Uploaded December 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
#grandcanyon #australia #geology
Beneath the calm surface of Bass Strait lies one of the most spectacular and least-known geological features in Australia: a massive submarine canyon system that rivals some of the largest canyons on Earth. This video uncovers the full story of the Bass Canyon, a colossal underwater landscape more than 160 kilometres long and plunging over 3000 metres deep, hidden just off the coast of Victoria in south-east Australia. Using detailed bathymetric imagery, scientific reconstructions and modern marine geology research, we reveal how this canyon formed, what makes it unique and why it represents one of Australia’s greatest unseen natural wonders.
The Bass Canyon is part of a huge amphitheatre-like depression on the continental slope, carved not by rivers, glaciers or tectonic rifting, but by a complex combination of cool-water carbonate sedimentation, underwater landslides and a powerful winter density current known as the Bass Cascade. This video explores how dense, cold, saline water flowing out of Bass Strait every winter helped carve deep V-shaped canyons into the seafloor, reshaping the shelf edge and transporting enormous volumes of sediment into the deep ocean. We examine the way this process accelerated during the Late Pliocene and Early Pleistocene, when increased carbonate production and rapid environmental changes drove catastrophic erosion along the shelf break.
Viewers will learn how the canyon’s tributaries evolved from broad U-shaped channels to steep, narrow chasms, how canyon heads migrated laterally across the shelf during the Middle Pleistocene and how upper-slope canyon segments remained active erosion zones that expose ancient Pliocene rocks at the seafloor today. This video also explains how the canyon has removed an estimated eighty thousand cubic kilometres of sediment from Australia’s south-eastern margin, contributing to the progradation of the continental slope by more than one hundred kilometres over millions of years.
Studies Used To Construct This Video:
Pliocene-Pleistocene history of the Gippsland Basin outer shelf and canyon heads, southeast Australia:
researchgate.net/publication/231390960_Pliocene-Pleistocene_history_of_the_Gippsland_Basin_outer_shelf_and_canyon_heads_southeast_Australia
The Recent foraminifera and facies of the Bass Canyon: a temperate submarine canyon in Gippsland, Australia:
pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsl/jm/article-abstract/22/1/63/112669/The-Recent-foraminifera-and-facies-of-the-Bass
Marine geology of the Quaternary Bass Canyon system, southeast Australia: A cool-water carbonate system:
sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S002532270600301X
Submarine canyons of the continental margin, east Bass Strait (Australia):
sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0025322768900261
Thank you so much for watching!
If you are not in a position to donate, I totally understand! The biggest supporting factor that you engage in is to watch our videos all the way to the end (very important for helping us rank) and to share them around so please consider doing this so that Youtube recommends our channel more.
Check out the OzGeology website: ozgeology.com
🎥 If you would like to support this channel, consider joining our Patreon:
patreon.com/OzGeology
🌏 About OzGeology
The core mission of OzGeology is to make geology exciting, accessible, and inspiring for everyone. Instead of presenting rocks and earth science as dry or overly academic, OzGeology brings stories of the planet to life, revealing how every mountain, mineral, and landscape tells part of Earth’s grand adventure. The goal is to help people see the world differently, to understand the dynamic forces shaping Australia and beyond, and to spark curiosity in the next generation of geologists. Through engaging storytelling, field exploration, and clear explanations, OzGeology turns the study of our planet into a journey of discovery rather than a classroom lecture.
00:00-02:00 - The Hidden Grand Canyon in Victoria
02:01-03:33 - The Bass Canyon In Depth
03:34-04:08 - How The Bass Canyon Was Carved: The Bass Cascade
04:09-07:03 - The Strange Canyon Heads' Story
07:04-07:24 - The Canyon Barely Anyone Knows Exists
07:25-09:10 - The Paradox of The Bass Canyon
09:11-10:42 - Conclusion & Patreon / YouTube Member Thank You!
#grandcanyon #australia #geology
Beneath the calm surface of Bass Strait lies one of the most spectacular and least-known geological features in Australia: a massive submarine canyon system that rivals some of the largest canyons on Earth. This video uncovers the full story of the Bass Canyon, a colossal underwater landscape more than 160 kilometres long and plunging over 3000 metres deep, hidden just off the coast of Victoria in south-east Australia. Using detailed bathymetric imagery, scientific reconstructions and modern marine geology research, we reveal how this canyon formed, what makes it unique and why it represents one of Australia’s greatest unseen natural wonders.
The Bass Canyon is part of a huge amphitheatre-like depression on the continental slope, carved not by rivers, glaciers or tectonic rifting, but by a complex combination of cool-water carbonate sedimentation, underwater landslides and a powerful winter density current known as the Bass Cascade. This video explores how dense, cold, saline water flowing out of Bass Strait every winter helped carve deep V-shaped canyons into the seafloor, reshaping the shelf edge and transporting enormous volumes of sediment into the deep ocean. We examine the way this process accelerated during the Late Pliocene and Early Pleistocene, when increased carbonate production and rapid environmental changes drove catastrophic erosion along the shelf break.
Viewers will learn how the canyon’s tributaries evolved from broad U-shaped channels to steep, narrow chasms, how canyon heads migrated laterally across the shelf during the Middle Pleistocene and how upper-slope canyon segments remained active erosion zones that expose ancient Pliocene rocks at the seafloor today. This video also explains how the canyon has removed an estimated eighty thousand cubic kilometres of sediment from Australia’s south-eastern margin, contributing to the progradation of the continental slope by more than one hundred kilometres over millions of years.
Studies Used To Construct This Video:
Pliocene-Pleistocene history of the Gippsland Basin outer shelf and canyon heads, southeast Australia:
researchgate.net/publication/231390960_Pliocene-Pleistocene_history_of_the_Gippsland_Basin_outer_shelf_and_canyon_heads_southeast_Australia
The Recent foraminifera and facies of the Bass Canyon: a temperate submarine canyon in Gippsland, Australia:
pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsl/jm/article-abstract/22/1/63/112669/The-Recent-foraminifera-and-facies-of-the-Bass
Marine geology of the Quaternary Bass Canyon system, southeast Australia: A cool-water carbonate system:
sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S002532270600301X
Submarine canyons of the continental margin, east Bass Strait (Australia):
sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0025322768900261
Thank you so much for watching!
If you are not in a position to donate, I totally understand! The biggest supporting factor that you engage in is to watch our videos all the way to the end (very important for helping us rank) and to share them around so please consider doing this so that Youtube recommends our channel more.
Check out the OzGeology website: ozgeology.com
🎥 If you would like to support this channel, consider joining our Patreon:
patreon.com/OzGeology
🌏 About OzGeology
The core mission of OzGeology is to make geology exciting, accessible, and inspiring for everyone. Instead of presenting rocks and earth science as dry or overly academic, OzGeology brings stories of the planet to life, revealing how every mountain, mineral, and landscape tells part of Earth’s grand adventure. The goal is to help people see the world differently, to understand the dynamic forces shaping Australia and beyond, and to spark curiosity in the next generation of geologists. Through engaging storytelling, field exploration, and clear explanations, OzGeology turns the study of our planet into a journey of discovery rather than a classroom lecture.
00:00-02:00 - The Hidden Grand Canyon in Victoria
02:01-03:33 - The Bass Canyon In Depth
03:34-04:08 - How The Bass Canyon Was Carved: The Bass Cascade
04:09-07:03 - The Strange Canyon Heads' Story
07:04-07:24 - The Canyon Barely Anyone Knows Exists
07:25-09:10 - The Paradox of The Bass Canyon
09:11-10:42 - Conclusion & Patreon / YouTube Member Thank You!
