Role of bed level variability on tracer dispersal in an equilibrium bed
Modeling problems in which movement of individual grains plays an important role, such as tracer dispersal and the emplacement of grain fabrics remain challenging. An analytical solution describing the streamwise and vertical dispersal of tracers in an equilibrium bed of uniform sediment was derived with a vertically continuous, morphodynamic approach and tested against laboratory and field studies in plane bed configuration. Here laboratory data on the temporal variability of bed levels in presence of small scale bedforms are used to study if and how bedforms alter tracer dispersal and the equilibrium tracer concentration profile in an alluvial bed.