Path selection in the growth of rivers
Abstract
River networks exhibit a complex ramified structure that has inspired decades of studies. But, an understanding of the propagation of a single stream remains elusive. In this paper, we invoke a criterion for path selection from fracture mechanics and apply it to the growth of streams in a diffusion field. We show that, as it cuts through the landscape, a stream maintains a symmetric groundwater flow around its tip. The local flow conditions therefore determine the growth of the drainage network. We use this principle to reconstruct the history of a network and to find a growth law associated with it. Finally, our results show that the deterministic growth of a single channel based on its local environment can be used to characterize the structure of river networks.
- Authors:
-
- Lorenz Center, Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139,
- Institut de Physique du Globe, 75252 Paris Cedex 05, France,
- Institute of Theoretical Physics, Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw, 02-093, Warsaw, Poland
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1235183
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 1348906
- Grant/Contract Number:
- FG02-99ER15004
- Resource Type:
- Published Article
- Journal Name:
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Name: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Journal Volume: 112 Journal Issue: 46; Journal ID: ISSN 0027-8424
- Publisher:
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; river channels; principle of local symmetry; harmonic growth; Loewner equation; fracture mechanics
Citation Formats
Cohen, Yossi, Devauchelle, Olivier, Seybold, Hansjörg F., Yi, Robert S., Szymczak, Piotr, and Rothman, Daniel H. Path selection in the growth of rivers. United States: N. p., 2015.
Web. doi:10.1073/pnas.1413883112.
Cohen, Yossi, Devauchelle, Olivier, Seybold, Hansjörg F., Yi, Robert S., Szymczak, Piotr, & Rothman, Daniel H. Path selection in the growth of rivers. United States. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1413883112
Cohen, Yossi, Devauchelle, Olivier, Seybold, Hansjörg F., Yi, Robert S., Szymczak, Piotr, and Rothman, Daniel H. Mon .
"Path selection in the growth of rivers". United States. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1413883112.
@article{osti_1235183,
title = {Path selection in the growth of rivers},
author = {Cohen, Yossi and Devauchelle, Olivier and Seybold, Hansjörg F. and Yi, Robert S. and Szymczak, Piotr and Rothman, Daniel H.},
abstractNote = {River networks exhibit a complex ramified structure that has inspired decades of studies. But, an understanding of the propagation of a single stream remains elusive. In this paper, we invoke a criterion for path selection from fracture mechanics and apply it to the growth of streams in a diffusion field. We show that, as it cuts through the landscape, a stream maintains a symmetric groundwater flow around its tip. The local flow conditions therefore determine the growth of the drainage network. We use this principle to reconstruct the history of a network and to find a growth law associated with it. Finally, our results show that the deterministic growth of a single channel based on its local environment can be used to characterize the structure of river networks.},
doi = {10.1073/pnas.1413883112},
journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America},
number = 46,
volume = 112,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Nov 02 00:00:00 EST 2015},
month = {Mon Nov 02 00:00:00 EST 2015}
}
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1413883112
Web of Science
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