Submarine Canyon Origin on Upper Continental Slope off Cape Hatteras

The configuration of sedimentary strata revealed by continuous seismic-reflection profiles over submarine canyons on the upper continental slope off Cape Hatteras is best explained by the hy pothesis of composite origin of submarine canyons. The canyons were originally incised into a post-Miocene (?) surface of unconformity. The intercanyon areas were constructed by deposition of sediment up to several hundred meters thick forming the canyon walls while the canyons were maintained by sediment removal processes over the sites of original incision. Canyon heads are presently buried under a smooth sediment cover which extends from the shelf break at about 90 m down to about 400 m below sea level, where the canyons emerge from the cover. The depth of emergence of canyons approximately coincides with the inferred level of no motion between the northeast-flowing Florida Current and the southwest-flowing Western Boundary Undercurrent.

[1]  F. P. Shepard,et al.  Submarine Canyons and Other Sea Valleys , 1971 .

[2]  Peter A. Rona,et al.  Linear 'lower continental rise hills' off Cape Hatteras , 1969 .

[3]  P. Rona.  Middle Atlantic Continental Slope of United States: Deposition and Erosion , 1969 .

[4]  G. Rowe,et al.  Deep bottom currents off the coast of North Carolina , 1968 .

[5]  S. T. Knott,et al.  Evidence of pleistocene events in the structure of the continental shelf off the northeastern United States , 1968 .

[6]  E. D. Schneider,et al.  Bathymetry of the continental rise off Cape Hatteras , 1967 .

[7]  A. Lowrie,et al.  Knoll and Sediment Drift near Hudson Canyon , 1967, Science.

[8]  P. Rona,et al.  Stratigraphy and structure along a continuous seismic reflection profile from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, to the Bermuda Rise , 1967 .

[9]  W. Ruddiman,et al.  Shaping of the Continental Rise by Deep Geostrophic Contour Currents , 1966, Science.

[10]  E. M. Thorndike,et al.  Suspended Matter in Deep Ocean Water , 1965, Science.

[11]  Michel I. Roberson.  Continuous seismic profiler survey of oceanographer, Gilbert, and Lydonia submarine canyons, Georges Bank , 1964 .

[12]  M. Ewing,et al.  Upper stratification of Hudson Apron Region , 1963 .

[13]  D. G. Moore,et al.  Geophysical Evidence on the Origin of Gullied Submarine Slopes, San Clemente, California , 1963, The Journal of Geology.

[14]  C. Clay,et al.  CONTINUOUS SEISMIC PROFILING WITH MATCHED FILTER DETECTOR , 1962 .

[15]  G. Volkmann.  Deep current observations in the Western North Atlantic , 1962 .

[16]  M. Ewing,et al.  Atlantic Deep-Sea Sediment Cores , 1961 .

[17]  B. Heezen.  The Origin of Submarine Canyons , 1956 .

[18]  H. W. Menard.  Deep-Sea Channels, Topography, and Sedimentation , 1955 .

[19]  P. Kuenen.  ORIGIN AND CLASSIFICATION OF SUBMARINE CANYONS , 1953 .

[20]  F. P. Shepard.  Composite Origin of Submarine Canyons , 1952, The Journal of Geology.

[21]  F. Swain.  Two Recent Wells in Coastal Plain of North Carolina: GEOLOGICAL NOTES , 1947 .

[22]  Martin W. Johnson,et al.  The oceans : their physics, chemistry, and general biology , 1943 .

[23]  R. Daly.  Origin of submarine canyons , 1936 .

[24]  H. C. Stetson.  Geology and paleontology of the Georges Bank canyons , 1936 .

[25]  O. Pilkey,et al.  A Submerged Reef off North Carolina , 1966 .

[26]  E. Uchupi.  Map showing relation of land and submarine topography, Nova Scotia to Florida , 1965 .

[27]  M. Ewing,et al.  The Floors of the Oceans I. The North Atlantic , 1959 .

[28]  W. B. Spangler.  Subsurface Geology of Atlantic Coastal Plain of North Carolina , 1950 .

[29]  A. C. Veatch,et al.  Atlantic submarine valleys of the United States and the Congo submarine valley , 1939 .

[30]  J. W. Spencer.  Submarine valleys off the American coast and in the north Atlantic , 1903 .