Authors
William O Symons, Esther J Sumner, Peter J Talling, Matthieu JB Cartigny, Michael A Clare
Publication date
2016/1/1
Journal
Marine Geology
Volume
371
Pages
130-148
Publisher
Elsevier
Description
Large-scale (20 m to 7 km wavelength) bedforms are common on the seafloor, yet there is a lack of consensus on how they form and thus what to call them. We conducted statistical analysis on a dataset of 82 seafloor bedforms that span a range of water depths and environments. The data form three distinct groups: 1) small-scale (20–300 m wavelength) sediment waves with mixed relief made of medium sand to cobble-sized sediment that form in confined settings, which we call small sediment waves; 2) large-scale (300–7000 m wavelength) sediment waves with mixed relief made of fine-grained sediment that form in relatively unconfined settings, which we call large sediment waves; and 3) large-scale fully enclosed depressions in the seafloor, which we call scours. There is a statistically significant data gap in the size of bedforms between small sediment waves and large sediment waves that does not appear to …
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