Issue |
EPL
Volume 138, Number 1, April 2022
|
|
---|---|---|
Article Number | 13001 | |
Number of page(s) | 6 | |
Section | Fluid and nonlinear dynamics | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1209/0295-5075/ac5cdc | |
Published online | 09 May 2022 |
Condensation-induced self-patterning of a thin clayey layer
1 Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, FAST - F-91405, Orsay, France
2 Sorbonne Université, UFR 919 - 4 Place Jussieu, F-75252, Paris Cedex 05, France
(a) doumenc@fast.u-psud.fr (corresponding author)
Received: 10 December 2021
Accepted: 11 March 2022
We show through laboratory experiments that the self-patterning of a thin clayey layer can be triggered by condensation. The natural sediment used in the experiments was a highly polydisperse granular paste with smectite clay in the fine fraction. Under certain physicochemical conditions, condensation induces the solid-to-liquid transition of the sediment layer, resulting in sediment flow and the formation of band structures. These results suggest a physical mechanism for the formation of patterns commonly observed on the humid walls of underground cavities, referred to as vermiculations.
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