Part 4. Submarine topography and shoal-water ecology

The topography of the sea floor within 10 miles of Saipan broadly resembles that of the land. Eastward, toward the Mariana trench, slopes are about 6°, without prominent benches or scarps. This is inferred to indicate easterly continuation of generally pyroclastic bedrock. The westward slope averages 2° to 3° and consists mainly of nearly flat benches and westfacing scarps. This is taken to imply westward continuation of a limestone bench-and-fault-scarp topography. Projection of known faults to sea and through Tinian, on the basis of topographic trends, suggests a pattern of west-dipping normal faults that parallel the strike of the Mariana ridge and affect the shape and position of islands at the crest of the ridge.