Continental footstep

Keywords Coasts Shelf Continental slope Continental footstep Underwater canyons Deep-sea floor Bottom sediments... 

Fig. 1 Topography of the coasts and floor of the Black Sea. Bottom relief 1 shelf a accumulative, b abrasive 2 continental slope a accumulative, b stepwise 3 floor of the basin 4 continental footstep 5 underwater canyons 6 bars a sandy, b marginal 7 morphological boundaries a distinct, b fuzzy. Coast types 1 landslide 2 abrasive 3 abrasive-accumulative 4 accumulative 5 lagoonal 6 deltaic...

The submarine topography of the Black Sea can be naturally subdivided into the zones of the shelf, continental slope, continental footstep, and the floor of the deep-sea depression (Fig. 1). 

The continental footstep of the Black Sea occupies an intermediate position between the continental slope and the floor of the central depression at depths from 1100-1200 to 1800-2000 m. Morphologically, it is represented by a slightly inclined plain that borders the base of the continental slope. It is a kind of accumulative tail formed owing to the merging of numerous alluvial fans near the mouths of underwater canyons and to the sedimentation matter supplied from the shelf and continental slope due to the sediment runoff and landslide processes. 

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