Geology of the United States' Seafloor Geology of the United States' Seafloor The View from GLORIA Edited by JAMES V. GARDNER, MICHAEL E. FIELD, and DAVID C. TWICHELL US Geological Survey CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, Sao Paulo Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 2RU, UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www. Cambridge. org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521433105 © Cambridge University Press 1996 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 1996 This digitally printed first paperback version 2005 A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data Geology of the United States' seafloor : the view from GLORIA / edited by James V. Gardner, Michael E. Field, David C. Twichell. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0-521 -43310-X (he) 1. Geology - United States. 2. Continental margins - United States. 3. Economic zones (Maritime law) - United States. I. Gardner, James V. II. Field, Michael E. III. Twichell, David C. QE77.G325 1996 557.3-dc20 95-46492 CIP ISBN-13 978-0-521-43310-5 hardback ISBN-10 0-521-43310-X hardback ISBN-13 978-0-521-02083-1 paperback ISBN-10 0-521-02083-2 paperback Contents Contributors vii 5 Breaching the Levee of a Channel on the Mississippi Fan 85 Foreword xi David C Twichell Gary W. Hill William C. Schwab Introduction 1 Neil H. Kenyon James V. Gardner Homa J. Lee 6 Morphology of Carbonate Escarpments as an Indicator of Erosional Processes 97 Part I The GLORIA System and Data Processing David C. Twichell 1 The USGS GLORIA System 5 William P. Dillon Michael L. Somers Charles K. Paull Neil H. Kenyon 2 Processing and Manipulating GLORIA Sidescan Sonar Images 29 7 Sedimentary Processes in the Salt Pat S. Chavez, Jr. Deformation Province of the Texas-Louisiana Jeff A. Anderson Continental Slope 109 Stuart C. Sides David C. Twichell Jo Ann Bo well Catherine Delorey 8 Sedimentary Processes in a Technically Part II U. S. East Coast EEZ 43 Active Region: Puerto Rico North Insular James M. Robb Slope 123 William P. Dillon Kathryn M. Scanlon Dennis W. O'Leary Douglas G. Masson Peter Popenoe 9 A Review of the Tectonic Problems of the 3 The Timing and Spatial Relations of Strike-Slip Northern Boundary of the Submarine Canyon Erosion and Mass Caribbean Plate and Examination by Movement on the New England Continental GLORIA 135 Slope and Rise 47 William P. Dillon Dennis W. O'Leary N. Terence Edgar Kathryn M. Scanlon 4 Characteristics of the Continental Slope and Dwight F. Coleman Rise off North Carolina from GLORIA and Seismic-Reflection Data: The Interaction Part IV U. S. West Coast EEZ 165 of Downslope and Contour Current James V. Gardner Processes 59 Michael E. Field Peter Popenoe William P. Dillon 10 Discrimination of Fluid Seeps on the Convergent Oregon Continental Margin with GLORIA Imagery 169 Part III Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean EEZ 81 Bobb Carson David C. Twichell Valerie Paskevich Kathryn M. Scanlon Erol Seke William P. Dillon Mark L. Holmes vi Contents 11 A Meandering Channel at the Base of the 15 Sediment Pathways in Gulf of Alaska from Gorda Escarpment 181 Beach to Abyssal Plain 255 David A. Cacchione Paul R. Carlson David E. Drake Andrew J. Stevenson James V. Gardner Terry R. Bruns Dennis M. Mann 12 The Morphology, Processes, and Evolution Quentin Huggett of Monterey Fan: A Revisit 193 James V. Gardner 16 Sedimentation Along the Fore-Arc Region of Robert G. Bohannon the Aleutian Island Arc, Alaska 279 Michael E. Field Max R. Dobson Douglas G. Masson Herman A. Karl Tracy L. Vallier 13 Ground-Truth Studies of West Coast and Gulf of Mexico Submarine Fans 221 17 Aleutian Basin of the Bering Sea: Homa J. Lee Styles of Sedimentation and Robert E. Kayen Canyon Development 305 Brian D. Edwards Herman A. Karl Michael E. Field Paul R. Carlson James V. Gardner James V. Gardner William C. Schwab David C. Twichell 18 Geology of the Kula Paleo-Plate, North Pacific Ocean 333 14 Morphology of Small Submarine Fans, Inner Tracy L. Vallier California Continental Borderland 235 Carlos A. Mortera-Gutierrez Brian D. Edwards Herman A. Karl Michael E. Field Douglas G. Masson Neil H. Kenyon Libby Prueher Thomas E. Chase Part V Alaskan EEZ 251 Herman A. Karl Paul R. Carlson Index 355 Contributors Mr. Jeff A. Anderson Mr. Pat S. Chavez, Jr. U.S. Geological Survey U.S. Geological Survey 2255 N. Gemini Dr. 2255 N. Gemini Dr. Flagstaff, AZ 86001 Flagstaff, AZ 86001 Dr. Robert G. Bohannon Mr. Dwight F. Coleman U.S. Geological Survey U.S. Geological Survey 345 Middlefield Rd. Quisett Campus MS 999 Woods Hole, MA 02543 Menlo Park, CA 94025 Ms. Catherine M. Delorey Ms. JoAnn Bowell U.S. Geological Survey U.S. Geological Survey Quisett Campus 2255 N. Gemini Dr. Woods Hole, MA 02543 Flagstaff, AZ 86001 Dr. William P. Dillon Dr. Terry R. Bruns U.S. Geological Survey U.S. Geological Survey Quisett Campus 345 Middlefield Rd. Woods Hole, MA 02543 MS 999 Menlo Park, CA 94025 Dr. Max R. Dobson Dept. of Geology Dr. David A. Cacchione University of Aberystwyth U.S. Geological Survey Dyfed SY23 2AX 345 Middlefield Rd. U.K. MS 999 Menlo Park, CA 94025 Dr. David E. Drake U.S. Geological Survey Dr. Paul R. Carlson 345 Middlefield Rd. U.S. Geological Survey MS 999 345 Middlefield Rd. Menlo Park, CA 94025 MS 999 Menlo Park, CA 94025 Dr. N. Terence Edgar Dr. Bobb Carson U.S. Geological Survey Dept. of Earth and Environmental Sciences 12201 Sunrise Valley Dr. Lehigh University MS 915 Bethlehem, PA 18015 Reston, VA 22092 Mr. T.E. Chase Dr. Brian D. Edwards U.S. Geological Survey U.S. Geological Survey 345 Middlefield Rd. 345 Middlefield Rd. MS 999 MS 999 Menlo Park, CA 94025 Menlo Park, CA 94025 viii Contributors Dr. Michael E. Field Mr. Dennis M. Mann U.S. Geological Survey U.S. Geological Survey 345 Middlefield Rd. 345 Middlefield Rd. MS 999 MS 999 Menlo Park, CA 94025 Menlo Park, CA 94025 Dr. James V. Gardner Dr. Douglas G. Masson U.S. Geological Survey Institute of Oceanographic Sciences 345 Middlefield Rd. Southampton Oceanography Centre MS 999 Southampton Menlo Park, CA 94025 U.K. Dr. Gary W. Hill Mr. Dennis W. O'Leary U.S. Geological Survey U.S. Geological Survey 12201 Sunrise Valley Dr. Denver Federal Center MS 915 MS 425 Reston, VA 22092 Denver, CO 80225 Dr. Mark L. Holmes Mr. CA. Mortera-Gutierrez University of Washington Geodynamics Research Institute School of Oceanography Texas A&M University WB-10 College Station, TX 77843 Seattle, WA 98195 Mr. Quentin J. Huggett Ms. Valerie Paskevich Institute of Oceanographic Sciences U.S. Geological Survey Southampton Oceanography Centre Quisett Campus Southampton Woods Hole, MA 02543 U.K. Dr. Charles K. Paull Dr. Herman A. Karl Univ. of North Carolina U.S. Geological Survey Chapel Hill, NC 27514 345 Middlefield Rd. MS 999 Mr. Peter Popenoe Menlo Park, CA 94025 U.S. Geological Survey Quisett Campus Dr. Robert E. Kayen Woods Hole, MA 02543 U.S. Geological Survey 345 Middlefield Rd. Ms. Libby Prueher MS 999 Department of Geosciences Menlo Park, CA 94025 University of Michigan Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Mr. Neil H. Kenyon Institute of Oceanographic Sciences Mr. James M. Robb Southampton Oceanography Centre U.S. Geological Survey Southampton Quisett Campus U.K. Woods Hole, MA 02543 Dr. Homa J. Lee U.S. Geological Survey Ms. Kathryn M. Scanlon 345 Middlefield Rd. U.S. Geological Survey MS 999 Quisett Campus Menlo Park, CA 94025 Woods Hole, MA 02543 Contributors ix Mr. Erol Seke Mr. Andrew J. Stevenson Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science U.S. Geological Survey Lehigh University 345 Middlefield Rd. Bethlehem, PA 18015 MS 999 Menlo Park, CA 94025 Mr. Stuart C. Sides Dr. David C. Twichell U.S. Geological Survey U.S. Geological Survey 2255 N. Gemini Dr. Quisett Campus Flagstaff, AZ 86001 Woods Hole, MA 02543 Dr. Tracy L. Vallier Mr. Michael L. Somers U.S. Geological Survey Churt, Surrey 345 Middlefield Rd. GU10 2NA MS 999 U.K. Menlo Park, CA 94025