Articles | Volume 6, issue 4
https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-6-1089-2018
https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-6-1089-2018
Research article
 | 
22 Nov 2018
Research article |  | 22 Nov 2018

Determining the scales of collective entrainment in collision-driven bed load

Dylan B. Lee and Douglas Jerolmack

Data sets

MarbleData D. B. Lee and D. Jerolmack https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.7356569.v1

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Short summary
The transport of pebbles in a river is smooth and continuous under high flow conditions but under typical flows becomes erratic and unpredictable. We perform experiments to learn more about the origins of this unpredictable, intermittent behavior. Our results show that this unpredictability is similar to how infrequent avalanches occur in a sandpile. Transport events are similar in size but become more infrequent and erratic as the river transports less and less sediment.