Bedforms are sedimentary structures that develop on the beds of rivers, coastal zones, lakes, or submarine environments through interactions between fluid flow and a mobile sediment layer. They arise from flow instabilities and sediment transport processes (bedload and suspended load), organizing grains into features such as ripples, dunes, antidunes, bars, and plane beds. Bedform morphology, scale, and migration rate depend on flow regime, sediment size, flow depth, and shear stress. They strongly modulate hydraulic roughness, flow resistance, and sediment flux, and their preserved stratification provides key information for interpreting paleoflow conditions and reconstructing depositional environments in sedimentology and stratigraphy.
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