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Lecture4 - Fluvial Processes and Landforms

This document discusses fluvial processes and landforms. It describes how the interaction of water flow, landscape resistance, and sediment transport results in landforms like meandering channels, point bars, floodplains, and terraces. Meandering develops as helical flow erodes banks and deposits sediment. Floodplains form through lateral and vertical accretion during overbank flooding. River networks are usually dendritic but can be structurally controlled. Alluvial fans and deltas form where streams enter standing water and their transport capacity decreases.

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Aniket Kannoujiya
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© © All Rights Reserved
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157 views

Lecture4 - Fluvial Processes and Landforms

This document discusses fluvial processes and landforms. It describes how the interaction of water flow, landscape resistance, and sediment transport results in landforms like meandering channels, point bars, floodplains, and terraces. Meandering develops as helical flow erodes banks and deposits sediment. Floodplains form through lateral and vertical accretion during overbank flooding. River networks are usually dendritic but can be structurally controlled. Alluvial fans and deltas form where streams enter standing water and their transport capacity decreases.

Uploaded by

Aniket Kannoujiya
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Fluvial Processes and

Landforms
Interaction of:
• Driving force of water
• Resisting force of
landscape
• Results in numerous fluvial
landforms at a variety of
scales (spatial & temporal)
A river has two jobs e.g. transport:

•Water out of drainage


basin

•Sediment delivered to it
(function of climate and
drainage and vegetation
and topography)
Fluvial system works to
maintain equilibrium:
• as thresholds are crossed,
fluvial landscapes undergo
change (temporary or
permanant)
Single Strand Channels
1. Straight versus meandering
Sinuosity: stream channel length divided by length
of meander belt axis or by valley length
Sinuosity of 1.5 is dividing point between
straight & meandering
2. Characteristics
•meandering thalweg
•alternate point bars,
pools, riffles, &
cutbanks
•meander growth &
downstream migration
•bar and swale
topography
•variable cross-channel
profile
Thal (meaning valley, and Weg,
meaning way) signifies the deepest
continuous line along a valley or
watercourse.
3. Pools and riffles
a. characteristics at low discharges
RIFFLES POOLS

shallow (& wide) deep (& narrow)

high velocity low velocity

steep water surface gradient gentle water surface


gradient
coarse grained bed material fine grained bed material

divergent flow (facilitates convergent flow


deposition) (facilitates scour)
b. secondary flow patterns: spiral or helical
flow
• Outside of bends - water surface is
elevated, which generates an
accelerating downward motion, which
scours the bank

• Inside of bends - flow is decelerating


and moving upwards, which results in
deposition of material
c. formation
• velocity reversal hypothesis: pools & riffles form
when discharge exceeds a threshold such that
pool velocity exceeds riffle velocity

• as discharge increases, rate of change in:


 depth is greater in riffles than in pools
 velocity is less in riffles than in pools
 water surface slope is less in riffles than in
pools
 result: as flow increases, pools & riffles
become more similar

• above a threshold discharge, critical bed velocity


& bed shear stress are greater in pools than in
riffles
4. Meanders
a. Meander development & growth
Wisconsin
• Meandering thalweg alone
is insufficient to generate a
meandering channel
• Requires local, rather than
widespread bank erosion
• Requires lateral erosion &
deposition Alaska
• Requires helical flow
transporting material from
meander bend and
depositing it in riffle or
next point bar downstream
b. meander cutoffs
• Oxbow lakes
• Meander scars
Meander scar
Meander scars are portions of the channel
that was abandoned when a meander was
cutoff. The abandoned portion of the stream
may be occupied with water to creating an
oxbow lake. A meander scar forms when
the water empties from the abandoned
channel.
c. balance between available energy &
available sediment

5. Step-pool sequences

• Gravel bed rivers with gradients steeper


than 2-3%

• Steps: accumulations of woody debris,


bedrock or interlocking cobbles & boulders;
high gradient & velocity

• Pools: fine grained bed material; low


gradient & slow flow
Multi-strand Channels
1. Braided
• Water strands divide around coarse-grained,
unstable bars

• Frequent changes in size, location & number


of bars

• Total channel width is large compared to


channel depth

• Gradient generally steeper than meandering


rivers
Source: Photo courtesy of Dominic Habron
Factors associated with braiding:
• Easily eroded banks - widespread
bank erosion

• Abundant bed load

• Rapid & frequent variations in


discharge disallows vegetation to
establish on bars
2. Anabranching
An anabranch is a section of a river that diverts
from the main channel and rejoins later in
downstream
Formation
• Avulsion: local occurrence of
overbank flow cuts new
channel into existing floodplain

• Deposition results in formation


of enchannel ridge that diverts
flow into 2 directions
• Both processes promoted
by:

 Stable, cohesive banks that


limit channel widening

 One or more mechanisms


that promote localized
overbank flooding
D. Floodplains
1. Topographic and hydrologic floodplains
Floodplain
• The surface of low relief developed on the alluvium
adjacent to a stream

• Becomes the stream bed during flood

• An efficient hydraulic geometry during flood stage


(peak annual discharge); constant velocity and
steep shallow and wide relative to the meandering
channel

• Floodplain features: point bars (lateral accretion),


overbank sediments (horizontal accretion), levees,
levee crevasses, splay deposit, meanders, neck
cutoff, oxbow lake
Hydrologic floodplain: The land adjacent to the
baseflow channel residing below bankfull
elevation. It is inundated about two years out of
three. Not every stream corridor has a
hydrologic floodplain.

Topographic floodplain: The land adjacent to


the channel including the hydrologic floodplain
and other lands up to an elevation based on
the elevation reached by a flood peak of a
given frequency (for example, the 100-year
floodplain).
2. Formation
a. lateral erosion & deposition
b. overbank flow

3. Deposits
a. Lateral accretion
 Point bar
deposits
b. Vertical accretion:

 Overbank sediments
Natural levees
Splay deposits

c. Channel deposits:

Transitory
Lag
Fill
E. Fluvial Terraces
1. Indicate prolonged episodes of degradation:

• Tectonic uplift
• Base level drop
Terraces
Elevated sections of former floodplain

Unpaired terraces fragment of former


floodplain “accidentally” preserved (e.g. by a
rock buttress) as a meandering stream slowly
degrades it floodplain

Paired terraces occur at same elevations on


opposite valley sides; produced by intermittent
downcutting with changes in Q, load or base
level, i.e. the independent factors in the fluvial
system
2. Formation
a. Erosional
Tread formed by lateral erosion &
deposition

Point bars become capping alluvium;


uniform thickness
b. Depositional

Tread formed by uneroded surface


of valley fill

Capping alluvium of variable


thickness
F. Graded Profile
River Network Geometry
• All streams in adjustable materials
will from a dendritic (tree-like,
branching) network

• All other channel networks (radial,


trellis, rectangular, distributary,
annular) result from structural
control
River Network
Genetic classification (i.e. involves interpretation of
drainage network evolution)
Consequent channel is the consequence of the
initial topography and drainage; i.e. on a newly
exposed (deglaciation) or created (tectonic)
surface

Subsequent rivers in structurally-controlled


valleys that evolve subsequent to the consequent
drainage (e.g. annular drainage in an eroded
structural dome)

Resequent (renewed consequent) in the same


direction and usually parallel to the consequent
drainage
Obsequent opposite to the consequent
drainage

Antecedent preceded but not defeated by


tectonic, e.g. a gorge eroded into a rising
land mass

Superposed superimposed on underlying


strata exposed by denudation, thus often
not controlled by underlying structure
because river course established
according to structure of overlying strata
Stream capture
Drainage progressively or abruptly diverted
from one basin to another as a stream is
beheaded by headward erosion scenarios:

• Progressive adjustment of drainage network


to geologic structure exposed by erosion

• Parallel streams at different elevation and


with different base levels (drainage captures
by lower stream)

• One stream has a structural advantage, e.g.


degrading more rapidly in softer rock
On the Canadian plains, paired terraces
usually reflect downcutting to a lower
base level (drained glacial lake or the
floor of meltwater channel) or response
to climate change

Elsewhere paired terraces can be record


of tectonism
Alluvial fan
•Segment of a low-angle cone with its apex
at the mouth of a canyon

•Convex in cross-section, slightly concave


in long-profile

•As a stream leaves a canyon, drainage


becomes distributary; these wider,
shallower, lower-gradient streams have
less transport capacity
Also water infiltrates the coarse bed
materials, losing transport capacity

Debris flows may occur with


increased sediment concentration

Adjacent alluvial fans coalesce to


produce a peidmont plain at the
base of mountain fronts
Delta
Similar morphology to an alluvial
fan but deposition results from
sharp reduction in velocity as a
stream enters standing water

Also tends to include finer


sediments and turbidity currents
Rhine-Meuse delta, The Neatherlands
Nile Delta
Potential impact of sea level rise:
Rising sea level would destroy
weak parts of the sand belt, which
is essential for the protection of
lagoons and the low-lying reclaimed
lands in the Nile delta of Egypt
(Mediterranean Sea). The impacts
would be very serious: One third of
Egypt's fish catches are made in
the lagoons. Sea level rise would
change the water quality and affect
most fresh water fish. Valuable
agricultural land would be
inundated.
Source: http://maps.grida.no/go/graphic/potential-impact-of-sea-level-rise-nile-
River channel morphology: measuring rivers
Channel networks and slopes

– Stream ordering; Strahler’s (1957) modification

– Longitudinal profiles
END
Important variables
Main stream length
Total stream length
Drainage density
These reflect the combined effects of
topographic, geologic, pedologic and vegetation
controls

Channel planform
3 broad types – braided, meandering, straight
Intermediate types – anastomising and
wandering
Common measured variable - channel
sinuousity
Channel cross section
– Requires straight section of river
– Measure bank full channel dimensions
• Flow resistance at minimum – high conveyance
• Complicated by irregular channel sides merging into
floodplain

Channel boundary materials


– Particle size analysis
– Sediment mineralogy and roundness
– Riverine sediment – well sorted but can be bi-modal
– Particle imbrication
– Tracers – movement of bed material
– Sediment traps
Channel bed morphology
• Down stream fining of bed material particle size and
rounding
– Perturbations are caused by tributary inputs and bank
collapse

• Erosion and depositional bedforms:


– Pool-riffle sequences
– Dunes and anti-dunes
– Pot-holes - caused by corrasion, cavitation and
corrosion
– Bars – variability in grain size
– Armoured layer – coarse protective layer
Short-term river channel changes
• Both slow and rapid channel changes
• Cross-sectional change
• Planform change
• Human induced change
– Straightening and embanking
– Reservoir construction, urbanisation,
mining, land drainage, vegetation
changes
Hyperlinked slides
A river’s sinuosity is its
tendency to move back and
forth across the floodplain, in
an S-shaped pattern, over
time. As the stream moves
back and forth across the
flood plain, it may leave
behind scars of where the
river channel once was.

A stream that doesn't


meander at all has a
sinuosity of 1. The more
meanders in a stream, the
closer the sinuosity value will
get to 0.

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