Massive two-day underwater avalanche sprawls more than 600 miles across the Atlantic Ocean floor
07/06/2021 / By Virgilio Marin
A massive underwater avalanche off the coast of West Africa has spread more than 600 miles across the seafloor of the Atlantic Ocean. This is according to an international team of researchers, who detected the colossal two-day event in the Congo Canyon, a deep submarine canyon near the mouth of the Congo River.
The underwater avalanche is scientifically called a turbidity current, or the rapid, downhill flow of sediment-laden water. A turbidity current rushes downslope like an avalanche and can increase in speed and size as it flows. It forms when mud and sand on the continental shelf are loosened by earthquakes, collapsing slopes or other geological disturbances.
The turbidity current that occurred off the West African coast took place starting January 14 last year, but the researchers finished analyzing sensor data only recently. The team detected the current after the long lines anchoring some of the oceanographic moorings in the region snapped.
https://www.environ.news/2021-07-06-underwater-avalanche-traveled-600-miles-atlantic-ocean.html#
