Biomorphological scaling laws from convectively accelerated streams

Worldwide convectively accelerated streams flowing in downstream-narrowing river sections show that riverbed vegetation growing on alluvial sediment bars gradually disappears, forming a front beyond which vegetation is absent. We revise a recently proposed analytical model able to predict the expected longitudinal position of the vegetation front. The model was developed considering the steady state approximation of 1-D ecomorphodynamics equations. While the model was tested against flume experiments, its extension and application to the field is not trivial as it requires the definition of proper scaling laws governing the observed phenomenon. In this work, we present a procedure to calculate vegetation parameters and flow magnitude governing the equilibrium at the reach scale between hydromorphological and biological components in rivers with converging boundaries. We collected from worldwide rivers data of section topography, hydrogeomorphological and riparian vegetation characteristics to perform a statistical analysis aimed to validate the proposed procedure. Results are presented in the form of scaling laws correlating biological parameters of growth and decay from different vegetation species to flood return period and duration, respectively. Such relationships demonstrate the existence of underlying selective processes determining the riparian vegetation both in terms of species and cover. We interpret the selection of vegetation species from ecomorphodynamic processes occurring in convectively accelerated streams as the orchestrated dynamic action of flow, sediment and vegetation characteristics. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Late Devensian ice sheet characteristics: a palaeohydraulic approach

Glacial meltwater channels are incised into bedrock and diamicton along much of the length of the Mid-Cheshire Ridge. Detailed mapping of one such system near the town of Helsby reveals a dendritic channel network developed in the opposite direction to the regional ice flow during the last (Late Devensian) glaciation. The channels formed subglacially, under atmospheric and not hydrostatic pressure, presumably as the ice sheet downwasted during deglaciation. Morphological and palaeohydraulic evidence suggests that not all of the network was necessarily active contemporaneously. Former water levels in the channels can be estimated due to the presence of bar surfaces, giving a calculated palaeodischarge of at least 111 m³ s⁻¹. The ablation rates required to account for this large discharge are an order of magnitude greater than those obtained from theoretical calculations and those observed in modern glacial environments. This implies that some form of high-magnitude discharge, such as a seasonal flood event, must have taken place in this area during deglaciation. This picture of the Late Devensian ice sheet suggests that during recession the ice sheet was static, crevassed and relatively thin (<50 m). This study also shows that there is no simple relationship between meltwater channel direction and ice dynamics, and that care is required when using the former to make inferences about the latter. Copyright © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Modelling stage–discharge relationships in anastomosed bedrock-influenced sections of the Sabie River system

Flow dynamics in a bedrock-influenced river system, the Sabie River, South Africa, have been found to be significantly different from those in temperate alluvial systems. The lack of lateral water connectivity leads to multiple bedrock distributaries with varying water surface elevations across a cross-section. Distributary activation is dependent on upstream breaching of bedrock barriers between distributaries by rising discharge. Where measurement of individual stage–discharge relationships in each distributary was not possible, a ‘Multiple Stage’ model was developed to predict hydraulic conditions in each distributary, using a single measured rating curve and knowledge of individual distributary water surface elevations at a low flow. Use of the ‘Multiple Stage’ model has enabled realistic prediction of channel geometry and hydraulic variables, that accounts for the different stages found in bedrock-influenced sections, yet is not prohibitively data intensive. Predicted ‘Multiple Stage’ results for maximum depth and velocity demonstrate the vast improvement on modelling flow dynamics, when compared to the conventional assumption of a single stage representing the whole cross-section. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The impact of climate change on the bulk and clay geochemistry of fluvial residual channel infillings: the late Weichselian and Early Holocene River Meuse sediments (The Netherlands)

Fine-grained fluvial residual channel infillings are likely to reflect systematic compositional changes in response to climate change, owing to changing weathering and geomorphological conditions in the upstream drainage basin. Our research focuses on the bulk sediment and clay geochemistry, laser granulometry and clay mineralogy of Late-glacial and Early Holocene River Meuse (Maas) unexposed residual channel infillings in northern Limburg (The Netherlands). We demonstrate that residual channel infillings register a systematic bulk and clay compositional change related to climate change on a 1–10 k-yr time-scale. Late-glacial and Holocene climatic amelioration stabilised the landscape and facilitated prolonged and intense chemical weathering of phyllosilicates and clay minerals due to soil formation. Clay translocation and subsequent erosion of topsoils on Palaeozoic bedrock and loess deposits increased the supply of smectite and vermiculite within River Meuse sediments. Smectite plus vermiculite contents rose from 30–40% in the Pleniglacial to 60% in the Late Allerød and to 70–80% in the Holocene. Younger Dryas cooling and landscape instability caused almost immediate return to low smectite and vermiculite contents. Following an Early Holocene rise, within about 5000 yr, a steady state supply is reached before 5 ka (Mid-Holocene). Holocene sediments therefore contain higher amounts of clay that are richer in high-Al, low-K and low-Mg vermiculites and smectites compared with Late (Pleni-)glacial sediments. The importance of clay mineral provenance and loess admixture in the River Meuse fluvial sediments is discussed. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Origin of channel systems in the Upper Cretaceous Chalk Group of the Paris Basin

The Upper Cretaceous Chalk Group of the Anglo-Paris Basin is known to show wedging beds and channel-like features which disrupt the quietly deposited pelagic chalk that covered most of NW Europe in the Late Cretaceous. Two-D reflection seismic data from the Brie region, SE of Paris, show the presence of at least two distinct intra-chalk discordant reflections: a Top Santonian and a Mid-Campanian reflection. These reflections are in places associated with up to 120-m-deep channel-like structures trending preferentially N–S and NW–SE. The Mid-Campanian reflection is also sporadically associated with a massive secondary dolomite layer, the thicknesses of which may reach 110 m. Diagenesis does not seem to account for the formation of the discordant reflections, as there is neither a one-to-one relationship between the dolomite and discordant reflections, nor are there signs of systematic collapse of the Cenozoic succession over the channel-like features as a result of intra-chalk dissolution. Both reflections correlate with indurated chalk layers and hardgrounds, and represent real unconformities. The Mid-Campanian reflection is furthermore associated with a stratigraphic hiatus. A submarine origin is suggested due to the uninterrupted deep-marine chalk facies below and above both unconformities, and the unrealistically large sea-level drop of more than 200 m, which would be necessary for subaerial exposure of the central Paris Basin during the Campanian. The channels are oriented parallel to the margins of the basin, and important bathymetric elements which could induce erosion by slope failure are not observed. The channels are thus interpreted as having formed by strong, mainly slope-parallel bottom currents. Major channeling events are common in the Chalk Group throughout NW Europe and represent palaeoceanographic re-organization of bottom currents, probably driven by changes in sea level and water temperature.     

河口涨潮槽的研究进展

河口涨潮槽是河口的重要地貌单元。对河口涨潮槽的发育过程与演化规律的研究在理论上可以丰富河口动力地貌的内容，而在实践上对港口和通航等具有重要的意义。文章认为河口涨潮槽不仅指河口涨潮流作用下形成的冲刷槽，还包括涨潮冲刷坑、涨潮冲刷槽和涨湖水道。国内外关于河口涨潮槽研究较为薄弱，研究内容多集中于涨潮槽的几何形态、涨落槽优势流判别和悬沙输移等方面，定性研究较多，缺乏全面而系统的定量研究，尤其缺乏成因机制方面的深入研究和沉积环境的研究。长江口涨潮槽种类较多，具有一定的研究基础，对其进行系统全面的研究具有重要的意义。     

Morphodynamics of deltas under the influence of humans

A consistent database was established to characterize key environmental factors known to control delta morphology. The database includes the location, basin morphology, fluvial and sediment discharge to the deltas, delta morphology, ocean energy, and shelf depth reached by the sub-aqueous delta. Fifty-one deltas were selected to cover the global parameter range of rivers entering all major oceans and coastal seas. Seasonal satellite images of the deltas were processed (IKONOS, SPOT, LANDSAT, and MODIS). Predictive statistical relationships were obtained, suitable for hypothesis testing or to constrain/verify numerical models used to simulate the evolution of coastal systems. The area of a delta is best predicted from average discharge, the total sediment load feeding the delta, and the offshore accommodation space. The gradient of a delta plain, measured from the apex of the delta to the coast along the main channel, is best predicted with a ratio of sediment supply to sediment retention, sediment concentration used as a proxy of delta plain sedimentation, and mean water discharge. Widths of distributary channels form a lognormal distribution, with the cumulative width of the river mouths directly related to the maximum discharge, tidal and wave energy. The grain size of topset deposits scales with the river length. Hundreds of millions of people occupy deltas and human engineering is now a major influence on the growth and evolution of many deltas, through control of the flow path of distributary channels, and mitigation of the seasonal flood wave with concomitant change in the delivery of sediment load. More and more deltas are moving away from their pre-Anthropocene morphology, as influenced by pristine sediment supply and sediment dispersal.     

Monitoring and predicting channel change in a free‐evolving,small Alpine river: Ridanna Creek (North East Italy)

The recent (25 years) morphodynamics of a proglacial reach of the Ridanna Creek, North‐East Italy, evolving in the absence of human constraints, has been investigated by means of an intensive field activity and of the analysis of aerial photographs. The study reach mostly displays a braided morphology, with sharp downstream variations of valley gradient, sediment size and formative conditions within the main channel. These discontinuities are associated with different processes of channel adjustment at different timescales, which have been quantified by coupling hydrological with morphological information. Several processes of channel change and variations in braiding intensity have been documented along the whole reach and highlight how a regular, weakly meandering main channel may significantly affect the morphodynamics of the braided network. A first attempt to predict the morphological instability of this main channel at the observed spatial scales through existing linear theories of curved river channels shows a good agreement with field observations. Finally, the complete hydro‐morphodynamical characterization of such an undisturbed alpine river reach can provide a relevant contribution to the definition of reference conditions for Alpine rivers required by the EU Water Framework Directive. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.