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Research Articles: Submarine Slope |
1 St. Anthony Falls Laboratory, University of Minnesota, Mississippi River at 3rd Avenue SE, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55414, U.S.A.; present address: University of Alaska Fairbanks, P.O. Box 755900, Fairbanks, Alaska 99775-5900, U.S.A.; ffhat{at}uaf.edu
2 St. Anthony Falls Laboratory, University of Minnesota, Mississippi River at 3rd Avenue SE, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55414, U.S.A.; present address: School of Oceanography, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195-7940, U.S.A.
3 St. Anthony Falls Laboratory, University of Minnesota, Mississippi River at 3rd Avenue SE, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55414, U.S.A.; present address: Ven Te Chow Hydrosystems Laboratory, University of Illinois, 205 N Mathews Avenue, Urbana, Illinois 61801, U.S.A.
The northern continental slope of the Gulf of Mexico is riddled with numerous subsiding diapiric minibasins bounded by ridges, many but not all of which are connected by channels created by turbidity currents. The region is economically relevant in that many of these diapiric minibasins constitute focal points for the deposition of sand. Some of these sandy deposits in turn serve as excellent reservoirs for hydrocarbons. A better understanding of the "fill and spill" process by which minibasins fill with mud and sand as the intervening ridges are dissected by canyons may serve to aid in the location of such reservoirs. In the present paper a theory is developed to describe sediment deposition in minibasins. The theory relies on the hypotheses that the turbidity currents in question are sustained for at least about one hour. Two key and heretofore unrecognized aspects of the "fill and spill" process are revealed: (1) the formation of an internal hydraulic jump as a turbidity current spills into a confined basin, and (2) the detrainment of water across a settling interface forming at the top of the ponded turbidity current downstream of the hydraulic jump. It is shown that sufficiently strong detrainment can consume the flow, so that they is no outflow of either water or sediment even with continuous inflow. As the basin fills with sediment, however, overspill is eventually realized. The theory is developed into a numerical model, tested against experiments and applied at field scale in a companion paper.
This article has been cited by other articles:
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  O. E. Sequeiros, B. Spinewine, M. H. Garcia, R. T. Beaubouef, T. Sun, and G. Parker Experiments on Wedge-Shaped Deep Sea Sedimentary Deposits in Minibasins and/or on Channel Levees Emplaced by Turbidity Currents. Part I. Documentation of the Flow Journal of Sedimentary Research, August 1, 2009; 79(8): 593 - 607. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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B. Spinewine, O. E. Sequeiros, M. H. Garcia, R. T. Beaubouef, T. Sun, B. Savoye, and G. Parker Experiments on Wedge-Shaped Deep Sea Sedimentary Deposits in Minibasins and/or on Channel Levees Emplaced by Turbidity Currents. Part II. Morphodynamic Evolution of the Wedge and of the Associated Bedforms Journal of Sedimentary Research, August 1, 2009; 79(8): 608 - 628. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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 M. R. Hudec, M. P.A. Jackson, and D. D. Schultz-Ela The paradox of minibasin subsidence into salt: Clues to the evolution of crustal basins Geological Society of America Bulletin, January 1, 2009; 121(1-2): 201 - 221. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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 D. R. Pyles Multiscale stratigraphic analysis of a structurally confined submarine fan: Carboniferous Ross Sandstone, Ireland AAPG Bulletin, May 1, 2008; 92(5): 557 - 587. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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H. Toniolo, G. Parker, V. Voller, and R.T. Beaubouef Depositional Turbidity Currents in Diapiric Minibasins on the Continental Slope: Experiments--Numerical Simulation and Upscaling Journal of Sedimentary Research, May 1, 2006; 76(5): 798 - 818. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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