Understanding transport of particles in fluids is fundamental in many branches of science, e.g., sedimentation in geology and delivery of nutrients through blood in medicine. Specifically, great interest lies in studying the evolution of a highly dense particle-laden fluid, known as turbidity currents. These flows are involved in the formation of geological structures known as turbidites. As sediments are slowly transported from rivers onto the ocean floor, large amounts of sand and mud can accumulate in submerged regions. If the bed gradient is large enough, sudden events such as tsunamis or earthquakes can trigger an underwater avalanche of the accumulated sediments. This resulting mixture of sand and water is called a turbidity current. While the flow moves along the ocean floor, sediments are constantly deposited and re-suspended, and the dense packing of the suspended particles gives rise to inter-particle collisions. All of these factors makes turbidity currents a highly complicated flow to model. If a region experiences repeated occurrences of turbidity currents, new sedimentary rocks will develop from the settled materials. These deposits are called turbidites, which may often constitute important oil and gas reservoirs.
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