submarine slump

submarine slump

In a submarine canyon or on a continental slope, a relatively rapid and sporadic downslope moving mass composed of sediment and organic debris that has built up slowly into an unstable or marginally stable mass. After an individual slump in a canyon, however, the material tends to continue falling in a series of slumps until the sediment mass attains a shallower, more stable slope. A slumping episode may also trigger other slumps farther down the canyon.