This project focuses on forearc sediment transport by turbidity currents. The study area is located south of the Aleutian volcanic arc, North Pacific Ocean. Two important sedimentologic phenomena will be addressed: (1) upslope flow of unconfined turbidity currents, and (2) interdigitation between transverse influx into the trench and axial flows. Upslope sediment transport is an extremely important process to consider because it allows bypassing of bathymetric obstructions even in the absence of large erosional features (i.e., submarine canyons). Three independent phases of research are required to document patterns of forearc sediment transport in convincing detail: (1) quantification of detrital mineralogy for turbidite sands, and identification of provenance; (2) quantification of detrital mineralogy for continental shelf sands, and identification of provenance; (3) interpretation of bathymetric/seismic data, together with GLORIA sonar images, as a means of charting all potential flow paths for turbidity currents. %%% Turbidity currents represent the single most important physical process responsible for transport of sandy epiclastic detritus into deep-marine depositional environments. Future research on turbidity currents should concentrate on: (1) the physical character and hydrodynamic evolution of individual flow events; and (2) the stratigraphic cyclicity of turbidite deposits within specific sub-environments of deposition. The latter goal will be satisfied only through deep ocean drilling. The former goal will be satisfied, in part, by this study.
