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Dr Esther Sumner MSci, PhD

Lecturer in Sedimentology

Dr Esther Sumner is Lecturer in Sedimentology within Ocean and Earth Science, National Oceanography Centre Southampton at the University of Southampton.

2012-present: Lecturer in Sedimentology, University of Southampton, Ocean and Earth Science.

2012-2015: Postdoctoral Fellow, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Moss Landing, California, USA

2010-2012: Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Leeds, School of Earth and Environment.

2009-2010: Postdoctoral Fellow, National Oceanography Centre Southampton, Geology and Geophysics.

2005-2009: PhD, University of Bristol, Department of Earth Sciences.

2001-2005: MSci (Hons) in Geology with First Class Honours, University of Bristol.

Research

Publications

Teaching

Contact

Research interests

My research aims to understand the fundamental processes that underpin a range of sediment laden flows, how we can model such flows experimentally and numerically, and determine how flow dynamics are ultimately recorded in their deposits in the geological record. Brief information about my various research projects can be found below and more information is available in the relevant publications, or by contacting me directly.

Direct monitoring of submarine gravity currents
I have several projects that use state-of-the-art techniques to directly measure the dynamics of field-scale submarine gravity currents. Despite their scale and importance in transporting sediment around our planet, there are currently remarkably few direct measurements of these types of flows.

I have been studying the three-dimensional flow dynamics of a field-scale submarine gravity current on the Black Sea shelf. This flow provides an opportunity to measure gravity current dynamics in exceptional detail and provides a rare analogue to dilute sediment-laden turbidity currents. This study is funded by NERC and is in collaboration with colleagues at the Universities of Southampton, Leeds, Hull and the National Oceanography Centre.

In 2014 I will be involved in deploying an array of monitoring equipment in Monterey Canyon, California. This project aims to make the first synchronous quantification of flow and suspended sediment dynamics in a field-scale submarine gravity current. This study is a collaborative study funded by NERC, MBARI and the USGS.

Understanding flow dynamics from modern and ancient deposits
The paucity of direct measurements of submarine gravity currents means that much of our understanding of the dynamics of these flows results from studying their deposits either in ancient outcrops or the deposits that they have left behind on the modern seafloor.

The Miocene Marnoso Arenacea Formation, Italy and the modern Agadir Basin, offshore Morocco are two unusual systems in which the deposits of individual flows can be correlated in detail over distances in excess of 100 and 1000 km respectively. Analysis of these deposits provides insight into the dynamics of the flows that created them. This study was funded by NERC and UKTAPS.

Submarine canyons are the conduits by which sediment, pollutants and nutrients are transported from the continental shelf out into the deep sea. I am currently analysing a dataset of several hundred precisely located cores collected using remotely operated vehicles in submarine canyons along the Californian margin in order to understand how sediment is transported and stored within these systems. This study is funded by MBARI.

Experimental and numerical modelling
The biggest direct dataset that we have about the dynamics of submarine flows are the deposits that they leave behind in the geological record. However, these deposits pose as many questions about flow dynamics as they answer. Experimental and numerical models provide opportunities to test new hypotheses about flow dynamics.

It is often difficult to generate high-concentration, fast flows in the laboratory. The annular flume in the sediment dynamics laboratory at the University of Southampton has no such issues. Experiments using high concentration muddy suspensions in this flume tank have revealed the profound influence of small changes in the mud content of flows on flow rheology and deposit morphology. Collaboration with numerical modellers at the University of Bristol has enabled the results of these experimental studies to inform and validate realistic numerical models of multiphase flows. These studies were funded by NERC and UKTAPS.

Turbidite palaeoseismology
Turbidites are increasingly being used as a proxy for past earthquakes because they may provide information about earthquake magnitude and recurrence intervals over multiple earthquake cycles. The results of such studies inform hazard prediction and mitigation strategies. We found no evidence that recent large magnitude earthquakes on the Sumatran margin generated widespread turbidites on the seafloor. This questions the validity of applying turbidite palaeoseismology on the Sumatran margin and highlights the need for more studies to test the technique globally.

Research group

Geology and Geophysics

Research project(s)

Frequency and emplacement dynamics of huge submarine landslides in the Norwegian and Greenland Basins: Implications for landslide-tsunami hazard

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Articles

Hage, S., Cartigny, M. J. B., Clare, M., Sumner, E., Vendettuoli, D., Hughes Clarke, J., ... Vellinga, A. J. (2018). How to recognize crescentic bedforms formed by supercritical turbidity currents in the geologic record: insights from active submarine channels. Geology, 46(6), 563-566. DOI: 10.1130/G40095.1
Paull, C. K., Talling, P., Maier, K. L., Parsons, D., Xu, J., Caress, D. W., ... Cartigny, M. J. B. (2018). Powerful turbidity currents driven by dense basal layers. Nature Communications, 9, [4114]. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-06254-6
Hizzett, J. L., Hughes Clarke, J. E., Sumner, E. J., Cartigny, M. J. B., Talling, P. J., & Clare, M. A. (2018). Which triggers produce the most erosive, frequent and longest runout turbidity currents on deltas? Geophysical Research Letters, 1-9. DOI: 10.1002/2017GL075751
Azpiroz, M., Cartigny, M. J. B., Sumner, E., Clare, M. A., Talling, P. J., Parsons, D. R., & Cooper, C. (2017). A general model for the helical structure of geophysical flows in channel bends. Geophysical Research Letters, 11,932–11,941. DOI: 10.1002/2017GL075721
Symons, W. O., Sumner, E. J., Paull, C. K., Cartigny, M. J. B., Xu, J. P., Maier, K. L., ... Talling, P. J. (2017). A new model for turbidity current behavior based on integration of flow monitoring and precision coring in a submarine canyon. Geology, 45(4), 367-370. DOI: 10.1130/G38764.1
Azpiroz, M., Cartigny, M. J. B., Talling, P. J., Parsons, D. R., Sumner, E., Clare, M. A., ... Pope, E. L. (2017). Newly recognised turbidity current structure can explain prolonged flushing of submarine canyons. Science Advances, 3(10), [e1700200]. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1700200
Bath Enright, O. G., MInter, N. J., & Sumner, E. J. (2017). Palaeoecological implications of the preservation potential of soft-bodied organisms in sediment-density flows: testing turbulent waters. Royal Society Open Science, 4(6), [170212]. DOI: 10.1098/rsos.170212
Amy, L. A., Talling, P. J., Sumner, E. J., & Malgesini, G. (2016). Current-aligned dewatering sheets and ‘enhanced’ primary current lineation in turbidite sandstones of the Marnoso-arenacea Formation. Sedimentology, 63(5), 1260-1279. DOI: 10.1111/sed.12260
Dorrell, R. M., Peakall, J., Sumner, E. J., Parsons, D. R., Darby, S. E., Wynn, R. B., ... Tezcan, D. (2016). Flow dynamics and mixing processes in hydraulic jump arrays: Implications for channel-lobe transition zones. Marine Geology, 381, 181-193. DOI: 10.1016/j.margeo.2016.09.009
Symons, W. O., Sumner, E. J., Talling, P. J., Cartigny, M. J. B., & Clare, M. A. (2016). Large-scale sediment waves and scours on the modern seafloor and their implications for the prevalence of supercritical flows. Marine Geology, 371, 130-148. DOI: 10.1016/j.margeo.2015.11.009
Talling, P. J., Allin, J., Armitage, D. A., Arnott, R. W. C., Cartigny, M. J. B., Clare, M. A., ... Xu, J. (2015). Key future directions for research on turbidity currents and their deposits. Journal of Sedimentary Research, 85(2), 153-169. DOI: 10.2110/jsr.2015.03
Peakall, J., & Sumner, E. J. (2015). Submarine channel flow processes and deposits: a process-product perspective. Geomorphology, 244, 95-120. DOI: 10.1016/j.geomorph.2015.03.005
Wynn, R. B., Huvenne, V. A. I., Le Bas, T. P., Murton, B. J., Connelly, D. P., Bett, B. J., ... Hunt, J. E. (2014). Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs): their past, present and future contributions to the advancement of marine geoscience. Marine Geology, 352, 451-468. DOI: 10.1016/j.margeo.2014.03.012
Sumner, E. J., Siti, M. I., McNeill, L. C., Talling, P. J., Henstock, T. J., Wynn, R. B., ... Permana, H. (2014). Can turbidites be used to reconstruct a paleoearthquake record for the central Sumatran margin: Reply. Geology, 42(10), e353. DOI: 10.1130/G36161Y.1
Peakall, J., Darby, S. E., Dorrell, R. M., Parsons, D. R., Sumner, E. J., & Wynn, R. B. (2014). Comment on "A simple model for vertical profiles of velocity and suspended sediment concentration in straight and curved submarine channels" by M. Bolla Pittaluga and J. Imran. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 119(9), 2070-2073. DOI: 10.1002/2014JF003211
Paull, C. K., Caress, D. W., Gwiazda, R., Urrutia-Fucugauchi, J., Rebolledo-Vieyra, M., Lundsten, E., ... Sumner, E. J. (2014). Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary exposed: Campeche Escarpment, Gulf of Mexico. Marine Geology, 357, 392-400.
Sumner, E. J., Peakall, J., Dorrell, R. M., Parsons, D. R., Darby, S. E., Wynn, R. B., ... White, D. (2014). Driven around the bend: spatial evolution and controls on the orientation of helical bend flow in a natural submarine gravity current. Journal of Geophysical Research, 119(2), 898-913. DOI: 10.1002/2013JC009008
Stevenson, C. J., Talling, P. J., Sumner, E. J., Masson, D. G., Frenz, M., & Wynn, R. B. (2014). On how thin submarine flows transported large volumes of sand for hundreds of kilometres across a flat basin plain without eroding the seafloor. Sedimentology, 61(7), 1982-2019. DOI: 10.1111/sed.12125
Paull, C. K., McGann, M., Sumner, E. J., Barnes, P. M., Lundsten, E. M., Anderson, K., ... Caress, D. W. (2014). Sub-decadal turbidite frequency during the early Holocene: Eel Fan, offshore northern California. Geology, 42(10), 855-858. DOI: 10.1130/G35768.1
Sumner, E. J., & Paull, C. K. (2014). Swept away by a turbidity current in Mendocino submarine canyon, California. Geophysical Research Letters, 41(21), 7611-7618. DOI: 10.1002/2014GL061863
Dorrell, R. M., Darby, S. E., Peakall, J., Sumner, E. J., Parsons, D. R., & Wynn, R. B. (2014). The critical role of stratification in submarine channels: Implications for channelization and long runout of flows. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 119(4), 2620-2641. DOI: 10.1002/2014JC009807
Stevenson, C. J., Talling, P. J., Masson, D. G., Sumner, E. J., Frenz, M., & Wynn, R. B. (2014). The spatial and temporal distribution of grain-size breaks in turbidites. Sedimentology, 61(4), 1120-1156. DOI: 10.1111/sed.12091
Paull, C. K., Caress, D. W., Lundsten, E., Gwiazda, R., Anderson, K., McGann, M., ... Sumner, E. J. (2013). Anatomy of the La Jolla Submarine Canyon system; offshore southern California. Marine Geology, 335, 16-34. DOI: 10.1016/j.margeo.2012.10.003
Sumner, E. J., Siti, M. I., McNeill, L. C., Talling, P. J., Henstock, T. J., Wynn, R. B., ... Permana, H. (2013). Can turbidites be used to reconstruct a paleoearthquake record for the central Sumatran margin? Geology, 41(7), 763-766. DOI: 10.1130/G34298.1
Sumner, E. J., Peakall, J., Parsons, D. R., Wynn, R. B., Darby, S. E., Dorrell, R. M., ... White, D. (2013). First direct measurements of hydraulic jumps in an active submarine density current. Geophysical Research Letters, 40(22), 5904-5908. DOI: 10.1002/2013GL057862
Dorrell, R. D., Darby, S. E., Peakall, J., Sumner, E. J., Parsons, D. R., & Wynn, R. B. (2013). Superelevation and overspill control secondary flow dynamics in submarine channels. Journal of Geophysical Research, 118(8), 3895-3915. DOI: 10.1002/jgrc.20277
Sumner, E. J., Talling, P. J., Amy, L. A., Wynn, R. B., Stevenson, C. J., & Frenz, M. (2012). Facies architecture of individual basin-plain turbidites: Comparison with existing models and implications for flow processes. Sedimentology, 59(6), 1850-1887. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-3091.2012.01329.x
Talling, P. J., Malgesini, G., Sumner, E. J., Amy, L. A., Felletti, F., Blackbourn, G., ... Akbari, S. (2012). Planform geometry, stacking pattern, and extrabasinal origin of low strength and intermediate strength cohesive debris flow deposits in the Marnoso-arenacea Formation, Italy. Geosphere, 8(6), 1207-1230. DOI: 10.1130/GES00734.1
Talling, P. J., Masson, D. G., Sumner, E. J., & Malgesini, G. (2012). Subaqueous sediment density flows: Depositional processes and deposit types. Sedimentology, 59(7), 1937-2003. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-3091.2012.01353.x
Dorrell, R. M., Hogg, A. J., Sumner, E. J., & Talling, P. J. (2011). The structure of the deposit produced by sedimentation of polydisperse suspensions. Journal of Geophysical Research, 116(F1), F01024. DOI: 10.1029/2010JF001718
Talling, P. J., Wynn, R. B., Schmmidt, D. N., Rixon, R., Sumner, E. J., & Amy, L. (2010). How Did Thin Submarine Debris Flows Carry Boulder-Sized Intraclasts for Remarkable Distances Across Low Gradients to the Far Reaches of the Mississippi Fan? Journal of Sedimentary Research, 80(10), 829-851. DOI: 10.2110/jsr.2010.076
Sumner, E. J., Talling, P. J., & Amy, L. A. (2009). Deposits of flows transitional between turbidity current and debris flow. Geology, 34(11), 991-994. DOI: 10.1130/G30059A.1
Sumner, E. J., Amy, L. A., & Talling, P. J. (2008). Deposit structure and processes of sand deposition from a decelerating sediment suspension. Journal of Sedimentary Research, 78(8), 529-547. DOI: 10.2110/jsr.2008.062
Amy, L. A., Talling, P. J., Edmonds, V. O., Sumner, E. J., & Lesueur, A. (2006). An experimental investigation of sand–mud suspension settling behaviour: implications for bimodal mud contents of submarine flow deposits. Sedimentology, 53(6), 1411-1434. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-3091.2006.00815.x

Conference

Clare, M. A., Cartigny, M. J. B., North, L. J., Talling, P. J., Vardy, M. E., Hizzett, J. L., ... Spinewine, B. (2015). Quantification of near-bed dense layers and implications for seafloor structures: new insights into the most hazardous aspects of turbidity currents. In Offshore Technology Conference 2015 (pp. OTC-25705-MS). Richardson, US: OnePetro/Society of Petroleum Engineers. DOI: 10.4043/25705-MS

Lecture on:

SOES3005: Sediments: ancient and modern
SOES2022: Field trip SE Spain

Dr Esther Sumner
Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, 7700, Sandholdt Road, Moss Landing, CA 95039

Room Number: NOCS/186/14

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