ESROP Developing a Hybrid Model for Water Table Evolution

The shear stress exerted by rivers on their banks is well known to drive erosion, over time sculpting the landscape through which they flow. These rivers are typically fed by groundwater flow from their surrounding catchments, and as this flow enters the river through the river bank it exerts a seepage force on the sediment, further enhancing the incipient erosion. This project will construct a new hybrid parameterisation of the evolution of the water table – using a parameterised form which recovers both groundwater and river flow – and the ground surface. The results of the model will be used to predict the transient evolution of a granular surface and the experimentally observed transition from the initial granular pile to an eroding river surface. Should time allow, initial 2D calculations will be extended to examine the stability (cross-slope) of the granular pile. Complementary experiments may be conducted in the GK Batchelor lab exploring different, wider, river widths and channels. The numerical solutions and (if they are made) experimental results will be used to understand the behaviour of river networks and dam collapse.

Faculty Supervisor:

Arthur Chan

Student:

Partner:

University of Cambridge

Discipline:

Earth science

Sector:

Education

University:

University of Toronto

Program: