Geometry of valley growth
Name
Rothman_Geometry of valley.pdf
Size
2.39 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
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Author(s)
Petroff, A. P.
Devauchelle, Olivier
Abrams, D. M.
Lobkovsky, Alexander E.
Kudrolli, Arshad
Rothman, Daniel H.
Date Issued
March 2011
Journal
Journal of Fluid Mechanics
Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Citation
Petroff, A. P. et al. “Geometry of Valley Growth.” Journal of Fluid Mechanics 673 (2011): 245–254.
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Although amphitheatre-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 amphitheatre-shaped heads. The resulting geometric growth equation accurately predicts the shape of decimetre-wide channels in laboratory experiments, 100 m-wide valleys in Florida and Idaho, and kilometre-wide valleys on Mars. We find that, whenever the processes shaping a landscape favour the growth of sharply protruding features, channels develop amphitheatre-shaped heads with an aspect ratio of π.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
Terms of Use
Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1017/s002211201100053x
