3-D View of Erosional Scars on U.S. Mid-Atlantic Continental Margin

摘要

Deep-towed side-scan and bathymetric data have been merged to present a 3-D view of the lower continental slope and upper continental rise offshore Atlantic City, New Jersey. Carteret Canyon narrows and becomes nearly stranded on the lower slope where it leads into one of two steep-walled, flat-floored erosional chutes. The floors of the chutes, cut into semilithfield middle Eocene siliceous limestones, are marked by downslope-trending grooves. The grooves are interpreted to be gouge marks formed during rock and sediment slides. On the uppermost rise, beneath the chutes, is a 40-m deep depression. The origin of the depression is believed to be related to material moving downslope and encountering the change in gradient at the slope/rise boundary. Downslope of the depression are channels, trails, and allochthonous blocks. The lack of significant post-early Miocene deposits implies that the lower slope offshore New Jersey has yet to reach a configuration conducive to sediment accumulation. The age of erosion on the lower slope apparently ranges from late Eocene-early Miocene to the recent geologic past. (Author)