The continental slope south of the Ascension Canyon system is separated from the Monterey Canyon system by a broad east-west oriented ridge of fairly smooth, undissected topography. The ridge slopes from about 300 meters deep at its head to more than 2,000 meters at its base, where it narrows to nearly 7 kilometers in width. The northern and southern flanks of the lower ridge exhibit almost laterally continuous slide scars that extend from the submarine canyon’s floor to well up on the slope. A narrow (approximately 3 kilometers wide) neck (at approximately 150 meters deep) connects Smooth Ridge with the Santa Cruz shelf.
The Palo Colorado-San Gregorio fault zone corresponds with the northeast boundary of Smooth Ridge and is associated with the northwest/southeast-oriented trough that extends from Monterey Canyon and nearly connects with the Ascension Canyon system to the north. This trough’s flanks contain numerous gullies and slumps including two very well defined slumps named Horseshoe Scarp North and Horseshoe Scarp South (Orange et al., 1998; Greene et al., 1999). Active chemosynthetic communities and the occurrence of methane-derived carbonate buildups occur along the crest of Smooth Ridge.
| Index Map | Ascension Slope |
Monterey Canyon |
Sur Ridge/ Sur Canyon |
Upper
Lucia Canyon |
Lower
Lucia Canyon |