Reconstructing the sediment concentration of a giant submarine gravity flow.

Stevenson, Christopher John, Feldens, Peter, Georgiopoulou, Aggeliki, Schӧnke, Mischa, Krastel, Sebastian , Piper, David J. W., Lindhorst, Katja and Mosher, David (2018) Reconstructing the sediment concentration of a giant submarine gravity flow. Open Access Nature Communications, 9 (1). Art.Nr. 2616. DOI 10.1038/s41467-018-05042-6.

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Abstract

Submarine gravity flows are responsible for the largest sediment accumulations on the planet, but are notoriously difficult to measure in action. Giant flows transport 100s of km3 of sediment with run-out distances over 2000 km. Sediment concentration is a first order control on flow dynamics and deposit character. It has never been measured directly nor convincingly estimated in large submarine flows. Here we reconstruct the sediment concentration of a historic giant submarine flow, the 1929 “Grand Banks” event, using two independent approaches, each validated by estimates of flow speed from cable breaks. The calculated average bulk sediment concentration of the flow was 2.7–5.4% by volume. This is orders of magnitude higher than directly-measured smaller-volume flows in river deltas and submarine canyons. The new concentration estimate provides a test case for scaled experiments and numerical simulations, and a major step towards a quantitative understanding of these prodigious flows.

Document Type: Article
Keywords: Geomorphology, Natural hazards
Research affiliation: Kiel University > Kiel Marine Science
OceanRep > The Future Ocean - Cluster of Excellence
OceanRep > GEOMAR > Applied R&D > Energie und Rohstoffe
Kiel University
Refereed: Yes
Open Access Journal?: Yes
Publisher: Nature Research
Projects: Future Ocean, KMS
Expeditions/Models/Experiments:
Date Deposited: 03 Aug 2018 08:02
Last Modified: 08 Feb 2021 07:38
URI: https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/43897

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