Origin of continental margin bedforms: slides or drift deposits, a rock magnetic approach

University Of California-San Diego Scripps Inst Of Oceanography, La Jolla CA

Investigators

Abstract

Funds are provided to resolve a controversy about the origin of the continental margin bedforms comprising the "Humboldt slide" feature off the California coast. Previous workers using seismic reflection and multibeam sonar data have interpreted them as either landslide or drift deposits. The PIs will attempt to resolve the question by using existing sediment cores and apply anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) analysis of marine sediment to determine the nature of some continental margin deposits (slide deposit vs. bedforms). Though it has been demonstrated that the AMS method can distinguish slumps from un-deformed sediment, this method has not yet been applied to seafloor structures of unknown origin.