Channel avulsion and river metamorphosis: The case of the Thomson River,Victoria, Australia

Channel avulsion occurred on the Thomson River in Victoria, Australia, in 1952 along a 12 km length of the valley. A comparison of the old and new channels reveals considerable differences in channel characteristics. The old channel was perched above the floodplain on an alluvial ridge such that when bankfull capacity was exceeded, floodwaters concentrated on the lowest part of the floodplain some distance away. This is where the new channel formed. It is an incised channel with larger capacity and longer meander wavelength than the old channel and is also shorter and steeper. The new channel is subject to larger floodflows and a more variable flood regime than the old course because of the differences in the channel/floodplain relationship and channel capacity. The resulting concentration of stream power along the new course is responsible for the contrast in channel characteristics and for the more rapid meander migration. This example shows that river metamorphosis can occur without major environmental changes. Measures of channel geometry such as gradient, sinuosity, and meander wavelength therefore cannot be used in palaeohydrological work to infer climatic or other environmental changes without independent supporting evidence. Differences in channel geometry can arise simply from changes in the relationship between the channel and its loodplain.