Fluvial processes and landforms

The period 1965-2000 saw a sustained increase in research and publication on fluvial processes and landforms. The trend toward generalisation and/or mechanistic understanding, rather than site-specific history, continued. Research was multi-disciplinary, with important contributions from hydraulic engineers, geologists and physical geographers and from experimental and theoretical approaches as well as geomorphological and sedimentological fieldwork. Rapidly increasing computer power underpinned new measurement methods and greatly increased the scope of data analysis and numerical modelling. There were major advances in understanding the interaction of river process and form at reach scale, with growing recognition of differences between sand-bed and coarse-bed rivers. Field studies outside Europe and North America led to greater awareness of the diversity of river planforms and deposition landforms. Conceptual models of how rivers respond to natural or anthropogenic change in boundary conditions at different timescales were refined, taking advantage of studies of response to land use change, major floods, and volcanic eruptions. Dating of sediments allowed greater appreciation of fluctuations in the incidence of extreme driving events over centuries and thousands of years. Towards the end of the period research on bedrock rivers began to take off.

The Role of Frost Processes in the Retreat of River Banks

The rate of bank retreat was measured using erosion pins on the alluvial banks of the rivers in the Podhale region (the boundary zone between Central and Outer Carpathians) during the hydrological year 2013/2014. During the winter half-year (November–April), the bank retreat was mainly caused by processes related to the freezing and thawing of the ground (swelling, creep, downfall). During the summer half-year (May–October), fluvial processes and mass movements such as lateral erosion, washing out, and sliding predominated. The share of fluvial processes in the total annual amount of bank retreat (71 cm on average) was 4 times greater than that of the frost phenomena. Erosion on bank surfaces by frost phenomena during the cold half-year was greatest (up to 38 cm) on the upper parts of banks composed of fine-grained alluvium, while fluvial erosion during the summer half-year (exceeding 80 cm) mostly affected the lower parts of the banks, composed of gravel. The precise calculation of the relative role of frost phenomena in the annual balance of bank erosion was precluded at some stations by the loss of erosion pins in the summer flood.

The intensity of slope and fluvial processes after a catastrophic windthrow event in small catchments in the Tatra Mountains

Strong wind events frequently result in creating large areas of windthrow, which causes abrupt environmental changes. Bare soil surfaces within pits and root plates potentially expose soil to erosion. Absence of forest may alter the dynamics of water circulation. In this study we attempt to answer the question of whether extensive windthrows influence the magnitude of geomorphic processes in 6 small second- to third-order catchments with area ranging from 0.09 km2 to 0.8 km2. Three of the catchments were significantly affected by a windthrow which occurred in December 2013 in the Polish part of the Tatra Mountains, and the other three catchments were mostly forested and served as control catchments. We mapped the pits created by the windthrow and the linear scars created by salvage logging operations in search of any signs of erosion within them. We also mapped all post-windthrow landslides created in the windthrow-affected catchments. The impact of the windthrow on the fluvial system was investigated by measuring a set of channel characteristics and determining bedload transport intensity using painted tracers in all the windthrow-affected and control catchments. Both pits and linear scars created by harvesting tend to become overgrown by vegetation in the first several years after the windthrow. The only signs of erosion were observed in 10% of the pits located on convergent slopes. During the period from the windthrow event in 2013 until 2019, 5 very small (total area <100 m2) shallow landslides were created. The mean distance of bedload transport was similar (t-test, p=0.05) in most of the windthrow-affected and control catchments. The mapping of channels revealed many cases of root plates fallen into a channel and pits created near a channel. A significant amount of woody debris delivered into the channels influenced the activity of fluvial processes by creating alternating zones of erosion and accumulation.

On the Banks of the Tiber: Opportunity and Transformation in Early Rome

A geoarchaeological coring survey of the Forum Boarium has shed considerable light on Rome's archaic landscape. We present the first empirical evidence that substantiates ancient and modern assumptions about the existence of a river harbour and ford in early Rome. Prior to the growth of the city, the riverbank — reconstructed as a high ledge at the base of the Capitoline Hill and a low-lying shore north of the Aventine — was particularly advantageous for river-related activities. However, the river valley changed significantly in the sixth century b.c.e., as a result of complex fluvial processes that were arguably spurred by urbanisation. Around the beginning of the Republic, Rome's original harbour silted up, and a high, wide riverbank emerged in its place. The siltation continued until the Forum Boarium was urbanised in the mid-Republic. In order to build their city and maintain river harbour operations, the Romans therefore had to adapt to dynamic ecological conditions.

Applying dense seismic array monitoring to locate fluvial processes during floods in a braided river reach

&lt;p&gt;Over the last decade, seismic techniques have provided unique observational constraints on Earth surface processes. In particular, dense seismic array monitoring has recently allowed the detailed investigation of noise sources and their spatiotemporal dynamics. Despite their large potential, these approaches have not yet been applied for the monitoring of fluvial processes. In a context where traditional methods often do not provide data with adequate temporal and spatial resolution, the use of dense arrays could allow the identification and tracking of different sources of river-induced seismic ground vibrations (e.g. turbulence and bedload transport), which would provide insight in river functioning and morphological evolution.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Here, we study the potential of dense seismic array monitoring by analysing data from a 4-month long field survey, which we conducted in summer 2019 along a 600-m long braided reach of the S&amp;#233;veraisse river (French Alps). We installed a network of 40 to 80 seismometers on both river banks, predominantly deployed in 4-seismometer subarrays, and we supplement these seismic observations with flow gauging measurements and time-lapse imagery covering the study area. We present a preliminary analysis that focuses on a high-flow event that occurred at the end of the melt season. During this event, we observe impulsive signals that are coherently detected over the array, and which we interpret as being associated with the bedload transport of clusters of coarse grains. Through phase-delay analysis we are able to locate episodes of motion at high temporal resolution and investigate their spatiotemporal dynamics with respect to river morphology and morphological changes observed from the time-lapse images. Our work demonstrates the unique capability of using dense seismic arrays to better understand the fluvial processes that play an important role in storing and transferring sediments in braided rivers.&lt;/p&gt;

River morphology evolution driven by mass movements in tectonic active regions – A negative feedback response of transient landscape

&lt;p&gt;Incised valleys or steep slopes in tectonic active mountain areas are normally in a critical equilibrium state which is highly fragile and prone to deviate under exotic disturbances (e.g., earthquake, heavy precipitation, or even human activities), inducing mass movements (e.g., landslides, avalanche, and/or debris flows). Mass movements have great impacts on fluvial processes and may even reshape valley morphology, hence are powerful drivers to river evolution in those environments. Unfortunately, compared to the mass movements themselves (e.g., occurrence time, volume, dynamics and underlying mechanisms), less attention has been paid to the fluvial processes (in a short/intermediate-term) and the long-term evolution of river morphology corresponding to (and after) those mass movements (especially catastrophic ones). This motivates the current work.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The southeast Tibet, located on the east Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, is one of the most active regions globally in terms of tectonic motion and rates of uplift. Rivers in the lower Yalung Tsangpo basin in this area are investigated to understand the morphodynamics influenced by modern and historical mass movements and examine the feedbacks of fluvial processes to mass movements. River reaches influenced by typical mass movements were chosen for detailed field surveys, including: (1) the upper part of the Yalung Tsangpo Grand Canyon which has been seriously impacted by avalanches and debris flows from tributary gullies originating at glacial mountains of Namcha Barwa and Gyala Peri; (2) the lower reach of the Yigong River covering the Yigong Landslide from the Zhamunong Gully; (3) the lower reach of the Palong River influenced by debris flows from Guxiang and Tianmo gullies; and (4)&amp;#160; the upper and middle reaches of the Palong River (extending roughly from Ranwu Lake to the upstream of Guxiang Lake) influenced by glacial processes and other induced mass movements since the last glacial maximum. Remote sensing images before and after the large-scale mass movements in recent decades were also used to track the corresponding river morphology variation.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Due to very high transport rate and volume of sediment incoming, mass movements have caused dramatic channel processes in east Tibet. Some even dammed the river, forming knickpoints and reshaping valley morphology. The morphology of the valleys in this area normally show alternating sections of gorges and wide valleys, with a staircase-like longitudinal profile. The gorge sections exhibit single and deeply incised channels with a high-gradient channel bed and terraces. In contrast, the wide valley sections consist of lakes, braided or anabranching channels, gentle bed gradients, and thick alluvial deposits. In recent decades, mass movements (mostly debris flows), occurred more frequently through gullies in the reaches of gorge sections than through gullies along the wide valley sections. Mass movements deviate river morphology and slope from (quasi-)equilibrium to non-equilibrium state, however, with attendant rapid sediment incoming, valley bottom siltation and erosion benchmark rising, it triggers a negative feedback which drives the river morphology to a new round of development towards equilibrium.&lt;/p&gt;