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Submarine Canyons

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Encyclopedia of Marine Geosciences

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Definition

A submarine canyon is a valley cut into the seafloor of the continental shelf, forming a notch in the shelf break and continuing as a steep-sided valley down the continental slope.

History

The discovery of submarine canyons can be traced back to the late nineteenth century. James Dana reported on soundings revealing the Hudson submarine river channel in 1890.

The Distribution of Submarine Canyons

Small submarine canyons are common along active continental margins. They are more widely separated along passive margins. Some submarine canyons have their heads on the continental shelf and are directly associated with large rivers. Others have their head near the break in the slope and have no obvious association with existing rivers.

Canyons cut into continental slopes can be traced down to depths of 2 km or more below sea level. They can continue as submarine channels on the continental rise extending for hundreds of kilometers.

Origin of Submarine Canyons

The origin of...

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Bibliography

  • Daly, R. A., 1936. Origin of submarine “canyons”. American Journal of Science, 31, 401–420.

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  • Dana, J. D., 1890. Long Island sound in the quaternary era, with observation on the Hudson submarine river channel. American Journal of Science, 40, 425–437.

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  • Emery, K. O., and Uchupi, E., 1984. The Geology of the Atlantic Ocean. New York: Springer, 1050 pp. + Map set.

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  • Heezen, B. C., and Ewing, M., 1952. Turbidity currents and submarine slumps and the 1929 Grand Banks earthquake. American Journal of Science, 250, 849–873.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geological Sciences, University of Colorado at Boulder, 2045 Windcliff Dr, Boulder, CO, 80517, USA

    William W. Hay

Authors
  1. William W. Hay
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Correspondence to William W. Hay .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, University of Szczecin, Szczecin, Poland

    Jan Harff

  2. Institute of Geography and Geology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany

    Martin Meschede

  3. Leibiniz Institute of Marine Sciences, University of Kiel, Kiel, Germany

    Sven Petersen

  4. Academy of Sciences, Humanities, and Lit c/o Helmholtz-Center for Ocean Research, Kiel, Germany

    Jörn Thiede

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© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Hay, W.W. (2014). Submarine Canyons. In: Harff, J., Meschede, M., Petersen, S., Thiede, J. (eds) Encyclopedia of Marine Geosciences. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6644-0_150-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6644-0_150-3

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-007-6644-0

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