Tristan Salles

Badlands: An open-source, flexible and parallel framework to study landscape dynamics

Abstract In this paper, we propose a minimal numerical model which governing equations describe the following processes: erosion, sedimentation, diffusion and flexure. The model respects conservation laws for water and sediment. The implementation is based on a finite volume approach and the explicit solution stability is ensured by a CFL-like condition. This common core of accepted physical principles governing landscape evolution is ported into a distributed memory parallel environment. Badlands (acronym for BA sin an D LAN dscape D ynamic S ) is an open-source, flexible, TIN-based landscape evolution model, built to simulate landform development and test source-to-sink concepts at regional to continental scale over thousands to millions of years. To illustrate the model capabilities, we first present an example of delta evolution under sea-level fluctuations. The model predicts the successive progradation and transgression phases, the development of depositional and erosional patterns as well as the associated stratigraphic formation. Then, we investigate the importance of climate, and in particular the spatial pattern of precipitation, on the topographic evolution of mountain belts. The simulation and associated quantitative analyses suggest that the main drainage divide migrates and asymmetric topography develops in response to orographic precipitation. This mechanism, documented in recent analogue and numerical experiments, results in a complex reorganisation of drainage networks that our model is able to reproduce.

Multigrain seabed sediment transport modelling for the south-west Australian Shelf

With increasing concerns about climate change and sea-level rise, there is a need for a comprehensive under- standing of the sedimentary processes involved in the erosion, transport and deposition of sediment on the continental shelf. In the present paper, long-term and large-scale seabed morphological changes on the south-west Australian con- tinental shelf were investigated by a comprehensive sediment transport model, Sedsim. The investigated area covers the continental shelf and abyssal basins of the south-western region. The regional seabed is sensitive to environmental forces and sediment supply, and most terrigenous sediment carried down by major rivers is trapped in inland lakes or estuaries. Only a small fraction of fine-grain sediment reaches the continental shelf. The simulation has also confirmed that the Leeuwin Current and high-energy waves play the most important roles in regional long-term seabed evolution. Although the numerical implementation only approximates some forcing and responses, it represents a significant step forward in understanding the nature of potential long-term seabed change as a response to possible climate change scenarios. The 50-year forecast on the seabed morphological changes provides a reference for the management of coastal and offshore resources, as well as infrastructure, in a sustainable way.

Influence of mantle flow on the drainage of eastern Australia since the Jurassic Period

Recent studies of the past eastern Australian landscape from present-day longitudinal river profiles and from mantle flow models suggest that the interaction of plate motion with mantle convection accounts for the two phases of large-scale uplift of the region since 120 Ma. We coupled the dynamic topography predicted from one of these mantle flow models to a surface process model to study the evolution of the eastern Australian landscape since the Jurassic Period. We varied the rainfall regime, erodibility, sea level variations, dynamic topography magnitude, and elastic thickness across a series of experiments. The approach accounts for erosion and sedimentation and simulates catchment dynamics. Despite the relative simplicity of our model, the results provide insights on the fundamental links between dynamic topography and continental-scale drainage evolution. Based on temporal and spatial changes in longitudinal river profiles as well as erosion and deposition maps, we show that the motion of the Australian plate over the convecting mantle has resulted in significant reorganization of the eastern Australian drainage. The model predicts that the Murray river drained eastward between 150 and ∼120 Ma, and switched to westward draining due to the tilting of the Australian plate from ∼120 Ma. First order comparisons of eight modeled river profiles and of the catchment shape of modeled Murray-Darling Basin are in agreement with present-day observations. The predicted denudation of the eastern highlands is compatible with thermochronology data and sedimentation rates along the southern Australian margin are consistent with cumulative sediment thickness.

A unified framework for modelling sediment fate from source to sink and its interactions with reef systems over geological times

Understanding the effects of climatic variability on sediment dynamics is hindered by limited ability of current models to simulate long-term evolution of sediment transfer from source to sink and associated morphological changes. We present a new approach based on a reduced-complexity model which computes over geological time: sediment transport from landmasses to coasts, reworking of marine sediments by longshore currents, and development of coral reef systems. Our framework links together the main sedimentary processes driving mixed siliciclastic-carbonate system dynamics. It offers a methodology for objective and quantitative sediment fate estimations over regional and millennial time-scales. A simulation of the Holocene evolution of the Great Barrier Reef shows: (1) how high sediment loads from catchments erosion prevented coral growth during the early transgression phase and favoured sediment gravity-flows in the deepest parts of the northern region basin floor (prior to 8 ka before present (BP)); (2) how the fine balance between climate, sea-level, and margin physiography enabled coral reefs to thrive under limited shelf sedimentation rates after ~6 ka BP; and, (3) how since 3 ka BP, with the decrease of accommodation space, reduced of vertical growth led to the lateral extension of reefs consistent with available observational data.

pyBadlands: A framework to simulate sediment transport, landscape dynamics and basin stratigraphic evolution through space and time

Understanding Earth surface responses in terms of sediment dynamics to climatic variability and tectonics forcing is hindered by limited ability of current models to simulate long-term evolution of sediment transfer and associated morphological changes. This paper presents pyBadlands, an open-source python-based framework which computes over geological time (1) sediment transport from landmasses to coasts, (2) reworking of marine sediments by longshore currents and (3) development of coral reef systems. pyBadlands is cross-platform, distributed under the GPLv3 license and available on GitHub (http://github.com/badlands-model). Here, we describe the underlying physical assumptions behind the simulated processes and the main options already available in the numerical framework. Along with the source code, a list of hands-on examples is provided that illustrates the model capabilities. In addition, pre and post-processing classes have been built and are accessible as a companion toolbox which comprises a series of workflows to efficiently build, quantify and explore simulation input and output files. While the framework has been primarily designed for research, its simplicity of use and portability makes it a great tool for teaching purposes.

eSCAPE: parallel global-scale landscape evolution model

The model computes flow accumulation using multiple flow direction over unstructured grids based on an adaptation of the implicit approach proposed by Richardson et al. (Richardson, Hill, & Perron, 2014). An extension of the parallel priority-flood depressionfilling algorithm from (Barnes, 2016) to unstructured mesh is used to simulate sedimentation in upland areas and internally drained basins. Marine sedimentation is based on a diffusion algorithm similar to the technique proposed in pybadlands (Salles, Ding, & Brocard, 2018).

Aeolian Sediment Transport Integration in General Stratigraphic Forward Modeling

A large number of numerical models have been developed to simulate the physical processes involved in saltation, and, recently to investigate the interaction between soil vegetation cover and aeolian transport. These models are generally constrained to saltation of monodisperse particles while natural saltation occurs over mixed soils. We present a three-dimensional numerical model of steady-state saltation that can simulate aeolian erosion, transport and deposition for unvegetated mixed soils. Our model simulates the motion of saltating particles using a cellular automata algorithm. A simple set of rules is used and takes into account an erosion formula, a transport model, a wind exposition function, and an avalanching process. The model is coupled to the stratigraphic forward model Sedsim that accounts for a larger number of geological processes. The numerical model predicts a wide range of typical dune shapes, which have qualitative correspondence to real systems. The model reproduces the internal structure and composition of the resulting aeolian deposits. It shows the complex formation of dune systems with cross-bedding strata development, bounding surfaces overlaid by fine sediment and inverse grading deposits. We aim to use it to simulate the complex interactions between different sediment transport processes and their resulting geological morphologies.