Submarine Canyon
D2. Hydrography, tides, waves, bathymetry and marine geologyDefinition
Steep valley incised into the continental slope.
A submarine canyon is a steep-walled valley incised into the continental shelf and slope, often aligned with a river mouth, that channels sediment from the coast to deep-sea fans on the basin floor. Turbidity currents periodically scour them, sometimes triggered by storms, floods, or earthquakes, and have broken seafloor telecommunication cables in sequence as they raced downslope. Canyons concentrate nutrients and support rich benthic communities.