“…The sedimentary cover sequence is carbonated dominated with punctuated terrigenous episodes between Late Cretaceous and Late Miocene (Preux, 1978-Puit PENMA 1;Thinon et al, 2008). High amplitude oscillations of the mean-sea level during the Quaternary, associated with strong climatic variability, are usually considered as the main cause of shallow incision of river valleys at the top of these Neogene formations (Bouysse and Horn, 1968;Pinot, 1974;Delanoë et al, 1975Delanoë et al, , 1976Vanney, 1977;Menier et al, 2006). On the French Atlantic shelf, the valley network tapers below −50 m in depth (Pinot, 1974;Vanney, 1977;Lericolais et al, 2001;Proust et al, 2001;Chaumillon et al, 2008;Menier et al, 2010).…”