Bedforms and associated sedimentary structures formed under supercritical water flows over aggrading sand beds

Bedforms and associated sedimentary structures, formed under supercritical water flow over an aggrading sand bed, were studied in a laboratory flume. Although the geometry and hydraulic characteristics of these bedforms (antidunes, chutes-and-pools) are well known, their internal structures are not. The objectives of the study were to: (1) describe the three-dimensional geometry of the sedimentary structures and examine their mode of origin; (2) develop a relationship between the geometries of the sedimentary structures and the formative bedforms and; (3) identify criteria that distinguish these sedimentary structures from similar types, such as hummocky and swaley cross-strata. Sedimentary structures associated with antidunes are primarily lenticular laminasets with concave-upward erosional bases (troughs) in which laminae generally dip upstream or fill the troughs symmetrically. These laminasets are associated with growth and upstream migration of water-surface waves and antidunes, and with surface-wave breaking and filling of antidune troughs respectively. In addition, sets of downstream-dipping laminae are produced by rapid migration of asymmetrical bedwaves immediately after wave breaking. Rare convex-upward laminae define the shape of antidunes that developed under stationary water-surface waves. The laminasets and internal laminae extend across the width of the flume, but vary in thickness and inclination, indicating that the antidunes have some degree of three dimensionality. The length and maximum thickness of the lenticular laminasets are approximately half of the length and height of formative antidunes, providing a potentially useful tool for palaeohydraulic reconstructions. The sets of downstream-dipping laminae formed under antidunes are distinctive and do not occur in hummocky and swaley cross-strata. Sedimentary structures associated with chutes-and-pools are sets of upstream-dipping laminae and structureless sand.     

Flow conditions of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami in Thailand,inferred from capping bedforms and sedimentary structures

The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami deposited a sheet of sand with surficial bedforms at the Andaman coast of Thailand. Here we show the recognition of bedforms and the key internal sedimentary structures as criteria of the tsunami supercritical flow condition. The presence of well‐preserved capping bedforms implied a dominant tsunami inflow. Sets of internal sedimentary structures including parallel lamination, seaward and landward inclined‐laminations, and downstream dipping laminae indicated antidune structures that were generated by a supercritical flow current in a depositional stage during the inflow. A set of seaward dipping cross‐laminations containing sand with mud drape on the surface of one depositional layer are a unique indication of an outflow structure. A majority of deposits show normal grading, but in some areas, localized reverse grading was also observed. The recognition of these capping bedforms and determination of the internal sedimentary structures provides new key criteria to help derive a better understanding of tsunami flow conditions.     

Effect of sand lenses on groundwater flow and contaminant migration

The effect of homogeneous sand lenses on the groundwater flow in an otherwise homogeneous clayey deposit is examined by performing Monte Carlo simulations using a finite element flow model. In the simulations, the locations of the sand lenses are assumed to be mutually independent. The paper examines the effect on the flow field in a clayey deposit of (a) different percentages of sand lenses, (b) different hydraulic conductivities of the sand lenses, (c) different average sand lens sizes, (d) non-uniformity of the sizes of the sand lenses, and (e) localization of the sand lenses. The effect of these non-uniform flow fields on contaminant migration is then examined using a finite element contaminant transport model. For the range of cases considered it is shown that: the volume of sand lenses present has a greater influence than the shape, size, location and hydraulic conductivity of the sand lenses; simplified calculations performed using the geometric and harmonic means of hydraulic conductivity bracket the behaviour evident from more complex analyses; and the maximum impact on an aquifer separated from a waste disposal facility by a deposit containing sand lenses can be modelled to sufficient accuracy, using quite simple flow and contaminant transport models.     

Gravel antidunes in the tropical Burdekin River, Queensland, Australia

The geological record is punctuated by the deposits of extreme event phenomena, the identification and interpretation of which are hindered by a lack of data on contemporary examples. It is impossible to directly observe sedimentary bedforms and grain fabrics forming under natural particle-transporting, high-velocity currents, and therefore, their characteristics are poorly documented. The deposits of such flows are exposed however, in the dry bed of the Burdekin River, Queensland, Australia following tropical cyclone-induced floods. Long wave-length (up to 19 m) gravel antidunes develop during short (days) high-discharge flows in the upper Burdekin River (maximum recorded discharge near the study reach over 25 600 m³ s^?1 in February 1927). Flood water levels fall quickly (metres in a day) and flow is diverted away from raised areas of the river bed into subchannels, exposing many of the high-stage bedforms with little reworking by falling-stage currents. Gravel bedforms were observed on the dry river bed after the moderate flows of February 1994 (max. 7700 m³ s^?1) and January 1996 (max. 3200 m³ s^?1). The bedforms had wave-lengths in the range 8–19 m, amplitudes of up to 1 m with steeper stoss than lee faces and crest lines generally transverse to local peak-discharge flow direction. The gravel fabric and size sorting change systematically up the stoss and down the lee faces. The antidune deposits form erosive based lenses of sandy gravel with low-angle downstream dipping lamination and generally steep upstream dipping a-b planes. The internal form and fabric of the antidune gravel lenses are distinctly different from those of dune lee gravel lenses. The erosive based lenses of low-angle cross-bedded gravel with steep upstream dipping a-b planes are relatively easy to recognize and may be diagnostic of downstream migrating antidunes. The antidune gravel lenses are associated with thick (to 1 m) high-angle cross bed sets. Ancient antidune gravel lenses may be diagnostic of episodic high-discharge conditions and particularly when they are associated with high-angle cross-bedded gravelly sand they may be useful for palaeoenvironmental interpretation.     

Emplacement of massive deposits by sheet flow

Turbidity current and coastal storm deposits are commonly characterized by a basal sandy massive (structureless) unit overlying an erosional surface and underlying a parallel or cross-laminated unit. Similar sequences have been recently identified in fluvial settings as well. Notwithstanding field, laboratory and numerical studies, the mechanisms for emplacement of these massive basal units are still under debate. It is well accepted that the sequence considered here can be deposited by waning-energy flows, and that the parallel-laminated units are deposited under transport conditions corresponding to upper plane bed at the dune–antidune transition. Thus, transport conditions that are more intense than those at the dune–antidune transition should deposit massive units. This study presents experimental, open-channel flow results showing that sandy massive units can be the result of gradual deposition from a thick bedload layer of colliding grains called sheet flow layer. When this layer forms with relatively coarse sand, the non-dimensional bed shear stress associated with skin friction, the Shields number, is larger than a threshold value approximately equal to 0·4. For values of the Shields number smaller than 0·4 the sheet flow layer disappeared, sediment was transported by a standard bedload layer one or two grain diameters thick, and the bed configuration was characterized by downstream migrating antidunes and washed out dunes. Parallel laminae were found in deposits emplaced with standard bedload transport demonstrating that the same dilute flow can gradually deposit the basal and the parallel-laminated unit in presence of traction at the depositional boundary. Further, the experiments suggested that two different types of upper plane bed conditions can be defined, one associated with standard bedload transport at the dune–antidune transition, and the other associated with bedload transport in sheet flow mode at the transition between upstream and downstream migrating antidunes.     

A consideration of the dune:antidune transition in fine gravel

Hydraulic data defining the dune:antidune transition in fine gravel are compared with potential flow theory, and information is drawn from published experiments and field‐based studies. Attention is given to both transitional bedforms and the development of downstream‐migrating antidunes. In the latter case, most data pertain to sand beds and not to gravel. Empirical data provide some weak support for the theoretical notion that the transition occurs at progressively lower Froude numbers at greater relative depths. Although a critical Froude number of 0·84 may reasonably be applied for the beginning of the dune to antidune transformation, lag effects (and a possible depth limitation) ensure that transitional bedforms may persist across a broad range of Froude numbers from 0·5 to 1·8. This latter observation has great relevance for palaeohydraulic estimates derived from outcrop data. Whereas the application of theoretical bedform existence fields, based upon potential flow theory, to fine gravel was previously purely speculative, the addition of experimental and field data to these plots provides a degree of confidence in applying stability theory to practical geological problems. For the first time, laboratory data pertaining to downstream‐migrating gravel antidunes are compared with theory. These bedforms have been reported from certain experimental near‐critical flows above sand or gravel beds, but have been observed infrequently in natural streams. However, there are no detailed studies from natural rivers and only a few contentious identifications from outcrops. Nevertheless, the limited hydraulic data conform to theoretical expectations.     

Microbial influence on erosion,grain transport and bedform genesis in sandy substrates under unidirectional flow

Interpreting the physical dynamics of ancient environments requires an understanding of how current‐generated sedimentary structures, such as ripples and dunes, are created. Traditional interpretations of these structures are based on experimental flume studies of unconsolidated quartz sand, in which stepwise increases in flow velocity yield a suite of sedimentary structures analogous to those found in the rock record. Yet cyanobacteria, which were excluded from these studies, are pervasive in wet sandy environments and secrete sufficient extracellular polysaccharides to inhibit grain movement and markedly change the conditions under which sedimentary structures form. Here, the results of flume experiments using cyanobacteria‐inoculated quartz sand are reported which demonstrate that microbes strongly influence the behaviour of unconsolidated sand. In medium sand, thin (ca 0·1 to 0·5 mm thick) microbial communities growing at the sediment–water interface can nearly double the flow velocity required to produce the traditional sequence of ripple→dune→plane‐bed lamination bedforms. In some cases, these thin film‐like microbial communities can inhibit the growth of ripples or dunes entirely, and instead bed shear stresses result in flip‐over and rip‐up structures. Thicker (ca≥1 mm thick) microbial mats mediate terracing of erosional edges; they also, foster transport of multi‐grain aggregates and yield a bedform progression consisting of flip‐overs→roll‐ups→rip‐ups of bound sand.     

Sedimentary processes in the Selvage sediment-wave field, NE Atlantic: new insights into the formation of sediment waves by turbidity currents

An integrated geophysical and sedimentological investigation of the Selvage sediment-wave field has revealed that the sediment waves are formed beneath unconfined turbidity currents. The sediment waves occur on the lower continental rise and display wavelengths of up to 1 km and wave heights of up to 6 m. Wave sediments consist of interbedded turbidites and pelagic/hemipelagic marls and oozes. Nannofossil-based dating of the sediments indicates a bulk sedimentation rate of 2·4 cm 1000 years^–1, and the waves are migrating upslope at a rate of 0·28 m 1000 years^–1. Sediment provenance studies reveal that the turbidity currents maintaining the waves are largely sourced from volcanic islands to the south. Investigation of existing models for sediment-wave formation leads to the conclusion that the Selvage sediment waves form as giant antidunes. Simple numerical modelling reveals that turbidity currents crossing the wave field have internal Froude numbers of 0·5–1·9, which is very close to the antidune existence limits. Depositional flow velocities range from <6 to 125 cm^–1. There is a rapid increase in wavelength and flow thickness in the upper 10 km of the wave field, which is unexpected, as the slope angle remains relatively constant. This anomaly is possibly linked to a topographic obstacle just upslope of the sediment waves. Flows passing over the obstacle may undergo a hydraulic jump at its boundary, leading to an increase in flow thickness. In the lower 15 km of the wave field, flow thickness decreases downslope by 60%, which is comparable with results obtained for other unconfined turbidity currents undergoing flow expansion.     

Morphodynamics and sedimentary structures of bedforms under supercritical‐flow conditions: New insights from flume experiments

Supercritical‐flow phenomena are fairly common in modern sedimentary environments, yet their recognition and analysis remain difficult in the stratigraphic record. This fact is commonly ascribed to the poor preservation potential of deposits from high‐energy supercritical flows. However, the number of flume data sets on supercritical‐flow dynamics and sedimentary structures is very limited in comparison with available data for subcritical flows, which hampers the recognition and interpretation of such deposits. The results of systematic flume experiments spanning a broad range of supercritical‐flow bedforms (antidunes, chutes‐and‐pools and cyclic steps) developed in mobile sand beds of variable grain sizes are presented. Flow character and related bedform patterns are constrained through time‐series measurements of bed configurations, flow depths, flow velocities and Froude numbers. The results allow the refinement and extension of some widely used bedform stability diagrams in the supercritical‐flow domain, clarifying in particular the morphodynamic relations between antidunes and cyclic steps. The onset of antidunes is controlled by flows exceeding a threshold Froude number. The transition from antidunes to cyclic steps in fine to medium‐grained sand occurs at a threshold mobility parameter. Sedimentary structures associated with supercritical bedforms developed under variable aggradation rates are revealed by means of combining flume results and synthetic stratigraphy. The sedimentary structures are compared with examples from field and other flume studies. Aggradation rate is seen to exert an important control on the geometry of supercritical‐flow structures and should be considered when identifying supercritical bedforms in the sedimentary record.     

Tsunami backwash deposits with Chicxulub impact ejecta and dinosaur remains from the Cretaceous–Palaeogene boundary in the La Popa Basin,Mexico

The La Popa Basin in north‐eastern Mexico features outstanding, continuous three‐dimensional exposures of the Cretaceous–Palaeogene boundary event deposit in shallow shelf environments pierced by salt stocks. In the area to the south‐east of the El Papalote diapir, the Cretaceous–Palaeogene deposit consists of two superimposed sedimentary units and erosively overlies upper Maastrichtian sand‐siltstones with soft‐sediment deformation and liquefaction structures. The basal unit 1 is an up to 8 m thick chaotic, carbonate‐rich bed that discontinuously fills incised gutters and channels. Besides abundant silicic and carbonate ejecta spherules from the Chicxulub impact, unit 1 includes large sandstone boulders and abundant shallow‐water debris (for example, mud clasts, algae, bivalve shells, gastropod shells and vertebrate remains). Unit 1 is conformably overlain by unit 2. Distal to the diapir, unit 2 consists of a centimetre to decimetre‐thick conglomeratic, coarse bioclast and spherule‐bearing sandstone bed. Closer to the diapir, unit 2 becomes a metre‐thick series of four to eight conglomeratic to fine‐grained graded sandstone beds rich in shell debris and ejecta spherules. Unit 2 is conformably overlain by structureless to parallel laminated sandstone beds that may mark the return to the pre‐event depositional regime. The sedimentary characteristics of the Cretaceous–Palaeogene deposit, including its erosive base, its sheet‐like geometry, the presence of multiple, graded beds, evidence for upper flow regime conditions and the absence of bioturbation, support an origin by a short‐term multiphase depositional event. The occurrence of soft‐sediment deformation structures (for example, liquefaction) below the Cretaceous–Palaeogene deposit suggests that earthquakes were the first to occur at La Popa. Then, shelf collapse and strong backflow from the first tsunami waves may have triggered erosion and deposition by violent ejecta‐rich hyperconcentrated density flows (unit 1). Subsequently, a series of concentrated density flows resulting from tsunami backwash surges may have deposited the multiple‐graded bedding structures of unit 2. The specific depositional sequence and the Fe‐Mg‐rich as well as Si‐K‐rich composition of the ejecta spherules both provide a critical link to the well‐known deep marine Cretaceous–Palaeogene boundary sites in the adjacent Burgos basin in north‐eastern Mexico. Moreover, the pulse‐like input of Chicxulub ejecta material at the base of the event deposit allows for correlation with other Cretaceous–Palaeogene boundary sites in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic, as well as in Central and Northern America. The presence of diverse dinosaur and mosasur bones and teeth in the event deposit is the first observation of such remains together with Chicxulub ejecta material. These findings indicate that dinosaurs lived in the area during the latest Maastrichtian and suggest that the tsunami waves not only eroded deltas and estuaries but the coastal plain as well.     

Subaqueous density flow processes and deposits of an island volcano landslide (Stromboli Island, Italy)

Stromboli is a 3000 m high island volcano, rising to 900 m above sea-level. It is the most active volcano of the Aeolian Archipelago in the Tyrrhenian Sea (Italy). Major, large volume (1 km³) sector collapses, four occurring in the last 13 kyr, have played an important role in shaping the north-western flank (Sciara del Fuoco) of the volcano, potentially generating a high-risk tsunami hazard for the Aeolian Islands and the Italian coast. However, smaller volume, partial collapses of the Sciara del Fuoco have been shown to be more frequent tsunami-generating events. One such event occurred on 30 December 2002, when a partial collapse of the north-western flank of the island took place. The resulting landslide generated 10 m high tsunami waves that impacted the island. Multibeam bathymetry, side-scan sonar imaging and visual observations reveal that the landslide deposited 25 to 30 × 10⁶ m³ of sediment on the submerged slope offshore from the Sciara del Fuoco. Two contiguous main deposit facies are recognized: (i) a chaotic, coarse-grained (metre-sized to centimetre-sized clasts) deposit; and (ii) a sand deposit containing a lower, cross-bedded sand layer and an upper structureless pebbly sand bed capped by sea floor ripple bedforms. The sand facies develops adjacent to and partially overlying the coarse deposits. Characteristics of the deposits suggest that they were derived from cohesionless, sandy matrix density flows. Flow rheology and dynamics led to the segregation of the density flow into sand-rich and clast-rich regions. A range of density flow transitions, both in space and in time, caused principally by particle concentration and grain-size partitioning within cohesionless parent flows was identified in the deposits of this relatively small-scale submarine landslide event.     

An empirical model for the development and equilibrium morphology of current ripples in fine sand

A flume study on the development and equilibrium morphology of current ripples in fine sand (D₅₀ = 0·238 mm) was performed to extend an empirical model for current ripple stability in 0·095 mm sand to larger grain sizes. The results of the flume experiments agree with the very fine sand model that current ripple development from a flat bed is largely independent of flow velocity. At all flow velocities, ripples evolve from incipient, through straight, sinuous and non-equilibrium linguoid, to equilibrium linguoid plan morphology. The time needed to achieve an equilibrium linguoid plan form is related to an inverse power of flow velocity and ranges from several minutes to more than hundreds of hours. Average equilibrium height and length are 17·0 mm and 141·1 mm respectively. These values are about 20% larger than in very fine sand. Equilibrium ripple height and length are proportional to flow velocity near the stability field of dunes. In the same velocity range, a characteristic grouping of ripples with smaller ripples migrating on the upstream face of larger ripples was observed. Bed-form development shows a conspicuous two-phase behaviour at flow velocities < 0·49 m s^?1. In the first phase of development, ripple height and length increase along an exponential path, similar to that at higher flow velocities, thus reaching intermediate equilibrium values of 14·8 mm and 124·5 mm respectively. After some time, however, a second phase commences, that involves a rapid increase in bed-form size to the typical equilibrium values for 0·238 mm sand. A comparison with literature data shows that the results obtained for 0·238 mm sand agree reasonably well with other flume studies at similar grain size. Yet considerable variability in the relationships between ripple dimensions and flow strength ensues from, among others, underestimation of equilibrium time, shallow flow depths and differences in sediment texture.     

An amalgamated meter-thick sedimentary package enabled by the 2011 Tohoku tsunami in El Garrapatero,Galapagos Islands

Tsunamis and storms instigate sedimentological and geomorphological changes to the coastal system, both long-term and ephemeral. To accurately predict future coastal hazards, one must identify the records that are generated by the processes associated with these hazards and recognize what will be preserved. Using eyewitness accounts, photographs, and sedimentology, this study documents pre- and post-tsunami conditions and constrains the timing and process of depositional events during and following the 11 March 2011 Tohoku tsunami in the coastal system at El Garrapatero, Galapagos Islands. While the tsunami acted as both an erosional and depositional agent, the thick, fan-like sand sheet in El Garrapatero was primarily emplaced by overwash deposition during high tide from swell waves occurring between 19–25 March and 17–22 April 2011. The swell waves were only able to access the terrestrial coastal system via a channel carved by the 2011 Tohoku tsunami through the barrier sand dune. This combined deposit could result in an overestimation of the hazard if interpreted to be the result of only one event (either tsunami or wind-generated waves). An analogous sand layer, younger than 1390–1530 cal yr BP, may record a similar, prior event.     

Depositional processes,bedform development and hybrid bed formation in rapidly decelerated cohesive (mud–sand) sediment flows

Flows with high suspended sediment concentrations are common in many sedimentary environments, and their flow properties may show a transitional behaviour between fully turbulent and quasi‐laminar plug flows. The characteristics of these transitional flows are known to be a function of both clay concentration and type, as well as the applied fluid stress, but so far the interaction of these transitional flows with a loose sediment bed has received little attention. Information on this type of interaction is essential for the recognition and prediction of sedimentary structures formed by cohesive transitional flows in, for example, fluvial, estuarine and deep‐marine deposits. This paper investigates the behaviour of rapidly decelerated to steady flows that contain a mixture of sand, silt and clay, and explores the effect of different clay (kaolin) concentrations on the dynamics of flow over a mobile bed, and the bedforms and stratification produced. Experiments were conducted in a recirculating slurry flume capable of transporting high clay concentrations. Ultrasonic Doppler velocity profiling was used to measure the flow velocity within these concentrated suspension flows. The development of current ripples under decelerated flows of differing kaolin concentration was documented and evolution of their height, wavelength and migration rate quantified. This work confirms past work over smooth, fixed beds which showed that, as clay concentration rises, a distinct sequence of flow types is generated: turbulent flow, turbulence‐enhanced transitional flow, lower transitional plug flow, upper transitional plug flow and a quasi‐laminar plug flow. Each of these flow types produces an initial flat bed upon rapid flow deceleration, followed by reworking of these deposits through the development of current ripples during the subsequent steady flow in turbulent flow, turbulence‐enhanced transitional flow and lower transitional plug flow. The initial flat beds are structureless, but have diagnostic textural properties, caused by differential settling of sand, silt and cohesive mud, which forms characteristic bipartite beds that initially consist of sand overlain by silt or clay. As clay concentration in the formative flow increases, ripples first increase in mean height and wavelength under turbulence‐enhanced transitional flow and lower transitional plug‐flow regimes, which is attributed to the additional turbulence generated under these flows that subsequently causes greater lee side erosion. As clay concentration increases further from a lower transitional plug flow, ripples cease to exist under the upper transitional plug flow and quasi‐laminar plug flow conditions investigated herein. This disappearance of ripples appears due to both turbulence suppression at higher clay concentrations, as well as the increasing shear strength of the bed sediment that becomes more difficult to erode as clay concentration increases. The stratification within the ripples formed after rapid deceleration of the transitional flows reflects the availability of sediment from the bipartite bed. The exact nature of the ripple cross‐stratification in these flows is a direct function of the duration of the formative flow and the texture of the initial flat bed, and ripples do not form in cohesive flows with a Reynolds number smaller than ca 12 000. Examples are given of how the unique properties of the current ripples and plane beds, developing below decelerated transitional flows, could aid in the interpretation of depositional processes in modern and ancient sediments. This interpretation includes a new model for hybrid beds that explains their formation in terms of a combination of vertical grain‐size segregation and longitudinal flow transformation.     

Effect of velocity hiatuses in oscillatory flow on migration and geometry of ripples: wave‐flume experiments

A series of wave‐flume experiments was conducted to closely look at characteristics of geometry and migration of wave‐generated ripples, with particular reference to the effect of velocity ‘hiatuses’ during which the near‐bed flow velocity becomes much smaller than the threshold of sediment movement. Three types of wave patterns were generated: two types for simulating waves with intervening velocity hiatuses; and regular waves for comparison purposes. In the former two types, two different wavelengths of water waves were generated alternately in the course of a wave test: the wave with a longer wavelength was set large enough to mobilize the bottom sediment, whereas the wave with a shorter wavelength was set too small to mobilize the sediment. The former two types were designed to be different in sequence of convexity and concavity of wave patterns. The sequence with the convex–concave longer wave and successive convex–concave shorter wave was described as a ‘zero‐up‐crossing’ wave pattern, and the inverse sequence was described as a ‘zero‐down‐crossing’ wave pattern. The ripples developed under oscillatory flow with intervening hiatuses manifested the following characteristics in geometry and migration. (i) The morphological characteristics of ripples, namely wavelength, height and the ripple steepness, are unaffected by the intervening hiatuses of velocity. (ii) The directions of ripple migration under the zero‐up‐crossing and zero‐down‐crossing wave patterns corresponded well with the directions of the flow immediately before onset of the hiatuses. (iii) The observation of sand particle movement on the ripple surface indicated that, under the zero‐up‐crossing waves, the velocity hiatus prevents the entrained sediment cloud from being thrown onshore, and thus the sediment grains thrown onshore are fewer than those thrown offshore. As a result of the sediment movement over one wave‐cycle, the net sediment transport is directed offshore under the zero‐up‐crossing wave pattern. (iv) The velocity of ripple migration was highly correlated with acceleration skewness. Under most of the zero‐up‐crossing (zero‐down‐crossing) wave patterns, flow acceleration skewed negative (positive) and ripples migrated offshore (onshore).     

A field study of turbulence and sediment dynamics over subaqueous dunes with flow separation

This study examines flow, turbulence and sand suspension over large dunes in Canoe Pass, a distributary channel of the Fraser River delta, Canada. Dune morphology is characterized by a symmetrical shape and steep leeside slopes over 30°. Velocity was measured with an electromagnetic current meter and suspended sand concentration with four optical backscatter (OBS) probes. The general patterns of time-averaged velocity and sand suspension are consistent with previous studies, including an increase in mean velocity and decrease in turbulence intensity and sand concentration with height above the bed, reversed flow with high turbulence intensity and high sand concentrations in the leeside flow separation zone and an increase in near-bed velocity and sand concentration along the stoss side of the dune. Frequency spectra of near-bed velocity and OBS records from leeside separation zones are composed of two distinct frequencies, providing field confirmation of scale relations based on flume experiments. The low-frequency spectral signal probably results from wake flapping and the high-frequency signal from vortex shedding. The wake-flapping frequency predominates outside the separation zone and is linked to turbulent structures that suspend sand. Predictions from a depth-scale Strouhal Law show good agreement with measured wake-flapping frequencies. Cross-correlations of OBS records reveal that turbulent sand suspension structures advect downstream at 23–25° above the horizontal. These advection angles are similar to coherent flow structures measured in flumes and to sand suspension structures visualized over large dunes in the field.     

Numerical modelling of a mid-sized gravity flow: the 1979 Nice turbidity current (dynamics, processes, sediment budget and seafloor impact)

The 1979 Nice turbidity current is modelled using a visco-plastic analysis of flow velocity because the initial flow concentrations are expected to have been very high. The complete history of the failed sediment from debris flow to turbidity current plume is therefore addressed. The turbidity current portion is considered as a steady state flow divided into a dense bottom flow and an upper plume. Model results show that a dense flow can be generated from the debris flow by the disaggregation of the initial slide. The dense flow would be strongly erosive and able to create and maintain a low-density plume at its surface. The depth of erosion of the channel floor by the dense flow is predicted to reach 6–11 m in overconsolidated sediments, with the main erosion taking place in Var Canyon and the Upper Fan Valley. The eroded volume (10⁸ m³) provides additional material to the sediment mass of the initial failure. The dense flow appears able to inject fine sand and silt into the overlying plume during 90 km, and would disintegrate before being able to deposit sediment. The extensive sand layer along the travel path of the turbidity current may have been deposited from the tail of the trailing plume: a result of the velocity difference between the plume and the dense flow. Observations on sedimentary structures, erosion features and distribution of the sand deposit are quite in agreement with our modelling approach. For example, gravel waves can be generated when loose deposits are reworked by the supercritical dense flow. The methodology and equations presented here provide a good estimate of the geological consequences of a high-velocity gravity flow undergoing rheological transition.     

Flow patterns, sedimentation and deposit architecture under a hydraulic jump on a non-eroding bed: defining hydraulic-jump unit bars

This paper presents results from two flume runs of an ongoing series examining flow structure, sediment transport and deposition in hydraulic jumps. It concludes in the presentation of a model for the development of sedimentary architecture, considered characteristic of a hydraulic jump over a non-eroding bed. In Run 1, a hydraulic jump was formed in sediment-free water over the solid plane sloping flume floor. Ultrasonic Doppler velocity profilers recorded the flow structure within the hydraulic jump in fine detail. Run 2 had identical initial flow conditions and a near-steady addition of sand, which formed beds with two distinct characteristics: a laterally extensive, basal, wedge-shaped massive sand bed overlain by cross-laminated sand beds. Each cross-laminated bed recorded the initiation and growth of a single surface feature, here defined as a hydraulic-jump unit bar . A small massive sand mound formed on the flume floor and grew upstream and downstream without migrating to form a unit bar. In the upstream portion of the unit bar, sand finer than the bulk load formed a set of laminae dipping upstream. This set passed downstream through the small volume of massive sand into a foreset, which was initially relatively coarse-grained and became finer-grained downstream. This downstream-fining coincided with cessation of the growth of the upstream-dipping cross-set. At intervals, a new bed feature developed above and upstream of the preceding hydraulic-jump unit bar and grew in the same way, with the foreset climbing the older unit bar. The composite architecture of the superimposed unit bars formed a fanning, climbing coset above the massive wedge, defined as one unit: a hydraulic-jump bar complex .