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Powerful turbidity currents driven by dense basal layers

Paull, Charles K.; Talling, Peter J.; Maier, Katherine L.; Parsons, Daniel; Xu, Jingping; Caress, David W.; Gwiazda, Roberto; Lundsten, Eve M.; Anderson, Krystle; Barry, James P.; Chaffey, Mark; O’Reilly, Tom; Rosenberger, Kurt J.; Gales, Jenny A.; Kieft, Brian; McGann, Mary; Simmons, Steve M.; McCann, Mike; Sumner, Esther J.; Clare, Michael A.; Cartigny, Matthieu J.

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Authors

Charles K. Paull

Katherine L. Maier

Daniel Parsons

Jingping Xu

David W. Caress

Roberto Gwiazda

Eve M. Lundsten

Krystle Anderson

James P. Barry

Mark Chaffey

Tom O’Reilly

Kurt J. Rosenberger

Jenny A. Gales

Brian Kieft

Mary McGann

Steve M. Simmons

Mike McCann

Esther J. Sumner

Michael A. Clare



Abstract

Seafloor sediment flows (turbidity currents) are among the volumetrically most important yet least documented sediment transport processes on Earth. A scarcity of direct observations means that basic characteristics, such as whether flows are entirely dilute or driven by a dense basal layer, remain equivocal. Here we present the most detailed direct observations yet from oceanic turbidity currents. These powerful events in Monterey Canyon have frontal speeds of up to 7.2 m s−1, and carry heavy (800 kg) objects at speeds of ≥4 m s−1. We infer they consist of fast and dense near-bed layers, caused by remobilization of the seafloor, overlain by dilute clouds that outrun the dense layer. Seabed remobilization probably results from disturbance and liquefaction of loose-packed canyon-floor sand. Surprisingly, not all flows correlate with major perturbations such as storms, floods or earthquakes. We therefore provide a new view of sediment transport through submarine canyons into the deep-sea.

Citation

Paull, C. K., Talling, P. J., Maier, K. L., Parsons, D., Xu, J., Caress, D. W., …Cartigny, M. J. (2018). Powerful turbidity currents driven by dense basal layers. Nature Communications, 9(1), Article 4114. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-06254-6

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Aug 20, 2018
Online Publication Date Oct 5, 2018
Publication Date Oct 5, 2018
Deposit Date Oct 15, 2018
Publicly Available Date Oct 16, 2018
Journal Nature Communications
Publisher Nature Research
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 9
Issue 1
Article Number 4114
DOI https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-06254-6

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http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Copyright Statement
This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.





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