Articles | Volume 12, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-621-2024
https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-621-2024
Research article
 | 
29 Apr 2024
Research article |  | 29 Apr 2024

Evolution of submarine canyons and hanging-wall fans: insights from geomorphic experiments and morphodynamic models

Steven Y. J. Lai, David Amblas, Aaron Micallef, and Hervé Capart

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Cited articles

Babault, J., Bonnet, S., Crave, A., and Van Den Driessche, J.: Influence of piedmont sedimentation on erosion dynamics of an uplifting landscape: An experimental approach, Geology, 33, 301, https://doi.org/10.1130/g21095.1, 2005. 
Barrett, B. J., Hodgson, D. M., Jackson, C. A. L., Lloyd, C., Casagrande, J., and Collier, R. E. L.: Quantitative analysis of a footwall-scarp degradation complex and syn-rift stratigraphic architecture, Exmouth Plateau, NW Shelf, offshore Australia, Basin Res., 33, 1135–1169, https://doi.org/10.1111/bre.12508, 2021. 
Bernhardt, A. and Schwanghart, W.: Where and why do submarine canyons remain connected to the shore during sea-level rise? Insights from global topographic analysis and Bayesian regression, Geophys. Res. Lett., 48, e2020GL092234, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL092234, 2021. 
Bonnet, S. and Crave, A.: Landscape response to climate change: Insights from experimental modeling and implications for tectonic versus climatic uplift of topography, Geology, 31, 123-126, https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(2003)031<0123:LRTCCI>2.0.CO;2, 2003. 
Bonnet, S. and Crave, A.: Macroscale dynamics of experimental landscapes, analogue and numerical modeling of crustal-scale processes, Special Publications, Geological Society, London, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.2006.253.01.17, 2006. 
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Short summary
This study explores the creation of submarine canyons and hanging-wall fans on active faults, which can be defined by gravity-dominated breaching and underflow-dominated diffusion processes. The study reveals the self-similarity in canyon–fan long profiles, uncovers Hack’s scaling relationship and proposes a formula to estimate fan volume using canyon length. This is validated by global data from source-to-sink systems, providing insights into deep-water sedimentary processes.
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