Topic
Stream power
About: Stream power is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 1135 publications have been published within this topic receiving 51324 citations.
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors studied the relationship between the amount of water in a snowpack and stream discharge in the Wind River Range (WRR) of western U.S. and found a statistically significant trend at the 95% confidence level (or higher) of increasing weekly maximum air temperature for three out of the five meteorological stations studied.
60 citations
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TL;DR: In this article, a geomorphic classification for ephemeral streams in mountainous regions based on planform, degree of confinement, and composition of confining material is presented, and five stream types are identified in the Sonoran desert ofsouthwestern Arizona: piedmontheadwater, bedrock, alluvium, incisedalluvium and braided channels.
60 citations
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60 citations
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore the morphology of fluvial landscapes evolved with four different incision models, three of which include the influence of sediment flux on incision rate, and find that incision rates I for these landscapes are well described by an empirical power law equation I = K′Am′Sn′.
Abstract: [1] Sediment flux is known to influence bedrock incision rates in mountain rivers. Although the widely used stream power incision model lacks any explicit representation of sediment flux, the model appears to work in a variety of real settings. We address this apparent contradiction using numerical experiments to explore the morphology of fluvial landscapes evolved with four different incision models, three of which include the influence of sediment flux on incision rate. The numerical landscapes have different spatial patterns of uplift and are at steady state. We analyze these landscape using the common “stream power” approach, which views incision rates to be primarily a function of the local channel gradient S and the upstream drainage area A. We find that incision rates I for these landscapes are well described by an empirical power law equation I = K′Am′Sn′. This equation is functionally equivalent to the widely used stream power model, with the important distinction that the parameters K′, m′, and n′ are entirely empirical. These parameters take on constant values within a single landscape, but can otherwise be quite different between landscapes mainly due to differences in the pattern of rock uplift within the drainage. In particular, the parameters m′ and n′ decrease as the rate of rock uplift becomes more focused in the upland part of a mountain belt. The parameter m′ is particularly important in that it describes the sensitivity of a tectonically active mountain belt to changes in precipitation or tectonic accretion. It also defines how incision rates will change as the discharge becomes flashier.
60 citations
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TL;DR: In this article, the effects of sediment size on transport capacity of overland flow in a flume were investigated, and it was shown that sediment size was inversely related to transport capacity.
Abstract: Sediment transport capacity is a key concept in determining rates of detachment and deposition in process-based erosion models, yet limited studies have been conducted on steep slopes. We investigated the effects of sediment size on transport capacity of overland flow in a flume. Unit flow discharge ranged from 0.66 to 5.26 × 10-3 m2 s-1, and slope gradient varied from 8.7 to 42.3%. Five sediment size classes (median diameter, d 50, of 0.10, 0.22, 0.41, 0.69 and 1.16 mm) were used. Sediment size was inversely related to transport capacity. The ratios of average transport capacity of the finest class to those of the 0.22, 0.41, 0.69 and 1.16 mm classes were 1.09, 1.30, 1.55 and 1.92, respectively. Sediment transport capacity increased as a power function of flow discharge and slope gradient (R2 = 0.98), shear stress (R2 = 0.95), stream power (R2 = 0.94), or unit stream power (R2 = 0.76). Transport capacity generally decreased as a power function of sediment size (exponent = −0.35). Shear stress an...
59 citations