Gravity flows: debris flows, grain flows, liquefied/fluidized flows, turbidity currents, hyperpycnal flows, and contour currents

Author(s):  
G. Shanmugam
2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 61-90
Author(s):  
Shanmugam G

Abstract This review covers 135 years of research on gravity flows since the first reporting of density plumes in the Lake Geneva, Switzerland, by Forel (1885). Six basic types of gravity flows have been identified in subaerial and suaqueous environments. They are: (1) hyperpycnal flows, (2) turbidity currents, (3) debris flows, (4) liquefied/fluidized flows, (5) grain flows, and (6) thermohaline contour currents. The first five types are flows in which the density is caused by sediment in the flow, whereas in the sixth type, the density is caused by variations in temperature and salinity. Although all six types originate initially as downslope gravity flows, only the first five types are truly downslope processes, whereas the sixth type eventually becomes an alongslope process. (1) Hyperpycnal flows are triggered by river floods in which density of incoming river water is greater than the basin water. These flows  are confined to proximity of the shoreline. They transport mud, and they do not transport sand into the deep sea. There are no sedimentological criteria yet to identify hyperpycnites in the ancient sedimentary record.  (2) A turbidity current is a sediment-gravity flow with Newtonian rheology  and turbulent state in which sediment is supported by flow turbulence and from which deposition occurs through suspension settling. Typical turbidity currents can function as truly turbulent suspensions only when their sediment concentration by volume is below 9% or C < 9%. This requirement firmly excludes the existence of 'high-density turbidity currents'. Turbidites are recognized by their distinct normal grading in deep-water deposits.  (3) A debris flow (C: 25-100%) is a sediment-gravity flow with plastic rheology and laminar state from which deposition occurs through freezing en masse. The terms debris flow and mass flow are used interchangeably. General characteristics of muddy and sandy debrites are floating clasts, planar clast fabric, inverse grading, etc.  Most sandy deep-water deposits are sandy debrites and they comprise important petroleum reservoirs worldwide. (4) A liquefied/fluidized low (>25%) is a sediment-gravity flow in which sediment is supported by upward-moving intergranular fluid. They are commonly triggered by seismicity. Water-escape structures, dish and pillar structures, and SSDS are common. (5) A grain flow (C: 50-100%) is a sediment-gravity flow in which grains are supported by dispersive pressure caused by grain collision. These flows are common on the slip face of aeolian dunes. Massive sand and inverse grading are potential identification markers.  (6) Thermohaline contour currents originate in the Antarctic region due to shelf freezing and  the related increase in the density of cold saline (i.e., thermohaline) water. Although they begin their journey as downslope gravity flows, they eventually flow alongslope as contour currents. Hybridites are deposits that result from intersection of downslope gravity flows and alongslope contour currents. Hybridites mimic the "Bouma Sequence" with traction structures (Tb and Tc). Facies models of hyperpycnites, turbidites, and contourites  are obsolete. Of the six types of density flows, hyperpycnal flows and their deposits are the least understood.


2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 699
Author(s):  
Μ. ΚΑΤΗ

The facies analysis of the Eocene limestones in the Aghioi Pantes section in central Zakynthos, part of the Preapulian carbonate sequence in the greater area, showed three megafacies types: a) graded beds, in which two main subtypes have been recognized, medium- to thin-bedded calcarenites-calcilutites and thick-bedded ruditic calcarenites, consisting mainly of redeposited shallow-water carbonate sands (mostly bioclasts of nummulites and echinoids); based on their sedimentary structures they have been interpreted as low density turbidite and high density turbidite (or sandy debris flows) deposits correspondingly, b) calcareous conglomerates consisting of shallow-water facies lithoclasts and abundant pelagic intraclasts all of which have been interpreted as debris flow deposits and c) folded strata of pelagic-hemipelagic composition that have been interpreted as slumps. Subsequently, the studied limestones constitute exclusively deep-water resedimented facies having been deposited mainly through sediment gravity flows, carrying significant amounts of shallow-water bio- lithoclastic material. The distribution and the organization of this facies association, with the dominance in particular of the base cut-out turbidites, suggest as depositional environment of the studied Eocene limestones a "low" in the outer slope connecting the Preapulian platform with the adjacent Ionian basin.


JOIDES drilling results provide new evidence concerning facies patterns on evolving passive margins that strengthens and extends hypotheses constructed from studies of morphology, seismic reflexion data and shallow samples on modern margins, and from field geologic studies of uplifted ancient margins. On the slopes and rise, gravity-controlled mechanisms - turbidity currents, debris flows, slides and the like - play the dominant role in sediment transport over the long term, but when clastic supplies are reduced, as for example during rapid transgressions, then oceanic sedimentation and the effects of thermohaline circulation become important. Sedimentary facies models used as the basis of unravelling tectonic complexities of some deformed margins, for example in the Mesozoic Tethys, may be too simplistic in the light of available data from modern continental margins.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre Henry ◽  
M Sinan Özeren ◽  
Nurettin Yakupoğlu ◽  
Ziyadin Çakir ◽  
Emmanuel de Saint-Léger ◽  
...  

&lt;p&gt;Earthquake-induced submarine slope destabilization is known to cause debris flows and turbidity currents. These also interact with currents caused by tsunami and seiches resulting in deposits with specific sedimentological characteristics, turbidite-homogenites being a common example. Data on the deep-sea hydrodynamic events following earthquakes are, however, limited. An instrumented frame deployed at the seafloor in the Sea of Marmara Central Basin recorded some of the consequences of a magnitude 5.8 earthquake that occurred Sept 26, 2019 at 10-12 km depth without causing any significant tsunami. The instrumentation comprises a Digiquartz&amp;#174; pressure sensor recording at 5 s interval and a 1.9-2 MHz Doppler recording current meter set 1.5 m above the seafloor and recording at 1-hour interval. The device was deployed at 1184 m depth on the floor of the basin near the outlet of a canyon, 5 km from the epicenter. Chirp sediment sounder profiles indicate a depositional fan or lobe is present at this location. The passing of the seismic wave was recorded by the pressure sensor, but little other perturbation is recorded until 25 minutes later when the instrument, probably hit by a mud flow, tilts by 65&amp;#176; in about 15 seconds. Over the following 10 hours the tilted instrument records bursts of current of variable directions. The last burst appears to be the strongest with velocities in the 20-50 cm/s range, causing enough erosion to free the device from the mud and allowing the buoyancy attached to the upper part of the frame to straighten it back to its normal operation position. Then, the current, flowing down along the canyon axis, progressively decays to background level (&amp;#8776;2 cm/s) in 8 hours. Doppler signal backscatter strength is a proxy for turbidity, sensitive to sand-size suspended particles. Signal strength increased to high values during the event (max -7.6 dB from a background value of -40dB) and decayed over the next three days. These observations show that even a moderate earthquake can trigger a complex response involving mud flows and turbidity currents. We infer simultaneous slope failures at various locations may produce complex current patterns and cause build-up of kinetic energy over several hours.&lt;/p&gt;


1993 ◽  
Vol 67 (5) ◽  
pp. 728-738 ◽  
Author(s):  
Constance M. Soja ◽  
Robert Riding

Silurian calcareous algae, cyanobacteria, and microproblematica are abundantly preserved in the Alexander terrane of southeastern Alaska. They represent a diverse population of calcified microbes that contributed to the formation of a variety of shallow- and deep-water carbonate deposits. Five associations are recognized on the basis of recurring groups of microbial taxa. These include a Girvanella-Tuxekanella association that formed oncoids and thick encrustations on skeletal grains in shelf environments. A Renalcis association predominated in a stromatoporoid-coral reef that developed at the incipient shelf margin on a crinoid-solenoporid shoal (“Solenopora” association). Other organic buildups are characterized by a Ludlovia association, which constructed skeletal stromatolite reefs, and by an Epiphyton-Sphaerina association that contributed to the formation of a stromatolitic mud mound. A mixed microbial assemblage reflects transport and mixing of shallow-water microbial biotas that were deposited by turbidity currents, debris flows, and slumps in a slope environment.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanna Pszonka ◽  
Marek Wendorff ◽  
Magdalena Zielińska ◽  
Paweł Godlewski

&lt;p&gt;Facies analysis of the Cergowa Beds of the Polish and Slovak Outer Carpathians shows that this deep-marine siliciclastic unit was deposited by a spectrum of gravity flows ranging from high to low density, which deposited three facies associations (A, B and C). Association A consists of very fine- to medium-grained sandstones with mudstone and coal clasts, granules and rich in coalified organic matter fragments. Sandstones beds reach 8 m in thickness, are massive and subordinately parallel laminated (Ta and Tab). They are interpreted as resulting from incremental, rapid deposition from collapse of a near-bed layer (Ta, Tab) and laterally sheared near-bed layer (Tb) below high-density, turbulent flows and steady turbidity currents or, in case of mud-rich sandstones, en masse deposition by debris flows. Association B comprises very fine- and fine-grained sandstones with mud and coal clasts, granules and coalified plant fragments and detritus. They are massive, parallel- and ripple cross-laminated (Tab, Tabc, Tbc), reach 2 m in thickness and contain mudstone intercalations up to 50 cm. These sandstones seem to have originated from a combination of incremental deposition by high-density turbidity currents (Tab, Tb), low-amplitude bedload waves at the upper stage planar lamination in more dilute turbidity current (Tb) and suspension of fully turbulent and dilute turbidity currents (Tbc, Tc). Association C consists of very fine- to fine-grained sandstones and siltstones with fine organic detritus and minor mud clasts. Parallel- and ripple cross-lamination (Tbc, Tbcd) dominate, bed thickness of sandstones and siltstones amounts to 1-50 cm and mudstones reaches 200 cm. Association C was deposited by transformation of waning, dilute and fully turbulent turbidity currents from ripples into lower stage planar lamination.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Sandstone and mudstone beds at Lipowica (Poland) contain three types of coalified terrestrial organic matter. Based on their morphology and size these are: (i) coalified plant detritus dispersed in B and C associations, (ii) coalified plant fragments forming elongated lenses in A and B associations and (iii) coalified fragments of tree trunks occurring in A and B facies. Petrographic components of organic matter represented by collotelinite, telinite, gelinite and fusinite with co-occuring framboidal pyrite indicate terrestrial plants affected by fast gelification and burial processes of varying intensity. The size of the plant fragments supplied to the Dukla basin is positively correlated with indicators of hydrodynamic regimes suggested by their hosting sediments. Namely, the larger the fragments, the higher flow energy and steadier and longer lasting sustained sediment delivery.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Sedimentary features of the Cergowa Beds suggest deposition out of gradually aggrading sustained turbulent sandy gravity flows primarily controlled by hyperpycnal effluents from a delta. Palaeocurrent data and comparison of mineral composition of sandstone infilling a hollow coalified tree trunk at Lipowica quarry with sandstone beds of the hosting succession suggest provenance from shelf fringing the emergent Silesian Ridge, which acted as a source area to the west of the basin. The depositional age NP23 and NP24 during the Oligocene eustatic sea-level fall implies that the delta supplying the Cergowa basin was located at the edge of this shelf.&lt;/p&gt;


Author(s):  
Lincoln F. Pratson ◽  
Jasim Imran ◽  
Gary Parker ◽  
James P. M. Syvitski ◽  
Eric Hutton

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