Jinzi Mac Huang
Professor, New York University Shanghai, NYU-ECNU Institute of Physics and Institute of Mathematical Sciences
https://math.nyu.edu/~jinzi/
” Laboratory study of dissolution induced geomorphologies “
Ever-changing geological features on this planet never fail to capture our imagination and inspire new scientific advances. Among them, the formation of stone forests is one striking geomorphology caused by dissolution and fluid-structure interactions. Recent experiments at the Applied Math Lab demonstrate how a soluble body placed in a fluid spontaneously forms a dissolution pinnacle — a slender, upward pointing shape that resembles naturally occurring karst pinnacles found in stone forests. In this talk, we will demonstrate how coupled fluid-shape dynamics results in morphological attractors and pattern formation in the dissolution process. Simple scaling analysis also offers a principle for estimating the age and environmental conditions of geological structures, and answers to questions like how many licks does it take to get to the center of a lollipop.