Abstract
Multiple knickpoints have been observed in recent years on the lakefloor of Wabush Lake, Labrador, Canada. Two or more sequential high-resolution geophysical surveys have revealed that these knickpoints tend to migrate updip, i.e. upstream relative to the turbidity currents that overflow them. In order to understand the different processes accountable for the migration of these knickpoints, laboratory studies have been performed to reproduce the sedimentological setting and hydrodynamics of Wabush Lake. Knickpoints are topographic depressions, characterized by a steep slope and a flatter profile downslope and upslope. In the present case they are initiated by morphodynamic interaction between an erodible bed and an overriding turbidity current. A set of 22 experiments have been performed in a facility able to run continuous turbidity currents. Knickpoints created in laboratory are up to 1 cm deep and migrate upstream at variable speed. Experimentation results show that migration of the knickpoints is controlled by two factors: erosion by the turbidity current and a landsliding process in the knickpoint head scarp. Knickpoint migration has also been observed when no turbidity current was present. These results show that this phenomenon is governed by not only hydraulics, as previously described in the literature, but must also be studied from a geotechnical point of view.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Bolton MD (1986) The strength and dilatancy of sands. Geotechnique 36(1):65–78
Breusers H (1974) Suction of sand. Bull Eng Geol Environ 10(1):65–66. doi:10.1007/BF02634636
Eke E, Parker G, Ruiyu W (2009) Breaching as a mechanism for generating sustained turbidity currents. In: 33rd internation association of hydraulic engineering & research congress: water engineering for a sustainable environment, Vancouver, IAHR
Fernandez Rl, Cauchon-Voyer G, Locat J, Dai H-H, Garcia Mh, Parker G (2011) Co-evolving delta faces under the condition of a moving sediment source. J Hydraul Res 49(1):42–54. doi:10.1080/00221686.2010.538577
Fildani A, Normark Wr, Kostic S, Parker G (2006) Channel formation by flow stripping: large-scale scour features along the Monterey East Channel and their relation to sediment waves. Sedimentology 53(6):1265–1287. doi:10.1111/j.1365-3091.2006.00812.x
Kostic S, Sequeiros O, Spinewine B, Parker G (2010) Cyclic steps: a phenomenon of supercritical shallow flow from the high mountains to the bottom of the ocean. J Hydro-Environ Res 3(4):167–172. doi:10.1016/j.jher.2009.10.002
Krantz Rw (1991) Measurements of friction coefficients and cohesion for faulting and fault reactivation in laboratory models using sand and sand mixtures. Tectonophysics 188(1–2):203–207
Lohrmann J, Kukowski N, Adam J, Oncken O (2003) The impact of analogue material properties on the geometry, kinematics, and dynamics of convergent sand wedges. J Struct Geol 25(10):1691–1711. doi:10.1016/S0191-8141(03)00005-1
Mastbergen D, Van Den Berg J (2003) Breaching in fine sands and the generation of sustained turbidity currents in submarine canyons. Sedimentology 50(4):625–637
Meijer K, Van Os A (1976) Pore pressures near moving underwater slope. J Geotech Eng Div 102(4):361–372
Mitchell N (2006) Morphologies of knickpoints in submarine canyons. Bull Geol Soc Am 118(5–6):589–605. doi:10.1130/B25772.1
Normark W, Piper D, Hess G (1979) Distributary channel, sand lobes, and mesotopography of Navy submarine fan, California Borderland, with applications to ancient fan sediments. Sedimentology 26:749–774
Raaijmakers T (2005) Submarine slope development of dredged trenches and channels. Delft University of Technology, Delft
Schellart W (2000) Shear test results for cohesion and friction coefficients for different granular materials: scaling implications for their usage in analogue modelling. Tectonophysics 324(1–2):1–16. doi:10.1016/S0040-1951(00)00111-6
Sture S, Costes N, Batiste S, Lankton M, Alshibli K, Jeremic B, Swanson R, Frank M (1998) Mechanics of granular materials at low effective stresses. J Aerosp Eng 11(3):67–72. doi:10.1061/(ASCE)0893-1321(1998) 11:3(67)
Toniolo H, Cantelli A (2007) Experiments on upstream-migrating submarine knickpoints. J Sediment Res 77:772–783. doi:10.2110/jsr.2007.067
Torrey V (1995) Retrogressive failures in sand deposits of the Mississippi River. In: Thorne CR, Abt SR, Barends FBJ, Maynord ST, Pilarczyk KW (eds) River, coastal, and shoreline protection: erosion control using riprap and armourstone. Wiley, Chichester, pp 361–377
Turmel D, Locat J, Cauchon-Voyer G, Lavoie C, Simpkin P, Parker G, Lauzière P (2010) Morphodynamic and slope instability observations at Wabush Lake, Labrador. In: Submarine mass movements and their consequences, vol 28, Advances in natural and technological hazards research. Springer, Dordrecht, pp 435–446, doi:10.1007/978-90-481-3071-9
Van Den Berg J, Van Gelder A, Mastbergen D (2002) The importance of breaching as a mechanism of subaqueous slope failure in fine sand. Sedimentology 49(1):81–95. doi:10.1111/j.1525-139X.2006.00168.x-i1
Acknowledgments
The authors are grateful to A. Waratuke, E. Eke and E. Viparelli for their help with the experiments. We thank the Fonds de recherche sur la nature et la technologie du Québec (FQRNT) for a student grant to Dominique Turmel. We also thank Rio Tinto and the National Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada for their financial support. The authors would also like to acknowledge both reviewers, Hajime Naruse and Norihiro Izumi, for their constructive remarks.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2012 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
About this paper
Cite this paper
Turmel, D., Locat, J., Parker, G. (2012). Upstream Migration of Knickpoints: Geotechnical Considerations. 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_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2162-3_11
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-2161-6
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-2162-3
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)