2005/04/21 by Florent Malloggi, F. Malloggi, Malloggi, F. +8
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Environmental Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Cryospheric studies and observations #FOS: Physical sciences #Landslides and related hazards #Seismic Waves and Analysis #Soft Condensed Matter (cond-mat.soft) #cond-mat.soft
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.cond-mat/0504548
4 pages, 6 figures, to appear in the proceedings of Powders and Grains 2005
arxiv created 2005/04/21 · openalex publication_date 2005/04/21 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We perform a laboratory-scale experiment of submarine avalanches on a rough inclined plane. A sediment layer is prepared and thereafter tilted up to an angle lower than the spontaneous avalanche angle. The sediment is scrapped until an avalanche is triggered. Based on the stability diagram of the sediment layer, we investigate different structures for the avalanche front dynamics. First we see a straight front descending the slope, and then a transverse instability occurs. Eventually, a fingering instability shows up similar to rivulets appearing for a viscous fluid flowing down an incline. The mechanisms leading to this new instability and the wavelength selection are discussed.