University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Department of Earth and Environmental Departmental Papers (EES) Science 12-2010 A Potential Vorticity Theory for the Formation of Elongate Channels in River Deltas and Lakes Federico Falcini Douglas J. Jerolmack University of Pennsylvania,
[email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/ees_papers Part of the Environmental Sciences Commons, Geomorphology Commons, and the Sedimentology Commons Recommended Citation Falcini, F., & Jerolmack, D. J. (2010). A Potential Vorticity Theory for the Formation of Elongate Channels in River Deltas and Lakes. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 115 (F4), F04038-. http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2010JF001802 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/ees_papers/76 For more information, please contact
[email protected]. A Potential Vorticity Theory for the Formation of Elongate Channels in River Deltas and Lakes Abstract Rivers empty into oceans and lakes as turbulent sediment-laden jets, which can be characterized by a Gaussian horizontal velocity profile that spreads and decays downstream because of shearing and lateral mixing at the jet margins. Recent experiments demonstrate that this velocity field controls river-mouth sedimentation patterns. In nature, diffuse jets are associated with mouth bar deposition forming bifurcating distributary networks, while focused jets are associated with levee deposition and the growth of elongate channels that do not bifurcate. River outflows from elongate channels are similar in structure to cold filaments observed in ocean currents, where high potential vorticity helps to preserve coherent structure over large distances. Motivated by these observations, we propose a hydrodynamic theory that seeks to predict the conditions under which elongate channels form.