Alignment of stone-pavement clasts by unconcentrated overland flow – implications of numerical and physical modelling
Arid area ; Desert ; Experimentation ; Model ; Numerical model ; Overland flow ; Patterned ground ; Stone polygon
Here, the finding of lateral processes contributing to stone-pavement evolution is supported by numerical modelling and physical experiments. These unequivocally show that unconcentrated overland flow can transport clasts to form a closely packed
stone mosaic with characteristics similar to those of natural stone pavements. Monte Carlo runs confirm the natural scatter and allow characterization of the control parameters of clast orientation. The model explains up to 70% of the natural variance
. It is further validated by flume experiments, which confirm model predictions of single object orientation angles. Experiments with multiple objects yield artificial stone pavements with properties similar to those found in the field. However, stone pavements