Abstract
Sediment erosion thresholds and characteristics of resuspended aggregates were experimentally determined on cores from the western European continental margin with a ship-borne erosion chamber augmented by image analysis. Bottom sediments (212–4940 m water depth) had a thin surface layer that was resuspended as aggregates (median diameter 125–2403 μm) under critical shear velocities ( u ∗c ) of 0.4–1.2 cm s −1. For the underlying sediments, eroded as primary particles, u ∗c increased with water depth from 0.7 cm s −1 (sandy shelf sediments) to 2.1 cm s −1 (lower slope sediments). A two-layer concept of the sediment interface is discussed which distinguishes between an underlying sediment layer, bound by both physico-chemical and biological adhesion, and a more easily resuspendable surface aggregate layer. The surface layer consists mainly of aggregates in the 140–450 μm size range and is resuspended at mean thresholds u ∗c of 0.8–0.9 cm s −1. These aggregates can subsequently be transported in tide-related resuspension–deposition loops over long distances.
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