SECT. 3] TURBIDITY CURRENTS 771 



10. Conclusion 



We can now view the vast abyss with somewhat less mystery and more real 

 understanding. The picture of an unremitting snowfall of sediment which 

 softly casts a thin veil over the rugged, grand and imposing relief of the deep-sea 

 must be tempered with occasional, sometimes frequent, turbidity flows, which, 

 like snow avalanches in the Alps, sweep down and smother the relief of the 

 lower slopes. Just as winds striking the mountains drive the snow from the 

 peaks, so the ocean currents sweep the sediment from the higher and bolder 

 submarine mountains. 



Just as wind and water shape the land, so do the submarine currents of 

 water and mud, by erosion, by solution and by scour shape the ocean floor. 

 To be sure, erosion dominates on the land, as does dej30sition in the deep sea. 



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