Salt Polygons and Porous Media Convection
Salt Polygons and Porous Media Convection
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DOI：
10.1103/physrevx.13.011025
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发表时间：
2019-02
影响因子：
12.5
通讯作者：
J. Lasser;J. Nield;M. Ernst;V. Karius;G. Wiggs;Matthew R. Threadgold;C. Beaume;L. Goehring
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
J. Lasser;J. Nield;M. Ernst;V. Karius;G. Wiggs;Matthew R. Threadgold;C. Beaume;L. Goehring
从仙女圈到图案地面和柱状节理，自然图案自发地出现在许多复杂的地球物理环境中。在这里，我们调查了盐干盐湖和盐田的岩石图案的地壳的起源。这些美丽的规则特征，直径约一米，在世界各地都有发现，对干旱地区盐和灰尘的运输至关重要。我们表明，它们是一致的表面表达浮力驱动的对流在盐壳下的多孔土壤。通过结合从直接的现场观测，模拟实验和数值模拟的定量结果，我们进一步确定的条件下，盐多边形应该形成，以及它们的特征尺寸出现。
From fairy circles to patterned ground and columnar joints, natural patterns spontaneously appear in many complex geophysical settings. Here, we investigate the origins of polygonally patterned crusts of salt playa and salt pans. These beautifully regular features, approximately a meter in diameter, are found worldwide and are fundamentally important to the transport of salt and dust in arid regions. We show that they are consistent with the surface expression of buoyancy-driven convection in the porous soil beneath a salt crust. By combining quantitative results from direct field observations, analogue experiments and numerical simulations, we further determine the conditions under which salt polygons should form, as well as how their characteristic size emerges.