European Directory of Marine Environmental Data (EDMED)
Data set information
| General | |
| Data set name | Deep-ocean turbidity currents project dataset, 2019 - 2026 |
|---|---|
| Data holding centre | British Oceanographic Data Centre |
| Country | United Kingdom  |
| Project | How do deep-ocean turbidity currents behave that form the largest sediment accumulations on Earth? |
| Time period | 31 August 2019 to 13 April 2026 |
| Ongoing | No |
| Geographical area | Congo Canyon, off the coast of West Africa; Mississippi Canyon, United States; East Coast Canyons, United States |
| Observations | |
| Parameters | Vertical velocity of the water column (currents); Bathymetry and Elevation; Other meteorological measurements; Seismic reflection; Salinity of the water column; Temperature of the water column; Speed of sound and travel time in the water column; Horizontal velocity of the water column (currents) |
| Instruments | Current profilers; multi-beam echosounders; sound velocity sensors; Pinger sub-bottom profilers; CTD; current meters; single-beam echosounders |
| Description | |
| Summary | This dataset was collected under the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Discovery Science grants: NE/R001952/1 titled 'How do deep-ocean turbidity currents behave that form the largest sediment accumulations on Earth?', and NE/S010068/1 titled 'Developing a Global Listening Network for Turbidity Currents and Seafloor Processes', which were awarded to principal investigator Professor Peter Talling at Durham University. The dataset consists of moored acoustic doppler current profiles (ADCPs), moored temperature and pressure time series, shipboard swath multibeam bathymetry surveys, sub-bottom profiles (SBP), sound velocity profiles (SVP), ocean bottom seismometer (OBS) measurements, in addition to conductivity, temperature, depth (CTD) profiles and lowered acoustic doppler current profiles (LADCPs). The data were collected from a number of research cruises aboard the RRS James Cook and RRS Discovery between 2019 and 2026, with a further cruise scheduled for 2027. Research cruises JC187, JC209, DY173 and JC276 collected data to investigate turbidity currents from the Cong Canyon, west coast of Africa, while research cruise JC288 collected data to investigate turbidity currents along the United States East Coast Canyons and the Mississippi Canyon in the Gulf of Mexico. The data collected by these research projects are being used to improve understanding of submarine mass flows (turbidity currents and landslides) and their wider impacts, by making the first detailed measurements of turbidity currents that runout into the deep (2-5 km) ocean. The data will also help to improve understanding of seafloor processes and hazards by developing and demonstrating novel sensor systems, which can form widespread and long-term listening networks. |
| Originators | Bangor University School of Ocean Sciences Durham University, Department of Earth Sciences Durham University, Department of Geography GEOMAR Research Centre for Marine Geosciences Newcastle University, School of Natural and Environmental Sciences University of Bremen, Department of Geosciences University of Hull, Energy and Environment Institute University of Southampton School of Ocean and Earth Science |
| Data web site | https://www.bodc.ac.uk/data/published_data_library/catalogue/10.5285/dfe7a980-89d8-2830-e053-17d1a68b81ba/ |
| Availability | |
| Organisation | British Oceanographic Data Centre |
| Availability | Licence |
| Contact | Polly Hadžiabdić (Head of the BODC Requests Team) |
| Address | British Oceanographic Data Centre |
| Telephone | +44 (0)782 512 0946 |
| enquiries@bodc.ac.uk | |
| Administration | |
| Collating centre | British Oceanographic Data Centre |
| Local identifier | 1048DEEPOCEANTUBIDITY_CONGOBASIN |
| Global identifier | 7190 |
| Last revised | 2026-08-20 |