Active slope failure, sediment collapse, and silt flows on the modern subaqueous Huanghe (Yellow River) delta

Abstract

Post-depositional slope instability and bottom mass-movement processes strongly modify the progradational subaqueous slopes of the modern Huanghe (Yellow River) Delta. Wide, shallow gullies dissect the submarine slopes with gradients of 0.3 to 0.4 °. Lower delta-front sediments experience hi situ subsidence, forming numerous collapse depressions. These processes are pronounced over much of the delta, incising and redistributing the most recently deposited silt-rich sediment. Principal causative factors include low sediment strengths created by rapid deposition in the delta during annual peak discharges from the river and severe bottom perturbations by surface storm-generated waves.

Sedimentology of early Pliocene sandstones in the south-western Taiwan foreland: Implications for basin physiography in the early stages of collision

“…Some of these sands are hectometric hydraulic bedforms (Boggs, 1974), whereas some are relict from summer currents (Johnson and Baldwin, 1996). Eventually, in the modern muddy deltas of the Yangtze and Huanghe, many slumps and slides occur on the delta-front (Bornhold et al, 1986;Lu et al, 1991;Prior et al, 1986b). Therefore, the sub-marine landscape was composed of: (1) a muddy shelf merging with subaqueous deltas and constantly reworked by bottom tidal currents (FA5.1), (2) large-scale sand patches or sand bodies merging laterally with the muddy shelf and subaqueous delta-front (FA5.2 and FA5.3), and (3) a collapsing delta-front (FA5.4).…”

Stratigraphic development during the Late Pleistocene and Holocene offshore of the Yellow River delta, Bohai Sea

“…More recently, Marsset et al (1996) carried out detailed investigations of late Quaternary sedimentary sequences in the eastern Bohai Sea by high-resolution seismic analyses, and Yan et al (2006) did the same in the western coastal plain of the Bohai Sea by drillcore analyses. However, highresolution analyses of the late Quaternary stratigraphy in the Bohai Sea are relatively sparse, especially in the area around the Yellow River delta, where many studies have focused on the Holocene sedimentation and stratigraphy and the modern sedimentary dynamics (e.g., Prior et al, 1986;Wright et al, 1988;Li et al, 1998;Saito et al, 2000). Owing to the high sedimentation rate, the late Quaternary sedimentary record in the coastal areas of the Bohai Sea serves as an important archive for improving our understanding of environmental variabilities in the Bohai Sea area in response of sea-level changes.…”

Dynamic process of turbidity generation triggered by the 2011 Tohoku‐Oki earthquake

“…Submarine landsliding is a geologic hazard that can induce tsunami waves and cause destruction of structures on the coast and seafloor. Mechanisms that induce submarine slope failure include storm waves [e.g., Prior et al , 1986; Hampton et al , 1996], earthquakes, tsunamis, hyperpycnal flows [e.g., Mulder et al , 2003; Goldfinger et al , 2012], tides [ Prior et al , 1982], and rapid sedimentation on slopes [ Mandl and Crans , 1981]. Slope failure can generate turbidity anomalies in the deep sea and it sometimes leads to a large submarine landslide.…”