Mud transportation on a steep shelf, Rio de La Plata shelf, Puerto Rico

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Hurricanes David (August 29–30, 1979) and Frederick (September 2–5, 1979) caused major flooding of the Rio de La Plata in northern Puerto Rico. A thin mud layer was deposited across the narrow insular shelf adjacent to the river mouth. Within 5 months, fair-weather shelf-winnowing processes moved the mud layer entirely from the shelf, 0.5 to 2 km to the shelf break at the 50-m contour and beyond. The process of mud movement is termed “mud hopping.”