Articles | Volume 12, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-231-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-231-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Influence of cohesive clay on wave–current ripple dynamics captured in a 3D phase diagram
Xuxu Wu
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Energy and Environment Institute, University of Hull, Hull, HU6 7RX, UK
School of Environmental Sciences, University of Hull, Hull, HU6 7RX, UK
Jonathan Malarkey
School of Ocean Sciences, Bangor University, Menai Bridge, LL59 5AB, Wales, UK
Roberto Fernández
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA 16802, USA
Jaco H. Baas
School of Ocean Sciences, Bangor University, Menai Bridge, LL59 5AB, Wales, UK
Ellen Pollard
Energy and Environment Institute, University of Hull, Hull, HU6 7RX, UK
Daniel R. Parsons
Department of Geography and Environment, Loughborough University, Loughborough, LE11 3TU, UK
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Joshua M. Wolstenholme, Christopher J. Skinner, David Milan, Robert E. Thomas, and Daniel R. Parsons
Earth Surf. Dynam., 13, 647–663, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-647-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-647-2025, 2025
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Leaky wooden dams are a popular form of natural flood management used to slow the flow of water by increasing floodplain connectivity whilst decreasing connectivity along the river profile. By monitoring two leaky wooden dams in North Yorkshire, UK, we present the geomorphological response to their installation, highlighting that the structures significantly increase channel complexity in response to different river flow conditions.
Joshua M. Wolstenholme, Christopher J. Skinner, David Milan, Robert E. Thomas, and Daniel R. Parsons
Geosci. Model Dev., 18, 1395–1411, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-1395-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-1395-2025, 2025
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Leaky wooden dams are a type of natural flood management intervention that aims to reduce flood risk downstream by temporarily holding back water during a storm event and releasing it afterwards. These structures alter the river hydrology, and therefore the geomorphology, yet often this is excluded from numerical models. Here we show that by not simulating geomorphology, we are currently underestimating the efficacy of these structures to reduce the flood peak and store water.
Solomon H. Gebrechorkos, Julian Leyland, Simon J. Dadson, Sagy Cohen, Louise Slater, Michel Wortmann, Philip J. Ashworth, Georgina L. Bennett, Richard Boothroyd, Hannah Cloke, Pauline Delorme, Helen Griffith, Richard Hardy, Laurence Hawker, Stuart McLelland, Jeffrey Neal, Andrew Nicholas, Andrew J. Tatem, Ellie Vahidi, Yinxue Liu, Justin Sheffield, Daniel R. Parsons, and Stephen E. Darby
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 3099–3118, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-3099-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-3099-2024, 2024
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This study evaluated six high-resolution global precipitation datasets for hydrological modelling. MSWEP and ERA5 showed better performance, but spatial variability was high. The findings highlight the importance of careful dataset selection for river discharge modelling due to the lack of a universally superior dataset. Further improvements in global precipitation data products are needed.
Elena Bastianon, Julie A. Hope, Robert M. Dorrell, and Daniel R. Parsons
Earth Surf. Dynam., 10, 1115–1140, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-1115-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-1115-2022, 2022
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Biological activity in shallow tidal environments significantly influence sediment dynamics and morphology. Here, a bio-morphodynamic model is developed that accounts for hydro-climate variations in biofilm development to estimate the effect of biostabilisation on the bed. Results reveal that key parameters such as growth rate and temperature strongly influence the development of biofilm under a range of disturbance periodicities and intensities, shaping the channel equilibrium profile.
Chengbin Zou, Paul Carling, Zetao Feng, Daniel Parsons, and Xuanmei Fan
The Cryosphere Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2022-119, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2022-119, 2022
Manuscript not accepted for further review
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Climate change is causing mountain lakes behind glacier barriers to drain through ice tunnels as catastrophe floods, threatening people and infrastructure downstream. Understanding of how process works can mitigate the impacts by providing advanced warnings. A laboratory study of ice tunnel development improved understanding of how floods evolve. The principles of ice tunnel development were defined numerically and can be used to better model natural floods leading to improved prediction.
Christopher R. Hackney, Grigorios Vasilopoulos, Sokchhay Heng, Vasudha Darbari, Samuel Walker, and Daniel R. Parsons
Earth Surf. Dynam., 9, 1323–1334, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-9-1323-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-9-1323-2021, 2021
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Unsustainable sand mining poses a threat to the stability of river channels. We use satellite imagery to estimate volumes of material removed from the Mekong River, Cambodia, over the period 2016–2020. We demonstrate that current rates of extraction now exceed previous estimates for the entire Mekong Basin and significantly exceed the volume of sand naturally transported by the river. Our work highlights the importance of satellite imagery in monitoring sand mining activity over large areas.
Chloe Leach, Tom Coulthard, Andrew Barkwith, Daniel R. Parsons, and Susan Manson
Geosci. Model Dev., 14, 5507–5523, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-5507-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-5507-2021, 2021
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Numerical models can be used to understand how coastal systems evolve over time, including likely responses to climate change. However, many existing models are aimed at simulating 10- to 100-year time periods do not represent a vertical dimension and are thus unable to include the effect of sea-level rise. The Coastline Evolution Model 2D (CEM2D) presented in this paper is an advance in this field, with the inclusion of the vertical coastal profile against which the water level can be altered.
Sepehr Eslami, Piet Hoekstra, Herman W. J. Kernkamp, Nam Nguyen Trung, Dung Do Duc, Hung Nguyen Nghia, Tho Tran Quang, Arthur van Dam, Stephen E. Darby, Daniel R. Parsons, Grigorios Vasilopoulos, Lisanne Braat, and Maarten van der Vegt
Earth Surf. Dynam., 9, 953–976, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-9-953-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-9-953-2021, 2021
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Increased salt intrusion jeopardizes freshwater supply to the Mekong Delta, and the current trends are often inaccurately associated with sea level rise. Using observations and models, we show that salinity is highly sensitive to ocean surge, tides, water demand, and upstream discharge. We show that anthropogenic riverbed incision has significantly amplified salt intrusion, exemplifying the importance of preserving sediment budget and riverbed levels to protect deltas against salt intrusion.
Roberto Fernández and Gary Parker
Earth Surf. Dynam., 9, 253–269, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-9-253-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-9-253-2021, 2021
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We present a set of observations from laboratory experiments on meltwater meandering rivulets on ice and compare them (qualitatively and quantitatively) to patterns commonly found in meandering channels flowing over different materials. Our channels display great similarities with real rivers in spite of being much smaller. Higher temperature differences between water and ice create deeper and less sinuous channels with bends that preferentially point downstream and are not as rounded.
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Editorial statement
The transition between ripples and dunes dependent upon sediment and flow conditions has been classically represented with a phase space diagram differentiating between the different bedforms based on these drivers. This work, importantly, introduces the role of clay content within the sediment and shows how this shifts these fundamental long standing relationships.
The transition between ripples and dunes dependent upon sediment and flow conditions has been...
Short summary
The seabed changes from flat to rippled in response to the frictional influence of waves and currents. This experimental study has shown that the speed of this change, the size of ripples that result and even whether ripples appear also depend on the amount of sticky mud present. This new classification on the basis of initial mud content should lead to improvements in models of seabed change in present environments by engineers and the interpretation of past environments by geologists.
The seabed changes from flat to rippled in response to the frictional influence of waves and...