Professor Peter Talling peter.j.talling@durham.ac.uk
Professor
Longest sediment flows yet measured show how major rivers connect efficiently to deep sea
Talling, Peter J.; Baker, Megan L.; Pope, Ed L.; Ruffell, Sean C.; Jacinto, Ricardo Silva; Heijnen, Maarten S.; Hage, Sophie; Simmons, Stephen M.; Hasenhündl, Martin; Heerema, Catharina J.; McGhee, Claire; Apprioual, Ronan; Ferrant, Anthony; Cartigny, Matthieu J.B.; Parsons, Daniel R.; Clare, Michael A.; Tshimanga, Raphael M.; Trigg, Mark A.; Cula, Costa A.; Faria, Rui; Gaillot, Arnaud; Bola, Gode; Wallance, Dec; Griffiths, Allan; Nunny, Robert; Urlaub, Morelia; Peirce, Christine; Burnett, Richard; Neasham, Jeffrey; Hilton, Robert J.
Authors
Dr Megan Baker megan.l.baker@durham.ac.uk
Assistant Professor
Edward Pope edward.pope@durham.ac.uk
Honorary Fellow
Sean Ruffell sean.ruffell@durham.ac.uk
PGR Student Doctor of Philosophy
Ricardo Silva Jacinto
Maarten S. Heijnen
Sophie Hage
Stephen M. Simmons
Martin Hasenhündl
Catharina J. Heerema
Claire McGhee
Ronan Apprioual
Anthony Ferrant
Dr Matthieu Cartigny matthieu.j.cartigny@durham.ac.uk
Associate Professor
Daniel R. Parsons
Michael A. Clare
Raphael M. Tshimanga
Mark A. Trigg
Costa A. Cula
Rui Faria
Arnaud Gaillot
Gode Bola
Dec Wallance
Allan Griffiths
Robert Nunny
Morelia Urlaub
Professor Christine Peirce christine.peirce@durham.ac.uk
Professor
Richard Burnett
Jeffrey Neasham
Robert J. Hilton
Abstract
Here we show how major rivers can efficiently connect to the deep-sea, by analysing the longest runout sediment flows (of any type) yet measured in action on Earth. These seafloor turbidity currents originated from the Congo River-mouth, with one flow travelling >1,130 km whilst accelerating from 5.2 to 8.0 m/s. In one year, these turbidity currents eroded 1,338-2,675 [>535-1,070] Mt of sediment from one submarine canyon, equivalent to 19–37 [>7–15] % of annual suspended sediment flux from present-day rivers. It was known earthquakes trigger canyon-flushing flows. We show river-floods also generate canyon-flushing flows, primed by rapid sediment-accumulation at the river-mouth, and sometimes triggered by spring tides weeks to months post-flood. It is demonstrated that strongly erosional turbidity currents self-accelerate, thereby travelling much further, validating a long-proposed theory. These observations explain highly-efficient organic carbon transfer, and have important implications for hazards to seabed cables, or deep-sea impacts of terrestrial climate change.
Citation
Talling, P. J., Baker, M. L., Pope, E. L., Ruffell, S. C., Jacinto, R. S., Heijnen, M. S., …Hilton, R. J. (2022). Longest sediment flows yet measured show how major rivers connect efficiently to deep sea. Nature Communications, 13(1), https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-31689-3
Journal Article Type | Article |
---|---|
Acceptance Date | Jun 24, 2022 |
Online Publication Date | Jul 20, 2022 |
Publication Date | 2022 |
Deposit Date | Aug 2, 2022 |
Publicly Available Date | Aug 2, 2022 |
Journal | Nature Communications |
Publisher | Nature Research |
Peer Reviewed | Peer Reviewed |
Volume | 13 |
Issue | 1 |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-31689-3 |
Public URL | https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1195101 |
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