We consider an excitable medium moving with relative shear, subjected to a
localized disturbance that in a stationary medium would produce a pair of s
piral waves. The spiral waves so created are distorted and then broken by t
he motion of the medium. Such breaks generate new spiral waves, and so a "c
hain reaction" of spiral wave births and deaths is observed. This leads to
a complicated spatiotemporal pattern, the "frazzle gas" [term suggested by
Markus et at, Nature (London) 371, 402 (1994)], which eventually fills the
whole medium. In this paper, we display and interpret the main features of
the pattern. [S1063-651X(99)09407-6].