General papers

Abstract

A combined snowfall and snowmelt gauge has been designed and tested to meet the particular conditions commonly found in the British Isles, where snow covers tend to be relatively shallow and short-lived. Current measurement techniques in Britain tend to underestimate both frequency and amount of snowfall. The gauge identifies and measures snow cover by a hydraulic weighing system biased to shallow covers. Snowmelt and rainfall are measured via a central drainage system. Both measurements can be attached to a data logger and could be used in a telemetry network.     

QUANTIFYING AND MITIGATING FLOOD RISK IN RAPIDLY AGGRADING FLUVIAL SYSTEMS

ILOWERGUADALUPERIVER,SANJOSECALIFORNIATheLowerGuadalupeRiverProjectAreadoesnothavetheabilitytoconveytheflowofthe100-yearfloodevent.LocatedbetweentheSanrranciscoBayandDowntownSanJose,theLowerGuadalupeRiverProjectareaissubjecttomanynaturalandman-inducedagentsandnaturalphysicalprocessesthataffectthehydraulicandsedimenttransportcharacteristicsoftheRiver.Themostsignificantagentsandprocessesincludethelocalgeology,regionalseismicity,tidalprocesses,pastsubsidenceintheregion,risings…     

The role of debris supply conditions in predicting debris flow activity

Debris flow frequency and magnitude were determined for 33 basins in southwest British Columbia. Basins were first classified as either weathering-limited or transport-limited using a discriminant function based on debris-contributing area, an area-weighted terrain stability number, and drainage density. Multiple regression was used to predict magnitude, peak discharge, frequency and activity (frequency times magnitude) within each group of basins. Model performance was improved by stratifying the total sample of debris flow basins into weathering-and transport-limited groups. Explained variance increased by an average of 15 per cent in the transport-limited sample, indicating that sediment supply conditions in the more active basins are fundamental in predicting debris flow activity. An independent test of the regression models with 11 basins yielded generally good results for debris flow magnitude and peak discharge. Prediction of debris flow frequency proved problematical in weathering-limited basins. The methods developed here provide estimates of debris flow attributes in basins for which few data on past events are available. Copyright © 1999 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.     

An analogue model study of electromagnetic induction in the British Isles region

The behavior of electric- and magnetic-field variations over the British Isles region is studied using a scaled laboratory analogue model. The model source frequencies used simulate periods of 20 min to 2 h in the geophysical scale. The results indicate that conductive channelling of induced electric current by the English Channel is important for both E- and H-polarization, while channelling through the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and the North Sea is particularly important for the E-polarization. The funnel shape of the North Sea, leading to the relatively narrow English Channel, results in diffusion of current into the continent and the east coast of the British Isles, contributing to highly frequency-dependent horizontal electric- and vertical magnetic-field coastal anomalies. The model results also give ample evidence of current deflection at the complex coastlines.The model results for simulated $\text{1}\text{2}$ h period variations indicate vertical magnetic-field values changing by as much as a factor of five or six between certain coastal locations, and at least by a factor of two or three between interior locations. The horizontal electric- and magnetic-field components also show almost equally large changes, with particularly large enhancements near narrow ocean channels and irregular coastlines, responding to channelled and deflected current. With the relatively close proximity of the coasts for essentially all locations on the British Isles, the coast effects associated with the very complex coastlines can be expected to play a major role in the behavior of the electromagnetic fields over the British Isles.     

Diagnostic study and modeling of the annual positive water temperature onset

A data-driven model is designed using artificial neural networks (ANN) to predict the average onset for the annual water temperature cycle of North-American streams. The data base is composed of daily water temperature time series recorded at 48 hydrometric stations in Québec (Canada) and northern US, as well as the geographic and physiographic variables extracted from the 48 associated drainage basins. The impact of individual and combined drainage area characteristics on the stream annual temperature cycle starting date is investigated by testing different combinations of input variables. The best model allows to predict the average temperature onset for a site, given its geographical coordinates and vegetation and lake coverage characteristics, with a root mean square error (RMSE) of 5.6 days. The best ANN model was compared favourably with parametric approaches.     

Long‐term water budget imbalances and error sources for cold region drainage basins

This study assessed the long‐term (1979–2008) water budget closures for 19 large cold region drainage basins in Canada using recently developed datasets for precipitation (P), land surface evapotranspiration and water surface evaporation, and observed streamflow. Total water storage (TWS) trends from the GRACE satellite observations were also used to assist the assessment. The objectives are to quantify the magnitudes and spatial patterns of the water budget imbalance (ε) and its source of errors for these cold region basins. Results showed that the water budget was closed within 10% of the P on average for all the basins. The ε showed a general pattern of positive values in the south and negative values in the north and mountainous regions over the country. Basins with large ε values were mostly found in the north. Uncertainties in the water budget variables, particularly P, were found to play a major role in the ε. Significant trends in TWS were found over 11 basins, which accounted for 31% of their ε on average. Improvements in the observation network, data quality assurance, and spatial models for P are critical for further improving the water budget closure for the cold region drainage basins. © 2014 Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada. Hydrological Processes. © John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Observed hydrographs: on their ability to infer a time‐invariant hydrological transfer function for flow prediction in ungauged basins

Streamflow measurements provide information about the flow generation characteristics of land surfaces as well as the flow transferring nature of the channel network. In this study, such flow transferring properties of the channel network that were obtained from downstream flow observations were used for predicting flow in ungauged basins. A temporally averaged transfer function (ATF) of the channel segments of Kentucky River Basin (KRB) in Kentucky, USA, was extracted from observed hydrographs in a time‐invariant system as a function of drainage area. The ATF was regionalized through multiple regression analysis for 194 combinations of drainage areas that differ in topography, terrain, and geology. The application of ATF for flow prediction in ungauged basins was performed for Goose Creek, a subbasin of KRB by integrating ATF with the TOPMODEL. In addition, the ATF was shown to be capable of providing calibration and validation data for ungauged basins in a backward technique from a measured stream gauge downstream, with minimal data requirement of drainage area. The applicability of ATF was illustrated across a range of streamflow conditions from watersheds that varied greatly in their terrain and geology. Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency of the proposed method, as a function of drainage areas of the corresponding basins, to predict daily streamflow from ungauged basins ranged from 0.83 to 0.92. The results of the study concluded that the ATF obtained from measured streamflow thus proved to be a quick and simple tool for assessment of streamflow in both operational and modeling hydrology. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Some relationships between lithology,basin form and hydrology: a case study from the Thames basin,UK

The role of lithology in influencing basin form and function is explored empirically by investigating correlations between a range of catchment variables, where the spatial unit of analysis is not surface catchments but lithologically coherent groundwater units. Using the Thames basin, UK, as a case study, nine groundwater units have been identified. Values for 11 hydrological and geomorphological variables, including rainfall, drainage density, Baseflow Index, aquifer porosity, storage coefficient and log‐hydraulic conductivity, aquifer and drainage elevation, river incision, and hypsometric integral have been estimated for each of the groundwater units in the basin, and Pearson correlation coefficients calculated for all pairs of variables. Seven of the correlation coefficients are found to be significant at a confidence level of > 99%. Negative correlations between drainage density and log aquifer hydraulic conductivity, and between drainage density and river incision, and positive correlations between log‐hydraulic conductivity and river incision, log‐hydraulic conductivity and Baseflow Index, and between Baseflow Index and river incision are inferred to have consistent causal explanations. For example, incision of rivers into aquifers leads to relative increases in hydraulic gradients in the vicinity of rivers which, in turn, promotes the development of secondary porosity increasing both aquifer hydraulic conductivity and, hence, Baseflow Index. The implication of this interpretation is that the geomorphological evolution of basins is intimately linked to the evolution of hydraulic conductivity of the underlying aquifers. This is consistent with, and supports the notion of a coupled complexly evolving surface water‐groundwater system. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Using Domestic Well Records to Determine Fractured Bedrock Watersheds and Recharge Rates

This study presents an approach for delineating groundwater basins and estimating rates of recharge to fractured crystalline bedrock. It entailed the use of completion report data (boring logs) from 2500 domestic wells in bedrock from the Coventry Quadrangle, which is located in northeastern Connecticut and characterized by metamorphic gneiss and schist. Completion report data were digitized and imported into ArcGIS^® for data analysis. The data were processed to delineate groundwater drainage basins for the fractured rock based on flow conditions and to estimate groundwater recharge to the bedrock. Results indicate that drainage basins derived from surface topography, in general, may not correspond with bedrock drainage basins due to scale. Estimates of recharge to the bedrock for the study area indicate that only a small fraction of the precipitation or the amount of water that enters the overburden recharges the rock. The approach presented here can be a useful method for water resource‐related assessments that involve fractured rock aquifers.     

Influence of lithologic erodibility on alluvial fan area,western white mountains,California and Nevada

Differences in lithologic erodibility and sediment storage within a drainage basin affect the relationship between alluvial fan area and drainage basin area along the western White Mountains. Large fans are produced by basins underlain by resistant rocks, which have steep and narrow trunk stream canyons with little sediment in storage. Small fans are produced by basins composed of erodible lithologic units, which have wider valley floors, lower valley-side slopes, and considerably more sediment stored along trunk stream canyons than is the case in basins underlain by resistant rocks.     

Studies of crustal magnetic anomalies of the British Isles

Andrew Jackson examines the subtle but significant question of the distinction between induced and remanent magnetism, using the British Isles as an example. This continuing project formed part of his Bullerwell Lecture given in 2006.     

Erosion of an active fault scarp leads to drainage capture in the Amazon region,Brazil

Far from the continental margin, drainage basins in Central Amazonia should be in topographic steady state; but they are not. Abandoned remnant fluvial valleys up to hundreds of square kilometers in size are observed throughout Amazonia, and are evidence of significant landscape reorganization. While major Late Miocene drainage shifts occurred due to initiation of the transcontinental Amazon River, local landscape change has remained active until today. Driven either by dynamic topography, tectonism, and/or climatic fluctuations, drainage captures in Amazonia provide a natural experiment for assessing the geomorphic response of low‐slope basins to sudden, capture related base‐level falls. This paper evaluates the timing of geomorphic change by examining a drainage capture event across the Baependi fault scarp involving the Cuieiras and Tarumã‐Mirim River basins northwest of the city of Manaus in Brazil. A system of capture‐related knickpoints was generated by base‐level fall following drainage capture; through numerical modeling of their initiation and propagation, the capture event is inferred to have occurred between the middle and late Pleistocene, consistent with other studies of landscape change in surrounding areas. In low‐slope settings like the Amazon River basin, base‐level fall can increase erosion rates by more than an order of magnitude, and moderate to large river basins can respond to episodes of base‐level fall over timescales of tens to hundreds of thousands of years. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Flood variability east of Australia’s Great Dividing Range

The variability of flow in river channels influences the spatial and temporal variability of many biophysical processes including the transport of sediment and waterborne pollutants and the recruitment of aquatic animals and plants. In this study, inter- and intra-basin patterns of flood variability are examined for catchments east of Australia’s Great Dividing Range. Three measures of flood variability are explored with uncertainty quantified using bootstrap resampling. The two preferred measures of flood variability (namely a flood quantile ratio and a power law scaling coefficient) produced similar results. Catchments in the wet tropics of far north Queensland experience low flood variability. Flood variability increased southwards through Queensland, reaching a maximum in the vicinity of the Fitzroy and Burnett River basins. The small near-coast catchments of southern Queensland and northern New Wales experience low flood variability. Flood variability is also high in the southern Hunter River and Hawkesbury–Nepean basins. Using L-moment ratio diagrams with data from 424 streamflow stations, we also conclude that the Generalised Pareto distribution is preferable for modelling flood frequency curves for this region. These results provide a regional perspective that can be used to develop new hypotheses about the effects of hydrologic variability on the biophysical characteristics of these Australian rivers.     

河砂岩屑磷灰石裂变径迹模拟流域热史——以藏东南察隅河为例

河砂岩屑热年代学被广泛应用于揭示造山带和流域范围内热演化历史.由于受到地貌特征、剥蚀速率的空间分布、年龄与高程关系等多种因素的影响,河砂岩屑热年代学年龄所代表的意义存在多解性.本文提出了一种利用地貌形态特征和实测河砂热年代学数据模拟流域热史的计算模型.该模型首先利用DEM数据计算流域高程分布特征,通过数据中各象元对应的坡度角大小定量计算剥蚀速率的空间分布,以确定不同高程区域对河砂岩屑样品组分的贡献量.然后根据区域地质特征建立多种可能的热史年龄-高程关系,并模拟计算出与设定的年龄-高程关系相对应的河砂年龄概率分布曲线.最后,通过对模拟河砂年龄概率分布曲线与实测分布曲线的匹配度进行卡方检验,选取最可能形成实测河砂年龄分布的年龄-高程关系,即代表了流域真实的热史演化.通过河砂岩屑磷灰石裂变径迹方法将该模型应用于藏东南地区察隅河两条支流桑曲和贡日嘎布曲流域,模拟计算结果表明两个地区的热史演化均具有多阶段的特征,桑曲流域在38~7Ma之间均匀冷却,对应的剥露速率约为0.14km/Ma,7 Ma以来剥露速率加快,达到1.62km/Ma;贡日嘎布曲的热史年龄记录比桑曲新,18~14 Ma的隆升速率为0.32km/Ma,14~8 Ma比较稳定;8 Ma以来隆升速率逐渐加快,8~5 Ma对应的隆升速率为0.21km/Ma,5~3 Ma为0.43km/Ma,3~1.1 Ma为0.83km/Ma.桑曲的模拟计算结果与前人利用该区域基岩年龄数据所揭示的热史演化特征及剥露速率基本吻合,表明该方法可以准确模拟河砂岩屑年龄所代表的流域热史特征.因此,在地形险峻或者冰川覆盖而无法获取基岩样品的野外地区,可以通过采集河砂样品替代基岩剖面模拟地质体热史特征.     

Cluster regression model and level fluctuation features of Van Lake, Turkey

Lake water levels change under the influences of natural and/or anthropogenic environmental conditions. Among these influences are the climate change, greenhouse effects and ozone layer depletions which are reflected in the hydrological cycle features over the lake drainage basins. Lake levels are among the most significant hydrological variables that are influenced by different atmospheric and environmental conditions. Consequently, lake level time series in many parts of the world include nonstationarity components such as shifts in the mean value, apparent or hidden periodicities. On the other hand, many lake level modeling techniques have a stationarity assumption. The main purpose of this work is to develop a cluster regression model for dealing with nonstationarity especially in the form of shifting means. The basis of this model is the combination of transition probability and classical regression technique. Both parts of the model are applied to monthly level fluctuations of Lake Van in eastern Turkey. It is observed that the cluster regression procedure does preserve the statistical properties and the transitional probabilities that are indistinguishable from the original data.     

Forecasting changes of water resources in large rivers following land drainage / Méthode de prévision des modifications des ressources en eau des grands fleuves sous l'effet du drainage

ABSTRACT

Techniques are described for annual forecasts of the water balance after drainage of large river basins. In the development of these techniques precipitation was assumed to be constant and unaffected by drainage. It is shown that the effect of drainage upon the annual runoff of the improved basins is to decrease the groundwater and swamp water resources which leads to evaporation changes. According to experimental data on the hydrophysical properties of peats, mineral soils and subsoils and how they change after drainage, the decrease in the groundwater resources was estimated for each per cent of the basin drained. This allowed account to betaken of this effect while making forecasts of runoff changes. Evaporation changes are computed as the difference between the maximum possible evaporation (potential evaporation) from cultivated areas and that from undisturbed swamps.     

Scaling and regionalization of flood flows in British Columbia,Canada

A regionalization of flood data in British Columbia reveals a common scaling with drainage area over the range 0·5×10²<A_d<10⁴ km². This scaling is not a function of flood return period, which implies that simple scaling—consistent with a snowmelt‐dominated flow regime—applies to the province. The observed scale relation takes the form , similar to values reported in previous studies. The scaling relation identified was used to define the regional pattern of hydroclimatic variability for flood flows in British Columbia after discounting the effect of drainage area. The pattern was determined by kriging a scale‐independent runoff factor k for the mean annual flood, 5 year flood and 20 year flood. The analysis permits quantification of uncertainty of the estimates, which can be used in conjunction with the mapped k‐fields to calculate a mean and range for floods with the identified return period for ungauged basins. Owing to the sparsity of data, the precision is relatively poor. The standard error is generally less than 75% of the estimate in the southern half of the province, whereas in the northern half it is often between 75 and 100%. Examination of the relative increase in flood magnitude with increasing return period reveals spatially consistent but statistically insignificant differences. Flood magnitude tends to increase more rapidly in the western regions, where rain events may contribute to flood generation. The relative increase in flood magnitude with return period is consistently lower in the eastern mountain ranges, where snowmelt dominates the flood flow regime. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Quaternary drainage network reorganization in the Colombian Eastern Cordillera plateau

Dramatic drainage reorganization from initial longitudinal to transversal domains has occurred in the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia. We perform a regional analysis of drainage basin geometry and transformed river profiles based on the integral form of the slope-area scaling, to investigate the dynamic state of drainage networks and to predict the degree of drainage reorganization in this region. We propose a new model of drainage rearrangement for the Eastern Cordillera, based on the analyses of knickpoint distribution, normalized river profiles, landforms characteristic of river capture, erosion rates and palaeodrainage data. We establish that the oldest longitudinal basin captured by the Magdalena River network was the Suárez Basin at ≈409 ka, inferring the timing of abandonment of a river terrace using in situ produced cosmogenic beryllium-10 (¹⁰Be) depth profiles and providing a first estimation of incision rate of 0.07 mm/yr. We integrate published geochronologic data and interpret the last capture of the Sabana de Bogotá, providing a minimum age of the basin opening to the Magdalena drainage at ≈38 ka. Our results suggest that the Magdalena basin Increased its drainage area by integrating the closed basins from the western flank of the Eastern Cordillera. Our study also suggests that the Magdalena basin is an aggressor compared to the basins located in the eastern flank of the orogen and provides a framework for examining drainage reorganization within the Eastern Cordillera and in similar orogenic settings. The results improve our understanding of headward integration of closed basins across orogenic plateaux. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.