Seabed Seismographs Reveal Duration and Structure of Longest Runout Sediment Flows on Earth

Abstract Turbidity currents carve the deepest canyons on Earth, deposit its largest sediment accumulations, and break seabed telecommunication cables. Powerful canyon‐flushing turbidity currents break sensors placed in their path, making them notoriously challenging to measure, and thus poorly understood. This study provides the first remote measurements of canyon‐flushing flows, using ocean‐bottom seismographs located outside the flow's destructive path, revolutionizing flow monitoring. We recorded the internal dynamics of the longest sediment flows yet monitored on Earth, which traveled >1,000 km down the Congo Canyon‐Channel at 3.7–7.6 m s −1 and lasted >3 weeks. These observations allow us to test fundamental models for turbidity current behavior and reveal that flows contain dense and fast frontal‐zones up to ∼400 km in length. These frontal‐zones developed near‐uniform durations and speeds for hundreds of kilometres despite substantial seabed erosion, enabling flows to rapidly transport prodigious volumes of organic carbon, sediment, and warm water to the deep‐sea.

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Publication Details

Journal
Geophysical Research Letters
Published
2024-11-28
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1029/2024gl111078
Citations
11
Primary Topic
Geological formations and processes
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
5.67

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article

Seabed Seismographs Reveal Duration and Structure of Longest Runout Sediment Flows on Earth

Martin Hasenhündl, Stephen M. Simmons, Claire McGhee, Matthieu Cartigny et al.
11 citations
Geophysical Research Letters
Geological formations and processes
5.67
article

Seabed Seismographs Reveal Duration and Structure of Longest Runout Sediment Flows on Earth

Martin Hasenhündl, Stephen M. Simmons, Claire McGhee, Matthieu Cartigny, Ed Pope, Daniel R. Parsons, Morelia Urlaub, Peter J. Talling, Richard Burnett, Sean Ruffell, Jennifer Jenkins, Megan L. Baker, Michael Dietze, Maarten Heijnen, Pascal Kunath, Jeffrey A. Neasham, Michael Clare, Catharina Heerema, Sophie Hage, Ricardo Silva Jacinto
article en
11 citations

Abstract

Abstract Turbidity currents carve the deepest canyons on Earth, deposit its largest sediment accumulations, and break seabed telecommunication cables. Powerful canyon‐flushing turbidity currents break sensors placed in their path, making them notoriously challenging to measure, and thus poorly understood. This study provides the first remote measurements of canyon‐flushing flows, using ocean‐bottom seismographs located outside the flow's destructive path, revolutionizing flow monitoring. We recorded the internal dynamics of the longest sediment flows yet monitored on Earth, which traveled >1,000 km down the Congo Canyon‐Channel at 3.7–7.6 m s −1 and lasted >3 weeks. These observations allow us to test fundamental models for turbidity current behavior and reveal that flows contain dense and fast frontal‐zones up to ∼400 km in length. These frontal‐zones developed near‐uniform durations and speeds for hundreds of kilometres despite substantial seabed erosion, enabling flows to rapidly transport prodigious volumes of organic carbon, sediment, and warm water to the deep‐sea.

Geophysical Research LettersVol. 51(23)
Loughborough University (GB), TU Wien (AT), Ifremer (FR), Durham University (GB), University of Hull (GB), National Oceanography Centre (GB), Université Paris-Saclay (FR), GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel (DE), Bundesministerium für Land- und Forstwirtschaft, Umwelt und Wasserwirtschaft (AT), Geosciences Paris-Saclay (FR), GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences (DE), University of Southampton (GB), University of Göttingen (DE), Newcastle University (GB)
University of Hull, Leverhulme Trust, Royal Society, Sight Research UK, European Commission, Durham University, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, Natural Environment Research Council, HORIZON EUROPE European Research Council
Life below water
Openalex Percentile: Top 3%
Geological formations and processes
5.67
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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