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Alluvial river

An alluvial river is a river in which the bed


and banks are made up of mobile
sediment and/or soil. Alluvial rivers are
self-formed, meaning that their channels
are shaped by the magnitude and
frequency of the floods that they
experience, and the ability of these floods
to erode, deposit, and transport sediment.
For this reason, alluvial rivers can assume
a number of forms based on the
properties of their banks; the flows they
experience; the local riparian ecology; and
the amount, size, and type of sediment
that they carry.[1]

Alluvial channel patterns


Natural alluvial channels have a variety of
morphological patterns, but can be
generally described as straight,
meandering, braided, or anastomosing.[2]
Different channel patterns result from
differences in bankfull discharge, gradient,
sediment supply, and bank material.[2]
Channel patterns can be described based
on their level of sinuosity, which is the
ratio of the channel length measured along
its center to the straight line distance
measured down the valley axis.[2]

Straight/sinuous channels

Straight channels (sinuosity <1.3) are


relatively rare in natural systems due to the
fact that sediment and flow are rarely
distributed evenly across a landscape.[2]
Irregularities in the deposition and erosion
of sediments leads to the formation of
alternate bars that are on opposite sides
of the channel in succession.[2] Alternating
bar sequences result in flow to be directed
in a sinuous pattern, leading to the
formation of sinuous channels (sinuosity
of 1.3-1.5).[2]

Meandering channels

Meandering channels are more sinuous


(>1.5 sinuosity) than straight or sinuous
channels, and are defined by the meander
wavelength morphological unit.[2] The
meander wavelength is the distance from
the apex of one bend to the next on the
same side of the channel.[2] Meandering
channels wavelength are described in
section 1.2 Geomorphic Units.[2]
Meandering channels are widespread in
current times, but no geomorphic evidence
of their existence before the evolution of
land plants has been found.[2] This is
largely attributed to the effect of
vegetation in increasing bank stability and
maintaining meander formation.[2]

Braided channels

Braided channels are characterized by


multiple, active streams within a broad,
low sinuosity channel.[2] The smaller
strands of streams diverge around
sediment bars and then converge in a
braiding pattern.[2] Braided channels are
dynamic, with strands moving within the
channel.[2] Braided channels are caused by
sediment loads that exceed the capacity
of stream transport.[2] They are found
downstream of glaciers and mountain
slopes in conditions of high slope, variable
discharge, and high loads of coarse
sediment.[2]

Anastomosing channels

Anastomosing channels are similar to


braided channels in that they are
composed of complex strands that
diverge and then converge downstream.[2]
However, anastomosing channels are
distinct from braided channels in that they
flow around relatively stable, typically
vegetated islands.[2] They also have
generally lower gradients, are narrower
and deeper, and have more permanent
strands.[2]

Geomorphic units
Meander wavelength

The meander wavelength or alternate bar


sequence is considered the primary
ecological and morphological unit of
meandering alluvial rivers.[3] The meander
wavelength is composed of two
alternating bar units, each with a pool
scoured out from a cutbank, an
aggradational lobe or point bar, and a riffle
that connects the pool and point bar.[3] In
an idealized channel, the meander
wavelength is around 10 to 11 channel
widths.[2] This equates to pools (and riffles
and point bars) being separated by an
average of 5 to 6 channel widths.[2] The
radius of curvature of a meander bend
describes the tightness of a meander arc,
and is measured by the radius of a circle
that fits the meander arc.[2] The radius of
curvature is between 2 and 3 times the
channel width.[2]

Landforms
Floodplains
Floodplains are the land areas adjacent to
alluvial river channels that are frequently
flooded.[2] Floodplains are built up by
deposition of suspended load from
overbank flow, bedload deposition from
lateral river migration, and landscape
processes such as landslides.[2]

Natural levees

Natural levees occur when the floodplain


of an alluvial river is primarily shaped by
overbank deposition and when relatively
coarse materials are deposited near the
main channel.[2] The natural levees
become higher than the adjacent
floodplain, leading to the formation of
backswamps and yazoo channels, in
which tributary streams are forced to flow
parallel to the main channel rather than
converge with the main channel.[2]

Terraces

Terraces are sediment storage features


that record an alluvial river’s past sediment
delivery.[2] Many changes in boundary
conditions can form terraces in alluvial
river systems.[2] The most basic reason for
their formation is that the river does not
have the transport capacity to move the
sediment supplied to it by its watershed.[2]
Past climate during the Quaternary has
been linked to the aggradation and
incision of floodplains, leaving step-like
terrace features behind.[2] Uplift as well as
sea level retreat can also cause terraces to
form as the river cuts into its underlying
bed and preserves sediment in its
floodplain.[2]

Geomorphic processes
Natural hydrograph
components

Natural hydrograph components such as


storm events (floods), baseflows,
snowmelt peaks, and recession limbs, are
the river-specific catalysts that shape
alluvial river ecosystems and provide for
important geomorphic and ecological
processes.[3] Preserving annual variations
in a river’s hydrologic regime – patterns of
magnitude, duration, frequency, and timing
of flows- are essential for sustaining
ecological integrity within alluvial river
ecosystems.[3]

Channel migration

Bank erosion at cutbanks on the outside of


meanders combined with deposition of
point bars on the inside of meanders
cause channel migration.[2] The greatest
bank erosion often occurs just
downstream of the meander apex, causing
downstream migration as the high velocity
flow eats away at the bank as it is forced
around the meander curve.[2] Avulsion is
another process of channel migration that
occurs much more rapidly than the gradual
migration process of cutbank erosion and
point bar deposition.[2] Avulsion occurs
when lateral migration causes two
meanders to become so close that the
river bank between them is breached,
causing the joining of the meanders and
the creation of two channels.[2] When the
original channel is cut off from the new
channel by the deposition of sediments,
oxbow lakes are formed.[2] Channel
migration is important to sustaining
diverse aquatic and riparian habitats[3] The
migration causes sediments and woody
debris to enter the river, and creates areas
of new floodplain on the inside of the
meander.[3]

Sediment budgets

Dynamic steady states of sediment


erosion and deposition work to sustain
alluvial channel morphology, as river
reaches import and export fine and coarse
sediments at approximately equal rates.[3]
At the apex of meander curves, high
velocity flows scour out sediment and
form pools.[3] The mobilized sediment is
then deposited at the point bar directly
across the channel or downstream.[3]
Flows of high magnitude and duration can
be seen as important thresholds that drive
channelbed mobility.[3] Channel
aggradation or degradation indicate
sediment budget imbalances.[3]

Flooding

Flooding is an important component that


shapes channel morphology in alluvial
river systems.[3] Large floods that exceed
the 10 to 20 year recurrence interval form
and maintain main channels as well as
avulse and form side channels, wetlands,
and oxbow lakes.[3] Floodplain inundation
occurs on average every 1–2 years at
flows above bankfull stage and moderates
flood severity and channel scour and helps
to cycle nutrients between the river and
surrounding landscape.[3] Flooding is
important to aquatic and riparian habitat
complexity because it forms a diversity of
habitat features that vary in their
ecosystem function.[3]

Biologic components
Riparian habitats
Riparian habitats are especially dynamic in
alluvial river ecosystems due to the
constantly changing fluvial environment.[3]
Alternate bar scour, channel migration,
floodplain inundation, and channel
avulsion create variable habitat conditions
that riparian vegetation must adapt to.[3]
Seedling establishment and forest stand
development depend on favorable
substrate, which in turn is dependent on
how sediment is sorted along the channel
banks.[3] In general, young riparian
vegetation and pioneer species will
establish in areas that are subjected to
active channel processes such as at point
bars, where coarser sediments such as
gravels and cobbles are present but are
seasonally mobilized.[3] Mature riparian
vegetation can establish farther upslope
where finer sediments such as sands and
silts dominate and disturbance from active
river processes are less frequent.[3]

Aquatic habitats

Aquatic habitats in alluvial rivers are


sculpted by the complex interplay between
sediment, flow, vegetation, and woody
debris.[3] Pools provide deeper areas of
relatively cool water and provide shelter
for fish and other aquatic organisms.[3]
Pool habitats are improved by complex
structures such as large woody debris or
boulders.[3] Riffles provide shallower,
highly turbulent aquatic habitat of
primarily cobbles.[3] Here, water mixes
with the air at the water surface,
increasing dissolved oxygen levels within
the stream. Benthic macroinvertebrates
thrive in riffles, living on the surfaces and
interstitial spaces between rocks. Many
species also depend on low energy
backwater areas for feeding and important
life cycle stages.[3]

Human impacts
Land use impacts
Logging

Logging of timberland in alluvial


watersheds has been shown to increase
sediment yields to rivers, causing
aggradation of the streambed, increasing
turbidity, and altering sediment size and
sediment distribution along the channel.
The increase in sediment yield is attributed
to increased runoff and erosion and slope
failure, a result of removing vegetation
from the landscape as well as building
roads.

Agriculture
Agricultural land uses divert water from
alluvial rivers for crop production, as well
constrain the river’s ability to meander or
migrate due levee construction or other
forms of armoring. The result is simplified
channel morphology with lower baseflows.

Dams and diversions

Dams and diversions alter the natural


hydrologic regime of rivers, with
widespread effects that alter the
watershed ecosystem.[4] Since alluvial
river morphology and fluvial ecosystem
processes are largely shaped by the
complex interplay of hydrograph
components such as the magnitude,
frequency, duration, timing, and rate of
change of flow, any change in one of these
components can be associated with a
tangible alteration of the ecosystem.[3]
Dams are often associated with reduced
wet season flood magnitudes and altered
(oftentimes reduced) dry season
baseflow.[4] This can negatively affect
aquatic organisms that are specifically
evolved to natural flow conditions.[4] By
altering the natural hydrograph
components, particularly reducing flow
magnitudes, dams and other diversions
reduce the river’s ability to mobilize
sediment, resulting in sediment-choked
channels.[5] Conversely, dams are a
physical barrier to the naturally continuous
movement of sediment from headwaters
to the river mouth, and can create
sediment deficient conditions and incision
directly downstream.[5]

References
1. Leopold, Luna B., Wolman, M.G., and
Miller, J.P., 1964, Fluvial Processes in
Geomorphology, San Francisco, W.H.
Freeman and Co., 522p.
2. Bierman, R. B, David R. Montgomery
(2014). Key Concepts in Geomorphology. W.
H. Freeman and Company Publishers.
United States.
3. Trush et al. (2000). Attributes of an
Alluvial River and their Relation to Water
Policy and Management. Proceedings of
the National Academy of Sciences. Vol 92.
No. 22
4. Poff, N. L., Allan, J. D., Bain, M. B., Karr, J.
R., Prestegaard, K. L., Richter, B. D.,
Stromberg, J. C. (1997). The Natural Flow
Regime. BioScience, 47(11), 769–784.
http://doi.org/10.2307/1313099
5. Kondolf, M. G. (1997) Hungry Water:
Effects of Dams and Gravel Mining on River
Channels. Environmental Management Vol.
21, No. 4, pp. 533–551

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