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Incipient bedforms in a bidirectional wind regime

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 January 2019

Cyril Gadal Open the ORCID record for Cyril Gadal [Opens in a new window] ,
Clément Narteau Open the ORCID record for Clément Narteau [Opens in a new window] ,
Sylvain Courrech du Pont ,
Olivier Rozier Open the ORCID record for Olivier Rozier [Opens in a new window]  and
Philippe Claudin Open the ORCID record for Philippe Claudin [Opens in a new window]
Cyril Gadal*
Affiliation:
Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Université Paris-Diderot, UMR 7154 CNRS, 1 rue Jussieu, 75238 Paris CEDEX 05, France
Clément Narteau
Affiliation:
Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Université Paris-Diderot, UMR 7154 CNRS, 1 rue Jussieu, 75238 Paris CEDEX 05, France
Sylvain Courrech du Pont
Affiliation:
Laboratoire Matière et Systèmes Complexes, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Université Paris-Diderot, UMR 7057 CNRS, Bâtiment Condorcet, 10 rue Alice Domon et Léonie Duquet, 75205 Paris CEDEX 13, France
Olivier Rozier
Affiliation:
Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Université Paris-Diderot, UMR 7154 CNRS, 1 rue Jussieu, 75238 Paris CEDEX 05, France
Philippe Claudin
Affiliation:
Physique et Mécanique des Milieux Hétérogènes, PMMH UMR 7636 CNRS, ESPCI PSL Research University, Sorbonne Université, Sorbonne Paris Cité, 10 rue Vauquelin, 75005 Paris, France
*
†Email address for correspondence: gadal@ipgp.fr
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Abstract

Most terrestrial sand seas form at ‘horse’ latitudes, where the wind direction exhibits seasonal variation. Here, we extend the two-dimensional linear stability analysis of a flat sand bed associated with a unidirectional wind to the three-dimensional case in order to account for multidirectional wind regimes. Focusing on the simplest case of bidirectional flow regimes, we show that the transition from transverse to oblique or longitudinal patterns is controlled by the transport ratio and the divergence angle between the two flows. Our predictions agree with previous results for dune orientation, and also provide a wider range of possible alignments depending on flow strength, especially when the two winds are perpendicular, at which the transition occurs. This analysis also predicts the selected pattern wavelength, which either decreases close to the transition angle for strong winds, due to a geometric effect, or increases at low winds, when the bed slope affects the transport. This theoretical analysis is complemented by analogous subaqueous experiments, where bedforms are submitted to alternate water flows. For transverse bedforms, the experimental data validate the model at strong flows, providing evidence for the predicted geometric effect, but also for the increase of the wavelength close to the transport threshold. For longitudinal bedforms, a discrepancy is observed, which we interpret as the sign of enhanced nonlinearities induced by the development of slip faces when the flow alternately blows on both sides of the dune.

JFM classification

Geophysical and Geological Flows: Sediment transport
Type
JFM Papers
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 862 , 10 March 2019 , pp. 490 - 516
Copyright
© 2019 Cambridge University Press 

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