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Short-term sediment dynamics on a contourite body (off NW Iberia), Part II: The impact of hydrographic fronts as deduced from numerical modelling
Zhang, W.; Hanebuth, T.J.J. (2014). Short-term sediment dynamics on a contourite body (off NW Iberia), Part II: The impact of hydrographic fronts as deduced from numerical modelling, in: Van Rooij, D. et al. (Ed.) Book of Abstracts. 2nd Deep-Water Circulation Congress: The Contourite Log-book. Ghent, Belgium, 10-12 September 2014. VLIZ Special Publication, 69: pp. 35-36
In: Van Rooij, D.; Rüggeberg, A. (Ed.) (2014). Book of Abstracts. 2nd Deep-Water Circulation Congress: The Contourite Log-book. Ghent, Belgium, 10-12 September 2014. VLIZ Special Publication, 69. Ghent University, Department of Geology and Soil Science/Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ): Oostende. xviii, 152 pp., more
In: VLIZ Special Publication. Vlaams Instituut voor de Zee (VLIZ): Oostende. ISSN 1377-0950, more
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Document type: Summary
Keywords
    Fronts > Oceanic fronts > Density fronts
    Mixing
    Marine/Coastal
Author keywords
    Process-based modelling; Moat erosion; Eddy
Authors  Top 
  • Zhang, W.
  • Hanebuth, T.J.J.
Abstract
    3-Dimensional process-based morphodynamic model is applied to simulate deep-sea current – topography interaction and sediment dynamics on a contourite body located between 1,700 and 2,200m modern water depth at the NW Iberian continental slope. Different oceanographic scenarios were designed to investigate the impact of mixing between the Mediterranean Outflow Water (MOW) and its underlying water mass (Labrador Sea Water) on the morphogenesis of the contourite body. The simulated short-term sediment dynamics and bed-level elevation changes induced by density anomaly induced oceanographic fronts provide a reasonable explanation on the grain-size distribution pattern derived from a sediment-core transect across this body. Based on this good agreement, we hypothesized that local-scale strong gravity driven oceanographic fronts, generated by density disturbances in the mixing zone between two water masses, might play a significant role in the long-term morphogenesis of a contourite system.
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