HR: 0800h
AN: H51D-0395    [Abstracts]
TI: Self Channelized Subaqueous Fans Emplaced by Turbidity Currents: Experimental Investigations
AU: * Cantelli, A
EM: cantelli@uiuc.edu
AF: University of Illinois , 205 N. Mathews Ave., Urbana, 61801 United States
AU: Pirmez, C
EM: Carlos.Pirmez@shell.com
AF: Shell International Exploration and Production Inc., 3737 Bellaire Blvd., Houston, TX 77025 United States
AU: Yu, B
EM: drbinyu@yahoo.com
AF: Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, PO Box 417, Chengdu, 610041 China
AU: Parker, G
EM: parkerg@uiuc.edu
AF: University of Illinois , 205 N. Mathews Ave., Urbana, 61801 United States
AB: The passage of turbidity currents over submarine fans often results in intense channelization. The channels are typically bounded by levees, and vary from mildly to strongly meandering. However the process of self-channelization is still poorly understood. For the first time preliminary experiments demonstrate that self-channelization of subaqueous fans by turbidity currents can be reproduced at laboratory scale. The resulting weakly sinuous channels can be predominantly depositional, predominantly erosional or some combination of the two. The channels can elongate to the length of the entire reach available for their formation. They can show both gradual shift and avulsion. Two necessary conditions for the formation of intense channelization appear to be a) a multiplicity of grain sizes and b) a turbidity current that is insufficient to cover the entire area of the fan at any given time.
DE: 1824 Geomorphology: general (1625)
DE: 1862 Sediment transport (4558)
DE: 3045 Seafloor morphology, geology, and geophysics
SC: Hydrology [H]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005