Tsinghua University researchers found that powerful turbidity currents occur in unexpected, gentle environments like reservoirs, posing a higher threat to subsea cables.

Scientists have known for decades that massive undersea flows called turbidity currents can reshape ocean floors and damage the vital cables which carry global internet traffic. But how they form and behave has remained elusive until now. An international team led by Tsinghua University has found that these flows are more common than previously believed, forming in gentle environments such as reservoirs and lakes, where such currents were thought to be impossible. The findings, along with a...