Submarine canyon initiation by downslope-eroding sediment flows: Evidence in late Cenozoic strata on the New Jersey continental slope

Abstract

Research Article| March 01, 1994 Submarine canyon initiation by downslope-eroding sediment flows: Evidence in late Cenozoic strata on the New Jersey continental slope LINCOLN F. PRATSON; LINCOLN F. PRATSON 1Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, Palisades, New York 10964 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar WILLIAM B.F. RYAN; WILLIAM B.F. RYAN 1Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, Palisades, New York 10964 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar GREGORY S. MOUNTAIN; GREGORY S. MOUNTAIN 1Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, Palisades, New York 10964 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar DAVID C. TWICHELL DAVID C. TWICHELL 2U S . Geological Survey, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information LINCOLN F. PRATSON 1Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, Palisades, New York 10964 WILLIAM B.F. RYAN 1Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, Palisades, New York 10964 GREGORY S. MOUNTAIN 1Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, Palisades, New York 10964 DAVID C. TWICHELL 2U S . Geological Survey, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543 Publisher: Geological Society of America First Online: 01 Jun 2017 Online ISSN: 1943-2674 Print ISSN: 0016-7606 Geological Society of America GSA Bulletin (1994) 106 (3): 395–412. https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(1994)106<0395:SCIBDE>2.3.CO;2 Article history First Online: 01 Jun 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation LINCOLN F. PRATSON, WILLIAM B.F. RYAN, GREGORY S. MOUNTAIN, DAVID C. TWICHELL; Submarine canyon initiation by downslope-eroding sediment flows: Evidence in late Cenozoic strata on the New Jersey continental slope. GSA Bulletin 1994;; 106 (3): 395–412. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(1994)106<0395:SCIBDE>2.3.CO;2 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGSA Bulletin Search Advanced Search Abstract Multibeam bathymetry and seismic reflection profiles of the New Jersey continental slope reveal a series of abandoned and now-buried submarine canyons that have apparently influenced the development of modern canyons. The buried canyons are infilled along nine slope-wide unconformities separating upper-middle Miocene to Pleistocene sediments that thin downslope. Canyons infilled during the Miocene occur in the southwest part of the study area where Miocene sediments are thickest. Other canyons, infilled during the Pleistocene, occur in the northeast part of the study area where Pleistocene sediments are thickest. When followed downslope, each of the buried canyons arrives at a confluence with a modern canyon, usually where the downslope-tapering sediment cover has failed to smooth over the buried canyon, leaving a sea-floor trough. Sea-ward of the confluences, the modern canyons have exhumed the buried canyons and use the older valleys to reach the base of the slope.Re-use of the lower slope reach of the buried canyons appears to have begun when the sea-floor troughs over the buried canyons captured sediment flows initiated along the upper slope and shelf break and confined them to follow the former path of the buried canyons to the base of the slope. The downslope erosion caused by the sediment.flows is proposed to have initiated the modern canyons, which eventually excavated and deepened the former routes of the buried canyons seaward of the sites of sediment flow capture. The occurrence of buried canyons where strata thickens alongslope suggests that infilling of the buried canyons occurred seaward of shelf-edge depocenters. The heightened sediment input to the slope in these regions may have also led to the initiation and growth of modern-day canyons. The temporal relation between modern canyon formation, sediment supply, and sea level, however, remains to be established. This content is PDF only. Please click on the PDF icon to access. First Page Preview Close Modal You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.