Role of hydrological regime and floodplain sediments in channel instability of the Bhagirathi River,Ganga-Brahmaputra Delta,India

Abstract

This research deals with the surface dynamics and key factors – hydrological regime, sediment load, and erodibility of floodplain facies – of frequent channel shifting, intensive meandering, and lateral instability of the Bhagirathi River in the western part of the Ganga-Brahmaputra Delta (GBD). At present, the floodplain of the Bhagirathi is categorized as a medium energy (specific stream power of 10–300 W m^?2), non-cohesive floodplain, which exhibits a mixed-load and a meandering channel, an entrenchment ratio >2.2, width–depth ratio >12, sinuosity >1.4, and channel slope <0.02. In the study area, since 1975, four meander cutoffs have been shaped at an average rate of one in every 9–10 years. In the active meander belt and sand-silt dominated floodplains of GBD, frequent shifting of the channel and meander migration escalate severe bank erosion (e.g. 2.5 × 10⁶ m³ of land lost between 1999 and 2004) throughout the year. Remote sensing based spatio-temporal analysis and stratigraphic analysis reveal that the impact of the Farakka barrage, completed in 1975, is not the sole factor of downstream channel oscillation; rather, hydrogeomorphic instability induced by the Ajay–Mayurakshi fluvial system and the erodibility of floodplain sediments control the channel dynamics of the study area.     

Effectiveness of monsoon floods on the Tapi River, India: role of channel geometry and hydrologic regime

Geomorphic effects of floods are a function of several controlling factors, such as magnitude, frequency, rate of sediment movement, flood power, duration of effective flows, sequence of events and the channel geometry. In this paper, these measures of effectiveness have been evaluated for the monsoon-dominated, flood-controlled and incised Tapi River, India by defining four flow categories: low flows, moderate flows, floods and large floods. Ratios between effectiveness parameters of moderate flows on one hand and the floods, large floods and maximum floods on the other, were computed to understand the relative importance of moderate and large flows. In addition to this, stream-power graphs for large floods were constructed, and the changes in channel form were analyzed by using multi-date cross-sections. The results of the study indicate that the morphological characteristics of the bedrock as well as the alluvial channels of the monsoonal and incised Tapi River are maintained by large-magnitude, but low frequency floods that occur at long intervals. Because the channel is incised the effectiveness of large flows is accentuated. The incised channel form enhances the role of large floods by reducing the width–depth ratio, and by increasing the velocity as well as the energy per unit area. The low and moderate flows are superior to high-magnitude flows, only in terms of suspended sediment transport and frequency of occurrence. Another conclusion is that the suspended sediment carried by flows may not be the most appropriate criterion for measuring the geomorphic effectiveness of flows, particularly for monsoonal rivers.     

Simulating cross-sectional geometry of the main channel in response to changes in water and sediment in Lower Yellow River

Journal of Geographical Sciences - To understand the non-equilibrium morphological adjustment of a river in response to environmental changes, it is essential to (i) accurately identify how past...     

Holocene lateral channel migration and incision of the Red River, Manitoba, Canada

The Holocene evolution of the shallow alluvial valley occupied by the Red River was investigated at two successive river meanders near St. Jean Baptiste, Manitoba. A transect of five boreholes was sited across the flood plain at each meander to follow the path of lateral channel migration. From the cores, 24 wood and charcoal samples were AMS radiocarbon dated. The dates from the lower half of the alluvium in each core are interpreted to represent the age of the lateral accretion deposits within the flood plain at the borehole sites. The ages of these deposits increase progressively from 900 to 7900 and 1000 to 8100 cal years B.P. along each transect, respectively, from the proximal to distal portions of the flood plain. At the upstream meander, the average rate of channel migration was initially 0.35 m/year between 7900 and 7400 cal years B.P., then decreased to 0.18 m/year between 7400 and 6200 cal years B.P., and subsequently varied between 0.04 and 0.08 m/year. Net channel incision of the river since 8100 cal years B.P. is estimated to have ranged between 0.4 and 0.8 m/ky. The pre-6000-years-B.P. interval of greater channel migration is hypothesized to reflect a higher phase of sediment supply that was associated with the establishment of the river system on the former bed of glacial Lake Agassiz. Since 1000 years B.P., the outward migration of the meanders has caused a gradual enlarging of 0.7–2% in the cross-sectional area of the shallow valley at the two meanders. When considered proportionally over timescales of up to several centuries, the widening of the valley cross-section is very low to negligible and is deemed an insignificant factor affecting the modern flood hazard on the clay plain.     

黄河下游游荡段排沙比对水沙条件与断面形态的响应

提高黄河下游游荡段的输沙能力是河道治理的主要任务,而河道输沙效率（排沙比）受到来水来沙条件和河床边界条件的共同影响。本文基于1971—2016年花园口—高村河段（简称花高段）的实测水沙及地形资料,计算了花高段的平均河相系数及水沙条件（来沙系数和水流冲刷强度）,从汛期和场次洪水2个时间尺度,定量分析了排沙比与水沙条件及前一年汛后主槽形态之间的响应关系。分析结果表明：① 汛期和场次洪水排沙比与来沙系数呈负相关,与水流冲刷强度呈正相关,临界的汛期不淤来沙系数为0.012 kg?s/m ⁶,场次洪水排沙比与来沙系数及水量比的决定系数为0.76;② 游荡段排沙比与河相系数呈负相关,当河相系数大于15 /m ^0.5时,河段排沙比基本小于1;③ 以来沙系数与河相系数为自变量的汛期排沙比计算式的决定系数为0.82,计算精度较高,对于场次洪水排沙比而言,断面形态的影响权重大于来沙系数。这些排沙比计算公式能够反映游荡段的输沙特点,有助于定量掌握断面形态及水沙条件对河道输沙能力的影响。     

近50年来长江河口分汊型河槽水体和泥沙容量的变化过程

根据1958-2013各年代长江河口河槽海图水深资料,利用Arcmap地图分析软件建立不同时期的水深数据库,以河口河槽水体和泥沙容量为研究对象,结合典型潮汐过程和典型年代水沙同步实测资料,计算长江口各分汊河槽最大理论进潮量和悬沙含量,探讨近50年来长江分汊型河口河槽水体和泥沙容量的变化过程和影响因素.结果表明:①北港河槽总体稳定,南港河槽仍处于发育阶段,南港河槽发育中心在南港下段,北港河槽上段区域略有萎缩;②目前,南、北槽河槽由于工程影响仍处于持续调整过程中,进潮量主增区域在南港和南槽,北槽发育模式已经被固定和限制.③近30年来,由于流域来水来沙减少,同时北槽深水航道工程的建设,使南、北槽进潮量和悬沙通量及其比例均发生了显著变化;④南北港水道悬沙量主要集中于北港下段及南北槽区域,其洪枯季悬沙含量的变化主要受冬夏季风和海洋动力条件的影响.     

1986-2015年小浪底水库运行前后黄河下游主槽调整规律

Based on the measured discharge,sediment load,and cross-sectional data from 1986 to 2015 for the lower Yellow River,changes in the morphological parameters(width,depth,and cross-sectional geomorphic coefficient)of the main channel are analyzed in this paper.The results show that before the operation of the Xiaolangdi Reservoir(XLDR)from 1986 to 1999,the main channel shrunk continually,with decreasing width and depth.The rate of reduction in its width decreased along the river whereas that of depth increased in the downstream direction.Because the rate of decrease in the width of the main channel was greater than that in channel depth,the cross-sectional geomorphic coefficient decreased in the sub-reach above Gaocun.By contrast,for the sub-reach below Gaocun,the rate of decrease in channel width was smaller than that in channel depth,and the cross-sectional geomorphic coefficient increased.Once the XLDR had begun operation,the main channel eroded continually,and both its width and depth increased from 2000 to 2015.The rate of increase in channel width decreased in the longitudinal direction,and the depth of the main channel in all sub-reaches increased by more than 2 m.Because the rate of increase in the depth of the main channel was clearly larger than that of its width,the cross-sectional geomorphic coefficient decreased in all sub-reaches.The cross-sectional geometry of the main-channel of the lower Yellow River exhibited different adjustment patterns before and after the XLDR began operation.Before its operation,the main channel mainly narrowed in the transverse direction and silted in the vertical direction in the sub-reach above Aishan;in the sub-reach below Aishan,it primarily silted in the vertical direction.After the XLDR began operation,the main channel adjusted by widening in the transverse direction and deepening in the vertical direction in the sub-reach above Aishan;in the sub-reach below it,the main channel adjusted mainly by deepening in the vertical direction.Compared with the rates of decrease in the width and depth of the main channel during the siltation period,the rate of increase in channel width during the scouring period was clearly smaller while the rate of increase in channel depth was larger.After continual siltation and scouring from 1986 to 2015,the cross-sectional geometry of the main-channel changed from wide and shallow to relatively narrow and deep.The pattern of adjustment in the main channel was closely related to the water and sediment conditions.For the braided reach,the cross-sectional geomorphic coefficient was negatively correlated with discharge and positively correlated with suspended sediment concentration(SSC)during the siltation period.By contrast,the cross-sectional geomorphic coefficient was positively correlated with discharge and negatively correlated with SSC during the scouring period.For the transitional and meandering reaches,the cross-sectional geomorphic coefficient was negatively correlated with discharge and positively correlated with SSC.