Dallas H. Abbott, M. A. Hobart and R. W. Embley

Heat flow and mass wasting in the Wilmington Canyon region; U.S. continental margin

Geo-Marine Letters( 1986), 6(3):131-138

Index Terms/Descriptors: Atlantic Coastal Plain; Atlantic Ocean; continental margin; geophysical surveys; geothermal gradient; heat flow; marine sediments; mass movements; North Atlantic; oceanography; properties; sedimentation; sedimentation rates; sediments; slope stability; surveys; thermal conductivity; topography; United States; Wilmington Canyon

Latitude & LongitudeN0°00'00'' - N75°00'00'' and W80°00'00'' - E20°00'00''

Abstract

The average corrected heat flow in the Wilmington Canyon region, an area of inferred slope instability, is 35 ± 10 mW/m². This average heat flow is marginally consistent with the 46 ± 9 mW/m² measured at other North Atlantic sites over 160 m.y. old. High topographic relief causes most of the variability in surface heat flow and may lower the mean surface heat flow. There is no significant difference between the average corrected heat flow of 35 ± 10 mW/m² in sediment slide areas and the average corrected heat flow of 34 ± 10 mW/m² in undisturbed sediments.