Erosional response of granular material in landscape models

Abstract

Abstract. Tectonics and erosion–sedimentation are the main processes responsible for shaping the Earth's surface. The link between these processes has a strong influence on the evolution of landscapes. One of the tools we have for investigating coupled process models is analog modeling. Here we contribute to the utility of this tool by presenting laboratory-scaled analog models of erosion. We explore the erosional response of different materials to imposed boundary conditions, trying to find the composite material that best mimics the behavior of the natural prototype. The models recreate conditions in which tectonic uplift is no longer active, but there is an imposed fixed slope. On this slope the erosion is triggered by precipitation and gravity, with the formation of channels in valleys and diffusion on hillslope that are functions of the analog material. Using digital elevation models (DEMs) and a laser scan correlation technique, we show model evolution and measure sediment discharge rates. We propose three main components of our analog material (silica powder, glass microbeads and PVC powder; PVC: polyvinyl chloride), and we investigate how different proportions of these components affect the model evolution and the development of landscapes. We find that silica powder is mainly responsible for creating a realistic landscape in the laboratory. Furthermore, we find that varying the concentration of silica powder between 40 wt % and 50 wt % (with glass microbeads and PVC powder in the range 35 wt %–40 wt % and 15 wt %–20 wt %, respectively) results in metrics and morphologies that are comparable with those from natural prototypes.

Response of Surface Erosion to Crustal Shortening and its Influence on Tectonic Evolution in Fold‐and‐Thrust Belts: Implications From Sandbox Modeling on Tectonic Geomorphology

“…Traditional physical modeling experiments mainly use dry sand (Babault et al., 2005; Barrier et al., 2002; Bigi et al., 2010; Bonnet et al., 2007; Corrado et al., 1998; Cotton & Koyi, 2000; Dahlen et al., 1984; Davis et al., 1983; Deng et al., 2017; Persson et al., 2004; Pichot & Nalpas, 2009; Simoes et al., 2007; Sun et al., 2003, 2016; Wu et al., 2014) and simulate syn‐sedimentation by adding material to the sandbox via sifting (Barrier et al., 2013; Bonnet et al., 2007; Pichot & Nalpas, 2009) and erosion by removing material via a vacuum cleaner (Konstantinovskaya & Malavieille, 2011; Malavieille, 2010). In order to reproduce channels, alluvial fans, and other associated landform features, a kind of material was tested (Graveleau & Dominguez, 2008; Graveleau et al., 2011; Reitano et al., 2020) to deeply investigate the mechanisms between structural deformation and surface processes under a mesoscale setting. This material can not only simulate erosion and deposition through channelization and diffusive processes but also model the structural deformation in compressional (Graveleau et al., 2008), extensional (Strak et al., 2011), and strike‐slip settings (Chatton et al., 2012).…”

Analogue modelling of basin inversion: a review and future perspectives

“…Moreover, the healing of faults over the period between initial extension and subsequent compression could cause important differences in fault reactivation (Hunfeld et al 2020;Rudolf et al 2021). Further attention could be dedicated to the inclusion of the interactions between tectonics and surface processes (Graveleau & Dominguez 2008;Graveleau et al 2011Graveleau et al , 2015Reitano et al 2020Reitano et al , 1180Reitano et al 2022Strzerzynsky et la. 2021), which may also significantly affect inversion processes (section 4.6).…”

“…7e). Scanning generates digital elevation models that can be processed in GIS software, allowing for instance the extraction of topographic profiles over time (Jara et al 2015;Reitano et al 2020Reitano et al , 2022. 590…”

Morphotectonic Evolution of an Alluvial Fan: Results of a Joint Analog and Numerical Modeling Approach

“…Since the pioneer paper of Hubbert (1937) [25], many studies have focused on analog models scaling (e.g., [19,20,[26][27][28]). Here, the scaling of our experiments was done by taking into account dynamic, geometric, and kinematic similarity criteria between model parameters and field observations.…”

“…A few previous studies combined analog and numerical approaches for studying the surface and tectonic processes at the crustal scale (e.g., [18]). This method is currently used to estimate erosion and sedimentation processes according to the granular composition [19] and the erosion influence on tectonics in a context of crustal shortening [20]. Following this approach, we investigated the evolution of a geomorphologic marker by comparing analog and numerical models.…”