From rivers to landslides: Charting the slopes of sediment transport

The slope of streambeds has dramatic and unexpected effects on sediment transport. Experimental data from the flume lab show that gravity does not facilitate sediment transport in the expected manner. In very steep streambeds with a 22-degree or higher slope, sediment motion begins not with grains skipping and bouncing along the bottom of the streambed, but rather with a complete bed failure in which all the sediment is abruptly sent hurtling downstream as a debris flow.

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