Feedbacks between sediment input, bed state and threshold for motion in gravel-bed rivers: an experimental study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matteo Saletti ◽  
Marwan Hassan
Keyword(s):  
Water Discharge ◽  
State Parameter ◽  
Sediment Supply ◽  
Primary Control ◽  
Channel Stability ◽  
Surface Evolution ◽  
Gravel Bed ◽  
Particle Mobility ◽  
Sediment Input ◽  
Gravel Bed Rivers

<p>In gravel-bed rivers the relation between the magnitude and frequency of sediment input, the threshold for motion and channel stability is still not fully understood.</p><p>Here we present results from a 280-hour long flume experiment, in which poorly sorted sediment was fed episodically in an 18-m long, 2.2%-steep channel. The experiment included 7 consecutive runs lasting 40 hours each characterized by a constant water discharge but different sediment supply regimes (i.e., with no feed, constant feed and sediment pulses). Several measurements of sediment transport, flow depth and bed structures were taken along the flume, to assess how changes in sediment supply influence particle mobility and channel stability.</p><p>Our results show that the surface grain‐size distribution coarsened quickly, developing an armored layer that persisted throughout the entire experiment with only short-lived changes after sediment pulses. Grain clusters and other bed structures developed continuously during the experiments, changing dynamically in response to sediment pulses.</p><p>We estimated the thresholds of motion with three different methods, all of which yielded consistent results. Overall, the threshold for motion increased during the experiment, fluctuating in response to changes in sediment input. Our results provide further evidence to the idea that the threshold for motion in gravel-bed rivers is not a constant, but changes as a state parameter. These changes in our experiments are controlled by (a) the sediment supply regime, (b) the degree of bed structuring, and (c) the history of bed evolution. These outcomes suggest that sediment supply regime is a primary control on bed surface evolution and the channel stabilizing function played by surface structures.</p>

Effects of episodic sediment supply on experimental step-pool channel morphology, bedload transport and channel stability

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiamei Wang ◽  
Marwan A. Hassan ◽  
Matteo Saletti ◽  
Xingyu Chen ◽  
Xudong Fu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Grain Size ◽  
Morphological Changes ◽  
Mass Movement ◽  
Channel Morphology ◽  
Bedload Transport ◽  
Sediment Supply ◽  
Primary Control ◽  
Channel Stability ◽  
Flume Experiments ◽  
Small Magnitude

<p>Steep step-pool streams are often coupled to adjacent hillslope, directly receiving episodic sediment supply from mass movement processes such as landslides and debris flows. The response of step-pool channels to the variations in sediment supply remains largely unexplored. We conducted flume experiments with a poorly sorted grain-size distribution in an 8%-steep, 5-m long flume with variable width at the University of British Columbia, to study the effects of episodic sediment supply on channel evolution. After a conditioning phase with no feed, the channel was subjected to sediment pulses of different magnitude and frequency under constant flow discharge. High-resolution data of hydraulics, bedload transport, bed surface grain size, and channel morphology were collected every 10-20 minutes and an additional time at the end of each pulse.</p><p>In response to sediment pulses, we recorded an increase in bedload transport rates, channel aggradation, bed surface fining, and continuous step formation and collapse. In between pulses, bedload rates dropped by several orders of magnitude, net erosion occurred, the bed surface gradually coarsened, and steps became more stable. The small-magnitude high-frequency pulses caused smaller but more frequent spikes in bedload transport, bed surface evolution, and thus step stability. Instead, the large-magnitude low-frequency pulses cause larger changes but provided a longer time for the channel to recover. This suggests that in step-pool channels pulse magnitude is a key control on channel rearrangement, while pulse frequency controls how fast and strong the recovery is.</p><p>The frequency and stability of steps varied as a function of local channel width, showing that channel geometry is a primary control on step formation and stability even under episodic sediment supply conditions. Instead, the effect of sediment pulses is less important because the total number and average survival time of steps were similar among runs with different pulses. The critical Shields stress decreased following sediment pulses, then increased immediately after, and fluctuated until the next pulse. The variations in sediment supply caused cycles in bedload transport rate, surface and bedload texture, thus controlling the variability in the threshold for motion.</p><p>Our results indicate that episodic sediment supply is a primary control on the evolution of step-pool channels, with sediment feed magnitude affecting mostly morphological changes, and sediment feed frequency controlling channel stability.</p>

scholarly journals Can gravel augmentation restore thermal functions in gravel-bed rivers? A need to assess success within a trajectory-based BACI framework

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Baptiste Marteau ◽  
Kristell Michel ◽  
Hervé Piégay
Keyword(s):  
River System ◽  
Sediment Supply ◽  
Global Changes ◽  
Fundamental Parameter ◽  
Positive Feedbacks ◽  
Gravel Bed ◽  
Channel Adjustments ◽  
Gravel Bed Rivers ◽  
Term Monitoring

Gravel augmentation has become common practice to mitigate the effects of decline in upstream sediment supply in gravel-bed rivers. The success of such rehabilitation schemes relies partly on the monitoring strategy and efforts. When long-term monitoring is lacking, some aspects of rehabilitation initiatives suffer more than others, such as insights into functions and functionalities of the river system. Despite temperature being a fundamental parameter determining the general health of river ecosystems, a limited number of studies have tested whether gravel-augmentation can aid restoring thermal functions. With the help of airborne thermal infrared (TIR) imagery, this paper explores the potential positive feedbacks through the monitoring of gravel augmentation actions, of different magnitude, taken on 3 rivers of the Rhône basin in France. A specific trajectory-based Before-After-Control-Impact (BACI) framework using simple indicators, combined with a TIR-based Control-Impact strategy, was designed to assess the success of thermal function restorations based on dynamic fuzzy references. Results indicate that restoring forms is not sufficient to restore thermal functions. The control-impact strategy shows limitations in the sense that two neighbouring reaches can display similar planform characteristics but different thermal functions; what is observed in a control reach should not necessarily be expected following rehabilitation. When assessing thermal processes, a before-after strategy is needed to either serve as a target or help define an adequate target in accordance with changes in the catchment and channel adjustments and responsiveness. We therefore recommend a trajectory-based BACI assessment to identify current biogeophysical conditions within which rehabilitation can be assessed. From a technical perspective, airborne TIR proved to be useful to rapidly map surface temperature over dozens of kilometres at high resolution, and can be advocated as a powerful tool to monitor and diagnose thermal functions of gravel-bed rivers. With an increasing number of rehabilitation schemes, and increasing pressure of global changes on rivers, we suggest that monitoring of water temperature, even with simple but well-designed sampling strategies, becomes a routine part of river rehabilitation projects.

Bedforms, Structures, Patches, and Sediment Supply in Gravel-Bed Rivers

2017 ◽  
pp. 439-466 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy G. Venditti ◽  
Peter A. Nelson ◽  
Ryan W. Bradley ◽  
Dan Haught ◽  
Alessandro B. Gitto
Keyword(s):  
Sediment Supply ◽  
Gravel Bed ◽  
Gravel Bed Rivers

scholarly journals A New Mass-Conservative, Two-Dimensional, Semi-Implicit Numerical Scheme for the Solution of the Navier-Stokes Equations in Gravel Bed Rivers with Erodible Fine Sediments

Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 690
Author(s):  
Maurizio Tavelli ◽  
Sebastiano Piccolroaz ◽  
Giulia Stradiotti ◽  
Giuseppe Roberto Pisaturo ◽  
Maurizio Righetti
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Scheme ◽  
Stokes Equations ◽  
Transport Processes ◽  
Sediment Supply ◽  
Navier Stokes ◽  
Computational Domain ◽  
Two Dimensional ◽  
Navier Stokes Equations ◽  
Gravel Bed ◽  
Gravel Bed Rivers

The selective trapping and erosion of fine particles that occur in a gravel bed river have important consequences for its stream ecology, water quality, and overall sediment budgeting. This is particularly relevant in water bodies that experience periodic alternation between sediment supply-limited conditions and high sediment loads, such as downstream from a dam. While experimental efforts have been spent to investigate fine sediment erosion and transport in gravel bed rivers, a comprehensive overview of the leading processes is hampered by the difficulties in performing flow field measurements below the gravel crest level. In this work, a new two-dimensional, semi-implicit numerical scheme for the solution of the Navier-Stokes equations in the presence of deposited and erodible sediment is presented, and tested against analytical solutions and performing numerical tests. The scheme is mass-conservative, computationally efficient, and allows for a fine discretization of the computational domain. Overall, this makes the model suitable to appreciate small-scales phenomena such as inter-grain circulation cells, thus offering a valid alternative to evaluate the shear stress distribution, on which erosion and transport processes depend, compared to traditional experimental approaches. In this work, we present proof-of-concept of the proposed model, while future research will focus on its extension to a three-dimensional and parallelized version, and on its application to real case studies.

scholarly journals Impacts of gravel-bed rivers transformation on fluvial ecosystems and human society: Examples from the Czech flysch Carpathians

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 ◽  
pp. 02005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Václav Škarpich ◽  
Miroslav Kubín ◽  
Tomáš Galia ◽  
Stanislav Ruman ◽  
Jan Hradecký
Keyword(s):  
Hydrological Regime ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Sediment Supply ◽  
Human Society ◽  
Large Set ◽  
Aquatic Communities ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Gravel Bed ◽  
Research Activities ◽  
Gravel Bed Rivers

In the last centuries, gravel-bed rivers in developed countries have undergone rapid changes in channel morphology. The most serious problems include channel transformation related to progressive channel narrowing, incision or bed sediment coarsening. The main reasons for transformations were connected to the human interventions, which affected water and sediment fluxes in the basins. This paper summarizes contemporary research activities focused on these negative effects of channel transformations in the Czech flysch Carpathian rivers (the Morávka, the Olše and the Ostravice draining the highest mountainous areas of the Beskydy Mts). As the result of channel transformations, progressive changes in fluvial ecosystem were observed. The initial phytosociological survey demonstrates a higher biodiversity in the floodplain along the preserved multi-thread river channel than along the deeply incised channel in the Morávka River basin. Our observations of aquatic communities demonstrated that the channel transformation connected with incision and coarsening of bed sediments negatively affected fish or lamprey populations in the studied rivers. Regulation, damming and incision of channels caused changes of hydrological regime linked with gradual drying of floodplain. Additionally, a large set of hydraulic structures, bridges or weirs were affected by undercutting and progressive destruction in the Ostravice, Olše and Morávka River basins, which is assigned to increased transport capacity of regulated channels together with decreased sediment supply from mountainous parts.

Responses of gravel-bed rivers to periodic climate change

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fergus McNab ◽  
Taylor Schildgen ◽  
Jens Turowski ◽  
Andrew Wickert
Keyword(s):  
Transport Processes ◽  
Sediment Supply ◽  
Sediment Flux ◽  
Alluvial Channels ◽  
Gravel Bed ◽  
Fluvial Terraces ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Gravel Bed Rivers ◽  
Lag Times ◽  
Climatic Signals

<p>Periodic variation in Earth's orbit leads to variation in temperature and precipitation at its surface that are expected to exert a profound influence on landscape evolution. Indeed, cyclical fluctuations in sediment yield and grain size are a ubiquitous feature of the geological record, and recurrence times of geomorphological features such as fluvial terraces and alluvial fans often appear to reflect orbital periodicities. However, making quantitative interpretations of these records requires a detailed understanding of the ways in which sediment is transported from mountainous source regions along alluvial channels to depositional sinks. Sediment transport processes may dampen (i.e. buffer, 'shred') or amplify climate signals, such as changes in channel elevation or sediment flux, and may introduce a lag between them and the responsible external forcing. Recent modelling studies, mostly focused on the potential transmission of climatic signals to sedimentary archives, have predicted a wide range of behaviour and have proven challenging to test in the field. Here, we aim to clarify this discussion and also consider the potential preservation of climatic signals by fluvial terraces along alluvial channels. Our starting point is a recently developed model describing the long-profile evolution of gravel-bed rivers. This model is the first of its kind to be derived from first principles using physical relationships that have been extensively tested in laboratory settings, and takes a non-linear diffusive form. We employ perturbation theory to obtain approximate analytical solutions to the relevant equations that describe how channel elevation and sediment flux vary in response to periodic fluctuations in discharge and sediment supply. Our solutions contain expressions for response amplitudes and lag times as functions of downstream distance, system 'diffusivity' and forcing frequency. Lag times can be a significant fraction of the forcing period, implying that care is required when interpreting the timings of terrace formation in terms of changes in discharge or sediment supply. We also show that at the onset of periodic forcing, or a change in the dominant forcing period, alluvial channels undergo a transient response as they adjust to a new quasi-steady state. Importantly, this result implies that suites of fluvial terraces can be preserved without the need for significant local base-level fall. Since the expressions presented here are defined in terms of fundamental properties of alluvial channels, they should be readily applicable to real settings.</p>

scholarly journals Effects of sediment supply on surface textures of gravel-bed rivers

1999 ◽  
Vol 35 (11) ◽  
pp. 3523-3530 ◽  
Author(s):  
John M. Buffington ◽  
David R. Montgomery
Keyword(s):  
Sediment Supply ◽  
Surface Textures ◽  
Gravel Bed ◽  
Gravel Bed Rivers

Toward bed state morphodynamics in gravel-bed rivers

2020 ◽  
Vol 44 (5) ◽  
pp. 700-726 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Lawson Adams
Keyword(s):  
Fluid Dynamics ◽  
Grain Size ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Channel Stability ◽  
Channel Processes ◽  
Fluvial Systems ◽  
Gravel Bed ◽  
Relative Contribution ◽  
Gravel Bed Rivers ◽  
Channel Configuration

In fluvial geomorphology, one of the most pervasive paradigms is that the size of the grains present in a river exercises an important effect on its character. In gravel-bed rivers, there is considerable scatter in the relations between so-called “representative grain sizes” and basic channel processes and morphologies. Under a grain size paradigm, our ability to rationalize the characteristics of a given channel and predict how it will respond to a change in conditions is limited. In this paper, I deconstruct this paradigm by exploring its historical origins in geomorphology and fluid dynamics, and identify three of its underlying premises: (1) the association between grain diameter and fluid drag derived from Nikuradse’s experiments with sand-coated surfaces; (2) the use of grain size by early process geomorphologists to describe general trends across large samples of sand-bed rivers; and (3) a classificatory approach to discerning bed structures originally developed for bed configurations found in sand-bed rivers. The conflation of sand- and gravel-bed rivers limits our ability to understand gravel-bed morphodynamics. Longstanding critique of the grain size paradigm has generated alternative ideas but, due to technological and conceptual limitations, they have remained unrealized. One such unrealized idea is the morphology-based definition of bed state – an important degree of freedom within fluvial systems, particularly in reaches where adjustments to planform are not easily achieved. By embracing recent advancements in fluid dynamics and remote sensing, I present an alternative or complementary concept of bed state based on the notion that fluvial systems act to maximize flow resistance. The proposed quantitative index represents the relative contribution of morphologic adjustments occurring at different spatial scales (discriminated using a wavelet transform) to a stable channel configuration. By explicitly acknowledging the complexity of bed adjustments we can move toward a more complete understanding of channel stability in gravel-bed rivers.

Sediment Supply-Limited Bedforms in Sand-Gravel Bed Rivers

2002 ◽  
Vol 72 (5) ◽  
pp. 629-640 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.G. Kleinhans ◽  
A.W.E. Wilbers ◽  
A. De Swaaf ◽  
J.H. Van Den Berg
Keyword(s):  
Sediment Supply ◽  
Gravel Bed ◽  
Gravel Bed Rivers
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