Departmental Papers (EES)
Document Type
Journal Article
Date of this Version
6-2007
Publication Source
Geophysical research letters
Volume
34
Issue
12
Start Page
L12613
DOI
10.1029/2007GL030089
Abstract
Fluvial drainage basin area is often related to channel length and local slope through power law relationships and the relatively small range of exponents observed in these relationships is thought to result from physical mechanisms. Proposed mechanisms assume that the observed correlation between drainage area and fluid discharge is caused by precipitation. Using high resolution DEMs of channelized continental slope settings offshore Monterey, CA and Brunei Darussalam we extracted submarine channel profiles and drainage area statistics from five basins. In-situ and remote observations suggest discharge in these oceanic settings is determined by boundary conditions at the shelf-edge. In spite of substantial differences in environment and physical process, the data yield submarine scaling exponents within the range of terrestrial (fluvial) observations. The convergence in scaling relationships from two very different settings supports theoretical arguments that channel network structure results from the aggregation of random walks.
Copyright/Permission Statement
Copyright © 2007 by the American Geophysical Union.
Keywords
channel networks, submarine channels, marine geology
Recommended Citation
Straub, K. M., Jerolmack, D. J., Mohrig, D., & Rothman, D. H. (2007). Channel Network Scaling Laws in Submarine Basins. Geophysical research letters, 34 (12), L12613-. http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2007GL030089
Date Posted: 11 November 2016
This document has been peer reviewed.