Generalized Transport Models in Earth Surface Dynamics: Novel Experiments for Demonstrating and Quantifying Non-local Transport

Generalized Transport Models in Earth Surface Dynamics: Novel Experiments for Demonstrating and Quantifying Non-local Transport

Vaughan Voller, Efi Foufoula-Georgiou, Kimberly Hill, Chris Paola

University of Minnesota

EAR-1318593

ABSTRACT

Understanding the transport of environmental fluxes, such as sediment, tracers, particulates, and pollutants, on the Earth?s surface is paramount for building accurate models of geomorphic transport, quantifying landscape evolution under natural and human-induced changes and for inferring past surface conditions from interpretation of the stratigraphic record. Historically, geomorphic transport models have expressed particulate or sediment flux in terms of instantaneous local properties, such as gradients in the surface elevation or local velocities. Accurate models of sediment and particulate transport in rivers, hillslopes, and deltaic systems are at the heart of Earth surface Dynamics research as well as of practical significance in guiding environmental management based on accurate predictive models. The increasing awareness of the heterogeneity and connectivity of Earth systems has led to new theoretical constructs which embrace non-locality and collective behavior in geomorphic transport. The proposed novel and simple experimental systems promise to provide the first unambiguous evidence of the role of non-local transport in sediment and particulate regimes. Linking the results of these experiments to the evaluation of non-local and anomalous diffusion properties will allow researchers to more confidently predict when to use non-local models and which parameters to use in these models. This information will have a transformative impact on our ability to understand the transport of sediment particles that shape and control the evolution of the Earth-surface environment. The proposed experiments are novel and will be constructed using 3-D printing technology. PIs also propose to prototype ?toy experimental? systems that will provide zero set-up time desktop demonstrations of anomalous diffusion behaviors. Their plan is to disseminate these systems through the current NCED educational and museum contacts, and specifically advance the development of a prototype exhibit at the Science Museum of Minnesota, a long-time partner of NCED.