What is a pebble shape ?

D.J. Durian , H. Bideau , P. Duringer (1) , André Schröder (2) , Fabrice Thalmann (2) , Carlos Marques (2)

1 CGS - Centre de géochimie de la surface
2 ICS - Institut Charles Sadron

We propose to characterize the shapes of flat pebbles in terms of the statistical distribution of curvatures measured along the pebble contour. This is demonstrated for the erosion of clay pebbles in a controlled laboratory apparatus. Photographs at various stages of erosion are analyzed, and compared with two models. We find that the curvature distribution complements the usual measurement of aspect ratio, and connects naturally to erosion processes that are typically faster at protruding regions of high curvature.

Domaines: Géochimie; Matière Molle [cond-mat.soft]

D.J. Durian, H. Bideau, P. Duringer, André Schröder, Fabrice Thalmann, et al.. What is a pebble shape ?. Physical Review Letters, 2006, 97, 2, pp.028001. ⟨10.1103/PhysRevLett.97.028001⟩. ⟨hal-00118838⟩