Abstract
The average corrected heat flow in the Wilmington Canyon region, an area of inferred slope instability, is 35 ± 10 mW/m2. This average heat flow is marginally consistent with the 46 ± 9 mW/m2 measured at other North Atlantic sites over 160 m.y. old. High topographic relief causes most of the variability in surface heat flow and may lower the mean surface heat flow. There is no significant difference between the average corrected heat flow of 35 ± 10 mW/m2 in sediment slide areas and the average corrected heat flow of 34 ± 10 mW/m2 in undisturbed sediments.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abbott DH, Embley RW, Hobart MA (1985) Correlation of shear strength, hydraulic conductivity, and thermal gradients with sediment disturbance: South Pass region, Mississippi Delta. Geo-Marine Letters 5:113–119
Stanley DJ, Nelson TA, Stuckenrath R (1984) Recent sedimentation on the New Jersey slope and rise, Science 226:125–133
Coleman JM (1981) Deltas, Processes of Deposition and Models for Exploration. Burgess, Minneapolis
Birch F (1967) Low values of oceanic heat flow. Journal Geophysical Research 72:2261–2262
Hutchinson I (1985) The effects of sedimentation and compaction on oceanic heat flow. Geophysical Journal Royal Astronomical Society 82:439–460
McGregor BA, Bennett RH (1979) Mass movement of sediment on the continental slope and rise seaward of the Baltimore Canyon Trough. Marine Geology 33:163–174
McGregor BA, Bennett RH (1977) Continental slope instability northeast of Wilmington Canyon. Bulletin American Association of Petroleum Geologists 61:918–928
Watts A, Steckler M (1979) Subsidence and eustasy at the continental margin of eastern North America. In: Talwani M, Hay W, Ryan WBF (eds) Deep Drilling Results in the Atlantic Ocean: Continental Margins and Paleoenvironment. American Geophysical Union, pp 218–234
Sawyer DS, Swift BA, Sclater JG, Toksoz MN (1982) Extensional model for the subsidence of the northern United States Atlantic continental margin. Geology 10:134–140
Folger DW, Dillon W, Grow JA, Klitgord KD, Schlee JS (1979) Evolution of the Atlantic margin of the continental United States. In: Talwani M, Hay W, Ryan WBF (eds) Deep Drilling Results in the Atlantic Ocean: Continental Margins and Paleoenvironment. American Geophysical Union, pp 87–108
Sclater JG, Jaupart C, Galson D (1980) The heat flow through oceanic and continental crust and the heat loss of the earth. Reviews of Geophysics and Space Physics 18:269–311
Anderson RN, Hobart MA, Langseth MG (1979) Convective heat transfer in ocean crust and sediment in the Indian Ocean. Science 204:828–832
Lachenbruch AH, Marshall BV (1966) Heat flow through the floor of the Arctic Ocean floor: The Canada basin-Alpha rise boundary. Journal Geophysical Research 71:1223–1248
Keller GH, Lambert DN, Bennett RH (1979) Geotechnical properties of continental slope deposits—Cape Hatteras to Hydrographer Canyon, Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists Special Publication 27:131–151
Carslaw HS, Jaeger JC (1959) Conduction of heat in solids. Clarendon Press, Oxford, pp 61–62
Farre JA (1985) The Importance of Mass Wasting Processes on the Continental Slope. PhD Thesis, Columbia University, p 80
Booth JS, Farrow RA, Rice TK (1981) Geotechnical properties and slope stability analysis of surficial sediments on the Baltimore Canyon continental slope. United States Geological Survey Open File Report 81-733, pp 52–55
McGregor BA, Bennett RH, Lambert RH (1979) Bottom processcs, morphology and geotechnical properties of the continental slope south of Baltimore Canyon. Applied Ocean Research 1:177–187
Bennett RH, Lambert DN, Hulbert MH (1977) Geotechnical properties of a submarine slide area on the U.S. continental slope northeast of Wilmington Canyon. Marine Geotechnology 2:245–261
Bennett RH, Lambert DN, McGregor BA, Force EB, Merrill GF (1978) Slope map: A major submarine slide on the U.S. Atlantic continental slope east of Cape May. Map issued by NOAA, Miami, FL
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Abbott, D.H., Hobart, M.A. & Embley, R.W. Heat flow and mass wasting in the Wilmington Canyon Region: U.S. Continental Margin. Geo-Marine Letters 6, 131–138 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02238083
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02238083