The outer continental shelf has low surface relief and averages 360-460 m deep.
Diatoms are relatively rare despite high abundances in the overlying surface water.
A compact, poorly-sorted diamicton underlies the sandy mud. It may represent deposition beneath grounded ice that extended to the shelf break. The location and orientation of the trough may represent a significant structural feature of the shelf bedrock, probably accentuated by glacial scour. Tracing this trough, and any similar feature starting at Thwaites Glacier, to the shelf break is necessary in order to establish former ice flow directions on the shelf. Dated cores collected along these former flowlines can be used to show details of grounding line retreat during deglaciation.