Experimental study of turbidity currents.

An experimental study of continuous, non-conservative turbidity currents was conducted within a towing tank facility at the St. Anthony Falls Hydraulic Laboratory. For the first time an important aspect in the dynamics of turbidity currents was taken into account, i.e. the entrainment of sediment from the bed into the turbid underflow. Twenty four experiments were completed for different initial conditions, sediment characteristics and slopes. The experimental data and the layer averaged equations of motion for a turbid underflow constituted the framework for the evaluation of assumptions and parameters. (A)