Dunes in the world’s big rivers are characterized by low-angle lee-side slopes and a complex shape

• Published in: Nature geoscience Vol. 13; no. 2; pp. 156 - 162
• Main Authors: Cisneros, Julia, Best, Jim, van Dijk, Thaiënne, Almeida, Renato Paes de, Amsler, Mario, Boldt, Justin, Freitas, Bernardo, Galeazzi, Cristiano, Huizinga, Richard, Ianniruberto, Marco, Ma, Hongbo, Nittrouer, Jeffrey A., Oberg, Kevin, Orfeo, Oscar, Parsons, Dan, Szupiany, Ricardo, Wang, Ping, Zhang, Yuanfeng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 01.02.2020; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 704/172; 704/242; Angle of repose; Bathymeters; Bathymetry; Bed load; Bed roughness; Bedforms; Dunes; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Earth System Sciences; Environmental risk; Flood predictions; Flood risk; Flow resistance; Fluvial sediments; Geochemistry; Geology; Geophysics/Geodesy; High resolution; Laboratory experiments; Local flow; Resolution; River beds; Rivers; Scaling; Sediment; Sediment transport; Sedimentary structures; Sediments; Shape; Slope; Slopes; Stratification; Water depth; Water levels

Dunes form critical agents of bedload transport in all of the world’s big rivers, and constitute appreciable sources of bed roughness and flow resistance. Dunes also generate stratification that is the most common depositional feature of ancient riverine sediments. However, current models of dune dy...