Helicoidal flow is the cork-screw-like flow of
water
Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...
in a
meander
A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the Channel (geography), channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erosion, erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank (cut bank, cut bank or river cl ...
. It is one example of a
secondary flow
In fluid dynamics, flow can be decomposed into primary flow plus secondary flow, a relatively weaker flow pattern superimposed on the stronger primary flow pattern. The primary flow is often chosen to be an exact solution to simplified or approxim ...
.
Helicoidal flow is a contributing factor to the formation of
slip-off slopes and
river cliffs in a meandering section of the river. The helicoidal motion of the flow aids the processes of
hydraulic action and
corrasion
Corrasion is a geomorphological
Geomorphology () is the scientific study of the origin and evolution of topography, topographic and bathymetry, bathymetric features generated by physical, chemical or biological processes operating at or near ...
on the outside of the meander, and sweeps sediment across the floor of the meander towards the inside of the meander, forming
point bar deposits.
[
]
See also
*
Laminar flow
Laminar flow () is the property of fluid particles in fluid dynamics to follow smooth paths in layers, with each layer moving smoothly past the adjacent layers with little or no mixing. At low velocities, the fluid tends to flow without lateral m ...
*
Turbulent flow
In fluid dynamics, turbulence or turbulent flow is fluid motion characterized by Chaos theory, chaotic changes in pressure and flow velocity. It is in contrast to laminar flow, which occurs when a fluid flows in parallel layers with no disrupt ...
*
Baer's law
*
Secondary flow in river bends
References
Bibliography
Journal of Geophysical Research, Volume 107 (2002)
Rivers
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