Lower Continental Rise East of the Middle Atlantic States: Predominant Sediment Dispersal Perpendicular to Isobaths
The lower continental rise east of the Middle Atlantic United States consists of a series of megafans and well-defined levee-bounded giant valleys meandering across the surfaces of the fans. This region lies below the southwest-flowing Western Boundary Undercurrent, but morphologic features observed are best explained by dominant long-term, gravity-induced, downslope sediment transport processes. Sediment dispersal by contour currents flowing parallel to isobaths, recently described, clearly has not been a significant factor in shaping this sector of the lower rise.