Quantifying velocity and turbulence structure in depositing sustained turbidity currents across breaks in slope

Two-dimensional experiments investigating sediment transport and turbulence structure in sustained turbidity currents that cross breaks in slope are presented as analogue illustrations for natural flows. The results suggest that in natural flows, turbulence generation at slope breaks may account for increased sand transport into basins and that the formation of a hydraulic jump may not be necessary to explain features such as the occurrence of submarine plunge pools and the deposition of coarser-grained beds in the bottomsets of Gilbert-type fan deltas. Experimental flows were generated on 0°, 3°, 6° and 9° slopes of equal length which terminated abruptly on a horizontal bed. Two-component velocities were measured on the slope, at the slope break and downstream of the slope break. Flows were depositional and non-uniform, visibly slowing and thickening with distance downstream. One-dimensional continuous wavelet transforms of velocity time series were used to produce time-period variance maps. Peaks in variance were tested against a background red-noise spectrum at the 95% level; a significant period banding occurs in the cross-wavelet transform at the slope break, attributed to increased formation of coherent flow structures (Kelvin–Helmholtz billows). Variance becomes distributed at progressively longer periods and the shape of the bed-normal-velocity spectral energy distribution changes with distance downstream. This is attributed to a shift towards larger turbulent structures caused by wake stretching. Mean velocity, Reynolds shear stress and turbulent kinetic energy profiles illustrate the mean distribution of turbulence through the currents. A turbulent kinetic energy transfer balance shows that flow non-uniformity arises through the transfer of mean streamwise slowing to mean bed-normal motion through the action of Reynolds normal stresses. Net turbulence production through the action of normal stresses is achieved on steeper slopes as turbulence dissipation due to mean bed-normal motion is limited. At the slope break, an imbalance between the production and dissipation of turbulence occurs because of the contrasting nature of the wall and free-shear boundaries at the bottom and top of the flows, respectively. A rapid reduction in mean streamwise velocity predominately affects the base of the flows and steeper proximal slope flows have to slow more at the break in slope. The increased turbulent kinetic energy, limited bed-normal motion and strong mixing imposed by steep proximal slopes means rapid slowing enhances turbulence production at the break in slope by focusing energy into coherent flow structures at a characteristic period. Thus, mean streamwise slowing is transferred into turbulence production at the slope break that causes increased transport of sediment and a decrease in deposit mass downstream of the slope break. The internal effects of flow non-uniformity therefore can be separated from the external influence of the slope break.     

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.     

水库浑水异重流潜入点判别条件

泥沙淤积是影响多沙河流水库寿命的一大难题,而异重流排沙是减少库区淤积的重要措施之一。异重流的潜入现象是异重流开始形成的直观标志,研究异重流潜入条件的判别方法有助于掌握异重流在库区内的演进规律。总结了水库异重流潜入条件的定性描述及定量计算方法,指出已有的潜入点判别公式的优缺点及适用范围,改进了描述异重流运动的动量方程,同时分析了异重流流速与含沙量沿垂线不均匀分布对动量传递的影响;在此基础上提出新的异重流潜入条件判别式,并用多组室内及野外实测资料对该判别条件进行率定与验证。分析结果表明,新的计算公式可用于判别小浪底库区异重流的潜入条件。     

Thresholds of intrabed flow and other interactions of turbidity currents with soft muddy substrates

Controlled laboratory experiments reveal that the lower part of turbidity currents has the ability to enter fluid mud substrates, if the bed shear stress is higher than the yield stress of the fluid mud and the density of the turbidity current is higher than the density of the substrate. Upon entering the substrate, the turbidity current either induces mixing between flow‐derived sediment and substrate sediment, or it forms a stable horizontal flow front inside the fluid mud. Such ‘intrabed’ flow is surrounded by plastically deformed mud; otherwise it resembles the front of a ‘bottom‐hugging’ turbidity current. The ‘suprabed’ portion of the turbidity current, i.e. the upper part of the flow that does not enter the substrate, is typically separated from the intrabed flow by a long horizontal layer of mud which originates from the mud that is swept over the top of the intrabed flow and then incorporated into the flow. The intrabed flow and the mixing mechanism are specific types of interaction between turbidity currents and muddy substrates that are part of a larger group of interactions, which also include bypass, deposition, erosion and soft sediment deformation. A classification scheme for these types of interactions is proposed, based on an excess bed shear stress parameter, which includes the difference in the bed shear stress imposed by the flow and the yield stress of the substrate and an excess density parameter, which relies on the density difference between the flow and the substrate. Based on this classification scheme, as well as on the sedimentological properties of the laboratory deposits, an existing facies model for intrabed turbidites is extended to the other types of interaction involving soft muddy substrates. The physical threshold of flow‐substrate mixing versus stable intrabed flow is defined using the gradient Richardson number, and this method is validated successfully with the laboratory data. The gradient Richardson number is also used to verify that stable intrabed flow is possible in natural turbidity currents, and to determine under which conditions intrabed flow is likely to be unstable. It appears that intrabed flow is likely only in natural turbidity currents with flow velocities well below ca 3·5 m s^?1, although a wider range of flows is capable of entering fluid muds. Below this threshold velocity, intrabed flow is stable only at high‐density gradients and low‐velocity gradients across the upper boundary of the turbidity current. Finally, the gradient Richardson number is used as a scaling parameter to set the flow velocity limits of a natural turbidity current that formed an inferred intrabed turbidite in the deep‐marine Aberystwyth Grits Group, West Wales, United Kingdom.     

Breaching in fine sands and the generation of sustained turbidity currents in submarine canyons

Abstract Natural, moderately loosely packed sands can only erode from the surface of the bed after an increase in pore volume. Because of this shear dilatancy, negative pore pressures are generated in the bed. In cases of low permeability, these negative pressures are released relatively slowly, which retards the maximum rate of erosion. This effect is incorporated in a new, analytically derived, pick‐up function that can explain the observation of gradual retrogressive failure of very steep subaqueous slopes, sometimes more than 5 m high, in fine non‐cohesive sands. This process, termed ‘breaching’ in the field of sediment dredging, may produce large failures in sand bars or river banks. The analytical function that describes the breaching process in fine sand is incorporated in a one‐dimensional, steady‐state numerical model of turbidity currents describing the spatial development of flow. This model is applied to simulate a large ‘flushing’ event in Scripps Submarine Canyon, Pacific coast of California. Breach retrogradation and the successive evolution in time of the resulting turbidity current in the canyon are predicted in a sequence of discrete steps. Predicted velocities are compared with values measured during a flushing event. Implications for the interpretation of deep‐water massive sands are discussed.     

New insight into the evolution of large-volume turbidity currents: comparison of turbidite shape and previous modelling results

The Marnoso Arenacea Formation provides the most extensive correlation of individual flow deposits (beds) yet documented in an ancient turbidite system. These correlations provide unusually detailed constraints on bed shape, which is used to deduce flow evolution and assess the validity of numerical and laboratory models. Bed volumes have an approximately log‐normal frequency distribution; a small number of flows dominated sediment supply to this non‐channelized basin plain. Turbidite sandstone within small‐volume (<0·7 km³) beds thins downflow in an approximately exponential fashion. This shape is a property of spatially depletive flows, and has been reproduced by previous mathematical models and laboratory experiments. Sandstone intervals in larger‐volume (0·7–7 km³) beds have a broad thickness maximum in their proximal part. Grain‐size trends within this broad thickness maximum indicate spatially near‐uniform flow for distances of ∼30 km, although the flow was temporally unsteady. Previous mathematical models and laboratory experiments have not reproduced this type of deposit shape. This may be because models fail to simulate the way in which near bed sediment concentration tends towards a constant value (saturates) in powerful flows. Alternatively, the discrepancy may be the result of relatively high ratios of flow thickness and sediment settling velocity in submarine flows, together with very gradual changes in sea‐floor gradient. Intra‐bed erosion, temporally varying discharge, and reworking of suspension fallout as bedload could also help to explain the discrepancy in deposit shape. Most large‐volume beds contain an internal erosion surface underlain by inversely graded sandstone, recording waxing and waning flow. It has been inferred previously that these characteristics are diagnostic of turbidites generated by hyperpycnal flood discharge. These turbidites are too voluminous to have been formed by hyperpycnal flows, unless such flows are capable of eroding cubic kilometres of sea‐floor sediment. It is more likely that these flows originated from submarine slope failure. Two beds comprise multiple sandstone intervals separated only by turbidite mudstone. These features suggest that the submarine slope failures occurred as either a waxing and waning event, or in a number of stages.     

浊流沉积研究综述和展望

浊流理论的建立具有划时代的意义。浊流沉积的研究已经进行了半个多世纪,从理论到实践都取得了巨大的进展。本文首先讨论了浊流及其相关的几个概念,同时概述了浊流沉积的国内外研究历史和进展,重点介绍了浊积岩的识别标志及其沉积序列,指出下一步研究的重点应放在陆相湖泊浊流沉积及其含矿性上。     

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.     

On the ignition of geostrophically rotating turbidity currents

Two models of a geostrophically rotating turbidity current are examined to compare predictions for ignition with the catastrophic state. Both models describe the current as a tube of sediment-laden water traversing along and down a uniform slope. The first (four-equation) model neglects the energy required to lift the sediment from the seabed into suspension. The second (five-equation) model rectifies this shortcoming by introducing a turbulent kinetic energy equation and coupling the bottom stress to turbulence in the plume. These models can be used to predict the ignition, path and sediment deposition of a geostrophically rotating turbidity current. The criteria for ignition in the four-equation model can be described by a surface in three-dimensional phase space (for a non-entraining current). This surface lies near the geostrophic equilibrium state. For a turbidity current occurring in the Greenland Sea, velocities above 0·053 m s^–1 or volumetric concentrations of sediment above 2·7 × 10^–5 lead to ignition. In general, if the tube is started pointing downslope, then ignition is more likely than if it is initially directed alongslope. However, there exists a set of initial conditions in which the current ignites if started along or downslope, but deposits if started at an intermediate angle. The five-equation model requires a larger initial velocity (greater than 1·6 m s^–1) to ignite than does the four-equation model. Ignition is determined qualitatively by the geostrophic state and the initial normal Froude number. Solutions show a tendency to travel further alongslope during ignition, reflecting the restriction that the energy budget places on the sediment load. A qualitative difference to phase space in the five-equation model is the existence of a region in which the tube has insufficient energy to support the sediment. Turbulence dies rapidly in this region, and so the sediment is deposited almost immediately.     

水库异重流一维水沙耦合模型

建立了基于库区不规则断面的一维非恒定异重流数学模型,并采用明流与异重流水沙输移模型交替运算的两步模式,即用潜入条件动态判别异重流计算的上游边界位置,将潜入点上游的明流浑水段与下游异重流段计算连接起来。水流运动、泥沙输移与河床变形过程完全耦合,采用TVD(Total Variation Diminishing)形式的MUSCL-Hancock格式进行数值求解。将该模型应用于恒定流量与释放定量悬沙两种条件下的异重流水槽实验模拟,比较了有无水面梯度项对模拟精度的影响,计算结果表明该模型能较为准确地预测异重流的厚度、含沙量分布及传播过程。     

Patterns of deposition from experimental turbidity currents with reversing buoyancy

Turbidity currents are turbulent, sediment‐laden gravity currents which can be generated in relatively shallow shelf settings and travel downslope before spreading out across deep‐water abyssal plains. Because of the natural stratification of the oceans and/or fresh water river inputs to the source area, the interstitial fluid within which the particles are suspended will often be less dense than the deep‐water ambient fluid. Consequently, a turbidity current may initially be denser than the ambient sea water and propagate as a ground‐hugging flow, but later reverse in buoyancy as its bulk density decreases through sedimentation to become lower than that of the ambient sea water. When this occurs, all or part of the turbidity current lofts to form a buoyant sediment‐laden cloud from which further deposition occurs. Deposition from such lofting turbidity currents, containing a mixture of fine and coarse sediment suspended in light interstitial fluid, is explored through analogue laboratory experiments complemented by theoretical analysis using a ‘box and cloud’ model. Particular attention is paid to the overall deposit geometry and to the distributions of fine and coarse material within the deposit. A range of beds can be deposited by bimodal lofting turbidity currents. Lofting may encourage the formation of tabular beds with a rapid pinch‐out rather than the gradually tapering beds more typical of waning turbidity currents. Lofting may also decouple the fates of the finer and coarser sediment: depending on the initial flow composition, the coarse fraction can be deposited prior to or during buoyancy reversal, while the fine fraction can be swept upwards and away by the lofting cloud. An important feature of the results is the non‐uniqueness of the deposit architecture: different initial current compositions can generate deposits with very similar bed profiles and grading characteristics, highlighting the difficulty of reconstructing the nature of the parent flow from field data. It is proposed that deposit emplacement by lofting turbidity currents is common in the geological record and may explain a range of features observed in deep‐water massive sands, thinly bedded turbidite sequences and linked debrites, depending on the parent flow and its subsequent development. For example, a lofting flow may lead to a well sorted, largely ungraded or weakly graded bed if the fines are transported away by the cloud. However, a poorly sorted, largely ungraded region may form if, during buoyancy reversal, high local concentrations and associated hindered settling effects develop at the base of the cloud.     

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.     

Flow structure of turbidity currents

A two‐dimensional numerical model is used to describe the flow structure of turbidity currents in a vertical plane. To test the accuracy of the model, it is applied to historical flows in Bute Inlet and the Grand Banks flow. The two‐dimensional spatial and temporal distributions of velocity and sediment concentration and non‐dimensionalized vertical profiles of velocity, turbulent kinetic energy and sediment concentration are discussed for several simple computational currents. The flows show a clear interaction between velocity, turbulence and sediment distribution. The results of the numerical tests show that flows with fine‐grained sediment have low vertical and high horizontal gradients of velocity and sediment concentration, show little increase in flow thickness and decelerate slowly. Steadiness and uniformity in these flows are comparable for velocity and concentration. In contrast, flows with coarse‐grained sediment have high vertical and low horizontal velocity gradients and high horizontal concentration gradients. These flows grow considerably in thickness and decelerate rapidly. Steadiness and uniformity in flows with coarse‐grained sediment are different for velocity and concentration. The results show the influence of spatial and temporal flow structure on flow duration and sediment transport.     

Passage of debris flows and turbidity currents through a topographic constriction: seafloor erosion and deflection of flow pathways

Some of the Earth's largest submarine debris flows are found on the NW African margin. These debris flows are highly efficient, spreading hundreds of cubic kilometres of sediment over a wide area of the continental rise where slopes angles are often <1°. However, the processes by which these debris flows achieve such long run‐outs, affecting tens of thousands of square kilometres of seafloor, are poorly understood. The Saharan debris flow has a run‐out of ≈700 km, making it one of the longest debris flows on Earth. For its distal 450 km, it is underlain by a relatively thin and highly sheared basal volcaniclastic layer, which may have provided the low‐friction conditions that enabled its extraordinarily long run‐out. Between El Hierro Island and the Hijas Seamount on the continental rise, an ≈25‐ to 40‐km‐wide topographic gap is present, through which the Saharan debris flow and turbidites from the continental margin and flanks of the Canary Islands passed. Recently, the first deep‐towed sonar images have been obtained, showing dramatic erosional and depositional processes operating within this topographic `gap' or `constriction'. These images show evidence for the passage of the Saharan debris flow and highly erosive turbidity currents, including the largest comet marks reported from the deep ocean. Sonar data and a seismic reflection profile obtained 70 km to the east, upslope of the topographic `gap', indicate that seafloor sediments to a depth of ≈30 m have been eroded by the Saharan debris flow to form the basal volcaniclastic layer. Within the topographic `gap', the Saharan debris flow appears to have been deflected by a low (≈20 m) topographic ridge, whereas turbidity currents predating the debris flow appear to have overtopped the ridge. This evidence suggests that, as turbidity currents passed into the topographic constriction, they experienced flow acceleration and, as a result, became highly erosive. Such observations have implications for the mechanics of long run‐out debris flows and turbidity currents elsewhere in the deep sea, in particular how such large‐scale flows erode the substrate and interact with seafloor topography.     

The vertical turbulence structure of experimental turbidity currents encountering basal obstructions: implications for vertical suspended sediment distribution in non‐equilibrium currents

Large roughness features, caused by erosion of the sea floor, are commonly observed on the modern sea floor and beneath turbidite sandstone beds in outcrop. This paper aims to investigate the effect of such roughness elements on the turbulent velocity field and its consequences for the sediment carrying capacity of the flows. Experimental turbidity currents were run through a rectangular channel, with a single roughness element fixed to the bottom in some runs. The effect of this roughness element on the turbulent velocity field was determined by measuring vertical profiles of the vertical velocity component in the region downstream of the basal obstruction with the Ultrasonic Doppler Velocity Profiling technique. The experiments were set up to answer two research questions. (i) How does a single roughness element alter the distribution of vertical turbulence intensity? (ii) How does the altered profile evolve in the downstream direction? The results for runs over a plane substrate are similar to data presented previously and show a lower turbulence maximum near the channel floor, a turbulence minimum associated with the velocity maximum, and a turbulence maximum associated with the upper flow interface. In the runs in which the flows were perturbed by the single roughness element, the intensity of the lower turbulence maximum was increased between 41% to 81%. This excess turbulence dissipated upwards in the flow while it travelled further downstream, but was still observable at the most distal measurement location (at a distance ca 39 times the roughness height downstream of the element). All results point towards a similarity between the near bed turbulence structure of turbidity currents and free surface shear flows that has been proposed by previous authors, and this proposition is supported further by the apparent success of a shear velocity estimation method that is based on this similarity. Theory of turbulent dispersal of suspended sediment is used to discuss how the observed turbulent effects of a single large roughness element may impact on the suspended sediment distribution in real world turbidity currents. It is concluded that this impact may consist of a non‐equilibrium net‐upwards transport of suspended sediment, counteracting density stratification. Thus, erosive substrate topography created by frontal parts of natural turbidity flows may super‐elevate sediment concentrations in upper regions above equilibrium values in following flow stages, delay depletion of the flow via sedimentation and increase their run‐out distance.     

Sustained turbidity currents and their interaction with debrite-related topography; Labuan Island, offshore NW Borneo, Malaysia

The Temburong Fm (Early Miocene), Labuan Island, offshore NW Borneo, was deposited in a lower-slope to proximal basin-floor setting, and provides an opportunity to study the deposits of sustained turbidity currents and their interaction with debrite-related topography. Two main gravity-flow facies are identified; (i) slump-derived debris-flow deposits (debrites) — characterised by ungraded silty mudstones in beds 1.5 to > 60 m thick which are rich in large (> 5 m) lithic clasts; and (ii) turbidity current deposits (turbidites) — characterised by medium-grained sandstone in beds up to 2 m thick, which contain structureless (T_a) intervals alternating with planar-parallel (T_b) and current-ripple (T_c) laminated intervals. Laterally discontinuous, cobble-mantled scours are also locally developed within turbidite beds. Based on these characteristics, these sandstones are interpreted to have been deposited by sustained turbidity currents. The cobble-mantled scours indicate either periods of intense turbidity current waxing or individual flow events. The sustained turbidity currents are interpreted to have been derived from retrogressive collapse of sand-rich mouth bars (breaching) or directly from river effluent (hyperpycnal flow). Analysis of the stratal architecture of the two facies indicates that routing of the turbidity currents was influenced by topographic relief developed at the top of the underlying debrite. In addition, turbidite beds are locally eroded at the base of an overlying debrite, possibly due to clast-related substrate ‘ploughing’ during the latter flow event. This study highlights the difficulty in constraining the origin of sustained turbidity currents in ancient sedimentary sequences. In addition, this study documents the importance large debrites may have in generating topography on submarine slopes and influencing routing of subsequent turbidity currents and the geometry of their associated deposits.     

An experimental investigation of density-stratified inertial gravity currents

Turbidity currents and pyroclastic density currents may originate as stratified flows or develop stratification during propagation. Analogue, density‐stratified laboratory currents are described, using layers of salt solutions with different concentrations and depths to create the initial vertical stratification. The evolving structure of the flow depends on the distribution of the driving buoyancy between the layers, B* (proportional to the layer volumes and densities), and their density ratio, ρ*. When the lower layer contains more salt than the upper layer, and so has a greater proportion of the driving buoyancy (B* < 0·5), this layer can run ahead leading to streamwise or longitudinal stratification (ρ*→0), or the layers can mix to produce a homogeneous current (ρ*→1). If the upper layer contains more salt and thus buoyancy (B* > 0·5), this layer travels to the nose of the current by mixing into the back of the head along the body/wake density interface to produce a homogeneous flow (ρ*→1) or overtaking, leading to streamwise stratification (ρ*→0). Timescales describing the mixing between the layers and the streamwise separation of the layers are used to understand these flow behaviours and are in accordance with the experimental observations. Distance–time measurements of the flow front show that strongly stratified flows initially travel faster than weakly stratified flows but, during their later stages, they travel more slowly. In natural flows that are stratified in concentration and grain size, internal features, such as stepwise grading, gradual upward fining and reverse grading, could be produced depending on B* and ρ*. Stratification may also be expected to affect interactions with topography and overall fan architecture.     

Shallow erosion beneath turbidity currents and its impact on the architectural development of turbidite sheet systems

Erosion by turbidity currents changes the morphology of the sea floor. The relief of the scoured surface may affect the dynamics of the flow and thereby the pattern of deposition; this could, in turn, affect flow and deposition patterns in subsequent events. This study investigates shallow, centimetre to decimetre scale erosion beneath turbidite sheet sandstones of the Oligocene Macigno Formation of North‐west Italy, where erosion and deposition are variably coupled at the bed scale in a net‐aggradational setting. The research focus was on: (i) the recognition of scour edges and erosive surfaces; (ii) quantification of spatial differences in the amount of erosion; and (iii) an investigation of how this differential erosion can be compensated by the deposits directly overlying the erosional surfaces. Where they can be observed, scour edges commonly have sills of the overlying sandstone intruding beneath blocks and wings of the substrate that is being eroded. A consequence of this de‐laminating scouring style is that erosional surfaces are bedding parallel when followed away from the scour edges, giving the appearance of normal conformable bed bases. Despite their cryptic nature, such bedding‐parallel scour surfaces can be recognized by comparing serial detailed sedimentary logs (here, 16 bed‐parallel scour surfaces were identified in a succession comprising 95 beds). Different styles of compensation by the overlying turbidite beds are defined based on differential sedimentation inside and outside of the scour relief. It is found that differential erosion is on average under‐compensated by differential sedimentation. In some cases, the overlying deposits anti‐compensate, being thinner at the location where more erosion has occurred. Unequal spatial distribution of differential erosion in the study area combines with sedimentary under‐compensation to result in a trend of accumulating section thickness differences over multiple beds. In one ca 25 m thick package, the maximum cumulative change in lateral gradient during some 20 events reached 0·17°, before being reset by a single event. This process can be interpreted either as a lobe compensation effect, or as a scour enhancement effect, depending on the orientation of the palaeohorizontal datum. If allowed to proceed, the latter process could force the system past a channellization threshold, prompting a change from sheet to channelled architecture. This type of shallow substrate scouring and differential deposition is likely to be an important process in the build‐up of sheet turbidite sandstone units and could play a major role in autocyclic adjustment of local sea‐floor gradients.     

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.