Storm-induced turbidity currents on a sediment-starved shelf: Insight from direct monitoring and repeat seabed mapping of upslope migrating bedforms     

Alexandre Normandeau  Daniel Bourgault  Urs Neumeier  Patrick Lajeunesse  Guillaume St-Onge  Louis Gostiaux  Cédric Chavanne 《Sedimentology》2020,67(2):1045-1068

The monitoring of turbidity currents enables accurate internal structure and timing of these flows to be understood. Without monitoring, triggers of turbidity currents often remain hypothetical and are inferred from sedimentary structures of deposits and their age. In this study, the bottom currents within 20 m of the seabed in one of the Pointe-des-Monts (Gulf of St. Lawrence, eastern Canada) submarine canyons were monitored for two consecutive years using Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers. In addition, multibeam bathymetric surveys were carried out during deployment of the Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers and recovery operations. These new surveys, along with previous multibeam surveys carried out over the last decade, revealed that crescentic bedforms have migrated upslope by about 20 to 40 m since 2007, despite the limited supply of sediment on the shelf or river inflow in the region. During the winter of 2017, two turbidity currents with velocities reaching 0·5 m sec⁻¹ and 2·0 m sec⁻¹, respectively, were recorded and were responsible for the rapid (<1 min) upstream migration of crescentic bedforms measured between the autumn surveys of 2016 and 2017. The 200 kg (in water) mooring was also displaced 10 m down-canyon, up the stoss side of a bedform, suggesting that a dense basal layer could be driving the flow during the first minute of the event. Two other weaker turbidity currents with speeds <0·5 m sec⁻¹ occurred, but did not lead to any significant change on the seabed. These four turbidity currents coincided with strong and sustained wind speed >60 km h⁻¹ and higher than normal wave heights. Repeat seabed mapping suggests that the turbidity currents cannot be attributed to a canyon-wall slope failure. Rather, sustained windstorms triggered turbidity currents either by remobilizing limited volumes of sediment on the shelf or by resuspending sediment in the canyon head. Turbidity currents can thus be triggered when the sediment volume available is limited, likely by eroding and incorporating canyon thalweg sediment in the flow, thereby igniting the flow. This process appears to be particularly important for the generation of turbidity currents capable of eroding the lee side of upslope migrating bedforms in sediment-starved environments and might have wider implications for the activity of submarine canyons worldwide. In addition, this study suggests that a large external trigger (in this case storms) is required to initiate turbidity currents in sediment-starved environments, which contrasts with supply-dominated environments where turbidity currents are sometimes recorded without a clear triggering mechanism.  相似文献   

Estuarine biofilm patterns: Modern analogues for Precambrian self-organization     

Roeland C. van de Vijsel  Jim van Belzen  Tjeerd J. Bouma  Daphne van der Wal  Valentina Cusseddu  Sam J. Purkis  Max Rietkerk  Johan van de Koppel 《地球表面变化过程与地形》2020,45(5):1141-1154

This field and laboratory study examines whether regularly patterned biofilms on present-day intertidal flats are equivalent to microbially induced bedforms found in geological records dating back to the onset of life on Earth. Algal mats of filamentous Vaucheria species, functionally similar to microbial biofilms, cover the topographic highs of regularly spaced ridge–runnel bedforms. As regular patterning is typically associated with self-organization processes, indicators of self-organization are tested and found to support this hypothesis. The measurements suggest that biofilm-induced sediment trapping and biostabilization enhance bedform relief, strength and multi-year persistence. This demonstrates the importance of primitive organisms for sedimentary landscape development. Algal-covered ridges consist of wavy-crinkly laminated sedimentary deposits that resemble the layered structure of fossil stromatolites and microbially induced sedimentary structures. In addition to layering, both the morphological pattern and the suggested formation mechanism of the recent bedforms are strikingly similar to microbialite strata found in rock records from the Precambrian onwards. This implies that self-organization was an important morphological process in times when biofilms were the predominant sessile ecosystem. These findings furthermore emphasize that self-organization dynamics, such as critical transitions invoking ecosystem emergence or collapse, might have been captured in fossil microbialites, influencing their laminae. This notion may be important for paleoenvironmental reconstructions based on such strata. © 2019 The Authors. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd  相似文献   

On the morphology of radial sand ridges     

Weina Zhang  Xiaohe Zhang  Huiming Huang  Yigang Wang  Sergio Fagherazzi 《地球表面变化过程与地形》2020,45(11):2613-2630

We use a hydrodynamic model applied to an idealized fan-shaped basin to explore the morphology and dynamics of radial sand ridges in a convergent coastal system. A positive morphological feedback between channel incision and flow redistribution is responsible for the formation of the channel-ridge pattern. The selection mechanism of bottom wavelength is associated with flow concentration in the deeper part of the channels. Our results are compared to sediment and hydraulic dynamics in the radial sand ridges (RSRs) in China. In a convergent, sloping basin the tangentially averaged tidal velocity peaks at 47 km from the apex. This distance is similar to the arc distance, 62 km, where the RSRs are most incised. An offshore shift in tidal phase results in stronger flows near the north coastline, explaining the presence of asymmetric channel patterns. A numerical stability analysis indicates that small radial oscillations with a wavelength of 10° to 15° maximize the velocity in the troughs. This oscillation wavelength also emerges in the RSRs, which display a peak in spectral energy at a radial wavelength between 25° to 37.5°. High-resolution numerical simulations in the RSRs confirm that flow concentration occurs in the deeper part of the channels, keeping them flushed. We therefore conclude that the RSRs display morphometric characteristics similar to other tidal incisions, like tidal inlets and intertidal channels. This result further supports the dominant role of tidal prism and related peak velocities in incising coastal landscapes. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

Sand particle velocities over a subaqueous dune slope using high-frequency image capturing     

Renske C. Terwisscha van Scheltinga  Giovanni Coco  Heide Friedrich 《地球表面变化过程与地形》2019,44(10):1881-1894

This work presents measurements and analysis of sand particle velocities over a subaqueous dune with median sand diameter of 0.85 mm. Time-lapse images of the mobile bed and an automated particle image velocimetry (PIV)-based cross-correlation method are used to obtain mean velocity of sand particles. This technique is shown to be consistent with measurements obtained with manual tracing. The measurements indicate an increase in mean particle velocity over a dune slope. Three regions are distinguished over the dune slope: (1) region of fluctuating particle velocity, (2) region of increasing particle velocity, and (3) region of maximum particle velocity. The observations are aligned with experimental and numerical modelling studies, indicating fluctuations in flow velocity over a dune stoss slope. We furthermore show that the standard deviation of the mean particle velocity is affected by the slope location and decreases from the lower slope towards the upper slope. The particle velocity variability is discussed in the context of general onset and cessation of sediment transport, the effect of the reattachment zone, sweep-transport events, and the existence of superimposed bedforms. With this work we bridge the gap between measurements of bedload transport at the particle-scale and at the bedform-scale. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

Environmental conditions for gravelly and pebbly dunes and sorted bedforms on a moderate-energy inner shelf (Marettimo Island,Italy, western Mediterranean)     

Claudio Lo Iacono  Jorge Guillén 《Continental Shelf Research》2008

Side scan sonar records, sediment textural characteristics, and in-situ field observations were used to study gravelly and pebbly dunes and sorted bedforms on the inner shelf of Marettimo Island, along the northwestern Sicilian shelf. The dunes are composed of coarse sands, gravels and pebbles (D50: 2–16 mm), displaying a symmetrical shape with a wavelength in the range of 1–2.5 m and a height of 0.15–0.30 m. The bedforms are distributed in a patchy pattern in a depth range of 10–50 m, and are described for the first time on a Mediterranean inner shelf. Sorted bedforms are linear morphological features developed almost perpendicular to the coast in the eastern sector of the island between 15 and 50 m water depth. Bottom shear stresses required for sediment entrainment and the generation of the shallower dunes can be reached during strong storms (Hs=5–6 m; Tp=9–11 s), which are not common in the Mediterranean Sea. However, wave storm events recorded in the study area during the last 17 years are not able to generate the coarsest and deeper dunes, suggesting that the stirring mechanism for dune formation is associated with severe storms that have a recurrence interval of more than 17 years. The long-term stability of the coarse bedforms is supported by the permanence of sorted bedforms without significant morphological changes for long periods (>13 years). Therefore, it is shown that processes forming coarse bedforms can occur in tideless and moderate-energy settings like those of the Mediterranean continental shelves, although the morphological features are probably less dynamic and remain unaltered for longer periods than on higher-energy shelves.  相似文献   

Late Quaternary submarine bedforms and ice‐sheet flow in Gerlache Strait and on the adjacent continental shelf,Antarctic Peninsula     

Jeffrey Evans  Julian A. Dowdeswell  Colm Cofaigh 《第四纪科学杂志》2004,19(4):397-407

Geophysical data from Gerlache Strait, Croker Passage, Bismarck Strait and the adjacent continental shelf reveal streamlined subglacial bedforms that were produced at the bed of the Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet (APIS) during the last glaciation. The spatial arrangement and orientation of these bedforms record the former drainage pattern and flow dynamics of an APIS outlet up‐flow, and feeding into, a palaeo‐ice stream in the Western Bransfield Basin. Evidence suggests that together, they represent a single ice‐flow system that drained the APIS during the last glaciation. The ice‐sheet outlet flowed north/northeastwards through Gerlache Strait and Croker Passage and converged with a second, more easterly ice‐flow tributary on the middle shelf to form the main palaeo‐ice stream. The dominance of drumlins with low elongation ratios suggests that ice‐sheet outlet draining through Gerlache Strait was comparatively slower than the main palaeo‐ice stream in the Western Bransfield Basin, although the low elongation ratios may also partly reflect the lack of sediment. Progressive elongation of drumlins further down‐flow indicates that the ice sheet accelerated through Croker Passage and the western tributary trough, and fed into the main zone of streaming flow in the Western Bransfield Basin. Topography would have exerted a strong control on the development of the palaeo‐ice stream system but subglacial geology may also have been significant given the transition from crystalline bedrock to sedimentary strata on the inner–mid‐shelf. In the broader context, the APIS was drained by a number of major fast‐flowing outlets through cross‐shelf troughs to the outer continental shelf during the last glaciation. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

Sediment-starved sand ridges on a mixed carbonate/siliciclastic inner shelf off west-central Florida     

S. E. Harrison  S. D. Locker  A. C. Hine  J. H. Edwards  D. F. Naar  D. C. Twichell  D. J. Mallinson 《Marine Geology》2003,200(1-4):171-194

High-resolution side-scan mosaics, sediment analyses, and physical process data have revealed that the mixed carbonate/siliciclastic, inner shelf of west-central Florida supports a highly complex field of active sand ridges mantled by a hierarchy of bedforms. The sand ridges, mostly oriented obliquely to the shoreline trend, extend from 2 km to over 25 km offshore. They show many similarities to their well-known counterparts situated along the US Atlantic margin in that both increase in relief with increasing water depth, both are oriented obliquely to the coast, and both respond to modern shelf dynamics. There are significant differences in that the sand ridges on the west-central Florida shelf are smaller in all dimensions, have a relatively high carbonate content, and are separated by exposed rock surfaces. They are also shoreface-detached and are sediment-starved, thus stunting their development. Morphological details are highly distinctive and apparent in side-scan imagery due to the high acoustic contrast. The seafloor is active and not a relict system as indicated by: (1) relatively young AMS ¹⁴C dates (<1600 yr BP) from forams in the shallow subsurface (1.6 meters below seafloor), (2) apparent shifts in sharply distinctive grayscale boundaries seen in time-series side-scan mosaics, (3) maintenance of these sharp acoustic boundaries and development of small bedforms in an area of constant and extensive bioturbation, (4) sediment textural asymmetry indicative of selective transport across bedform topography, (5) morphological asymmetry of sand ridges and 2D dunes, and (6) current-meter data indicating that the critical threshold velocity for sediment transport is frequently exceeded. Although larger sand ridges are found along other portions of the west-central Florida inner shelf, these smaller sand ridges are best developed seaward of a major coastal headland, suggesting some genetic relationship. The headland may focus and accelerate the N–S reversing currents. An elevated rock terrace extending from the headland supports these ridges in a shallower water environment than the surrounding shelf, allowing them to be more easily influenced by currents and surface gravity waves. Tidal currents, storm-generated flows, and seasonally developed flows are shore-parallel and oriented obliquely to the NW–SE trending ridges, indicating that they have developed as described by the Huthnance model. Although inner shelf sand ridges have been extensively examined elsewhere, this study is the first to describe them in a low-energy, sediment-starved, dominantly mixed siliciclastic/carbonate sedimentary environment situated on a former limestone platform.  相似文献   

Response of low‐angle dunes to variable flow          下载免费PDF全文

Megan L. Hendershot  Jeremy G. Venditti  Ryan W. Bradley  Ray A. Kostaschuk  Michael Church  Mead A. Allison 《Sedimentology》2016,63(3):743-760

Current understanding of bedform dynamics is largely based on field and laboratory observations of bedforms in steady flow environments. There are relatively few investigations of bedforms in flows dominated by unsteadiness associated with rapidly changing flows or tides. As a consequence, the ability to predict bedform response to variable flow is rudimentary. Using high‐resolution multibeam bathymetric data, this study explores the dynamics of a dune field developed by tidally modulated, fluvially dominated flow in the Fraser River Estuary, British Columbia, Canada. The dunes were dominantly low lee angle features characteristic of large, deep river channels. Data were collected over a field ca 1·0 km long and 0·5 km wide through a complete diurnal tidal cycle during the rising limb of the hydrograph immediately prior to peak freshet, yielding the most comprehensive characterization of low‐angle dunes ever reported. The data show that bedform height and lee angle slope respond to variable flow by declining as the tide ebbs, then increasing as the tide rises and the flow velocities decrease. Bedform lengths do not appear to respond to the changes in velocity caused by the tides. Changes in the bedform height and lee angle have a counterclockwise hysteresis with mean flow velocity, indicating that changes in the bedform geometry lag changes in the flow. The data reveal that lee angle slope responds directly to suspended sediment concentration, supporting previous speculation that low‐angle dune morphology is maintained by erosion of the dune stoss and crest at high flow, and deposition of that material in the dune trough.  相似文献   

Variability in bedform morphology and kinematics with transport stage          下载免费PDF全文

Jeremy G. Venditti  C.‐Y. Martin Lin  Moslem Kazemi 《Sedimentology》2016,63(4):1017-1040

Bedform geometry is widely recognized to be a function of transport stage. Bedform aspect ratio (height/length) increases with transport stage, reaches a maximum, then decreases as bedforms washout to a plane bed. Bedform migration rates are also linked to bedform geometry, in so far as smaller bedforms in coarser sediment tend to migrate faster than larger bedforms in finer sediment. However, how bedform morphology (height, length and shape) and kinematics (translation and deformation) change with transport stage and suspension have not been examined. A series of experiments is presented where initial flow depth and grain size were held constant and the transport stage was varied to produce bedload dominated, mixed‐load dominated and suspended‐load dominated conditions. The results show that the commonly observed pattern in bedform aspect ratio occurs because bedform height increases then decreases with transport stage, against a continuously increasing bedform length. Bedform size variability increased with transport stage, leading to less uniform bedform fields at higher transport stage. Total translation‐related and deformation‐related sediment fluxes all increased with transport stage. However, the relative contribution to the total flux changed. At the bedload dominated stage, translation‐related and deformation‐related flux contributed equally to the total flux. As the transport stage increased, the fraction of the total load contributed by translation increased and the fraction contributed by deformation declined because the bedforms got bigger and moved faster. At the suspended‐load dominated transport stage, the deformation flux increased and the translation flux decreased as a fraction of the total load, approaching one and zero, respectively, as bedforms washed out to a plane bed.  相似文献   

长江河口主槽地貌形态观测与分析   总被引：4，自引：3，他引：1       下载免费PDF全文

吴帅虎  程和琴  胥毅军  李九发  郑树伟  徐韦  陆雪骏 《海洋工程》2016,34(6):65-73

人类活动可以改变流域至河口的泥沙输运与沉积。尽管一些近期的研究已经调查了长江河口的形态演变,然而,流域和河口工程如何影响河口河床的形态演变仍然是不清楚的。该文利用2010年至2015年多波束测深系统和浅地层剖面仪等先进现场测量仪器的长江口主槽走航测量资料,并结合主槽表层沉积物资料,分析了近年来人为强干扰下的长江河口主槽底床微地貌形态,以理解近期人类活动对河口的影响。结果显示:近年来长江河口主槽底床上除了存在平床、沙波、冲沟和冲刷痕等常见微地貌形态外,还存在着疏浚痕和凹坑等人为微地貌形态。在流域和河口大型工程的共同影响下,近年来南北港中上段、横沙通道和南槽上段均受到不同程度的冲刷,其主槽底床上呈现出不同程度冲沟和冲刷痕等侵蚀性微地貌。而由于疏浚工程的影响,南港下段、圆圆沙航槽和北槽航道底床上出现了大范围的疏浚痕和凹坑。近年来包括南槽上段、北槽主槽中段和下段的局部区域和北港拦门沙河段局部区域在内的长江河口最大浑浊带的河床沉积物有粗化趋势。南北港中上段和横沙通道的大部分区域均发育了大量沙波微地貌;总体上,长江河口沙波的波高在0.12~3.12 m,波长在2.83~127.89 m,波高/波长在0.003~0.136,长江河口中上段的沙波尺度(波高的均值为0.91 m,波长的均值为20.08 m)大于密西西比河下游(波高的均值为0.87 m,波长的均值为17.62 m),且两区域沙波的几何形态差异性较小。  相似文献