Long-Range Sidescan Sonar Studies of Sediment Slides and the Effects of Slope Mass Sediment Movement on Abyssal Plain Sedimentation

Abstract

The long-range sidescan sonar technique has been used to great effect in surveys aimed at understanding processes responsible for the large-scale morphology of the deep ocean floor. Areas of thin sediment cover over igneous basement such as mid-ocean ridges (Laughton et al., 1979) and fracture zones (Searle, 1979), and areas of major compressive deformation (Stride et al., 1977) have been the prime targets of interest. Since 1977, a second phase of development of the GLORIA (Geological Long Range Inclined Asdic) tool, used by the Institute of Oceanographic Sciences, has provided the impetus to examine further the more subtle sedimentary features that had been recognised previously on continental margins and rises (Kenyon & Belderson, 1973).