Channel Migration and Incision on the Beatton River
Publication: Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Volume 109, Issue 3
Abstract
New field data relating to bend migration rates with bend radius of curvature to channel width ratios for the Beatton River confirm the form of the relationship the writers described in 1975, although there is more variance than our initial results suggested. Recent data from forest successions on the floodplains of a variety of migrating rivers show that channel migration is a discontinuous process within any single bend. This means that predictions of migration rates for individual bends, based on short‐term measurements using erosion pins or aerial photographs, are highly suspect. These variations in migration rate are likely a response to fluctuating channel widths over time because of a short‐term imbalance between the rate of cutbank erosion and the rate of point‐bar sediment accumulation. Finally the examination of new evidence for channel incision on the Beatton River shows that the river is downcutting at a rate of about 2 mm/yr, not at 10 mm/yr as reported earlier.
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References
1.
Hickin, E. J., “The Analysis of River‐Planform Responses to Changes in Discharge,” River Channel Changes, K. J. Gregory, ed., Wiley, Chichester, England, 1977, pp. 249–263.
2.
Hickin, E. J., “Hydraulic Factors Controlling Channel Migration,” Proceedings of the 5th Guelph Symposium in Geomorphology, Geomorphology Abstracts, Norwich, England, 1977, pp. 59–66.
3.
Hickin, E. J., and Nanson, G. C., “The Character of Channel Migration on the Beatton River, Northeast British Columbia, Canada,” Geological Society America Bulletin, Vol. 86, 1975, pp. 487–494.
4.
Humphrey, N. F., “An Aerial Photographic Study of the Meander Behaviour of Alluvial Rivers in Northeast British Columbia and Northern Alberta,” thesis presented to the Department of Geography, University of British Columbia at Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1978, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts.
5.
Nanson, G. C., “Point‐Bar and Floodplain Formation of the Meandering Beatton River, Northeastern British Columbia, Canada,” Sedimentology, Vol. 27, 1980, pp. 3–29.
6.
Nanson, G. C., “A Regional Trend to Meander Migration,” Journal of Geology, Vol. 88, 1980, pp. 100–108.
7.
Nanson, G. C., and Beach, H. F., “Forest Succession and Sedimentation on a Meandering‐River Floodplain, Northeast British Columbia, Canada,” Journal of Biogeography, Vol. 4, 1977, pp. 229–251.
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Copyright © 1983 ASCE.
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Published online: Jan 1, 1983
Published in print: Jan 1983
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