A Look Back…25 years

Sedimentary geologists have long recognized the importance of biota in generating of modifying sediments.  Nelson et al. (1987) used side-scan sonar to describe and evaluate the character of surface modification on the Bering Shelf.  The study illustrated that excavations made by whales and walrus were widespread across the shelf, and could be modified, enhanced, or enlarged by currents and waves.  The results suggested that “volumetrically the mammal feeding disturbance may be the most significant sedimentary process” in their study area. (May 1987)


Gray whale and walrus feeding excavation on the Bering Shelf, Alaska by C. Hans Nelson, Kirk R. Johnson, and John H. Barber