Large Rivers: Geomorphology and Management

Large Rivers: Geomorphology and Management......Page 1
Contents......Page 7
Preface......Page 19
List of Contributors......Page 21
1.1 A BOOK ON LARGE RIVERS......Page 25
1.3 THE BOOK AND ITS CONTENT......Page 26
REFERENCES......Page 28
2.1 INTRODUCTION......Page 31
2.2 TECTONIC SETTINGS OF LARGE RIVER SYSTEMS......Page 32
2.2.1 Rivers in Continental Collision Belts......Page 33
2.2.3 Rivers in Cratonic Settings......Page 34
2.3 COMPLEXITY OF DRAINAGE TYPES......Page 35
2.4 LARGE RIVERS – CLIMATIC SETTINGS AND CLIMATIC VARIABILITY......Page 37
2.5 MODERN LARGE RIVERS – HYDROLOGY AND SEDIMENT DISPERSAL......Page 39
2.6 VARIABILITY IN THE ALLUVIAL ARCHITECTURE OF LARGE RIVER SYSTEMS......Page 41
2.6.1 Longitudinal Trunk Systems......Page 42
2.6.4 Interfluves......Page 44
2.7 GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF LARGE RIVER SYSTEMS......Page 45
2.9 SEA LEVEL, TECTONIC AND CLIMATIC CONTROLS ON THE LARGE RIVER SYSTEMS......Page 46
2.10 CONCLUDING REMARKS......Page 48
REFERENCES......Page 49
3.1 HYDROLOGY OF LARGE RIVER BASINS......Page 53
3.2.1 Amazon River......Page 56
3.3.1 Nile River......Page 59
3.3.4 Murray-Darling River......Page 60
3.4.2 Danube River......Page 61
3.6.1 Huanghe......Page 62
3.7 HIGH-LATITUDE RIVERS......Page 63
3.8 SUMMARY......Page 64
REFERENCES......Page 65
4.2 ANDEAN SOURCES AND ALLUVIAL STORAGE......Page 69
4.3 ORINOCO......Page 71
4.4.1 Setting......Page 73
4.4.2 Storage and Remobilization of Floodplain Sediment......Page 76
4.5 THE AMAZON GOES TO SEA......Page 81
4.6 CODA......Page 83
REFERENCES......Page 84
5.2 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND......Page 89
5.3.2 Laurentide Ice Sheet......Page 90
5.3.3 Eurasia Ice Sheets......Page 92
5.3.4 Central Asian Mountains......Page 94
5.4 EXTRATERRESTRIAL MEGAFLOODS AND MEGARIVERS......Page 95
REFERENCES......Page 96
6.1 INTRODUCTION......Page 99
6.2 DEFINITION OF A DELTA AND DELTA COMPONENTS......Page 101
6.3 CLASSIFICATION OF DELTAS......Page 103
6.4.1 Morphology......Page 106
6.4.2 Sediments and Sediment Facies......Page 109
6.4.3 Sediment Accumulation Rates......Page 110
6.5.1 Response to Holocene Sea-Level Change......Page 111
6.5.2 Changes in the Course of a River Channel and of its Distributaries......Page 112
6.6.1 Estimation of Past Sediment Discharge......Page 114
6.7 CONCLUDING REMARKS......Page 115
REFERENCES......Page 116
7.1 INTRODUCTION......Page 121
7.2 SEDIMENTOLOGY AND STRATIGRAPHY OF MODERN BIG RIVERS......Page 124
7.3 SEDIMENTOLOGY AND STRATIGRAPHY OF ANCIENT BIG RIVERS......Page 127
7.4 DISCUSSION: ANCIENT BIG RIVER DEPOSITS VS ‘INCISED VALLEY FILLS’......Page 129
7.5 CONCLUSION......Page 131
REFERENCES......Page 132
8.1 BACKGROUND......Page 139
8.2 AMAZON BASIN CHARACTERISTICS......Page 140
8.3.1 First-Order Basin-Scale Influences......Page 141
8.3.3 Fracture Patterns......Page 145
8.3.4 Structural Influences on Amazon River Geomorphology......Page 149
8.4 INFLUENCE OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON THE AMAZON RIVER......Page 156
8.5 INFLUENCE OF SEA-LEVEL CHANGES ON THE AMAZON RIVER AND FLOODPLAIN......Page 159
8.6 CONCLUSION......Page 163
REFERENCES......Page 164
9.2 CENOZOIC DRAINAGE EVOLUTION......Page 169
9.3 INFLUENCE OF QUATERNARY GLACIATIONS......Page 172
9.4 PROGLACIAL LAKES AND EXTREME FLOODS......Page 174
9.5 RESPONSE OF THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY TO UPPER VALLEY GLACIATION AND FLOODING......Page 175
9.6.1 Climate and Vegetation Changes......Page 177
9.6.3 Holocene Flood Episodes in the Upper Mississippi Valley......Page 180
9.6.4 Lower Valley Alluvial Responses to Upper Valley Holocene Environmental Change......Page 184
9.7.1 Upper Mississippi River......Page 186
9.7.2 Lower Mississippi River......Page 189
9.8.1 Climate, Runoff, and Floods......Page 191
9.8.2 Dams: Flow Modification and Sediment Storage......Page 195
9.9 THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER SYSTEM: SUMMARY AND OUTLOOK......Page 198
REFERENCES......Page 201
10.1 INTRODUCTION......Page 207
10.2 PHYSIOGRAPHY......Page 210
10.2.1 Description of the Green and Colorado Rivers, from Headwaters to the Sea......Page 211
10.3 AGE OF THE RIVER......Page 213
10.4 GRADIENT, VALLEY WIDTH, AND CHANNEL FORM IN THE COLORADO PLATEAU......Page 215
10.5 HYDROLOGY: PRE-DAM......Page 217
10.6 HYDROLOGY: POST-DAM......Page 220
10.6.2 Lower Basin......Page 222
10.7 PRE-DAM AND POST-DAM SEDIMENT YIELD AND SEDIMENT TRANSPORT......Page 224
10.8 CHANNEL ADJUSTMENT AND CHANGE DURING THE TWENTIETH CENTURY......Page 227
10.8.1 The Delta......Page 228
10.8.2 The Imperial Valley and Salton Sea......Page 230
10.8.3 The Lower River......Page 232
10.8.4 The River System within the Colorado Plateau......Page 233
10.9 IMPLICATIONS OF HYDROLOGIC, SEDIMENT TRANSPORT, CHANNEL CHANGE, AND TEMPERATURE TO THE ENDEMIC FISHERY......Page 235
10.10.1 The Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program......Page 239
10.11.2 The Grand Canyon Ecosystem......Page 241
10.12 CONCLUSION......Page 243
REFERENCES......Page 244
11.2 DESCRIPTION OF THE LENA DRAINAGE BASIN......Page 249
11.5 FLUVIAL DYNAMICS AND LANDFORMS......Page 251
11.6 THERMAL EROSION AND ITS IMPACT ON THE FLUVIAL FORMS......Page 255
REFERENCES......Page 256
12.2 WATER AND SEDIMENT......Page 259
12.3 HEADWATERS OF THE DANUBE......Page 262
12.4.1 The Upper Danube in Germany and Austria......Page 263
12.4.2 The Middle Danube (Slovakia, Hungary and Serbia)......Page 265
12.5 THE DANUBE DELTA......Page 266
12.5.1 Delta Habitats and Environmental Problems......Page 267
12.6.1 The Upper Section......Page 269
12.6.2 The Middle Section......Page 275
12.6.3 The Lower Section......Page 277
12.7.1 A Brief History of Channelization......Page 278
12.7.4 Pollution......Page 280
REFERENCES......Page 281
13.1 INTRODUCTION......Page 285
13.2 NILE BASIN RIVER ENVIRONMENTS......Page 287
13.3.1 The Late Miocene Nile Canyon in Egypt......Page 289
13.3.2 The Integrated Nile......Page 291
13.4.1 20 000 to 12 500 14C Years BP......Page 292
13.4.2 12 500 to 5000 14C Years BP......Page 294
13.4.3 5000 14C Years BP to Present......Page 296
13.6 THE MODERN NILE: HYDROLOGY AND GEOMORPHOLOGY......Page 297
13.6.1 The White Nile Basin......Page 298
13.6.2 The Blue Nile and Atbara Basins......Page 301
13.6.3 The Confluence Zone and the Desert Nile from Khartoum to the Mediterranean......Page 302
13.7 THE SUSPENDED SEDIMENT BUDGET......Page 303
13.7.1 Reservoir Sedimentation......Page 305
13.7.2 Suspended Sediment Dynamics Downstream of the Aswan High Dam......Page 307
13.8.2 Sediment Supply to the Eastern Mediterranean Sea......Page 308
13.9 RIVER BASIN MANAGEMENT AND GLOBAL CHANGE......Page 311
REFERENCES......Page 313
14.2 THE COURSE OF THE CONGO RIVER......Page 317
14.3.1 The Central Congo Basin......Page 323
14.3.3 The Atlantic Rise......Page 325
14.4 EVOLUTION OF THE CONGO RIVER......Page 326
14.6 SOLID, SUSPENDED, AND DISSOLVED LOAD......Page 327
14.7 THE CONGO MOUTH AND THE SUBMARINE CANYON......Page 330
14.8 THE CONGO RIVER AND ITS ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE......Page 331
REFERENCES......Page 332
15.1 INTRODUCTION......Page 335
15.2 THE ZAMBEZI RIVER SYSTEM......Page 337
15.3 HYDROLOGY......Page 341
15.4 ECOLOGICAL IMPACT OF MAJOR DAMS......Page 344
15.5 EVOLUTION OF THE ZAMBEZI RIVER SYSTEM......Page 345
15.6 DRAINAGE EVOLUTION AND SPECIATION......Page 352
15.8 CONCLUSION......Page 354
REFERENCES......Page 355
16.1 INTRODUCTION......Page 357
16.2.2 Hydrology......Page 358
16.4 EVOLUTION OF THE INDUS RIVER......Page 359
16.5 THE INDUS DELTA......Page 360
16.6 SUBMARINE INDUS SYSTEM......Page 362
16.7 WATER MANAGEMENT......Page 363
16.8 THE INDUS DOLPHINS......Page 365
16.10 HUMAN-INDUCED CHANGES IN THE INDUS DELTA......Page 366
16.11 CONCLUSION......Page 368
REFERENCES......Page 369
17.2 HYDROLOGY......Page 371
17.4.2 Suspended Load and Bed Load......Page 377
17.5 MINERALOGY AND GEOCHEMISTRY OF SEDIMENTS......Page 379
17.7 THE PLAIN AND THE RIVER......Page 380
17.8 THE DELTA......Page 386
17.9 A SUMMARY OF CURRENT GEOMORPHIC PROCESSES......Page 389
17.10 QUATERNARY EVOLUTION OF THE GANGA......Page 390
17.11 UTILIZATION OF THE RIVER AND ASSOCIATED PROBLEMS......Page 391
REFERENCES......Page 392
18.2 THE BRAHMAPUTRA RIVER SYSTEM......Page 397
18.3 GEOLOGY OF THE BASIN......Page 399
18.4 HYDROLOGY......Page 401
18.5 FLOODS IN THE BRAHMAPUTRA......Page 402
18.6 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE BRAHMAPUTRA CHANNEL......Page 405
18.7 EROSION AND WEATHERING......Page 406
18.9 CHEMICAL WEATHERING AND EROSION......Page 410
18.9.1 Water Chemistry......Page 411
18.9.2 Silicate Weathering......Page 412
18.11 CONTROL OF PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL EROSION IN THE BRAHMAPUTRA BASIN......Page 413
REFERENCES......Page 415
19.1.1 The River......Page 419
19.1.2 Basinal Setting and Controls on Sedimentation......Page 421
19.1.3 Hydrology, Sediment Yield and Channel Size......Page 422
19.2 CHANNEL SCALE MORPHOLOGY AND HISTORICAL CHANGES IN THE COURSE OF THE BRAHMAPUTRA-JAMUNA RIVER......Page 423
19.3.1 Small-Scale Bedforms (ripples, dunes and upper-stage plane beds)......Page 429
19.3.2 Large-Scale Bedforms (bars and bar complexes)......Page 431
19.4 BIFURCATIONS, OFFTAKES AND CONFLUENCES......Page 437
19.5 FLOODPLAIN SEDIMENTATION......Page 438
19.6 SEDIMENTOLOGY OF THE JAMUNA RIVER......Page 442
19.7 APPLIED GEOMORPHOLOGY AND ENGINEERING IN THE JAMUNA RIVER......Page 447
19.8 SUMMARY......Page 451
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS......Page 453
REFERENCES......Page 454
20.1 INTRODUCTION......Page 459
20.2.2 Relief......Page 461
20.2.3 Hydrology......Page 463
20.2.4 Land Use......Page 464
20.3 THE RIVER......Page 467
20.4 THE MEKONG OVER TIME: THE GEOMORPHIC HISTORY......Page 473
20.5 EROSION AND SEDIMENT TRANSFER......Page 474
20.6 THE MEKONG AND ITS BASIN: RESOURCE AND MANAGEMENT......Page 475
REFERENCES......Page 477
21.1 BASIN GEOLOGY AND LANDFORMS......Page 481
21.3.1 Discharge and Flood Patterns......Page 484
21.3.2 Sediment Flux in the Yangtze: a Decreasing Trend over the Last 40 Years......Page 486
21.3.4 Middle Yangtze: Sediment Sources and Sinks......Page 487
21.3.6 The Yangtze Estuary: a Major Sediment Sink......Page 490
21.4 LARGE-SCALE RIVER MANAGEMENT – THREE GORGES DAM AND THE PLANNED WATER TRANSFER......Page 491
REFERENCES......Page 492
22.2 PHYSIOGRAPHY......Page 495
22.2.3 The Ethiopian Tableland......Page 496
22.2.4 The Cataract Reach......Page 498
22.3.1 White Nile: Uganda, Kenya, Sudan......Page 499
22.3.2 Egypt......Page 500
22.4.1 Introduction......Page 501
22.4.2 The Region......Page 503
22.5.1 Introduction......Page 505
22.5.2 The White Nile......Page 506
22.5.4 The Nile below Khartoum......Page 507
22.6 A UNIQUE RECORD......Page 508
22.7 THE NILE AND HYDRAULIC CIVILIZATIONS......Page 509
REFERENCES......Page 513
23.1 INTRODUCTION......Page 515
23.2 AN APPROACH FOR INTERPRETING MULTIPLE IMPACTS ON LARGE RIVERS......Page 517
23.3.2 Geological Setting of the Willamette in Relation to Channel Stability......Page 519
23.3.3 Study Length Delineation......Page 521
23.3.4 Timeline and Consequences of Euro-American Interaction with Willamette River......Page 522
23.3.5 Flood History of the Willamette River......Page 524
23.4.1 Historical Channel Maps......Page 525
23.4.2 Measuring Rates and Styles of Channel Change......Page 526
23.5.1 McKenzie Reach, 1850–1995......Page 527
23.5.4 Summary of Willamette River Channel Change, 1850–1995......Page 530
23.6 DISCUSSION, NARRATIVE OF HISTORICAL CHANNEL CHANGE......Page 531
23.6.1 Interpreting Historical Channel Change, 1850–1995......Page 532
23.6.2 Extending Lessons learned on the Willamette to Other Large Rivers......Page 535
23.7 CONCLUSION......Page 537
REFERENCES......Page 538
24.2.1 Missouri River......Page 541
24.2.2 River Nile......Page 542
24.2.3 Mississippi River......Page 545
24.3.1 Platte River......Page 548
24.3.3 Middle Mississippi River......Page 554
REFERENCES......Page 556
25.1 INTRODUCTION......Page 559
25.2 BASIN CHARACTERISTICS......Page 560
25.3 VALLEY CONFIGURATION......Page 561
25.4 GEOMORPHOLOGY......Page 563
25.7 MAPPING SEDIMENT CONCENTRATION......Page 566
25.9 THERMAL PROPERTIES......Page 570
25.10.1 Mesopotamian Marshlands......Page 572
REFERENCES......Page 574
26.1 INTRODUCTION......Page 577
26.2.1 Lower Mississippi River Channel Geometry......Page 578
26.3.2 Low Water Reference Plane......Page 580
26.3.4 Divided Channels......Page 581
26.3.5 Pre-Processing Procedure for Hydrographic Survey Files......Page 582
26.3.7 Cross-Section Screening......Page 583
26.4.1 Channel Geometry Analysis......Page 584
26.4.3 Spatial Analysis......Page 585
26.6.1 Channel Geometry Analysis......Page 587
26.6.3 Temporal Analysis......Page 592
REFERENCES......Page 593
27.1 INTRODUCTION......Page 595
27.2.1 Technical Challenges......Page 598
27.2.2 Political Challenges......Page 600
27.2.3 Resources......Page 603
27.2.4 Commitment and Political Influence......Page 604
27.3.1 Capacity......Page 605
27.3.4 Subsistence Use......Page 606
REFERENCES......Page 607
28.1 INTRODUCTION......Page 611
28.2 THE MURRAY-DARLING BASIN......Page 612
28.3.1 The Theory......Page 615
28.3.2 Application......Page 617
28.4 ASSESSING THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF RIVERS AT THE CATCHMENT SCALE......Page 620
28.5 THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF RIVERS IN THE MURRAY-DARLING BASIN......Page 622
28.5.1 Functional Process Zones......Page 624
28.6 THE GEOGRAPHY OF DISTURBANCE......Page 627
28.7 CONCLUSION......Page 628
REFERENCES......Page 629
29.1 INTRODUCTION......Page 633
29.2 PHYSICAL SETTING......Page 634
29.4 SPATIAL VARIATIONS OF WATER AND SEDIMENT......Page 635
29.5.1 Annual Variations......Page 637
29.5.2 Monthly Variations......Page 639
29.6.1 Climatic Impacts......Page 640
29.6.2 Anthropogenic Impacts......Page 643
29.7.3 Coastal Responses......Page 645
29.9 CONCLUSION......Page 646
REFERENCES......Page 648
30.2 A BRIEF HISTORY OF IDEAS......Page 651
30.3 FLUVIAL RESPONSE TO CLIMATE CHANGE: SOME GENERAL CONCEPTS......Page 655
30.3.1 Continental Interiors: Uplift, Subsidence, and Climate Change......Page 658
30.3.2 Continental Margins: Importance of Relative Sea-Level Change......Page 661
30.4.1 The Colorado River in Grand Canyon, Western USA......Page 662
30.4.2 The Ganga-Brahmaputra System, India and Bangladesh......Page 667
30.4.3 The Lower Mississippi River, South-central USA......Page 670
30.5 EPILOGUE: LARGE RIVERS AND CLIMATE CHANGE, PAST TO FUTURE......Page 673
REFERENCES......Page 680
Index......Page 685
Colour Plate......Page 715