Turbidite Development
Compiled by Jeff Crabaugh (more info) at Carleton College (SERC) and the University of Wyoming (more info)
This site focuses on sedimentary turbidity currents and their deposits. You'll find here useful animations, photos, static images, videos of experimental models, and visual output from numerical models that can be integrated into lectures or labs.
Experimental Models
Turbidity Current Experiment Videos: Suzanne O'Connell. (more info) From the 'Learning Objects' website at Wesleyan University (Associate Professor Suzanne O'Connell, Earth and Environmental Sciences) are five videos of turbidity flows that are explained with text and a static image.
More Turbidity Current Experiment Videos: Gary Parker and Earle McBride. (more info) Three videos from Gary Parker at the Univ. of Minnesota and one from Earle McBride at the Univ. of Texas at Austin show experimental modeling of turbidity currents. To access each video: follow link above, scroll down and click on 'Low Density Turbidity Current (Parker)', 'Turbidity Currents (Parker)', 'Turbidity Current Acceleration (Parker)', or 'Turbidity Current (McBride)'. The videos are archived and made available at the personal website of sedimentary geologist Paul Heller (more info) , University of Wyoming.
Experimental Modeling of Turbidity Currents. (more info) Photos of the experimental set up and the turbidity current lab experiments conducted by the Nonlinear Physics Group at the University of Toronto.
Turbidity Flows in the Real World
Monterey Canyon Turbidity Flow. ( This site may be offline. ) Turbidity flows are caught in the act in Monterey Canyon. The story is explained and depicted in static images found at The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) website.
River to Submarine Canyon Sediment Routing. (more info) Static images and text from The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) explain how river floods can generate hyperpycnal flow events in Monterey Canyon.
Fluid Dynamics of Natural Turbidity Currents. (more info) Photos, static images, and explanatory text from the website of Jim Best (University of Leeds, U.K.) clearly outlines the quantitative field investigation of turbidity currents generated by river inflow into Lillooet Lake, British Columbia, Canada.
Turbidite Photos
Turbidite Photos. (more info) The website of
Dawn Sumner, University of California at Davis, contains photos of Cretaceous turbidites in California. Photos are simply annotated keying the main features to explanatory text.
