Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
4689873 | Sedimentary Geology | 2012 | 15 Pages |
The Var Turbidite System (NW Mediterranean Sea) is fed during the present-day highstand sea level by large earthquake-induced ignitive turbidity currents, low-density turbidity currents resulting from retrogressive failures triggered on the upper continental slope, and hyperpycnal flows related to the Var River floods. Using a large dataset including bathymetric data, side-scan sonar images, seismic-reflection profiles, cores and photographs of the seafloor, this paper attempts to better constrain the hydrodynamic behaviour of debris flows and turbidity currents along the Upper and Middle Valley of the Var Turbidite System. The drastic change of the seafloor morphology between the Upper and the Middle Valley suggests that gravity flows undergo rapid transformation from cohesive to fully turbulent behaviour. This transformation is related to a hydraulic jump caused by an abrupt decrease in slope angle at the transition between the Upper and the Middle Valley and is associated with en masse deposition and elevation of the seafloor. Strong seafloor erosion prevails in the Middle Valley, suggesting that, for a low and constant slope angle, turbulent flows must regain a balance between concentration and flow thickness rapidly after they experience hydraulic jump. The internal stratification and vertical grain-size distribution within turbulent flows are inferred from the distribution of fine- to coarse-grained turbidites found in cores located along the crest of the Var Sedimentary Ridge with a decreasing elevation above the floor of the Middle Valley. The theoretical vertical velocity profile deduced from the vertical grain-size distribution exhibits a general trend and an inflection of the gradient curve different from those of the velocity profiles classically obtained using numerical modelling.