Qualitative Hydraulics and Transport from Strata and Dynamics of Sandy Bedforms

University Of Wyoming, Laramie WY

Investigators

Abstract

Bed forms, ripples and dunes, are key indicators of water flow and sediment transport in sandy rivers, and therefore they are vital to understanding river management, coastal restoration, and surface water reservoir sedimentation. Additionally, they leave deposits that are a record of the ancient river conditions that create sedimentary rocks. These deposits can be used to determine the conditions of formation of subsurface reservoirs for water and hydrocarbons. To date, almost ubiquitously, models applied to bed form problems have used constant geometries representing bed forms that migrate to move sediment and create strata. This is in stark contrast to models of river processes that capture the dynamic nature of Earth's surface environments. This project will test a set of hypotheses derived by applying a dynamic model of bed form behavior to problems in 1) sediment transport mechanics, 2) bed material sediment flux, and 3) generation of fluvial stratigraphy. This will be accomplished through a suite of laboratory experiments, and relationships developed in these experiments will then be applied to interpreting ancient fluvial strata. The results of this project will benefit modern river planning, subsurface reservoir modeling, understanding of Earth's natural history, and the applied problems associated with these topics.