A comparison of average rates of alluvial erosion between the south‐western and south‐eastern United States

Alluvial channel bed incision and bank widening have been reported in both the south‐western and south‐eastern US throughout the past century. Distinct regional differences in climate and landscape properties likely influence the rate of erosion. This study discusses regional differences in hydraulic driving forces and substrate resistance and tests the hypothesis that regional differences exist in average rates of channel incision, bank erosion, and knickpoint retreat. Specifically, we hypothesize that erosion rates are higher in south‐western US streams and reason that this is because of greater flood magnitudes and limited substrate resistance. A review of the literature documenting incision, bank erosion, and knickpoint retreat, however, indicates that intra‐regional differences are larger than inter‐regional differences and that average rates in the south‐western US are either statistically similar or less than the rates in parts of the south‐eastern US. This could either be a result of strong intra‐regional hydroclimatic and substrate variability or because average erosion rate may not be an appropriate metric for inter‐regional comparisons because of the variability between case studies associated with the field methods to measure erosion, duration of study period, and time since disturbance to the channel. Nevertheless, these findings provide a basis for future evaluations of the relative importance of different controls on driving and resisting forces in these and other landscapes characterized by rapid channel incision and arroyo formation. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.