The oceans hold many secrets, and one of them has just been discovered.. The existence of mysterious structures on the ocean floor indicates danger lurking in the darkness. Knowing that such events can occur requires us to develop a much better environmental monitoring network.
Scientists examined more than 300 samples from the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. They took them off the northwestern coast of Africa. The results of the analyses were combined with seismic and bathymetric data. It turned out that the researchers recorded an underwater avalanche, which from a small landslide turned into a devastating disaster.
The expert added: – What is so interesting is how the event developed from a relatively small beginning into a huge and destructive underwater avalanche, reaching a height of 200 meters and moving at an average speed of about 15 m/s, tearing up the seabed and tearing up everything in its path.
Experts have calculated that in the initial phase the avalanche had a volume of 1.5 cubic kilometers, but with distance it gained mass. At the end reached a volume of about 162 cubic kilometerswhich is more than 100 times its initial size.
In its “peak phase” the avalanche was moving at a speed of about 64 km/h. managed to carve a gigantic gash in the ocean floor, 15 km wide and 30 m deep. Traces of the great avalanche are visible as much as 2,000 km from the starting point. Researchers suggest that the avalanche’s tongue spread over an area larger than Great Britain, burying everything under about a metre of sand and mud.
The avalanche came down in Agadir Canyonwhich is one of the largest underwater canyons in the world. At the same time, the extraordinary force led to the erosion of about 4,500 square kilometers of the canyon walls. Scientists agree that “extreme levels of erosion” occurred at that time.
The cause of the landslide is still unknown. The authors of the article suggest that it could have been a natural loosening of the material, or earthquakes.
Experts are shocked that such a large avalanche even occurred. At the same time, they point out that underwater landslides are particularly mysterious: almost impossible to record and very difficult to study. In addition, predicting where and when such an avalanche will occur is a downright daunting task.
Therefore, detailed analysis of past underwater avalanches can tell us a lot of important information about how powerful such events can be, under what circumstances they can occur, and how much of a threat they can pose.
As Sebastian Krastel from the Department of Marine Geophysics at the University of Cologne says: Our new study fundamentally challenges the way we perceive these events.. Before, we thought that large avalanches were only caused by large slope failures. But now we know that they can start small and grow into incredibly powerful and widespread, gigantic events.
Researchers note that underwater avalanches can affect the lives of people on the surfacebecause they can damage underwater installations such as oil and gas pipelines, as well as underwater internet cables.
– These findings have huge implications for how we try to assess potential the risk of geohazards to seabed infrastructure such as internet cableswhich account for almost all global Internet traffic, and which are critical to every aspect of our modern societies, Stevenson explained.
The research results were published in a scientific journal Science Advances.
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