Articles | Volume 11, issue 4
https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-11-803-2023
https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-11-803-2023
Research article
 | 
15 Aug 2023
Research article |  | 15 Aug 2023

The probabilistic nature of dune collisions in 2D

Paul A. Jarvis, Clement Narteau, Olivier Rozier, and Nathalie M. Vriend

Related authors

Equilibrium distance from long-range dune interactions
Jean Vérité, Clément Narteau, Olivier Rozier, Jeanne Alkalla, Laurie Barrier, and Sylvain Courrech du Pont
Earth Surf. Dynam., 13, 23–39, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-23-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-23-2025, 2025
Short summary
Uniform grain-size distribution in the active layer of a shallow, gravel-bedded, braided river (the Urumqi River, China) and implications for paleo-hydrology
Laure Guerit, Laurie Barrier, Youcun Liu, Clément Narteau, Eric Lajeunesse, Eric Gayer, and François Métivier
Earth Surf. Dynam., 6, 1011–1021, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-6-1011-2018,https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-6-1011-2018, 2018
Short summary

Related subject area

Physical: Geomorphology (including all aspects of fluvial, coastal, aeolian, hillslope and glacial geomorphology)
Equilibrium distance from long-range dune interactions
Jean Vérité, Clément Narteau, Olivier Rozier, Jeanne Alkalla, Laurie Barrier, and Sylvain Courrech du Pont
Earth Surf. Dynam., 13, 23–39, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-23-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-23-2025, 2025
Short summary
Examination of analytical shear stress predictions for coastal dune evolution
Orie Cecil, Nicholas Cohn, Matthew Farthing, Sourav Dutta, and Andrew Trautz
Earth Surf. Dynam., 13, 1–22, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-1-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-1-2025, 2025
Short summary
Post-fire evolution of ravel transport regimes in the Diablo Range, CA
Hayden L. Jacobson, Danica L. Roth, Gabriel Walton, Margaret Zimmer, and Kerri Johnson
Earth Surf. Dynam., 12, 1415–1446, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-1415-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-1415-2024, 2024
Short summary
Landscape response to tectonic deformation and cyclic climate change since ca. 800 ka in the southern central Andes
Elizabeth N. Orr, Taylor F. Schildgen, Stefanie Tofelde, Hella Wittmann, and Ricardo N. Alonso
Earth Surf. Dynam., 12, 1391–1413, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-1391-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-1391-2024, 2024
Short summary
The Aare main overdeepening on the northern margin of the European Alps: basins, riegels, and slot canyons
Fritz Schlunegger, Edi Kissling, Dimitri Tibo Bandou, Guilhem Amin Douillet, David Mair, Urs Marti, Regina Reber, Patrick Schläfli, and Michael Alfred Schwenk
Earth Surf. Dynam., 12, 1371–1389, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-1371-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-1371-2024, 2024
Short summary

Cited articles

Allen, J. R. L.: The avalanching of granular solids on dune and similar slopes, J. Geol., 78, 326–351, 1970. a, b
Andreotti, B. and Claudin, P.: Aeolian and subaqueous bedforms in shear flows, Philos. Trans. Roy. Soc. A, 371, 20120364, https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2012.0364, 2013. a, b
Andreotti, B., Claudin, P., and Douady, S.: Selection of dune shapes and velocities Part 1: Dynamics of sand, wind and barchans, Eur. Phys. J. B, 28, 321–339, 2002a. a
Andreotti, B., Claudin, P., and Douady, S.: Selection of dune shapes and velocities Part 2: A two-dimensional modelling, Eur. Phys. J. B, 28, 341–352, 2002b. a
Andreotti, B., Fourriére, A., Ould-Kaddour, F., Murray, B., and Claudin, P.: Giant aeolian dune size determined by the average depth of the atmospheric boundary layer, Nature, 457, 1120–1123, 2009. a
Download
Short summary
Sand dune migration velocity is inversely proportional to dune size. Consequently, smaller, faster dunes can collide with larger, slower downstream dunes. Such collisions can result in either coalescence or ejection, whereby the dunes exchange mass but remain separate. Our numerical simulations show that the outcome depends probabilistically on the dune size ratio, which we describe through an empirical function. Our numerical predictions compare favourably against experimental observations.