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Flow‐process controls on grain type distribution in an experimental turbidity current deposit: Implications for detrital signal preservation and microplastic distribution in submarine fans
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This experimental study simulated underwater sediment flows (turbidity currents) to understand how grain type and size distribute across deep-sea deposits. The findings suggest that microplastics, which behave differently from natural sediments, may concentrate in specific zones of deep-sea fans, affecting how pollution archives in the seafloor.
Abstract Deep‐water depositional systems are the ultimate sink for vast quantities of terrigenous sediment, organic carbon and anthropogenic pollutants, forming valuable archives of environmental change. Our understanding of the distribution of these particles and the preservation of environmental signals, in deep‐water systems is limited due to the inaccessibility of modern systems, and the incomplete nature of ancient systems. Here, the deposit of a physically modelled turbidity current was sampled ( n = 49) to determine how grain size and grain type vary spatially. The turbidity current had a sediment concentration of 17%. The sediment consisted of, by weight, 65% quartz sand (2.65 g/cm 3 ), 17.5% silt (2.65 g/cm 3 ), 7.5% clay (2.60 g/cm 3 ) and 5% each of sand‐grade garnet (3.90 g/cm 3 ) and microplastic fragments (1.50 g/cm 3 ). The grain size and composition of each sample was determined using laser diffraction and density separation, respectively. The results show that: (a) bulk grain size coarsened axially downstream on the basin floor challenging the notion that basin floor deposits fine radially from an apex upon becoming unconfined; (b) no sample composition matched the input composition of the flow, indicating that allogenic signals can be autogenically shredded and spatially variable in sediment gravity flow deposits; and (c) microplastic fragments were concentrated in levee and lateral basin floor fringe positions; however, microplastic concentrations in these positions were lower than input, suggesting microplastics bypassed the sampled positions. These findings have implications for: (a) the development of ‘finger‐like’ geometries and facies distributions observed in modern and ancient systems; (b) interpreting environmental signals in the stratigraphic record; and (c) predicting the distribution of microplastics on the sea floor.
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