Seisimic evidence from a study of 35‐m.y.‐old sediment contradicts the prevailing theory that bottom currents are the main cause of sediment distribution patterns and the shape of the continental rise.In the research area 200 miles offshore from New Jersey to Cape Hatteras, N.C., Stanley D. Locker of the University of South Florida, St. Petersburg, has found that submarine fans and deep‐sea sediment drifts may develop simultaneously as companion systems. He presented his work at the Geological Society of America meeting in St. Louis, Mo., November 6–9.