Glassy dynamics of landscape evolution
Abstract
Soil is apparently solid as it moves downhill at glacial speeds, but can also liquefy from rain or earthquakes. This behavior is actually similar to that of glass, which creeps very slowly at low temperatures but becomes a liquid at higher temperatures. We develop a discrete granular-physics hillslope model, which shows that the similarities between soil and glass are more than skin deep. Despite the geologic and climatic complexity of natural environments, the shapes and erosion rates of hillsides over geologic timescales appear to be governed by generic dynamics characteristic of disordered and amorphous materials.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Apr 23, 2018
- Source ID
- 10.1073/pnas.1715250115
Entities
People
- Behrooz Ferdowski
- Carlos P. Ortiz
- Douglas J. Jerolmack
Organizations
- Army Research Office
- National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
- National Science Foundation
- Princeton University
- University of Pennsylvania