Pattern Observation during Bed-Form Development

Most natural patterns exhibit some form of complex behaviour. Underwater bed forms generally start small and appear initially to be disorganized. They grow in height and spacing and become better organized through interactions and mergers between bed forms. For this study, spatial plan-view bed-form development patterns are studied visually. Photographic images of bed-form growth starting from a flat bed in fine uniform sand are obtained in a laboratory flume environment. Various merging and termination processes are identified. Literature review shows that the observed pattern changes during early bed-form development are similar to processes observed for aeolian dune fields.