INFLO1 - A MODEL PREDICTING THE BEHAVIOR OF TURBIDITY CURRENTS GENERATED AT RIVER MOUTHS

INFLO1 is an ANSI standard FORTRAN-77 predictive sedimentation model t hat simulates the behaviour of a hyperpycnal inflow. From data on disc harge and sediment load at the river mouth as well as the basin geomet ry, INFLO1 predicts the flow parameters of the resulting turbidity cur rent-flow thickness, velocity, volume and sediment discharge, and inte rstitial fluid density-and the deposition and erosion of sediment. Sen sitivity analyses show that the simulated deposit morphology is most a ffected by changes in the drag coefficient and that the internal depos it architecture, parameterized by vertical variations in mean grain si ze, is mast sensitive to the form of the flood hydrograph. Model predi ctions compare favourably with data derived from the 1663 Saguenay eve nt. Given that hyperpycnal inflows are relatively frequent both on rec ent and geological timescales, INFLO1 allows for the reconstruction of Bow parameters for past events yielding valuable paleoclimatic inform ation and the assessment of the potential affects of future hyperpycna l inflows on sedimentation patterns and subaqueous structures. (C) 199 8 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.