Note: Intro -- Preface -- Writing a Rosetta stone: insights into continental-margin sedimentary processes and strata -- CHARLES A. NITTROUER*, JAMES A. AUSTIN JR†, MICHAEL E. FIELD‡, JOSEPH H. KRAVITZ, JAMES P.M. SYVITSKI¶ and PATRICIA L. WIBERG** -- INTRODUCTION -- THE BOUNDARY CONDITIONS -- THE COMMON THREADS -- Eel River (California) continental margin -- New Jersey continental margin -- SEDIMENT DELIVERY -- General considerations -- Delivery of Eel margin sediment -- SEDIMENT ALTERATION -- General considerations -- Alteration of Eel margin sediment -- SEDIMENT DISPERSAL SYSTEM -- General considerations -- Eel margin sediment dispersal system -- SEABED FAILURE -- General considerations -- Eel margin failure -- GRAVITY FLOWS -- General considerations -- MARGIN MORPHOLOGY -- General considerations -- New Jersey margin morphology -- Eel margin morphology -- MARGIN STRATIGRAPHY -- General considerations -- New Jersey margin stratigraphy -- Eel margin stratigraphy -- CONCLUSIONS -- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS -- REFERENCES -- Sediment delivery to the seabed on continental margins -- PAUL S. HILL*, JASON M. FOX*, JOHN S. CROCKETT†, KRISTIAN J. CURRAN*, CARL T. FRIEDRICHS‡, W. ROCKWELL GEYER, TIMOTHY G. MILLIGAN¶, ANDREA S. OGSTON†, PERE PUIG**, MALCOLM E. SCULLY‡, PETER A. TRAYKOVSKI and ROBERT A. WHEATCROFT†† -- INTRODUCTION -- REVIEW OF PREVIOUS WORK -- Early conceptual models -- Sediment loss from discharge plumes -- Advective transport in river plumes -- Bottom-boundary-layer transport of flood sediment -- Summary of past research -- SEDIMENT DELIVERY TO THE EEL MARGIN -- Site description -- Observational programme -- Results -- Fate of missing sediment -- SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION -- Summary of STRATAFORM sediment delivery -- Questions for future research -- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS -- NOMENCLATURE -- REFERENCES. , Post-depositional alteration and preservation of sedimentary strata -- ROBERT A. WHEATCROFT*, PATRICIA L. WIBERG†, CLARK R. ALEXANDER‡, SAMUEL J. BENTLEY, DAVID E. DRAKE¶, COURTNEY K. HARRIS** and ANDREA S. OGSTON†† -- INTRODUCTION AND SCOPE -- CONSOLIDATION -- Theoretical framework -- Observations -- PHYSICAL ALTERATION -- Fluid forcing -- Bed properties -- Deposition -- BIOLOGICAL ALTERATION -- Alteration of key dynamical bed properties -- Bioturbation -- Biogenic sedimentary structures -- PRESERVATION -- Controlling parameters -- Dissipation times -- The key role of episodic sedimentation -- SUMMARY -- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS -- NOMENCLATURE -- REFERENCES -- Oceanic dispersal and accumulation of river sediment -- CHRISTOPHER K. SOMMERFIELD*, ANDREA S. OGSTON†, BETH L. MULLENBACH‡, DAVID E. DRAKE, CLARK R. ALEXANDER¶, CHARLES A. NITTROUER†, JEFFRY C. BORGELD**, ROBERT A. WHEATCROFT†† and ELANA L. LEITHOLD‡‡ -- INTRODUCTION -- Margin sediment dispersal systems: a Holocene perspective -- Research background -- QUANTIFYING SEDIMENTARY PROCESSES -- Suspended-sediment transport -- Sediment deposition and accumulation -- THE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA MARGIN -- Previous work and insight -- SEDIMENT PRODUCTION AND COASTAL DELIVERY -- Tectonics and sediment yield -- Hydroclimatology and recorded streamflow -- Floods, land use and sediment delivery -- Coastal ocean circulation -- SEDIMENT TRANSPORT AND ACCUMULATION -- Mechanisms of sediment transport -- Dynamic trapping mechanisms -- Static trapping mechanisms -- SEDIMENTATION PATTERNS AND RATES -- Sedimentary event deposition -- Centennial to millennial accumulation -- Latest Holocene sedimentary record -- Accumulation rates and stratigraphic completeness -- SEDIMENT BUDGETS OF DISPERSAL SYSTEMS -- Development of sediment budgets -- Eel margin sediment budget -- CONCLUSIONS -- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS -- NOMENCLATURE. , REFERENCES -- Submarine mass movements on continental margins -- HOMA J. LEE*, JACQUES LOCAT†, PRISCILLA DESGAGNÉS†, JEFFREY D. PARSONS‡, BRIAN G. McADOO, DANIEL L. ORANGE¶, PERE PUIG**, FLORENCE L. WONG*, PETER DARTNELL* and ERIC BOULANGER† -- INTRODUCTION -- HISTORIC DEVELOPMENT OF UNDERSTANDING -- CLASSIFICATION -- ENVIRONMENTS -- Fjords -- Active river deltas on the continental shelf -- Submarine canyon-fan systems -- The open continental slope -- STATISTICS OF SUBMARINE LANDSLIDES -- MECHANICS OF SLOPE FAILURE -- Driving stress -- Resisting stress (strength) -- Slope stability analysis -- PORE-WATER PRESSURE -- SEDIMENT MOBILIZATION AND STRENGTH LOSS -- TRIGGERS -- Sediment accumulation -- Erosion -- Earthquakes -- Volcanoes -- Waves -- Gas and gas hydrates -- Groundwater seepage -- Diapirism -- Human activity -- CONTRIBUTIONS TO SUBMARINE LANDSLIDE RESEARCH FROM THE STRATAFORM PROJECT -- 'Humboldt Slide' controversy -- Liquefaction failures in Eel Canyon -- Gas charging and pore pressures -- Development of shear strength and rheology in marine sediment -- Submarine landslide geomorphology -- Regional mapping of landslide susceptibility -- SUMMARY -- Overall occurrence and triggers -- Controversies -- Importance of the liquidity index -- Pore pressures and the development of anomalously weak sediment -- Development of anomalously high strength -- Slope stability analysis and regional assessment of landslide susceptibility -- An important contribution -- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS -- NOMENCLATURE -- REFERENCES -- The mechanics of marine sediment gravity flows -- JEFFREY D. PARSONS*, CARL T. FRIEDRICHS†, PETER A. TRAYKOVSKI‡, DAVID MOHRIG, JASIM IMRAN¶, JAMES P.M. SYVITSKI**, GARY PARKER††, PERE PUIG‡‡, JAMES L. BUTTLES and MARCELO H. GARCÍA†† -- INTRODUCTION -- TURBIDITY CURRENTS -- Basic mechanics -- Frontal dynamics -- Turbidity-current fans. , Channelization and channel processes -- Observations of turbidity currents -- DEBRIS FLOWS -- Basic mechanics -- Hydroplaning -- Advances in analytical and numerical solutions -- Observations of submarine debris flows -- WAVE-SUPPORTED SEDIMENT GRAVITY FLOWS -- Wave-boundary-layer mechanics -- Wave-supported sediment gravity flows and the role of buoyancy -- Vertical distribution of momentum and sediment concentration -- Observations of wave-supported sediment gravity flows -- ORIGIN AND TRANSFORMATION OF SEDIMENT GRAVITY FLOWS -- Failure-induced formation -- Wave/tide-induced formation -- Direct formation from river loading -- Linkages between phenomena -- CONCLUSIONS -- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS -- NOMENCLATURE -- REFERENCES -- Seascape evolution on clastic continental shelves and slopes -- LINCOLN F. PRATSON*, CHARLES A. NITTROUER†, PATRICIA L. WIBERG‡, MICHAEL S. STECKLER, JOHN B. SWENSON¶, DAVID A. CACCHIONE**, JEFFERY A. KARSON*, A. BRADLEY MURRAY*, MATTHEW A. WOLINSKY*, THOMAS P. GERBER*, BETH L. MULLENBACH††, GLENN A. SPINELLI‡‡, CRAIG -- INTRODUCTION -- From bathymetry to seascape evolution -- Scope of paper -- BACKGROUND -- Physiographical definitions -- Historical interest in and importance of the continental shelf and slope -- PROCESSES GOVERNING SHELF WIDTH AND SLOPE RELIEF -- Plate tectonics and the stair-step shape of continental margins -- First-order effects of thermal subsidence and tectonic uplift -- Second-order effects of isostasy, compaction and faulting -- Added effects of faulting -- PROCESSES THAT FORM THE SHELF PROFILE -- Rivers, deltas and growth of the coastal plain -- Bedload deposition, sediment plumes and clinoforms -- The impacts of waves and currents on the shelf and shoreface profile -- Subaqueous deltas and wave-supported sediment gravity flows -- Independent movements of the shoreline and shelf break. , Shelf evolution during sea-level change -- PROCESSES THAT ACT TO LIMIT THE SLOPE OF THE CONTINENTAL SLOPE -- Seafloor failure and submarine groundwater flow -- Bottom shear from internal waves -- Turbidity-current erosion and deposition -- PROCESSES THAT CREATE SUBMARINE CANYONS AND SLOPE GULLIES -- Turbidity currents versus seafloor failure in forming submarine canyons -- Turbidity currents versus seafloor failure in forming slope gullies -- FUTURE RESEARCH -- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS -- REFERENCES -- The long-term stratigraphic record on continental margins -- GREGORY S. MOUNTAIN*, ROBERT L. BURGER†, HEIKE DELIUS‡, CRAIG S. FULTHORPE, JAMIE A. AUSTIN, DAVID S. GOLDBERG¶, MICHAEL S. STECKLER¶, CECILIA M. McHUGH**, KENNETH G. MILLER*, DONALD H. MONTEVERDE*, DANIEL L. ORANGE†† and LINCOLN F. PRATSON‡‡ -- INTRODUCTION -- Distinguishing time-scales -- The importance of the long-term record -- Long-term geochronology: dating continental-margin records -- ANALYSING THE LONG-TERM RECORD -- Basin-wide surfaces and long-term processes -- Tools for accessing the long-term record -- THE EEL RIVER BASIN -- Tectonism - a major control of sediment distribution and preservation -- Offshore stratigraphy - local variations of governing processes -- Stratigraphic modelling -- THE NEW JERSEY MARGIN -- Cenozoic sedimentation on a passive margin -- Pleistocene sequences -- The last eustatic cycle and its preserved record -- New Jersey submarine canyons -- Stratigraphic modelling -- SUMMARY -- The long-term record: its challenges and rewards -- The Eel River Basin: difficulties in recognizing eustatic control -- The New Jersey margin: eustatic imprint, with complications -- The long-term record - where next? -- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS -- REFERENCES -- Prediction of margin stratigraphy. , JAMES P.M. SYVITSKI*, LINCOLN F. PRATSON†, PATRICIA L. WIBERG‡, MICHAEL S. STECKLER, MARCELO H. GARCÍA¶, W. ROCKWELL GEYER**, COURTNEY K. HARRIS††, ERIC W.H. HUTTON*, JASIM IMRAN‡‡, HOMA J. LEE, MARK D. MOREHEAD¶¶ and GARY PARKER***.