Meander in Valley Crossing a Deep-Ocean Fan

Abstract

Seaward of most submarine canyons there are large sediment fans comparable to the fans at the base of mountain ranges. Many of the submarine fans are cut by valleys called fan-valleys which usually connect with the mouths of submarine canyons. Loop-like bends or meanders characterize the channels of rivers in their lower flood plains, but have never been found in the shallow channels that cross the alluvial fans at the base of mountain canyons. Therefore, it was surprising to find that the channel in a very deep submarine fan-valley off Monterey Bay, California, has a tight meander.