IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v12y2021i1d10.1038_s41467-021-23979-z.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The perpetual fragility of creeping hillslopes

Author

Listed:
  • Nakul S. Deshpande

    (University of Pennsylvania)

  • David J. Furbish

    (Vanderbilt University
    Vanderbilt University)

  • Paulo E. Arratia

    (University of Pennsylvania
    Vanderbilt University)

  • Douglas J. Jerolmack

    (University of Pennsylvania
    University of Pennsylvania)

Abstract

Soil creeps imperceptibly but relentlessly downhill, shaping landscapes and the human and ecological communities that live within them. What causes this granular material to ‘flow’ at angles well below repose? The unchallenged dogma is churning of soil by (bio)physical disturbances. Here we experimentally render slow creep dynamics down to micron scale, in a laboratory hillslope where disturbances can be tuned. Surprisingly, we find that even an undisturbed sandpile creeps indefinitely, with rates and styles comparable to natural hillslopes. Creep progressively slows as the initially fragile pile relaxes into a lower energy state. This slowing can be enhanced or reversed with different imposed disturbances. Our observations suggest a new model for soil as a creeping glass, wherein environmental disturbances maintain soil in a perpetually fragile state.

Suggested Citation

  • Nakul S. Deshpande & David J. Furbish & Paulo E. Arratia & Douglas J. Jerolmack, 2021. "The perpetual fragility of creeping hillslopes," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-7, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:12:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-021-23979-z
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-23979-z
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-23979-z
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-021-23979-z?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ye Yuan & Zhikun Zeng & Yi Xing & Houfei Yuan & Shuyang Zhang & Walter Kob & Yujie Wang, 2024. "From creep to flow: Granular materials under cyclic shear," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-8, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:12:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-021-23979-z. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.