Researchers develop new model to predict the spread of a valley landscape

Researchers from MIT, including CIFAR’s Taylor Perron, have developed a mathematical model to measure and predict the continuous spread of a valley network, called the Apalachicola Bluffs, in Florida. The valley network looks like the branching veins of a leaf, and it is slowly spreading eastwards from the Apalachicola River. To develop their model, the team studied the very tips of the branching valleys, characterized by steep hills leading down to springs formed naturally from groundwater. The water springs eat away at the hills, causing sand from the hills to slide down. It is due to this movement of sand that the valleys grow across the landscape. The team’s model was based on their discovery that the steeper the slope of the hill, the faster the spread of the valley branch.

The researchers believe that they can use their model to predict the evolution of other landscapes like retreating shorelines and moving river banks.Read more