Map of the Bering Sea, with the Aleutian Basin clearly discernable here in the southwest portion of the sea.
The Aleutian Basin is an oceanic basin located beneath the southwestern Bering Sea. While the northeastern half of the Bering Sea is situated over the North American Plate in relatively shallow waters, the Aleutian Basin comprises an oceanic plate, which is the remaining portion of the Kula Plate that was predominantly subducted beneath the North American Plate.[1]
Subduction of the Kula Plate came to a halt following the formation of the Aleutian Trench situated to its south. The remaining portion of the Kula Plate became attached to the North American Plate. This former subduction zone is now known as the Beringian Margin, which currently accommodates sixteen submarine canyons, including Zhemchug Canyon, recognized as the world's largest.[1]
The deep-water part of the Bering Sea is separated into the Commander Basin and Bowers basins by the submarine Shirshov Ridge and Bowers Ridge. The Commander Basin occupies the western part of the Bering Sea, with the Shirshov Ridge on its eastern border. The Shirshov Ridge extends 750 km southward from the Russian Olyutorskii Peninsula to connect with Bowers Ridge. The Bowers Ridge extends in the form of an arc over approximately 900 km from the Aleutian Islands Arc to the northwestern termination, where it meets Shirshov Ridge. This former island arc, Bowers Ridge, is a prominent semi-circular-shaped geological that meets the Aleutian arc and, together with the Aleutians, bounds Bowers Basin.[2]
Aleutian Basin features.
The northern part of the Shirshov Ridge formed 95 My before the present. The ridge grows younger as it goes south, with the southern part of the Shirshov Ridge formed 33 My ago (Early Oligocene). Bowers Ridge was formed 30 My before the present (Late Oligocene).[2]
^ abNew Views of the U.S. Continental Margins (University of New Hampshire)
^ abVerzhbitsky, E. V.; M. V. Kononov; V. D. Kotelkin (5 February 2007). "Plate Tectonics of the Northern Part of the Pacific Ocean". Oceanology (In Translation from Okeanologiya ). 47 (5): 705–717. Bibcode:2007Ocgy...47..705V. doi:10.1134/S000143700705013X.
The AleutianBasin is an oceanic basin located beneath the southwestern Bering Sea. While the northeastern half of the Bering Sea is situated over the...
the Bering Sea north of the Aleutian arc) ended in the early Eocene. The AleutianBasin, the ocean floor north of the Aleutian arc, is the remainder of the...
The North AleutiansBasin, also known as the Bristol Bay Basin or the Alaska Peninsula Basin, is a submarine basin located in the Bristol Bay region of...
collecting sediments since then. The AleutianBasin is another example of a relatively inactive oceanic basin. The Japan Basin in the Sea of Japan which formed...
seasons and during migration. A proposed oil and gas lease of North AleutianBasin in the SE Bering Sea caused the Minerals Management Service (MMS) of...
off into the North AleutiansBasin is also known as the "Greenbelt". Nutrient upwelling from the cold waters of the Aleutianbasin flowing up the slope...
AleutiansBasin) is the dominant driver of primary productivity in the Bering Sea – upwelling brings nutrients from the cold waters of the Aleutian basin...
Commander Basin (alternately Komandorsky Basin) is located between the Shirshov Ridge and the Kamchatka Peninsula. Its southern boundary is the Aleutian arc...
the southern part of the AleutianBasin. It extends over 900 km (560 mi) in an arc, starting in the southeast at the Aleutian Arc and terminating to the...
The Aleutian Arc is a large volcanic arc of islands extending from the Southwest tip of the U.S. state of Alaska to the Kamchatka Peninsula of the Russian...
largest area. At a depth of 3200 m, the Bering Canyon thalweg reaches the AleutianBasin, where a low-relief submarine channel-lobe system has developed. Giant...
widely distributed throughout the North Pacific, especially in the AleutianBasin. They inhabit both near-bottom and mid-water layers, ranging from 5 to...
Hawaii. The Pacific Basin is not insignificant or remote. It covers one third of the globe's surface. Its northern boundary is the Aleutian Islands chain....
oceanic basins (the other elements being an elevated mid-ocean ridge and flanking abyssal hills). In addition to these elements, active oceanic basins (those...
A-lee-OOT; Russian: Алеуты, romanized: Aleuty) are the Indigenous people of the Aleutian Islands, which are located between the North Pacific Ocean and the Bering...
eastern Gulf of Mexico (offshore Florida Gulf Coast), and the Northern AleutianBasin of Alaska. In 1998, President Bill Clinton extended the moratorium through...
the Commander Basin below the Kamchatka Peninsula. It extends directly southward for a distance of 750 km (470 mi) toward the Aleutian arc in the eastern...
Hawaii. The Pacific Basin is not insignificant or remote. It covers one third of the globe's surface. Its northern boundary is the Aleutian Islands chain....
dropping from the shallow shelf of the Bering Sea to the depths of the AleutianBasin and a length of 99 miles (160 kilometers). The Zhemchug Canyon is deeper...
Hawaii. The Pacific Basin is not insignificant or remote. It covers one third of the globe's surface. Its northern boundary is the Aleutian Islands chain....
The Aleutian subduction zone is a 2,500 mi (4,000 km) long convergent boundary between the North American Plate and the Pacific Plate, that extends from...
advisory for much of the Aleutian Islands; however, the hypocenter was too deep to generate a tsunami that would affect the Pacific basin. A small non-destructive...
still active in the area today. The western side of the basin lies directly above the Aleutian subduction zone where the Pacific Plate is subducting beneath...
leases to tracts in the southern Bristol Bay area known as the North AleutiansBasin, an area which has been closed to offshore oil and gas development...
A currently seismically inactive ridge in the southern part of the AleutianBasin Carnegie Ridge – An aseismic ridge on the Nazca Plate that is being...
Cerastium aleuticum, common name Aleutian mouse-ear chickweed, is a plant species endemic to the US State of Alaska. It is found only on islands, not on...
the North American Plate forming the Aleutian Trench and the corresponding Aleutian Islands (see also: Aleutian Arc). The Pacific Plate is almost entirely...
Global Information
