Erosion of Geomaterials

Book excerpt: This book aims to deliver significant scientific progress on the problem of the erosion of geomaterials, focusing on the mechanical/physical aspect. The chapters oscillate between a phenomenological outlook that is well grounded in experiments, and an approach that can offer a modeling framework. The basic mechanisms of internal and surface erosion are tackled one-by-one: filtration, suffusion, contact erosion, concentrated leak erosion, sediment and wind transport, bedload transport. These erosion mechanisms comprise both hydraulic structures (dams, dikes) and natural environments (wind, river, coastal). In this book, physicists and mechanicians share with the reader their most recent findings in their field work and study, while at the same time maintaining an accessible format. This compendium provides a well-documented information resource, and above all, a tool for approaching the issue of erosion of geomaterials in an up-to-date fashion for students, researchers and practitioners alike.