Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Contributors
- Foreword
- Introduction
- Part I The GLORIA System and Data Processing
- Part II U. S. East Coast EEZ
- Part III Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean EEZ
- Part IV U. S. West Coast EEZ
- Introduction
- 10 Discrimination of Fluid Seeps on the Convergent Oregon Continental Margin with GLORIA Imagery
- 11 A Meandering Channel at the Base of the Gorda Escarpment
- 12 The Morphology, Processes, and Evolution of Monterey Fan: A Revisit
- 13 Ground-Truth Studies of West Coast and Gulf of Mexico Submarine Fans
- 14 Morphology of Small Submarine Fans, Inner California Continental Borderland
- Part V Alaskan EEZ
- Index
12 - The Morphology, Processes, and Evolution of Monterey Fan: A Revisit
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 January 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Contributors
- Foreword
- Introduction
- Part I The GLORIA System and Data Processing
- Part II U. S. East Coast EEZ
- Part III Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean EEZ
- Part IV U. S. West Coast EEZ
- Introduction
- 10 Discrimination of Fluid Seeps on the Convergent Oregon Continental Margin with GLORIA Imagery
- 11 A Meandering Channel at the Base of the Gorda Escarpment
- 12 The Morphology, Processes, and Evolution of Monterey Fan: A Revisit
- 13 Ground-Truth Studies of West Coast and Gulf of Mexico Submarine Fans
- 14 Morphology of Small Submarine Fans, Inner California Continental Borderland
- Part V Alaskan EEZ
- Index
Summary
Abstract
Long-range (GLORIA) and mid-range (TOBI) sidescan imagery and seismic-reflection profiles have revealed the surface morphology and architecture of the complete Monterey Fan. The fan has not developed a classic wedge shape because it has been blocked for much of its history by Morro Fracture Zone. The barrier has caused the fan to develop an upper-fan and lower-fan sequence that are distinctly different from one another. The upper-fan sequence is characterized by Monterey and Ascension Channels and associated Monterey Channel-levee system. The lower-fan sequence is characterized by depositional lobes of the Ascension, Monterey, and Sur-Parkington-Lucia systems, with the Monterey depositional lobe being the youngest. Presently, the Monterey depositional lobe is being downcut because the system has reached a new, lower base level in the Murray Fracture Zone.
A five-step evolution of Monterey Fan is presented, starting with initial fan deposition in the Late Miocene, about 5.5 Ma. This first stage was one of filling bathymetric lows in the oceanic basement in what was to become the upper-fan segment. The second stage involved filling the bathymetric low on the north side of Morro Fracture Zone, and probably not much sediment was transported beyond the fracture zone. The third stage witnessed sediment being transported around both ends of Morro Fracture Zone and initial sedimentation on the lower-fan segment. During the fourth stage Ascension Channel was diverted into Monterey Channel, thereby cutting off sedimentation to the Ascension depositional lobe.
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- Geology of the United States' SeafloorThe View from GLORIA, pp. 193 - 220Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1996
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