Abstract: | Major hydraulic discontinuities along lowland rivers may be caused by water impoundment behind weirs, by tributary floods, and by tides. An analysis of the geometry of 122 surveyed channel cross-sections located on an 18 km reach of the lower River Dee identifies up to three levels in the bank profile representing minima in the width:mean depth ratio, and distinct changes in the geometric properties of the channel to these three levels in a downstrem direction and within four stretches influenced to varying degrees by hydraulic discontinuities created by a weir and by tidal overtopping of the weir. Simple modelling combined with field observations suggest possible processes that may control the observed changes in channel morphology. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. |