Channel width—drainage area relations in small basins

The measurement of stream channels in basins less than 3 km² shows compound relations between width and area. Break points in the relations may be attributed to the changing contribution of rapid storm flow and to the effect of bed material size.     

Adaptive adjustment of channel geometry

This paper constructs a model of channel geometry composed of three subsections: a steady-state submodel, a gradedstate submodel, and a stochastic error submodel. With the aid of this representation of the morphology of channels, the at-a-point changes in geometry can be reproduced by a simple recursive equation of autoregressive, moving-average form which is derived from methods used in the statistical analysis of time series. A set of height loss data for three Japanese rivers derived from Yatsu's (1955) paper is used to determine the effect of bed material changes on adaptations within the graded-state submodel of the channel. The results of analyzing the autocorrelation function, spectrum, and adaptive parameter shifts within this model can be used to infer that significant changes in the amplitude of height change variation, and a shift to higher frequency oscillations of bed forms are associated with the shift in bed material conditions.     

Attainable standards of accuracy in the retrodiction of palaeodischarge from channel dimensions

The most easily measurable palaeodimension on underfit streams is the wavelength of valley meanders, whether on manifest or on Osage-type underfits. Checks that use data for existing, streams, however, suggest that retrodiction from wavelength is likely to be less accurate than retrodiction from width, while this in turn is less accurate than retrodiction from cross-sectional area, or from some combination of cross-sectional area and slope. Against this, former width and cross-sectional area can be difficult to determine with any precision. Even where dimensions are known, calculation of discharge from these alone seems likely to range between some 75 and 130 per cent of actual values at the 50 per cent confidence limits, and between some 45 and 225 per cent at the 95 per cent limits. Variation in the form ratio appears to make no contribution to the difference between observed and expected velocities through the cross-section. Unless former roughness can be reconstructed, by some other means than appeal to the form ratio, or unless something can be done with sediment transport, the retrodiction of palaeodischarge appears likely to remain subject to much uncertainty.     

Variation in hydraulic geometry for stable versus incised streams in the Yazoo River basin-USA

The effects of basin hydrology on hydraulic geometry of channels variability for incised streams were investigated using available field data sets and models of watershed hydrology and channel hydraulics for the Yazoo River basin,USA.The study presents the hydraulic geometry relations of bankfull discharge,channel width,mean depth,cross-sectional area,longitudinal slope,unit stream power,and mean velocity at bankfull discharge as a function of drainage area using simple linear regression.The hydraulic geometry relations were developed for 61 streams,20 of them are classified as channel evolution model(CEM) Types Ⅳ and Ⅴ and 41 of them are CEM streams Types Ⅱ and Ⅲ.These relationships are invaluable to hydraulic and water resources engineers,hydrologists,and geomorphologists involved in stream restoration and protection.These relations can be used to assist in field identification of bankfull stage and stream dimension in un-gauged watersheds as well as estimation of the comparative stability of a stream channel.A set of hydraulic geometry relations are presented in this study,these empirical relations describe physical correlations for stable and incised channels.Cross-sectional area,which combines the effects of channel width and mean channel depth,was found to be highly responsive to changes in drainage area and bankfull discharge.Analyses of cross-sectional area,channel width,mean channel depth,and mean velocity in conjunction with changes in drainage area and bankfull discharge indicated that the channel width is much more responsive to changes in both drainage area and bankfull discharge than are mean channel depth or mean velocity.     

三峡工程运用后长江中游河床调整沿程变化特点

三峡工程运行后,坝下游河道发生持续冲刷。本文研究了长江中游(955 km)不同河段沿程演变差异及其原因。总体而言,河床形态调整幅度自上而下减弱,这是因为在河床持续冲刷过程中,水流含沙量沿程恢复,故越往下游冲刷相对缓慢。平面形态方面,长江中游岸线崩退及洲滩变形的强度均呈沿程减弱趋势,且在荆江河段最为显著。断面形态方面,河床冲深幅度在宜枝下段>荆江河段>宜枝上段>城汉河段>汉湖河段。理论上距离三峡工程最近的河段冲刷应最为剧烈,但由于宜枝上段床沙粗化显著,限制了冲刷的进一步发展。过流能力方面,宜枝河段由于距洞庭湖较远,并未受到入汇顶托作用,故其平滩流量的调整基本由进口水沙条件控制,并随着河床冲深下切而增大;对于荆江、城汉和汉湖河段,河床冲刷虽显著,但支流或湖泊的入汇顶托对平滩流量产生的影响大于前者,故平滩流量总体随上下游水位差同步波动。     

Flood-related channel change in an arid-region river

A review of 112 years of change in the channel of the Salt River, central Arizona, U.S.A., shows that this arid-region river has a main-flow channel that has migrated laterally up to 1.6 km (1 mi) in response to floor events. Maps showing locational probabilities indicate that along the channel zones of relative locational stability alternate with zones of relative instability at a 3.2 km (2 mi) interval. Construction of upstream reservoirs has reduced sediment input into the main river but has not controlled floods. The channel width has not changed except for moderate fluctuations around mean values; the main-flow channel has incised approximately 6 m (20 ft) over most of the 48 km (30 mi) study reach during six recent floods. Gradient has remained unchanged. During floods bed material was mobilized to a depth below the original bed level that was greater than the height of the water surface above the original bed. Calculations based on tractive force indicate a threshold discharge of instability that is equal to the flow with a five-year return interval. The river exhibits remarkable stability with respect to gradient and sinuosity, irrespective of water and sediment discharges, but horizontal channel location exhibited selective instability. Over the record period of more than a century, the channel appears not to have been in equilibrium considering geometry, discharge, and sediment.     

Seismic analysis of the Xiluodu reservoir area and insights into the geometry of seismogenic faults

The Xiluodu (XLD) reservoir is the second largest reservoir in China and the largest in the Jinsha River basin. The occurrence of two M > 5 earthquakes after reservoir impoundment has aroused great interest among seismologists and plant operators. We comprehensively analyzed the seismicity of the XLD reservoir area using precise earthquake relocation results and focal mechanism solutions and found that the seismicity of this area was weak before impoundment. Following impoundment, earthquake activity increased significantly. The occurrence of M ≥ 3.5 earthquakes within five years of impoundment also appear to be closely related to rapid rises and falls in water level, though this correlation weakened after five years because earthquake activity was far from the reservoir area. Earthquakes in the XLD reservoir area are clustered; near the dam (Area A), small faults are intermittently distributed along the river, while Area B is composed of multiple NW-trending left-lateral strike-slip faults and a thrust fault and Area C is composed of a NW-trending left-lateral strike-slip main fault and a nearly EW-trending right-lateral strike-slip minor fault. The geometries of the deep and the shallow parts of the NW-trending fault differ. Under the action of the NW-trending background stress field, a series of NW-trending left-lateral strike-slip faults and NE-trending thrust faults in critical stress states were dislocated due to the stress caused by reservoir impoundment. The two largest earthquakes in the XLD reservoir area were tectonic earthquakes that were directly triggered by impoundment.     

River channel change: Problems of interpretation illustrated by the river derwent,north Yorkshire

Some inherent limitations of the spatial interpolation method of identifying and interpreting channel adjustment are illustrated by a study of the River Derwent in Yorkshire. Here, cross-sections downstream from a river diversion appear to have contracted in size when compared with predictions based on upstream relationships between channel form variables and basin area. However, these sections are slightly larger than expected for their diminished discharge, suggesting that they have not fully adjusted to altered environmental conditions and are still in a transient state.     

Channel geometry of mountain streams in New Zealand

A dataset of 21 study reaches in the Porter and Kowai rivers (eastern side of the South Island), and 13 study reaches in Camp Creek and adjacent catchments (western side of the South Island) was used to examine downstream hydraulic geometry of mountain streams in New Zealand. Streams in the eastern and western regions both exhibit well-developed downstream hydraulic geometry, as indicated by strong correlations between channel top width, bankfull depth, mean velocity, and bankfull discharge. Exponents for the hydraulic geometry relations are similar to average values for rivers worldwide. Factors such as colluvial sediment input to the channels, colluvial processes along the channels, tectonic uplift, and discontinuous bedrock exposure along the channels might be expected to complicate adjustment of channel geometry to downstream increases in discharge. The presence of well-developed downstream hydraulic geometry relations despite these complicating factors is interpreted to indicate that the ratio of hydraulic driving forces to substrate resisting forces is sufficiently large to permit channel adjustment to relatively frequent discharges.     

Morph-and hydro-dynamic effects toward flood conveyance and navigation of diversion channel

The functions of the diversion channel are usually disturbed by sediment erosion and deposition. Con-sidering the effects of unsaturated sediment flow and narrowed cross section the diversion channel is enormously eroded. The discharge capacity, however, is deteriorated for the local deposition which lessens the water depth to satisfy the minimum navigable flow rate. In this study, the alternative diversion channel with unsaturated sediment flow at Hanjiang River, China, was taken as an example. The impacts of bed morphology for flood events and normal flow conditions were analyzed. The results show that the consideration of bed morphology is essential to design the diversion channel. Even for the unsaturated and eroded channel, the local deposition can reduce the water depth and restrict the navigable requirement under normal flow conditions.     

Reach‐scale channel geometry of a mountain river

Mountain rivers can be subject to strong constraints imposed by changes in gradient and grain size supplied by processes such as glaciation and rockfall. Nonetheless, adjustments in the channel geometry and hydraulics of mountain rivers at the reach scale can produce discernible patterns analogous to those in fully alluvial rivers. Mountain rivers can differ in that imposed reach‐scale gradient is an especially important control on reach‐scale channel characteristics, as indicated by examination of North St Vrain Creek in Colorado. North St Vrain Creek drains 250 km² of the Rocky Mountains. We used 25 study reaches within the basin to examine controls on reach‐scale channel geometry. Variables measured included channel geometry, large woody debris, grain size, and mean velocity. Drainage area at the study reaches ranged from 2·2 to 245 km², and gradient from 0·013 to 0·147 m m^?1. We examined correlations among (1) potential reach‐scale response variables describing channel bankfull dimension and shape, hydraulics, bedform wavelength and amplitude, grain size, ?ow resistance, standard deviation of hydraulic radius, and volume of large woody debris, and (2) potential control variables that change progressively downstream (drainage area, discharge) or that are likely to re?ect a reach‐speci?c control (bed gradient). We tested the hypothesis that response variables correlate most strongly with local bed gradient because of the segmented nature of mountain channels. Results from simple linear regression analyses indicate that most response variables correlate best with gradient, although channel width and width/depth ratio correlate best with discharge. Multiple regression analyses using Mallow's C_p selection criterion and log‐transformation of all variables produced similar results in that most response variables correlate strongly with gradient. These results suggest that the hypothesis is partially supported: channel bed gradient is likely to be a good predictor for many reach‐scale response variables along mountain rivers, but discharge is also an important predictor for some response variables. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

三峡工程运用后城陵矶-武汉河段河床调整及崩岸特点

为研究近期城汉河段河床调整及崩岸特点,利用实测水沙及地形等资料,采用河段平均的方法,计算了城汉河段断面形态的调整过程,主要包括平滩河槽形态调整及其与前期水沙条件之间的关系.计算结果表明：城汉河段平滩河宽由2003年的1710 m增加至2016年的1732 m,增幅为1.28%,平滩水深由2003年的16.47 m增加至2016年的17.95 m,增幅为9.0%;白螺矶、界牌、簰洲及武汉等河段河床调整以纵向冲深为主,但陆溪口河段河床调整横向展宽与纵向冲深同步发展;2006-2016年城汉河段多年平均崩退速率为5.5 m/a,崩岸总长19.6 km,占岸线总长的8.3%,右岸占55.3%.簰洲河段岸线崩长占城汉河段岸线崩退总长的75.9%.此外还分析了河床边界与水沙条件等因素对重点河段（簰洲河段）崩岸过程的影响,来水来沙条件占主导地位,局部区域崩岸的发生依赖于河床边界条件;建立了典型断面平滩河宽与前期水沙条件之间的经验关系,较好地反映了水沙条件变化对崩岸过程的影响.     

Influence of river channel geometry in stream flow modelling and guidelines for field investigation

Fully physics‐based, process‐level, distributed fluid flow and reactive transport hydrological models are rarely used in practice until recent years. These models are useful tools to help understand the fundamental physical, chemical, and biological processes that take place in nature. In this study, sensitivity analyses based on a mountain area river basin modelling study are performed to investigate the effect of river channel geometric characteristics on downstream water flow. Numerical experiments show that reduction in the river channel geometric measurement interval may not significantly affect the downstream water stage simulation as long as measurement accuracy at special nodes is guaranteed. The special upstream nodes include but are not limited to 1) nodes located close to the observation station, 2) nodes near the borders of different land covers with considerable riverbed roughness changes, 3) nodes at entering points of tributaries causing discharge jump and 4) nodes with a narrow cross‐section width that may control the flow conditions. This information provides guidelines for field investigation to efficiently obtain necessary geometric data for physics‐based hydrological modelling. It is especially useful in alpine areas such as the Tibetan Plateau where field investigation capability is limited under severe topography and climate condition. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Applications of the random model of drainage basin composition

The random model of drainage basin composition is founded on the assumptions that (a) natural channels are topologically random in the absence of geological controls and (b) for channel networks developed in similar environments, the exterior and interior link lengths are independent random variables with a common distribution for each type. The effectiveness of this model in estimating the values of geomorphic variables and in explaining and predicting geomorphic relationships is illustrated by several examples. The data required for these examples were obtained from map studies of 30 channel networks, comprising a total of about 8700 links, in eastern Kentucky. A common factor in the success of all three applications of the model is the way in which the planimetric features of drainage basins are determined by their underlying topologic structure.     

Stream geomorphology in a mountain lake district: hydraulic geometry,sediment sources and sinks,and downstream lake effects

Lakes are common in glaciated mountain regions and geomorphic principles suggest that lake modifications to water and sediment fluxes should affect downstream channels. Lakes in the Sawtooth Mountains, Idaho, USA, were created during glaciation and we sought to understand how and to what extent glacial morphology and lake disruption of fluxes control stream physical form and functions. First, we described downstream patterns in channel form including analyses of sediment entrainment and hydraulic geometry in one catchment with a lake. To expand on these observations and understand the role of glacial legacy, we collected data from 33 stream reaches throughout the region to compare channel form and functions among catchments with lakes, meadows (filled lakes), and no past or present lakes. Downstream hydraulic geometry relationships were weak for both the single catchment and regionally. Our data show that downstream patterns in sediment size, channel shape, sediment entrainment and channel hydraulic adjustment are explained by locations of sediment sources (hillslopes and tributaries) and sediment sinks (lakes). Stream reaches throughout the region are best differentiated by landscape position relative to lakes and meadows according to channel shape and sediment size, where outlets are wide and shallow with coarse sediment, and inlets are narrow and deep with finer sediment. Meadow outlets and lake outlets show similarities in the coarse‐sediment fraction and channel capacity, but meadow outlets have a smaller fine‐sediment fraction and nearly mobile sediment. Estimates of downstream recovery from lake effects on streams suggest 50 per cent recovery within 2–4 km downstream, but full recovery may not be reached within 20 km downstream. These results suggest that sediment sinks, such as lakes, in addition to sources, such as tributaries, are important local controls on mountain drainage networks. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Anastomosis and the continuum of channel pattern

Anastomosing rivers are characterized by multiple channels separated by islands excised from the floodplain. Their status relative to the continuum concept of channel pattern is assessed with channel pattern defined in terms of three variables—flow strength, bank erodibility and relative sediment supply. Using an ordinal scaling (L(ow)–M(oderate)–H(igh)), the traditional forms of straight, meandering and braided have respective representations of (L,L,L), (M,L/M,L/M) and (H,H,M/H) in terms of those variables. The anastomosing pattern is on average represented by (L,L,M/H) but not so definitively as other forms. Specification of the third element (sediment supply) is particularly hampered by the paucity of data but aggradation, a characteristic of many anastomosing rivers, can be thought of as symptomatic of a moderately high rate of supply relative to the ability for onward transport. A sufficiently high rate of supply to a channel with low flow strength and resistant banks would induce shoaling and/or lateral constriction that locally forces flow out of the main channel and ultimately leads to the cutting of anabranches. A flow regime characterized by concentrated floods of relatively large magnitude is also regarded as highly conducive to the formation of new channels where low bank erodibility constrains channel capacity. Anastomosis may in certain cases represent a transitional form of channel pattern but there is no denying the longevity of some anastomosing systems.     

Slope-induced changes in channel character along a gravel-bed stream: The Allt Dubhaig,Scotland

Changes in channel character along a small river in the Scottish Highlands are described using measurements in seven reaches over a 3 km length with no significant tributaries but a decline in slope from 0.02 to 0.00015 because of local baselevel control. This decline in slope is associated with rapid downstream fining of the gravel bed followed by an abrupt transition to a sand bed. The channel pattern alters progressively rather than abruptly, in the sequence (1) near-braided, (2) meandering with active point-bar chutes, (3) meandering with active outer-bank talweg, (4) stable equiwidth sinuous. The changes in channel pattern and hydraulic geometry are predicted better by rational approaches based on critical shear stress or other physical concepts than by purely empirical discriminant or trend equations. Measurements in five reaches confirm a downstream decrease in shear stress and the amount and calibre of bedload. It is argued that the downstream changes in channel character in this stream are induced by profile concavity inherited from deglacial conditions, are typical of many streams in mountainous areas and can be understood in terms of slope-induced changes in hydraulic properties.     

Hydrologic-hydraulic modeling of sediment transport along the main stem of a watershed: role of tributaries and channel geometry

ABSTRACT

Current estimations of sediment transport at the watershed scale are limited by the difficulty of accurately simulating the sediment transfer along the main stem. The typical approach to simulating watershed sediment transport involves the adoption of hydrologic sediment routing schemes that do not fully capture the contribution and timing of side tributaries, and the inclusion of a simplified channel geometry that does not include its hydraulic feedback. In this paper, we present the results of a coupled hydrologic-hydraulic model of sediment transport applied to a small watershed of Iowa. The model was developed to simulate both the hydrologic network and non-equilibrium sediment transport that occur during a flood. The model results highlight the importance of including side tributaries in order to capture a realistic duration of shear stress that ultimately affects sediment transport. Comparisons with bank erosion measurements indicate that the presented approach is also promising to estimate sediment sources along the main stem.     

The influence of bank strength on channel geometry: an integrated analysis of some observations

Bank strength exerts a significant influence on river channel geometry, but quantification of this relationship has been limited to only a few specific circumstances. This is due to both the complex nature of bank strength and the difficulty in incorporating its influence in river channel geometry relations. In order to undertake an integrated analysis of wide-ranging field observations, this study applies a recently developed multivariate model of channel geometry. When the banks of a number of laterally stable streams are categorized on the basis of the bank sediment and vegetation, the multivariate model yields numerical indices of bank strength. Within the range of the data analysed, bank strength can produce a three-fold change in channel width and a two-fold change in depth corresponding to about a 1·6-fold change in cross-sectional area. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.