Submarine Canyon
Depth: 2,500 m · Midnight Zone
A submarine canyon is a giant gorge in the continental slope. Through it, enormous avalanches of sand and mud slide down into the deep sea. Monterey Canyon off California is cut more than 1,600 meters deep in places, almost like the Grand Canyon.
For scientists
Submarine canyons are carved by turbidity currents: heavy, sediment-laden water races down the slope and cuts deep gorges. They are important highways that carry sand, nutrients and even plastic from the shelf into the deep sea. Monterey Canyon is incised more than 1,700 m deep in places.
Source: MBARI
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