Antidune - Formation

Formation

Antidunes are typically found in fluvial environments in shallow areas with a high flow rate. Antidunes look similar to ripples that go in the direction of the flow, but are easily identified by their rapid change and moving in opposition to the flow of the water. Antidunes evolve rapidly, growing in amplitude as they migrate against the current. When the surface wave above them becomes unstable and breaks (when the surface wave amplitude reaches 1/7 its wavelength) most of the antidune bedform is destroyed and its sediment carried down stream.

Antidunes are commonly observed in small streams that flow across beaches into the ocean. Flume studies have show that they can also occur in submarine environments beneath density flows like turbidity currents. Antidunes produce sedimentary structures characteristic of their flow regime, which allow sedimentary geologists to understand past flow conditions. Unlike low flow regime bedforms like dunes and ripples which generally produce downstream dipping cross stratification, antidunes produce a mixture of low-angle downstream and upstream dipping strata. While antidunes migrate upstream, upstream dipping cross-stratification is not indicative of antidunes or upper flow regime conditions.

Antidunes migrate upstream because the stream flow is shallow and fast in the trough and slows and deepens over the crest. As a result, the shear stress on the bed decreases from trough to crest, allowing sedimentation, and increases from crest to tough, causing erosion. The inertia of the flow moves the shear stress maximum and minimum slightly downstream of the trough and crest. This allows the bedform to amplify with time as erosion occurs in the trough and deposition occurs at the crest.

Christopher R. Fielding observed a link between their formation and the climate. Climates that have extreme rainy seasons resulting in runoff create a higher flow velocity within their streams and rivers. Thus increasing the ability of upper flow regime structures to form. Here is a video showing the formation and destruction of a modern antidune.