Movie:Underwater Debris Flow

Information Page: Underwater Debris Flow

Play Laboratory

Key Attributes

Domain:	coastal
Keywords:	underwater
Keywords:	debris
Keywords:	flow
Model name:	Animation model name
Name:	Gary, Parker
Where:
When:

Short Description

Grade level: Middle (6-8), High (9-12), Under graduate (13-16)

Statement: Underwater Debris Flow

Abstract: [[Extended movie description::The debris flow is made up of 30% water, 25% kaolinite clay and 45% silica. Two separate debris flow events are shown, labeled flow 2_2 and 2_4. The tank in this experiment is 395 cm long, 213 cm wide and 57.2 cm deep. The debris flow enters the tank at an angle of 9.20 and drops to 6.40 when the slope enters the water. In the first scenes (Flow 2_2) as the debris flow moves past the toe of the previous deposit it begins to hydroplane and speed up. The second scenes (flow 2_4) shows some loading and deformation of the water as it moves across the previous deposits. Sediment also begins to get diverted to the [lookers] right due to the effects of the previous deposits.

Turbidity currents can also be seen after the main debris flow has stopped at 1:09.]]

Theory

A debris flow is characterized as a liquefied mixture of sediment and water flowing down a slope. It is driven by the gravity acting on the sediment.