Rolling Stones and Muddy Waters: The complexity of processes, deposits and stratigraphic architecture in short, steep, conglomeratic gravity current systems

Tim Cullen - University of Bergen

Gravity currents span a broad spectrum of flows with complex variable transport and depositional processes which the community has greatly improved it’s understanding of over the past few decades. However there remains a substantial gap in our understanding of very coarse grained flows with broad grain-size mixtures around the steep slopes typical of active rift margins. In this talk we’ll visit some superb exposures from the Gulf of Corinth rift, Greece and compare these to subsurface and other outcrop examples to highlight this diversity of processes that may occur as a result of the very broad grain-size range within such flows and what this could mean for the role of momentum in governing sediment bypass of different sizes beyond base of slope breaks.