Reconstructing the sediment concentration of a giant submarine gravity flow

Christopher John Stevenson (), Peter Feldens, Aggeliki Georgiopoulou, Mischa Schӧnke, Sebastian Krastel, David J. W. Piper, Katja Lindhorst and David Mosher
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Christopher John Stevenson: University of Liverpool
Peter Feldens: Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research
Aggeliki Georgiopoulou: Science Centre-West
Mischa Schӧnke: Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research
Sebastian Krastel: Institute of Geosciences
David J. W. Piper: Bedford Institute of Oceanography
Katja Lindhorst: Institute of Geosciences
David Mosher: Center for Coastal & Ocean Mapping

Nature Communications, 2018, vol. 9, issue 1, 1-7

Abstract: Abstract Submarine gravity flows are responsible for the largest sediment accumulations on the planet, but are notoriously difficult to measure in action. Giant flows transport 100s of km3 of sediment with run-out distances over 2000 km. Sediment concentration is a first order control on flow dynamics and deposit character. It has never been measured directly nor convincingly estimated in large submarine flows. Here we reconstruct the sediment concentration of a historic giant submarine flow, the 1929 “Grand Banks” event, using two independent approaches, each validated by estimates of flow speed from cable breaks. The calculated average bulk sediment concentration of the flow was 2.7–5.4% by volume. This is orders of magnitude higher than directly-measured smaller-volume flows in river deltas and submarine canyons. The new concentration estimate provides a test case for scaled experiments and numerical simulations, and a major step towards a quantitative understanding of these prodigious flows.

Date: 2018
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-05042-6

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