Turbidity current flow over an obstacle and phases of sediment wave generation

TL;DR

This study uses high-resolution 2D simulations to analyze turbidity currents over obstacles, revealing how sediment waves form and grow through erosion, influenced by system parameters, with three distinct phases identified.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed simulation approach incorporating poly-disperse particles and active layer modeling to understand sediment wave development and phases in turbidity currents.

Findings

Sediment waves are self-generated and weakly dependent on initial obstacles.

Growth of sediment waves is linked to self-sustaining turbidity currents with net erosion.

Three phases of sediment wave development are identified: no SW, buildup, and growth.

Abstract

We study the flow of particle-laden turbidity currents down a slope and over an obstacle. A high-resolution 2D computer simulation model is used, based on the Navier-Stokes equations. It includes poly-disperse particle grain sizes in the current and substrate. Particular attention is paid to the erosion and deposition of the substrate particles, including application of an active layer model. Multiple flows are modeled from a lock release that can show the development of sediment waves (SW). These are stream-wise waves that are triggered by the increasing slope on the downstream side of the obstacle. The initial obstacle is completely erased by the resuspension after a few flows leading to self consistent and self generated SW that are weakly dependant on the initial obstacle. The growth of these waves is directly related to the turbidity current being self sustaining, that is, the net erosion is more than the net deposition. Four system parameters are found to influence the SW growth: (1) slope, (2) current lock height, (3) grain lock concentration, and (4) particle diameters. Three phases are discovered for the system: (1) "no SW", (2) "SW buildup", and (3) "SW growth". The second phase consists of a soliton-like SW structure with a preserved shape. The phase diagram of the system is defined by isolating regions divided by critical slope angles as functions of current lock height, grain lock concentration, and particle diameters.