title: Erosion patterns in a sediment layer.
abstract: We report here on a laboratory-scale experiment which reproduces a rich variety of natural patterns with few control parameters. In particular, we focus on intriguing rhomboid structures often found on sandy shores and flats. We show that the standard views based on water surface waves do not explain the phenomenon, and we evidence a different mechanism based on mud avalanche instability.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire des Milieux Désordonnés et Hétérogènes, UMR7603-Université Pierre et Marie Curie-Boîte 86, 4 place Jussieu, 75252 Paris Cedex 05, France. daerr@ccr.jussieu.fr
authors.forename: Adrian
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Daerr
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lanuza
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Clément