Self-channelisation and levee formation in monodisperse granular flows

Numerical modeling of self-channeling granular flows and of their levee-channel deposits

[1] When not laterally confined in valleys, pyroclastic flows create their own channel along the slope by selecting a given flowing width. Furthermore, the lobe-shaped deposits display a very specific morphology with high parallel lateral levees. A numerical model based on Saint Venant equations and the empirical variable friction coefficient proposed by Pouliquen and Forterre (2002) is used to...

Monodisperse dry granular flows on inclined planes: role of roughness.

Recent studies have pointed out the importance of the basal friction on the dynamics of granular flows. We present experimental results on the influence of the roughness of the inclined plane on the dynamics of a monodisperse dry granular flow. We found experimentally that there exists a maximum of the friction for a given relative roughness. This maximum is shown to be independent of the slope...

Flow rule, self-channelization, and levees in unconfined granular flows.

Unconfined granular flows along an inclined plane are investigated experimentally. During a long transient, the flow gets confined by quasistatic banks but still spreads laterally towards a well-defined asymptotic state following a nontrivial process. Far enough from the banks a scaling for the depth averaged velocity is obtained, which extends the one obtained for homogeneous steady flows. Clo...

Reservoir formation in shallow granular flows through a contraction

Levee-channel Deposits in Dry or Wet Debris Flows: a Tool to Understand Gullies Formation

Introduction: Recent gullies on Mars are observed on the wallslopes of the mid-latitude regions. They might sign the presence of fluid flows, likely involving liquid water, in a recent past [1]. However, authors have shown that dry flows might be an alternative to the formation of Martian gullies [e.g.2]. Levees are frequently present together Martian gullies independently of their location (du...