Florian Pohl

University of Plymouth | UoP · School of Biological and Marine Sciences

Turbidity currents transport vast amounts of sediment through submarine channels onto deep-marine basin-floor fans. There is a lack of quantitative tools for the reconstruction of the sediment budget of these systems. The aim of this paper is to construct a simple and user-friendly model that can estimate turbidity-current structure and sediment bu...

Turbidity currents commonly bypass sediment in submarine channels on the continental slope, and deposit sediment lobes farther down-dip on the flat and unconfined abyssal plain. Seafloor and outcrop data have shown that the transition from bypass to deposition usually occurs over complex zones referred to as channel-lobe transition zones (CLTZs). R...

Turbidity currents flowing across the ocean floor encounter changes of the local bathymetry including abrupt reductions in slope gradient also known as slope breaks. Turbidity currents flowing across a slope break will change their flow dynamics and may start to deposit as a consequence. Previous experiments on turbidity currents crossing a slope b...

Although the study of microplastics in the aquatic environment incorporates a diversity of research fields, it is still in its infancy in many aspects while comparable topics have been studied in other disciplines for decades. In particular, extensive research in sedimentology can provide valuable insights to guide future microplastics research. To...

This presidency theme is based on the need to ‘Drive the global transition to zero emission transport’ and is grounded in HM Government publication ‘The Road to Zero - Next steps toward cleaner road transport and delivering our industrial strategy’ (2018). This highlights the need to address both gaseous and particulate emissions to ensure action t...

Tire wear particles are generated due to friction between the tire and the road surface and are assumed to present a major source of microplastic emissions to terrestrial and aquatic environments. It has been estimated that tire wear could account for 65% (18,000 tones annually) of all microplastics released to UK surface waters. Despite their appa...

The grain-size distribution of sediment particles is an important aspect of the architecture of submarine fans and lobes. It governs depositional sand quality and reflects distribution of particulate organic carbon and pollutants. Documenting the grain-size distribution of these deep-marine sedimentary bodies can also offer us an insight into the f...

Turbidity currents transport vast amounts of sediment through submarine channels onto deep-marine basin floor fans. There is a lack of quantitative tools for the reconstruction of the sediment budget of these systems. The aim of this paper is to construct a simple and user-friendly model that can estimate turbidity-current structure and sediment bu...

The grain-size distribution of sediment particles is an important aspect of the architecture of submarine fans and lobes. It governs depositional sand quality, and reflects distribution of particulate organic carbon and pollutants. Documenting the grain-size distribution of these deep-marine sedimentary bodies can also offer us an insight in the fl...

Not just settling What controls the distribution of microplastics on the deep seafloor? Kane et al. show that the answer to that question is more complicated than particles simply settling from where they are found on the sea surface (see the Perspective by Mohrig). Using data that they collected off the coast of Corsica, the authors show that ther...

Submarine lobes have been identified within various deep‐water settings, including the basin‐floor, the base of slope and the continental slope. Their dimensions and geometries are postulated to be controlled by the topographic configuration of the seabed, sediment supply system and slope gradient. Ten experiments were conducted in a three‐dimensio...

The threat posed by plastic pollution to marine ecosystems and human health is under increasing scrutiny. Much of the macro- and microplastic in the ocean ends up on the seafloor, with some of the highest concentrations reported in submarine canyons that intersect the continental shelf and directly connect to terrestrial plastic sources. Gravity-dr...

Submarine fans are formed by sediment‐laden flows shed from continental margins into ocean basins. Their morphology represents the interplay of external controls such as tectonics, climate and sea‐level with internal processes including channel migration and lobe compensation. However, the nature of this interaction is poorly understood. Physical m...

Submarine fans are formed by sediment-laden flows shed from continental margins into ocean basins. Their morphology represents the interplay of external controls such as tectonics, climate, and sea-level with internal processes including channel migration and lobe compensation. However, the nature of this interaction is poorly understood. We used p...

Turbidity currents and contour currents are common sedimentary and oceanographic processes in deep-marine settings that affect continental margins worldwide. Their simultaneous interaction can form asymmetric and unidirectionally migrating channels, which can lead to opposite interpretations of paleocontour current direction: channels migrating aga...

The increasing plastic pollution of the world's oceans represents a potentially serious threat to marine ecosystems and human health and has become a publicly well-known topic of growing attention. Today the global input of plastic waste into the oceans is estimated to be in the order of 10 million tons per year, with this figure predicted to rise...

The margins of submarine channels are characterized by deposits that fine away from the channel thalweg. This grain-size trend is thought to reflect upward fining trends in the currents that formed the channels. This assumption enables reconstruction of turbidity currents from the geologic record, thereby providing insights into the overall sedimen...

Particle-laden gravity flows, called turbidity currents, flow through river-like channels across the ocean floor. These submarine channels funnel sediment, nutrients, pollutants and organic carbon into ocean basins and can extend for over 1000's of kilometers. Upon reaching the end of these channels, flows lose their confinement, decelerate, and de...

The margins of submarine channels are characterized by deposits that fine away from the channel thalweg. This grain‐size trend is thought to reflect upward fining trends in the currents that formed the channels. This assumption enables reconstruction of turbidity currents from the geologic record, thereby providing insights into the overall sedimen...

Bypassing turbidity currents travel downslope while depositing only a minor part of their suspended sediment load. Along the way, they may encounter a slope break (i.e. an abrupt decrease in slope angle) that initiates the deposition of sediment. Depending on their proximal initiation point, these turbiditic deposits in slope-break systems can form...

Submarine lobes have been identified within various deep-water settings, including the basin-floor, the base of slope and the continental slope. Their dimensions and geometries are postulated to be controlled by the topographical configuration of the seabed, sediment supply system and slope maturity. While confinement has been suggested as a main c...

The principle transport agent in deep ocean environments are turbidity currents, avalanches of sediment and water that travel down the continental slope. Turbidity currents usually flow within deep-marine channels, comparable to terrestrial rivers on land, which can extend for 1000s kilometers across the ocean floor. At the downstream end of these...

In the ocean, sediment is transported by sediment-laden gravity flows, called turbidity currents, which flow in river-like channels on the ocean floor. These submarine channels funnel sediment from the continental coasts into the deep ocean and can extend for 1,000's of kilometers. At the end of these channels, turbidity currents lose their confine...

In the ocean, particle-laden gravity flows, turbidity currents, flow in river-like channels across the ocean floor. These submarine channels funnel sediment, nutrients, pollutants and organic carbon into the ocean basins and can extend over 1,000’s of kilometers. At the end of these channels, turbidity currents lose their confinement, decelerate an...

Turbidity currents are subaqueous gravity flows that transport sediment from the continents into the deep ocean. They flow down channels where they dominantly bypass their sediment load, transporting similar volumes of sediment as terrestrial rivers. Downstream of the channel termination, turbidity currents lose their capability to transport sedime...

Permian basin formation and magmatism in the Southern Alps of Italy have been interpreted as expressions of a WSW‐ENE‐trending, dextral megashear zone transforming Early Permian Pangea B into Late Permian Pangea A between ~285 and 265 Ma. In an alternative model, basin formation and magmatism resulted from N‐S crustal extension. To characterize Per...

The width and depth of submarine channels change progressively as the channels evolve. This is inferred to act as an important control on the rate of sediment loss due overbank and in-channel deposition. Understanding the downstream extraction of sediment from turbidity currents is important for the prediction of grain-size trends and volume distri...

Grain size and sorting are main rock features controlling depositional sand quality, which govern porosity and permeability of sandstones. The interest in careful and reproducible grain size evaluation has increased over the years. That seemingly easy analysis takes effort and needs to be done sensibly to obtain meaningful and reproducible results....

The deep ocean is the largest sedimentary system basin on the planet. It serves as the primary storage point for all terrestrially weathered sediment that makes it beyond the near-shore environment. These deep-marine offshore deposits have become a focus of attention in exploration due to the progressive depletion of conventional onshore reservoirs...

This study presents a classification for subaqueous clay‐laden sediment gravity flows. A series of laboratory flume experiments were performed using 9%, 15%, and 21% sediment mixture concentrations composed of sand, silt, clay, and tap water, on varying bed slopes of 6∘, 8∘ and 9.5∘, and with discharge rates of 10 m3/h and 15 m3/h. In addition to t...

Transformations of a subaqueous density flow from proximal to distal regions are investigated. A classification of these transformations based on the state of the free shear and boundary layers and existence of a plug layer during transition from a debris flow to a turbidity current is presented. A connection between the emplaced deposit by the flo...

Turbidity currents can travel downslope without depositing a significant part of their suspended sediment load. Typically, it is only after passing a break-of-slope that deposition starts at the more gently dipping abyssal plain. According to the established model, coarser grains are deposited first as they settle faster. Subsequent depletion of co...

In turbidity current systems break-of-slopes are often associated with a channel-lobe transition zone and occur at the transition from continental slope to abyssal plain, or perched on irregular or stepped slopes. Turbiditic deposits in break-of-slope settings can form reservoirs for hydrocarbons depending on their upslope termination. In high-effi...

The Grassi Detachment Fault is an Early Permian, low-angle extensional structure located in the Orobic Anticline. It separates the Variscan Basement in its footwall from the volcanic and sedimentary rocks of the Early Permian Collio Formation in its hanging wall. Its textures indicate a top-to-the-southeast displacement. The footwall basement consi...

The aim of the Eurotank Studies of Experimental Deepwater Sedimentology (EuroSEDS) is to elucidate the link between turbidity current processes and their deposits on the level of lithofacies (reservoir quality), facies tracts (reservoir heterogeneity) and architecture (reservoir architecture) by means of novel sandy turbidity current flume experime...

In turbidity current systems break-of-slopes are often associated with a channel-lobe transition zone and occur at the transition from continental slope to abyssal plain, or perched on irregular or stepped slopes. Turbiditic deposits in break-of-slope settings can form reservoirs for hydrocarbons depending on their upslope termination. In high-effi...

Turbidity currents carry sediment of different grain sizes in suspension. In various field datasets it is found that suspended sand is only deposited by turbidity currents at a limited height above the channel thalweg. This is hought to be a result of vertical sorting in the flows. Coarse grains are concentrated at the base of the flow hereas fine...

We show how new scaling considerations, which we term Shields scaling, have opened up new avenues of investigation in the physical modelling of deepwater depositional systems. We demonstrate the added value of the new approach with two examples: A) Channel-levee relief development. B) Depositional patterns in a break-of-slope setting. The flow dyna...

In turbidity current systems break-of-slopes are often associated with a channel-lobe transition zone and occur at the transition from continental slope to abyssal plain, or perched on irregular or stepped slopes. Turbiditic deposits in break-of-slope settings can form reservoirs for hydrocarbons depending on their upslope termination. In high-effi...

In turbidity current systems break-of-slopes are often associated with a channel-lobe transition zone and occur at the transition from continental slope to abyssal plain, or perched on irregular or stepped slopes. Turbiditic deposits in break-of-slope settings can form reservoirs for hydrocarbons depending on their upslope termination. In high-effi...

Paleo-flow and paleo-environmental reconstruction from ancient deposits is a critical task for earth surface scientists interested in the sedimentary record. Forming processes are commonly interpreted from the architectural characteristics of sedimentary deposits using quantitative relationships derived from experiments or geomorphic studies. Howev...

Many decades of studies of deposits and seascapes formed by turbidity currents have established a robust observational framework that demonstrates that depositional and morphological patterns are repeated through time and space. The process-modeling community has similarly made progress in the understanding of the distribution of suspended sediment...

The aim of the Eurotank Studies of Experimental Deepwater Sedimentology (EuroSEDS) is to elucidate the link between turbidity current processes and their deposits on the level of lithofacies (reservoir quality), facies tracts (reservoir heterogeneity) and architecture (reservoir architecture) by means of novel sandy turbidity current flume experime...

The Grassi Detachment Fault is an Early Permian extensional structure located in the Orobic Alps east of Lake Como (Froitzheim et al. 2008). The Grassi Detachment Fault separates the Variscan Basement in its footwall from the volcanic and sedimentary rocks of the Early Permian Collio Formation within its hanging wall. This contact is marked by a my...

The Ainsa Basin is the central part of the deep marine Graus/Tremp – Ainsa – Jaca Basin complex in N Spain. Formed as a result of thrust activity related to the evolution of the Pyrenees the Ainsa Basin contains a 4000 m thick, Eocene age deep-marine succession of the San Vicente Group that comprises individual sandbodies (up to 24), separated by m...

The Ainsa Basin is the central part of the deep marine Graus/Tremp – Ainsa – Jaca Basin complex in N Spain. Formed as a result of thrust activity related to the evolution of the Pyrenees the Ainsa Basin contains a 4000 m thick, Eocene age deep-marine succession of the San Vicente Group that comprises individual sandbodies (up to 24), separated by m...

The Grassi Detachment Fault is an Early Permian extensional structure located in the Orobic Alps east of Lake Como (Froitzheim et al. 2008). The Grassi Detachment Fault separates the Variscan Basement in its footwall from the volcanic and sedimentary rocks of the Early Permian Collio Formation within its hanging wall. This contact is marked by a my...

The Aínsa Basin of northern Spain contains a deep-marine succession comprising up to 24 sandstone bodies separated by thick marl-rich units. A detailed analysis of nine outcrops (>900 m of sediment profiles) from the Morillo Formation of the San Vicente Group, from the upper part of the basin succession, has enabled a reappraisal of the unit. Withi...

The Grassi Detachment Fault is located in the Orobic Alps east of Lake Como and was described by Froitzheim et al. (2008) as an Early Permian extensional structure. Many issues still remained unclear, like the exact timing of faulting and the extension from the well-exposed part of the detachment towards west. The Grassi Detachment Fault separates...

The Grassi Detachment Fault is located in the Orobic Alps east of Lake Como and was described by Froitzheim et al. (2008) as an Early Permian extensional structure. Many issues still remained unclear, like the exact timing of faulting and the extension from the well-exposed part of the detachment towards west. The Grassi Detachment Fault separates...

The Grassi Detachment Fault is located in the Orobic Alps east of Lake Como. It was first described by Froitzheim et al. (2008) as an Early Permian extensional structure which separates the Variscan Basement (Morbegno Gneiss) in its footwall from the volcanic and sedimentary rocks of the Early Permian Collio Formation within its hanging wall. This...