Research progress on architectural patterns and formation mechanisms of deep-water unidirectionally migrating channels
Zhou Wei1,2
1 College of Energy,Chengdu University of Technology,Chengdu 610059,China; 2 State Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Reservoir Geology and Exploitation,Chengdu University of Technology,Chengdu 610059,China
Abstract：Deep-water channels are a common topography developed on continental slopes-submarine plains. Unidirectionally migrating channels(UMCs)are a special type of deep-water channels,which are mainly caused by the interaction of the down-slope turbidity currents with along-slope bottom currents(i.e. contour currents). There are currently two distinct patterns in the migration-architecture characteristics of UMCs. The first is the downstream migration pattern,where the channel migrates unidirectionally in the direction of the contour current,and is characterized by an asymmetric‘U’or‘V’ shaped channel profile,a straight to low-sinuosity plan form,and a predominance of intra-channel erosion-infill construction lacking of bilateral outer levees. The second is the upstream migration pattern,where the channel migrates unidirectionally in the direction of the source of the contour current,which is characterized by an asymmetrical‘gull-wing shaped’ channel profile,a low-to high-sinuosity plan form,and is dominated by the channel-levee construction with a single, more developed outer levee. These two distinct migration-architecture characteristics suggest that the formation mechanisms and the paleoceanographic significance of deep-water UMCs of interacting origin are still highly controversial. Interaction simulation experiments of modern gravity flows and bottom currents(e.g.,flume-tank experiments and numerical simulations),geological outcrop analyses,and in-situ near-seafloor flow monitoring may be the most powerful tools of resolving these controversies.
Zhou Wei. Research progress on architectural patterns and formation mechanisms of deep-water unidirectionally migrating channels[J]. JOPC, 2021, 23(6): 1082-1093.
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