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Images
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Bouma Sequence |
Classic Bouma Sequence |
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Slope By California |
San Francisco
is in the black area near the top. Notice how, in some places, the continental
slope appears to bulge out at its base. This occurs as the Pacific Plate,
which underlies the area, slides past the North American Plate.
(Copyright 1997 Smithsonian Magazine) |
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deep-Sea Worm |
Deep-sea vestimentiferan
tubes photographed near hydrocarbon seeps on the continental slope of the
northern Gulf of Mexico.
(from http://aeolus.tamu.edu/Info/hist3.html) |
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Basin
Evolution |
Schematic summary of evolution
of a basin influenced by turbidite
sedimentatiion.
(USG: kai.er.usgs.gov/surveys/area3/lcs/aapg97/index.html) |
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Mile High Cliff |
MILE-HIGH CLIFF
marks the edge of the continental slope west of Florida (C). This undersea
precipice, known as
the Florida Escarpment, stands more than four times as high as the Empire
State
Building. Whereas
the tilt of the continental slope elsewhere is typically just a few degrees,
the face of the escarpment is, on average, slanted at 35 degrees. In many
places the walls of the escarpment are near vertical. The seafloor here
is made up of the countless skeletons of marine organisms that have cemented
together. The gradual accumulation of this material once formed a gently
dipping ramp. But some force, perhaps great sweeping currents, eroded the
base of the slope.
(Scientific American: http://www.sciam.com/0697issue/0697pratsonbox2c.html) |
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Atchafalaya |
High altitude
(62,000 feet) NASA ER-2 near-infrared photograph of the Atchafalaya and
Wax Lake deltas and offshore flows of turbid waters, driven by northerly
winds.
(The Coastal Studies Institute) |
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