Sediment mobility and bed armoring in the St Clair River: insights from hydrodynamic modeling

The lake levels in Lake Michigan‐Huron have recently fallen to near historical lows, as has the elevation difference between Lake Michigan‐Huron compared to Lake Erie. This decline in lake levels has the potential to cause detrimental impacts on the lake ecosystems, together with social and economic impacts on communities in the entire Great Lakes region. Results from past work suggest that morphological changes in the St Clair River, which is the only natural outlet for Lake Michigan‐Huron, could be an appreciable factor in the recent trends of lake level decline. A key research question is whether bed erosion within the river has caused an increase in water conveyance, therefore, contributed to the falling lake level. In this paper, a numerical modeling approach with field data is used to investigate the possibility of sediment movement in the St Clair River and assess the likelihood of morphological change under the current flow regime. A two‐dimensional numerical model was used to study flow structure, bed shear stress, and sediment mobility/armoring over a range of flow discharges. Boundary conditions for the numerical model were provided by detailed field measurements that included high‐resolution bathymetry and three‐dimensional flow velocities. The results indicate that, without considering other effects, under the current range of flow conditions, the shear stresses produced by the river flow are too low to transport most of the coarse bed sediment within the reach and are too low to cause substantial bed erosion or bed scour. However, the detailed maps of the bed show mobile bedforms in the upper St Clair River that are indicative of sediment transport. Relatively high shear stresses near a constriction at the upstream end of the river and at channel bends could cause local scour and deposition. Ship‐induced propeller wake erosion also is a likely cause of sediment movement in the entire reach. Other factors that may promote sediment movement, such as ice cover and dredging in the lower river, require further investigation. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The role of channel morphology on the mobility and dispersion of bed sediment in a small gravel‐bed stream

This study uses a unique 10‐year tracer dataset from a small gravel‐bed stream to examine bed mobility and sediment dispersion over long timescales and at a range of spatial scales. Seasonal tracer data that captured multiple mobilizing events was examined, while the effects of morphology on bed mobility and sediment dispersion were captured at three spatial scales: within morphological units (unit scale), between morphological units (reach scale) and between reaches with different channel morphologies (channel scale). This was achieved by analyzing both reach‐average mobility and travel distance data, as well as the development of ‘mobility maps’ that capture the spatial variability in tracer mobility within the channel. The tracer data suggest that sediment transport in East Creek remains near critical the majority of the time, with only rare large events resulting in high mobility rates and grain travel distances large enough to move sediment past dominant bedforms. While a variable capturing both the magnitude and frequency of flow events within a season yielded a better predictor to sediment mobility and dispersion than peak discharge alone, the distribution of events of different magnitude within the season played a large role in determining tracer mobility rates and travel distances. The effects of morphology differed depending on the analysis scale, demonstrating the importance of scale, and therefore study design, when examining the effect of morphology on sediment transport. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Channel response to an extreme flood and sediment pulse in a mixed bedrock and gravel‐bed river

We exploit a natural experiment caused by an extreme flood (~500 year recurrence interval) and sediment pulse derived from more than 2500 concurrent landslides to explore the influence of valley‐scale geomorphic controls on sediment slug evolution and the impact of sediment pulse passage and slug deposition and dispersion on channel stability and channel form. Sediment slug movement is a crucial process that shapes gravel‐bed rivers and alluvial valleys and is an important mechanism of downstream bed material transport. Further, increased bed material transport rates during slug deposition can trigger channel responses including increases in lateral mobility, channel width, and alluvial bar dominance. Pre‐ and post‐flood LiDAR and aerial photographs bracketing the 2007 flood on the Chehalis River in south‐western Washington State, USA, document the channel response with high spatial and temporal definition. The sediment slug behaved as a Gilbert Wave, with both channel aggradation and sequestration of large volumes of material in floodplains of headwaters' reaches and reaches where confined valleys enter into broad alluvial valleys. Differences between the valley form of two separate sub‐basins impacted by the pulse highlight the important role channel and channel‐floodplain connectivity play in governing downstream movement of sediment slug material. Finally, channel response to the extreme flood and sediment pulse illustrate the connection between bed material transport and channel form. Specifically, the channel widened, lateral channel mobility increased, and the proportion of the active channel covered by bars increased in all reaches in the study area. The response scaled tightly with the relative amount of bed material sediment transport through individual reaches, indicating that the amount of morphological change caused by the flood was conditioned by the simultaneous introduction of a sediment pulse to the channel network. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Width control on event-scale deposition and evacuation of sediment in bedrock-confined channels

In mixed bedrock–alluvial rivers, the response of the system to a flood event can be affected by a number of factors, including coarse sediment availability in the channel, sediment supply from the hillslopes and upstream, flood sequencing and coarse sediment grain size distribution. However, the impact of along-stream changes in channel width on bedload transport dynamics remains largely unexplored. We combine field data, theory and numerical modelling to address this gap. First, we present observations from the Daan River gorge in western Taiwan, where the river flows through a 1 km long 20–50 m wide bedrock gorge bounded upstream and downstream by wide braidplains. We documented two flood events during which coarse sediment evacuation and redeposition appear to cause changes of up to several metres in channel bed elevation. Motivated by this case study, we examined the relationships between discharge, channel width and bedload transport capacity, and show that for a given slope narrow channels transport bedload more efficiently than wide ones at low discharges, whereas wider channels are more efficient at high discharges. We used the model sedFlow to explore this effect, running a random sequence of floods through a channel with a narrow gorge section bounded upstream and downstream by wider reaches. Channel response to imposed floods is complex, as high and low discharges drive different spatial patterns of erosion and deposition, and the channel may experience both of these regimes during the peak and recession periods of each flood. Our modelling suggests that width differences alone can drive substantial variations in sediment flux and bed response, without the need for variations in sediment supply or mobility. The fluctuations in sediment transport rates that result from width variations can lead to intermittent bed exposure, driving incision in different segments of the channel during different portions of the hydrograph. © 2020 The Authors. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd     

Strong seasonality in sand loading and resulting feedbacks on sediment transport,bed texture,and channel planform at Mount Pinatubo,Philippines

Declining sand inputs to a channel with bimodal bed sediment can lead to degradation, armoring, and reduced bedload transport rates. Where sand loading is episodic, channels may alternate between high‐sand and low‐sand conditions, with ensuing responses in bed texture and bedload transport rates. The effects of episodic sand loading are explored through flow, grain size, and bedload transport measurements on the Pasig‐Potrero River, a sediment‐rich channel draining Mount Pinatubo, Philippines. Sand loading on the Pasig‐Potrero River is highly seasonal, and channel adjustments between seasons are dramatic. In the rainy season, inputs from sand‐rich 1991 eruption deposits lead to active, sand‐bedded, braided channels. In the dry season, many precipitation‐driven sand sources are cut off, leading to incision, armoring, and significantly lower bedload transport rates. This seasonal transition offers an excellent opportunity to examine models of degradation, incision, and armoring as well as the effectiveness of sediment transport models that explicitly encapsulate the importance of sand on transport rates. During the fall 2009 seasonal transition, 7·6 km of channel incised and armored, carving a 2–3 m deep channel on the upper alluvial fan. Bedload transport rates measured in the August 2009 rainy season were over four orders of magnitude greater than gravel‐bedded dry‐season channels surveyed in January 2010, despite having similar shear stress and unit discharge conditions. Within dry‐season incised channels, bed armoring is rapid, leading to an abrupt gravel‐sand transition. Bedload transport rates adjust more slowly, creating a lag between armoring and commensurate reductions in transport. Seasonal channel incision occurred in steps, aided by lateral migration into sand‐rich banks. These lateral sand inputs may increase armor layer mobility, renewing incision, and forming terraces within the incised seasonal channel. The seasonal incised channel is currently being reset by precipitation‐driven sand loading during the next rainy season, and the cycle begins again. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

UAS‐based remote sensing of fluvial change following an extreme flood event

The effects of large floods on river morphology are variable and poorly understood. In this study, we apply multi‐temporal datasets collected with small unmanned aircraft systems (UASs) to analyze three‐dimensional morphodynamic changes associated with an extreme flood event that occurred from 19 to 23 June 2013 on the Elbow River, Alberta. We documented reach‐scale spatial patterns of erosion and deposition using high‐resolution (4–5 cm/pixel) orthoimagery and digital elevation models (DEMs) produced from photogrammetry. Significant bank erosion and channel widening occurred, with an average elevation change of ?0.24 m. The channel pattern was reorganized and overall elevation variation increased as the channel adjusted to full mobilization of most of the bed surface sediments. To test the extent to which geomorphic changes can be predicted from initial conditions, we compared shear stresses from a two‐dimensional hydrodynamic model of peak discharge to critical shear stresses for bed surface sediment sizes. We found no relation between modeled normalized shear stresses and patterns of scour and fill, confirming the complex nature of sediment mobilization and flux in high‐magnitude events. However, comparing modeled peak flows through the pre‐ and post‐flood topography showed that the flood resulted in an adjustment that contributes to overall stability, with lower percentages of bed area below thresholds for full mobility in the post‐flood geomorphic configuration. Overall, this work highlights the potential of UAS‐based remote sensing for measuring three‐dimensional changes in fluvial settings and provides a detailed analysis of potential relationships between flood forces and geomorphic change. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Levee effects upon flood levels: an empirical assessment

This study used stream gauge records to assess the impact of levees on flood levels, providing an empirical test of theoretical and model predictions of the effects on local flood response. Focusing upon a study area in Illinois and Iowa for which levee records were available, we identified 203 gauges with ≥ 50 years hydrological record, including 15 gauges where a levee was constructed during the period of record. At these sites, step‐change analysis utilizing regression residuals tested levee‐related stage changes and levels of significance and quantified the magnitudes of stage changes. Despite large differences in stream sizes, levee alignments, and degree of floodplain constriction, the post‐levee rating‐curve adjustments showed consistent signatures. For all the study sites, stages for below bankfull (non‐flood) conditions were unaffected by levee construction. For above bankfull (flood) conditions, stages at sites downstream of their associated levees also were statistically indistinguishable before versus after levee construction. However, at all sites upstream of levees or within leveed reaches, stages increased for above bankfull conditions. These increases were abrupt, statistically significant, and generally large in magnitude – ranging up to 2.3 m (Wabash River at Mt. Carmel, IL). Stage increases began when discharge increased above bankfull flow and generally increased in magnitude with discharge until the associated levee(s) were overtopped. Detailed site assessments and supplementary data available from some sites helped document the dominant mechanisms by which levees can increase flood levels. Levee construction reduces the area of the floodplain open to storage of flood waters and reduces the width of the floodplain open to conveyance of flood flow. Floodplain conveyance often is underestimated or ignored, but Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) measurements analysed here confirm previous studies that up to 70% or more of the total discharge during large floods (~3% chance flood) can move over the floodplain. Upstream of levees and levee‐related floodplain constriction, backwater effects reduce flow velocities relative to pre‐levee conditions and, thus, increase stages for a given discharge. The empirical results here confirm a variety of theoretical predictions of levee effects but suggest that many one‐dimensional model‐based predictions of levee‐related stage changes may underestimate actual levee impacts. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Experimental study of the response of a gravel streambed to increased sediment supply

If increased sediment supply to a river channel exceeds its transport capacity, deposition necessarily occurs as the bed adjusts to accommodate the increased supply. Both the mean and spatial patterns in bed elevation and grain size may change and an ability to understand their relative importance is needed to predict bed response. We report on an experiment in a field‐scale flume in which sediment supply is increased to a gravel bed with alternate bars. Sediment was recirculated in the experiments, but augmented in two steps, after which the bed was allowed to reach a new steady state. The transport rate at the end of the experiment was three times larger than at the start. High‐resolution sediment flux and topographic measurements, grain size derived from photographs, and hydrodynamic modeling allow us to document the topographic and textural response of the bed to increased sediment supply. The spatial patterns of bed topography and texture were forced by the flume setup and the initial and final steady states included long stationary alternate bars with associated grain size sorting. The transient bed contained several scales of shorter wavelength migrating bedforms superimposed on, and temporarily replacing the stationary alternate bars. Bed topography and textural patterns adjusted to increased sediment supply over different timescales. Bed slope and mean stress increased directly with sediment supply rate to produce a new transport steady state in a time about 2.5 times the minimum needed to deposit the required sediment wedge, indicating a trap efficiency of about 40% for the aggrading wedge. Adjustments in local topography and sorting, primarily in the form of smaller, migrating bars, continued for a period approximately equal to that required to initially reach transport steady state. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

黄河中游小北干流段持续淤积期的主槽摆动特点

黄河中游小北干流河段为典型的游荡型河段,主槽经常发生摆动,揭示主槽摆动特点对研究该河段的河床演变规律具有重要意义.以1986-2001年小北干流段汛后卫星遥感资料与实测29个淤积大断面地形资料为基础,计算了断面及河段尺度的主槽摆动宽度与强度,定量分析了持续淤积期小北干流段的主槽摆动特点及其主要影响因素.计算结果表明:主槽摆动方向具有往复性,断面主槽摆动宽度沿程变化表现为上段大、中下两段小的特点,其中禹门口-庙前段多年平均主槽摆动宽度和强度分别为1151 m/a和0.70,是小北干流段中主槽摆动最为剧烈的河段;建立了小北干流段主槽摆动强度与上游水沙条件(来沙系数)与下游侵蚀基准面(潼关高程)之间的单因素及多因素响应关系,并对综合关系式进行了率定与验证.在综合关系式中,主槽摆动强度随来沙系数和潼关高程的增大而增大,且两者在该关系式中的占比平均值分别为89.3%和10.7%,说明水沙条件是影响黄河中游小北干流段主槽摆动强度的主要因素,潼关高程是次要因素.采用该经验公式得到的计算值与实测值总体符合较好,可用于计算和预测小北干流段持续淤积期的主槽摆动过程.     

PRELIMINARY STUDY ON TRANSPORTATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF SEDIMENT LOAD IN THE YANGTZE ESTUARY 1

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Evolution of grain size distributions and bed mobility during hydrographs in gravel-bed braided rivers

Evolution of bed material mobility and bedload grain size distributions under a range of discharges is rarely observed in braiding gravel-bed rivers. Yet, the changing of bedload grain size distributions with discharge is expected to be different from laterally-stable, threshold, channels on which most gravel bedload theory and observation are based. Here, simultaneous observations of flow, bedload transport rate, and morphological change were made in a physical model of a gravel-bed braided river to document the evolution of grain size distributions and bed mobility over three experimental event hydrographs. Bedload transport rate and grain size distributions were measured from bedload samples collected in sediment baskets. Morphological change was mapped with high-resolution (~1 mm precision) digital elevation models generated from close-range digital photogrammetry. Bedload transport rates were extremely low below a discharge equivalent to ~50% of the channel-forming discharge (dimensionless stream power ~70). Fractional transport rates and plots of grain size distributions indicate that the bed experienced partial mobility at low discharge when the coarsest grains on the bed were immobile, weak selective mobility at higher discharge, and occasionally near-equal mobility at peak channel-forming discharge. The transition to selective mobility and increased bedload transport rates coincided with the lower threshold for morphological change measured by the morphological active depth and active width. Below this threshold discharge, active depths were of the order of D₉₀ and active widths were narrow (< 3% of wetted width). Above this discharge, both increased so that at channel-forming discharge, the active depth had a local maximum of 9D₉₀ while active width was up to 20% of wetted width. The modelled rivers approached equal mobility when rates of morphological change were greatest. Therefore, changes in the morphological active layer with discharge are directly connected to the conditions of bed mobility, and strongly correlated with bedload transport rate. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Streambed restoration to remove fine sediment alters reach‐scale transient storage in a low‐gradient fifth‐order river,Indiana, USA

Hyporheic restoration is of increasing interest given the role of hyporheic zones in supporting ecosystem services and functions. Given the prevalence of sediment pollution to waterways, an emerging restoration technique involves the removal of sediment from the interstices of gravel‐bed streams. Here, we document streambed sediment removal following a large, accidental release of fine sediment into a gravel‐bed river. We use this as a natural experiment to assess the impact of fine sediment removal on reach‐scale measures of transient storage and to document the responses of reaches with contrasting morphology (restored vs. unrestored) to changing discharge one‐field season. We conducted a series of conservative solute tracer experiments in each reach, interpreting both summary statistics for the recovered in‐stream solute tracer time series. Additionally, we applied the transient storage model to interpret the results via model parameters, including a Monte Carlo analysis to measure parameter identifiability and sensitivity in each experiment. Despite the restoration effort resulting in an open matrix gravel bed in the restored reach, we did not find the significant differences in most time series metrics describing reach‐scale transport and transient storage. We hypothesize that this is due to enhanced vertical exchange with the gravel bed in the restored reach replacing lateral exchange with macrophyte beds in the unrestored reach, developing a conceptual model to explain our findings. Consequently, we found that the impact of reach‐scale removal of fine sediment is not measureable using reach‐scale solute tracer studies. We offer recommendations for future studies seeking to measure the impacts of stream restoration at the reach scale.     

Field application of close‐range digital photogrammetry (CRDP) for grain‐scale fluvial morphology studies

In situ measurement of grain‐scale fluvial morphology is important for studies on grain roughness, sediment transport and the interactions between animals and the geomorphology, topics relevant to many river practitioners. Close‐range digital photogrammetry (CRDP) and terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) are the two most common techniques to obtain high‐resolution digital elevation models (DEMs) from fluvial surfaces. However, field application of topography remote sensing at the grain scale is presently hindered mainly by the tedious workflow challenges that one needs to overcome to obtain high‐accuracy elevation data. A recommended approach for CRDP to collect high‐resolution and high‐accuracy DEMs has been developed for gravel‐bed flume studies. The present paper investigates the deployment of the laboratory technique on three exposed gravel bars in a natural river environment. In contrast to other approaches, having the calibration carried out in the laboratory removes the need for independently surveyed ground‐control targets, and makes for an efficient and effective data collection in the field. Optimization of the gravel‐bed imagery helps DEM collection, without being impacted by variable lighting conditions. The benefit of a light‐weight three‐dimensional printed gravel‐bed model for DEM quality assessment is shown, and confirms the reliability of grain roughness data measured with CRDP. Imagery and DEM analysis evidences sedimentological contrasts between gravel bars within the reach. The analysis of the surface elevations shows the effect variable grain‐size and sediment sorting have on the surface roughness. By plotting the two‐dimensional structure functions and surface slopes and aspects we identify different grain arrangements and surface structures. The calculation of the inclination index allows determining the surface‐forming flow direction(s). We show that progress in topography remote sensing is important to extend our knowledge on fluvial morphology processes at the grain scale, and how a technique customized for use by fluvial geomorphologists in the field benefits this progress. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

How sediment composition and flow rate influence downstream channel morphodynamics upon dam removal

The process of dam removal establishes the channel morphology that is later adjusted by high-flow events. Generalities about process responses have been hypothesized, but broad applicability and details remain a research need. We completed laboratory experiments focused on understanding how processes occurring immediately after a sediment release upon dam removal or failure affect the downstream channel bed. Flume experiments tested three sediment mixtures at high and low flow rates. We measured changes in impounded sediment volume, downstream bed surface, and rates of deposition and erosion as the downstream bed adjusted. Results quantified the process responses and connected changes in downstream channel morphology to sediment composition, temporal variability in impounded sediment erosion, and spatial and temporal rates of bedload transport. Within gravel and sand sediments, the process response depended on sediment mobility. Dam removals at low flows created partial mobility with sands transporting as ripples over the gravel bed. In total, 37% of the reservoir eroded, and half the eroded sediment remained in the downstream reach. High flows generated full bed mobility, eroding sands and gravels into and through the downstream reach as 38% of the reservoir eroded. Although some sediment deposited, there was net erosion from the reach as a new, narrower channel eroded through the deposit. When silt was part of the sediment, the process response depended on how the flow rate influenced reservoir erosion rates. At low flows, reservoir erosion rates were initially low and the sediment partially exposed. The reduced sediment supply led to downstream bed erosion. Once reservoir erosion rates increased, sediment deposited downstream and a new channel eroded into the deposits. At high flows, eroded sediment temporarily deposited evenly over the downstream channel before eroding both the deposits and channel bed. At low flows, reservoir erosion was 17–18%, while at the high flow it was 31–41%.     

Riffle‐pool morphometry and stage‐dependant morphodynamics of a large floodplain river (Vereinigte Mulde,Sachsen‐Anhalt,Germany)

Riffle‐pool sequences are a common feature of gravel‐bed rivers. However, mechanisms of their generation and maintenance are still not fully understood. In this study a monitoring approach is employed that focuses on analysing cross‐sectional and longitudinal channel geometry of a large floodplain river (Vereinigte Mulde, Sachsen‐Anhalt, Germany) with a high temporal and spatial resolution, in order to conclude from stage‐dependant morphometric changes to riffle and pool maintaining processes. In accordance with previous authors, pool cross‐sections of the Mulde River are narrow and riffle cross‐sections are wide suggesting that they should rather be addressed as two general types of channel cross‐sections than solely as bedforms. At high flows, riffles and pools in the study reaches changed in length and height but not in position. Pools were scoured and riffles aggraded, a development which was reversed during receding flows below the threshold of 0·4Q_bf (40% bankfull discharge). An index for the longitudinal amplitude of riffle‐pool sequences, the bed undulation intensity or bedform amplitude, is introduced and proved to be highly significant as a form parameter, its first derivative as a process parameter. The process of pool scour and riffle fill is addressed as bedform maintenance or bedform accentuation. It is indicated by increasing longitudinal bed amplitudes. According to the observed dynamics of bed amplitudes, maintenance of riffle‐pool sequences lags behind discharge peaks. Maximum bed amplitudes may be reached with a delay of several days after peak discharges. Increasing bed undulation intensity is interpreted to indicate bed mobility. Post‐flood decrease of the bed undulation intensity indicates a retrograde phase when transport from pools to riffles has ceased and bed mobility is restricted to riffle tails and heads of pools. This type of transport behaviour is referred to as disconnected mobility. The comparison of two river reaches, one with undisturbed sediment supply, the other with sediment deficit, suggests that high bed undulation intensity values at low flows indicate sediment deficit and potentially channel degrading conditions. It is more generally hypothesized that channel bed undulations constitute a major component of form roughness and that increased bed amplitudes are an important feature of channel bed adjustment to sediment deficit be it temporally during late floods or permanently due to a supply limitation of bedload. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The assessment of sediment sources: A field experiment

The possibility of using metals from mining activity as tracers for identifying stream sediment sources is explored. Sampling of monthly bed sediment yield and of the spatial and temporal variation in Pb concentration was undertaken in a 1·02 km² catchment, and estimates of the sediment contribution from different stream reaches are calculated. The method has considerable limitations, for metal concentrations are notably dependent on sediment size, season, source availability, and the chemical mobility of the metal used. In most natural streams these must preclude the use of pollutants for simple sediment source identification.     

A coupled hierarchical modeling approach to simulating the geomorphic response of river systems to anthropogenic climate change

Anthropogenic climate change is expected to change the discharge and sediment transport regime of river systems. Because rivers adjust their channels to accommodate their typical inputs of water and sediment, changes in these variables can potentially alter river morphology. In this study, a hierarchical modeling approach was developed and applied to examine potential changes in reach‐averaged bedload transport and spatial patterns of erosion and deposition for three snowmelt‐dominated gravel‐bed rivers in the interior Pacific Northwest. The modeling hierarchy was based on discharge and suspended‐sediment load from a basin‐scale hydrologic model driven by a range of downscaled climate‐change scenarios. In the field, channel morphology and sediment grain‐size data for all three rivers were collected. Changes in reach‐averaged bedload transport were estimated using the Bedload Assessment of Gravel‐bedded Streams (BAGS) software, and the Cellular Automaton Evolutionary Slope and River (CAESAR) model was used to simulate the spatial pattern of erosion and deposition within each reach to infer potential changes in channel geometry and planform. The duration of critical discharge was found to control bedload transport. Changes in channel geometry were simulated for the two higher‐energy river reaches, but no significant morphological changes were found for a lower‐energy reach with steep, cohesive banks. Changes in sediment transport and river morphology resulting from climate change could affect the management of river systems for human and ecological uses. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Downstream effects of impounding a natural lake: the Snake River downstream from Jackson Lake Dam,Wyoming, USA

A sediment mass balance constructed for a 16‐km reach of the Snake River downstream from Jackson Lake Dam (JLD) indicates that river regulation has reduced the magnitude of sediment mass balance deficit that would naturally exist in the absence of the dam. The sediment budget was constructed from calibrated bed load transport relations, which were used to model sediment flux into and through the study reach. Calibration of the transport relations was based on bed load transport data collected over a wide range of flows on the Snake River and its two major tributaries within the study area in 2006 and 2007. Comparison of actual flows with unregulated flows for the period since 1957 shows that operations of JLD have reduced annual peak flows and increased late summer flows. Painted tracer stones placed at five locations during the 2005 spring flood demonstrate that despite the reduction in flood magnitudes, common floods are capable of mobilizing the bed material. The sediment mass balance demonstrates that more sediment exits the study reach than is being supplied by tributaries. However, the volume of sediment exported using estimated unregulated hydrology indicates that the magnitude of the deficit would be greater in the absence of JLD. Calculations suggest that the Snake River was not in equilibrium before construction of JLD, but was naturally in sediment deficit. The conclusion that impoundment lessened a natural sediment deficit condition rather than causing sediment surplus could not have been predicted in the absence of sediment transport data, and highlights the value of transport data and calculation of sediment mass balance in informing dam operations. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Formation process of meandering channel by a 2D numerical simulation

A 2D depth-averaged model for hydrodynamic,sediment transport and river morphological adjustment is presented.The sediment transport submodel considers non-uniform sediment,bed surface armoring,impact of secondary flow on the direction of bed-load transport,and transverse slope of river bed.The bank erosion submodel incorporates a simple simulation method for updating bank geometry during either degradational or aggradational bed evolution.The model is applied to a 180°bend with a constant radius under unsteady flow conditions,and to Friedkin’s laboratory meander channels.The results are in acceptable agreement with measurements,confirming the two dimensional model’s potential in predicting the formation of river meandering and improving understanding of patterning processes.Future researches are needed to clarify some simplifications and limitations of the model.