Granular size segregation in underwater sand ripples

Abstract

We report an experimental study of a binary sand bed under an oscillating water flow. The formation and evolution of ripples is observed. The appearance of a granular segregation is shown to strongly depend on the sand bed preparation. The initial wavelength of the mixture is measured. In the final steady state, a segregation in volume is observed instead of a segregation at the surface as reported before. The correlation between this phenomenon and the fluid flow is emphasised. Finally, different ``exotic'' patterns and their geophysical implications are presented.Comment: 8 page