Areal and lateral changes in a major trailing margin turbidite—The Black Shell Turbidite

The Black Shell Turbidite on the Hatteras Abyssal Plain covers at least 50,000 km super(2), with a volume over 100 km super(3). It was initiated by failure on the upper continental slope and was channeled southeast through Hatteras Canyon to the plain. Provenance related shape studies indicate that on the plain the current separated into a sandy phase which flowed S-SE and lutitic phase, which traveled E-SE and then veered to the south. A change in the direction of slope caused the sandy phase to be deflected to the SE, where it merged with the lutitic phase on the eastern margin of the plain.