Zhemchug Canyon is an underwater canyon located in the middle of the Bering Sea. It is the deepest submarine canyon in the world, and is also tied for the widest.Normark, W.R. and Carlson, P.R., 2003
Giant submarine canyons: Is size any clue to their importance in the rock record?
in Chan, M.A., and Archer, A.W., eds., Extreme depositional environments: Mega end members in geologic time: Boulder, Colorado, Geological Society of America Special Paper 370, p. 1–15

Geography

It has a vertical relief of dropping from the shallow shelf of the Bering Sea to the depths of the Aleutian Basin. Zhemchug Canyon is deeper than the Grand Canyon which is deep. It has two main branches, each larger than typical

continental margin A continental margin is the outer edge of continental crust abutting oceanic crust under coastal waters. It is one of the three major zones of the ocean floor, the other two being deep-ocean basins and mid-ocean ridges. The continental margi ...

canyons such as the

Monterey Canyon Monterey Canyon, or Monterey Submarine Canyon, is a submarine canyon in Monterey Bay, California with steep canyon walls measuring a full 1 mile in height from bottom to top, which height/depth rivals the depth of the Grand Canyon itself. It is ...

. What makes the Zhemchug Canyon the world's largest is not only its great depth, but its immense cross-sectional and drainage area, (11,350 km²) and volume (5800 km³). In 2016, Michelle Ridgeway explored the canyon piloting an eight-foot submarine in an expedition sponsored by Greenpeace. She reached a shelf at a depth of , that is, a third of a mile below the surface.Alaska researcher made tantalizing discoveries in a massive underwater Bering Sea canyon
''

Alaska Dispatch News The ''Anchorage Daily News'' is a daily newspaper published by the Binkley Co., and based in Anchorage, Alaska. It is the most widely read newspaper and news website (adn.com) in the state of Alaska. The newspaper is headquartered in Anchorage, ...

'', Ned Rozell, November 12, 2016. Retrieved 15 November 2016.

Marine wildlife

Zhemchug Canyon is important habitat for many species of ocean wildlife. The endangered

short-tailed albatross The short-tailed albatross or Steller's albatross (''Phoebastria albatrus'') is a large rare seabird from the North Pacific. Although related to the other North Pacific albatrosses, it also exhibits behavioural and morphological links to the alb ...

congregates to feed over the surface waters of the canyon. Marine mammals such as

northern fur seal The northern fur seal (''Callorhinus ursinus'') is an eared seal found along the north Pacific Ocean, the Bering Sea, and the Sea of Okhotsk. It is the largest member of the fur seal subfamily (Arctocephalinae) and the only living species in t ...

s feed in the canyon as do dolphins and many species of whales. Habitat-forming invertebrates such as bubblegum coral,

bamboo coral Bamboo coral, family Isididae, is a family of mostly deep-sea coral of the phylum Cnidaria. It is a commonly recognized inhabitant of the deep sea, due to the clearly articulated skeletons of the species. Deep water coral species such as this a ...

, soft corals, Hexactinellid sponges, and other sponges have been identified during

trawl Trawling is a method of fishing that involves pulling a fishing net through the water behind one or more boats. The net used for trawling is called a trawl. This principle requires netting bags which are towed through water to catch different speci ...

surveys in the canyon. It is where the opilio (snow) crab and bairdi crab can be found.

References

Submarine canyons of the Bering Sea {{marine-geo-stub

Geography

Marine wildlife

See also

References