This publication arose from a growing appreciation of the extent to which the development of turbidite depositional systems is fundamentally affected by basin-floor topography. In many turbidite systems and turbidite hydrocarbon reservoirs, depositional patterns have been moderately to strongly confined by pre-existing slopes; thus `submarine fans' may be far from fan-shaped where constrained by significant bathymetric features. This volume examines aspects of sediment dispersal and accumulation in deep-water systems where sea-floor topography has exerted a decisive control on deposition, and explores the associated controls on hydrocarbon reservoir architecture and heterogeneity. The papers presented here offer a global perspective, which is wide-ranging in terms of approach as well as location, including contrasting reviews and case studies of outcrop, subsurface, modern and experimental systems.