Geometry of valley growth

DOI10.1017/S002211201100053XMaRDI QIDQ3097846zbMATH OpenOpenAlexWikidataFDO

Authors Alexander P. Petroff, Olivier Devauchelle, Daniel M. Abrams, Alexander E. Lobkovsky, A. Kudrolli, Daniel H. Rothman

Publication date 10 November 2011

Published in Journal of Fluid Mechanics (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/1011.2782

zbMATH Keywords

fingering instabilitygeophysical and geological flowspattern formation

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Stability and instability of geophysical and astrophysical flows (76E20) Hydrology, hydrography, oceanography (86A05)

Abstract: Although amphitheater-shaped valley heads can be cut by groundwater flows emerging from springs, recent geological evidence suggests that other processes may also produce similar features, thus confounding the interpretations of such valley heads on Earth and Mars. To better understand the origin of this topographic form we combine field observations, laboratory experiments, analysis of a high-resolution topographic map, and mathematical theory to quantitatively characterize a class of physical phenomena that produce amphitheater-shaped heads. The resulting geometric growth equation accurately predicts the shape of decimeter-wide channels in laboratory experiments, 100-meter wide valleys in Florida and Idaho, and kilometer wide valleys on Mars. We find that whenever the processes shaping a landscape favor the growth of sharply protruding features, channels develop amphitheater-shaped heads with an aspect ratio of pi.

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Cites work

• Dynamic Scaling of Growing Interfaces
• Spontaneous channelization in permeable ground: theory, experiment, and observation
• The penetration of a fluid into a porous medium or Hele-Shaw cell containing a more viscous liquid

Cited in

(7)

• A boundary-integral framework to simulate viscous erosion of a porous medium
• A free-boundary model of diffusive valley growth: theory and observation
• Symmetric rearrangement of groundwater-fed streams
• Flow and residence time in a two-dimensional aquifer recharged by rainfall
• The morphology of the martian ice caps: a mathematical model of ice-dust kinetics
• Active volume of water in a laboratory aquifer
• Poisson growth

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