Sediment Waves and Gullies Generated by Turbidity Currents

Our objective is to improve our understanding of the genesis of large-scale bed forms similar to those observed in various submarine settings, and thought to be created by both confined and laterallyspreading turbidity currents and related dense underflows in continental slopes and rises. Two types of bed forms are the main focus of this work. First, slope gullies, which are parallel, evenly-spaced channels with typical relieves of the order of 1-5 m and separations ranging from 100 to 500m, found in most continental slopes around the world. Second, large-scale sediment waves (wavelengths 5005000 m) surveyed in continental rises, on levees of deep-sea channels, and on the flanks of submarine canyons and submarine fans, which appear as upslope-migrating antidunes in the vast majority of observed cases.