Deposits of depletive high-density turbidity currents: a flume analogue of bed geometry, structure and texture

Flume experiments were performed to study the flow properties and depositional characteristics of high‐density turbidity currents that were depletive and quasi‐steady to waning for periods of several tens of seconds. Such currents may serve as an analogue for rapidly expanding flows at the mouth of submarine channels. The turbidity currents carried up to 35 vol.% of fine‐grained natural sand, very fine sand‐sized glass beads or coarse silt‐sized glass beads. Data analysis focused on: (1) depositional processes related to flow expansion; (2) geometry of sediment bodies generated by the depletive flows; (3) vertical and horizontal sequences of sedimentary structures within the sediment bodies; and (4) spatial trends in grain‐size distribution within the deposits. The experimental turbidity currents formed distinct fan‐shaped sediment bodies within a wide basin. Most fans consisted of a proximal channel‐levee system connected in the downstream direction to a lobe. This basic geometry was independent of flow density, flow velocity, flow volume and sediment type, in spite of the fact that the turbidity currents of relatively high density were different from those of relatively low density in that they exhibited two‐layer flow, with a low‐density turbulent layer moving on top of a dense layer with visibly suppressed large‐scale turbulence. Yet, the geometry of individual morphological elements appeared to relate closely to initial flow conditions and grain size of suspended sediment. Notably, the fans changed from circular to elongate, and lobe and levee thickness increased with increasing grain size and flow velocity. Erosion was confined to the proximal part of the leveed channel. Erosive capacity increased with increasing flow velocity, but appeared to be constant for turbidity currents of different grain size and similar density. Structureless sediment filled the channel during the waning stages of the turbidity currents laden with fine sand. The adjacent levee sands were laminated. The massive character of the channel fills is attributed to rapid settling of suspension load and associated suppression of tractional transport. Sediment bypassing prevailed in fan channels composed of very fine sand and coarse silt, because channel floors remained fully exposed until the end of the experiments. Lobe deposits, formed by the fine sand‐laden, high‐density turbidity currents, contained massive sand in the central part grading to plane parallel‐laminated sand towards the fringes. The depletive flows produced a radial decrease in mean grain size in the lobe deposits of all fans. Vertical trends in grain size comprised inverse‐to‐normal grading in the levees and in the thickest part of the lobes, and normal grading in the channel and fringes of the fine sandy fans. The inverse grading is attributed to a process involving headward‐directed transport of relatively fine‐grained and low‐concentrated fluid at the level of the velocity maximum of the turbidity current. The normal grading is inferred to denote the waning stage of turbidity‐current transport.     

Deep-sea avulsion and morphosedimentary evolution of the Rhône Fan Valley and Neofan during the Late Quaternary (north-western Mediterranean Sea)

The Petit-Rhône Fan Valley (north-western Mediterranean) is a broad, sinuous, filled valley that is deeply incised by a narrow, sinuous thalweg. The valley fill is differentiated into three seismic subunits on high-resolution seismic-reflection profiles. The lower chaotic subunit probably consists of channel lag deposits that seem to be in lateral continuity with high-amplitude reflections representing levee facies. The intermediate transparent subunit, which has an erosional base and clearly truncates levee deposits, is interpreted to be mass-flow deposits resulting from the disintegration of the fan-valley flanks. The upper bedded subunit shows an overall lens-shaped geometry and the seismic reflections onlap either onto the top of the underlying transparent subunit or onto the Rhône levees. Piston core data show that the upper few meters of this upper subunit consist of thin turbidites, probably deposited by overflow processes. The few available ¹⁴C ages suggest that the upper stratified subunit filled the Petit-Rhône Fan Valley between 21 and 11 kyr BP. The upper bedded subunit is deposited within the Petit-Rhône Fan Valley downslope of a major decrease in slope gradient. This upper subunit and the thalweg are genetically related and represent a small channel/levee system confined within the fan valley. Previous studies interpreted this thalweg to be an erosional feature resulting from a recent avulsion of the major channel course. Our interpretation implies that the thalweg is not a purely erosional feature but a depositional/erosional channel. This small channel/levee system is superimposed on a large muddy channel/levee system after the sediment supply changed from thick muddy flows during the main phase of aggradation of the Rhône Fan levees, to thin, mixed (sand and mud) flows at the end of Isotope Stage 2 (～16–18 ka BP). The pre-existing morphology of the Petit-Rhône Fan Valley played a determinant role in the sediment dispersal leading to the creation of this small and confined channel/levee system. These mixed flows have undergone flow stripping resulting from the changes in the slope gradient along the thalweg course. The finer sediment overflowed from the thalweg and were deposited in the Petit-Rhône Fan Valley. Coarser channelled sediment remaining in the thalweg were deposited as a ‘sandy’lobe (Neofan). As indicated by ¹⁴C dating, sedimentation on this lobe continued until very recently, suggesting a further evolution of the turbidity flows from small mixed flows to small sandy flows. the deposition of this study lobe and the sedimentary fill of the Petit-Rhône Fan Valley may be related to widespread shelf edge and canyon wall failures with a resulting downslope evolution of failed sediment into turbidity currents.     

Laboratory sustained turbidity currents form elongate ridges at channel mouths

The turbulent flow structure, suspended sediment dynamics and deposits of experimental sustained turbidity currents exiting a channel across a break in slope into a wide tank are documented. The data shed light on the flow evolution and deposit geometry of analogous natural channel‐fed submarine fans. Flows generated in a 0·3 m wide, sloping (0°, 6°, 9° or 20°) channel crossed an angular slope break and spread onto a horizontal tank floor. Flow development comprised: (i) channelized phase (unsteady channel flow developing into steady channel flow); (ii) initial lateral expansion phase (unsteady‐spreading wall jet phase); (iii) constant lateral expansion phase (steady‐spreading wall jet phase); and (iv) rapid waning phase. Phases (i) and (iv) are similar to laterally constrained turbidity currents, but phases (ii) and (iii) are considerably different from such two‐dimensional currents. Steeper channel slopes produced greater flow velocities and turbulence intensities, but these effects diminished markedly with distance from the channel mouth. Flow velocity vectors in the tank had similar patterns for all channel slopes, with a central core of faster velocity and narrow vector dispersion and slower flow with larger dispersion at the jet margins. Suspended sediment concentrations were higher within flow heads and dense basal layers in flow bodies. Time‐averaged acoustic backscatter data showed vertical concentration gradients, confirmed by siphon samples. The deposits comprised a thick central ridge, of similar order width to the channel mouth, with abrupt margins and a surrounding, very thin, fan‐like sheet. The ridge was coarser grained and better sorted than the original sediment, with grain‐size fining downstream, particularly over the fan‐like sheet. The formation of a central ridge suggests that, in the tank, vertical turbulent momentum exchange is more significant for sediment dynamics than spanwise momentum exchange due to lateral expansion. The streamwise elongate geometry of the ridge contrasts with conventional fan‐like geometry found with surge‐type turbidity flows, a result that has widespread stratigraphic and economic implications.     

Quantitative analysis of variations in depositional sequence thickness from submarine channel levees

Abstract Thickness variations across‐levee and downchannel in acoustically defined depositional sequences from six submarine channel‐levee systems show consistent and quantifiable patterns. The thickness of depositional sequences perpendicular to the channel trend, i.e. across the levee, decreases exponentially, as characterized by a spatial decay constant, k. Similarly, the thickness of sediment at the levee crest decreases exponentially down the upper reaches of submarine channels and can be characterized by a second spatial decay constant, λ. The inverse of these decay constants has units of length and defines depositional length scales such that k^?1 is a measure of levee width and λ^?1 is a measure of levee length. Quantification of levee architecture in this way allowed investigation of relationships between levee architecture and channel dimensions. It was found that these measures of levee e‐folding width and levee e‐folding length are directly related to channel width and relief. The dimensions of channels and levees are thus intimately related, thereby limiting the range of potential channel‐levee morphologies, regardless of allocyclic forcing. A simple sediment budget model relates the product of the levee e‐folding width and e‐folding length to through‐channel volume discharge. A classification system based on the quantitative downchannel behaviour of levee architecture allows identification of a ‘mid‐channel’ reach, where sediment is passively transferred from the through‐channel flow to the levees as an overspilling flow. Downstream from this reach, the channel gradually looses its control on guiding turbidity currents, and the resulting flow can be considered as an unconfined or spreading flow.     

穆尼盆地第四纪深水弯曲水道:沉积构型、成因及沉积过程

深水水道是陆坡沉积的重要组成单元,深水水道储层受到广泛关注。基于高分辨率三维地震资料,利用地震属性、分频技术等研究穆尼盆地第四纪深水弯曲水道的沉积构型、成因及沉积过程,主要取得以下3个方面的成果:(1)建立了深水弯曲水道沉积构型模式。弯曲深水水道由水道和堤岸组成。堤岸脊将堤岸分成内堤岸和外堤岸两部分。水道由底部粗粒滞留沉积、深海泥质披覆沉积以及滑块组成。(2)深水水道早期为低弯曲水道,后期逐渐演化为高弯曲水道。(3)建立了深水弯曲水道沉积的岩相模式,深水弯曲水道由垂向加积水道和侧向迁移水道组成。顺重力流方向,侧向迁移带,内弯带以沉积作用为主,外弯带以侵蚀作用为主。垂向加积带,水道底部粗粒滞留沉积往往表现为垂向加积特征。深水弯曲水道岩相模式的建立对深水浊积水道储层准确预测具有重要的理论指导意义。     

Review on Subaqueous Sediment Gravity Flow and Submarine Fan

Subaqueous sediment gravity flow is the volumetrically most important process transporting sediment across our planet, which forms its largest sediment accumulations (submarine fan). Based on the previous studies, we tried to clear up the concept, classification and identification of subaqueous sediment gravity flow, and introduced the progress of modern direct observation and submarine fan model. Turbidity current and debris flow are two of the most important parts of the gravity flow, the former deposits layer by layer with normal gradation while the latter is en masse settling with chaotic disorder. The turbidity current transformed into the debris flow during the transportation is called hybrid flow. The hyperpycnal flow is the turbidity current formed by flood discharges into the ocean/lake. Modern direct observations show that the turbidity current can contain dense basal layers and last for a week. The structure of turbidity current can be different from those surge-like turbidity current observed in laboratory. Submarine fans are mainly composed of channel, levee, lobe, background deposits and mass transport deposits, which should be studied by architecture analysis and hierarchical classification. The channel deposits extend narrowly with abundant erosion structures; levee deposits are composed of thin layer mud-silty turbidites, wedge thinning laterally; the lobe deposits extend well laterally with narrow range of grain size. The hierarchy of channel deposits is channel unit, channel complex and channel complex system. The hierarchy of lobe deposits is bed, lobe element, lobe and lobe complex.     

Submarine channel levee shape and sediment waves from physical experiments

Submarine channel levees aggrade through repeated overspill events from the channel axis. The shape of the levees may therefore reflect some characteristic(s) of the overspilling flow. It has been noted that basin floor levees typically have a relatively low-relief and taper exponentially to their termination; in contrast slope channel levees may be much steeper close to the channel. A simple physical experiment was performed where a surge-like sediment-laden current flowed through a curved channel. Significant overspill occurred and generated a deposit flanking the channel on either side. The experiment was repeated 25 times to build up low-relief channel-levees. It was found that in proximal areas, levees were steep and characterised by power-law decays, a transitional zone of logarithmically thinning levee was found a little further down-channel, followed by exponential decays in medial to distal areas. The style of levee decay is a function of spatial variation in overbank sedimentation rates. Where flows rapidly lose momentum and deposit across the grain-size spectrum, i.e., in proximal areas, levees tend to be steep; farther down the channel, the steep levee slope gives way to a more gradually tapering deposit. In more distal parts of the channel, deposition is directly related to sediment settling velocity (rather than the suspended load exceeding flow transport capacity as is the case in proximal areas), the deposit reflects this with relatively simple exponential thickness decays. Additionally, small-scale sediment waves developed under lee wave conditions on the inner-bend overbank. The waves initially migrated slightly towards the channel, but as the style of overspill evolved due to intra-channel deposition, flows moved out of the lee wave window and sedimentation became out of phase with the wavelength of the features and the topography was healed.     

Turbidite deposition on the glacially influenced,canyon‐dominated Southwest Grand Banks Slope,Canada

The deeply dissected Southwest Grand Banks Slope offshore the Grand Banks of Newfoundland was investigated using multiple data sets in order to determine how canyons and intercanyon ridges developed and what sedimentary processes acted on glacially influenced slopes. The canyons are a product of Quaternary ice‐related processes that operated along the margin, such as ice stream outwash and proglacial plume fallout. Three types of canyon are defined based on their dimensions, axial sedimentary processes and the location of the canyon head. There are canyons formed by glacial outwash with aggradational and erosional floors, and canyons formed on the slope by retrogressive failure. The steep, narrow intercanyon ridges that separate the canyons are composite morphological features formed by a complex history of sediment aggradation and degradation. Ridge aggradation occurred as a result of mid to late Quaternary background sedimentation (proglacial plume fallout and hemipelagic settling) and turbidite deposition. Intercanyon ridge degradation was caused mainly by sediment removal due to local slump failures and erosive sediment gravity flows. Levée‐like deposits are present as little as 15 km from the shelf break. At 30 km from the shelf, turbidity currents spilled over a 400 m high ridge and reconfined in a canyon formed by retrogressive failure, where a thalweg channel was developed. These observations imply that turbidity currents evolved rapidly in this slope‐proximal environment and attained flow depths of hundreds of metres over distances of a few tens of kilometres, suggesting turbulent subglacial outwash from tunnel valleys as the principal turbidity current‐generating mechanism.     

The formation of large mudwaves by turbidity currents on the levees of the Toyama deep-sea channel, Japan Sea

The development of mudwaves on the levees of the modern Toyama deep‐sea channel has been studied using gravity core samples combined with 3·5‐kHz echosounder data and airgun seismic reflection profiles. The mudwaves have developed on the overbank flanks of a clockwise bend of the channel in the Yamato Basin, Japan Sea, and the mudwave field covers an area of 4000 km². Mudwave lengths range from 0·2 to 3·6 km and heights vary from 2 to 44 m, and the pattern of mudwave aggradation indicates an upslope migration direction. Sediment cores show that the mudwaves consist of an alternation of fine‐grained turbidites and hemipelagites whereas contourites are absent. Core samples demonstrate that the sedimentation rate ranged from 10 to 14 cm ka^?1 on the lee sides to 17–40 cm ka^?1 on the stoss sides. A layer‐by‐layer correlation of the deposits across the mudwaves shows that the individual turbidite beds are up to 20 times thicker on the stoss side than on the lee side, whereas hemipelagite thicknesses are uniform. This differential accretion of turbidites is thought to have resulted in the pattern of upcurrent climbing mudwave crests, which supports the notion that the mudwaves have been formed by spillover turbidity currents. The mudwaves are interpreted to have been instigated by pre‐existing large sand dunes that are up to 30 m thick and were created by high‐velocity (10°ms^?1), thick (c. 500 m) turbidity currents spilling over the channel banks at the time of the maximum uplift of the Northern Japan Alps during the latest Pliocene to Early Pleistocene. Draping of the dunes by the subsequent, lower‐velocity (10^?1ms^?1), mud‐laden turbidity currents is thought to have resulted in the formation of the accretionary mudwaves and the pattern of upflow climbing. The dune stoss slopes are argued to have acted as obstacles to the flow, causing localized loss of flow strength and leading to differential draping by the muddy turbidites, with greater accretion occurring on the stoss side than on the lee slope. The two overbank flanks of the clockwise channel bend show some interesting differences in mudwave development. The mudwaves have a mean height of 9·8 m on the outer‐bank levee and 6·2 m on the inner bank. The turbidites accreted on the stoss sides of the mudwaves are 4–6 times thicker on the outer‐bank levee than their counterparts on the inner‐bank levee. These differences are attributed to the greater flow volume (thickness) and sediment flux of the outer‐bank spillover flow due to the more intense stripping of the turbidity currents at the outer bank of the channel bend. Differential development of mudwave fields may therefore be a useful indicator in the reconstruction of deep‐sea channels and their flow hydraulics.     

Sea level controls on the textural characteristics and depositional architecture of the Hueneme and associated submarine fan systems, Santa Monica Basin, California

Hueneme and Dume submarine fans in Santa Monica Basin consist of sandy channel and muddy levee facies on the upper fan, lenticular sand sheets on the middle fan, and thinly bedded turbidite and hemipelagic facies elsewhere. Fifteen widely correlatable key seismic reflections in high-resolution airgun and deep-towed boomer profiles subdivide the fan and basin deposits into time-slices that show different thickness and seismic-facies distributions, inferred to result from changes in Quaternary sea level and sediment supply. At times of low sea level, highly efficient turbidity currents generated by hyperpycnal flows or sediment failures at river deltas carry sand well out onto the middle-fan area. Thick, muddy flows formed rapidly prograding high levees mainly on the western (right-hand) side of three valleys that fed Hueneme fan at different times; the most recently active of the lowstand fan valleys, Hueneme fan valley, now heads in Hueneme Canyon. At times of high sea level, fans receive sand from submarine canyons that intercept littoral-drift cells and mixed sediment from earthquake-triggered slumps. Turbidity currents are confined to ‘underfit’ talweg channels in fan valleys and to steep, small, basin-margin fans like Dume fan. Mud is effectively separated from sand at high sea level and moves basinward across the shelf in plumes and in storm-generated lutite flows, contributing to a basin-floor blanket that is locally thicker than contemporary fan deposits and that onlaps older fans at the basin margin. The infilling of Santa Monica Basin has involved both fan and basin-floor aggradation accompanied by landward and basinward facies shifts. Progradation was restricted to the downslope growth of high muddy levees and the periodic basinward advance of the toe of the steeper and sandier Dume fan. Although the region is tectonically active, major sedimentation changes can be related to eustatic sea-level changes. The primary controls on facies shifts and fan growth appear to be an interplay of texture of source sediment, the efficiency with which turbidity currents transport sand, and the effects of delta distributary switching, all of which reflect sea-level changes.     

Turbidite stacking patterns in salt‐controlled minibasins: Insights from integrated analogue models and numerical fluid flow simulations

The sea floor of intraslope minibasins on passive continental margins plays a significant role in controlling turbidity current pathways and the resulting sediment distribution. To address this, laboratory analogue modelling of intraslope minibasin formation is combined with numerical flow simulations of multi‐event turbidity currents. This approach permits an improved understanding of evolving flow–bathymetry–deposit interactions and the resulting internal stacking patterns of the infills of such minibasins. The bathymetry includes a shelf to slope channel followed by an upper minibasin, which are separated by a confining ridge from two lower minibasins that compares well with analogous bathymetries reported from natural settings. From a wider range of numerical flow experiments, a series of 100 consecutive flows is reported in detail. The turbidity currents are released into the channel and upon reaching the upper minibasin follow a series of stages from short initial ponding, ‘filling and spilling’ and an extended transition to long retrogradational ponding. Upon reaching the upper minibasin floor, the currents undergo a hydraulic jump and therefore much sediment is deposited in the central part of the minibasin and the counterslope. This modifies the bathymetry such that in the fill and spill stage, flow stripping and grain‐size partitioning cause some finer sediment to be transported across the confining ridge into the lower minibasins. Throughout the basin infill process, the sequences retrograde upstream, accompanied by lateral switching into locally formed depressions in the upper minibasin. After the fill and spill stage, significant deposition occurs in the channel where retrograding cyclic steps with wavelengths of 1 to 2 km develop as a function of pulsating flow criticality. These results are at variance with conventional schemes that emphasize sequential downstream minibasin filling through ponding dominated by vertical aggradation. Comparison of these results with published field and experimental examples provides support for the main conclusions.     

Sedimentation by river-induced turbidity currents: field measurements and interpretation

Turbidity currents, initiated from spring runoffs of an influent river, were observed in the upper region of a reservoir in Hokkaido, Japan, by measuring water temperature, velocity and suspended-sediment concentration. Their profiles offer some physical parameters for the sedimentary conditions, assuming the turbidity currents to be quasi-uniform. The bottom sediment deposited by the turbidity currents was then collected by a portable core sampler. The bottom sediment consists of more than 90% silt and clay, and thus offers a hydraulically smooth bed for shear flow; a plane bed as a bed configuration was formed on the reservoir bed, probably because of the low shear velocity and small grain size of sediment. Using a graphic method with log-normal probability paper, the bottom sediment is divided into several overlapping log-normal subpopulations. Grain-size analysis indicates that the bottom sediment may be regarded as cohesionless; criteria for ‘complete deposition’ of transported grains can then be incorporated into the ‘extended Shields diagram’ giving the minimum shear stress to erode bottom sediment. Applying the new diagram to the grain size distribution of the bottom sediment, it is suggested that each of the log-normal subpopulations was deposited in each of four different ‘modes of deposition’, i.e. ‘traction’, ‘saltation (or intermittent suspension)’, ‘suspension’ and ‘suspension under equilibrium’. The last mode may be observed under a sedimentary condition where upward flux of suspended sediment by eddy diffusion is almost equal to its depositional flux due to gravity. The mean and critical grain sizes for bottom sediment and each of the corresponding subpopulations decrease consistently with an increase of Ψ=F_d² log₁₀Re (F_d is the densimetric Froude number and Re is the flow Reynolds number). Ψ correlates inversely with shear velocity, which bears a linear relationship to mean velocity. These results lead to the conclusion that relatively fine suspended sediment is deposited as a result of decreasing bottom friction with a relative decrease of turbulent energy.     

Trapping of sustained turbidity currents by intraslope minibasins

Depositional turbidity currents have filled many intraslope minibasins with sediment creating targets for petroleum exploration. The dynamics of sustained turbidity currents and their depositional characteristics are investigated in a scaled physical model of a minibasin. Each turbidity current deposited a downstream thinning wedge of sediment near the inlet. Farther downstream the turbidity current was ponded by a barrier. The ponded part of the turbidity current was separated from the sediment‐free water above by a relatively sharp, horizontal settling interface indicating highly Froude‐subcritical flow. The very slow moving flow within the ponded zone created conditions for the passive rainout of suspended sediment onto the bed. In the lower part of the ponded zone, the concentration and mean grain‐size of the sediment in suspension tended to be relatively uniform in both the vertical and streamwise directions. As a result, the deposit emplaced in the ponded zone showed only a weak tendency toward downstream fining and was passively draped over the bed in such a way that irregularities in the inerodible bed were accurately reflected. The discharge of suspended sediment overflowing the downstream end of the minibasin was significantly less than the inflow discharge, resulting in basin sediment trapping efficiencies >95%. A simple model is developed to predict the trapping of sediment within the basin based on the relative magnitudes of the input discharge of turbid water and the detrainment discharge of water across the settling interface. This model shows a limiting case in which an intraslope basin captures 100% of the sediment from a ponded turbidity current, even through a succession of sustained flow events, until sediment deposition raises the settling interface above the downstream lip of the minibasin. This same process defines one of the mechanisms for minibasin filling in nature, and, when this mechanism is operative, the trap efficiency of sediment can be expected to be high until the minibasin is substantially filled with sediment.     

Suspended-load fallout rate as an independent variable in the analysis of current structures

The dynamic interpretation of most current-structure sequences derives directly from experiments on the succession of bedforms produced by flows in flumes. The results of these and related studies have been used to construct stability field diagrams in which the fields of individual bedforms are usually expressed as a function of flow intensity (power, velocity, bed shear stress, etc.) and grain size. The data underlying existing stability-field diagrams were collected largely from the study of flows carrying coarse-grained sediment entrained through particle-by-particle bed erosion. Many flows, however, do not entrain sediment through simple bed erosion. Most turbidity currents originate by the development of turbulence in slumps, slides, and other slope failures. Such flows generally form with highly concentrated suspended loads and their bed-load layers derive sediment from the collapsing suspended-sediment clouds. Because the collapse properties of such clouds may be related as much to suspended particle concentration, size distribution, particle interactions, and other factors as to flow intensity, the stability fields of bedforms developed beneath such flows may differ in flow intensity-grain-size relationships from those beneath flows deriving sediment from bed erosion alone. Useful stability-field diagrams for turbidity currents must include suspended-load fallout rate as a third variable, independent of flow intensity and mean grain size. A preliminary stability-field diagram of this type indicates that Bouma T_abc sequences may theoretically form with essentially no velocity variation of the attendant flow. This type of analysis may have considerable relevance to the interpretation not only of turbidites but also of other deposits formed where bed-load layers are fed from above rather than below. These include shallow-shelf storm units deposited from highly concentrated flows and volcaniclastic layers formed where pyroclastic debris falls directly into moving water.     

Submarine channel initiation,filling and maintenance from sea‐floor geomorphology and morphodynamic modelling of cyclic steps

Advances in acoustic imaging of submarine canyons and channels have provided accurate renderings of sea‐floor geomorphology. Still, a fundamental understanding of channel inception, evolution, sediment transport and the nature of the currents traversing these channels remains elusive. Herein, Autonomous Underwater Vehicle technology developed by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute provides high‐resolution perspectives of the geomorphology and shallow stratigraphy of the San Mateo canyon‐channel system, which is located on a tectonically active slope offshore of southern California. The channel comprises a series of crescent‐shaped bedforms in its thalweg. Numerical modelling is combined with interpretations of sea‐floor and shallow subsurface stratigraphic imagery to demonstrate that these bedforms are likely to be cyclic steps. Submarine cyclic steps compose a morphodynamic feature characterized by a cyclic series of long‐wave, upstream‐migrating bedforms. The bedforms are cyclic steps if each bedform in the series is bounded by a hydraulic jump in an overriding turbidity current, which is Froude‐supercritical over the lee side of the bedform and Froude‐subcritical over the stoss side. Numerical modelling and seismic‐reflection imagery support an interpretation of weakly asymmetrical to near‐symmetrical aggradation of predominantly fine‐grained net‐depositional cyclic steps. The dominant mode of San Mateo channel maintenance during the Holocene is interpreted to be thalweg reworking into aggrading cyclic steps by dilute turbidity currents. Numerical modelling also suggests that an incipient, proto‐San Mateo channel comprises a series of relatively coarse‐grained net‐erosional cyclic steps, which nucleated out of sea‐floor perturbations across the tectonically active lower slope. Thus, the interaction between turbidity‐current processes and sea‐floor perturbations appears to be fundamentally important to channel initiation, particularly in high‐gradient systems. Offshore of southern California, and in analogous deep‐water basins, channel inception, filling and maintenance are hypothesized to be strongly linked to the development of morphodynamic instability manifested as cyclic steps.     

印度河扇水道堤岸外侧更新世沉积物波发育特征与形成过程分析*

印度河扇更新世发育的沉积物波结构复杂、形态多样,其形成过程的认识程度低。本次研究通过高分辨率地震数据和地震解释技术,研究了印度河扇沉积物波的波长、形态、波峰变化等形态特征;阐述了沉积物波与沉积物变形特征的差异、识别了两者的区分标志;总结了水道堤岸斜坡和区域斜坡上沉积物波的分布规律;在此基础上,讨论了沉积物波的形成机理和控制因素,分析了沉积物波的形成过程,并建立了印度河扇沉积物波的形成模式。研究表明: (1)研究区沉积物波波长平均为486.84 m,最大1473 m;波高在10~60 m之间,平均30 m。(2)沉积物波的形态有对称型和非对称型,其迁移方式有上坡迁移型、加积型和下坡迁移型;沉积物波主要发育在水道堤岸的斜坡上,在区域斜坡上也发育少量的沉积物波,这2种沉积物波波脊的走向差异很大,水道堤岸斜坡上的沉积物波主要分布于水道凹岸堤岸的外侧,距离水道越远其规模(波长、波高)越小,波脊走向近于NE-SW方向,与水道的走向平行或斜交;区域斜坡上的沉积物波波脊的走向多为NW-SE向,平行于区域斜坡的走向,离源区越远规模越大。(3)水道堤岸斜坡上的沉积物波是由水道型浊流在离心力的作用下,溢出水道的凹岸,在堤岸外侧的斜坡上沉积形成的,堤岸斜坡的角度对沉积物波的发育规模影响不大,浊流的强度和输沙量对其规模影响大;区域斜坡上发育的沉积物波是由顺坡而下的非水道化的浊流沉积形成;滑塌变形造成的起伏地貌以及早期沉积物波的存在,也都影响了后期沉积物波的发育。     

印度河扇水道堤岸外侧更新世沉积物波发育特征与形成过程分析*

印度河扇更新世发育的沉积物波结构复杂、形态多样,其形成过程的认识程度低。本次研究通过高分辨率地震数据和地震解释技术,研究了印度河扇沉积物波的波长、形态、波峰变化等形态特征;阐述了沉积物波与沉积物变形特征的差异、识别了两者的区分标志;总结了水道堤岸斜坡和区域斜坡上沉积物波的分布规律;在此基础上,讨论了沉积物波的形成机理和控制因素,分析了沉积物波的形成过程,并建立了印度河扇沉积物波的形成模式。研究表明: (1)研究区沉积物波波长平均为486.84 m,最大1473 m;波高在10~60 m之间,平均30 m。(2)沉积物波的形态有对称型和非对称型,其迁移方式有上坡迁移型、加积型和下坡迁移型;沉积物波主要发育在水道堤岸的斜坡上,在区域斜坡上也发育少量的沉积物波,这2种沉积物波波脊的走向差异很大,水道堤岸斜坡上的沉积物波主要分布于水道凹岸堤岸的外侧,距离水道越远其规模(波长、波高)越小,波脊走向近于NE-SW方向,与水道的走向平行或斜交;区域斜坡上的沉积物波波脊的走向多为NW-SE向,平行于区域斜坡的走向,离源区越远规模越大。(3)水道堤岸斜坡上的沉积物波是由水道型浊流在离心力的作用下,溢出水道的凹岸,在堤岸外侧的斜坡上沉积形成的,堤岸斜坡的角度对沉积物波的发育规模影响不大,浊流的强度和输沙量对其规模影响大;区域斜坡上发育的沉积物波是由顺坡而下的非水道化的浊流沉积形成;滑塌变形造成的起伏地貌以及早期沉积物波的存在,也都影响了后期沉积物波的发育。     

含沙量和悬沙粒径变化对长江宜昌-汉口河段年冲淤量的影响

依据三峡水库修建以前的资料,运用数理统计方法对含沙量和悬沙粒径变化对长江宜昌-汉口河段年冲淤量的影响进行研究,以期为三峡水库修建以后库下游河道冲淤特性的预测提供参考。建立了1980-1997年间宜昌-汉口#河段年冲淤量与宜昌站年均含沙量C宜昌之间的回归方程,据此估算出使宜昌-汉口#河段处于不冲不淤状态的宜昌站临界年均含沙量为0.734 kg/m3。以宜昌-汉口冲淤量作为因变量,以宜昌站的含沙量、悬沙中径D50、最大流量和三口分流比作为影响变量,建立了多元回归方程。基于1980-1997年资料的方程表明,宜昌站含沙量越高,悬沙中径越粗,宜昌站洪水流量越大,宜昌-汉口河段年淤积量越大;三口分流比越小,宜昌-汉口河段年淤积量越大。     

Sediment diffusion during overbank flows

Distinctive overbank sediments deposited since European settlement on the floodplain of the Brandywine Creek, Pennsylvania, are used to calibrate and test a diffusion model of overbank deposition. The predictions of the model can be calibrated to reproduce the topography of the post-settlement lithosome with an average error of 7%. The model also correctly predicts the decrease in mean grain size away from the channel. The model greatly underestimates the ability of floodwaters to transport sand away from the channel. Apparently, sand is transported across the floodplain by bedload transport and by advective suspended sediment transport as well as by diffusion. If flow duration data for 1912–1981 and the present rating curve for the Brandywine Creek at Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, are assumed to apply throughout the post-settlement period, the model may be used to estimate palaeohydraulic characteristics of post-settlement floods. Calculations indicate that 212 post-settlement floods covered the floodplain to an average depth of 1.6 m, transported an average excess suspended sediment concentration of 6200 ppm, and deposited an average thickness of 1.4 cm of sediment on levees next to the channel.     

Morphology and Quaternary sedimentation of the Mozambique Fan and environs,southwestern Indian Oceans*

Most of the Quaternary sediments of the Mozambique Fan have been derived from Africa-Madagascar and deposited by turbidity currents in Pleistocene time. Currents caused by movement of the Antarctic Bottom Water also played a significant role in reworking and redepositing sediments along the marginal areas of the fan. The inner or upper Mozambique Fan is characterized by a single, leveed valley. Due to the effects of the Coriolis force, the natural levees to the east of the valley (left, looking downstream) are higher and contain more terrigenous sediments than those to the west of the valley. The sea floor to the west of the valley returns regular hyperbolic echoes as seen on 3·5 kHz echograms, whereas to the east of the valley, the sea floor is relatively smooth. The sediments on the valley floor are coarse-grained (with median grain up to 2 mm) and poorly sorted, and occur often as massive turbidites, interbedded with hemipelagic sediments. Away from the valley, both to the east and the west, the terrigenous sediments are relatively fine-grained and have been deposited as overbank turbidite sequences. We estimate the maximum velocities of the channelized turbidity currents in the upper fan to have been 8–32 ms^?1. The middle fan has several distributary channels with no levees and has a relatively flat sea floor, characterized by lack of acoustic penetration. Thick, sheet-like, turbidite sand beds, deposited primarily by unchannelized turbidity currents, characterize the middle fan. The middle fan grades, towards the margins, into the outer (lower) fan which is relatively free of channels, has good acoustic penetration and contains hemipelagic and pelagic sediments, and thin, fine-sand turbidite and/or contourite beds. A wide zone of sediment waves, formed from the reworking of the turbidity current-fed sediments by the Antarctic Bottom Water, forms part of the outer fan.