Sediment routing hypothesis for pool‐riffle maintenance

This paper provides comprehensive evidence that sediment routing around pools is a key mechanism for pool‐riffle maintenance in sinuous upland gravel‐bed streams. The findings suggest that pools do not require a reversal in energy for them to scour out any accumulated sediments, if little or no sediments are fed into them. A combination of clast tracing using passive integrated transponder (PIT) tagging and bedload traps (positioned along the thalweg on the upstream riffle, pool entrance, pool exit and downstream riffle) are used to provide information on clast pathways and sediment sorting through a single pool‐riffle unit. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is also used to explore hydraulic variability and flow pathways. Clast tracing results provide a strong indication that clasts are not fed through pools, rather they are transported across point bar surfaces, or around bar edges (depending upon previous clast position, clast size, and event magnitude). Spatial variations in bedload transport were found throughout the pool‐riffle unit. The pool entrance bedload trap was often found to be empty, when the others had filled, further supporting the notion that little or no sediment was fed into the pool. The pool exit slope trap would occasionally fill with sediment, thought to be sourced from the eroding outer bank. CFD results demonstrate higher pool shear stresses (τ ≈ 140 N m^–2) in a localized zone adjacent to an eroding outer bank, compared to the upstream and downstream riffles (τ ≈ 60 N m^–2) at flows of 6 · 2 m³ s^–1 (≈ 60% of the bankfull discharge) and above. There was marginal evidence for near‐bed velocity reversal. Near‐bed streamlines, produced from velocity vectors indicate that flow paths are diverted over the bar top rather than being fed through the thalweg. Some streamlines appear to brush the outer edge of the pool for the 4 · 9 m³ s^–1 to 7 · 8 m³ s^–1 (between 50 and 80% of the bankfull discharge) simulations, however complete avoidance was found for discharges greater than this. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The causes of bedload pulses in a gravel channel: the implications of bedload grain‐size distributions

Unsteady bedload transport was measured in two c. 5 m wide anabranches of a gravel‐bed braided stream draining the Haut Glacier d'Arolla, Switzerland, during the 1998 and 1999 melt seasons. Bedload was directly sampled using 152 mm square Helley–Smith type samplers deployed from a portable measuring bridge, and independent transport rate estimates for the coarser size fractions were obtained from the dispersion of magnetically tagged tracer pebbles. Bedload transport time series show pulsing behaviour under both marginal (1998) and partial (1999) transport regimes. There are generally weak correlations between transport rates and shear stresses determined from velocity data recorded at the measuring bridge. Characteristic parameters of the bedload grain‐size distributions (D₅₀, D₈₄) are weakly correlated with transport rates. Analysis of full bedload grain‐size distributions reveals greater structure, with a tendency for transport to become less size selective at higher transport rates. The bedload time series show autoregressive behaviour but are dif?cult to distinguish by this method. State–space plots, and associated measures of time‐series separation, reveal the structure of the time series more clearly. The measured pulses have distinctly different time‐series characteristics from those modelled using a one‐dimensional sediment routing model in which bed shear stress and grain size are varied randomly. These results suggest a mechanism of pulse generation based on irregular low‐amplitude bedforms, that may be generated in‐channel or may represent the advection of material supplied by bank erosion events. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Near‐bed shear stress,turbulence production and dissipation in a shallow and narrow tidal channel

Near‐bed, highly resolved velocity profiles were measured in the lower 0.03 m of the water column using acoustic Doppler profiling velocimeters in narrow tidal channels in a salt marsh. The bed shear stress was estimated from the velocity profiles using three methods: the log‐law, Reynolds stress, and shear stress derived from the turbulent kinetic energy (TKE). Bed shear stresses were largest during ebbing tide, while near‐bed velocities were larger during flooding tide. The Reynolds stress and TKE method gave similar results, while the log‐law method resulted in smaller bed shear stress values during ebbing tide. Shear stresses and turbulent kinetic energy followed a similar trend with the largest peaks during ebbing tide. The maximum turbulent kinetic energy was on the order of 1 × 10^{? 2} m²/s². The fluid shear stress during flooding tide was approximately 30% of the fluid shear stress during ebbing tide. The maximum TKE‐derived shear stress was 0.7 N/m² and 2.7 N/m² during flooding and ebbing tide, respectively, and occurred around 0.02 m above the bed. Turbulence dissipation was estimated using the frequency spectrum and structure function methods. Turbulence dissipation estimates from both methods were maximum near the bed (~0.01 m). Both the structure function and the frequency spectrum methods resulted in maximum dissipation estimates on the order of 4 × 10^{? 3} m²/s³. Turbulence production exceeded turbulence dissipation at every phase of the tide, suggesting that advection and vertical diffusion are not negligible. However, turbulence production and dissipation were within a factor of 2 for 77% of the estimates. The turbulence production and dissipation decreased quickly away from the bed, suggesting that measurements higher in the water column cannot be translated directly to turbulence production and dissipation estimates near the bed. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Determination of critical shear stress of non‐cohesive soils using submerged jet test and turbulent kinetic energy

Laboratory tests using Jet Erosion Testing (JET) apparatus, impinging normally on a horizontal boundary, were conducted to determine the critical shear stress (τ_c) of non‐cohesive soil samples. A three‐dimensional (3D) SonTek/YSI 16 MHz Micro‐Acoustic Doppler Velocimeter (MicroADV) was used to measure turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) at a radial limit of entrainment in the wall jet zone and the measurements were used to calculate τ_c of the samples. The results showed that TKE increases exponentially with increasing particle size. The τ_c from this study were comparable (R² = 0.8) to the theoretical τ_c from Shields diagram after bed roughness scale ratio (D/k_s), due to the non‐uniform bed conditions, was accounted for. This study demonstrated that JET and TKE can be used to determine τ_c of non‐cohesive soils. The use of JET and TKE was found to be faster and easier when compared to the conventional approach of using flumes. A relationship of TKE at the onset of incipient motion (TKE_c) and samples’ D₅₀ developed in this study can be used to predict τ_c of non‐cohesive soils under similar non‐uniform conditions. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effect of non‐uniformity of flow on velocity and turbulence intensities over a cobble‐bed

Non‐uniform flows encompassing both accelerating and decelerating flows over a cobble‐bed flume have been experimentally investigated in a flume at a scale of intermediate relative submergence. Measurements of mean longitudinal flow velocity u, and determinations of turbulence intensities u′, v′, w′, and Reynolds shear stress ?u_fw_f have been made. The longitudinal velocity distribution was divided into the inner zone close to the bed and the outer zone far from the bed. In the inner zone of the boundary layer (near the bed) the velocity profile closely followed the ‘Log Law’; however, in the outer zone the velocity distribution deviated from the Log Law consistently for both accelerating and decelerating flows and the changes in bed slopes ranging from ?2% to + 2% had no considerable effect on the outer zone. For a constant bed slope (S = ±0·015), the larger the flow rate, the smaller the turbulence intensities. However, no detectable pattern has been observed for u′, v′ and w′ distributions near the bed. Likewise, for a constant flow rate (Q = 0·040 m³/s), with variation in bed slope the longitudinal turbulent intensity profile in the longitudinal direction remained concave for both accelerating and decelerating flows; whereas vertical turbulent intensity (w′) profile presented no specific form. The results reveal that the positions of maximum values of turbulence intensities and the Reynolds shear stress depend not only on the flow structure (accelerating or decelerating) but also on the intermediate relative submergence scale. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Shear velocity estimates in rough‐bed open‐channel flow

Shear velocity u_* is an important parameter in geophysical flows, in particular with respect to sediment transport dynamics. In this study, we investigate the feasibility of applying five standard methods [the logarithmic mean velocity profile, the Reynolds stress profile, the turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) profile, the wall similarity and spectral methods] that were initially developed to estimate shear velocity in smooth bed flow to turbulent flow over a loose bed of coarse gravel (D₅₀ = 1·5 cm) under sub‐threshold conditions. The analysis is based on quasi‐instantaneous three‐dimensional (3D) full depth velocity profiles with high spatial and temporal resolution that were measured with an Acoustic Doppler Velocity Profiler (ADVP) in an open channel. The results of the analysis confirm the importance of detailed velocity profile measurements for the determination of shear velocity in rough‐bed flows. Results from all methods fall into a range of ± 20% variability and no systematic trend between methods was observed. Local and temporal variation in the loose bed roughness may contribute to the variability of the logarithmic profile method results. Estimates obtained from the TKE and Reynolds stress methods reasonably agree. Most results from the wall similarity method are within 10% of those obtained by the TKE and Reynolds stress methods. The spectral method was difficult to use since the spectral energy of the vertical velocity component strongly increased with distance from the bed in the inner layer. This made the choice of the reference level problematic. Mean shear stress for all experiments follows a quadratic relationship with the mean velocity in the flow. The wall similarity method appears to be a promising tool for estimating shear velocity under rough‐bed flow conditions and in field studies where other methods may be difficult to apply. This method allows for the determination of u_* from a single point measurement at one level in the intermediate range (0·3 < h < 0·6). Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Transport of moderately sorted gravel at low bed shear stresses: The role of fine sediment infiltration

A reliable estimation of sediment transport in gravel‐bed streams is important for various practical engineering and biological studies (e.g., channel stability design, bed degradation/aggradation, restoration of spawning habitat). In the present work, we report original laboratory experiments investigating the transport of gravel particles at low bed shear stresses. The laboratory tests were conducted under unsteady flow conditions inducing low bed shear stresses, with detailed monitoring of the bed topography using a laser scanner. Effects of bed surface arrangements were documented by testing loose and packed bed configurations. Effects of fine sediments were examined by testing beds with sand, artificial fine sand or cohesive silt infiltrated in the gravel matrix. Analysis of the experimental data revealed that the transport of gravel particles depends upon the bed arrangement, the bed material properties (e.g., size and shape, consolidation index, permeability) and the concentration of fine sediments within the surface layer of moving grains. This concentration is directly related to the distribution of fine particles within the gravel matrix (i.e., bottom‐up infiltration or bridging) and their transport mode (i.e., bedload or suspended load). Compared to loose beds, the mobility of gravel is reduced for packed beds and for beds clogged from the bottom up with cohesive fine sediments; in both cases, the bed shear stress for gravel entrainment increases by about 12%. On the other hand, the mobility of gravel increases significantly (bed shear stress for particle motion decreasing up to 40%) for beds clogged at the surface by non‐cohesive sand particles. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Persistence of the surface texture of a gravel‐bed river during a large flood

We present herein clear field evidence for the persistence of a coarse surface layer in a gravel‐bed river during flows capable of transporting all grain sizes present on the channel bed. Detailed field measurements of channel topography and bed surface grain size were made in a gravel‐bed reach of the Colorado River prior to a flood in 2003. Runoff produced during the 2003 snowmelt was far above average, resulting in a sustained period of high flow with a peak discharge of 27 m³/s (170% of normal peak flow); all available grain sizes within the study reach were mobilized in this period of time. During the 2003 peak flow, the river avulsed immediately upstream of the study reach, thereby abandoning approximately one half kilometer of the former channel. The abandonment was rapid (probably within a few hours), leaving the bed texture essentially frozen in place at the peak of the flood. All locations sampled prior to the flood were resampled following the stream abandonment. In response to the high flow, the surface median grain size (D_50s) coarsened slightly in the outer part of the bend while remaining nearly constant along the inner part of the bend, resulting in an overall increase from 18 to 21 mm for the study reach. Thus, the coarse bed surface texture persisted despite shear stresses throughout the bend that were well above the critical entrainment value. This may be explained because the response of the bed texture to increases in flow strength depends primarily upon the continued availability of the various grain size percentiles in the supply, which in this case was essentially unlimited for all sizes present in the channel. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Continuous prediction of clay‐bed stream erosion in response to climate model output for a small urban watershed

The response of the semi‐alluvial clay‐bed Watts Creek is assessed subject to climate change. Climate impacts are expected to have regional variability, and few studies have assessed the impacts of future climate in a small urban watershed. The 21‐km² watershed located in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, is highly urbanized (68%) and agricultural (20%) with limited forest cover (12%). Continuous simulations were performed using the SWMHYMO lumped hydrologic modelling platform for the open water year, excluding spring freshet (April 1 to October 31). A shear stress exceedance and stream power erosion routine was added to the platform to calculate erosion potential. To account for uncertainty in the collected data, 9 different field datasets were used to calibrate the model, each leading to a distinct set of calibrated parameter values. The difference between the datasets lies in the choice of the rating curves and calibration period. The 2041–2080 precipitation outputs of the 4th version of the Canadian Regional Climate Model (CanRCM4) ran under representative concentration pathways (RCPs) 4.5 and 8.5 at the MacDonald Cartier International Airport were downscaled using quantile matching and then used as input to the continuous hydrologic model. For each set of calibrated parameters, a cumulative effective work index based on the reach‐averaged shear stress was calculated for Watts Creek using both the historic (1967–2007) and projected future (2041–2080) flows, using a bed material critical shear stress for entrainment of 3.7 Pa. These results suggest an increase of 75% (respectively 139%) under RCP4.5 (respectively RCP8.5) in cumulative effective work index compared with historic conditions for the average measured bed strength. The work index increase is driven by an increased occurrence of above‐threshold events and, more importantly, by the increased frequency of large events. The predicted flow regime under climate change would significantly alter the erosion potential and stability of Watts Creek.     

The impact of inter-flood duration on non-cohesive sediment bed stability

Limited field and flume data suggests that both uniform and graded beds appear to progressively stabilize when subjected to inter-flood flows as characterized by the absence of active bedload transport. Previous work has shown that the degree of bed stabilization scales with duration of inter-flood flow, however, the sensitivity of this response to bed surface grain size distribution has not been explored. This article presents the first detailed comparison of the dependence of graded bed stability on inter-flood flow duration. Sixty discrete experiments, including repetitions, were undertaken using three grain size distributions of identical D₅₀ (4.8 mm); near-uniform (σ_g = 1.13), unimodal (σ_g = 1.63) and bimodal (σ_g = 2.08). Each bed was conditioned for between 0 (benchmark) and 960 minutes by an antecedent shear stress below the entrainment threshold of the bed (τ*_c50). The degree of bed stabilization was determined by measuring changes to critical entrainment thresholds and bedload flux characteristics. Results show that (i) increasing inter-flood duration from 0 to 960 minutes increases the average threshold shear stress of the D₅₀ by up to 18%; (ii) bedload transport rates were reduced by up to 90% as inter-flood duration increased from 0 to 960 minutes; (iii) the rate of response to changes in inter-flood duration in both critical shear stress and bedload transport rate is non-linear and is inversely proportional to antecedent duration; (iv) there is a grade dependent response to changes in critical shear stress where the magnitude of response in uniform beds is up to twice that of the graded beds; and (v) there is a grade dependent response to changes in bedload transport rate where the bimodal bed is most responsive in terms of the magnitude of change. These advances underpin the development of more accurate predictions of both entrainment thresholds and bedload flux timing and magnitude, as well as having implications for the management of environmental flow design. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Assessing the effect of vegetation‐related bank strength on channel morphology and stability in gravel‐bed streams using numerical models

Bank strength due to vegetation dominates the geometry of small stream channels, but has virtually no effect on the geometry of larger ones. The dependence of bank strength on channel scale affects the form of downstream hydraulic geometry relations and the meandering‐braiding threshold. It is also associated with a lateral migration threshold discharge, below which channels do not migrate appreciably across their floodplains. A rational regime model is used to explore these scale effects: it parameterizes vegetation‐related bank strength using a dimensionless effective cohesion, C_r*. The scale effects are explored primarily using an alluvial state space defined by the dimensionless formative discharge, Q*, and channel slope, S, which is analogous to the Q–S diagrams originally used to explore meandering‐braiding thresholds. The analyses show that the effect of vegetation on both downstream hydraulic geometry and the meandering‐braiding threshold is strongest for the smallest streams in a watershed, but that the effect disappears for Q* > 10⁶. The analysis of the migration threshold suggests that the critical discharge ranges from about 5 m³/s to 50 m³/s, depending on the characteristic rooting depth for the vegetation. The analysis also suggests that, where fires frequently affect riparian forests, channels may alternate between laterally stable gravel plane‐bed channels and laterally active riffle‐pool channels. These channels likely do not exhibit the classic dynamic equilibrium associated with alluvial streams, but instead exhibit a cyclical morphologic evolution, oscillating between laterally stable and laterally unstable end‐members with a frequency determined by the forest fire recurrence interval. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Quantifying the Morphological Print of Bedload Transport

Bedload and river morphology interact in a strong feedback manner. Bedload conditions the development of river morphology along different space and time scales; however, by concentrating the flow in preferential paths, a given morphology controls bedload for a given discharge. As bedload is a non‐linear response of shear stress, local morphology is likely to have a strong impact on bedload prediction when the shear stress is averaged over the section, as is usually done. This was investigated by comparing bedload measured in different bed morphologies (step‐pool, plane bed, riffle‐pool, braiding, and sand beds), with bedload measured in narrow flumes in the absence of any bed form, used here as a reference. The initial methodology consisted of fitting a bedload equation to the flume data. Secondly, the morphological signature of each river was studied as the distance to this referent equation. It was concluded that each morphology affects bedload in a different way. For a given average grain shear stress, the larger the river, the larger the deviation from the flume transport. Narrow streams are those morphologies that behave more like flumes; this is particularly true with flat beds, whereas results deviate from flumes to a greater extent in step‐pools. The riffle‐pool's morphology impacts bedload at different levels depending on the degree of bar development, considered here through the ratio D₈₄/D₅₀ which is used as a proxy for the local bed patchiness and morphology. In braiding rivers morphological effects are important but difficult to assess because width is dependent on transport rate. Bed morphology was found to have negligible effects in sand bed rivers where the Shields stress is usually sufficiently high to minimize the non‐linearity effects when hydraulics is averaged over the section. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Bed scour by debris flows: experimental investigation of effects of debris‐flow composition

Debris flows can grow greatly in size by entrainment of bed material, enhancing their runout and hazardous impact. Here, we experimentally investigate the effects of debris‐flow composition on the amount and spatial patterns of bed scour and erosion downstream of a fixed to erodible bed transition. The experimental debris flows were observed to entrain bed particles both grain by grain and en masse, and the majority of entrainment was observed to occur during passage of the flow front. The spatial bed scour patterns are highly variable, but large‐scale patterns are largely similar over 22.5–35° channel slopes for debris flows of similar composition. Scour depth is generally largest slightly downstream of the fixed to erodible bed transition, except for clay‐rich debris flows, which cause a relatively uniform scour pattern. The spatial variability in the scour depth decreases with increasing water, gravel (= grain size) and clay fraction. Basal scour depth increases with channel slope, flow velocity, flow depth, discharge and shear stress in our experiments, whereas there is no correlation with grain collisional stress. The strongest correlation is between basal scour and shear stress and discharge. There are substantial differences in the scour caused by different types of debris flows. In general, mean and maximum scour depths become larger with increasing water fraction and grain size, and decrease with increasing clay content. However, the erodibility of coarse‐grained experimental debris flows (gravel fraction = 0.64) is similar on a wide range of channel slopes, flow depths, flow velocities, discharges and shear stresses. This probably relates to the relatively large influence of grain‐collisional stress to the total bed stress in these flows (30–50%). The relative effect of grain‐collisional stress is low in the other experimental debris flows (<5%), causing erosion to be largely controlled by basal shear stress. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Spatial variations in surface sediment structure in riffle–pool sequences: a preliminary test of the Differential Sediment Entrainment Hypothesis (DSEH)

Riffle–pool sequences are maintained through the preferential entrainment of sediment grains from pools rather than riffles. This preferential entrainment has been attributed to a reversal in the magnitude of velocity and shear stress under high flows; however the Differential Sediment Entrainment Hypothesis (DSEH) postulates that differential entrainment can instead result from spatial sedimentological contrasts. Here we use a novel suite of in situ grain‐scale field measurements from a riffle–pool sequence to parameterize a physically‐based model of grain entrainment. Field measurements include pivoting angles, lift forces and high resolution digital elevation models (DEMs) acquired using terrestrial laser scanning, from which particle exposure, protrusion and surface roughness were derived. The entrainment model results show that grains in pools have a lower critical entrainment shear stress than grains in either pool exits or riffles. This is because pool grains have looser packing, hence greater exposure and lower pivoting angles. Conversely, riffle and pool exit grains have denser packing, lower exposure and higher pivoting angles. A cohesive matrix further stabilizes pool exit grains. The resulting predictions of critical entrainment shear stress for grains in different subunits are compared with spatial patterns of bed shear stress derived from a two‐dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model of the reach. The CFD model predicts that, under bankfull conditions, pools experience lower shear stresses than riffles and pool exits. However, the difference in sediment entrainment shear stress is sufficiently large that sediment in pools is still more likely to be entrained than sediment in pool exits or riffles, resulting in differential entrainment under bankfull flows. Significantly, this differential entrainment does not require a reversal in flow velocities or shear stress, suggesting that sedimentological contrasts alone may be sufficient for the maintenance of riffle–pool sequences. This finding has implications for the prediction of sediment transport and the morphological evolution of gravel‐bed rivers. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Bed stability variations after check dam construction in torrential channels (South‐East Spain)

The effects of check dams on the bed stability of torrential channels have been analysed in several tributary basins of the Segura and Guadalentín rivers (South‐East Spain). In order to illustrate the large variability in channel bed‐forms and bed sediment sizes along the stream, 52 reaches of 150 m in length were surveyed. This variability is due to the behaviour of check dams, which depends on bedrock control, bed slope, channel roughness, lateral sediment input and a highly variable sediment transport capacity. Though the purpose of check dams is to diminish the boundary shear stress, reducing the longitudinal slope, and to stabilize the channel bed, downstream they reduce the volume of channel‐stored material, favouring local scour processes, and upstream they can destabilize the sidewalls. The results enable us to evaluate the impact of every check dam on the bed morphology, distinguishing the structures installed in limy marl areas (e.g. catchment of the Cárcavo rambla, Cieza) and in schist and slate terrains (e.g. catchment of the Torrecilla rambla, close to Lorca). In the first type, bedrock and moderately thick granular beds predominate downstream from the check dams, so that the length of bedrock reaches and increase of roughness due to scour processes are the best indicators to verify its geomorphological effectiveness. On the other hand, the metamorphic areas drained by ramblas and gullies produce great quantities of gravel that are retained by check dams, creating more uniform and permeable beds, where the balance between sedimentation and scouring, and the ratio τ_c84/τ₀ (RBS), appear to be the parameters most frequently adopted to estimate the bed stability. Analysis of slope adjustments and the application of other indices to estimate the bed substrate stability (LRBS, SRI) and the structural influence of the dams (SIBS) corroborate the differences in bed stability found in the corrected reaches in each catchment. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Development of a river delta: a case study of Cimanuk river mouth,Indonesia

This paper describes delta development processes with particular reference to Cimanuk Delta in Indonesia. Cimanuk river delta, the most rapidly growing river delta in Indonesia, is located on the northern coast of Java Island. The delta is subject to ocean waves of less than 1 m height due to its position in the semi‐enclosed Java Sea in the Indonesian archipelago. The study has been carried out using a hydrodynamic model that accounts for sediment movement through the rivers and estuaries. As an advanced approach to management of river deltas, a numerical model, namely MIKE‐21, is used as a tool in the management of Cimanuk river delta. From calibration and verification of hydrodynamic model, it was found that the best value of bed roughness was 0·1 m. For the sediment‐transport model, the calibration parameters were adjusted to obtain the most satisfactory results of suspended sediment concentration and volume of deposition. By comparing the computed and observed data in the calibration, the best values of critical bed shear stress for deposition, critical bed shear stress for erosion and erosion coefficient were 0·05 N m^?2, 0·15 N m^?2, and 0·00001 kg m^?2 s^?1, respectively. The calibrated model was then used to analyse sensitivity of model parameters and to simulate delta development during the periods 1945–1963 and 1981–1997. It was found that the sensitive model parameters were bed shear stresses for deposition and erosion, while the important model inputs were river suspended sediment concentration, sediment characteristics and hydrodynamic. The model result showed reasonable agreement with the observed data. As evidenced by field data, the mathematical model proves that the Cimanuk river delta is a river‐dominated delta because of its protrusion pattern and very high sediment loads from the Cimanuk river. It was concluded that 86% of sediment load from the Cimanuk river was deposited in the Cimanuk delta. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Geomorphic response to gravel augmentation and high‐flow dam release in the Trinity River,California

The geomorphic effect of introducing a gravel augmentation totaling 520 m³ into a gravel‐bed stream during a dam‐controlled flood in May of 2015 was monitored with bedload transport measurements, an array of seismometers, and repeated topographic surveys. Half of the augmented gravel was injected into the flow with front‐end loaders on the rising limb of the flood and the other half was injected on the first day of the peak. Virtually all of the gravel transported past the injection point was deposited within about 7 to 10 channel widths of the injection point. Most of the injected gravel deposited along the left bank of the river whereas the right half of the channel bed was dominated by scour. The downstream third of the depositional area consisted of a small dune field that developed prior to the second gravel injection and subsequently migrated about one channel width downstream. A second depositional front was observed upstream from the gravel injection point, where a delta‐like wedge of bed material developed in the first hours of the flow release and changed little over the remainder of the release. These two depositional areas represent small‐scale bed‐material storage reservoirs with the potential to accumulate and periodically release packets of bed material. Interactions with such storage reservoirs are hypothesized to cause large bed‐material pulses to disperse by fragmenting into multiple smaller pulses. As a refinement to the conceptual model that views sediment pulse evolution in terms of dispersion and translation, the concept of pulse fragmentation has practical implications for gravel management. It implies that gravel augmentations can produce morphologic changes at locations that are separated from the augmentation point by arbitrarily long reaches, and it highlights the dependence of pulse propagation rates on the nature and distribution of the bed‐material storage reservoirs in the channel system. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Channel flow competence and sediment transport in upland streams in southeast Australia

Bedload transport data from planebed and step‐pool reach types are used to determine grain size transport thresholds for selected upland streams in southeast Australia. Morphological differences between the reach types allow the effects of frictional losses from bedforms, microtopography and bed packing to be incorporated into the dimensionless critical shear stress value. Local sediment transport data are also included in a regime model and applied to mountain streams, to investigate whether empirical data improve the delineation of reach types on the basis of dimensionless discharge per unit width (q*) and dimensionless bedload transport (q_b*). Instrumented planebed and step‐pool sites are not competent to transport surface median grains (D_50s) at bankfull discharge (Q_bf). Application of a locally parametrized entrainment equation to the full range of reach types in the study area indicates that the majority of cascades, cascade‐pools, step‐pools and planebeds are also not competent at Q_bf and require a 10 year recurrence interval flood to mobilize their D_50s. Consequently, the hydraulic parameters of the regime diagram, which assume equilibrium conditions at bankfull, are ill suited to these streams and provide a poor basis of channel delineation. Modifying the diagram to better reflect the dominant transported bedload size (equivalent to the D₁₆ of surface sediment) made only slight improvements to reach delineation and had greatest effect on the morphologies with smaller surface grain sizes such as forced pool‐riffles and planebeds. Likewise, the Corey shape factor was incorporated into the regime diagram as an objective method for adjusting a base dimensionless critical shear stress (τ*_c50b) to account for lithologically controlled grain shape on bed packing and entrainment. However, it too provided only minor adjustments to reach type delineation. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A two‐dimensional morphodynamic model of gravel‐bed river with floodplain vegetation

Artificially straight river channels tend to be unstable, and ultimately develop into river meanders through bank erosion and point‐bar deposition. In this paper account is taken of the effects of riparian and floodplain vegetation on bank strength, floodplain flow resistance, shear stress partitioning, and bedload transport. This is incorporated into an existing 2D hydrodynamic‐morphological model. By applying the new model to an initially straight and single‐threaded channel, the way that its planform and cross‐sectional geometry evolve for different hydraulic and floodplain vegetation conditions is demonstrated. The results show the formation and upstream migration of gravel bars, confluence scouring and the development of meandering and braiding channel patterns. In cases where the channel becomes unstable, the instability grows out of bar formation. The resulting braiding patterns are similar to analytical results. The formation of a transition configuration requires a strong influence from vegetation. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Insights into bedload transport processes of a large regulated gravel‐bed river

A comprehensive monitoring programme focusing on bedload transport behaviour was conducted at a large gravel‐bed river. Innovative monitoring strategies were developed during five years of preconstruction observations accompanying a restoration project. A bedload basket sampler was used to perform 55 cross‐sectional measurements, which cover the entire water discharge spectrum from a 200‐year flood event in 2013 to a rare low flow event. The monitoring activities provide essential knowledge regarding bedload transport processes in large rivers. We have identified the initiation of motion under low flow conditions and a decrease in the rate of bedload discharge with increasing water discharge around bankfull conditions. Bedload flux strongly increases again during high flood events when the entire inundation area is flooded. No bedload hysteresis was observed. The effective discharge for bedload transport was determined to be near mean flow conditions, which is therefore at a lower flow discharge than expected. A numerical sediment transport model was able to reproduce the measured sediment transport patterns. The unique dataset enables the characterisation of bedload transport patterns in a large and regulated gravel‐bed river, evaluation of modern river engineering measures on the Danube, and, as a pilot project has recently been under construction, is able to address ongoing river bed incision, unsatisfactory ecological conditions for the adjacent national park and insufficient water depths for inland navigation. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.