CEE 598, GEOL 593

TURBIDITY CURRENTS: MORPHODYNAMICS AND DEPOSITS

LECTURE 1
WHAT IS A TURBIDITY CURRENT?

Turbidity current driven by crushed coal moving

down bottom of flume containing fresh water:1
Garcia Tank, SAFL, University of Minnesota
A TURBIDITY CURRENT IN ACTION

Turbidity current driven by plastic particles:

Experiment of O. Sequeiros and H. Naruse

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conn13.avi
 AN ANALOG OF A TURBIDITY CURRENT:
POWDER SNOW AVALANCHE

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Video clip courtesy P. Gauer AvalancheFin01GauerP.avi
 AN STARTING POINT: THE BOSPHORUS

Black Sea

Bosphorus
Istanbul

TURKEY

Sea of Marmara

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 THE SETTING:
THE MEDITERRANEAN AND BLACK SEAS

Black Sea
Istanbul

Sea of
Marmara

Mediterranean
Sea

5
 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE MEDITERRANEAN
SEA AND BLACK SEA

Mediterranean
Sea Bosphorus
Black Sea

Sea of
Marmara
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 THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA AND THE BLACK SEA

• The Mediterranean Sea receives little Black Sea:

freshwater inflow, and has a high less salty
evaporation rate.

• Mediterranean water is thus rather salty.

• The Black Sea receives a substantial

flow of fresh water.
flow
• Black Sea water is thus less salty.

• The saltier the water, the higher is the

density.

• The net flow through the Bosphorus is

from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean
Sea (through the Sea of Marmara).
Sea of Marmara:
7
more salty
 FLOW THROUGH THE BOSPHORUS

The flow through the Bosphorus is so strong that in ancient times,

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ships could neither row nor sail into the Black Sea.
 SO HOW DID SHIPS GET UP THE BOSPHORUS TO THE
BLACK SEA IN ANCIENT TIMES?

Black Sea

Byzantium/
Nea Roma/
Constantinople/
Istanbul

Sea of Marmara

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 CURRENT AND COUNTERCURRENT!

light fresh water

heavy salty water

Sea of Marmara Black Sea

The strong surface flow of less salty water from the Black Sea to
the Sea of Marmara is accompanied by a less strong (but still very
strong) flow of more salty water from the Sea of Marmara
(ultimately Mediterranean Sea) to the Black Sea:
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Dense bottom flow.
 THE ANCIENT SOLUTION:
THE WATER SAIL!

light fresh water

heavy salty water

Sea of Marmara Black Sea

WATER SAIL!

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 TURBIDITY CURRENTS OBTAIN THEIR DRIVING FORCE
FROM THE EXTRA WEIGHT OF SEDIMENT IN SUSPENSION

sediment-free water

gravity pulls the

water-sediment
mixture downslope
water with high concentration of
suspended sediment

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 ARCHIMEDES’ PRINCIPLE

body = density of material in a “body” (control volume? sediment

grain?)
amb = density of the ambient fluid in which it is immersed
V = volume of the “body”
g = gravitational acceleration
Fbuoy
The weight of the body W is given as

W  body gV
The buoyant force Fbuoy acting on the body is given as
Fbuoy  amb gV W

The effective immersed weight of the body Wimm is then given as

Wimm  W  Fbuoy  body  amb gV

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 FRESH AND SEA WATER DENSITY
Fresh water density depends on
Temperature (C)

Sea water density depends on:

Salinity (mg/l of salt ~ ppm of salt)
Temperature (C)

“Standard” density of fresh water:

1.00 ton/m3 = 1000 kg/m3

“Typical” density of salt water:

1.027 tons/m3 = 1027 kg/m3
(but can vary considerably) Dead Sea
http://www.reliefmart.com/dead-
sea/dead_sea_sunset.jpg
Dead Sea saltwater density:
~ 1.17 tons/m3

Water density calculator: 14

http://www.csgnetwork.com/h2odenscalc.html
 WHAT CAUSES FLOW DOWN A SLOPE?
CASE: WATER UNDER AIR ~ RIVER
a = density of air ( ~ 1.2 kg/m3: use gas law)
w = density of water ( ~ 1000 kg/m3 for fresh water)
 = bed slope angle, so that slope S = tan
The control volume is full of water under air. It has length L and cross-
sectional area A.
The immersed weight of the control
volume is

Wimm  (w  a )gLA

A L

The downslope component of this

immersed weight Fgd drives the flow
Fgd downslope:

Fgd  ( w  a )gLA sin 
Wimm 15
 BUT FOR WATER UNDER AIR,

a = density of air ( ~ 1.2 kg/m3: use gas law)

w = density of water ( ~ 1000 kg/m3 for fresh water)

So
( w   a )
1
w The immersed weight of the control
volume is

A
Wimm  w gLA
L

The downslope component of this

immersed weight Fgd drives the flow
Fgd downslope:

Fgd   w gLA sin 
Wimm 16
 WHAT CAUSES FLOW DOWN A SLOPE?
CASE: WATER UNDER THE SAME WATER
w = density of water ( ~ 1000 kg/m3 for fresh water)
 = bed slope angle, so that slope S = tan
The control volume is full of water under the same water. It has length L and
cross-sectional area A.

The immersed weight of the control

volume is

Wimm  (w  w )gLA  0

A L
The downslope component of this
immersed weight Fgd drives the flow
downslope:
Fgd Fgd  ( w   w )gLA sin   0


Wimm No flow! 17
 WHAT CAUSES FLOW DOWN A SLOPE?
CASE: SALINE WATER UNDER FRESH WATER
f = density of fresh water ( ~ 1000 kg/m3)
sal = density of saline water ( ~ 1027 kg/m3 for sea water)
 = bed slope angle, so that slope S = tan
The control volume is full of saline water immersed in fresh water. It has
length L and cross-sectional area A.
The immersed weight of the control
volume is

Wimm  (sal  f )gLA

A L

The downslope component of this

immersed weight Fgd drives the flow
Fgd downslope:

Fgd  (sal   f )gLA sin 
Wimm 18
 LET’S COMPARE
Fresh water flowing under air = open channel flow =
RIVER

Saline water flowing under less saline (e.g. fresh) ambient water =
SALINE BOTTOM UNDERFLOW

Let’s compare the downslope driving force Fgd,saline for standard seawater
under fresh water versus fresh water under air Fgd,river

Fgd,saline (sal   f )gLA sin  (sal   f )

 
Fgd,riv er ( f  a )gLA sin  ( f   a )

Using f = 1000 kg/m3, sal = 1027 kg/m3 and a = 1.22 kg/m3,

Fgd,saline
~ 0.027
Fgd,riv er

The saline underflow has only 2.7% of the driving force of a

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corresponding river!
 WHAT CAUSES FLOW DOWN A SLOPE?
CASE: SEDIMENT-LADEN WATER UNDER SEDIMENT-FREE
WATER: TURBIDITY CURRENT
w = density of water ( ~ 1000 kg/m3)
t = density of underflowing water + sediment = density of turbidity current
> w

How do we compute t?

sed = density of sediment (quartz ~ 2650 kg/m3)

c = volume concentration of sediment in suspension

c = (volume sediment)/[volume sediment + volume water]

Density f of sediment-water mixture is given as

 t   w (1  c )  sedc
or
sed
 t   w 1  Rc  , R   1  1.65 20
w
 WHAT CAUSES FLOW DOWN A SLOPE?
CASE: TURBIDITY CURRENT
w = density of ambient water ( could be fresh or saline: ~ 1000 kg/m3)
t = density of turbid water in flow
 = bed slope angle, so that slope S = tan
The control volume is full of turbid water. It has length L and cross-sectional
area A.
The immersed weight of the control
volume is

Wimm  (t  w )gLA

A L

The downslope component of this

immersed weight Fgd drives the flow
downslope:

Fgd  (t   w )gLA sin 
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 CASE: TURBIDITY CURRENT
Driving force of a turbidity current

Fgd,turb  (t  w )gLA sin 

t  w  wRc

Thus
Fgd,turb   wRcgLA sin 

A L Compare the driving forces of a

river and a turbidity current:

Fgd,turb
 Rc
 Fgd,riv er
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So how large can c be?
 HOW LARGE CAN THE SEDIMENT CONCENTRATION IN A
TURBIDITY CURRENT BE?

The sediment in a turbidity current that derives it must be in suspension,

i.e. dispersed in the water column away from the bed.

Both rivers and turbidity currents carry suspended sediment

To qualify as a river suspension or turbidity current, the concentration of

suspended sediment must be dilute, so that

c  1
Thus since R ~ 1.65,
Fgd,turb
 Rc  1
Fgd,riv er
A turbidity current thus has much less driving force than a river carrying the
same concentration of suspended sediment! 23
WHAT HAPPENS IF THE CONCENTRATION IS NOT DILUTE?

• Turbidity currents and submarine (subaqueous)

debris flows are members of the class of dense bottom
flows that includes thermohaline bottom flows (e.g.
Straits of Gibraltar or Bosporus).

• The presence of a dilute suspension of

sediment in the water of a turbidity current
renders it slightly heavier than the ambient water.

• A submarine (subaqueous) debris flows consists of a dense sediment-water

slurry that is much heavier than the ambient water, so creating its own sediment-
water rheology.

• In both cases gravity pulls the sediment downslope, and sediment pulls the
water downslope.

• Turbidity currents and submarine (subaqueous) debris flows differ from a

thermohaline underflows in that it is free to exchange sediment with the bed.

• A turbidity current is the subaqueous analog of a river. A submarine

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(subaqueous) debris flow is the subaqueous analog of subaerial debris flow.
AN EXAMPLE OF A SUBAERIAL DEBRIS FLOW

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rte-bookjapandebflow.mpg
AN EXAMPLE OF A SUBAQUEOUS DEBRIS FLOW

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IlstMain_cam3.avi
THE FUNDAMENTAL DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A RIVER AND
A TURBIDITY CURRENT
A river flows downslope under the influence of gravity acting on the water.
The water then drags the sediment with it.

The suspended sediment it carries adds only slightly to the driving force as
long as c << 1).
Fgd,riv er   w (1  Rc )gLA sin 
A turbidity current flows downslope under the influence of gravity acting on
the sediment.

The sediment then drags the water with it.

Fgd,turb   wRcgLA sin 

Note that turbidity currents must die, but river flows do not die, as c  0.

Turbidity currents must find a way to keep their sediment in suspension if

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they are to sustain themselves!
VELOCITY AND SUSPENDED SEDIMENT CONCENTRATION
PROFILES IN RIVERS AND TURBIDITY CURRENTS
A river is sediment-laden water flowing under air.
A turbidity current is sediment-laden water flowing under sediment-free
water.

In the image below u = streamwise flow velocity, c = volume suspended

sediment concentration

Rivers (usually) form sharp

air interfaces with the air
above, and turbidity
clear currents (usually) form
river water more diffuse interfaces with
u
the water above.

c
u
c turbidity
current 28
 Source Material (for Parker only)
TurbCurrAAPGApril06.ppt
ExxonMobilShortCourse06.ppt
TurbidityCurrentMinutes.ppt

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