Effects of Woody Debris on Channel Morphology and Sediment Storage in Headwater Streams in the Great Smoky Mountains,Tennessee-North Carolina

Coarse woody debris (CWD) is an important component of headwater streams, however, few studies have investigated the geomorphic effects of CWD in the southern Appalachians. In the Great Smoky Mountains, debris slides supply large volumes of CWD and sediment to low-order streams. This study investigates the effect of CWD on bankfull channel dimensions and in-channel sediment storage along second-order streams. Comparisons are made between streams that have experienced recent debris slides and those that have not. CWD channel obstructions are larger but less frequent along debris-slide-affected streams. Dendrochronological evidence indicates that CWD can remain in channels for over 100 yr. Relatively short residence times of CWD along debris-slide-affected streams suggest that logs are frequently flushed through these streams. CWD causes channel widening along all study streams, but the volume of sediment stored in the channel behind CWD obstructions is up to four times greater than the volume of sediment represented by bank erosion associated with CWD. Two large log jams formed by debris slides at tributary junctions stored approximately 4000 m³ of sediment. Sediment stored by CWD was finer than mean bed particle size, and thus represents a significant sediment source when CWD obstructions are breached.     

Response of bankfull discharge to discharge and sediment load in the Lower Yellow River

This paper presents a study on the response of bankfull discharge to incoming discharge and sediment load based on long-term hydrological and bankfull discharge data measured on the lower reaches of the Yellow River. The analysis indicated that the bankfull discharge was a function of the preceding 5 to 6 years' flow regimes, revealing that bankfull channel dimensions were a result of the accumulative effect of several consecutive years' flow discharge and sediment load conditions. In other words, the mean relaxation time was about 5 to 6 years for channel adjustment. Theoretical methods for the prediction of bankfull discharge were developed, in which the response time or the relaxation time was fully considered. Testing of the methods using data observed at five hydrologic stations in the lower reaches of the Yellow River from 1960 to 2003 showed that the proposed methods can predict the variation of bankfull discharge in response to changes in the incoming discharge and sediment load. The proposed methods hold promise for predicting the magnitude and trend of channel response to other rivers undergoing aggradation or degradation from changes in hydrologic or sediment regime.     

The geometric, sedimentologic and hydrologic attributes of spring-dominated channels in volcanic areas

In volcanic areas of Idaho, Oregon and Montana, a number of perennial streams emerge from single springs or zones of springs. Surface drainage areas to these springs can be very small, often much smaller than the recharge area of the springs. Channels downstream of springs are often straight, or if sinuous, without regularity to the pattern. Bars are absent or poorly defined, but islands or downed timber are common in the channel. Channel width-to-depth ratios are large relative to those of runoff-dominated channels. Downstream hydraulic geometry exponents are similar, but the exponents for width and velocity are greater in spring-dominated channels. Manning roughness values are relatively large. The bedsurface in gravel-bed spring-dominated streams is armored. Computations indicate that bed material is probably capable of moving at bankfull stage.The hydrograph of spring-dominated streams is damped as compared to runoff-dominated streams locally and elsewhere. Peak flows occur months after precipitation or snowmelt. Mean annual flow for spring-dominated streams averages 72% of the flood with a recurrence interval of 2 years; the mean annual flow for runoff-dominated channels averages 18% locally and 25% elsewhere. The 50-year flood averages 1.6 times the 2-year flood on the annual series while the corresponding value for runoff-dominated channels in the region is 2.5. The damped hydrograph of spring-dominated streams suggests that they are somewhat different from runoff-dominated channels in the relationship between water and sediment. In spring-dominated channels, 34% of sediment is transported by flows above the 2-year flood—less than is observed typically in runoff-dominated channels. The effective discharge is similar in magnitude to the 2-year flood.     

黄河上游内蒙古段河床演变及其与水沙变化的关系

对黄河内蒙古段河道大断面进行了连续4 a的测量,分析了断面泥沙冲淤与形态调整的变化过程;通过对河床形态指标变化与水沙条件的相关分析,揭示了河床调整主要的影响因素。结果显示：近4 a内不存在河槽萎缩的现象,整个河段河道存在总的冲刷降低的趋势,继承了自2004年以来该段河道以深度加大为主,河槽逐渐缓慢扩大的变化方向。整个河段平均从2011年汛后至2014年汛后,全断面冲刷了64 m²,河槽河底降低了0.16 m,河槽断面面积增加了4.4%,平均深度增加了4.9%,河槽宽度只增加了0.88%,河槽宽深比减小了4.8%。河槽冲刷和形态调整主要发生在2011年汛后至2012年汛后期间,与2012年较大的洪峰有关。分析河槽冲淤和断面形态变化与水沙条件的关系,结果显示滩唇高度、河槽过水面积、平均深度及宽深比变率与流量大小关系密切。滩唇高度、河槽过水面积、平均深度随着流量的增大而增加,宽深比随着流量的增大而减小。相反,河床断面面积和主槽宽度的变化与水沙条件的关系不显著。除了滩唇高度与平均含沙量有关外,平均含沙量和来沙系数与河床冲淤以及河槽形态变化之间关系都不显著。揭示出近年来内蒙河道主槽以垂向冲淤为主,并且流量变化控制着河槽冲淤与形态调整过程。     

Adjustment of flood discharge capacity with varying boundary conditions in a braided reach of the Lower Yellow River

It is of necessity to investigate the adjustment of flood discharge capacity in the Lower Yellow River(LYR) because of its profound importance in sediment transport and flood control decision-making, and additionally its magnitude is influenced by the channel and upstream boundary conditions, which have significantly varied with the ongoing implementation of soil and water conservation measures in the Loess Plateau and the operation of the Xiaolangdi Reservoir. The braided reach between two hydrometric stations of Huayuankou and Gaocun in the LYR was selected as the study area. Different parameters in the study reach during the period 1986–2015 were calculated, covering bankfull discharge(the indicator of flood discharge capacity), the pre-flood geomorphic coefficient(the indicator of channel boundary condition), and the previous five-year average fluvial erosion intensity during flood seasons(the indicator of incoming flow and sediment regime). Functional linkages at scales of section and reach were then developed respectively to quantitatively demonstrate the integrated effects of channel and upstream boundary conditions on the flood discharge capacity.Results show that:(1) the reach-scale bankfull discharge in the pre-dam stage(1986–1999)decreased rapidly by 50%, accompanied with severe channel aggradation and main-channel shrinkage. It recovered gradually as the geometry of main channel became narrower and deeper in the post-dam stage, with the geomorphic coefficient continuously reducing to less than 15 m-1/2.(2) The response of bankfull discharge to the channel and upstream boundary conditions varied at scales of section and reach, and consequently the determination coefficients differed for the comprehensive equations, with a smallest value at the Jiahetan station and a highest value(0.91) at reach scale. Generally, the verified results calculated using the comprehensive equations agreed well with the corresponding measured values in 2014–2015.(3) The effect of channel boundary condition was more prominent than that of upstream boundary condition on the adjustment of bankfull discharge at the Jiahetan station and the braided reach, which was proved by a larger improvement in determination coefficients for the comprehensive equations and a better performance of geomorphic coefficient on the increase of bankfull discharge.     

STREAM MORPHOLOGIC IMPACT OF AND RECOVERY FROM MAJOR FLOODING IN NORTH-CENTRAL NEVADA

Major floods cause channel changes ranging from complete cross-sectional change to small fluctuations in pool area. We used stream cross-section data on 30 heavily grazed rangeland streams in north-central Nevada to assess changes over a climatically variable 14-year period. There was an insufficient range in ungulate damage to consider differences caused by grazing. Flooding with return intervals exceeding 50 years caused major change on approximately 25% of the surveyed streams regardless of initial stream type. One-quarter of the changed streams continued to experience cross-sectional change during a six- to eight-year period of low-to-normal flows. On these streams, upper banks either receded to expose a new, lower floodplain or flattened to a less vertical slope. On streams that did not change type, flooding substantially reduced pool area, which did not recover during the succeeding period, presumably because energy was insufficient to form pools. High flows flushed fine sediment from the streams that did not change type, but fines returned in six years of low flows. Stream classification did not usefully predict major changes, channel evolution after the change, or differences in the effect of flooding on pools among streams that did not change.     

Fluvial sediment transport and deposition following the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo

The 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo generated extreme sediment yields from watersheds heavily impacted by pyroclastic flows. Bedload sampling in the Pasig–Potrero River, one of the most heavily impacted rivers, revealed negligible critical shear stress and very high transport rates that reflected an essentially unlimited sediment supply and the enhanced mobility of particles moving over a smooth, fine-grained bed. Dimensionless bedload transport rates in the Pasig–Potrero River differed substantially from those previously reported for rivers in temperate regions for the same dimensionless shear stress, but were similar to rates identified in rivers on other volcanoes and ephemeral streams in arid environments. The similarity between volcanically disturbed and arid rivers appears to arise from the lack of an armored bed surface due to very high relative sediment supply; in arid rivers, this is attributed to a flashy hydrograph, whereas volcanically disturbed rivers lack armoring due to sustained high rates of sediment delivery. This work suggests that the increases in sediment supply accompanying massive disturbance induce morphologic and hydrologic changes that temporarily enhance transport efficiency until the watershed recovers and sediment supply is reduced.     

The braided Milk River, northern Montana, fails the Leopold–Wolman discharge-gradient test

The Milk River, the northernmost tributary to the Missouri–Mississippi River system, exhibits an anomalous sand-bed braiding reach in an otherwise meandering system. Shortly after leaving Alberta and entering Montana the river suddenly changes to braiding and maintains this pattern for 47 km before entering Fresno Reservoir. Measured stream gradient and bankfull discharge in the braiding reach severely fail the Leopold and Wolman [U.S. Geol. Surv. Prof. Pap. 282B (1957) 39] slope–discharge test for differentiating channel patterns. While channel slope has long been regarded as one of the primary variables associated with braiding, our data from the sand-bed Milk River do not support this relationship. Instead, the data show that the braiding reach has a lower channel slope (0.00047) than the meandering reach (0.00055). Coupled with a constant discharge the unit length stream power is comparable between the two reaches. At the morphologic transition between meandering and braiding, a dramatic reduction in channel bank strength occurs where the sampled silt–clay content declines from 65% in the meandering reach to 18% in the braiding. This enables channel widening which is reflected in a 60% reduction in unit area stream power in the braiding reach. Thus, sediment transport capacity declines and channel bars are deposited. During waning flows, these bars are dissected, producing a braiding morphology. We suggest that for sand-bed braiding rivers the silt–clay percentage in the channel banks may be more important than slope. A review of the original Leopold and Wolman [U.S. Geol. Surv. Prof. Pap. 282B (1957) 39] dataset, and many subsequent analyses, reveals that most braided rivers studied were gravel-bed. As a result, causal variables associated with braiding in sand-bed environments may need a thorough evaluation.     

水沙条件对黄河下游河道输沙功能的影响

提出河道输沙功能指标F_s为进入某一河道的泥沙总量(干流与支流输入沙量之和)与输出这一河道的泥沙量之比。河道输沙功能与来水量和来沙量有密切关系,若来水减少,来沙增多,则河道输沙功能减弱。来沙中大于0.05 mm粗泥沙含量百分比与河道输沙功能指标成负相关。来沙系数、特别是粗泥沙的来沙系数,是决定黄河下游输沙功能的重要因子;来沙系数越大,则河道输沙功能指标越低。场次洪水的输沙功能指标随场次洪水最大含沙量的增大而降低,历年河道输沙功能指标随各年中高含沙水流频率的增高而降低。小浪底水库修建后,为我们通过调水调沙提高河道输沙功能提供可能。研究表明,场次洪水平均含沙量35 kg/m³,或场次洪水平均来沙系数为(0.015 kg·s)/m⁶,是在调水调沙中实现河道输沙功能优化的最优含沙量和最优来沙系数,平滩流量则是实现河道输沙功能最大化的最优流量级。     

The characteristics of turbulence in a shear zone downstream of a channel constriction in a coarse-grained forced pool

A field-based project was initiated to characterize the influence of varying discharge and bed topography along a pool exit-slope on the strength of turbulence generated by vortex shedding. Velocities were measured with an ADV downstream of a boulder constriction within a shear zone of a large pool. Measurements were repeated for four flows that varied from 20% to 50% of bankfull discharge. An additional longitudinal profile was conducted along the pool thalweg. Plots of velocity demonstrate high near-bed velocities and turbulence levels in the pools. Turbulence levels were highest closer to the constriction in the shear zone. Turbulent kinetic energy decayed in the downstream direction in response to the bed topography and at lower discharges. Instantaneous velocities are large enough to temporarily lift pebbles at this depth. It appears that instantaneous forces created by vortex shedding may play an important role in scouring pools downstream of constrictions. The turbulence may also respond to changes in bed topography in a manner that encourages feedbacks among bed topography, characteristics of turbulence, and sediment transport.     

VARIABILITY OF IN-CHANNEL SEDIMENT STORAGE WITHIN A SMALL SEMIARID DRAINAGE BASIN

This study determines the spatial and temporal variability of in-channel storage within a small semiarid drainage basin in equatorial East Africa, and establishes a tentative sediment budget for coarse (>200 μm) in-channel sediments. Detailed measurements of in-channel sediment storage (mass) within third and fourth-order ephemeral channels were obtained using channel-pit excavations and probing with metal rods. Eighty-seven monumented cross-sections were established in February 1986 and resurveyed in December 1986, following the last runoff event of the year. These provided data on change in sediment storage on a 30-m channel reach basis. In addition, measurements of bankfull channel width, mean depth, cross-sectional area, wetted perimeter, hydraulic radius, channel slope and distance from the basin outlet were measured at each cross section. Total in-channel sediment storage was approximately 8640 t with 83% of this total stored within the Main (fourth-order) Channel. Stepwise multiple regression of In-transformed data indicated that bankfull channel width and distance from the outlet (which is strongly related with slope) were significantly related to in-channel storage. The variation in the ratio of stream power:critical power along the Main Channel may explain the distribution of in-channel sediments. Net aggradation of 50 to 60 t during 1986 was minor in relation to the total in-channel storage reservoir, but indicates that a static equilibrium condition cannot be assumed. Bedload output during 1986 was approximately 125 t, and the computed input of coarse sediments to the major channels within the basin was approximately 185 t. The sediment delivery ratio for the coarse material was approximately 68%, which indicates a relatively efficient transport system. [Key words: geomorphology, sediment budget, in-channel sediment storage, semiarid, drainage basin.]     

Identification of steps and pools from stream longitudinal profile data

Field research on step–pool channels has largely focused on the dimensions and sequence of steps and pools and how these features vary with slope, grain sizes and other governing variables. Measurements by different investigators are frequently compared, yet no means to identify steps and pools objectively have been used. Automated surveying instruments record the morphology of streams in unprecedented detail making it possible to objectively identify steps and pools, provided an appropriate classification procedure can be developed.To achieve objective identification of steps and pools from long profile survey data, we applied a series of scale-free geometric rules that include minimum step length (2.25% of bankfull width (W_b)), minimum pool length (10% of W_b), minimum residual depth (0.23% of W_b), minimum drop height (3.3% of W_b), and minimum step slope (10° greater than the mean slope). The rules perform as well as the mean response of 11 step–pool researchers who were asked to classify four long profiles, and the results correspond well with the channel morphologies identified during the field surveys from which the long profiles were generated. The method outperforms four other techniques that have been proposed. Sensitivity analysis shows that the method is most sensitive to the choice of minimum pool length and minimum drop height.Detailed bed scans of a step–pool channel created in a flume reveal that a single long profile with a fixed sampling interval poorly characterizes the steps and pools; five or more long profiles spread across the channel are required if a fixed sampling interval is used and the data suggest that survey points should be located more frequently than the diameter of the step-forming material. A single long profile collected by a surveyor who chooses breaks in slope and representative survey points was found to adequately characterize the mean bed profile.     

黄河下游河道泥沙存贮-释放及其临界条件

确定了黄河下游河道处于泥沙存贮-释放临界状态的水沙临界条件。当场次洪水平均含沙量小于31.68 kg/m³,或者来自中游多沙粗沙区场次洪水来沙量小于4 543×10⁴ t,下游河道将由泥沙存贮状态变为泥沙释放状态。当河口镇以上清水区径流占场次洪水总径流量比率大于0.70时,也会由泥沙存贮状态变为泥沙释放状态。场次洪水泥沙输移比随洪水平均流量的增到而增大,流量为4 000 m³/s(相当于平滩流量)时达到峰值,此后有所减少。这表明,平滩流量时泥沙存贮最少,低于平滩流量和高于平滩流量时泥沙存贮均增大。     

长江干流河道对流域输沙的调节作用

利用长江干流和主要支流上测站1956~2004年的输沙量资料,对干流未测区域的来沙进行了估计。根据泥沙平衡 (Sediment budget) 概念,对长江干流河道的冲淤对来水来沙的响应以及对入海泥沙的影响进行研究发现,长江干流屏山至大通河道平均淤积速率为88.58×10⁶ t/a,河道淤积占总的来沙量及大通站输沙量比例分别为14%与21%。由于河道淤积,大通站输沙量减少了17.5%。总体来说上游淤积较轻,宜昌至汉口区间淤积严重,汉口至大通区间为微冲。长江干流的河道冲淤与流域总的来沙具有显著的相关关系,但各段河道的冲淤对流域来沙的响应各不一样。上游的冲淤与流域的径流量和来沙量均没有很好的相关性,宜昌-汉口段河道冲淤的变化与宜昌站的来沙具有显著的相关性;影响汉口-大通间河道的冲淤变化的主要因素是流域的来水量,河道的冲淤与大通站径流量的存在显著的负相关关系。三峡水库蓄水后整个长江干流的冲淤形势发生了根本的变化。三峡水库的蓄水运用有效地减轻了洞庭湖的泥沙淤积,同时也降低了洞庭湖的对长江干流泥沙的调节作用;长江上游干流河道淤积增强,中下游河道出现冲刷,但不同的河段表现不一;中下游河道冲刷量小于预测值,三峡水库的蓄水运用直接导致了长江入海泥沙的减少。     

Modeling forced pool–riffle hydraulics in a boulder-bed stream, southern California

The mechanisms which control the formation and maintenance of pool–riffles are fundamental aspects of channel form and process. Most of the previous investigations on pool–riffle sequences have focused on alluvial rivers, and relatively few exist on the maintenance of these bedforms in boulder-bed channels. Here, we use a high-resolution two-dimensional flow model to investigate the interactions among large roughness elements, channel hydraulics, and the maintenance of a forced pool–riffle sequence in a boulder-bed stream. Model output indicates that at low discharge, a peak zone of shear stress and velocity occurs over the riffle. At or near bankfull discharge, the peak in velocity and shear stress is found at the pool head because of strong flow convergence created by large roughness elements. The strength of flow convergence is enhanced during model simulations of bankfull flow, resulting in a narrow, high velocity core that is translated through the pool head and pool center. The jet is strengthened by a backwater effect upstream of the constriction and the development of an eddy zone on the lee side of the boulder. The extent of flow convergence and divergence is quantified by identifying the effective width, defined here as the width which conveys 90% of the highest modeled velocities. At low flow, the ratio of effective width between the pool and riffle is roughly 1:1, indicating little flow convergence or divergence. At bankfull discharge, the ratio of effective width is approximately 1:3 between the pool and downstream riffle, illustrating the strong flow convergence at the pool head. The effective width tends to equalize again with a ratio of 1:1 between the pool and riffle during a modeled discharge of a five-year flood, as the large roughness elements above the pool become drowned out. Results suggest that forced pool–riffle sequences in boulder-bed streams are maintained by flows at or near bankfull discharge because of stage-dependent variability in depth-averaged velocity and tractive force.     

The storage of bed material in mountain stream channels as assessed using Optically Stimulated Luminescence dating

A detailed understanding of channel forming and maintenance processes in mountain streams requires some measurement and/or prediction of bed load transport and sediment mobility. Traditional field based measurements of such processes are problematic because of the high formative discharges characteristic of such streams. The application of Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating is proposed here as a new way of determining actual residency times of fine sediments and consequently validating selected predictions for the entrainment of sediment in these streams. Model predictions of sediment mobility for selected step-pool and plane-bed channels in a mountain catchment in south eastern Australia are initially calculated using equations of hydraulic competence and the one-dimensional HEC-RAS model. Results indicate that floods exceeding bankfull with recurrence intervals up to 13 years are competent to mobilise the maximum overlying surface grain sizes at both sites. OSL minimum age model results from 7 samples of well bleached quartz in the fine matrix particles indicate general agreement with selected competence equations. The apparent long (100–1400 y) burial age of most of the mineral quartz, however, suggests that competent flows are not able to flush all subsurface fine-bed material. The depth of maximum bed load exchange (flushing) was limited to ≤ twice the depth of the overlying D₉₀ grain size. Application of OSL in this study provides important insight into the nature of storage and flushing of matrix material in mountain streams.     

黄河中游多沙粗沙区水沙变化趋势及其主控因素的贡献率

随着气候变化和人类活动影响加剧,黄河中游多沙粗沙区的水沙变化剧烈,因此研究影响黄河中游多沙粗沙区径流量和输沙量的驱动因素对预测未来水沙变化具有重要意义。本文选取Mann-Kendall趋势检验法,Pettitt突变点检验法,位置、尺度、形状的广义可加模型以及累积量斜率变化率比较法对黄河中游多沙粗沙区15个水文站控制流域1956-2010年的年降水量、年径流量以及年输沙量变化特征及其贡献率进行分析,确定影响黄河中游多沙粗沙区径流量和输沙量变化的主要原因。结果表明：① Mann-Kendall趋势检验在5%的显著性水平下,表明降水量虽呈减少趋势但并不显著,径流量和输沙量则有显著的减少趋势;② Pettitt突变点检验得出所研究区域径流量和输沙量的突变年份在1972年、1985年以及1996年左右;③ GAMLSS模型分析结果同样表明降水的均值不随时间发生变化,但降水的方差有减小的趋势;④ 通过累积量斜率变化率比较法得出,人类活动对窟野河流域径流输沙的影响大于无定河流域。通过分析黄河中游多沙粗沙区径流量和输沙量变化的原因,可为黄河中游多沙粗沙区水资源合理分配提供一定的理论支持。     

Bankfull width and morphological units in an alpine stream of the dolomites (Northern Italy)

This research examines variations in bankfull cross-sections along a steep stream of the Dolomites (Cordevole stream, Belluno, Northern Italy). Field measurements were conducted to determine variations in the channel top-width at bankfull stage in relation to the drainage area and to the length of the flow path. After grouping the bed morphologies according to the Montgomery and Buffington [Montgomery, D.R., Buffington, J.M., 1997. Channel-reach morphology in mountain drainage basins. Geol. Soc. of Am. Bull. 109 (5) 596–611.] classification, we analyzed the increase in bankfull width for the dominant stream units (cascades, step pools, isolated pools and colluvial reaches at the head of the basin). We observed that the morphologies more related to the drainage area are colluvial reaches and pools; the less adaptable are steps and cascades. These differences likely result from the absence of lateral constriction in the colluvial reaches and pools, whereas the presence of coarser sediments in the bed can affect the transverse adjustments in steps and reaches dominated by cascades. Linkages between cross-section geometry and parameters related to flow (i.e. drainage area and stream power) have been analyzed together with the distribution of surface grain sizes and its coarsening pattern. The existence of distinctive bankfull widths between different morphological units points out the degree of susceptibility to be modeled according to the channel slope, reference diameter (D₉₀), and contributing area.     

黄河内蒙古段洪峰特征及水沙关系变化

本文通过黄河头道拐站1950-2009 年水沙年系列进行突变点分析, 识别出1969 年、1986 年、1996 年3 个突变点, 将黄河内蒙古段水文过程划分为4 个时期。在此基础上, 利用内蒙古段6 个水文站长系列日流量、日含沙量及泥沙组成数据, 划分了各站的夏汛洪峰, 并统计分析了分期洪峰的水沙分布特征和洪峰水沙关系, 揭示出夏汛洪峰流量和输沙率逐渐减少的规律:1996-2006 年与1954-1968 年相比, 夏汛洪峰水沙量占全年水沙的比例都减少了约一半, 流量级频率与输沙率乘积的峰值对应的流量也降低了约一半。分析认为, 黄河内蒙古段夏汛洪峰特征阶段性变化既有大型水库的影响, 又有气候变化及人类活动的影响, 而且后者的作用越来越大。分析发现, 20 世纪90 年代以前, 黄河上游水沙变化只是改变了内蒙古段来沙中粗颗粒泥沙的水沙关系, 显示出大流量输送粗颗粒泥沙能力相对增强的趋向;进入内蒙段后, 通过泥沙冲淤调整, 分粒径组泥沙水沙关系变化比较复杂。近期在水沙条件巨大变化下, 河流的输沙特性并没有发生根本变化, 但是无论全沙还是分组沙, 水沙关系曲线变陡, 大流量输送泥沙能力相对增强。     

The influence of relative sediment supply on riverine habitat heterogeneity

The diversity of aquatic habitats in streams is linked to physical processes that act at various spatial and temporal scales. Two components of many that contribute to creating habitat heterogeneity in streams are the interaction between sediment supply and transport capacity and the presence of local in-stream structures, such as large woody debris and boulders. Data from previously published flume and field studies and a new field study on tributaries to the South Yuba River in Nevada County, California, USA, were used to evaluate the relationship between habitat heterogeneity, local in-stream structural features and relative sediment supply. Habitat heterogeneity was quantified using spatial heterogeneity measures from the field of landscape ecology. Relative sediment supply, as expressed by the sediment supply/transport capacity ratio, which controls channel morphology and substrate textures, two key physical habitat characteristics, was quantified using a dimensionless bedload transport ratio, q. Calculated q values were plotted against an ecologically meaningful heterogeneity index, Shannon's Diversity Index, measured for each study reach, as well as the percent area of in-stream structural elements. The results indicate two potential mechanisms for how relative sediment supply may drive geomorphic diversity in natural river systems at the reach scale. When less mobile structural elements form a small proportion of the reach landscape, the supply/capacity ratio dictates the range of sediment textures and geomorphic features observed within the reach. In these settings, channels with a moderate relative sediment supply exhibit the highest textural and geomorphic diversity. In contrast, when less mobile structural elements are abundant, forced local scour and deposition creates high habitat heterogeneity, even in the presence of high relative sediment supply.