Source: National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, UK

Welcome to the INCISE website!

INCISE, the International Network for submarine Canyon Investigation and Scientific Exchange is an initiative that aims to bring together scientists working on all aspects of submarine canyon research, and to stimulate discussions across disciplines.

Submarine canyons are important features along the world’s continental margins. They create heterogeneity in the terrain and provide the main pathway for sediment (and pollutant!) transport from the shelf to the deep sea. Although long known, their study has always been a challenge because of their complicated morphology and extreme terrain. A number of technological advances over the last two decades (e.g. the development of ROVs) have opened up new opportunities for canyon research. This, together with an increased interest in the role of submarine canyons both as potential biodiversity hotspots and as locations for the study of geohazards, has fuelled a new wave of research activities. Canyon geology, sedimentology, geomorphology, oceanography, ecology, biodiversity and habitat distribution are under investigation all over the world. Time to bring together all these pieces of the jigsaw and start looking at canyons in a holistic way!