Threshold constraints on the size, shape and stability of alluvial rivers
Colin B. Phillips,C. Masteller,Louise J. Slater,K. B. J. Dunne,Simona Francalanci,Stefano Lanzoni,Dorothy J. Merritts,Eric Lajeunesse,Douglas J. Jerolmack +8 more
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In this article , the authors explore the factors governing river channel geometry, specifically how the threshold of sediment motion constrains the size and shape of channels and highlight the utility of the near-threshold channel model as a suitable framework to explain the average size and stability of river channels, and show how deviations relate to complex higher-order behaviors.Abstract:
The geometry of alluvial river channels both controls and adjusts to the flow of water and sediment within them. This feedback between flow and form modulates flood risk, and the impacts of climate and land-use change. Considering widely varying hydro-climates, sediment supply, geology and vegetation, it is surprising that rivers follow remarkably consistent hydraulic geometry scaling relations. In this Perspective, we explore the factors governing river channel geometry, specifically how the threshold of sediment motion constrains the size and shape of channels. We highlight the utility of the near-threshold channel model as a suitable framework to explain the average size and stability of river channels, and show how deviations relate to complex higher-order behaviours. Further characterization of the sediment transport threshold and channel adjustment timescales, coupled with probabilistic descriptions of river geometry, promise the development of future models capable of capturing rivers’ natural complexity. The size and shape of alluvial river channels control and adjust to the flow of water and sediment, with consequences for flooding and ecological habitat. This Perspective examines how the sediment entrainment threshold constrains the size, shape and dynamics of alluvial rivers. read more
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Understanding the rheology of kaolinite clay suspensions using Bayesian inference
Ranjiangshang Ran,Shravan Pradeep,Sébastien Kosgodagan Acharige,Brendan Blackwell,Chris Kammer,Douglas J. Jerolmack,Paulo E. Arratia +6 more
TL;DR: In this article , a Bayesian inference method, Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC), was employed to fit the experimental flow curves to a microstructural viscoelastic model.
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Quasi‐Universal Length Scale of River Anabranches
TL;DR: In this paper , the authors build an extensive dataset of different gravel-bed and sand-bed rivers around the world encompassing a wide range of physiographic and sedimentological conditions, and show the existence of quasi-universal relations for the anabranches length when scaled with bank full hydraulic geometry variables of the main upstream channel.
Quasi‐Universal Length Scale of River Anabranches
TL;DR: In this article , the authors build an extensive dataset of different gravelbed and sandbed rivers around the world encompassing a wide range of physiographic and sedimentological conditions and show the existence of quasi-universal relations for the anabranches length when scaled with bank full hydraulic geometry variables of the main upstream channel.
Journal ArticleDOI
Managing erosion and deposition to stabilize a silt-laden river
TL;DR: In this paper , the authors systematically analyzed the changes in the braided reach of the lower Yellow River in the past four decades from the view of a coupled human and natural system.
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Upland river planform morphodynamics and associated riverbank erosion: Insights from channel migration of the upper Yarlung Tsangpo river
TL;DR: In this article , the authors quantitatively investigated channel morphodynamics and associated frozen bank migration in the upper Yarlung Tsangpo River in the Himalayan headwater basin from the 1980s to the 2010s.
References
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Global threats to human water security and river biodiversity
Charles J. Vörösmarty,Peter B. McIntyre,Peter B. McIntyre,Mark O. Gessner,David Dudgeon,Alexander A. Prusevich,Pamela A. Green,Stanley Glidden,Stuart E. Bunn,Caroline A Sullivan,C. Reidy Liermann,Peter Davies +11 more
TL;DR: The first worldwide synthesis to jointly consider human and biodiversity perspectives on water security using a spatial framework that quantifies multiple stressors and accounts for downstream impacts is presented.
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The hydraulic geometry of stream channels and some physiographic implications
TL;DR: In this paper, the hydraulic characteristics of stream channels are measured quantitatively and vary with discharge as simple power functions at a given river cross section, and similar variations in relation to discharge exist among the cross sections along the length of a river under the condition that discharge at all points is equal in frequency of occurrence.
Journal ArticleDOI
Granular solids, liquids, and gases
TL;DR: Granular materials are ubiquitous in the world around us as discussed by the authors and have properties that are different from those commonly associated with either solids, liquids, or gases, and some of the special properties of granular materials and describe recent research developments.
Impact of Humans on the Flux of Terrestrial Sediment to the Global Coastal Ocean
TL;DR: Global estimates of the seasonal flux of sediment, on a river-by-river basis, under modern and prehuman conditions are provided, showing African and Asian rivers carry a greatly reduced sediment load; Indonesian rivers deliver much more sediment to coastal areas.
Journal ArticleDOI
Impact of Humans on the Flux of Terrestrial Sediment to the Global Coastal Ocean
James P. M. Syvitski,James P. M. Syvitski,James P. M. Syvitski,Charles J. Vörösmarty,Charles J. Vörösmarty,Charles J. Vörösmarty,Albert J. Kettner,Albert J. Kettner,Albert J. Kettner,P. A. Green,P. A. Green,P. A. Green +11 more
TL;DR: In this article, the seasonal flux of sediment, on a river-by-river basis, under modern and prehuman conditions, is provided, and the authors show that humans have simultaneously increased the sediment transport by global rivers through soil erosion (by 2.3 ± 0.6 billion metric tons per year), yet reduced the flux reaching the world's coasts (by 1.4 ± 0 3 billion metric ton per year) because of retention within reservoirs.