A PRELIMINARY EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF TURBIDITE FAN DEPOSITS

Scaling issues are common when large sedimentological features, like turbidite fans, are modeled in the laboratory. To minimize these issues, large facilities are required. With the implementation of a few novel experimental techniques, we were able to produce a 5m x 5m turbidite fan that was fluid-mechanically similar to large-scale flows. We will present preliminary laboratory experimental results that demonstrate lobe switching and the beginnings of channel formation in a turbidite fan. After a significant number of individual event beds (more than eight) in both experimental fans, the flow began to focus itself. Lobe switching occurred after nearly twenty event beds. The densest, coarsest runs appeared to initiate the switching of the depocenter. Additional scale effects and measurement limitations limit quantitative extension of the results to natural settings, though some general relationships will be proposed.