The Dohrn canyon: a response to the eustatic fall and tectonic uplift of the outer shelf along the eastern Tyrrhenian Sea margin, Italy

Most of the recent models which aim at explaining the origins of canyons ca ll on mechanisms of retrogressive failure. The interpretation of high-resol ution seismic reflection profiles permitted the recognition of the shelf an d slope evolution of Naples Bay (eastern Tyrrhenian Sea margin) during the formation of the Dohrn canyon. Stratigraphic and structural data collected from this area suggest that the factor which triggered off the formation of the canyon was the tectonic uplift of both the outer shelf and fluvial val ley mouth which took place during the eustatic fall of sea level.