Files
Document type
ArticleVersion
Published versionPublication date
All rights reserved
Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/2445/163500
An experimental approach to submarine canyon evolution
Journal Title
Director/Tutor
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Related resource
Abstract
We present results from a sandbox experiment designed to investigate how sediment gravity flows form and shape submarine canyons. In the experiment, unconfined saline gravity flows were released onto an inclined sand bed bounded on the downstream end by a movable floor that was used to increase relief during the experiment. In areas unaffected by the flows, we observed featureless, angle-of-repose submarine slopes formed by retrogressive breaching processes. In contrast, areas influenced by gravity flows cascading across the shelf break were deeply incised by submarine canyons with well-developed channel networks. Normalized canyon long profiles extracted from successive high-resolution digital elevation models collapse to a single profile when referenced to the migrating shelf-slope break, indicating self-similar growth in the relief defined by the canyon and intercanyon profiles. Although our experimental approach is simple, the resulting canyon morphology and behavior appear similar in several important respects to that observed in the field.
Subject
Subject (English)
Citation
Citation
LAI, Steven Y.J., GERBER, Thomas P. and AMBLÀS I NOVELLAS, David. An experimental approach to submarine canyon evolution. Geophysical Research Letters. 2016. Vol. 43, num. 6, pags. 2741-2747. ISSN 0094-8276. [consulted: 8 of August of 2026]. Available at: https://hdl.handle.net/2445/163500