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Geological Formation

Cyclic Steps

Landform Concepts

Cyclic steps are rhythmic bedforms that develop when sediment laden water flowing downslope experiences a Froude super critical flow instability, producing a type of sediment wave whose individual steps each have a steep drop and that together migrate upstream over time. The phenomenon was first shown to occur on the ocean floor in 2006, after having been observed more than a decade earlier in open channel flows on land.

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Caused By

Source Cyclic steps (Wikipedia)

In Discipline

Source Cyclic steps (Wikipedia)
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Cyclic steps (Wikipedia)
  • Caused By: Sedimentation, Lead sentence
    They are a type of sediment wave, and are created when supercritical sediment-laden water (turbidity currents) travels downslope through sediment beds.
  • In Discipline: Sedimentology, Lead sentence
    Cyclic steps are rhythmic bedforms associated with Froude super-critical flow instability.
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