River-like erosion within the Bounty Submarine Channel, Southwest Pacific Ocean

A multibeam bathymetric crossing of Bounty Channel, east of South Island New Zealand fortuitously imaged a large recent slump that partially dammed the channel. Together with a later, adjacent multibeam crossing, these bathymetric data show the average gradient for this section of the channel to be 15 m per km, steeper than the general average for the whole channel (∼3 m per km). In the immediate vicinity of the slump, there is a negative gradient followed downstream by a maximum gradient of 1450 m/km for a 70 m section of the channel. Typical riverine erosional features are seen in this section of the channel including an over-deepened basin at the bottom of the greatest slope as well as additional major slump features.