ABSTRACT
Introduction Gravity-driven flows, in a variety of forms ranging from turbulent suspensions to coherent sliding masses, are the major agents of downslope sediment transport in the deep sea. They sculpt the continental slopes into complex shapes, carry landderived sediment into the deep ocean basins, and redistribute biogenic sediment on a vast scale. Slope failures and resultant flows are often near-instantaneous events, capable of the destruction of marine installations and submarine telecommunications cables and, in some extreme cases, of generating deadly tsunamis. In ancient rocks, sand bodies once deposited by gravity flows, such as the sands found in submarine sediment fans, are a major reservoir facies for oil and gas, and have considerable economic importance.
