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On the genesis and evolution of barchan dunes: morphodynamics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 February 2017

A. Khosronejad  and
F. Sotiropoulos
A. Khosronejad
Affiliation:
Department of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA
F. Sotiropoulos*
Affiliation:
Department of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA
*
†Email address for correspondence: fotis.sotiropoulos@stonybrook.edu
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Abstract

Barchan dunes are crescent-shaped formations of sand that can dominate both desert and subaqueous landscapes when the supply of sand is scarce. Because of the complexity and scale of the underlying phenomena, the mechanisms governing the entire process from the genesis to the long-term evolution of barchan fields still remain to be better understood. Herein, we attempt to present a description of this process in a subaqueous environment by employing a large-eddy simulation approach that couples turbulent flow and sand-bed morphodynamics. We show that the seeds of the emergent structure in barchan fields are random turbulent flow motions near the initially flat bed. We also provide high-resolution insights into phenomena such as barchan migration and merging, and show how transverse sand waves are formed and migrate over the barchan horns. Furthermore, the transverse sand waves over the barchan horns are shown to be the seeds of the newly born barchans at the end points of the two horns of a barchan through the process known as calving. To show this, we examine the celerity, wavelength and amplitude of the transverse sand waves over the barchan as they approach the end of its horn. The celerity and wavelength of these transverse sand waves are shown to be the defining factors in determining the frequency of the calving process. The amplitude of the newly born barchans (through calving) is also shown to be associated with the amplitude of the transverse waves near the end of the horn. The simulation data also show that the wavelength of the newly born barchans (the distance between individual dunes) is closely related to that of the transverse sand waves over their maternal barchan. Finally, we use the simulation results to discuss past conclusions derived from theory, conventional models and field observations.

JFM classification

Geophysical and Geological Flows: Geophysical and Geological Flows Multiphase and Particle-laden Flows: Multiphase and Particle-laden Flows Geophysical and Geological Flows: Sediment transport
Type
Papers
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 815 , 25 March 2017 , pp. 117 - 148
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© 2017 Cambridge University Press 

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Khosronejad et al. supplementary movie

Simulated instantaneous bed evolution in a window as wide as the flume and about 2 m long. Color map shows the contours of bed elevation. The movie is about 100 times faster than physical time and flow is from left to right. For full movie with premium quality email fotis.sotiropoulos@stonybrook.edu.

Download Khosronejad et al. supplementary movie(Video)
Video 9.8 MB

Khosronejad et al. supplementary movie

Simulated instantaneous 3D geometry of evolving bed colored with contours of dimensionless shear velocity along with vectors of bedload flux in a window as wide as the flume and about 2 m long. The movie is about 100 times faster than physical time and flow is from left to right. Note that unlike Movie 1, this movie starts hours after bed evolution has started to make the video file fit 10 MB limit. For full movie with premium quality email fotis.sotiropoulos@stonybrook.edu.

Download Khosronejad et al. supplementary movie(Video)
Video 9.6 MB

Khosronejad et al. supplementary movie

Simulated instantaneous iso-surfaces of dimensionless vorticity magnitude (=25) over the 3D geometry of evolving bed in a window as wide as the flume and about 2 m long. The movie is about 100 times faster than physical time and flow is from left to right. Note that unlike Movie 1, this movie starts hours after bed evolution has started to make the video file fit 10 MB limit. For full movie with premium quality email fotis.sotiropoulos@stonybrook.edu.

Download Khosronejad et al. supplementary movie(Video)
Video 9.5 MB