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Dam-breaking seiches

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 June 2009

N. J. BALMFORTH ,
J. VON HARDENBERG  and
R. J. ZAMMETT
N. J. BALMFORTH
Affiliation:
Department of Mathematics and Department of Earth & Ocean Science, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z2Canada
J. VON HARDENBERG
Affiliation:
Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate, CNR, 73100 Lecce, Italy
R. J. ZAMMETT*
Affiliation:
Department of Mathematics, University of Oxford, 24–26 St Giles, Oxford OX1 3LB, UK
*
†Email address for correspondence: [email protected]
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Abstract

Experimental and theoretical models are used to explore the break of a moraine dam by catastrophic erosional incision initiated by an overtopping wave. The experiments are conducted in a rectangular tank with an erodible barrier made from sand and grit. Theory combines shallow-water hydrodynamics with an empirical model of erosion. The models confirm that dams can be broken by a catastrophic incision. However, the displacement wave does not break the dam in its first passage but excites a long-lived seiche that repeatedly washes over the dam. The cumulative erosion of the downstream face by the overtopping seiches eventually allows an incipient channel to form, and catastrophic incision follows. Estimates are presented of the strength of the initial disturbance required to break the dam, the maximum discharge and the duration of the runaway incision.

Type
Papers
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 628 , 10 June 2009 , pp. 1 - 21
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

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