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Craters and Granular Jets Generated by Underground Cavity Collapse.
F E Loranca-Ramos1, J L Carrillo-Estrada1, F Pacheco-Vázquez1
1Instituto de Física, Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, Apartado Postal J-48, Puebla 72570, Mexico.
Physical Review Letters
|July 25, 2015
Summary
The volume of an underground air cavity dictates crater size, not pressure. Cavity collapse under gravity forms circular craters and can generate jets from converging sand avalanches.
Area of Science:
- Geophysics
- Experimental physics
- Granular mechanics
Background:
- Subsurface explosions and collapses can form craters.
- Understanding crater formation is crucial for geological and industrial applications.
Purpose of the Study:
- To experimentally investigate crater formation from subsurface pressurized air cavity collapse in sand.
- To determine the factors influencing crater dimensions and morphology.
Main Methods:
- Controlled laboratory experiments simulating cavity explosion and collapse in a sand bed.
- Analysis of crater dimensions, morphology, and eruption dynamics.
- Observation of sand avalanche behavior and jet formation.
Main Results:
- Crater dimensions are solely determined by the initial cavity volume, independent of internal pressure.
- Eruption dynamics are characterized by vertical air expulsion and subsequent gravitational collapse.
- Craters evolve to a circular shape with increasing depth or cavity depth, irrespective of initial cavity geometry.
- A collimated jet is formed by converging sand avalanches in shallow spherical cavity collapses.
Conclusions:
- Cavity volume is the primary control on crater size in this scenario.
- Gravitational collapse is the dominant mechanism for crater and jet formation.
- The findings explain the prevalence of circular subsidence craters in nature.
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