Comparing the shapes of channels in volcanic landscapes eroded above and below sea level

What is it about?

River channels in mountain landscapes tend to have upward-concave shapes in profile. In this study, the shapes of channels formed in the sides of a Cretaceous-age seamount (submarine volcano) from near Hawaii were compared with channels in subaerial volcanoes and channels in a seamount in the Mediterranean, which was suspected to have been eroded by rainwater during the Miocene period when the Mediterranean Sea desiccated. We found these different features had remarkably similar geometrical properties, indicating no characteristic signatures of submarine erosion.

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Photo by Charlotte Venema on Unsplash

Photo by Charlotte Venema on Unsplash