Shallow-water equations and box model simulations of turbidity currents from a moving source

Abstract

This paper presents simplified simulations, using the shallow-water equations (top panels) and a box model (bottom panels) of the particle-laden gravity currents generated by a vehicle moving along the seafloor. It analyzes the resulting deposits and their dependence on the two dominant parameters in the system: the ratio of the vehicle to spreading current speed (vehicle Froude number $F\phantom{\rule{0}{0ex}}r$) and the ratio of particle settling to vehicle speed. Estimates of the maximum extent of these deposits as a function of those two parameters are also computed, in both the supercritical regime, $F\phantom{\rule{0}{0ex}}r>\sqrt{2}$, and the subcritical regime, $F\phantom{\rule{0}{0ex}}r<\sqrt{2}$.