Detailed monitoring reveals the nature of submarine turbidity currents
Type | Article | ||||||||||||||||
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Date | 2023-09 | ||||||||||||||||
Language | English | ||||||||||||||||
Author(s) | Talling Peter J.1, Cartigny Matthieu J. B.2, Pope Ed2, Baker Megan2, Clare Michael A.3, Heijnen Maarten4, Hage Sophie12, Parsons Dan R.6, Simmons Steve M.6, Paull Charlie K.7, Gwiazda Roberto7, Lintern Gwyn8, Hughes Clarke John E.9, Xu Jingping10, Silva Jacinto Ricardo5, Maier Katherine L.11 | ||||||||||||||||
Affiliation(s) | 1 : Departments of Geography and Earth Sciences, University of Durham, Durham, UK 2 : Department of Geography, University of Durham, Durham, UK 3 : Ocean BioGeosciences Group, National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, UK 4 : School of Ocean and Earth Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK 5 : Geo-Ocean, University of Brest, CNRS, IFREMER, Plouzané, France 6 : Energy and Environment Institute, University of Hull, Hull, UK 7 : Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Moss Landing, CA, USA 8 : Geological Survey of Canada, Natural Resources Canada, Sidney, British Columbia, Canada 9 : University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, USA 10 : Southern University of Science and Technology, Guangdong, China 11 : National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington, Aotearoa, New Zealand 12 : Geo-Ocean, University of Brest, CNRS, IFREMER, Plouzané, France |
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Source | Nature Reviews Earth & Environment (2662-138X) (Springer Science and Business Media LLC), 2023-09 , Vol. 4 , N. 9 , P. 642-658 | ||||||||||||||||
DOI | 10.1038/s43017-023-00458-1 | ||||||||||||||||
WOS© Times Cited | 6 | ||||||||||||||||
Abstract | Seafloor sediment flows, called turbidity currents, form the largest sediment accumulations, deepest canyons and longest channels on Earth. It was once thought that turbidity currents were impractical to measure in action, especially given their ability to damage sensors in their path, but direct monitoring since the mid-2010s has measured them in detail. In this Review, we summarize knowledge of turbidity currents gleaned from this direct monitoring. Monitoring identifies triggering mechanisms from dilute river plumes, and shows how rapid sediment accumulation can precondition slope failure, but the final triggers can be delayed and subtle. Turbidity currents are consistently more frequent than predicted by past sequence-stratigraphic models, including at sites >300 km from any coast. Faster flows (more than ~1.5 m s–1) are driven by a dense near-bed layer at their front, whereas slower flows are entirely dilute. This frontal layer sometimes erodes large (>2.5 km3) volumes of sediment, yet maintains a near-uniform speed, leading to a travelling-wave model. Monitoring shows that flows sculpt canyons and channels through fast-moving knickpoints, and shows how deposits originate. Emerging technologies with reduced cost and risk can lead to widespread monitoring of turbidity currents, so their sediment and carbon fluxes can be compared with other major global transport processes. |
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