ABSTRACT
Many geologists involved in marine research are interested in edges or the continental margins, because that is where much of the world’s gas and oil are found, and where most of the living natural resources occur. The Atlantic-type margin occurs around the Atlantic Ocean, consisting of a broad flat continental shelf becoming steeper at the continental slope which leads down to the deep seafloor. On Cortez Bank is probably one of the most interesting geographical phenomena of the continental borderland. Since the ocean basins as they occur are about 250 million years old, therefore, our borderland is a very young geologic feature indeed. The northern Channel Islands are of particular interest because they represent an extension of the east-west trending Transverse Ranges of southern California. Marine research at the University of Southern California has been deeply involved in the study of the processes that deepen and maintain submarine canyons.
