. The Earth beneath the sea : History . CORES TRAWLS CONGO SUBMARINE CANYON CONTOUR mTEKViL SO FATHCUS Fig. 10. Congo submarine canyon. Turbidity currents occiu' at the mouth of the Congo River at the rate of 50 each century. These have built up an enormous abyssal cone of coalescing natural levee systems. The sediment core from position 76 contains an uppermost bed of sand and a deeper bed containing wood and leaves. The trawl at position 76 contained many twigs and branches as well as an abundant bottom fauna. (Caption and figure from Heezen, Menzies and Ewing, 1959.) Unfortunately t liere h
. The Earth beneath the sea : History . CORES TRAWLS CONGO SUBMARINE CANYON CONTOUR mTEKViL SO FATHCUS Fig. 10. Congo submarine canyon. Turbidity currents occiu' at the mouth of the Congo River at the rate of 50 each century. These have built up an enormous abyssal cone of coalescing natural levee systems. The sediment core from position 76 contains an uppermost bed of sand and a deeper bed containing wood and leaves. The trawl at position 76 contained many twigs and branches as well as an abundant bottom fauna. (Caption and figure from Heezen, Menzies and Ewing, 1959.) Unfortunately t liere has been no dredging of the inner canyon Avails so that we do not know whether it is entirely cut into soft sediments although the dei)th of about 400 fm (730 m) at the mouth of the estuary suggests the likelihood that this is not the case. The investigations of Heezen have shown that cables were broken after short intervals whenever laid across the canyon head. This suggests that slides and/or turbidity currents are very active in disposing of the excess sediment introduced by the Congo River. The turbidity currents can also account for the coarse sediments and the large amounts of plant debris reported by Heezen from the outer fan. In two respects the Congo Canyon differs from the others described previously. It has a very gentle gradient, about 1%, and it lacks large tributaries although small ones enter the walls in the inner portion. Along the east coast of Ceylon there is a canyon which in many respects
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookcollectionbiodivers, booksubjectoceanbottom
