Megaripple Stripes

dc.contributor.advisorHugenholtz, Chris H.
dc.contributor.authorGough, Tyler Robert
dc.contributor.committeememberWolfe, Stephen Andrew
dc.contributor.committeememberMartin, Yvonne Elizabeth
dc.date2019-06
dc.date.accessioned2019-04-25T21:16:11Z
dc.date.available2019-04-25T21:16:11Z
dc.date.issued2019-04-25
dc.description.abstractThis thesis incorporates field measurements, satellite imagery, and numerical modelling to explain the formation and evolution of a poorly-understood and relatively undocumented longitudinal aeolian bedform pattern. The pattern consists of alternating streamwise corridors of megaripples separated by corridors containing smaller bedforms. This pattern, referred to herein as megaripple stripes, is observed at sites on Earth and Mars. Measurements from satellite imagery indicate a strong positive relation between the crosswind and downwind wavelengths of megaripple corridors. Field measurements of stripe morphology and grain size indicate a consistent pattern whereby the surface texture of the megaripple corridors is coarser than the intervening corridors of smaller bedforms. The amplitude and wavelength of features in the megaripple corridors are larger than the features in the smaller bedform corridors. The three-dimensional morphology and sediment sorting pattern of megaripple stripes was reproduced in a numerical model that incorporated two aeolian transport species: saltons and reptons. Simulations suggest striped pattern development is a self-organizing process resulting from grain size and topographic feedbacks that are sensitive to the bulk concentration and erosion probability of reptons. In the simulations, regular megaripples emerge from a high bulk concentration of reptons and impact ripples develop from a very low bulk concentration of reptons. Megaripple stripes emerge when the bulk concentration is intermediate between megaripple and impact ripple formation. Therefore, it is hypothesized that megaripple stripes develop in unimodal transport environments with supply-limited reptons. The nature and dynamics of reptons are largely determined by the wind regime, the grain size distribution, and by the grain density distribution in some environments. Repton behaviour, spanwise transport, and other relevant aeolian processes are discussed in relation to megaripple stripes.en_US
dc.identifier.citationGough, T. R. (2019). Megaripple Stripes (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.en_US
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/36402
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1880/110217
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.publisher.facultyArtsen_US
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Calgaryen
dc.rightsUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.en_US
dc.subjectBedformen_US
dc.subjectLandformen_US
dc.subjectAeolianen_US
dc.subjectEolianen_US
dc.subjectGeomorphologyen_US
dc.subjectRippleen_US
dc.subjectMegarippleen_US
dc.subjectDuneen_US
dc.subjectSanden_US
dc.subjectWinden_US
dc.subjectSaltationen_US
dc.subjectReptationen_US
dc.subject.classificationGeographyen_US
dc.subject.classificationGeologyen_US
dc.subject.classificationPhysical Geographyen_US
dc.titleMegaripple Stripesen_US
dc.typemaster thesisen_US
thesis.degree.disciplineGeographyen_US
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Calgaryen_US
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Science (MSc)en_US
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