submarine canyon (redirected from Undersea canyon)

submarine canyon

Narrow, steep-sided underwater valley cut into a continental slope. Submarine canyons resemble river canyons on land, usually having steep, rocky walls. They are found along most continental slopes. Those of the Grand Bahama Canyon, which are thought to be the deepest, cut nearly 3 mi (5 km) deep into the continental slope. Most submarine canyons extend only about 30 mi (50 km) or less, but a few are more than 200 mi (300 km) long.

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submarine canyon [¦səb·mə′rēn ′kan·yən]

(geology)

Steep-sided valleys winding across the continental shelf or continental slope, probably originally produced by Pleistocene stream erosion, but presently the site of turbidity flows.