.

Semi-quantitative analysis of major and minor chemical elements was carried out using an Avaatech XRF scanner (10 kV, 400 μA, 10 s, and 30 kV 2000 μA, 15 s) at the University of Bordeaux, which provides a downcore view of the elemental composition of the sediments. The normalized ratio (XRF counts of [Fe + Si + Ti + Al])/[total XRF counts]), was used as a proxy for detrital input. As illite is a potassium-rich mineral, the normalized ratio "Kn" (XRF counts of K / total XRF counts), was used as a marker of potassium enrichment. The normalized ratio (XRF counts of Ca) / (total XRF counts), was also compared with the calcium content of selected samples (3 samples/core) by Bernard calcimeter measurements.

The combination of SCOPIX X-ray image-processing [START_REF] Migeon | SCOPIX: a new X-ray imaging system for core analysis[END_REF], sediment composition, grain-size measurements, smear slides and XRF scanner [START_REF] Croudace | ITRAX: description and evaluation of a new multifunction X-ray core scanner[END_REF] data allowed to determine the sediment variations within the deposits, evaluate their internal structures and assess the sediment production sources.

Core stratigraphy

Three different methods were used to establish the stratigraphy within the 13 cores collected in the GAC area following the procedure developed by [START_REF] Chabaud | Sedimentary processes determining the modern carbonate periplatform drift of Little Bahama Bank[END_REF] and [START_REF] Chabaud | Mod`ele stratigraphique and processus sédimentaires au Quaternaire sur deux pentes carbonatées des Bahamas (leeward and windward)[END_REF].

The primary age model was based on the correlation between the δ 18 O curve obtained on the planktonic foraminifer Globigerinoides ruber albus n.subsp. in core CAR2KS13 (Fig. 6) and variations within the LR04 stack [START_REF] Lisiecki | Correction to "A Pliocene-Pleistocene stack of 57 globally distributed benthic δ 18 O records[END_REF] to estimate the limits of glacial and interglacial transitions and define the corresponding Marine Isotopic Stages (MIS).

Sediment packages rich in Sr are interpreted to represent periods with high platform-derived input (Droxler et al., 1988a(Droxler et al., , 1988b;;[START_REF] Croudace | ITRAX: description and evaluation of a new multifunction X-ray core scanner[END_REF]. In the Bahamas, Sr can be used as a marker of glacials (depletion in Sr induced by low platform-derived productivity) and interglacials (enrichment in Sr induced by high platform-derived pro-ductivity; [START_REF] Droxler | Late Quaternary Glacial Cycles in the Bahamian Deep Basins and Un the Adjacent Atlantic Ocean[END_REF]; the ratio Sr/Ca was used to (i) establish correlations between the core CAR2KS13 and other cores but also (ii) to define the precise limits of MIS transitions in the cores. This stratigraphic framework was constrained by biostratigraphic datums or biohorizons defined by the first and last occurrences of calcareous micro-and nannofossil species. Biostratigraphy is based on planktonic foraminifer assemblages (fraction >150 μm) and coccoliths (fraction <150 μm) biohorizons calibrated with the CAR2KS13 δ18O curve (Fig. 6). For the fraction >150 μm, interglacials are characterized by the abundance of the Globorotalia menardii complex, Pulleniatina obliquiloculata, Globorotalia tumida flexuosa and Globigerina ruber. Glacial periods are characterized by the abundance of Neogloboquadrina dutertrei and Globorotalia inflata. For the fraction <63 μm, both the top of the most recent Gephyrocapsa caribbeanica acme zone and the first appearance of Emiliana huxleyi occur close to the MIS 8-9 boundary [START_REF] Weaver | An integrated stratigraphy of the Upper Quaternary of the King's Trough flank area NE Atlantic[END_REF][START_REF] Pujos | Spatio-temporal distribution of sorne Quaternary coccoliths[END_REF]Giraudeau et al., 1998).

Results

Stratigraphy and sedimentation rates of the GAC study area

Isotope stratigraphic results together with sedimentological data enabled us to accurately define the different MIS in the studied cores and calculate sedimentation rates for the individual glacial and interglacial intervals. Mean sedimentation rates are shown in Fig. 7. Locally, sedimentation rates can reach 5 cm/kyr (CAR2KS09 in GAC tributaries; Fig. 7) or locally even exceed 22 cm/kyr (CAR2KS11; Fig. 7). Cores located near turbidite systems have the highest sedimentation rates (Fig. 7). During glacial periods, sedimentation rates are 50% lower than those measured on average for the interglacial periods of the entire GAC area (2.6 cm/kyr vs 5.1 cm/kyr; Fig. 7). The highest sedimentation rates during glacial periods are estimated at the GAC head (~5 cm/kyr for CAR2KS05; Fig. 7) and at the GAC deep-water outlet (> 4 cm/kyr for CAR2KS14). Sedimentation rates in cores located close the GAC head (Figs. 5 and7) and northern and southern GAC margins vary between 2 cm/kyr and 4 cm/kyr (Fig. 7). Despite these similarities, the GAC head area and the GAC northern margin seem to evolve differently than the GAC southern margin during glacial/interglacial cycles (Fig. 7). The southern margin presents large differences in sedimentation rates be-tween glacial (~1 cm/kyr) and interglacial (~5 cm/kyr) phases unlike those for the GAC head (with ~3.3 cm/kyr during glacials and ~2.5 cm/ kyr during interglacials), and those for the northern margin (with ~3 cm/kyr during glacials and ~2 cm/kyr during interglacials) that remain fairly stable.

Based on the extrapolation of the mean sedimentation rates in the cores as obtained from the individual core stratigraphies, an assessment can be made of the age intervals of the individual sedimentary bodies visible in the VHR profiles surrounding each core (e.g., Fig. 5 for CAR2KS13). This method, used in [START_REF] Fauquembergue | Genesis and growth of a carbonate Holocene wedge on the northern Little Bahama Bank[END_REF], was initially developed for upper Quaternary sedimentary bodies. The method can only make an estimate of the start of overall sediment deposition for the study area. Two sediment bodies (sampled by core CAR2KS11 and core CAR2KS14) had no clear base layer and hence an estimate of their age at the base of the VHR profile could not be made. The oldest estimated age is found on the slide scar as sampled by core CAR2KS12 (2.3 Ma). All other bases of sedimentary bodies can be dated as Middle to Upper Pleistocene (Table 3).

Sedimentological facies of GAC study area

Five sedimentary facies were recognized within the study area (Fig. 8):

-Facies 1 displays an overall high clay content (> 50%) with values of up to 80% clays, and is entirely composed of grains <2 μm. This facies occurs in a dm-scale layers in cores that encompass MIS 7 and MIS 9 in the GAC area (CAR2KS01, CAR2KS02, CAR2KS04, CAR2KS12, CAR2KS13 and dominates in core CAR2KS14; Figs. 6,9,10 and 11). Except for core CAR2KS14, clay generally overlies a base of silty lamina lacking calcium carbonate with severely altered grains. The non-clay fraction (mainly carbonate mud rich in coccoliths) increases from sequence base to sequence top. Core CAR2KS14, located in the Nares abyssal plain at the mouth of the GAC (Fig. 9) is dominated by hemipelagic clay mixed with some aragonite needles.

-Facies 2 is the most common facies found in cores CAR2KS01, CAR2KS02, CAR2KS03, CAR2KS04, CAR2KS05, CAR2KS07, CAR2KS08, CAR2KS010, CAR2KS12, CAR2KS13. This facies is carbonate-rich with over 87% CaCO3, and corresponds to deepsea pelagic wackestones lacking terrigenous material (as defined by [START_REF] Bates | Glossary of Geology[END_REF][START_REF] Bates | Glossary of Geology[END_REF]Neuendorf et al., 2011). This facies comprises muds, < 2 μm grain-size range, and silts, the 2-63 μm fraction. Smear slide revealed that the clay fraction mainly consists of carbonate components; coccoliths >80%, calcite grains and aragonite needles <5% of sediment composition (Figs. 6, 9 and 10). The clay fraction is dominant before MIS 8 (> 60%; Figs. 9 and 10), and the silt fraction is dominant from MIS 8 up to recent times (>55%; Figs. 9 and 10). The silt fraction is dominated by pelagic grains; ~30% planktonic foraminifers, ~10% pteropods and ~ 20% pteropod fragments. Facies 2 shows <5% of undetermined, poten-tially detrital grains in the >2 μm fraction. The sand fraction consists of planktonic foraminifers, pteropods (generally >65% of the entire sample), as the fine fraction is mainly composed of coccoliths (> 90%). For interglacial periods, the input of aragonite needles in this facies increases slightly, but never exceeds 5%. The elemental ratios (Fe + Si + Ti + Al)n and Kn presents similar patterns in this facies in all cores (Figs. 6, 9 and 10), with the exception of a few levels at Terminations I, II and III (e.g., in core CAR2KS13; Fig. 6) where the increase in (Fe + Si + Ti + Al)n is generally greater than Kn.

-Facies 3 sediments correspond to grainstones, as they are depleted in mud but rich in pteropods, pteropod fragments and planktonic foraminifera in the sandy fraction (> 80%). The facies only occurs in core CAR2KS01 during MIS 6 and in core CAR2KS14 during MIS 1.

-Facies 4 sediments are rudstones and contain coarse elements with a strong diagenetic overprint (up to 74%) whose origin cannot be determined. The sediments also comprise up to 11% of platform-derived grains with Cyclorbiculina compressa, Amphistegina sp., Clavulina nodosaria, Miniacina miniacea, aggregated broken shells, Halimeda flakes; Neoconorbina sp., olividae gastropods, Bigenerina nodosaria. This facies is present in a few cores located at the southern GAC margin that reached MIS 5 (e.g., cores CAR2KS02, CAR2KS03 and CAR2KS01) and in core CAR2KS11 positioned on the lobe at the mouth of one of the canyons (Fig. 11).

-Facies 5 shows up in two cores located on the levees of the GAC tributaries. The sediment composition of its coarser fraction is similar as can be found in facies 3, but fine-grained elements allow to consider this facies as packestones. Laminations can be identified on Xrays images (Fig. 8). The two cores that recovered this facies (cores CAR2KS09 and CAR2KS10; Fig. 10) contain 0.03% and 0.06% radiolarians, respectively (Lithocyclia angusta, Actinomma arcadophorum, Acroshaera spinosa, Collosphaera huxleyi).

Radiolarians reach maximum values of 4% in core CAR2KS09 and 0.14% in core CAR2KS14.

Sedimentological facies defined in earlier studies

Four other facies were previously described for the northern LBB slope (Fig. 8; [START_REF] Chabaud | Sedimentary processes determining the modern carbonate periplatform drift of Little Bahama Bank[END_REF][START_REF] Chabaud | Mod`ele stratigraphique and processus sédimentaires au Quaternaire sur deux pentes carbonatées des Bahamas (leeward and windward)[END_REF][START_REF] Fauquembergue | Genesis and growth of a carbonate Holocene wedge on the northern Little Bahama Bank[END_REF] and consist of:

-Contouritic facies, was linked to current deposits [START_REF] Chabaud | Mod`ele stratigraphique and processus sédimentaires au Quaternaire sur deux pentes carbonatées des Bahamas (leeward and windward)[END_REF]. The fraction exceeding 150 μm is particularly rich in lithoclasts (> 20% instead of <1% in other facies composing cores CARKS24 and CARKS25; Fig. 5).

-The laminated platform-derived facies was found in the uppermost slope core CARGC09 (Fig. 5). This facies was interpreted to be deposited by a hurricane [START_REF] Fauquembergue | Genesis and growth of a carbonate Holocene wedge on the northern Little Bahama Bank[END_REF].

-The slightly cemented facies is related to low sedimentation rates over the northwestern LBB canyon interfluves (cores CARKS26 and CARKS29; Fig. 5). It contains multiple centimetresized nodules resulting from the strong current and non-deposition between the canyon heads [START_REF] Chabaud | Sedimentary processes determining the modern carbonate periplatform drift of Little Bahama Bank[END_REF][START_REF] Chabaud | Mod`ele stratigraphique and processus sédimentaires au Quaternaire sur deux pentes carbonatées des Bahamas (leeward and windward)[END_REF].

-Periplatform ooze is the most abundant facies present in the deposits of the north western LBB slope. It occurs in most cores collected along the upper and middle slope [START_REF] Chabaud | Sedimentary processes determining the modern carbonate periplatform drift of Little Bahama Bank[END_REF][START_REF] Chabaud | Mod`ele stratigraphique and processus sédimentaires au Quaternaire sur deux pentes carbonatées des Bahamas (leeward and windward)[END_REF]. This facies contains platform-and slope-derived grains in both the >150 μm fraction (Halimeda flakes, planktonic and benthic foraminifers) and the fine fraction (< 63 μm) that contains a mix of aragonite needles and coccoliths. Sediments present on the upper-most slope and the ones infilling the MTC topography (Fig. 3) are slightly enriched in platformderived sands.

Facies interpretation

The final facies interpretation used combines the results from this GAC study and those from earlier LBB studies [START_REF] Chabaud | Sedimentary processes determining the modern carbonate periplatform drift of Little Bahama Bank[END_REF][START_REF] Chabaud | Mod`ele stratigraphique and processus sédimentaires au Quaternaire sur deux pentes carbonatées des Bahamas (leeward and windward)[END_REF][START_REF] Fauquembergue | Genesis and growth of a carbonate Holocene wedge on the northern Little Bahama Bank[END_REF] is as follows (Fig. 8): -Facies 1 is clay rich and contains some fine (coccoliths) and coarse (pteropods, planktic foraminifers) carbonate grains. It is interpreted as hemipelagic facies.

-Facies 2 contains the same elements as the hemipelagic facies, facies 1, but is depleted in clay. It is interpreted as pelagic facies.

-Facies 3 corresponds to facies "2" but is depleted in the fine fraction. It is interpreted as slopederived coarse-grained facies.

-Facies 4 is interpreted as platform-derived coarse-grained facies.

-Facies 5 agrees with laminated slope derived grained facies.

Spatial distribution exported sediments

Platform-derived grains are exported as both coarse and (mostly) fine grains. A limited amount of platform-derived sands was present within the Holocene wedge on the western uppermost slope (Fig. 12). The sand occurs together with a large amount of fine fraction sediments that are rich in aragonite needles, and actually form the main compo-nent of the periplatform ooze wackestones. Deposits filling the MTC slide scar (Fig. 12) are similar to the Holocene wedge deposits but their fine fraction is enriched in coccoliths. In contrast, the western upper and middle slope are dominated by periplatform ooze (Fig. 12).

On the lower western slope, the deposits are limited to some pelagic and gravity deposits; MIS 5 in age. Sedimentation rates do not exceed 2 mm/kyr (Fig. 12). On the lower eastern slope, lobes consist of platform-derived coarse-grained sediments, which results in an increase in sedimentation rates in this area of up to <14 cm/kyr (Figs. 7 and13).

Sediments at the GAC head are mainly composed of pelagic grains (Fig. 12). The fine fraction contains <5% of aragonite needles, and the sedimentation rates increase slightly northwards (Fig. 12). Thesediments at the toe of the GAC mainly comprise hemipelagic deposits interbedded with rare fine-grained gravity-flow layers (Fig. 12).

Cores collected at the southern margin, however, record sequences enriched in platform-derived sediments, resulting in higher sedimenta-tion rates during interglacials (Figs. 12 and 13). Gravity deposits enriched in slope-derived, highly-altered particles [START_REF] Lantzsch | Sea-level related resedimentation processes on the northern slope of Little Bahama Bank (Middle Pleistocene to Holocene)[END_REF] were recorded in the southern tributaries of the GAC (e.g., core CAR2KS09; Fig. 10). The carbonaterich turbidite at the GAC outlet comprises pelagic and highly altered components (Fig. 9).

Discussion

GAC and northern LBB slope sedimentary dynamics

Sediment supply to the GAC

The structural control of the GAC incision has been previously discussed by [START_REF] Mullins | +. Geology of Great Abaco Submarine Canyon (Blake Plateau): Observations from the research submersible[END_REF], [START_REF] Mulder | Carbonate slope morphology revealing a giant submarine canyon (Little Bahama Bank, Bahamas)[END_REF][START_REF] Recouvreur | Geomorphology of a modern carbonate slope system and associated sedimentary processes: example of the giant Great Abaco Canyon, Bahamas[END_REF][START_REF] Mullins | +. Geology of Great Abaco Submarine Canyon (Blake Plateau): Observations from the research submersible[END_REF] proposed that canyon walls were built during the Cretaceous by shallow-water organisms and walls erosion sustained the canyon incision. No platform-derived, coarse-grained gravity flows were recorded in Core CAR2KS14 during MIS 1 and 2 which correspond, respectively, to interglacial and glacial maxima, (Fig. 9). Therefore, a direct supply from the platform or the canyon walls does not agree with [START_REF] Mullins | +. Geology of Great Abaco Submarine Canyon (Blake Plateau): Observations from the research submersible[END_REF] hypothesis during the latest Pleistocene and Holocene.

Gravity currents flowing through GAC tributaries are rich in pelagic grains and lack platformderived sediments since at least MIS 2-4; cores CAR2KS08 and CAR2KS09 collected in the GAC tributaries coming from the platform comprised sediments with slope-derived grains that were supplied through tributaries. Hence, the composition of the gravity flows in the tributaries during sea-level highstands seems to be independent of sediment production on the platform. [START_REF] Mulder | Carbonate slope morphology revealing a giant submarine canyon (Little Bahama Bank, Bahamas)[END_REF] and [START_REF] Recouvreur | Geomorphology of a modern carbonate slope system and associated sedimentary processes: example of the giant Great Abaco Canyon, Bahamas[END_REF] proposed that sediment supply to sustain the canyon incision originates from the canyon tributaries and not from the canyon head. This sediment delivery process may explain the absence of platform-derived particles in the gravity flow deposit found at the GAC mouth (Fig. 9). The overall gravity-induced sediment export can be considered insignificant during the last glacials and interglacials throughout the GAC, except for sediment supply from the lateral tributaries (Fig. 9).

Differences between East and West of northern LBB

A set of morphological and structural hypotheses might explain the differences in facies distribution and sedimentation processes between the northeastern and northwestern slope of LBB. [START_REF] Tournadour | Origin and architecture of a Mass Transport complex on the northwest slope of Little Bahama Bank (Bahamas): Relations between off-bank transport, bottom current sedimentation and submarine landslides[END_REF] suggested that the presence of a rim along the eastern LBB slope (coral reef and shoals) is a significant controlling factor on the export of platform sediments with the rim limiting sediment export to specific reef channel outlets. A similar setting with shelf-edge barrier reefs limiting sediment export was discussed for the Ribbon Reef (Great Barrier Reef, NE Australia) by [START_REF] Puga-Bernabéu | Morphology and controls on the evolution of a mixed carbonate-siliciclastic submarine canyon system, Great Barrier Reef margin, North-Eastern Australia[END_REF]; this restriction in sediment export resulted in the development of steep exponential slopes. In contrast, south of Ribbon Reef within the Noggin region of the Great Barrier Reef [START_REF] Puga-Bernabéu | Variation in canyon morphology on the Great Barrier Reef margin, North-Eastern Australia: the influence of slope and barrier reefs[END_REF], slope-confined canyons with a sigmoidal slope shape developed at water depths between 200 and 400 m, as they are linked to an open outer-shelf without major barrier reefs. [START_REF] Tournadour | Submarine canyon morphologies and evolution in modern carbonate settings: the northern slope of Little Bahama Bank, Bahamas[END_REF] discussed canyon development processes with distinct retrogressive headward erosion similar to those observed for Ribbon Reef [START_REF] Puga-Bernabéu | Morphology and controls on the evolution of a mixed carbonate-siliciclastic submarine canyon system, Great Barrier Reef margin, North-Eastern Australia[END_REF][START_REF] Schlager | Leg 101-An Overview[END_REF], [START_REF] Mulder | Carbonate slope morphology revealing a giant submarine canyon (Little Bahama Bank, Bahamas)[END_REF] and Recouvreur et al., 2020 suggested that regional tectonic tilting coupled with differential subsidence westwards due to the presence of the GAC head could explain differences in subsidence resulting in differences in depositional processes occurring along the slope when moving from the east to the west (Figs. 11 and12).

The western part of the LBB ("N-Western submerged LBB", Fig. 1) corresponds to a fully submerged zone at <20 m water depth, extending over 10,500 km2. This zone is dominated by packstone facies, with a fine-grained fraction that is exported to the slope in response to passing winter cold fronts. The eastern part of the LBB represents a submerged area that is ~9 times smaller than the western part due to the presence of the Abaco islands (1200 km2; "N-Eastern submerged LBB", Fig. 1). In this area, the facies contains less fine-grained particles, is ooidrich and comprises bioclast-rich shoals. Across the eastern LBB, the extent of packstones is limited to the areas between the grainstones and Abaco Island (170 km2; Fig. 1). The coarsegrained facies covers an area that is ~3.5 times larger (600 km2; Fig. 1) than the area occupied by the packstones. Thus, a close link can be observed between the platform facies and sedimentary process on the adjacent slopes with fine-grained export increasing when the shallow-water areas are dominated by fine-grained facies. Both the abundance of periplatform ooze on the north-western slope (Fig. 12) mobilized by density cascading and the higher sedimentation rates found on the western slope (Fig. 12) confirms this link between platforms facies and slope. A similar link between shallow-water facies distribution and sedimentatary processes on the adjacent slope was established for Ribbon Reef and the Noggin Passage region (Great Barrier Reef, NE Australia) where the overall shape of the con-tinental slope together with the presence (Ribbon Reef) or absence (Noggin Passage region) of shelf-edge barrier reefs resulted in differ-ences in slope morphology. The Ribbon Reef sedimentary system lacking shelf-edge barrier reefs, produced a steep exponential slope as the restricted sediment export of the Noggin Passage system could be linked to a sigmoidal shaped slope. The presence of a large-scale MTD in the northwest possibly results from the high sediment export of fine-grained sediments that cannot maintain high slope angles [START_REF] Kenter | Match between late Pleistocene Great Bahama Bank and deep-sea oxygen isotope records of sea level[END_REF]. The study of [START_REF] Harwood | Seismic sedimentologic interpretation of a carbonate slope, north margin of Little Bahama Bank[END_REF] discussing large-and small-scale slip on the LBB slope because of the high mud content of the slope de-posits agrees with aforementioned slope adjustment processes linked to its mud content [START_REF] Kenter | Match between late Pleistocene Great Bahama Bank and deep-sea oxygen isotope records of sea level[END_REF].

Along the northern LBB upper and middle slope, gravity currents are rare and limited to the northeastern section (Fig. 12). The eastern slope angle averages 2.5• while the western slope average is 1.2• (Fig. 4).

The MIS 5 event

A coarse-grained layer with platform-derived grains present on the GAC southern margin (≈20 cm thick grainflow; Figs. 5 and 10) char-acterizes MIS 5 in cores CAR2KS01, CAR2KS02 and CAR2KS03 from the GAC head to the northern LBB slope. This layer suggests that a signifi-cant volume of platform-derived sediments were transported as a single event for over 50 km along the northern LBB slope during MIS 5. Similar large-scale gravity flow deposits were described by [START_REF] Crevello | Carbonate debris sheets and turbidites, Exuma Sound, Bahamas[END_REF] for the Exuma Sound basin. These gravityflow deposits, also dated as MIS 5, were enriched in coarse-grained platform-derived particles that showed no internal structures [START_REF] Crevello | Carbonate debris sheets and turbidites, Exuma Sound, Bahamas[END_REF][START_REF] Droxler | Late Quaternary Glacial Cycles in the Bahamian Deep Basins and Un the Adjacent Atlantic Ocean[END_REF]. Two origins were proposed by [START_REF] Crevello | Carbonate debris sheets and turbidites, Exuma Sound, Bahamas[END_REF] to explain these destabilizations: (i) the significant thickness of the deposit suggests a large-volume failure which could have been triggered by an earthquake or a tsunami, or (ii) a failure due to destabilization by local sediment overloading on the margin related to an increased productivity. Because of the large scale of the failures, an earthquake source appeared more likely according to [START_REF] Crevello | Carbonate debris sheets and turbidites, Exuma Sound, Bahamas[END_REF]. However, the Bahamas are considered a fair tectonic quiescent area [START_REF] Masaferro | Episodic folding inferred from syntectonic carbonate sedimentation: the Santaren anticline, Bahamas foreland[END_REF]. Therefore, [START_REF] Spence | Genesis of limestone megabreccias and their significance in carbonate sequence stratigraphic models: a review[END_REF] highlighted the importance of pore-water overpressure of confined aquifer horizons associated with karstification beneath the seafloor as the dominant factor of destabilization during sea-level falls. This process was also proposed in the modelling study of [START_REF] Busson | Submarine landslides on a carbonate platform slope: forward numerical modelling of mechanical stratigraphy and scenarios of failure precondition[END_REF] to explain the occurrence of platform margin collapses and associated MTD deposits, marking the western margin of GBB during sea-level falls. The porewater overpressure scenario and associated platform margin sediment overloading were confirmed through the analysis of the debris-flow facies constituents by [START_REF] Reijmer | Compositional variations in calciturbidites and calcidebrites in response to sea-level fluctuations (Exuma Sound, Bahamas)[END_REF]Reijmer et al. ( , 2015aReijmer et al. ( , 2015b)), which explained the occurrence of debris-flow deposits at glacial to interglacial and interglacial to glacial transitions for Exuma Sound. Le [START_REF] Goff | Linking carbonate sediment transfer to seafloor morphology: insights from Exuma Valley, the Bahamas[END_REF] unequivocally demonstrated the source and transport path of a shallow-water derived debris flow within Exuma Valley. The large-scale coarse-grained sediment transport processes are in line with the aforementioned small-scale resedimentation processes discussed for Exuma Sound and Exuma Valley.

Currents influence

Differences between glacials and interglacials

Bahamian slopes generally show higher sedimentation rates during interglacial periods resulting from high aragonite needles production and export from the flooded LBB platform [START_REF] Schlager | Highstand shedding of carbonate platforms[END_REF]Cha-baud et al., 2015). This climate and linked sea-level related cyclic carbonate production and export is, however, not recorded in the GAC area, where interglacial and glacial periods cannot be distinguished based on sediment composition. The analysis of platform-derived aragonite needles repartition shows that aragonite needles never exceed 5% of the fine-grained fraction on the lower slope and in deeper environments. Consequently, platform-derived supply cannot explain the slightly higher sedimentation rates during interglacial periods at the GAC area. These slightly higher sedimentation rates during interglacials probably result from a combination of processes: (i) better preservation of carbonates during interglacials [START_REF] Chaisson | Gulf Stream and Western Boundary Undercurrent variations during MIS 10-12 at Site 1056, Blake-Bahama Outer Ridge[END_REF][START_REF] Franz | Depositional changes along the Blake-Bahama Outer Ridge deep water transect during marine isotope stages 8 to 10 -links to the Deep Western Boundary Current[END_REF][START_REF] Schwarz | Controls on modern carbonate preservation in the southern Florida Straits[END_REF][START_REF] Naik | Last glacial-interglacial productivity and associated changes in the eastern Arabian Sea. Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol., Development, evaluation and application of marine paleoclimatic/paleoceanographic proxies[END_REF], and (ii) a decrease in the intensity of currents during interglacials favouring deposition [START_REF] Chabaud | Sedimentary processes determining the modern carbonate periplatform drift of Little Bahama Bank[END_REF]. As platform-derived needles are produced when the platform is flooded, their occurrence during glacial periods is probably caused by stronger bottom currents that remobilize/ alter fine-grained sediments previously deposited on the slope (Fig. 13). As the GAC head receives no platform-derived sediment supply during both interglacials and glacials (Figs. 12 and 13), the highstand shedding sedimentation pattern does not apply northwards of the GAC incision and hence operates under more pelagic conditions. The equivalent limit of this area eastwards is unknown because sediment transfer across the LAC is not well known.

The seaward deposition of grains mobilized during sea-level high-stands is limited due to strong currents operating near the northern LBB. The Antilles Current seems to trap the platform-derived fine-grained fraction and transports it towards the LBB drift (Figs. 12 and13). Water masses highly concentrated in aragonite needles apparently move from the platform to the slope, from the Holocene wedge to the west (Fig. 12). The extent of the periplatform ooze depositional area and the north-wards decrease in sedimentation rates evidence that platformderived sediments travel north-westwards. High sedimentation rates and sand content suggest preferential deposition of the platform-derived coarse-grained fraction in the MTC slide scar supplied by currents (Fig. 12). Platform input is limited to a maximum distance of 50 km northward of the platform edge (Figs. 12 and 13). This 50 km limit agrees with boundaries proposed for Pedro Bank (Caribbean; [START_REF] Andresen | Timing and distribution of calciturbidites around a deeply submerged carbonate platform in a seismically active setting (Pedro Bank, Northern Nicaragua Rise, Caribbean Sea)[END_REF] and the Glorieuses archipelago (SW Indian Ocean; [START_REF] Jorry | From platform top to adjacent deep sea: new source-to-sink insights into carconate sediment production and transfer in the SW Indian ocean (Glorieuses archipelago)[END_REF].

Origin of currents

Sedimentation rates gradually decrease northward because of the pirating effect of the Antilles Current. They increase slightly on the northern GAC head margin (Fig. 12). Thus, on the slope, the sedimentation rate decreases when the water depth increases. This correlation opposes the pattern found on the northern GAC margin, suggesting different operating sedimentary processes (Figs. 12 and13). The northern GAC margin is draped by contourites; whose current influence affecting sediment deposition is still debated [START_REF] Mulder | Carbonate slope morphology revealing a giant submarine canyon (Little Bahama Bank, Bahamas)[END_REF][START_REF] Recouvreur | Geomorphology of a modern carbonate slope system and associated sedimentary processes: example of the giant Great Abaco Canyon, Bahamas[END_REF]. The seafloor could be bathed either by the base of the Antilles Current or by the upper part of the DWBC (Fig. 1) considering that previous studies discussed that the water depth of the boundary between these two water masses varied through time (Table 4; [START_REF] Franz | Depositional changes along the Blake-Bahama Outer Ridge deep water transect during marine isotope stages 8 to 10 -links to the Deep Western Boundary Current[END_REF][START_REF] Yokokawa | Changes in grain size and magnetic fabric at Blake-Bahama Outer Ridge during the late Pleistocene (marine isotope stages 8-10)[END_REF].

Detrital ratio evolution during Glacial Terminations.

Terminations I, II and III generally show higher contents in terrigenous elements than the sediments deposited during glacial periods in core CAR2KS13 (Fig. 6). Potassium classically marks the presence of illite in the clay assemblage [START_REF] De Boodt | Soil Colloids and their Associations in Aggregates[END_REF], but despite similar variations during glacials, potassium does not systematically show an increase that is of the same order of terrigenous elements variation. Variations in illite content related to the NADW circulation have been described for the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM; [START_REF] Fagel | Changes in the Western Boundary Undercurrent Outflow since the last Glacial Maximum, from smectite/illite ratios in deep Labrador Sea sediments[END_REF]. The illite contents decreased from the LGM to MIS 1 due to variations in sedimentary sources at high latitudes; the source of illite in the NADW water body is mainly northern Greenland. Decrease in illite content in the NADW at the end of glacials is related to dilution by sediment from different sources, such as the Canadian or the Greenland margins [START_REF] Fagel | Changes in the Western Boundary Undercurrent Outflow since the last Glacial Maximum, from smectite/illite ratios in deep Labrador Sea sediments[END_REF]. Therefore, the illite variations seem to reflect the influence of the DWBC, the lower part of the NADW, on sedimentation patterns in the study area (Fig. 13).

The slow upwelling current, up to 10 cm/s, recorded by [START_REF] Mullins | +. Geology of Great Abaco Submarine Canyon (Blake Plateau): Observations from the research submersible[END_REF] for the GAC region could correspond to a part of the DWBC moving up the GAC from the abyssal plain and circulating on the Blake Plateau (Fig. 13). Those velocities are enough to transport microscopic elements, such as radiolarians skeletons [START_REF] Popova | Transportation of radiolarian shells by currents (calculations based on the example of the Kuroshio)[END_REF]). An upwelling current in the GAC would explain (i) the shift in deposition rates and sedimentary mechanisms from the northern to the southern GAC head (Fig. 12) and (ii) the presence of radiolarians at the confluence of GAC and tributaries. Consequently, most of seafloor sediments in our study area are primarily influenced by currents, and not by platform input (Fig. 13). Below 2000 m water depth, sedimentation is mainly controlled by the eddies of the Antilles Current [START_REF] Johns | Gulf Stream structure, transport, and recirculation near 68[END_REF], while the deepest part, from the GAC head to the abyssal plain, seems to be controlled by the DWBC.

Grain-size transition during the MIS 8.

MIS 8 is a unique marine isotope stage, being one of the warmer glacial isotope stages that is induced by a low variability in insolation [START_REF] Lang | Interglacial and glacial variability from the last 800 ka in marine, ice and terrestrial archives[END_REF]. Within the GAC head area, the grain-size spectrum changes from a dominant 2 μm-centred mode before MIS 8 to a dominant 63 μm-centred mode since MIS 8 (Figs. 9 and 10), however, no significant variations in the nature of the particles were observed. Studies on the Blake Outer Ridge (Fig. 1) highlighted grain-size variations during the glacial periods of MIS 8 and MIS 10 that were related to a vertical shift in the water depth level of the DWBC [START_REF] Yokokawa | Changes in grain size and magnetic fabric at Blake-Bahama Outer Ridge during the late Pleistocene (marine isotope stages 8-10)[END_REF]; Table 4). At some intervals during MIS 8 and MIS 10, the DWBC body reached water depths shallower than ~2200 m, the depth of the mixing zone with the AABW [START_REF] Franz | Depositional changes along the Blake-Bahama Outer Ridge deep water transect during marine isotope stages 8 to 10 -links to the Deep Western Boundary Current[END_REF][START_REF] Yokokawa | Changes in grain size and magnetic fabric at Blake-Bahama Outer Ridge during the late Pleistocene (marine isotope stages 8-10)[END_REF]Table 4;Fig. 13). Therefore, the GAC head (~1700 m) was likely under the influence of the DWBC during these time intervals. The influence of AABW was not demonstrated on the Blake Outer Ridge since MIS 8, which suggests that the water depth at which the DWBC operated decreased. A process that probably started after MIS 8 and remained active until present day. Such a scenario agrees with the absence of a new shift in grain-size mode since this period on the northern LBB. Therefore, the preponderance of the silt fraction since MIS 8 can be explained by (i) either an increase in secondary producers after the decrease in the influence of AABW, or (ii) an increase in winnowing of the fine fraction (same features as terrigenous sediments; [START_REF] Faugères | Bottom-current-controlled sedimentation: a synthesis of the contourite problem[END_REF] following the general acceleration of the North Atlantic circulation during the last eight MIS.

Clay-rich layers.

Despite the modern abundance of almost pure carbonate sediments off the Bahamas since the Pleistocene, the seabed has experienced episodes with enriched clay deposition. For some periods and locations, this enrichment resulted in an increase in clay minerals concentration within the carbonate ooze, as for example in the Straits of Florida during the Miocene (Swart et al., 2000;[START_REF] Karpoff | Phyllosilicates and zeolite assemblages in the carbonate periplatform of the Great Bahama Bank: origin and relation to diagenetic processes (ODP Leg 166, Sites 1006 and 1007[END_REF].

Pelagic carbonate deposits with intercalated clay-rich layers occur within the GAC head and margins and are synchronous with pelagic carbonate deposits with clay-rich layers present on the Blake Outer Ridge further north (Fig. 1) that post-dated the Brunhes/Matuyama boundary (Keigwin et al., 1998a(Keigwin et al., , 1998b)). Clay-rich layers (Fig. 8), succeeding laminae made of altered silts to sands, appear in both areas (Keigwin et al., 1998;Fig. 1). The Blake Outer Ridge and the northern GAC head have similar sedimentation patterns since the Late Pleistocene, except for the presence of red lutites observed on the Blake Outer Ridge that are not present near the Bahamas. These levels are related to deglaciation deposits and can be a more local phenomenon (Keigwin et al., 1998a(Keigwin et al., , 1998b)). This suggests that the sedimentation patterns in the GAC area and the Blake Outer Ridge are similar. The presence of the DWBC on the Blake Outer Ridge is consistent with the DWBC influence on the GAC head.

Different processes may explain the deposition of the clay-rich de-posits, such as the favoured transfer of clay particles into the marine environment, enhanced dissolution of carbonate particles, or a decrease in carbonate productivity. The silty sandy bases of MIS 7 and 9 clayrich deposits characterized by non-determined bioclasts reflect a significant change in water bodies at the onset and during the Thermal Maxima Events (TMEs), and may be due to the sediment dissolution processes [START_REF] Cronin | Enhanced Arctic Amplification Began at the Mid-Brunhes Event ~400,000 years ago[END_REF].

The clay-rich layers present on the northern LBB were deposited during MIS 9 and 7. In Exuma Sound (Fig. 1), these periods are characterized by relatively low sedimentation rates compared to other interglacials [START_REF] Reijmer | Site 632: Pliocene-Pleistocene sedimentation cycles in a Bahamian basin[END_REF]. In the Arctic, the TMEs [START_REF] Cronin | Enhanced Arctic Amplification Began at the Mid-Brunhes Event ~400,000 years ago[END_REF], which are periods of significant cooling during interglacials, resulted in the development of ice sheets. The significant thickness of these ice sheets caused a deepening in the water depth of the downwelling warmer Atlantic water masses. As a result (i) the Atlantic waters warmed deeper bathymetries than during interglacial periods and (ii) the scenario prevented the communication between deep Arctic water masses and the surface waters, limiting oxygenation or supply of nutrients derived from surface productivity [START_REF] Cronin | Enhanced Arctic Amplification Began at the Mid-Brunhes Event ~400,000 years ago[END_REF]. The most recent clay-rich level, dated MIS 7, would correspond to TME 3, as another clay-rich level, dated MIS 9, could correspond to TME 4. The occurrence of these cooling events during interglacials generated environmental conditions different from those occurring during glacials (sea level, soil formation and continental erosion) and could explain why the clays are not observed for glacial intervals. However, this does not explain why TM1 (MIS 5-4; [START_REF] Cronin | Enhanced Arctic Amplification Began at the Mid-Brunhes Event ~400,000 years ago[END_REF] is not recorded in the study area. Hence, more information about the global ocean circulation during MIS 7 and 9 is needed to confirm if the occurrence of the clay-rich layers was generated by the TMEs.

Comparison with other Bahamian systems

The new core dataset for the northern LBB slope allows to highlight differences between northern LBB slope and other Bahamian slopes. Fig. 14 integrates the new findings with the interpretations obtained on the south-western GBB slope (Santaren channel; [START_REF] Wunsch | Sedimentary dynamics along carbonate slopes (Bahamas archipelago)[END_REF][START_REF] Wunsch | Sedimentary dynamics and high-frequency sequence stratigraphy of the southwestern slope of Great Bahama Bank[END_REF], the eastern GBB slope (Florida Straits; [START_REF] Principaud | Large-scale carbonate submarine mass-wasting along the northwestern slope of the Great Bahama Bank (Bahamas): Morphology, architecture, and mechanisms[END_REF][START_REF] Principaud | Slope-to-basin stratigraphic evolution of the northwestern Great Bahama Bank (Bahamas) during the Neogene to Quaternary: interactions between downslope and bottom currents deposits[END_REF][START_REF] Principaud | Recent morphology and sedimentary processes along the western slope of Great Bahama Bank (Bahamas)[END_REF][START_REF] Goff | On the architecture of intra-formational Mass-Transport deposits: Insights from the carbonate slopes of Great Bahama Bank and the Apulian Carbonate Platform[END_REF], Exuma Sound and Exuma canyon [START_REF] Crevello | Carbonate debris sheets and turbidites, Exuma Sound, Bahamas[END_REF][START_REF] Cartwright | Provenance and Sedimentology of Carbonate Turbidites from Two Deep Sea Fans, Bahamas[END_REF][START_REF] Goff | Linking carbonate sediment transfer to seafloor morphology: insights from Exuma Valley, the Bahamas[END_REF] as well as earlier studies on the LBB slope [START_REF] Chabaud | Sedimentary processes determining the modern carbonate periplatform drift of Little Bahama Bank[END_REF]Tourna-dour et al., 2015Tourna-dour et al., , 2017;;[START_REF] Fauquembergue | Genesis and growth of a carbonate Holocene wedge on the northern Little Bahama Bank[END_REF].

The Antilles Current and DWBC have an impact on the seafloor morphology (carbonate mounds and drifts) and the distribution of Quaternary deposits on the northern LBB slope (pelagites, hemipelagites and contourites;Figs. 8, 9, 10 and 14;[START_REF] Eberli | Characteristics of modern carbonate contourite drifts[END_REF][START_REF] Mulder | Contour current imprints and contourite drifts in the Bahamian archipelago[END_REF]. The Bahamian platform-derived sediment export is generally fine-grained during sea-level highstands [START_REF] Rendle-Bühring | Controls on grain-size patterns in periplatform carbonates: marginal setting versus glacio-eustacy[END_REF]. The leeward western GBB facies are rich in mudstones and packstones, similar to those on the northwestern LBB. Coarse platform-derived sediments are preferentially deposited on slopes associated with leeward margins as hydrodynamic conditions support a general sedimentary transfer from the northeastern to the southwestern Bahamas, like the western GBB, explaining partially the highest sedimentation rates found there.

Along the western GBB slopes, platform export, which is particularly important in this leeward context, can result in the formation of sedimentary structures such as sediment waves or gullies formed by important export during sea-level highstands [START_REF] Betzler | Periplatform drift: the combined result of contour current and offbank transport along carbonate platforms[END_REF][START_REF] Wunsch | Sedimentary dynamics along carbonate slopes (Bahamas archipelago)[END_REF][START_REF] Wunsch | Sedimentary dynamics and high-frequency sequence stratigraphy of the southwestern slope of Great Bahama Bank[END_REF]Figs. 2 and 14). Because the northwestern LBB slope is situated in a windward position, sediment export is limited and the development of similar sedimentary structures are lacking (Fig. 14). MTC's are the only deposits that can be found in both the windward and leeward setting, often related to sediment overloading that may occur with a relatively low frequency in any depositional setting [START_REF] Principaud | Large-scale carbonate submarine mass-wasting along the northwestern slope of the Great Bahama Bank (Bahamas): Morphology, architecture, and mechanisms[END_REF][START_REF] Tournadour | Origin and architecture of a Mass Transport complex on the northwest slope of Little Bahama Bank (Bahamas): Relations between off-bank transport, bottom current sedimentation and submarine landslides[END_REF][START_REF] Goff | On the architecture of intra-formational Mass-Transport deposits: Insights from the carbonate slopes of Great Bahama Bank and the Apulian Carbonate Platform[END_REF].

Exuma Sound and the Exuma Canyon are generally associated with the influx of platformderived coarse-grained facies [START_REF] Crevello | Carbonate debris sheets and turbidites, Exuma Sound, Bahamas[END_REF][START_REF] Cartwright | Provenance and Sedimentology of Carbonate Turbidites from Two Deep Sea Fans, Bahamas[END_REF][START_REF] Goff | Linking carbonate sediment transfer to seafloor morphology: insights from Exuma Valley, the Bahamas[END_REF]. This facies is also observed on the northeastern LBB slope, in the lobe that is formed downstream of this windward margin (Fig. 11). In both depositional systems the shallow parts of the platforms associated with the slopes are depleted in mud when compared to other Bahamian areas [START_REF] Harris | Mapping bathymetry and depositional facies on Great Bahama Bank[END_REF]Fig. 1). This confirms the results that were obtained on the northern LBB slope that (i) the dominant facies on the platforms is an important factor controlling slope facies and (ii) the wind direction is another important factor controlling the volume of grain export as shown for the western GBB slope (Rendle-Bühring and Reijmer, 2005). In summary, it was observed that along the Bahamian slope, deposits enriched in platformderived coarse-grained particles are not frequent. Mud-dominated sequences prevail and various processes generate sedimentary bedforms like sediment waves (western GBB), gullies and small channel-levee systems. Most of these sedimentary structures reflect high sediment export during highstands as the GBB is flooded and sediment production feeding the system is high.

The Eastern Cay Salt Bank slope is the only one that shows active channels during sea-level fall [START_REF] Wunsch | Sedimentary dynamics along carbonate slopes (Bahamas archipelago)[END_REF]. Along this wind-ward margin, presumably less active than a leeward margin during highstands as the bank is semi-drowned [START_REF] Purkis | Large-scale carbonate platform development of Cay Sal Bank, Bahamas, and implications for associated reef geomorphology[END_REF], down-welling currents are particularly active during sea-level fall and remobilize older deposits, thus, their activity is controlled by currents.

Aragonite needles dominate the mud exported from platforms during the Holocene and occur with high percentages in the LBB northern uppermost slope wedge (>80% of total deposits; Figs. 3 and4; [START_REF] Rankey | Geomorphology of carbonate platform-marginal uppermost slopes: Insights from a Holocene analogue, Little Bahama Bank, Bahamas: Uppermost carbonate platform slope, Bahamas[END_REF][START_REF] Mulder | Carbonate slope morphology revealing sediment transfer from bank-to-slope (Little Bahama Bank, Bahamas)[END_REF][START_REF] Fauquembergue | Genesis and growth of a carbonate Holocene wedge on the northern Little Bahama Bank[END_REF], and have lower percentages in the periplatform ooze present on the upper slope (~50% of total deposits; Figs. 3 and4; [START_REF] Chabaud | Mod`ele stratigraphique and processus sédimentaires au Quaternaire sur deux pentes carbonatées des Bahamas (leeward and windward)[END_REF]. A similar Holocene wedge rich in aragonite needles can be found along the northwestern GBB slope [START_REF] Wilber | Accumulation of bank-top sediment on the western slope of Great Bahama Bank: rapid progradation of a carbonate megabank[END_REF]Roth andReijmer, 2004, 2005). It is widespread and covers, with varying thickness, over >20 km on the western GBB as on the northern LBB it occupies <5 km (Rendle-Bühring and Reijmer, 2005;[START_REF] Principaud | Morphologie, architecture and dynamique sédimentaire d'une pente carbonatée moderne: le Great Bahama Bank (Bahamas)[END_REF][START_REF] Mulder | Carbonate slope morphology revealing sediment transfer from bank-to-slope (Little Bahama Bank, Bahamas)[END_REF]. Holocene deposits are thicker along the western GBB, the wedge is continuous and can be up to 38 m thick (Roth andReijmer, 2004, 2005;[START_REF] Principaud | Morphologie, architecture and dynamique sédimentaire d'une pente carbonatée moderne: le Great Bahama Bank (Bahamas)[END_REF] than on the northwestern LBB which thickness vary spatially from 0 to 35 m, with a mean value of 15 [START_REF] Mulder | Carbonate slope morphology revealing sediment transfer from bank-to-slope (Little Bahama Bank, Bahamas)[END_REF]. On other slopes the Holocene deposits are thinner, for example on the Exuma Sound slope the Holocene sequence is <1 m thick (Droxler et al., 1988b;[START_REF] Reijmer | Site 632: Pliocene-Pleistocene sedimentation cycles in a Bahamian basin[END_REF]. While the northwestern LBB and western GBB highlight a major influence of mud produced on the shallow-water platforms that are shaped by currents, the Exuma Basin is less influenced by mud export, but displays numerous coarse-grained gravity-flow de-posits with bioclasts derived from the platform margins [START_REF] Crevello | Carbonate debris sheets and turbidites, Exuma Sound, Bahamas[END_REF][START_REF] Reijmer | Site 632: Pliocene-Pleistocene sedimentation cycles in a Bahamian basin[END_REF][START_REF] Reijmer | Compositional variations in calciturbidites and calcidebrites in response to sea-level fluctuations (Exuma Sound, Bahamas)[END_REF]Reijmer et al., , 2015b;;Droxler et al., 1988aDroxler et al., , 1988b;;[START_REF] Goff | On the architecture of intra-formational Mass-Transport deposits: Insights from the carbonate slopes of Great Bahama Bank and the Apulian Carbonate Platform[END_REF]. The observed differences between the northeastern and northwestern LBB slope records confirmed that different sedimentation mechanisms operate on these slope sections. The differences between Exuma Sound slopes and northwestern LBB and GBB slopes could be due to the overall setting in which (i) less fine-grained sediments are available on platforms surrounding the Exuma Sound basin [START_REF] Harris | Mapping bathymetry and depositional facies on Great Bahama Bank[END_REF], and (ii) a steeper inclined slope pro-moting sediment bypass and gravity-induced sediment redeposition in the Exuma Sound basin (Rendle-Bühring and Reijmer, 2005). Hence, a distinct link exists between the facies distribution on the platform, the morphology at the platform margin, i.e., presence or absence of sand shoals, reefs or islands, the grain-size spectrum of the exported sedi-ments and the slope morphology. The results agree with the outcome of studies by [START_REF] Puga-Bernabéu | Morphology and controls on the evolution of a mixed carbonate-siliciclastic submarine canyon system, Great Barrier Reef margin, North-Eastern Australia[END_REF], 2013) for the Great Barrier Reef and [START_REF] Etienne | Large-scale margin collapses along a partly drowned, isolated carbonate platform (Lansdowne Bank, SW Pacific Ocean)[END_REF] for Lansdowne Bank (SW Pacific Ocean).

Conclusions

Sediment core analysis enabled the interpretation of sedimentation patterns that occur along the northern LBB slopes and allowed for a comparison with others Bahamian slopes:

(1) Sediment availability on the platform is reflected in both the morphology of the northern LBB slope as well as the Quaternary sedimentation patterns. The scarcity of coarse-grained gravity flow deposits occurs north of LBB and within the giant GAC. Gravity deposits are restricted to the northeastern LBB slope, where no fine fraction sediments were available for export. The absence or presence of coarse platform grains on the northern LBB slope is conditioned by the distribution of shallow-water and platform margin facies. Other Bahamian slopes such as Exuma Sound exhibit a similar pattern related to the limited availability of fine grains on the bank resulting in the dominance of coarse-grained deposits on the deeper slopes. When carbonate mud export is high (e.g., leeward GBB) it can induce small and rare sedimentary structures like gullies as sediment export is efficient enough to produce such sedimentary features.

(2) Ocean current circulation is a dominant controlling factor on slope sedimentation on the northern LBB. The Antilles Current plays an active role in trapping carbonate mud produced on the platform, which is resuspended during passing cold fronts and hurricanes. The Antilles Current also redistributes the fine sediments along the upper and middle slopes and plays an important role in forming the LBB drift. Deposits around the GAC head and on the Blake Plateau are influenced by the DWBC. This could be a DWBC part coming from the Blake Outer Ridge bathing the Blake Plateau, or a current flowing up the GAC. The distribution of sediments produced on platform is limited to 50 km from the platform margin edge as known from various other carbonate systems, e.g. Pedro Bank (Caribbean), Glorieuses archipelago (Indian Ocean). Variations in current velocity are underlined by grain-size variation in the carbonate system (highlighted by differences between MIS 8 vs MIS 10) similar to what is known from terrigenous systems.

(3) The continuity of clay-rich levels on the northern levee of the GAC as well as the Blake Outer Ridge suggests that two peculiar events occurred during the Thermal Maxima Events that affected sediment deposition during MIS 7 and MIS 9 on the Blake Plateau. These events are either due to the dissolution of carbonates or represent a sharp increase in clay input, or are formed by a decline in carbonate production.

(4) Sedimentation models of the different Bahamian slopes indicate that platform-derived sediment has an important impact on slope facies. Fine-grained dominated platform facies agree with fine-grained sediment export and smooth exponential slopes at which the sediments can be carried by current activity, whereas coarse-grained dominated platform facies is associated with coarse-grained sediment export and steep slopes. After [START_REF] Ball | Carbonate Sand Bodies of Florida and the Bahamas[END_REF][START_REF] Enos | Surface Sediment Facies of the Florida-Bahamas Plateau Map Series MC-5[END_REF][START_REF] Reijmer | A Re-Evaluation of Facies on Great Bahama Bank I: New Facies Maps of Western Great Bahama Bank[END_REF][START_REF] Kaczmarek | Mapping facies distributions on modern carbonate platforms through integration of multispectral Landsat data, statisticsbased unsupervised classifications, and surface sediment data[END_REF][START_REF] Harris | Mapping bathymetry and depositional facies on Great Bahama Bank[END_REF][START_REF] Tournadour | Architecture and dynamique sédimentaire d'une pente carbonatée moderne: exemple de la pente Nord de Little Bahama Bank[END_REF]synthesized by Principaud, 2016). Canyons names and current directions (blue arrows), and location and name of main drifts (yellow) are also indicated. TOTO: Tongue of the Ocean. AABW: Antarctic Bottom Water. DBWC: Deep Western Boundary Current. Water depth in metres. Fig. 2. Sea-level variation [START_REF] Bintanja | Modelled atmospheric temperatures and global sea levels over the past million years[END_REF] and time intervals when Bahamian platforms were flooded (pink time intervals) for the last 400 kyr. [START_REF] Mullins | Carbonate sediment drifts in Northern Straits of Florida[END_REF][START_REF] Chabaud | Sedimentary processes determining the modern carbonate periplatform drift of Little Bahama Bank[END_REF][START_REF] Tournadour | Architecture and dynamique sédimentaire d'une pente carbonatée moderne: exemple de la pente Nord de Little Bahama Bank[END_REF][START_REF] Tournadour | Origin and architecture of a Mass Transport complex on the northwest slope of Little Bahama Bank (Bahamas): Relations between off-bank transport, bottom current sedimentation and submarine landslides[END_REF][START_REF] Chabaud | Mod`ele stratigraphique and processus sédimentaires au Quaternaire sur deux pentes carbonatées des Bahamas (leeward and windward)[END_REF][START_REF] Tournadour | Submarine canyon morphologies and evolution in modern carbonate settings: the northern slope of Little Bahama Bank, Bahamas[END_REF][START_REF] Recouvreur | Geomorphology of a modern carbonate slope system and associated sedimentary processes: example of the giant Great Abaco Canyon, Bahamas[END_REF]. 2). Cores analysed in earlier publications [START_REF] Chabaud | Sedimentary processes determining the modern carbonate periplatform drift of Little Bahama Bank[END_REF][START_REF] Chabaud | Mod`ele stratigraphique and processus sédimentaires au Quaternaire sur deux pentes carbonatées des Bahamas (leeward and windward)[END_REF][START_REF] Fauquembergue | Genesis and growth of a carbonate Holocene wedge on the northern Little Bahama Bank[END_REF] that were incorporated in the analysis of sedimentation patterns on northern LBB slope are illustrated by blue dots, and cores mentioned in this study are labelled. Top left: VHR seismic profile showing the sedimentary context of core CAR2KS13 (Eastern part map). Fig. 6. Stratigraphy and sedimentological data for core CAR2KS13. Presented are detrital supply variation (Fe + Si + Ti + Al)n, potassium supply variation (Log Kn) and grain content. CaCO3 content and proportion of aragonite needles estimated from samples. Red circles highlight the difference in variation between detrital and potassium supply. Sediment classification follows [START_REF] Dunham | Classification of Carbonate Rocks according to Depositional Textures[END_REF]. Stratigraphy uses MIS [START_REF] Lisiecki | Correction to "A Pliocene-Pleistocene stack of 57 globally distributed benthic δ 18 O records[END_REF]. F corresponds to the interpretative facies. [START_REF] Mullins | Carbonate apron models: Alternatives to the submarine fan model for paleoenvironmental analysis and hydrocarbon exploration[END_REF] and those defined on previous studies by the CARAMBAR project [START_REF] Chabaud | Sedimentary processes determining the modern carbonate periplatform drift of Little Bahama Bank[END_REF][START_REF] Chabaud | Mod`ele stratigraphique and processus sédimentaires au Quaternaire sur deux pentes carbonatées des Bahamas (leeward and windward)[END_REF][START_REF] Fauquembergue | Transferts sédimentaires sur une marge carbonatée moderne de la plate-forme `a la plaine abyssale : marge nord de Little Bahama Bank[END_REF][START_REF] Fauquembergue | Transferts sédimentaires sur une marge carbonatée moderne de la plate-forme `a la plaine abyssale : marge nord de Little Bahama Bank[END_REF] are exposed, and the ones found in this study are defined as "Great Abaco Canyon (CARAMBAR 2 cruise)". Colours associated to each facies on cores descriptions on Figs. 6, 9, 10 and 11 are shown behind the red stars of "Great Abaco Canyon (CARAMBAR 2 cruise)" [START_REF] Embry | A late Devonian reef tract on the northeastern Banks Island[END_REF]. Fig. 9. Stratigraphy and sedimentological data collected for cores CAR2KS04 and CAR2KS14: grain-size distribution. Detrital supply (Fe + Si + Ti + Al)n and potassium supply variation (Log Kn). Grain content (see legend in Fig. 6). CaCO3 content and proportion of aragonite needles estimated from samples. Sediment classified according to [START_REF] Dunham | Classification of Carbonate Rocks according to Depositional Textures[END_REF]. Stratigraphy according to MIS [START_REF] Lisiecki | Correction to "A Pliocene-Pleistocene stack of 57 globally distributed benthic δ 18 O records[END_REF]. F corresponds to the interpretative facies (see legend). Fig. 10. Stratigraphy and sedimentological data for cores CAR2KS12, CAR2KS01 and CAR2KS09: grain-size distribution. Detrital supply (Fe + Si + Ti + Al) n and potassium supply variation (Log Kn). Grain content (see legend in Fig. 6). CaCO3 content and proportion of aragonite needles estimated from samples. Sediments classified using [START_REF] Dunham | Classification of Carbonate Rocks according to Depositional Textures[END_REF] and stratigraphy follows Marine Isotopic Stages (MIS; [START_REF] Lisiecki | Correction to "A Pliocene-Pleistocene stack of 57 globally distributed benthic δ 18 O records[END_REF]. F corresponds to interpretative facies (see Fig. 6 for legend).

Table 1

Summary of different types of bathymetric and acoustic reflectivity data collected during the surveys.

Table 2

Little Bahama Bank cores lengths.

Table 3

Ages of sedimentary bodies sampled on northern LBB margin.

Table 4

Synthesis of different information available at deep current locations. MIS, location, lysocline water depth, and depth CCD since the MIS 10 in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean [START_REF] Balsam | Carbonate Dissolution on the Muir Seamount (Western North Atlantic): Interglacial/Glacial changes[END_REF]Keigwin et al., 1998a;[START_REF] Oppo | Persistent suborbital climate variability in marine isotope stage 5 and termination II[END_REF]Yoko-kawa and Franz, 2002;[START_REF] Franz | Depositional changes along the Blake-Bahama Outer Ridge deep water transect during marine isotope stages 8 to 10 -links to the Deep Western Boundary Current[END_REF][START_REF] Heusser | Millennial-and orbital-scale climate variability in southeastern United States and in the subtropical Atlantic during Marine Isotope Stage 5: evidence from pollen and isotopes in ODP Site 1059[END_REF][START_REF] Meinen | Transport variability of the deep western boundary current and the antilles current off Abaco Island, Bahamas[END_REF][START_REF] Johns | R/V Knorr Cruise KN-200-4 (Cruise report)[END_REF]Bo ḧm et al., 2015). Core numbers indicated when situated close to data location. AABW: Antarctic Bottom Water; BBOR = Blake Bahama Outer Ridge; WBUC: NADW: North Atlantic Deep Water; Western Boundary Undercurrent.

Fig. 7 .

 7 Fig. 7. Sedimentation rates by MIS obtained on LBB studied cores, from western to eastern areas. Yellow intervals represent interglacials and blue intervals glacials. MIS stratigraphy and

Fig. 1 .

 1 Fig. 1. Location map of the Bahamas (inset) and the study area (main map). Sediment distribution map of the present-day Bahamian platforms (colours see legend).After[START_REF] Ball | Carbonate Sand Bodies of Florida and the Bahamas[END_REF][START_REF] Enos | Surface Sediment Facies of the Florida-Bahamas Plateau Map Series MC-5[END_REF][START_REF] Reijmer | A Re-Evaluation of Facies on Great Bahama Bank I: New Facies Maps of Western Great Bahama Bank[END_REF][START_REF] Kaczmarek | Mapping facies distributions on modern carbonate platforms through integration of multispectral Landsat data, statisticsbased unsupervised classifications, and surface sediment data[END_REF][START_REF] Harris | Mapping bathymetry and depositional facies on Great Bahama Bank[END_REF][START_REF] Tournadour | Architecture and dynamique sédimentaire d'une pente carbonatée moderne: exemple de la pente Nord de Little Bahama Bank[END_REF] synthesized by Principaud, 2016). Canyons names and current directions (blue arrows), and location and name of main drifts (yellow) are also indicated. TOTO: Tongue of the Ocean. AABW: Antarctic Bottom Water. DBWC: Deep Western Boundary Current. Water depth in metres.

Fig. 3 .

 3 Fig. 3. Physiography of the Bahamian slopes and wind-related margins. White rectangle marks the location of the Little Bahama Bank slope detailed in Fig. 4. G: Gullies. Ch: Channel-levee system.

Fig. 4 .

 4 Fig. 4. (A) Morphological domains classified by water depth and (B) depth profile of the related physiographic domains observed along the northern slope of LBB[START_REF] Mullins | Carbonate sediment drifts in Northern Straits of Florida[END_REF][START_REF] Chabaud | Sedimentary processes determining the modern carbonate periplatform drift of Little Bahama Bank[END_REF][START_REF] Tournadour | Architecture and dynamique sédimentaire d'une pente carbonatée moderne: exemple de la pente Nord de Little Bahama Bank[END_REF][START_REF] Tournadour | Origin and architecture of a Mass Transport complex on the northwest slope of Little Bahama Bank (Bahamas): Relations between off-bank transport, bottom current sedimentation and submarine landslides[END_REF][START_REF] Chabaud | Mod`ele stratigraphique and processus sédimentaires au Quaternaire sur deux pentes carbonatées des Bahamas (leeward and windward)[END_REF][START_REF] Tournadour | Submarine canyon morphologies and evolution in modern carbonate settings: the northern slope of Little Bahama Bank, Bahamas[END_REF][START_REF] Recouvreur | Geomorphology of a modern carbonate slope system and associated sedimentary processes: example of the giant Great Abaco Canyon, Bahamas[END_REF].

Fig. 5 .

 5 Fig. 5. Location map showing the location of sediment cores (red dots) used in this study (database detailed in Table2). Cores analysed in earlier publications[START_REF] Chabaud | Sedimentary processes determining the modern carbonate periplatform drift of Little Bahama Bank[END_REF][START_REF] Chabaud | Mod`ele stratigraphique and processus sédimentaires au Quaternaire sur deux pentes carbonatées des Bahamas (leeward and windward)[END_REF][START_REF] Fauquembergue | Genesis and growth of a carbonate Holocene wedge on the northern Little Bahama Bank[END_REF] that were incorporated in the analysis of sedimentation patterns on northern LBB slope are illustrated by blue dots, and cores mentioned in this study are labelled. Top left: VHR seismic profile showing the sedimentary context of core CAR2KS13 (Eastern part map).

Fig. 7 .

 7 Fig. 7. Sedimentation rates by MIS obtained on LBB studied cores, from western to eastern areas. Yellow intervals represent interglacials and blue intervals glacials. MIS stratigraphy and ages shown on the right. MIS recorded at the base of the cores (dotted line) are assumed to be incomplete.

Fig. 8 .

 8 Fig.8. Synthesis of facies observed along the northern LBB slope. Red stars allow to retrace the study area were each facies was recognized. Facies overview of[START_REF] Mullins | Carbonate apron models: Alternatives to the submarine fan model for paleoenvironmental analysis and hydrocarbon exploration[END_REF] and those defined on previous studies by the CARAMBAR project[START_REF] Chabaud | Sedimentary processes determining the modern carbonate periplatform drift of Little Bahama Bank[END_REF][START_REF] Chabaud | Mod`ele stratigraphique and processus sédimentaires au Quaternaire sur deux pentes carbonatées des Bahamas (leeward and windward)[END_REF][START_REF] Fauquembergue | Transferts sédimentaires sur une marge carbonatée moderne de la plate-forme `a la plaine abyssale : marge nord de Little Bahama Bank[END_REF][START_REF] Fauquembergue | Transferts sédimentaires sur une marge carbonatée moderne de la plate-forme `a la plaine abyssale : marge nord de Little Bahama Bank[END_REF] are exposed, and the ones found in this study are defined as "Great Abaco Canyon (CARAMBAR 2 cruise)". Colours associated to each facies on cores descriptions on Figs. 6, 9, 10 and 11 are shown behind the red stars of "Great Abaco Canyon (CARAMBAR 2 cruise)"[START_REF] Embry | A late Devonian reef tract on the northeastern Banks Island[END_REF].

Fig. 11 .

 11 Fig. 11. Stratigraphy and sedimentological data for core CAR2KS11. Top figure: grain-size distribution. Grain content (see Fig. 6 for legend). Sediments classified using Dunham (1962) and stratigraphy follows Marine Isotopic Stages (MIS; Lisiecki and Raymo, 2005). CaCO3 content and proportion of aragonite needles estimated from samples. F corresponds to interpretative facies (see Fig. 9 for legend). Lower caption: High resolution seismic profile across core location and water depth map; orange colour 1000 m water depth, purple colour: 1150 m water depth.

Fig. 12 .

 12 Fig. 12. Dominant Quaternary sedimentary processes along the northern slope of the LBB. Shown are: Dominant sediments, mean sedimentation rates and highstand shedding model limits (red dashed line).

Fig. 13 .

 13 Fig. 13. Scheme of sediment export during glacials (lower panel) and interglacials (upper panel) along the northern LBB.

Fig. 14 .

 14 Fig. 14. : Map with sedimentation and erosion areas as identified along the Bahamian slopes together with the associated Quaternary sedimentation processes.

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the captain and crew of the R/V F.G. Walton Smith, R/V L'Atalante and R/V Le Suroît, as well as IFREMER (Brest, France) and Genavir (Plouzané, France) for their help with the acquisition of the data. TOTAL Research Laboratory (Pau, France) sponsored the data acquisition and subsequent laboratory analysis. This paper is part of the Ph.D. project of K. Fauquembergue that was funded by TOTAL (Pau, France). We also would like to thank Dr. Sebastian Lindhorst (Hamburg) for his work on the geoacoustic acquisition along the western GBB slope.

Data availability

Data obtained on cores and Very High Resolution profiles related to cores will not be placed in a data repository as private company (Total) funds most of them, and are not available without the authors approval, but can be on demand. Feel free to contact authors about this topic.

Declaration of Competing Interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.