ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Earth Sci.
Sec. Marine Geoscience
This article is part of the Research TopicCohesive Sedimentary Systems: Dynamics and Deposits - Volume IIView all 6 articles
Influence of bed age and flocculation dynamics on turbidity current propagation
Provisionally accepted
- Delft University of Technology, Delft, Netherlands
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In this study, the influence of a bed on turbidity current propagation and flocculation dynamics has been investigated using a lock-exchange setup. Experiments were performed in saltwater using sediments sampled from a deep-seabed mining location in the Clarion Clip-perton Zone (CCZ). Results showed that the presence of a bed influenced the propagation velocity of turbidity currents. Flocs were denser and larger than those observed when no bed was present. The floc settling velocities also increased in the presence of a bed. Additionally, in the case of a (freshly) formed bed, sediment re-suspension occurred due to the disturbance of organic matter, which contributed to flocculation. This study also sheds light on the role of the age of the bed on turbidity current propagation, with (freshly) formed beds being efficient in reducing sediment spread. These findings are important for predicting the spread of a turbidity current during deep-sea mining activities.
Keywords: Abyssal sediment, deep-sea mining, Flocculation, Lock-exchange, Turbidity current
Received: 08 Oct 2025; Accepted: 09 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wahab, Chassagne and Helmons. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Shaheen Wahab
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