Evolution of seepage driven networks in the lab

Romon, Céleste; Lajeunesse, Eric; Métivier, François

doi:10.5194/esurf-14-517-2026

Articles | Volume 14, issue 4

https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-14-517-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-14-517-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 14, issue 4

Research article

|

07 Jul 2026

Research article |

| 07 Jul 2026

Evolution of seepage driven networks in the lab

Céleste Romon, Eric Lajeunesse, and François Métivier

Data sets

Data, code and supplementary video of the evolution of a drainage network in the laboratory. Romon, Céleste; Métivier, François; Lajeunesse, Eric https://doi.org/10.18715/IPGP.2026.mkwu7tie

Model code and software

Data, code and supplementary video of the evolution of a drainage network in the laboratory. Romon, Céleste; Métivier, François; Lajeunesse, Eric https://doi.org/10.18715/IPGP.2026.mkwu7tie

Video supplement

Video of a drainage network formed by seepage erosion in a experimental aquifer Céleste Romon et al. https://doi.org/10.18715/IPGP.2026.mkwu7tie

Short summary

When groundwater emerges at the surface with sufficient force, it erodes the landscape and forms river networks. We reproduce this process in laboratory experiments to investigate the interplay between network growth and the resulting modification of surrounding groundwater flow. We present a numerical method which reconstructs the groundwater flow in the experimental aquifer. We find that groundwater converges toward channel tips, explaining why network growth occurs preferentially at the tips.