F-1 



EAST COAST SUBMARINE CANYONS 

 Introduction 



North of Cape Hatteras, the U.S. East Coast continental 

 margin is characterized by an abundance of submarine canyons 

 incised into the continental shelf and slope. Emery and 

 Uchupi (1972, Fig. 44, 46) list 46 canyons off the eastern 

 North American margin and estimate at least 190. Detailed 

 bathymetric surveying for diverse purposes is to this day 

 identifying previously unrecorded smaller canyons and tribu- 

 taries. At the same time, seismic reflection surveys along 

 the continental margin are recognizing niunerous buried 

 channels clearly connected to rivers indicating that both 

 constructional and erosional processes operate during the 

 life of the canyons (Shepard, 1952; Rona, 1970). 



Ample studies on both the U.S. east and west coast (see 

 Shepard, 1973) demonstrate that submarine canyons are the 

 main conduits for sediment transport from the shelf to the 

 rise and ocean floor. That these conduits also move nutri- 

 ents can be recognized by the richer populations of fish and 

 invertebrates inhabiting these areas (Barham et al^. , 1967; 

 Sanders and Hessler, 1968; Rowe, 1971; Tietjen, 1971), than 

 in intercanyon areas. On the other hand, submersible obser- 

 vations within canyons have called attention to large talus 

 blocks and thick sand deposits (Trumbull and McCamis, 1967), 

 which certainly represent periodic scour affecting a portion 

 of the organisms present. 



In order to make meaningful interpretations from the 



