1 Given that and the fact that we observed coarse-grained sediment 



2 at the rim, on the walls and in the axis, I would say that is direct 



3 evidence that sediment is moving from the shelf into the canyon. 



4 DR. BUTMAN: It's not just submersible observations at the rim, 



5 but it's the texture of the walls. 



6 DR. VALENTINE: And the floor. 



7 DR. BUTMAN: So, I shouldn't call it submersible observations. 



8 You are actually saying it's texture observations throughout the canyon. 



9 DR. VALENTINE: Yes, submersible observations and direct sampling 



10 of the sediment. I mean, we can see that it is sand, but we have also 



11 sampled it and determined that it is sand. We know that it occurs 



12 nowhere else but on the shelf, so it has to come from the shelf. 



13 DR. BUTMAN: Are you saying that is true in Lydonia, too, the 



14 walls of Lydonia are sandy? 



15 DR. VALENTINE: I don't know as much about Lydonia, but I know 



16 that in Oceanographer, Gilbert, and Hydrographer, they all have the same 



17 sort of axial sediments. So, I feel confident that those three canyons 



18 are receiving sand from the shelf and, by analogy, the others are, too, 



19 although it may be mixed with finer grained material. 



20 DR. BUTMAN: That's a good point. Maybe we should qualify this, 



21 fine versus sand, versus finest. What you just said was "sand," not 



22 silt and clays. 



23 DR. VALENTINE: Right. You can't separate out the silt and clays 



24 from the material coming from the walls of the canyon itself through 



25 bio-erosion, from this fine grained stuff coming off the shelf. 



26 DR. BUTMAN: Right. The reason I posed this question is, as I 



27 said, if there is activity around the rim, we want to know is that going 



28 into the canyon or is that somehow going to bypass the canyon? I think 



29 there is evidence at least some fraction of the material on the shelf is 



30 entering the canyon system. 



31 The question is: What happens in the canyon? That's the next 



32 question, though. 



33 DR. KRAEUTER: You've changed now. We're just talking about sands 



34 on these? 



187 



