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Sedimentation from gravity currents generated by turbulent plumes
Author(s) -
SPARKS R. S. J.,
CAREY S. N.,
SIGURDSSON H.
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
sedimentology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.494
H-Index - 108
eISSN - 1365-3091
pISSN - 0037-0746
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-3091.1991.tb01875.x
Subject(s) - geology , sedimentation , gravity current , settling , plume , sediment , flux (metallurgy) , ejecta , turbidity current , turbulence , geomorphology , froude number , mechanics , flow (mathematics) , physics , meteorology , oceanography , sedimentary depositional environment , internal wave , materials science , quantum mechanics , supernova , structural basin , metallurgy , thermodynamics
Sedimentation from radially spreading gravity currents generated at the top of ascending sediment‐laden plumes is described by a model which assumes that sediment is dispersed homogeneously by turbulence in the gravity current, resulting in an exponential decrease in the concentration of sediment with time as particles settle out of the lower boundary of the current. For radial spreading this model predicts a Gaussian distribution of sediment accumulation away from the source with an exponential constant, B , which depends on flow rate, Q , and particle settling velocity, v ( B = nv/Q ). In the experiments described, sedimentation occurs from gravity currents generated by ascent of buoyant, particle‐laden plumes of fresh water in a tank of salty water. The sediment accumulation shows close agreement with the theoretical model, and the Gaussian decay constant, B , can be determined from a maximum in the accumulated mass of sediment per unit distance and from the slope of the line In( S/S 0 ) = ‐ Br 2 , where r is the radial distance, S is the sediment mass flux per unit area and S 0 is the value of S at r =0. Data from the dispersal of volcanic ejecta from a large ( c . 24 km high) plinian eruption column in the Azores also show good agreement with the theory, confirming that it is general and independent of scale and the nature of the fluid. The experimental data also show a change in sedimentation behaviour at distances from the source corresponding to the corner of the plume where it diverts into a lateral gravity current and there is an abrupt decrease in vertical velocity. Sedimentation of coarse grain sizes, between the source and the corner, occurs from the inclined plume margins and does not behave as predicted by the theoretical model.