A Fluid-Erosion-Based Model of Landscape Evolution

Ayumi Saeki¹ and Makoto Okamura²

¹Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Engineering Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 816-8580, Japan
²Research Institute for Applied Mechanics, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 816-8580, Japan
*E-mail address: saeki@riam.kyushu-u.ac.jp

(Received June 8, 2010; Accepted July 21, 2010)

Abstract. A new landscape evolution model is proposed which is composed of the shallow water equations for the fluid above the sediment and the mass conservation equation of the sediment. Numerical simulations of the formation of landscape and river network are carried out based on these equations. It is shown that steady patterns of river network are formed for the initial inclinations of slopes within 0.00005 and 0.005. The fractal dimensions of the river network and the exponent of Hack�fs law are obtained, which are consistent with values from observation.

Keywords: Landscape Modeling, River Network, Pattern Formation, Fractal, Hack's Law