Atlantic Submarine Valleys of the United States and the Congo Submarine Valley The Origin of Submarine Canyons: a Critical Review of Hypotheses

Abstract

DURING the past fifteen years, the methods by which hydrographic surveys are made have fundamentally changed, and both the accuracy attainable and the speed of working have greatly increased. These changes are due partly to the introduction of the echo sounder and partly to new methods of position finding when out of sight of land. The paper by Veatch and Smith, with its accompanying charts, represents one of the first products of these technical advances, and gives us, for the first time, a survey of an extensive area out of sight of land in which the positions of the soundings can be relied oh sufficiently for steep bottom forms to be contoured. The area treated is off the eastern coast of the United States from Cape Henry to Georges Bank. The charts are on a scale of 1: 120,000 and show all the thousands of soundings on which the contours are based.

Atlantic Submarine Valleys of the United States and the Congo Submarine Valley

By A. C. Veatch P. A. Smith. (Geological Society of America, Special Paper No. 7.) Pp. xvi + 101 + 10 plates. (New York: Geological Society of America, 1939.) £1 10s. net.

The Origin of Submarine Canyons: a Critical Review of Hypotheses

By Prof. Douglas Johnson. (Columbia Geomorphic Studies, No. 3.) Pp. ix + 126 + 4 plates. (New York: Columbia University Press; London: Oxford University Press, 1939.) 15s. 6d. net.