Ridges between slope canyons have simple rounded shapes typical of slow downslope movement

What is it about?

The ridges or interfluves between canyons commonly have simple upward-convex shapes that are almost parabolic. The parabola is one solution to the diffusion sediment transport equation, prompting an examination in this paper of whether sediment transport and deposition in such areas could involve components that mimic the diffusion transport model or whether the interfluve shapes arise by other processes not following the model (fortuitous coincidence).

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Photo by Iswanto Arif on Unsplash

Photo by Iswanto Arif on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Some computer models simulating the development of stratigraphy have represented sediment transport and deposition using a diffusion equation for the sediment surface, with a diffusivity parameter representing sediment mobility. Such an equation produces realistic-looking stratigraphy, is easy to implement and is stable. However, there has been little critical examination of whether the processes involved really can be represented by such a model. This article was intended to prompt some reconsideration of the problem, by examining which processes can produce downslope movement of sediment with fluxes proportional to bed gradient (as required by the model) and others that may produce "diffusive-like" morphology only fortuitously. By applying modified diffusion equations iteratively to real bathymetry data, we can also see if they suggest the submarine landscape has a tendency, according to such models, to evolve in a reasonable manner or not.