In a crazy discovery, the University of Liverpool's news researchers found what led to the evolution of a gigantic underwater avalanche around 60,000 years ago and how it led to destruction.&nbsp;

More than 300 core samples taken from the seafloor of the Atlantic Ocean off the North West coast of Africa more than 40 years ago were used by the team. 
&nbsp; 
The scientists combined the area's bathymetry and seismic data and created a map of the avalanche as it turned from a small underwater landslide into a devastating climactic event.

“This is the first time anyone has managed to map out an entire individual underwater avalanche of this size and calculate its growth factor,” said Chris Stevenson, who is co-leader of the team and a sedimentologist from the University of Liverpool’s School of Environmental Sciences, in a&nbsp;statement.&nbsp;

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“What is so interesting is how the event grew from a relatively small start into a huge and devastating submarine avalanche,” he added, further explaining, “reaching heights of 200 meters [656 feet] as it moved at a speed of about 15 m/s [49 feet/second] ripping out the sea floor and tearing everything out in its way.”

<h2>How destructive was the underwater avalanche mapped by scientists?</h2>

The ancient underwater avalanche, which has been mapped by scientists, started at only 1.5 cubic kilometres (0.36 cubic miles) in volume, but later it turned massive and became a huge and powerful avalanche that eventually eroded one of the largest submarine canyons in the world, which was known as the Agadir Canyon, along with almost 4,500 square kilometres (1,738 square miles) of the canyon walls.

“To put it in perspective: that’s an avalanche the size of a skyscraper, moving at more than 40 mph [64 kmph] from Liverpool to London, which digs out a trench 30 m [98 feet] deep and 15 km [9.3 miles] wide, destroying everything in its path,” said Stevenson.

“Then it spreads across an area larger than the UK, burying it under about a metre of sand and mud," he added.

Speaking about the study, the head of Marine Geophysics at Kiel University, Sebastian Krastel, said, “Our new insight fundamentally challenges how we view these events."

Watch:&nbsp;Thick, voluminous clouds descend on Swiss Alps

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/thick-voluminous-clouds-descend-on-swiss-alps-754119/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

“Before this study, we thought that big avalanches only came from big slope failures. But now, we know that they can start small and grow into extremely powerful and extensive giant events," he added.

The scientists noted that the prehistoric avalanche grew by around 12-25 times larger than a normal avalanche.

“We calculate the growth factor to be at least 100,” said Christoph Bottner, who is the co-leader of the team and a Marie-Curie research fellow at Aarhus University in Denmark.&nbsp;

“We have also seen this extreme growth in smaller submarine avalanches measured elsewhere,” said Bottner. “So we think this might be a specific behaviour associated with underwater avalanches and is something we plan to investigate further," he added.&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)

In a crazy discovery, the University of Liverpool's news researchers found what led to the evolution of a gigantic underwater avalanche around 60,000 years ago and how it led to destruction.

In a crazy discovery, the University of Liverpool's news researchers found what led to the evolution of a gigantic underwater avalanche around 60,000 years ago and how it led to destruction. More than 300 core samples taken from the seafloor of the Atlantic Ocean off the North West coast of Africa more than 40 years ago were used by the team. The scientists combined the area's bathymetry and seismic data and created a map of the avalanche as it turned from a small underwater landslide into a devastating climactic event. “This is the first time anyone has managed to map out an entire individual underwater avalanche of this size and calculate its growth factor,” said Chris Stevenson, who is co-leader of the team and a sedimentologist from the University of Liverpool’s School of Environmental Sciences, in a statement. Also Read: Are deep seas on Earth hiding alien life amid 'dark oxygen'? Study hints so “What is so interesting is how the event grew from a relatively small start into a huge and devastating submarine avalanche,” he added, further explaining, “reaching heights of 200 meters [656 feet] as it moved at a speed of about 15 m/s [49 feet/second] ripping out the sea floor and tearing everything out in its way.” How destructive was the underwater avalanche mapped by scientists? The ancient underwater avalanche, which has been mapped by scientists, started at only 1.5 cubic kilometres (0.36 cubic miles) in volume, but later it turned massive and became a huge and powerful avalanche that eventually eroded one of the largest submarine canyons in the world, which was known as the Agadir Canyon, along with almost 4,500 square kilometres (1,738 square miles) of the canyon walls. “To put it in perspective: that’s an avalanche the size of a skyscraper, moving at more than 40 mph [64 kmph] from Liverpool to London, which digs out a trench 30 m [98 feet] deep and 15 km [9.3 miles] wide, destroying everything in its path,” said Stevenson. “Then it spreads across an area larger than the UK, burying it under about a metre of sand and mud," he added. Speaking about the study, the head of Marine Geophysics at Kiel University, Sebastian Krastel, said, “Our new insight fundamentally challenges how we view these events." Watch: Thick, voluminous clouds descend on Swiss Alps “Before this study, we thought that big avalanches only came from big slope failures. But now, we know that they can start small and grow into extremely powerful and extensive giant events," he added. The scientists noted that the prehistoric avalanche grew by around 12-25 times larger than a normal avalanche. “We calculate the growth factor to be at least 100,” said Christoph Bottner, who is the co-leader of the team and a Marie-Curie research fellow at Aarhus University in Denmark. “We have also seen this extreme growth in smaller submarine avalanches measured elsewhere,” said Bottner. “So we think this might be a specific behaviour associated with underwater avalanches and is something we plan to investigate further," he added. (With inputs from agencies)

Scientists create first map of a gigantic ancient underwater avalanche

We’re all familiar with land avalanches that pose damage to life and property. But the damage caused by an underwater avalanche is touted to be more intense and a recent disaster on Africa’s western coast serves as testimony to the same.

An expansive underwater avalanche along the Congo river recently pushed sand over 1,100 kilometres across oceanic waters over 48 hours causing damage not immediately visible to the human eye.

Longest flow of sediment ever!

The damage disrupted internet in many parts of Africa, scientists claim. This avalanche marks the longest flow of sediment ever recorded in human history, for it travelled from the mouth of Congo river into the deep ocean, a new study posits.

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The avalanche hit Africa in January 2020, but details about it emerged just now. The most uncanny part of it all? We may have missed the avalanche’s occurrence altogether if it hadn’t disrupted telecommunications cables. The first sign of the underwater disaster was noticed when data traffic between Nigeria and South Africa slowed down considerably.&nbsp;

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According to The Guardian, the event was also recorded by devices that were placed underwater by scientists to track the speed of sediments and currents. The readings suggest that the flow of mud accelerated from five metres per second to eight metres per second as the avalanche picked up pace.

How did it happen?

According to a report on Earth ArXiv, the avalanche was caused by the flooding in Congo river which happened during the end of 2019. This marked the worst flooding event in the region in over 50 years.

Such avalanches or “turbidity currents” pose a serious risk to underwater connectivity for 99 per cent of global data traffic between continents happens underwater. If disrupted, services like the internet, cloud storage and financial trading could malfunction.

A similar underwater avalanche off the coast of&nbsp;Louisiana caused a major spill when an oil production platform was damaged. A National Geographic report claims that such avalanches are more common in the Gulf of Mexico than elsewhere and could cause further oil accidents if mitigation measures are not worked out in the near future.

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We’re all familiar with land avalanches that pose damage to life and property. But the damage caused by an underwater avalanche is touted to be more intense and a recent disaster on Africa’s western coast serves as testimony to the same.

We’re all familiar with land avalanches that pose damage to life and property. But the damage caused by an underwater avalanche is touted to be more intense and a recent disaster on Africa’s western coast serves as testimony to the same. An expansive underwater avalanche along the Congo river recently pushed sand over 1,100 kilometres across oceanic waters over 48 hours causing damage not immediately visible to the human eye. Longest flow of sediment ever! The damage disrupted internet in many parts of Africa, scientists claim. This avalanche marks the longest flow of sediment ever recorded in human history, for it travelled from the mouth of Congo river into the deep ocean, a new study posits. Also read: New dinosaur species discovered in Australia declared the continent's largest The avalanche hit Africa in January 2020, but details about it emerged just now. The most uncanny part of it all? We may have missed the avalanche’s occurrence altogether if it hadn’t disrupted telecommunications cables. The first sign of the underwater disaster was noticed when data traffic between Nigeria and South Africa slowed down considerably. Also read: Health of oceans matters to you. Here is why According to The Guardian, the event was also recorded by devices that were placed underwater by scientists to track the speed of sediments and currents. The readings suggest that the flow of mud accelerated from five metres per second to eight metres per second as the avalanche picked up pace. How did it happen? According to a report on Earth ArXiv, the avalanche was caused by the flooding in Congo river which happened during the end of 2019. This marked the worst flooding event in the region in over 50 years. Such avalanches or “turbidity currents” pose a serious risk to underwater connectivity for 99 per cent of global data traffic between continents happens underwater. If disrupted, services like the internet, cloud storage and financial trading could malfunction. A similar underwater avalanche off the coast of Louisiana caused a major spill when an oil production platform was damaged. A National Geographic report claims that such avalanches are more common in the Gulf of Mexico than elsewhere and could cause further oil accidents if mitigation measures are not worked out in the near future. Also read: Here's how a 24,000-year-old organism was recently able to reproduce

A massive underwater avalanche hit Africa in 2020. We're learning about it now.

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