Geomorphology

Chapter 7
Fluvial

Dr. Atef Mashagbah

Department of Geographic Information System
and Remote Sensing
Al-albayt University
1
 Fluvial
Processes
and
Landforms

‫العمليات النهرية‬

2
 Fluvial Processes: Driving and Resisting Forces

Driving forces:
gravity pushing
water downslope

Resisting forces:
friction within the
fluid (water it self),
and friction between
water and the
channel boundary

3
 General Flow Equation
The general flow equation we are all familiar
with says that the flow rate, Q, is equal to the
avg. velocity of the flow at a cross-section
multiplied by the area of the cross-section.

We are talking about the avg. flow rate of the

cross-section here. In reality the flow velocity
along a boundary such as the channel wall will
be zero.
 General Flow Equation

Q = va
Area of the
cross-
Avg. velocity section
Flow rate of flow at a
cross-section (ft2) or (m2)
(cfs) or
(m3/s) (ft/s) or (m/s)

Cubic feet per second (cfs)

Discharge equals the product of the channel width,
depth, and flow velocity ‫التصريف او التدفق‬

Q=WDV

W = width
D = depth
V = velocity

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 Flow Hydraulics: Reynolds Number

• Fluid flow Two types:

• 1- laminar flow
• All molecules in the fluid move parallel to the direction of
transport with little mixing.
• 2- turbulent flow
• Molecules in the fluid move in all directions, but with a net
movement in transport direction and significant mixing of
the fluid.
8
 Flow Hydraulics: Reynolds Number

Reynolds number is used to check whether the flow is

laminar or turbulent. It is denoted by Re. This
number got by comparing driving force with
Viscous force. ratio of driving to resisting forces

Where
V is the velocity of the fluid,
ρ is the density of fluid,
μ is the viscosity of fluid,
L is the length or diameter of the fluid
(depth of water or diameter of pipe ).
 Flow Hydraulics: Reynolds Number

• The Kind of flow depends on value of Re

• If Re < 500 the flow is Laminar

• If Re > 2000 the flow is turbulent
• If 500 < Re < 2000 it is called transition
flow.
 Flow Hydraulics: Reynolds Number

• Question 1: Find the reynolds number if a fluid of

viscosity 0.4 Ns/m2 and relative density of 900 Kg/m3
through a 20 mm pipe with a Velocity of 2.5 m/s?
Solution:
Viscosity of fluid μ = 0.4 Ns/m2,
Density of fluid ρ = 900 Kg/m3,
Diameter of the fluid L = 20 × 10-3 m
• Velocity of the fluid 2.5 m/s?
 Flow Hydraulics: Reynolds Number

• Viscosity of fluid μ = 0.4 Ns/m2,

Density of fluid ρ = 900 Kg/m3,
Diameter of the fluid L = 20 × 10-3 m
• Velocity of the fluid 2.5 m/s?

= (900×2.5×20×10−3) / 0.4
= 112.5

Here we observe that the value of Reynolds number is less

than 500, so the flow of liquid is laminar.
 Flow Hydraulics: Froude Number

• The Froude number is a dimensionless

number that relates the flow velocity to the
rate at which a wave can be transmitted
through the water. In simplified form:
• Fr = V (velocity of flow) /
sqrt(g*[gravitational acceleration] x D
[depth])
• Flow at Fr < 1 is tranquil or subcritical with
a smooth water surface
• Flow at Fr > 1 is rapid or supercritical with
an uneven surface of wave crests and troughs
 Flow Hydraulics: Froude Number

• The Froude number is number that relates the flow

velocity to the rate at which a wave can be
transmitted through the water. In simplified form:
• Fr = V /sqrt(g *D(
• V :velocity of flow
• g :gravitational acceleration
• D [depth])
• Flow at Fr < 1 is tranquil or subcritical with a
smooth water surface ‫هادئ‬
• Flow at Fr > 1 is rapid or supercritical with an
uneven surface of wave crests and troughs ‫سريع‬
 Flow Hydraulics: Froude Number

• The transition from rapid to tranquil flow

creates a hydraulic jump, which produces a
standing wave that breaks continuously in the
upflow direction.
Resistance to Flow

97% of a river's energy is dissipated (‫ )تتشتت‬by friction

-- 3% left for sediment transport.

Internal Flow Resistance

Viscosity: resistance of a fluid to change in shape:
water - low viscosity

molasses - high viscosity ‫ لزوجة عالية‬- ‫دبس‬

Laminar Flow: flow as thin coherent layers - rare in channels

Turbulent Flow: velocity fluctuates in all directions causing additional

energy loss - most streamflow is turbulent.
 Velocity Distribution in a Channel

velocity is decrease
as we go to the
bottom of the
channel and as we
go to the edge
(margin) of the
channel

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18
Velocity Distribution in a Channel
Faster at middle
& surface

Fastest at surface

19
 Variability in River Systems

• Dimensions of Hydrology
• To understand the continuous and complex
interactions between water and its environment
during the hydrologic cycle, watershed
hydrology can be described and studied in four
dimensions
1. longitudinal (headwater to mouth),
2. lateral (channel to floodplain),
3. vertical (channel bed with groundwater),
4. chronological (over time)
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 Variability in River Systems

Four dimensions:
– Longitudinal
– Lateral
– Vertical
– Time
(chronological)

The four dimensions of a stream

system

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 bank

a thalweg or talweg is the line of lowest elevation within a valley

Scarp : a line of cliffs produced by faulting or erosion or
a low steep slope along a beach caused by wave erosion 22
 Bankfull Discharge

Typically bank full discharge equal to a

approximately 2-year repeatedly interval
flow.

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24
25
Discharge increases downstream but how do width,
depth, and velocity adjust to the increasing discharge?

Q=WDV

W = width
D = depth
V = velocity

26
Which flows faster (in general), small
headwater rivers or large valley rivers?

27
River velocity tends to increase downstream!
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 Hydraulic Geometry

The way in which water velocity, depth and width increase

with a rise in water discharge

– Expressed as power functions of discharge

w  aQ
b

d  cQ
f

v  kQ
m

– Since w•d•v = Q, the sum of the exponents b, f and m

and the product of the intercept values a, c and k are
both equal to 1.
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Hydraulic Geometry

• Headwater streams
move slowest

• Mouth of stream
moves fastest

• Deeper streams move

faster than shallow
streams -- less
resistance from the
stream bed
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Relation between velocity, depth and width with a rise in water discharge

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 Erosion and
Transportation

32
Erosion and Transportation

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 Erosion and Transport

Suspended Load Bedload

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 Carrying the Load

• The material transported by a river is called its load.

• There are three basic classes of load

– Bed load: sediment rolling, and creeping along the river bed

– Suspended load: sediment that is fine enough to remain in

suspension in stream (size depends on velocity and
– Dissolved load: the invisible load of dissolved ions (e.g. Ca,
Mg, K, HCO3)

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Sediment Load

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 Bed Load
• The bed load generally forms between 5 and 20
percent of the total load of a stream.
• Particles move discontinuously by rolling or sliding at a
slower velocity than the stream water.
• The bed load may move short distances by jumping
 Suspended Load

• sediment that is carried in the body of the

flow
• Suspended load moves at the same velocity
as the flow.
• They settle and are deposited where velocity
decreases, such as in a lake or in the oceans.
 Suspended Load

Tributaries can have different sediment loads

39
 Dissolved Load

• All stream water contains dissolved ions (cations and

anions)

• The bulk of the dissolved content of most rivers

consists of seven ionic species:
– Bicarbonate (HCO3-)
– Calcium (Ca++)
– Sulfate (SO4--)
– Chloride (Cl-)
– Sodium (Na+)
– Magnesium (Mg++)
– Potassium (K+)
– Dissolved silica as Si(OH)4
 Sediment Size

• Boulders > 256 mm

• Cobbles 80 mm - 256 mm

• Gravel 2 mm - 80 mm

• Sand 0.05 mm - 2 mm

• Silt 0.002 mm - 0.05 mm

• Clay <0.002 mm

41
 Dominant Discharge

The dominant discharge is the flood that does the most

geomorphological work

Large floods - have most potential to erode and transport

Medium sized floods occur more frequently do more

geomorphological work in the long-term

Small floods - cannot mobilize coarse sediment

most sediment transport by floods corresponding to the

bankfull discharge.
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 Bedrock vs. Alluvial Channels

Bedrock channels are eroded paths cut through solid

rock foundations known as bedrock

alluvial channels are another type of channel

composed of loose alluvial sediments in the floor of it.

Alluvial channels are free to adjust because of the

loose sediments they carry and deposit, whereas
bedrock channels cut through bedrock are not as free
to adjust due to the solid confines of the rock.

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Bedrock Rivers

• Fixed channel boundaries

• (banks and bed)

• High transport capacity

• Low Storage

• Input ≈ Output
44
Entrenched river meander, San Juan River, Utah

47
Alluvial Rivers

• Erodible channel
boundaries (alluvial
banks and bed)

• Transport Capacity ≤
Sediment Supply

• Storage can be quite

high

• Input ≥ Output
48
Channel Patterns

Three basic map-

pattern forms of
streams:

• Straight
• Meandering
• Braided /
Anasomosing

49
Channel Patterns

50
Straight Channels

Straight channels
are rare.

Straight channels
form where streams
are confined by
topography or follow
geologic structures.

Generally mountain
streams.

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 Channel Pattern:
Straight and Meandering

52
Meandering Channels

53
Meandering Channels

Loops or meanders form

as stream erodes its banks.

Erosion takes place on the

cut bank, which is the
outside loop of the
meander.

Deposition takes place on

the point bar, which is on
the inside loop of the
meander.
54
 Meandering streams often characterized by large
loopy bends across their floodplains.

Meanders occur most commonly in channels that lie in fine-

grained stream sediments and have gentle gradients. 55
 Meandering

Point Bar
Cut bank

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Streams generally erode on outer (cut) banks where
velocity is greatest, and deposit on the inner sides of
bends where velocity is slower.

Meanders tend to grow as the flow erodes the banks,

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One meander length is equal to 10-14 Widths
Meander Length vs Channel Width
Flow Through Meanders and Formation of
Point Bar Deposits

61
Channel Migration

62
Lateral Erosion

63
 Note old meanders

Owens River, CA Sacramento River, CA

Streamway / Channel Migration Zone Concept
Channel Migration Zone

1997
1980

1966
1951
1989

Salt Creek
Vinton County, Ohio
 Sinuosity: Gradient and substrate

• Big meanders • Small meanders

– low gradient ‫ميل‬ – high gradient

67
Braided Channels ‫جديله‬

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Braided Channels

Many convergent and

divergent streams
separated by gravel bars
(or sand bars).

Generally in streams near

mountain fronts

69
Braided Channels

• High sediment load

• Floodplain completely
occupied by channels

• Many small islands

called mid-channel
bars

• Usually coarse sand

and gravel deposits.
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 Braided Channels

If a stream is unable to
move all the available load,
it tends to deposit the
coarsest sediment as a bar
that locally divides the flow-
-making a braid ‫ جديله‬.

Braided channels tends to

form in streams having
 highly variable discharge,
 easily erodible banks,
and/or
 a high sediment load.

Kyrgyzstan
Braided channel, Kyrgyzstan

72
Braided Channels

Glacial streams generally

are braided because:

– The discharge varies

both daily and
seasonally.

– The glacier supplies

the stream with large
quantities of sediment.
Braided Channels

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Meandering vs. Braided Channels

Meandering favored by:

Low slope (< 2%)
Low sediment load
Cohesive banks

Braiding favored by:

High slope
High sediment load
High discharge variability
Erodible (non-cohesive) banks
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Cascade Channels

The steepest of
mountain channels,
characterized by
tumbling ‫ سقوط‬flow
around individual
boulders

76
Cascade Channels

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Step-Pool Channels

Channels displaying full- pools

width-spanning
accumulations of coarse
sediment that forms a
sequence of steps. steps

78
Step-Pool Channels

Channels displaying full-

width-spanning
accumulations of coarse
sediment that forms a
sequence of steps.

79
Step-Pool Channels
Bedrock Channels

Bedrock channels with

little sediment storage
on bed can occur
anywhere in a river
network where transport
capacity >> sediment
supply.

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Bedrock Channels

82
Floodplains

83
The floodplain is the river at high
flow.

84
A floodplain is the flat land immediately surrounding a
stream channel and submerged at times of high flow.

85
 Floodplains can form either by deposition of overbank suspended
sediment or by deposition of bedload as the channel migrates across
its valley.

Overbank (suspended load) deposition Bedload deposition

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 Levees ‫السدود‬
ِ

The boundary between channel and floodplain may be the

site of a natural levee (a broad, low ridge of alluvium built
along the side of a channel by debris-laden floodwater).

89
Floodplain Formation by Suspended Load Deposition

90
 Levee Deposits

Coarser
Flood stage sediment

Finer sediment Finer sediment

The area adjacent to and outside of the channel serves as an

overflow area for excess water and sediment

91
Floodplain Construction by Bedload Deposition

Point
bar
deposits

92
Deposition of Point Bar Deposits

93
 Deposition of Point Bar Deposits

Point bar deposit grows laterally through time

94
Floodplain Development

95
Floodplain Landforms

Figure 16-32
96
Floodplain landforms

97
 Oxbow lake
A crescent-shaped ) ‫ ( شكل هالل‬lake formed in an
abandoned river bend which has become separated from
the main stream by a change in the course of the river.

98
Oxbow channels

99
Old channels abandoned as a river meanders
across its floodplain form oxbows.

Oxbow lake
Oxbow Formation

101
 Splay
A deposit of coarse material resulting from a levee breach
during a flood.

103
Side looking radar (SLAR) image of floodplain of an
Amazon River tributary; flow is toward lower right.
 Natural levee

A bank confining a stream channel or limiting areas

subject to flooding.

105
 Backswamp ‫المستنقع الخلفي‬

A low area of swampy ground beyond a river’s natural

levees.

106
General controls on
channel morphology

Straight channels typically

steep, low-sediment supply

Braided channels typically high

sediment supply

Meandering channels typically

low to medium slope and
moderate sediment supply

Anastamosed channels typically

reflect vegetation influences

107