Navarin Canyon
Encyclopedia
The Navarin Canyon is a submarine canyon
in the Bering Sea
. It is just as wide but less than half as deep as the Zhemchug Canyon
, which is the largest canyon in the world.
The Navarin Canyon is the third-largest to cut through the Beringian margin. It is the second-largest in area. Though these canyons were not directly formed by rivers, it is postulated that when the sea level was low during the Ice Age
s, rivers such as the Yukon
and the Kuskokwim
may have shaped in part the heads of these canyons. At the shelf break, it is approximately 100 kilometres (62.1 mi) wide.
Submarine canyon
A submarine canyon is a steep-sided valley on the sea floor of the continental slope. Many submarine canyons are found as extensions to large rivers; however there are some that have no such association. Canyons cutting the continental slopes have been found at depths greater than 2 km below sea...
in the Bering Sea
Bering Sea
The Bering Sea is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean. It comprises a deep water basin, which then rises through a narrow slope into the shallower water above the continental shelves....
. It is just as wide but less than half as deep as the Zhemchug Canyon
Zhemchug Canyon
Zhemchug Canyon is a giant underwater canyon located in the middle of the Bering Sea. This submarine canyon is the largest canyon in the ocean. The canyon has a vertical relief of 2600 metres dropping from the shallow shelf the Bering Sea to the depths of the Aleutian Basin. Zhemchug Canyon is...
, which is the largest canyon in the world.
The Navarin Canyon is the third-largest to cut through the Beringian margin. It is the second-largest in area. Though these canyons were not directly formed by rivers, it is postulated that when the sea level was low during the Ice Age
Ice age
An ice age or, more precisely, glacial age, is a generic geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers...
s, rivers such as the Yukon
Yukon River
The Yukon River is a major watercourse of northwestern North America. The source of the river is located in British Columbia, Canada. The next portion lies in, and gives its name to Yukon Territory. The lower half of the river lies in the U.S. state of Alaska. The river is long and empties into...
and the Kuskokwim
Kuskokwim River
The Kuskokwim River or Kusko River is a river, long, in Southwest Alaska in the United States. It is the ninth largest river in the United States by average discharge volume at its mouth and seventeenth largest by basin drainage area.The river provides the principal drainage for an area of the...
may have shaped in part the heads of these canyons. At the shelf break, it is approximately 100 kilometres (62.1 mi) wide.