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A Surging Behaviour of Glacigenic Debris Flows

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Submarine Mass Movements and Their Consequences

Part of the book series: Advances in Natural and Technological Hazards Research ((NTHR,volume 31))

Abstract

Based on industry 3-dimensional seismic data, covering an area of 2,190 km2 of the continental slope offshore mid-Norway, the frontal part of glacigenic debris flow deposits have been studied. The debris flows are up to 6 km wide, 60 m thick and have a length of more than 40 km. Time-slices show that their frontal part is characterized by a zone of front-parallel lineations. The individual lineations are up to some tens of meters wide and they can be followed for several kilometers. In the seismic lines these lineations correspond to dipping reflections, probably formed by sediment compression and thrusting during the final stage of flow. Compression and thrusting implies a surging flow behavior, previously reported from experimental studies of hydroplaning. Thus a surging behavior of the studied flows is inferred to be related to the process of hydroplaning which may lead to surge due to acceleration and detachment of the frontal part from the rest of the flow. Hydroplaning also explains the long run-out of these flows.

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Acknowledgements

This work is a contribution to the Loslope project and we acknowledge the Research Council of Norway for financial support and the reviewers D. Winkelmann and B. O. Hjelstuen. The bathymetry for Fig. 39.1 was displayed using the Generic Mapping Tools (GMT) software (Wessel and Smith 1998). The University of Tromsø acknowledges Schlumberger for seismic interpretation software and Norske Shell AS for providing the 3D seismic data base.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geology, University of Tromsø, N-9037, Tromsø, Norway

    Jan Sverre Laberg, Runar Johansen & Stefan Bünz

Authors
  1. Jan Sverre Laberg
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  2. Runar Johansen
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  3. Stefan Bünz
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Correspondence to Jan Sverre Laberg .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Department of Earth Resources Engineerin, Kyoto University, Katsura, Nishikyo, Kyoto, 615-8540, Japan

    Yasuhiro Yamada

  2. Fukada Geological Institute, 2-13-12 Honkomagome, Bunkyo, Tokyo, 113-0021, Japan

    Kiichiro Kawamura

  3. Geological Survey of Japan, 1-1-1 Higashi, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8567, Japan

    Ken Ikehara

  4. University of Tsukuba, Yokodai 1-127-2-C-740, Tsukubamirai, 300-2358, Japan

    Yujiro Ogawa

  5. Institut de Ciències del Mar (CSIC), Passeig Marítim de la Barceloneta 37-49, Barcelona, 08003, Spain

    Roger Urgeles

  6. Natural Resources Canada, Bedford Institute of Oceanography, Geological Survey of Canada, Challenge Dr. 1, Dartmouth, B2Y 4A2, Canada

    David Mosher

  7. Woods Hole Science Center, United States Geological Survey, Woods Hole Road 384, Woods Hole, 02543, Massachusetts, USA

    Jason Chaytor

  8. , Geological Institute, ETH Zurich, Sonneggstrasse 5, Zurich, 8092, Switzerland

    Michael Strasser

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© 2012 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

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Laberg, J.S., Johansen, R., Bünz, S. (2012). A Surging Behaviour of Glacigenic Debris Flows. In: Yamada, Y., et al. Submarine Mass Movements and Their Consequences. Advances in Natural and Technological Hazards Research, vol 31. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2162-3_39

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