A current in air, water, or any other fluid caused by differences in the amount of suspended matter (such as mud, silt, or volcanic dust). Marine turbidity currents, laden with suspended sediment, move rapidly down continental slopes and spread out over the abyssal floor.
sediment in transport in sea water acting as a dense fluid.
A flowing mass of sediment-laden water that is heavier than clear water and therefore flows downslope along the bottom of the sea or a lake.
A submarine avalanche of sediment and water that speeds down a submarine slope.
A mixture of sediment particles and water that flows down the continental slope. These high density currents can reach great speeds and generally erode loose sediments from the seafloor beneath them. See " Density Current".
A mass of mixed water and sediment that flows downhill along the bottom of an ocean or lake because it is denser than the surrounding water. It may reach high speeds and erode rapidly (see also Density current).
a bottom flowing density current of suspended sediment moving swiftly down a subaqueous slope and spreading out at the base of the slope. Such currents occur in lakes and on the continental shelf wher they carry sediment on the ocean floor.
a dense mass of sediment-laden water traveling rapidly and violently down a slope underwater
a density current that occurs in water, air, or other fluid, that is caused by different amounts of matter in suspension
a downward flow of suspended mud-like sediments
A density current in water, air, or other fluid, caused by different amounts of matter in suspension, such as a dry-snow avalanche or a descending cloud of valcanic dust; specif. a bottom-flowing current laden with suspended sediment, moving swiftly (under the influence of gravity) down a subaqueous slope and spreading horizontally on the floor of the body of water, having been set and/or maintained in motion by locally churned- or stirred-up sediment that gives the water a density greater than that of the surrounding or overlying clear water. Such currents are known to occur in lakes, and are believed to have produced the submarine canyons notching the continental slope. They appear to originate in various ways, such as by storm waves, tsunamis, earthquake-induced sliding, tectonic movement, over-supply of sediment, and heavily charged rivers in spate with dessities exceeding that of sea water.
n. A bottom fast-flowing current that moves down a slope, depositing suspended sediments over the floor of a body of water
A highly turbid, sediment-rich dense current which moves rapidly along the bottom of standing water until it loses its energy.
A turbidity current or density current is a current of rapidly moving, sediment-laden water moving down a slope through air, water, or another fluid. The current moves because it has a higher density and turbidity than the fluid through which it flows.
