scholarly journals A dimensionless framework for predicting submarine fan morphology

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdul Wahab ◽  
Mrugesh Shringarpure ◽  
David Hoyal ◽  
Kyle Straub
Keyword(s):  
Settling Velocity ◽  
Deep Ocean ◽  
Shear Velocity ◽  
Turbidity Currents ◽  
Channel Migration ◽  
Submarine Fan ◽  
Densimetric Froude Number ◽  
Submarine Fans ◽  
Gravitational Forces ◽  
Rouse Number

Abstract Limited observations of active turbidity currents at field scales challenges the development of theory that links flow dynamics to the morphology of submarine fans. Here we offer a framework for predicting submarine fan morphologies by simplifying critical environmental forcings such as regional slopes and properties of sediments, through densimetric Froude (ratio of inertial to gravitational forces) and Rouse numbers (ratio of settling velocity of sediments to shear velocity) of turbidity currents. We leverage a depth-average process-based numerical model to simulate an array of submarine fans and measure rugosity as a proxy for their morphological complexity. We show a systematic increase in rugosity by either increasing the densimetric Froude number or decreasing the Rouse number of turbidity currents. These trends reflect gradients in the dynamics of channel migration on the fan surface and help discriminate submarine fans that effectively sequester organic carbon rich mud in deep ocean strata.

scholarly journals A dimensionless framework for predicting submarine fan morphology

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdul Wahab ◽  
David Hoyal ◽  
Mrugesh Shringarpure ◽  
Kyle Straub
Keyword(s):  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Froude Number ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Shear Velocity ◽  
Turbidity Currents ◽  
Submarine Fan ◽  
Densimetric Froude Number ◽  
Submarine Fans ◽  
Number Ratio ◽  
Rouse Number

Abstract A remarkable diversity exists in the morphology and dynamics of submarine fans, which influence the transport of microplastics, burial of organic carbon, subsea geo-hazards, and their potential to house geofluids and high-resolution paleo-environmental records. Like river deltas, submarine fan morphology is a product of evolving fluid and sediment transport fields, but unlike their terrestrial counterparts, we lack a unifying framework to predict their morphology. Here, we simplify critical environmental forcings, like regional slopes and sediment properties, through a dimensionless framework defined by the densimetric Froude number (ratio of inertial to gravitational forces) and Rouse number (ratio of settling velocity of sediments to shear velocity) of turbidity currents. We explore this framework by leveraging a depth-averaged numerical model and measure fan rugosity as a proxy for their morphological complexity. We show a systematic increase in rugosity by either increasing the densimetric Froude number or decreasing the Rouse number of the simulated flows. These changes reflect observed gradients in the dynamics of channel migration and help discriminate submarine fans that have the potential to impact global climate through sequestration of organic carbon.

First direct monitoring and time-lapse mapping starts to reveal how a large submarine fan works

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Talling ◽  
Ricardo de Silva Jacinto ◽  
Megan Baker ◽  
Ed Pope ◽  
Maarten Heijnen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Shallow Water ◽  
Deep Ocean ◽  
Submarine Canyon ◽  
Time Lapse ◽  
Turbidity Currents ◽  
Submarine Fan ◽  
Channel System ◽  
Seabed Sediment ◽  
Flow Monitoring ◽  
Initial Results

<p>Turbidity currents form many of the largest sediment accumulations, longest channels, and deepest canyons on our planet. These seabed sediment avalanches can be very (> 10 m/s) fast, runout for hundreds of kilometres, and break seabed cables that now form the backbone of the internet and global data transfer. It was once thought that detailed monitoring of turbidity currents in action was impractical, ensuring these flows were relatively poorly understood. However, a series of recent projects have used new approaches and technology to show how these flows can be measured in shallow water (< 2 km) settings, such as Monterey Canyon and Canadian fjords, where flows ran out for < ~50 km and had speeds of up to 8 m/s. Here we present initial results from an ambitious project to measure active flows that runout for >1,000 km to form a major submarine fan in the deep ocean. The project studies the Congo submarine canyon-channel system that extends for ~1,100 km from the mouth of the Congo River, offshore West Africa. Monitoring in 2010 at a single site in the upper Congo Canyon had previously shown that flows are active for ~30% of the time, and reach speeds of up to 3 m/s. In this new project, direct flow monitoring at 11 sites are being combined with detailed time-lapse mapping and coring of flow deposits, through a series of 4 or 5 major research cruises from 2019 to 2023. Here we present initial results from the first of these cruises (JC187) in August-to-October 2019, which placed 11 moorings with sensors at water depths of 1.6 to 5.5 km. The presentation will initially focus on the geomorphology of the channel system, and how it varies down-slope and through time. For example, it is apparent that a landslide partly blocked one location in the upper canyon in the last 20 years, causing meander bend cut-off and sediment ponding. The talk will then discuss models for how submarine channel bends evolve, and the implications for channel deposits. Recent work in sandy submarine channels suggests that they can be dominated by very fast-moving knickpoints (waterfall like features). However, the much muddier Congo channel displays well-developed meander bend bars for which cores are available. We therefore start to show how muddy deep-sea channels may differ in significant ways from their sandier cousins in shallow water. </p>

Turbidity current in a circular settling tank

2004 ◽  
Vol 50 (12) ◽  
pp. 237-244
Author(s):  
K. Fujisaki ◽  
N. Nagata
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Mathematical Model ◽  
Sediment Transport ◽  
Settling Velocity ◽  
Settling Tank ◽  
Turbidity Current ◽  
Turbidity Currents ◽  
Densimetric Froude Number ◽  
Removal Ratio ◽  
Tank Bottom

This paper deals with turbidity currents in a circular settling tank. A mathematical model with a k-ɛ turbulence model has been developed. Using this mathematical model, the following unique properties of turbidity currents in a circular settling tank are demonstrated: turbulence induced by the turbidity currents remains after most sediment particles have settled down. This residual turbulent diffusivity has a serious effect on the settling of finer particles. This phenomenon is a very important result in this study. Especially, in the case of a smaller densimetric Froude number, which is a stronger density effect, this residual turbulence effect increases, and also decreases the removal ratio in the downstream with low concentration. Generally, the bottom density current enhances the sediment transport near the tank bottom, while the bottom shear gives reversal influence. When the settling velocity is high, the settling ends under the developing stage both of the turbidity current and of the bottom boundary layer. On the contrary, if the settling velocity is low, the sediment travels a long distance, where the boundary layer is built up, resulting in the reduction of sediment transport near the tank bottom. The overall properties of the density-affected settling tank are also investigated in terms of the removal ratio.

Upper Middle Ordovician submarine fans and associated facies, northeast of Quebec City

1981 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 981-994 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward S. Belt ◽  
Louise Bussières
Keyword(s):  
Source Region ◽  
Depositional Environments ◽  
Turbidity Currents ◽  
Quebec City ◽  
Submarine Fan ◽  
Bottom Currents ◽  
Middle Ordovician ◽  
Submarine Fans ◽  
Facies Associations ◽  
Carbonate Bank

Autochthonous upper Middle Ordovician strata northwest of Logan's Line and northeast of Quebec City have been subdivided into six facies types. One or more facies type characterizes the revised formations of our previous report (Belt et al.). These facies were deposited in the following depositional environments: moderately shallow carbonate bank; deeper carbonate slope and foot of slope; submarine fan; and basin plain. The submarine fan facies (Beaupré and Saint-Irénée Formations) contain the only facies with appreciable sandstone. The source region of the sandstones (determined by petrography and paleocurrents) lay to the southeast of Logan's Line. This source was uplifted and eroded during the early phases of the Taconic Orogeny. Turbidity currents and debris flows brought sand into a foredeep trough that lay between the mobile Taconic Orogen and the more stable Canadian Shield. During Trenton time, a carbonate bank developed on the margin of the shield, northwest of the trough axis. Olistostromes, produced by bank-edge collapse, slid southeast into the trough and intercalated with the Saint-Irénée sandy fan lobes derived from the other side of the foredeep basin. Bottom currents, reworking the sand, flowed southwest along the axis of the trough. Later, after regional foundering of the carbonate bank, a larger (Beaupré Formation) submarine fan developed in the foredeep basin. Bottom currents continued reworking the sands down the trough to the southwest.The submarine fans found in this region never developed some of the facies associations commonly expected of suprafan lobes. The initial fan facies consists of lenticular coarse and pebbly sandstone and shale that are only rarely organized into coarsening-up successions. No definite feeder channel deposits are found in the Saint-Irénée Formation although three are recognized in the middle Beaupré Formation at the type section. The presence of these channels plus the geometry of all Beaupré facies and the paleocurrent divergence show that these facies are not disorganized base-of-slope or basin-plain deposits, but best fit a submarine fan model.

scholarly journals Application of the adjoint approach to optimise the initial conditions of a turbidity current

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel D. Parkinson ◽  
Simon W. Funke ◽  
Jon Hill ◽  
Matthew D. Piggott ◽  
Peter A. Allison
Keyword(s):  
Initial Conditions ◽  
Current Model ◽  
Deep Ocean ◽  
Turbidity Current ◽  
Significant Advance ◽  
Turbidity Currents ◽  
General Behaviour ◽  
Depositional Processes ◽  
Sediment Deposits ◽  
Adjoint Approach

Abstract. Turbidity currents are one of the main drivers for sediment transport from the continental shelf to the deep ocean. The resulting sediment deposits can reach hundreds of kilometres into the ocean. Computer models that simulate turbidity currents and the resulting sediment deposit can help to understand their general behaviour. However, in order to recreate real-world scenarios, the challenge is to find the turbidity current parameters that reproduce the observations of sediment deposits. This paper demonstrates a solution to the inverse sediment transportation problem: for a known sedimentary deposit, the developed model reconstructs details about the turbidity current that produced these deposits. The reconstruction is constrained here by a shallow water sediment-laden density current model, which is discretised by the finite element method and an adaptive time-stepping scheme. The model is differentiated using the adjoint approach and an efficient gradient-based optimisation method is applied to identify turbidity parameters which minimise the misfit between modelled and observed field sediment deposits. The capabilities of this approach are demonstrated using measurements taken in the Miocene-age Marnoso Arenacea Formation (Italy). We find that whilst the model cannot match the deposit exactly due to limitations in the physical processes simulated, it provides valuable insights into the depositional processes and represents a significant advance in our toolset for interpreting turbidity current deposits.

scholarly journals Autogenic influence on the morphology of submarine fans: an approach from 3D physical modelling of turbidity currents

2017 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 345-368
Author(s):  
Cristiano Fick ◽  
Rafael Manica ◽  
Elírio Ernestino Toldo Junior
Keyword(s):  
Deep Water ◽  
Physical Modelling ◽  
Sediment Concentration ◽  
Experimental Series ◽  
Turbidity Currents ◽  
Geometrical Parameters ◽  
Submarine Fans ◽  
Relative Standard ◽  
Length Width ◽  
Depositional Evolution

ABSTRACT: Autogenic controls have significant influence on deep-water fans and depositional lobes morphology. In this work, we aim to investigate autogenic controls on the topography and geometry of deep-water fans. The influence of the sediment concentration of turbidity currents on deep-water fans morphology was also investigated. From the repeatability of 3D physical modeling of turbidity currents, two series of ten experiments were made, one of high-density turbidity currents (HDTC) and another of low-density turbidity currents (LDTC). All other input parameters (discharge, sediment volumetric concentration and grain size median) were kept constant. Each deposit was analyzed from qualitative and quantitative approaches and statistical analysis. In each experimental series, the variability of the morphological parameters (length, width, L/W ratio, centroid, area, topography) of the simulated deep-water fans was observed. Depositional evolution of the HDTC fans was more complex, showing four evolutionary steps and characterized by the self-channelizing of the turbidity current, while LDTC fans neither present self-channelizing, nor evolutionary steps. High disparities on the geometrical parameters of the fans, as characterized by the elevated relative standard deviation, suggest that autogenic controls induced a stochastic morphological behaviour on the simulated fans of the two experimental series.

scholarly journals Environment of Deposition and Paleogeography of the Late Cretaceous Glenburn Formation, Eastern North Island, New Zealand

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
James McClintock
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
East Coast ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Depositional Environments ◽  
Tectonic Deformation ◽  
Turbidity Currents ◽  
Submarine Fan ◽  
Submarine Channels

<p>The Glenburn Formation of the East Coast of New Zealand is a Late Cretaceous sedimentary formation consisting of alternating layers of sandstone, mudstone and conglomerate. The Glenburn Formation spans a depositional timeframe of over 10 Ma, is over 1000 m thick, is regionally extensive and is possibly present over large areas offshore. For these reasons, it is important to constrain the paleoenvironment of this unit.  Late Cretaceous paleogeographic reconstructions of the East Coast Basin are, however, hampered by a number of factors, including the pervasive Neogene to modern tectonic deformation of the region, the poorly understood nature of the plate tectonic regime during the Cretaceous, and a lack of detailed sedimentological studies of most of the region’s Cretaceous units. Through detailed mapping of the Glenburn Formation, this study aims to improve inferences of regional Cretaceous depositional environments and paleogeography.  Detailed facies based analysis was undertaken on several measured sections in eastern Wairarapa and southern Hawke’s Bay. Information such as bed thickness, grain size and sedimentary structures were recorded in order to identify distinct facies. Although outcrop is locally extensive, separate outcrop localities generally lie in different thrust blocks, which complicates comparisons of individual field areas and prevents construction of the large-scale, three-dimensional geometry of the Glenburn Formation.  Glenburn Formation consists of facies deposited by sediment gravity flows that were primarily turbidity currents and debris flows. Facies observed are consistent with deposition on a prograding submarine fan system. There is significant variation in facies both within and between sections. Several distinct submarine fan architectural components are recognised, such as fan fringes, fan lobes, submarine channels and overbank deposits. Provenance and paleocurrent indicators are consistent with deposition having occurred on several separate submarine fans, and an integrated regional paleogeographic reconstruction suggests that deposition most likely occurred in a fossil trench following the mid-Cretaceous cessation of subduction along the Pacific-facing margin of Gondwana.</p>

Disposal in the deep sea: analogue of nature or faux ami?

2003 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul A. Tyler
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Radioactive Waste ◽  
Deep Sea ◽  
Hydrothermal Vents ◽  
Natural Radionuclides ◽  
Deep Ocean ◽  
Turbidity Currents ◽  
Chemical Contamination ◽  
Seabed Sediment ◽  
Dredge Spoil

The deep sea is the world's largest ecosystem by volume and is assumed to have a high assimilative capacity. Natural events, such as the sinking of surface plant and animal material to the seabed, sediment slides, benthic storms and hydrothermal vents can contribute vast amounts of material, both organic and inorganic, to the deep ocean. In the past the deep sea has been used as a repository for sewage, dredge spoil and radioactive waste. In addition, there has been interest in the disposal of large man-made objects and, more recently, the disposal of industrially-produced carbon dioxide. Some of the materials disposed of in the deep sea may have natural analogues. This review examines natural processes in the deep sea including the vertical flux of organic material, turbidity currents and benthic storms, natural gas emissions, hydrothermal vents, natural radionuclides and rocky substrata, and compares them with anthropogenic input including sewage disposal, dredge spoil, carbon dioxide disposal, chemical contamination and the disposal of radioactive waste, wrecks and rigs. The comparison shows what are true analogues and what are false friends. Knowledge of the deep sea is fragmentary and much more needs to be known about this large, biologically-diverse system before any further consideration is given to its use in the disposal of waste.

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