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The sea floor of intraslope minibasins on passive continental margins plays a significant role in controlling turbidity current pathways and the resulting sediment distribution. To address this, laboratory analogue modelling of intraslope minibasin formation is combined with numerical flow simulations of multi-event turbidity currents. This approach permits an improved understanding of evolving flow–bathymetry–deposit interactions and the resulting internal stacking patterns of the infills of such minibasins. The bathymetry includes a shelf to slope channel followed by an upper minibasin, which are separated by a confining ridge from two lower minibasins that compares well with analogous bathymetries reported from natural settings. From a wider range of numerical flow experiments, a series of 100 consecutive flows is reported in detail. The turbidity currents are released into the channel and upon reaching the upper minibasin follow a series of stages from short initial ponding, ‘filling and spilling’ and an extended transition to long retrogradational ponding. Upon reaching the upper minibasin floor, the currents undergo a hydraulic jump and therefore much sediment is deposited in the central part of the minibasin and the counterslope. This modifies the bathymetry such that in the fill and spill stage, flow stripping and grain-size partitioning cause some finer sediment to be transported across the confining ridge into the lower minibasins. Throughout the basin infill process, the sequences retrograde upstream, accompanied by lateral switching into locally formed depressions in the upper minibasin. After the fill and spill stage, significant deposition occurs in the channel where retrograding cyclic steps with wavelengths of 1 to 2 km develop as a function of pulsating flow criticality. These results are at variance with conventional schemes that emphasize sequential downstream minibasin filling through ponding dominated by vertical aggradation. Comparison of these results with published field and experimental examples provides support for the main conclusions.

This study presents a classification for subaqueous clay-laden sediment gravity flows. A series of laboratory flume experiments were performed using 9%, 15%, and 21% sediment mixture concentrations composed of sand, silt, clay, and tap water, on varying bed slopes of 6 degrees, 8 degrees, and 9.5 degrees, and with discharge rates of 10 and 15m(3)/hr. In addition to the characteristics of the boundary and plug layers, which have been previously used for the classification of open-channel clay-laden flows, the newly presented classification also incorporates the treatment of the free shear layer. The flow states within the boundary and free shear layers were established using calculation of the inner variable, self-similarity considerations, and the magnitude of the apparent viscosity. Based on the experimental observations four flow types were recognized: (1) a clay-rich plug flow with a laminar free shear layer, a plug layer, and a laminar boundary layer, (2) a top transitional plug flow containing a turbulent free shear layer, a plug layer, and a laminar boundary layer, (3) a transitional turbidity current with a turbulent free shear layer, no plug layer, and a laminar boundary layer, and (4) a fully turbulent turbidity current. A connection between the emplaced deposits and the relevant flow types is drawn and it is shown that a Froude number, two Reynolds numbers, and a dimensionless yield stress parameter are sufficient to associate an experimental flow type with a natural large-scale density flow. Plain Language Summary Deposits of submarine density flows can be important hydrocarbon reservoirs. Quality of these reservoirs is primarily controlled by grain size and clay concentration of the sediment mixture at the time of deposition. These parameters are dictated by the structures of the sediment carrying flow at the time of deposition. This study proposes a classification for muddy subaqueous density flows based on the flow structures. According to this classification a clay-rich flow may fall within one of four distinct flow types: (1) a cohesive plug flow with laminar free shear and boundary layers and a plug, (2) a top transitional plug flow containing a turbulent free shear layer, a plug layer, and a laminar boundary layer, (3) a transitional turbidity current with a turbulent free shear layer and a laminar boundary layer, and (4) a turbulent turbidity current. A connection between the emplaced deposit and the relevant flow type is drawn through the results obtained from flume experiments. It is proposed that a Froude number, a boundary layer Reynolds numbers, a free shear layer Reynolds number, and a dimensionless yield stress parameter are sufficient to connect a flow type with a natural large-scale density flow.