Morphology, origin and evolution of Pleistocene submarine canyons, New Jersey continental slope

Abstract:

Submarine canyons serve as important conduits for transport of detrital sediments from nearshore and shelf environments to adjacent deep marine basins. However, the processes controlling the formation, maintenance, and fill of these sediment pathways are complex. This study presents an investigation of these systems at the New Jersey continental margin using a grid of high-resolution, 48-channel seismic reflection data collected in 1995 on the R/V Oceanus cruise Oc270 as a part of the STRATAFORM initiative. The aim is to shed new light on the origin and role of submarine canyons in Pleistocene sedimentation beneath the outer shelf and upper continental slope.

Preliminary investigation of the Pleistocene interval reveals prominent unconformities tied to and dated with published studies at 7 sites drilled by ODP Legs 150 and 174A. The profiles of the continental slope unveil a series of abandoned and now buried submarine canyons that have influenced the development of modern canyons. Mapping these systems has revealed a range of canyon geometries, including U, V-shaped and flat-bottomed cross sections, each suggesting different histories. At least three types of seismic facies constitute the canyon fills: parallel onlap, interpreted as infilling by alternating coarser turbidites and finer hemipelagic sediments, chaotic infill, signifying structureless, massive debris flow deposition, and lateral accretion infill by both turbidity and bottom currents. Canyon formation and development appear to be strongly influenced by variations in sediment supply, grain size, and currents on the continental slope. One goal of our research is to establish if the canyons were initiated by failures at the base of the slope followed by upslope erosion, or by erosion at the shelf slope transition, and then downslope extension by erosive events. No single model accounts for all canyons. The history of these canyons may elucidate the extent to which the shelf was exposed during sea-level fall, or sea-level change might prove to have been a subordinate factor in these systems.