Filling of a Salt-withdrawal Minibasin on the Continental Slope by Turbidity Currents: Experimental study

We report on the transport and deposition of sediment by turbidity currents in an experimental basin designed to model salt-withdrawal minibasins found along the northern continental slope of the Gulf of Mexico. The experiment was performed in two stages in the subsiding EXperimental EarthScape facility (XES) at St. Anthony Falls Laboratory, University of Minnesota. Stage I consisted of 15 turbidity-current events in the following sequence: one 36-minute continuous event, six 1.85-minute small pulses, one 3.8-minute large pulse, six more small pulses, one more large pulse, and finally one more continuous event. The continuous events and the small pulses had a flow discharge of 1.5 liters/s and the large pulse had a flow discharge of 4.5 liters/s. The flows all had a volume concentration of sediment of 0.05. The sediment comprised three grades of silica with nominal diameters of 20 microns (45%), 45 microns (40%) and 110 microns (15%). The basin subsided continuously during Stage I. Stage II consisted of the same sequence of events as Stage I, but with no further subsidence. The sand content was eliminated during the latter part of Stage II. The deposit was imaged as it developed during the experiment using high-frequency sonar. The sonar records show indications of incipient self-channelization as well as clear erosion, bypass, and deposition. Erosion was promoted by large pulse events and the absence of sand. The deposit shows well developed lamination and normal grading.