Morphodynamic styles: characterising the behaviour of gravel-bed rivers using a novel, quantitative index

Abstract

The assessment of river channels widely focusses on using channel form to identify channel character but fails to capture the more nuanced variations in morphodynamics without the analysis of process. This paper presents a method using an index of channel behaviour, the throughput ratio (ζ), which is calculated from morphologic change and sediment transport, and explores the viability of inferring process from channel form to act as an indicator of channel behaviour. Two experiments using the same initial width, slope, discharge, and grain size were used to demonstrate the effectiveness of this method in representing different morphodynamics. In one experiment the channel was allowed to laterally deform, whilst the other had inerodible elements placed at its boundaries. As a result the experiment with mobile banks widened and reduced sediment transport to zero, whereas the fixed-bank experiment – unable to decrease its shear stress – continued to output material. In both, the rate of morphologic change tended to zero despite their marked differences in sediment transport over time. The differences in evolution are due to the differences in process available to each channel despite an initial similarity in bed mobility and their gross similarity of a meandering planform. The throughput ratio allows new representations of the temporal and spatial patterns of the morphodynamics, providing additional measures with which to analyse the processes acting in river channels.