Sedimentary Processes and Geomorphology of Marine Environments

Marine sedimentary processes encompass the generation, transport and deposition of particles derived from continental erosion, biological productivity and chemical precipitation. Gravity-driven turbidity currents, wind- and tide-induced waves, and density-driven contour currents sculpt continental shelves, slopes and deep-sea basins. Sediment is routed from river deltas into submarine canyons and accumulates in minibasins and abyssal plains, forming characteristic features such as clinoforms, channels and levees. The interplay between external forcings—sea-level change, climate variability and tectonics—and internal system dynamics yields a stratigraphic record that archives environmental signals across timescales from seasons to millions of years. Submarine landslides and sediment gravity flows pose geohazards, triggering tsunamis and disrupting subsea infrastructure, while fine-grained deposits influence carbon sequestration and nutrient distribution in the deep ocean. Understanding these processes is essential for reconstructing past oceanographic conditions, predicting future sediment flux in a changing climate and managing offshore resources and hazards.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Recent studies have revealed that three-dimensional circulation cells within continental-slope minibasins generate inwards spiralling flows and powerful upwelling jets, limiting the trapping of fine sediment, organic carbon and microplastics and reshaping deposit geometry at sub-seismic scales. Observations of near-bed currents over multiple tidal and seasonal cycles offshore Mozambique demonstrate pronounced spatial variability, direction reversals and strong topographic steering, indicating that mixed regimes of turbidity and contour currents mobilise sediments in more complex ways than previously modelled. A revised reconstruction of major submarine slope failures off Norway has uncovered an earlier, large-volume slide beneath the Storegga scar, implying that such mass movements recur more frequently, elevate tsunami risk and influence long-term margin evolution.

Sedimentary Processes and Geomorphology of Marine Environments publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in sedimentary processes and geomorphology of marine environments across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Turbidity current: A sediment-laden, gravity-driven flow that transports clastic material downslope along the seabed.

Contour current: A persistent, density-driven current that flows parallel to bathymetric contours on continental slopes and redistributes fine sediments.

Clinoform: An inclined depositional surface or set of surfaces formed by the seaward progradation of sediment bodies such as deltas or shelf edges.

Submarine canyon: Deep, steep-walled valleys incised into continental shelves and slopes, acting as conduits for sediment gravity flows.

Hemipelagite: A fine-grained deep-water deposit formed by a mixture of pelagic settling and dilute sediment gravity flows.

Sediment-routing system: The interconnected source-to-sink pathways that deliver sediment from terrestrial or coastal origins to marine depositional basins.

References

1. Circulation of hydraulically ponded turbidity currents and the filling of continental slope minibasins. Nature Communications (2024).
2. Highly variable deep-sea currents over tidal and seasonal timescales. Nature Geoscience (2024).
3. Revised Storegga Slide reconstruction reveals two major submarine landslides 12,000 years apart. Communications Earth & Environment (2023).
4. The Global Turbidity Current Pump and Its Implications for Organic Carbon Cycling. Annual Review of Marine Science (2023).
5. Environmental signal propagation in sedimentary systems across timescales. Earth-Science Reviews (2016).
6. Distinguishing between Deep-Water Sediment Facies: Turbidites, Contourites and Hemipelagites. Geosciences (2020).