Linear stability analysis of transverse dunes

Hygor P.M. Melo, Eric J.R. Parteli, José S. Andrade and Hans J. Herrmann

Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, 2012, vol. 391, issue 20, 4606-4614

Abstract: Sand-moving winds blowing from a constant direction in an area of high sand availability form transverse dunes, which have a fixed profile in the direction orthogonal to the wind. Here we show, by means of a linear stability analysis, that transverse dunes are intrinsically unstable. Any perturbation in the cross-wind profile of a transverse dune amplifies in the course of dune migration due to the combined effect of two main factors, namely: the lateral transport through avalanches along the dune’s slip-face, and the scaling of dune migration velocity with the inverse of the dune height. Our calculations provide a quantitative explanation for recent observations from experiments and numerical simulations, which showed that transverse dunes moving on the bedrock (or “transverse sand ridges”) cannot exist in a stable form and decay into a chain of crescent-shaped barchans.

Keywords: Sand dunes; Pattern formation; Wind erosion; Granular matter; Transverse instability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:phsmap:v:391:y:2012:i:20:p:4606-4614

DOI: 10.1016/j.physa.2012.05.042

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