Physics – Condensed Matter – Soft Condensed Matter
Scientific paper
2012-02-13
Physics
Condensed Matter
Soft Condensed Matter
8 pages, 4 figures
Scientific paper
Sand-moving winds blowing from a constant direction in an area of high sand availability form transverse dunes, which have a fixed profile in the direction orthogonal to the wind. Here we show, by means of a linear stability analysis, that transverse dunes are intrinsically unstable. Any along-axis perturbation on a transverse dune amplify in the course of dune migration due to the combined effect of two main factors, namely: the lateral transport through avalanches along the dune's slip-face, and the scaling of dune migration velocity with the inverse of the dune height. Our calculations provide a quantitative explanation for recent observations from experiments and numerical simulations, which showed that transverse dunes moving on the bedrock cannot exist in a stable form and decay into a chain of crescent-shaped barchans.
Andrade Jose S. Jr.
Herrmann Hans Jürgen
Melo Hygor P. M.
Parteli Eric J. R.
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