Hydroplaning of subaqueous debris flows

Research Article| March 01, 1998 Hydroplaning of subaqueous debris flows David Mohrig; David Mohrig 1St. Anthony Falls Laboratory, University of Minnesota, Mississippi River at 3rd Avenue S.E., Minneapolis, Minnesota 55414 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Chris Ellis; Chris Ellis 1St. Anthony Falls Laboratory, University of Minnesota, Mississippi River at 3rd Avenue S.E., Minneapolis, Minnesota 55414 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Gary Parker; Gary Parker 1St. Anthony Falls Laboratory, University of Minnesota, Mississippi River at 3rd Avenue S.E., Minneapolis, Minnesota 55414 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Kelin X. Whipple; Kelin X. Whipple 2Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139-4307 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Midhat Hondzo Midhat Hondzo 3School of Civil Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907-1284 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information David Mohrig 1St. Anthony Falls Laboratory, University of Minnesota, Mississippi River at 3rd Avenue S.E., Minneapolis, Minnesota 55414 Chris Ellis 1St. Anthony Falls Laboratory, University of Minnesota, Mississippi River at 3rd Avenue S.E., Minneapolis, Minnesota 55414 Gary Parker 1St. Anthony Falls Laboratory, University of Minnesota, Mississippi River at 3rd Avenue S.E., Minneapolis, Minnesota 55414 Kelin X. Whipple 2Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139-4307 Midhat Hondzo 3School of Civil Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907-1284 Publisher: Geological Society of America First Online: 01 Jun 2017 Online ISSN: 1943-2674 Print ISSN: 0016-7606 Geological Society of America GSA Bulletin (1998) 110 (3): 387–394. https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(1998)110<0387:HOSDF>2.3.CO;2 Article history First Online: 01 Jun 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Permissions Search Site Citation David Mohrig, Chris Ellis, Gary Parker, Kelin X. Whipple, Midhat Hondzo; Hydroplaning of subaqueous debris flows. GSA Bulletin 1998;; 110 (3): 387–394. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(1998)110<0387:HOSDF>2.3.CO;2 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGSA Bulletin Search Advanced Search Abstract We report laboratory experiments that demonstrate that the fronts of subaqueous debris flows can hydroplane on thin layers of water. The hydroplaning dramatically reduces the bed drag, thus increasing head velocity. These high velocities promote sediment suspension and turbidity-current formation. Hydroplaning causes the fronts of debris flows to accelerate away from their bodies to the point of completely detaching from the bodies, producing surging. Instigation of hydroplaning is controlled by the balance of gravity and inertia forces at the debris front and is suitably characterized by the densimetric Froude number. The laboratory flows constrain hydroplaning to cases where the calculated densimetric Froude number is greater than 0.4. The presence of a basal lubricating layer of water underneath hydroplaning debris flows and slides offers a possible explanation for the long run-out distances of many subaqueous flows and slides on very low slopes. This content is PDF only. Please click on the PDF icon to access. First Page Preview Close Modal You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.