Turbidites form as a result of turbidity currents, a form of turbulent, sediment bearing gravity current. They are comparable to avalanches, moving due to the density excess provided by the suspended material, but travel under water. They are responsible for distributing vast amounts of clastic sediment into the deep ocean. Lithified accumulations of these deposits may, in time, become hydrocarbon reservoirs, and the oil industry makes strenuous efforts to predict the location, overall shape and internal character of these sediment bodies.
