Dynamic river widening under variable bed-load supply
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Date
2024
Publication Type
Conference Paper
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Abstract
Reach-scale widening of channelized rivers is a common river restoration measure. The goal is to reactivate morphodynamic processes and increase habitat heterogeneity locally. Yet, the influence of bed-load supply on widening morphodynamics is still inadequately understood. Using mobile-bed laboratory experiments, we studied the morphological development of one-sided dynamic river widenings in channelized subalpine gravel-bed rivers in response to different sediment supply levels. The initial experimental setup consisted of a channel with a longitudinal slope of around one percent and a floodplain on one side, which was twenty-five channel widths long and three widths wide. After removing the fixed bank separating the channel from the floodplain, lateral floodplain erosion and channel widening were allowed. Sediment supply was found to be a critical driver of morphodynamic activity in river widenings, with sediment supply rates close to the channel's transport capacity promoting active channel widening, sediment relocation, and lateral channel-floodplain connectivity. In contrast, low sediment supply maintained a stable single-thread channel disconnected from its floodplain.
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published
Book title
River Flow 2022
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Pages / Article No.
427 - 434
Publisher
CRC Press
Event
11th International Conference on Fluvial Hydraulics (River Flow 2022)
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1st Edition
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Is part of: https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003323037