Flood hazards at ford stream crossings on ephemeral channels (south‐east coast of Spain)

Most road‐stream crossings over ephemeral channels are vulnerable to extreme hydrologic events. Ford stream crossings (FSCs) are usually dangerous for the road traffic during periods of high flow, in particular under flash flood conditions. The present paper analyzes the flood hazards on the Mediterranean coast in the Region of Murcia (south‐east Spain), affecting this type of road‐stream crossing over dry channels, according to hydraulic variables and bedload transport rates estimated for discharges at bankfull and flood‐prone stages. Under such conditions, the safety of people and vehicles was obtained using numerical models, developed by previous researchers; in particular, water levels and flow velocities across ford reaches were compared with different trend curves between water depths and corresponding critical velocities for children and adults, and for various prototype vehicles. Specifically, two approaches to assess this type of hazards were proposed: a specific Hydraulic Hazard Index and an algorithm for estimating the flood hazard from criteria of bed stability and bedload transport capacity (Flood Hazard at Fords, FHF). In addition, different exposure levels were established, using a Flood Vulnerability Index, based on the FHF, the road category, and the annual average daily traffic. The FHF model gave the best results with regard to the magnitude of the damage observed in recent flash floods for flow stages similar to those simulated. According to the danger thresholds established for this index, half‐bankfull flows represent here a high risk: 27.3% of FSCs for mini‐cars and 18.2% for large cars. At bankfull, the FHF exhibits very high values for mini‐cars (77.3% of FSCs) and for large passenger vehicles (50% of FSCs), while at the floodprone stage, extreme FHF values are reached for all kinds of vehicles at most of the ford crossings.     

Transport measurement with a horizontal and a vertical pipe microphone in a mountain stream: taking account of particle saltation

The pipe microphone has been shown to be an effective means for monitoring bedload transport in mountain streams. It is commonly installed perpendicular to the flow direction on a stable river bed, such as that of a check dam. Acoustic pulses caused by bedload collisions with the pipe are detected by a microphone. However, bedload particles saltating over the pipe remain undetected. To overcome this disadvantage, we installed a horizontal as well as a vertical pipe microphone in the Ashi‐arai‐dani supercritical channel located in the Hodaka mountain range, Japan. The vertical pipe was installed on the wall of the channel and the horizontal pipe was installed on the channel bed. The acoustic response of the horizontal pipe is expected to be larger than that of the vertical pipe, because the bedload concentration decreases with increasing height above the bed. However, at high amplifications, the peak pulse value from the vertical pipe is higher than that from the horizontal pipe. We explain this observation as follows: under high bedload discharge conditions, the pulses of the horizontal pipe are saturated but those of the vertical pipe are not. We proposed a ratio (R_hv) between the pulses detected by these sensors, and applied this ratio for calibrating the contemporaneous pulses detected by a microphone located immediately upstream of a bedload slot sampler. Indeed the R_hv‐corrected pulses correlated well with the bedload discharge calculated from the sampler, supporting our explanation. We conclude that bedload monitoring using concomitant vertical and horizontal pipe microphones can be used to calibrate centrally located pipe microphones when the bedload concentration is approximately homogeneous laterally across the width of the channel cross‐section, and thereby represent bedload discharges more accurately than with only a single pipe microphone. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

River channel and bar patterns explained and predicted by an empirical and a physics‐based method

Our objective is to understand general causes of different river channel patterns. In this paper we compare an empirical stream power‐based classification and a physics‐based bar pattern predictor. We present a careful selection of data from the literature that contains rivers with discharge and median bed particle size ranging over several orders of magnitude with various channel patterns and bar types, but no obvious eroding or aggrading tendency. Empirically a continuum is found for increasing specific stream power, here calculated with pattern‐independent variables: mean annual flood, valley gradient and channel width predicted with a hydraulic geometry relation. ‘Thresholds’, above which certain patterns emerge, were identified as a function of bed sediment size. Bar theory predicts nature and presence of bars and bar mode, here converted to active braiding index (B_i). The most important variables are actual width–depth ratio and nonlinearity of bed sediment transport. Results agree reasonably well with data. Empirical predictions are somewhat better than bar theory predictions, because the bank strength is indirectly included in the empirical prediction. In combination, empirical and theoretical prediction provide partial explanations for bar and channel patterns. Increasing potential‐specific stream power implies more energy to erode banks and indeed correlates to channels with high width–depth ratio. Bar theory predicts that such rivers develop more bars across the width (higher B_i). At the transition from meandering to braiding, weakly braided rivers and meandering rivers with chutes are found. Rivers with extremely low stream power and width–depth ratios hardly develop bars or dynamic meandering and may be straight or sinuous or, in case of disequilibrium sediment feed, anastomosing. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Bed stability variations after check dam construction in torrential channels (South‐East Spain)

The effects of check dams on the bed stability of torrential channels have been analysed in several tributary basins of the Segura and Guadalentín rivers (South‐East Spain). In order to illustrate the large variability in channel bed‐forms and bed sediment sizes along the stream, 52 reaches of 150 m in length were surveyed. This variability is due to the behaviour of check dams, which depends on bedrock control, bed slope, channel roughness, lateral sediment input and a highly variable sediment transport capacity. Though the purpose of check dams is to diminish the boundary shear stress, reducing the longitudinal slope, and to stabilize the channel bed, downstream they reduce the volume of channel‐stored material, favouring local scour processes, and upstream they can destabilize the sidewalls. The results enable us to evaluate the impact of every check dam on the bed morphology, distinguishing the structures installed in limy marl areas (e.g. catchment of the Cárcavo rambla, Cieza) and in schist and slate terrains (e.g. catchment of the Torrecilla rambla, close to Lorca). In the first type, bedrock and moderately thick granular beds predominate downstream from the check dams, so that the length of bedrock reaches and increase of roughness due to scour processes are the best indicators to verify its geomorphological effectiveness. On the other hand, the metamorphic areas drained by ramblas and gullies produce great quantities of gravel that are retained by check dams, creating more uniform and permeable beds, where the balance between sedimentation and scouring, and the ratio τ_c84/τ₀ (RBS), appear to be the parameters most frequently adopted to estimate the bed stability. Analysis of slope adjustments and the application of other indices to estimate the bed substrate stability (LRBS, SRI) and the structural influence of the dams (SIBS) corroborate the differences in bed stability found in the corrected reaches in each catchment. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Geomorphic response of an Appalachian Valley and Ridge stream to urbanization

Human‐induced changes to the channel and 18·6 km² catchment of Second Creek, in Knox County, Tennessee (USA), have included deliberate channel realignment, channelization of some reaches in culverts or cement‐lined channels, the addition of coarse particles, and intentional and unintentional changes in catchment hydrology. Field observations and measurements made between 1997 and 2001 showed active adjustment of the stream channel. Channel bank erosion is the dominant adjustment, but aggradation also occurs. One change following urbanization is an increase in bed particle size due to the addition of particles of anthropogenic origin. Such particles constitute 2–21 per cent of particles sampled at eight sites along the stream, and their D₅₀ exceeds the D₅₀ of natural particles at five of the sites. The downstream portion of the catchment has been urbanized for more than 150 years, but urbanizing activity has continued throughout the catchment, occurring not as a discrete perturbation, but as a set of disturbances with varying spatial and temporal scales. Spatial patterns of erosion and deposition in the channel are complex and do not show an upstream–downstream trend. Effective, although unintended, decoupling of the most manipulated reaches has hindered the propagation of changes in channel morphology and channel materials in this urbanized stream system. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A rational sediment transport scaling relation based on dimensionless stream power

The concept of stream channel grade – according to which a stream channel reach will adjust its gradient, S, in order to transport the imposed sediment load having magnitude Q_b and characteristic grain size D_b, with the available discharge Q (Mackin, 1948 , Geological Society of America Bulletin 59 : 463–512; Lane, 1955 , American Society of Civil Engineers, Proceedings 81 : 1–17) is one of the most influential ideas in fluvial geomorphology. Herein, we derive a scaling relation that describes how externally imposed changes in either Q_b or Q can be accommodated by changes in the channel configuration, described by the energy gradient, mean flow depth, characteristic grain size and a parameter describing the effect of bed surface structures on grain entrainment. One version of this scaling relation is based on the dimensionless bed material transport parameter (W*) presented by Parker and Klingeman ( 1982 , Water Resources Research 18 : 1409–1423). An equivalent version is based on a new dimensionless transport parameter (E*) using dimensionless unit stream power. This version is nearly identical to the relation based on W*, except that it is independent of flow resistance. Both versions of the scaling relation are directly comparable to Lane's original relation. In order to generate this stream power‐based scaling relation, we derived an empirical transport function relation relating E* to dimensionless stream power using data from a wide range of stable, bed load‐dominated channels: the form of that transport function is based on the understanding that, while grain entrainment is related to the forces acting on the bed (described by dimensionless shear stress), sediment transport rate is related to the transfer of momentum from the fluid to the bed material (described by dimensionless stream power). Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A method for estimating spatially variable seepage and hydraulic conductivity in channels with very mild slopes

Infiltration along ephemeral channels plays an important role in groundwater recharge in arid regions. A model is presented for estimating spatial variability of seepage due to streambed heterogeneity along channels based on measurements of streamflow‐front velocities in initially dry channels. The diffusion‐wave approximation to the Saint‐Venant equations, coupled with Philip's equation for infiltration, is connected to the groundwater model MODFLOW and is calibrated by adjusting the saturated hydraulic conductivity of the channel bed. The model is applied to portions of two large water delivery canals, which serve as proxies for natural ephemeral streams. Estimated seepage rates compare well with previously published values. Possible sources of error stem from uncertainty in Manning's roughness coefficients, soil hydraulic properties and channel geometry. Model performance would be most improved through more frequent longitudinal estimates of channel geometry and thalweg elevation, and with measurements of stream stage over time to constrain wave timing and shape. This model is a potentially valuable tool for estimating spatial variability in longitudinal seepage along intermittent and ephemeral channels over a wide range of bed slopes and the influence of seepage rates on groundwater levels. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Controls on at‐a‐station hydraulic geometry in steep headwater streams,Colorado, USA

Detailed hydraulic measurements were made in nine step‐pool, five cascade and one plane‐bed reach in Fraser Experimental Forest, Colorado to better understand at‐a‐station hydraulic geometry (AHG) relations in these channel types. Average values for AHG exponents, m (0·49), f (0·39), and b (0·16), were well within the range found by other researchers working in steep gradient channels. A principal component analysis (PCA) was used to compare the combined variations in all three exponents against five potential control variables: wood, D₈₄, grain‐size distribution (σ), coefficient of variation of pool volume, average roughness‐area (projected wetted area) and bed gradient. The gradient and average roughness‐area were found to be significantly related to the PCA axis scores, indicating that both driving and resisting forces influence the rates of change of velocity, depth and width with discharge. Further analysis of the exponents showed that reaches with m > b + f are most likely dominated by grain resistance and reaches below this value (m < b + f) are dominated by form resistance. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Soil pipe flow tracer experiments: 2. Application of a streamflow transient storage zone model

Soil pipes are important subsurface flow pathways in many soil erosion phenomena. However, limited research has been performed on quantifying and characterizing their flow and transport characteristics. The objectives of this research were to determine the applicability of a streamflow model with transient storage in deriving flow and transport characteristics of soil pipes. Tracer data from pulse inputs were collected in four different soil pipes after a fluorescein dye was injected in the upstream end of each soil pipe network in three branches (west, middle, and east) of a main catchment and a back catchment in Goodwin Creek Experimental Watershed in Mississippi. Multiple sampling stations were positioned along each soil pipe network. The transient storage zone model OTIS‐P was executed inversely to estimate transport parameters by soil pipe reach such as the soil pipe cross‐sectional area (A), soil storage zone cross‐sectional area (A_s), and exchange rate between the soil pipe and the soil storage zone (α_s). Model convergence was achieved, and simulated breakthrough curves of the reaches were in good agreement with actual tracer data for eight of the nine reaches of the three branches of the Main Catchment and five of the seven reaches of the Back Catchment soil pipe. Simulation parameters for the soil pipe networks were similar to the range of values reported for flow and transport characteristics commonly observed in streams. Inversely, estimated soil pipe flow velocities were higher with increased tortuosity, which led to a smaller cross‐sectional areas predicted for the soil pipe flowpaths, while other parameters were not sensitive to tortuosity. In general, application of One‐Dimensional Transport with Inflow and Storage‐P to this unique soil pipe condition suggested larger transient storage (A_s and α_s) compared with most stream systems. This was hypothesized to be because of relatively higher ratio of the wetted perimeter to flow area in the soil pipe, the hydraulic roughness of the soil pipe, potential retention in collapsed portions of the pipe, and interaction with smaller preferential flow systems. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Relation between flow,surface‐layer armoring and sediment transport in gravel‐bed rivers

This study investigates trends in bed surface and substrate grain sizes in relation to reach‐scale hydraulics using data from more than 100 gravel‐bed stream reaches in Colorado and Utah. Collocated measurements of surface and substrate sediment, bankfull channel geometry and channel slope are used to examine relations between reach‐average shear stress and bed sediment grain size. Slopes at the study sites range from 0·0003 to 0·07; bankfull depths range from 0·2 to 5 m and bankfull widths range from 2 to 200 m. The data show that there is much less variation in the median grain size of the substrate, D_50s, than there is in the median grain size of the surface, D₅₀; the ratio of D₅₀ to D_50s thus decreases from about four in headwater reaches with high shear stress to less than two in downstream reaches with low shear stress. Similar trends are observed in an independent data set obtained from measurements in gravel‐bed streams in Idaho. A conceptual quantitative model is developed on the basis of these observations to track differences in bed load transport through an idealized stream system. The results of the transport model suggest that downstream trends in total bed load flux may vary appreciably, depending on the assumed relation between surface and substrate grain sizes. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

ADV measurements of velocity distributions in a gravel‐bed flume

Velocity measurements carried out by an acoustic doppler velocimeter (ADV) in a rectangular laboratory ?ume having a gravel bed are presented. The velocity pro?les are measured in six verticals of the channel cross‐section having an increasing distance (from 4 to 38·5 cm) from the ?ume wall. The experimental runs are carried out for ?ve different bed arrangements, characterized by different concentrations of coarser elements, and for the two conditions of small‐ and large‐scale roughness. For both hydraulic conditions, the velocity measurements are ?rst used to test the applicability of the Dean pro?le and of the logarithmic pro?le corrected by a divergence function proposed in this paper. Then, for each value of the depth sediment ratio h/d₈₄, the non‐dimensional friction factor parameter is calculated by integration of the measured velocity distributions in the different verticals of the cross‐section. Finally a semi‐logarithmic ?ow resistance equation is empirically deduced. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Grain size and topographical differences between static and mobile armour layers

A series of laboratory flume experiments under conditions of sediment starvation (zero sediment feeding) and recirculation were conducted in order to identify the temporal evolution and surface properties of static and mobile armour layers. The experiments were carried out in an 8 m long flume using a bimodal grain‐size mixture (D₅₀ = 6·2 mm) and a range of shear stresses ranging from 4·0 to 8·6 N m^–2. The results confirm that a static armour layer is coarser than a mobile one, and that the grain size of a mobile armour layer is rather insensitive to changes in the imposed flow strength. An analysis of laser scan bed surveys revealed the highly structured and imbricated nature of the static armour layer. Under these conditions the vertical roughness length scale of the bed diminished and it became topographically less complex at higher forming discharges. The topography of mobile armour layers created by rising discharges differed. They exhibited a greater roughness length scale and were less organized, despite the fact that the grain size of the surface material maintained an approximately constant value during recirculation. Also, the mobile armour tended to create larger cluster structures than static armour layers when formed by higher discharges. These differences were mainly due to the transport of the coarser fraction of bed sediments, which diminished to zero over the static armour because of being hidden within the bed, whereas in the mobile armour the coarser particles protruded into the flow and were actively transported, increasing the vertical roughness length scale. Overall, the results show that an examination of the grain size characteristics of armour layers cannot be used to infer sediment mobility and bed roughness. Detailed elevation models of exposed surfaces of gravel‐bed rivers are required to provide critical insight on the sediment availability and sedimentation processes. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Riffle‐pool morphometry and stage‐dependant morphodynamics of a large floodplain river (Vereinigte Mulde,Sachsen‐Anhalt,Germany)

Riffle‐pool sequences are a common feature of gravel‐bed rivers. However, mechanisms of their generation and maintenance are still not fully understood. In this study a monitoring approach is employed that focuses on analysing cross‐sectional and longitudinal channel geometry of a large floodplain river (Vereinigte Mulde, Sachsen‐Anhalt, Germany) with a high temporal and spatial resolution, in order to conclude from stage‐dependant morphometric changes to riffle and pool maintaining processes. In accordance with previous authors, pool cross‐sections of the Mulde River are narrow and riffle cross‐sections are wide suggesting that they should rather be addressed as two general types of channel cross‐sections than solely as bedforms. At high flows, riffles and pools in the study reaches changed in length and height but not in position. Pools were scoured and riffles aggraded, a development which was reversed during receding flows below the threshold of 0·4Q_bf (40% bankfull discharge). An index for the longitudinal amplitude of riffle‐pool sequences, the bed undulation intensity or bedform amplitude, is introduced and proved to be highly significant as a form parameter, its first derivative as a process parameter. The process of pool scour and riffle fill is addressed as bedform maintenance or bedform accentuation. It is indicated by increasing longitudinal bed amplitudes. According to the observed dynamics of bed amplitudes, maintenance of riffle‐pool sequences lags behind discharge peaks. Maximum bed amplitudes may be reached with a delay of several days after peak discharges. Increasing bed undulation intensity is interpreted to indicate bed mobility. Post‐flood decrease of the bed undulation intensity indicates a retrograde phase when transport from pools to riffles has ceased and bed mobility is restricted to riffle tails and heads of pools. This type of transport behaviour is referred to as disconnected mobility. The comparison of two river reaches, one with undisturbed sediment supply, the other with sediment deficit, suggests that high bed undulation intensity values at low flows indicate sediment deficit and potentially channel degrading conditions. It is more generally hypothesized that channel bed undulations constitute a major component of form roughness and that increased bed amplitudes are an important feature of channel bed adjustment to sediment deficit be it temporally during late floods or permanently due to a supply limitation of bedload. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effect of bed topography on soil aggregates transport by rill flow

After its formation, a rill may remain in the field for months, often receiving lower flow rates than the formative discharge. The objective of this work was to evaluate the rill flow transport capacity of soil aggregates at discharges unable to erode the rill, and to analyse the influence of the rill macro‐roughness on this transport process. A non‐erodible rill was built in which roughness was reproduced in detail. In order to assess only the rill macro‐roughness, a flat channel with a similar micro‐roughness to that in the rill replica was built. Rill and channel experiments were carried out at a slope of 8 and at six discharges (8·3 × 10^?5 to 5·2 × 10^?4 m³ s^?1) in the rill, and eight discharges (1·6 × 10^?5 to 5·2 × 10^?4 m³ s^?1) in the channel. Non‐erodible aggregates of three sizes (1–2, 3–5 and 5–10 mm) were released at the inlet of the rill/channel. The number of aggregates received at the outlet was registered. The number and position of the remaining aggregates along the rill/channel were also determined. The rill flow was a major sediment transport mechanism only during the formation of the rill, as during that period the power of the flow was great enough to overcome the influence of the macro‐roughness of the rill bed. At lower discharges the transport capacity in the previously formed rill was significantly less than that in the flat channel under similar slope and discharge. This was determined to be due to local slowing of flow velocities at the exit of rill pools. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Stream nitrate uptake and transient storage over a gradient of geomorphic complexity,north‐central Colorado,USA

The understanding of nutrient uptake in streams is impeded by a limited understanding of how geomorphic setting and flow regime interact with biogeochemical processing. This study investigated these interactions as they relate to transient storage and nitrate uptake in small agricultural and urban streams. Sites were selected across a gradient of channel conditions and management modifications and included three 180‐m long geomorphically distinct reaches on each of two streams in north‐central Colorado. The agricultural stream has been subject to historically variable cattle‐grazing practices, and the urban stream exhibits various levels of stabilisation and planform alteration. Reach‐scale geomorphic complexity was characterised using highly detailed surveys of channel morphology, substrate, hydraulics and habitat units. Breakthrough‐curve modelling of conservative bromide (Br^?) and nonconservative nitrate (NO₃^?) tracer injections characterised transient storage and nitrate uptake along each reach. Longitudinal roughness and flow depth were positively associated with transient storage, which was related to nitrate uptake, thus underscoring the importance of geomorphic influences on stream biogeochemical processes. In addition, changes in geomorphic characteristics due to temporal discharge variation led to complex responses in nitrate uptake. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Characterizing supraglacial meltwater channel hydraulics on the Greenland Ice Sheet from in situ observations

Supraglacial rivers on the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) transport large volumes of surface meltwater toward the ocean, yet have received relatively little direct research. This study presents field observations of channel width, depth, velocity, and water surface slope for nine supraglacial channels on the south‐western GrIS collected between July 23 and August 20, 2012. Field sites are located up to 74 km inland and span 494–1485 m elevation, and contain measured discharges larger than any previous in situ study: from 0.006 to 23.12 m³/s in channels 0.20 to 20.62 m wide. All channels were deeply incised with near vertical banks, and hydraulic geometry results indicate that supraglacial channels primarily accommodate greater discharges by increasing velocity. Smaller streams had steeper water surface slopes (0.74–8.83%) than typical in terrestrial settings, yielding correspondingly high velocities (0.40–2.60 m/s) and Froude numbers (0.45–3.11) with supercritical flow observed in 54% of measurements. Derived Manning's n values were larger and more variable than anticipated from channels of uniform substrate, ranging from 0.009 to 0.154 with a mean value of 0.035 ± 0.027 despite the absence of sediment, debris, or other roughness elements. Ubiquitous micro‐depressions in shallow sections of the channel bed may explain some of these roughness values. However, we find that other, unobserved sources of flow resistance likely contributed to these elevated Manning's n values: future work should explicitly consider additional sources of flow resistance beyond bed roughness in supraglacial channels. We conclude that hydraulic modeling for these channels must allow for both subcritical and supercritical flow, and most importantly must refrain from assuming that all ice‐substrate channels exhibit similar hydraulic behavior, especially for Froude numbers and Manning's n. Finally, this study highlights that further theoretical and empirical work on supraglacial channel hydraulics is necessary before broad scale understanding of ice sheet hydrology can be achieved. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hillslope hydrology in tropical rainforest steeplands in Brunei

Many remaining areas of tropical rainforest in south‐east Asia are located on landscapes dominated by deep valleys and very steep slopes. Now that logging activities are extending into these steeplands, it is essential to understand how the natural rainforest system behaves if any kind of realistic assessment of the effects of such disturbance is to be made. This paper examines the hydrological behaviour of an undisturbed rainforest system on steep topography in the Temburong District of Brunei, north‐west Borneo. The physical and hydrological properties of the regolith material are generally typical of tropical residual soils. The regolith has a clay texture and a low dry bulk density beneath a superficial litter/organic horizon. The infiltration capacity of the surface soil was several hundred mm h⁻¹. That of the exposed mineral subsoil was an order of magnitude less, similar to the saturated hydraulic conductivity (K_sat) of around 180 mm h⁻¹ at a depth of 150 cm. There was no indication that K_sat reduced with depth except very near the bedrock interface. Soil tensions were measured using a two‐dimensional array of tensiometers on a 30° slope. During dry season conditions, infiltrating rain‐water contributes to soil moisture, and drying of the soil is dominated by transpiration losses. During wet season conditions, perched water tables quickly develop during heavy rainfall, giving rise to the rapid production of return flow in ephemeral channels. No infiltration excess or saturation overland flow was observed on hillslopes away from channel margins. Subsurface storm flow combined with return flow produce stream flow hydrographs with high peak discharges and very short lag times. Storm event runoff coefficients are estimated to be as high as 40%. It is concluded that the most distinctive feature of the hydrology of this ‘steepland rainforest’ is the extremely ‘flashy’ nature of the catchment runoff regime produced by the combination of thin but very permeable regolith on steep slopes. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Depth‐dependent hydraulic conductivity distribution patterns of a streambed

Characterization of streambed hydraulic conductivity from the channel surface to a great depth below the channel surface can provide needed information for the determination of stream‐aquifer hydrologic connectedness, and it is also important to river restoration. However, knowledge on the streambed hydraulic conductivity for sediments 1 m below the channel surface is scarce. This study describes a method that was used to determine the distribution patterns of streambed hydraulic conductivity for sediments from channel surface to a depth of 15 m below. The method includes Geoprobe's direct‐push techniques and Permeameter tests. Direct‐push techniques were used to generate the electrical conductivity (EC) logs and to collect sequences of continuous sediment cores from river channels, as well as from the alluvial aquifer connected to the river. Permeameter tests on these sediment cores give the profiles of vertical hydraulic conductivity (K_v) of the channel sediments and the aquifer materials. This method was applied to produce K_v profiles for a streambed and an alluvial aquifer in the Platte River Valley of Nebraska, USA. Comparison and statistical analysis of the K_v profiles from the river channel and from the proximate alluvial aquifer indicates a special pattern of K_v in the channel sediments. This depth‐dependent pattern of K_v distribution for the channel sediments is considered to be produced by hyporheic processes. This K_v‐distribution pattern implied that the effect of hyporheic processes on streambed hydraulic conductivity can reach the sediments about 9 m below the channel surface. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Copper dispersion in ephemeral stream sediments

Sediment transport related parameters in ephemeral streams may be used to model and delineate: (1) average dispersion patterns of copper-laden sediments; (2) differences in dispersion of copper in bedload and suspended sediments; and (3) variability in the copper-sediment dispersion patterns. A model that effectively describes dispersion of copper in ephemeral stream sediments in a simple mixing model: where C_r is the resultant concentration beneath the confluence of the main channel with a tributary, C_t is the concentration of metal in sediments of the tributary, C_m is the metal concentration in main channel sediments, and X_m and X_t are the basin areas or sediment yields of the main channel and tributary channel at their confluence. Variability in metal concentrations about values predicted by this model may be due to the different responses of bedload and suspended load to changes in stream hydraulics, the dynamics of bedload transport, the spatial and temporal variability rainfall within the drainage basin, and chemical mobility of the copper.     

Effect of storms during drought on post‐wildfire recovery of channel sediment dynamics and habitat in the southern California chaparral,USA

Current global warming projections suggest a possible increase in wildfire and drought, augmenting the need to understand how drought following wildfire affects the recovery of stream channels in relation to sediment dynamics. We investigated post‐wildfire geomorphic responses caused by storms during a prolonged drought following the 2013 Springs Fire in southern California (USA), using multi‐temporal terrestrial laser scanning and detailed field measurements. After the fire, a dry‐season dry‐ravel sediment pulse contributed sand and small gravel to hillslope‐channel margins in Big Sycamore Creek and its tributaries. A small storm in WY 2014 generated sufficient flow to mobilize a portion of the sediment derived from the dry‐ravel pulse and deposited the fine sediment in the channel, totaling ~0.60 m³/m of volume per unit length of channel. The sediment deposit buried step‐pool habitat structure and reduced roughness by over 90%. These changes altered sediment transport characteristics of the bed material present before and after the storm; the ratio of available to critical shear stress (τ_o/τ_c) increased by five times. Storms during WY 2015 contributed additional fine sediment from tributaries and lower hillslopes and hyperconcentrated flow transported and deposited additional sediment in the channel. Together these sources delivered sediment on the order of six times that in 2014, further increasing τ_o/τ_c. These storms during multi‐year drought following wildfire transformed channel dynamics. The increased sediment transport capacity persisted during the drought period characterized by the longer residence time of relatively fine‐grained post‐fire channel sedimentation. This contrasts with wetter years, when post‐fire sediment is transported from the fluvial system during the same season as the post‐fire sediment pulse. Results of this short‐term study highlight the complex and substantial effects of multi‐year drought on geomorphic responses following wildfire. These responses influence pool habitat that is critical to longer‐term post‐wildfire riparian ecosystem recovery. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.