Texas A&M University
Department of Oceanography
Winter 1998 / Spring 1999 - Vol. 6, No. 3
A closer look at the seafloor
Brine-flow channels were found in Vaca Basin, shown below in a shaded bathymetry image of an area on the lower continental slope. Vaca Basin is 2,650 meters deep and is a "supralobal" basin - a basin formed by the withdrawal of salt.
Notice the salt-created rim around the basin (indicated by shadows on the east side of the rim). Also illustrated is the filling of Bryant Canyon with salt and the subsequent formation of Iberia and Reveille basins.
Editor's note: Another point of interest in this image concerns the names of these geological formations. Reveille Basin was named for Texas A&M's collie mascot, Reveille; Bryant Canyon was named in honor of the author of this article.
