Experiments on transitional regime sediment density flows and resulting deposits

Much remains unknown regarding the sedimentary deposits of submarine density flows. Certain density flows may transition from a more turbulent to a more coherent flow regime e.g. by a loss of velocity in flows with large concentrations of suspended sediment. Such transitional flows are produced when turbulence becomes suppressed due to entrainment of cohesive sediment or from flow deceleration. Argillaceous sandstones and linked turbidite-debrites are types of submarine sediment deposits in a category known as hybrid event beds, and are interpreted to be emplaced by transitional regime flows (Talling, 2007; Davis, 2009; Haughton, 2009; Hodgson, 2009; Baas, 2011; Lee, 2013; and Talling, 2013). Sediment density current experiments have been conducted in a submerged flume to physically model such transitional flows. Correlations between the properties of the flows and the properties of the deposit exist and the results allow us to better understand sediment density currents with deterministic rheology and the resulting geology