Flow resistance, sediment transport, and bedform development in a steep gravel-bedded river flume

Quantifying flow resistance and sediment transport rates in steep streams is important for flood and debris flow prediction, habitat restoration, and predicting how mountainous landscapes evolve. However, most studies have focused on low gradient rivers and the application of this work is uncertain for steep mountain streams where surface flows are shallow and rough, subsurface flows are not negligible, and there is form-drag from bed- and channel-forms that differs from those in low gradient rivers. To evaluate flow resistance relations and sediment transport rates for steep channel beds, experiments were conducted using a range of water discharges and sediment transport rates in a 12 m long recirculating flume with bed slopes of 10%, 20%, and 30%, and a bed of nearly uniform natural gravel. Flow resistance for planar beds and beds that developed bedforms match empirical models that account for bedload-dependent roughness. Some bedforms were atypical for natural rivers at these bed slopes, such as stepped alternate bars and upstream migrating alternate bars. Total flow resistance increased with decreasing particle submergence and energetic sediment transport and drag on bedforms. Using linear stress partitioning to calculate bed stresses due to grain resistance alone, sediment flux relations developed for lower gradient rivers perform well overall, but they overestimate fluxes at 20% and 30% gradients. Based on previous theory, mass failure of the bed, which did not occur, was predicted for the highest Shields stresses investigated at 20% and 30% bed slopes; instead a concentrated layer, four to ten particle diameters deep, of highly concentrated granular sheetflow was observed

Intense Granular Sheetflow in Steep Streams

Quantifying sediment transport rates in mountainous streams is important for hazard prediction, stream restoration, and landscape evolution. While much of the channel network has steep bed slopes, little is known about the mechanisms of sediment transport for bed slopes between 10% < S < 30%, where both fluvial transport and debris flows occur. To explore these slopes, we performed experiments in a 12‐m‐long sediment recirculating flume with a nearly uniform gravel bed. At 20% and 30% bed gradients, we observed a 4‐to‐10 particle‐diameter thick, highly concentrated sheetflow layer between the static bed below and the more dilute bedload layer above. Sheetflow thickness increased with steeper bed slopes, and particle velocities increased with bed shear velocity. Sheetflows occurred at Shields stresses close to the predicted bedload‐to‐debris flow transition, suggesting a change of behavior from bedload to sheetflow to debris flow as the bed steepens

The role of three-dimensional boundary stresses in limiting the occurrence and size of experimental landslides

The occurrence of seepage-induced shallow landslides on hillslopes and steep channel beds is important for landscape evolution and natural hazards. Infinite-slope stability models have been applied for seven decades, but sediment beds generally require higher water saturation levels than predicted for failure, and controlled experiments are needed to test models. We initiated 90 landslides in a 5 m long laboratory flume with a range in sediment sizes (D = 0.7, 2, 5, and 15 mm) and hillslope angles (θ = 20° to 43°), resulting in subsurface flow that spanned the Darcian and turbulent regimes, and failures that occurred with subsaturated and supersaturated sediment beds. Near complete saturation was required for failure in most experiments, with water levels far greater than predicted by infinite-slope stability models. Although 3-D force balance models predict that larger landslides are less stable, observed downslope landslide lengths were typically only several decimeters, not the entire flume length. Boundary stresses associated with short landslides can explain the increased water levels required for failure, and we suggest that short failures are tied to heterogeneities in granular properties. Boundary stresses also limited landslide thicknesses, and landslides progressively thinned on lower gradient hillslopes until they were one grain diameter thick, corresponding to a change from near-saturated to supersaturated sediment beds. Thus, landslides are expected to be thick on steep hillslopes with large frictional stresses acting on the boundaries, whereas landslides should be thin on low-gradient hillslopes or in channel beds with a critical saturation level that is determined by sediment size

Effects of coarse grain size distribution and fine particle content on pore fluid pressure and shear behavior in experimental debris flows

Debris flows are typically a saturated mixture of poorly sorted particles and interstitial fluid, whose density and flow properties depend strongly on the presence of suspended fine sediment. Recent research suggests that grain size distribution (GSD) influences excess pore pressures (i.e., pressure in excess of predicted hydrostatic pressure), which in turn plays a governing role in debris flow behaviors. We report a series of controlled laboratory experiments in a 4 m diameter vertically rotating drum where the coarse particle size distribution and the content of fine particles were varied independently. We measured basal pore fluid pressures, pore fluid pressure profiles (using novel sensor probes), velocity profiles, and longitudinal profiles of the flow height. Excess pore fluid pressure was significant for mixtures with high fines fraction. Such flows exhibited lower values for their bulk flow resistance (as measured by surface slope of the flow), had damped fluctuations of normalized fluid pressure and normal stress, and had velocity profiles where the shear was concentrated at the base of the flow. These effects were most pronounced in flows with a wide coarse GSD distribution. Sustained excess fluid pressure occurred during flow and after cessation of motion. Various mechanisms may cause dilation and contraction of the flows, and we propose that the sustained excess fluid pressures during flow and once the flow has stopped may arise from hindered particle settling and yield strength of the fluid, resulting in transfer of particle weight to the fluid. Thus, debris flow behavior may be strongly influenced by sustained excess fluid pressures controlled by particle settling rates

Intense Granular Sheetflow in Steep Streams

Quantifying sediment transport rates in mountainous streams is important for hazard prediction, stream restoration, and landscape evolution. While much of the channel network has steep bed slopes, little is known about the mechanisms of sediment transport for bed slopes between 10% < S < 30%, where both fluvial transport and debris flows occur. To explore these slopes, we performed experiments in a 12‐m‐long sediment recirculating flume with a nearly uniform gravel bed. At 20% and 30% bed gradients, we observed a 4‐to‐10 particle‐diameter thick, highly concentrated sheetflow layer between the static bed below and the more dilute bedload layer above. Sheetflow thickness increased with steeper bed slopes, and particle velocities increased with bed shear velocity. Sheetflows occurred at Shields stresses close to the predicted bedload‐to‐debris flow transition, suggesting a change of behavior from bedload to sheetflow to debris flow as the bed steepens

The role of three-dimensional boundary stresses in limiting the occurrence and size of experimental landslides

The occurrence of seepage-induced shallow landslides on hillslopes and steep channel beds is important for landscape evolution and natural hazards. Infinite-slope stability models have been applied for seven decades, but sediment beds generally require higher water saturation levels than predicted for failure, and controlled experiments are needed to test models. We initiated 90 landslides in a 5 m long laboratory flume with a range in sediment sizes (D = 0.7, 2, 5, and 15 mm) and hillslope angles (θ = 20° to 43°), resulting in subsurface flow that spanned the Darcian and turbulent regimes, and failures that occurred with subsaturated and supersaturated sediment beds. Near complete saturation was required for failure in most experiments, with water levels far greater than predicted by infinite-slope stability models. Although 3-D force balance models predict that larger landslides are less stable, observed downslope landslide lengths were typically only several decimeters, not the entire flume length. Boundary stresses associated with short landslides can explain the increased water levels required for failure, and we suggest that short failures are tied to heterogeneities in granular properties. Boundary stresses also limited landslide thicknesses, and landslides progressively thinned on lower gradient hillslopes until they were one grain diameter thick, corresponding to a change from near-saturated to supersaturated sediment beds. Thus, landslides are expected to be thick on steep hillslopes with large frictional stresses acting on the boundaries, whereas landslides should be thin on low-gradient hillslopes or in channel beds with a critical saturation level that is determined by sediment size

Flow resistance, sediment transport, and bedform development in a steep gravel-bedded river flume

Quantifying flow resistance and sediment transport rates in steep streams is important for flood and debris flow prediction, habitat restoration, and predicting how mountainous landscapes evolve. However, most studies have focused on low gradient rivers and the application of this work is uncertain for steep mountain streams where surface flows are shallow and rough, subsurface flows are not negligible, and there is form-drag from bed- and channel-forms that differs from those in low gradient rivers. To evaluate flow resistance relations and sediment transport rates for steep channel beds, experiments were conducted using a range of water discharges and sediment transport rates in a 12 m long recirculating flume with bed slopes of 10%, 20%, and 30%, and a bed of nearly uniform natural gravel. Flow resistance for planar beds and beds that developed bedforms match empirical models that account for bedload-dependent roughness. Some bedforms were atypical for natural rivers at these bed slopes, such as stepped alternate bars and upstream migrating alternate bars. Total flow resistance increased with decreasing particle submergence and energetic sediment transport and drag on bedforms. Using linear stress partitioning to calculate bed stresses due to grain resistance alone, sediment flux relations developed for lower gradient rivers perform well overall, but they overestimate fluxes at 20% and 30% gradients. Based on previous theory, mass failure of the bed, which did not occur, was predicted for the highest Shields stresses investigated at 20% and 30% bed slopes; instead a concentrated layer, four to ten particle diameters deep, of highly concentrated granular sheetflow was observed

Fluvial to Lacustrine Facies Transitions in Gale Crater, Mars

NASA's Curiosity rover has documented predominantly fluvial sedimentary rocks along its path from the landing site to the toe of the Peace Vallis alluvial fan (0.5 km to the east) and then along its 8 km traverse across Aeolis Palus to the base of Aeolis Mons (Mount Sharp). Lacustrine facies have been identified at the toe of the Peace Vallis fan and in the lowermost geological unit exposed on Aeolis Mons. These two depositional systems provide end members for martian fluvial/alluvial-lacustrine facies models. The Peace Vallis system consisted of an 80 square kilometers alluvial fan with decimeter-thick, laterally continuous fluvial sandstones with few sedimentary structures. The thin lacustrine unit associated with the fan is interpreted as deposited in a small lake associated with fan runoff. In contrast, fluvial facies exposed over most of Curiosity's traverse to Aeolis Mons consist of sandstones with common dune-scale cross stratification (including trough cross stratification), interbedded conglomerates, and rare paleochannels. Along the southwest portion of the traverse, sandstone facies include south-dipping meter-scale clinoforms that are interbedded with finer-grained mudstone facies, interpreted as lacustrine. Sedimentary structures in these deposits are consistent with deltaic deposits. Deltaic deposition is also suggested by the scale of fluvial to lacustrine facies transitions, which occur over greater than 100 m laterally and greater than 10 m vertically. The large scale of the transitions and the predicted thickness of lacustrine deposits based on orbital mapping require deposition in a substantial river-lake system over an extended interval of time. Thus, the lowermost, and oldest, sedimentary rocks in Gale Crater suggest the presence of substantial fluvial flow into a long-lived lake. In contrast, the Peace Vallis alluvial fan onlaps these older deposits and overlies a major unconformity. It is one of the youngest deposits in the crater, and requires only short-lived, transient flows

Quantitative assessment of uncertainties in modeled crater retention ages on Mars

With increasing high-resolution coverage of Mars' surface, crater count analysis is being used to estimate the formative ages of small depositional features (3 Ga) than nearby fans (~1–3 Ga). This analysis provides a simple quantitative framework for assigning probable surface age ranges for small features on Mars