China study finds subsea cable-wrecking supercurrents more common than realised

AdvertisementScienceChinaScienceChina study finds subsea cable-wrecking supercurrents more common than realisedA team led by Tsinghua University says it has built a framework that could better predict and manage these powerful flows3-MIN READ3-MIN ListenVictoria BelaPublished: 12:00pm, 17 Jun 2026Scientists 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 framework the researchers have built for understanding the formation of turbidity currents, could help to better predict and manage these powerful flows, protecting underwater infrastructure and managing reservoirs.Advertisement“Self-accelerating turbidity currents are powerful, erosive gravity underflows that sever intercontinental telecommunication cables and reshape subaqueous landscapes,” they wrote in a paper published on May 26, by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.“Despite success in small-scale set-ups, field observations of accelerating turbidity currents have been rare, with only a few cases primarily in submarine settings,” according to the peer-reviewed paper.

05:00A ‘super’ El Nino is forming: what is it, and what’s coming?The team included researchers from the Yellow River Institute of Hydraulic Research, the University of Wyoming, the University of Illinois, Texas Tech University, Hokkaido University and Durham University.AdvertisementSelect VoiceSelect Speed0.

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