Seismic-refraction profiles have been made across the continental slope southwest from the English Channel. These studies were initiated by Bullard and Gaskell (1941) and have been most recently reported on by Day _et al._ (1956). The seismic section of Day _et al._ (1956) (Fig. 24) suggests that the prominent bench at 1600 fathoms and the short but steep scarp just below represent the outcrop of the metamorphic basement on the continental slope. It is postulated that the prominent bench at 900 fathoms may represent the base of the Mesozoic, and the smaller bench at 300 fathoms the base of the Miocene. Tertiary sediments have been obtained from the walls of canyons in the Bay of Biscay in depths down to about 1500 fathoms (Bourcart and Marie, 1951). The age assignments in Figure 24 are taken directly from Day _et al._ (1956) and have not been confirmed by dredging on the continental slope. The writers conclude that the majority of the topographic benches of the continental slope and other category II provinces are structural benches which reflect the outcrop of resistant rock layers. This of course implies that the continental slope is not a simple depositional feature but a structural or erosional one. Since the structural benches are present both in the canyons and on the un-dissected slope, the occurrence of Tertiary and Cretaceous rocks on the continental slope cannot be explained by erosion of submarine canyons into an otherwise depositional terrace in the manner implied by Stetson (1949).