Based on high-resolution and multichannel seismic data, a contourite drift, the Lofoten Drift, has been identified below ca. 1000 m water depth on the continental slope off Norway. The Lofoten Drift has a maximum thickness of about 360 m. Correlation to published seismic stratigraphy implies a Neogene age. The onset of the Lofoten Drift may have been a result of increased circulation within the Norwegian-Greenland Sea, probably controlled by the subsidence of the Greenland-Scotland Ridge. The drift has probably originated from deposition of suspended sediments derived from winnowing of the continental shelf and upper slope. The geometry of the youngest seismic-drift unit, characterised by a maximum thickness at the crest of the mound, indicates that the Lofoten Drift is active at present. The maximum Holocene sedimentation rate is ca. 1 m/ka. The downslope sediment input to the study area was probably relatively low during glacial periods because the Lofoten Islands may have acted as a sediment barrier causing large fluvial and/or glacial drainage systems from central Fennoscandia to be routed south and north of the study area. As a result, alongslope sediment transport has been the main sediment input to this part of the continental slope.