Threshold phenomena in erosion driven by subsurface flow

dc.creatorLobkovsky, Alexander E.
dc.creatorJensen, Bill
dc.creatorKudrolli, Arshad
dc.creatorRothman, Daniel H.
dc.date2005-02-08
dc.date.accessioned2026-07-07T03:03:39Z
dc.date.available2026-07-07T03:03:39Z
dc.descriptionWe study channelization and slope destabilization driven by subsurface (groundwater) flow in a laboratory experiment. The pressure of the water entering the sandpile from below as well as the slope of the sandpile are varied. We present quantitative understanding of the three modes of sediment mobilization in this experiment: surface erosion, fluidization, and slumping. The onset of erosion is controlled not only by shear stresses caused by surfical flows, but also hydrodynamic stresses deriving from subsurface flows. These additional forces require modification of the critical Shields criterion. Whereas surface flows alone can mobilize surface grains only when the water flux exceeds a threshold, subsurface flows cause this threshold to vanish at slopes steeper than a critical angle substantially smaller than the maximum angle of stability. Slopes above this critical angle are unstable to channelization by any amount of fluid reaching the surface.
dc.description9 pages, 11 figures
dc.identifierhttps://arxiv.org/abs/cond-mat/0502213
dc.identifierhttp://arxiv.org/abs/cond-mat/0502213
dc.identifierdoi:10.1029/2004JF000172
dc.identifier.urihttp://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/25833
dc.subjectSoft Condensed Matter
dc.titleThreshold phenomena in erosion driven by subsurface flow
dc.typetext

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