Modelling of turbidity currents on Navy Submarine Fan, California Continental Borderland

Several Holocene turbidites can be correlated across much of Navy Fan through more than 100 sediment core localities. The uppermost muddy turbidite unit is mapped throughout the northern half of the fan; its volume, grain-size distribution and the maximum height of deposition on the basin slopes are known. These parameters can be related to the precise channel morphology and mesotopography revealed by deeptow surveys. Thus there is sufficient information to estimate detailed flow characteristics for this turbidity current as it moved from fan valley to distal basin plain.

On the upper fan, the gradient and the increasing downstream width of the channel and only limited flow overspill suggest that the flow had a Froude number close to 1.0. The sediment associated with the channel indicates friction velocities of about 0.06 ms⁻¹ and flow velocities of about 0.75 m s⁻¹. Using this flow velocity and channel dimensions, sediment concentration (≈︁2 × 10⁻³) and discharge are estimated, and from a knowledge of the total volume of sediment deposited, the flow duration is estimated to be from 2 to 9 days. It is shown that the estimates of Froude number, drag coefficient, and sediment concentration are not likely to vary by more than a factor of 2.

On the mid-fan, the flow was much thicker than the height of the surface relief of the fan and it spread rapidly. The cross-flow slope, determined from the horizontal extent of turbidite sediment, is used to estimate flow velocity, which is confirmed by consideration of both sediment grain size and rate of deposition. This again allows sediment concentration and discharge to be estimated. The requirements of flow continuity, entrainment of water during flow expansion, and observed sediment deposition provide checks on all these estimates, and provide an integrated picture of the evolution of the flow. The flow characteristics of this muddy turbidity current are well constrained compared to those for more sand-rich late Pleistocene and early Holocene turbidity currents on the fan.