Three major distributary channels connect Ascension, Aņo Nuevo, and Cabrillo Canyons, forming the Ascension Canyon system. This canyon system forms from the coalescence of 11 heads. The canyon walls near the heads of the Ascension Canyon system are steep in gradient and most have v-shaped profiles. Both Ascension and Aņo Nuevo canyons notch the distal edge of the continental shelf and cut deeply into Pliocene sandstones equivalent in age to the Purisima Formation (Greene, 1977). Aņo Nuevo Canyon has a distinctly crescentic head while Ascension Canyon head appears to be shaped partly by landslides.
The main channel of Ascension Canyon is narrower (less than 0.5 kilometers wide) and generally straighter than the other canyon heads and channels. Landslides exist along the northwestern wall of this primary channel. Like their northern neighbor (Ascension Canyon), Aņo Nuevo and Cabrillo Canyons have apparent left-lateral offset along a northwest-southeast trend in their lower headward parts on the mid-slope area.
| Index Map | Ascension Slope |
Monterey Canyon |
Sur Ridge/ Sur Canyon |
Upper
Lucia Canyon |
Lower
Lucia Canyon |