Influence of submarine morphology on bottom water flow across the western Ross Sea continental margin

Multibeam sonar bathymetry documents a lack of significant channels crossing outer continental shelf and
slope of the western Ross Sea. This indicates that movement of bottom water across the shelf break into the deep ocean
in this area is mainly by laminar or sheet flow. Subtle, ~20 m deep and up to 1000 m wide channels extend down the
continental slope, into tributary drainage patterns on the upper rise, and then major erosional submarine canyons. These
down-slope channels may have been formed by episodic pulses of rapid down slope water flow, some recorded on
bottom current meters, or by sub-ice melt water erosion from an icesheet grounded at the margin. Narrow, mostly linear
furrows on the continental shelf thought to be caused by iceberg scouring are randomly oriented, have widths generally
less than 400 m and depths less than 30m, and extend to water depths in excess of 600 m.