WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH, VOL. 37, NO.

8, PAGES 2259-2272, AUGUST 2001

Development of channel organization and roughnessfollowing

sediment pulses in single-thread, gravel bed rivers
Mary Ann Madej

Abstract. Large, episodicinputsof coarsesediment(sedimentpulses)in forested,

mountainstreamsmay result in changesin the size and arrangementof bed forms and in
channelroughness. A conceptualmodel of channelorganizationdelineatestrajectoriesof
responseto sedimentpulsesfor many typesof gravelbed channels.Channelsexhibited
self-organizingbehaviorto variousdegreesbasedon channelgradient,presenceof large
in-channelwood or other forcingelements,the sizeof the sedimentpulse,and the
numberof bed-mobilizingflowssincedisturbance.Typical channelchangesfollowinga
sedimentpulsewere initial decreasesin water depth, in variabilityof bed elevations,and
in the regularityof bed form spacing.Trajectoriesof changesubsequently showed
increasedaveragewater depth, more variable and complexbed topography,and increased
uniformityof bed form spacing.Bed form spacingin streamswith abundantforcing
elementsdevelopedat a shorterspatialscale(two to five channelwidths)than in streams
without suchforcingmechanisms (five to 10 channelwidths).Channelroughness increased
as bed formsdeveloped.

1. Introduction uesfollowing
disturbances.
An understanding
of bedformde-
velopmentat severalscalesis important becausebed forms
Watersheddisturbancescan increasethe rate and magni- provide resistanceto flow and consequentlyinfluenceflow
tudeof sedimentsupplyto a channel.Sedimentpulses(defined properties.
in this paper as an ½pisodicinput of sedimentthat is several A studyof changesin channelmorphologyaccompanying
times greater than the averageannual sedimentinput to a highsuppliesof coarsesedimentto forestedmountainstreams
channel) may be causedby natural events,suchas volcanic
mustconsiderthree aspects:the materialcomposingthe chan-
eruptions,fire, and floods, or by human activities,such as nel bed and banks,how that material interactsto form channel
surfacemining,timberharvest,road failures,dam breaks,etc.
structures,and how thosechannelstructuresare organized.
Associatedmechanismsof increasedsedimentsupply(sedi-
Materialformingthe channelboundarycanbe fine or coai'se
ment pulses)in a channelnetwork,suchas massmovements,
sediment,smallor largewood,or bedrockoutcropsand canbe
gullying,surfaceerosion,or releaseof stored sediments,are
stochasticprocesses that cangenerateregionsof highbed load
considered
thebuilding
blocks
of the channel
andits bed
transportand bed material storagein channels[Bendaand
forms.Commonmetricsof channelmaterialareparticlesize
Dunne, 1997a].Many studieshave addressed the magnitude anddistribution;
bedandbankcomposition
andheterogeneity;
andmovementof sedimentpulsesin naturalchannels[Gilbert, andpresenceandsizeof largewood.The interactions
of'chan-
1917;Pickupe! al., 1983;Nicholase! al., 1995;Madej and Ozaki, nel materialwithflowgiveriseto channelstructure.
in this
1996;Bendaand Dunne, 1997b;Lisle e! al., 1997], although paper,I considerchannel
structureasbeinganalogousto the
these studieshave not quantified the developmentand ar- architectureof an individualbuilding,in whichchannelmafe-
rangementof bedformsfollowingthe generationof a sediment rial is arrangedto form higher-orderfeaturesor structures.
pulse. Metricsusedto describe
structure
rangeoverseveralscale
s
Channel bed forms cover a range of scalesfrom boulder andinclude
bedimbricationandsorting
andthesizeandtype
clusters •o sedimenta- of channelfeatures,suchasboulderclusters,pools,bars,steps,
(microform)to unit bars(macroform)
tion zones(mcgaforms)[Churchand Jones,1982].Although and riffles.At a higherorder still,channelorganizationdevel-
the evolutionof bed formsas a type of channelorganization ops.By extension
of the architectural
analogy,
channel
orga-
hasbeenwell studiedover a rangeof hydraulicconditionsin nizationis comparable
to the arrangement
of individual
build-
sand-bedded rivers[JainandKennedy,1974],the development ingsin a community
andrefersto thespatial
arrangement
Or
of regularbedformswithcharacteristic
lengthscalesin gravel pattern of channelunits or other bed features.This spatial
bedriversis notwell known.Montgomery
andBuffington[1997] distribution canbe random,regular,or clustered;the metriCS
broadly
define
bedformpatterns
in various
types
of channelused
inquantifying
channel
organization
inthechannel
arethe
reachesto be either "multi-layered,laterallyoscillatory,verti- spacing,frequency,variability,andregularityof structures,
and
callyoscillatory,
featureless,
random,irregularor variable."A they are measuredby pattern analysesand variousspatialau-
rigorousanalysisof bed form variability acrossa range of tocorrelationtechniques.
channelgradientsis lacking,however,as is the conceptof The presentstudyfocuseson changesin channelstructure,
changesin channelstructure,organization,and roughness val- organization,and roughnessaccompanyinghigh suppliesof
Copyright2001by the AmericanGeophysicalUnion. coarse sediment to forested, mountain streams, based on
Paper number 2001WR000229.
boundaryconditions,channelgradient,the presenceof forcing
0043-1 $97/01/2001WR000229509.00

2259
 2260 MADEJ:DEVELOPMENTOF CHANNEL ORGANIZATION AND ROUGHNESS

High Well-developed
steps
with Regular
pool
spacing
of
Random
bedelevations
regular
spacing, 5- 7 channel
widths,
withhigh
variability
Strong
imbrication, Well-developed
bars,
Increased
pool Increased
bed
relief High
bedvariability

frequency Forced
pools
spaced
at
•k 3to5 channel
widths

Irregular
I
spacing
Unevenly
spacl•
•lf Shallow
steps,
pools,
t
JIrregular
spacil
e bt•[s

Low ,
førced
,
PlølsWeek
IRandom
imbricatiln
bed
e!evationsl
with
low
Iøf
Iøw'amp
litu'
variabi•ty, I
High ChannelGradient Low
Figure1. Conceptual
modelof thedevelopmentof channel
bedstructure
andorganization
following
sediment
pulses
insingle-thread,
coarse-grained
rivers.
Theschematic
shows
expected
trajectories
ofchannel
morphologic
change
in streams
across
a rangeof channel
gradients.

elements, andthenumberandmagnitude of flowscapable of depending onthepresence ofin-channel woodorotherforcing

mobilizing bed material(called"organizing flows").Conse- elements andthe frequency of organizingflows.
quently, asa channel processesa sedimentpulse,thesignalof Thefrequency of organizingflowsvariesin differentpartsof
the pulsemaybe manifested througha changein structure, thechannel networkbecause of differentdominant bedparti-
organization,androughness in thechannel,although notnec- clesizes,channelgradients, andstreampower.Otherfactors
essarilyby movementof a discretesedimentwave. alsoinfluence bedmobility,suchasthe degreeof armoring,
imbrication,bed packing,grainprotrusion, boulderclusters,
2. Conceptual Model andbed relief.
In addition,the magnitude of an organizing
flow
shouldnotbe considered a constant throughtimeat a given
Thepurpose of thispaperisto proposea conceptual model
channel location.As thechannel processes a sediment pulse,
of a developmental sequence of channelchanges following
thechannel bedcommonly becomes coarser; thusthemagni-
sediment pulsesandto evaluate themodelusingfieldstudies
tude of an organizing flow increases throughtime, and the
acrossa rangeof channelgradients.I hypothesize first that
frequencyof suchflowsdecreases.
spatialscales
of channelstructure
andorganization,
aswellas
the time requiredto developchannelorganization,
differin Channelresponseto sedimentpulsesvariesin different
different
partsof thechannelnetwork, basedonchannelgra- partsof the channelnetwork.In steep,low-orderchannels
dientandoccurrence flows.Secondasthechan- recentlysubjected
of organizing to debrisflows,bedvariabilityis initially
nelbecomes
organized
intodistinct rough- low,or absentif scoured
bedforms,channel to bedrock,
but the beddevelops
ness should increase. more complexitythroughtime as additionalwood and sedi-
Figure1 depicts
theconceptual
modelofthedevelopment of mententerthe channel.In thesestreamsthe trajectoryof
bedorganizationfollowing pulse.Thex axisrep- change(Figure1) leadsto increased
a sediment variability
of thechannel
resents
differentchannel rangingfromsteep,head- bed,witha fewpoolsbutwithnoregular
gradients spacing or frequency
high-ordergravelbed rivers. of bed forms.Flowsgreatenoughto mobilizethe woodand
water streamsto low-gradient,
Thearrows in Figure1represent
trajectories leading dominantsedimentsize(organizing
ofchange events)in suchchannels
are rare.
froma poorlyorganized
stateimmediately
following
a sedi-
mentpulseto a morestrongly
organized
channel.Channelbed In mountain streamswithgradients
of -3-10%, stepscom-
organizationisdefinedbyvariability
inbedtopographyandthe posed of wood or boulders are common. Fine sediment fol-
degreeof regularity
of bedformspacing. Thedegree to which lowinga pulsemayinitiallyburytheprevious stepped struc-
a channelis organizedis dependent uponthe numberof or- ture,butit canbetransported through
thesechannels quickly.
ganizing
events sincedisturbance(they axis).An organizingIn thiscase,channelstructureandorganizationwill be rees-
flow(definedasa discharge
greater dischargetablishedthroughexhumationof wood,boulders,and other
thanthecritical
requiredfor bedloadtransport,Q > Qcr) is considered a structuralelements.However,if theunderlyingstep-forming
necessarycondition
forchannelorganization
because bedpar- clastsand wood are disturbed,as will be examined in this
ticlesmustbe mobilizedin orderto be rearranged andfor investigation,
the developmentof stepswithregularspacing,
associated
bedformstobealtered.Forexample, if a rockfallor height,and length characteristics
will be slow,becausethe
earthflowdeliversa largevolumeof bouldersto a cobblebed frequency of organizingflowsis low.Initially,stepswill be
stream,the coarseparticleswill be deposited
in the channel, weaklyimbricated, poolswill notbe welldeveloped, andthe
butflowsmaynotbecompetent to reorganizetheboulders.
In stepswill not displaya regularspatialscaleor patternfor a
contrast,a largevolumeof more easilymobilizedsediment givenchannelgradient.Throughtime,bedmaterialis scoured
enteringa channelwill be reorganizedto variousdegrees, fromthepools,poolsbecomedeeper,andstep-forming clasts
 MADEJ: DEVELOPMENT OF CHANNEL ORGANIZATION AND ROUGHNESS 2261

become reorganized into more regularly spaced, stable, ferent types of channel organizationhave been described.
stronglyimbricatedstepswith distinctiveheight and length Even in a gravelbed streamwithoutwell-definedbars,a coarse
characteristics.
Examplesof well-developedstepstructureare channelbed candevelopstonecells[Churchet al., 1998],stone
describedby Whittakerand Jaeggi[1982],Grant et al. [1990], lines[Laronneand Carson,1976],boulderclusters[Brayshaw,
Abrahamset al. [1995],Wohlet al. [1997],and Chin [1999]. 1984],or transverse ribs[Koster,1978].On a microscale, Robert
In lower-gradient,higher-orderstreams,pool-riffle channel [1991]usedspatialautocorrelation to documentbedroughness
morphologyis common.Bar and pool topographygenerated due to skin friction in coarse-grained channels.Furbishet al.
by local flow convergence and divergencemay be either freely [1998] suggested that dominantwavelengthsof alternateand
formedby cross-stream flow and sedimenttransportor forced midchannelbars in steep,rough channelscan be discerned.
by channelbendsand obstructions[Lisle, 1986;Montgomery Kaufmann[1987]showedweakregularityin thalwegdepthsin
and Buffington,1997].A sedimentpulsein suchchannelscan streamssubjectedto debristorrents.
result in a more planar bed as poolsfill, roughnesselements In channelsdominatedby steps and pools, morphologic
are buried,and the channelaggrades. Subsequently,the chan- characteristics and spacingof stepshave been quantifiedby
nel evolvesfrom a random,low-variabilitychannelbed to one severalresearchers[Grant et al., 1990;Abrahamset al., 1995;
with forcedbed formscausedby scourand depositionaround Wohlet al., 1997;Chin, 1999].Grantet al. [1990]describedthe
obstructionsand finally to a well-organized,highlyheteroge- pattern and originof step-pooltopographyand found channel
nouschannelbedwith regularlyspacedbed forms.Depending unitswere associated with distinctbed slopesand sequences.
on the abundanceof forcing elements,a channel may not Billi et al. [1998]studiedvariouslevelsof bed organizationin
evolveto the end-memberof a channelformed only through step-pool,pool-riffle, and mixed reachesin steep mountain
alternatingconvergentand divergentflow patterns (a self- streamsfollowing a large flood and attempted to define the
formed channel).In a single-threadpool-rifflechannel,if the
recurrenceintervalof significantorganizationalevents.
magnitudeof the sedimentpulse is great enough,a braided
Changesin channelmorphologyfollowinglarge sediment
planformmay emergetemporarily(dashedline in Figure 1),
inputshavebeendemonstrated in severalregions.Lisle [1982]
whichhasno characteristic lengthscale[SapozhnikovandFou-
showeda decreasein pool depthsfollowinga large flood and
foula-Georgiou,1999].As the channelprocesses the sediment
associated channelaggradation. Madej and Ozaki [1996]quan-
pulse, it may eventuallyrevert to a single-thread,pool-riffle
tified the decreases in both pool depth and frequencyassoci-
system.The developmentof organizationat any stagecan be
ated with a sedimentpulse. A debris flow in a third-order
interruptedby the input of additionalsedimentor wood.
mountain stream resulted in a reach with short, disordered
channelunits and decreasedchannelcomplexity[Lambertiet
3. Previous Studies of Channel Organization al., 1991].Beschta[1984]documentedchangesin channelmor-
Many recent studieshave addressedthe phenomenonof phologydue to increasedsedimentloadsin bothNew Zealand
spatialself-organizationin physicalsystems [Hallet,1990].Cer- and Oregon.Followinga dam break flood,Pitlick [1993]doc-
tain typesof streamchannels,suchas those displayingpool- umentedaggradationthat completelyfilled the channeldown-
riffle or meandermorphology,have long been recognizedto streamuntil subsequentflowserodedmost of the sediment.
have a regular pattern. The spatialscaleof this organization Althoughthesestudieshave documentedchangesin sediment
has usually been studied at a channel unit or reach scale. flux and pool characteristics, they have not specificallyad-
Nelson[1990]consideredalternatebar formationto be a nat- dressedhow bed formsreorganizein responseto a sediment
ural self-patterningphenomenonand showedthat bar wave- pulse.
lengthsincreasedfollowingperturbationsof a flat channelbed
until eventuallythe bed forms stabilized.Both horizontaland 4. Data Sources
verticalself-organizationhavebeenidentifiedin braidedrivers,
whichevolvetowarda criticalstate[Sapozhnikov andFoufoula- The conceptualmodel presentedin Figure I was evaluated
Georgiou,1999].The presentstudywill consideronlyvertical using surveysof channelsadjustingto sedimentpulses.Figure
anddownstream organizationin riverprofiles(developmentof 2 shows the distributionof studysitesaccordingto drainage
bed forms) and not horizontalorganization(meanderdevel- area and streamgradient.Studyreacheswere selectedto rep-
opment) becausemany steepmountainstreamshave limited resenta rangeof channelconditions,aswell asbywhat surveys
channelmigrationzonesand meanderdevelopment.In addi- were availablefor analysis.Table 1 listscharacteristics of the
tion, the degree of vertical organizationcan be compared study reaches.Several study reacheswere locatedin Redwood
acrossmany channeltypes. Creek and its tributary Bridge Creek in the northern Coast
Studiesof bed form spacinghavecovereda rangeof condi- Rangesof California, United Statesof America, which have
tions.Regularspacingof poolsand riffles,commonlyat five to had episodesof massivelandslidingassociatedwith large
sevenchannelwidths,hasbeendocumentedby manyresearch- floods.Lost Man Creek, a tributaryof RedwoodCreek and the
ers [Richards,1976;Kellerand Melhorn,1978;Milne, 1982]. site of a smalldam removalproject,was alsoincluded.Madej
Pools are not necessarilyregularlyspacedin streamswith a [2000]providesmore detaileddescriptions of thesebasins.To
high number of forced pools,suchas thosewith high wood broadenthe scopeof studybeyondthe RedwoodCreek basin,
loading[Montgomery etal., 1995].In Alaskanstreamswith high analysesbasedon resultsfrom other studies[Lisleet al., 1997;
wood loading,autocorrelationanalysesshowedno significant Martinsonet al., 1986; Maita, 1991; Kaufmann, 1987; Suther-
regularityin streamdepth[Robison andBeschta,1989].Madej land, 1999] were used.These examplesincludedan artificial
[1999]usedspatialautocorrelation to quantifythe channelundergoinga sedimentpulse(a flume experiment),a
coefficients
gradualdevelopmentof regularityin a pool-riffle channelfol- streamimpactedby a volcaniceruption (Smith Creek), two
lowingthe input of high sedimentloads. riversaffectedby large landslides(Higashigochiand Navarro
In riverstoo steepto displaya pool-rifflemorphology,dif- Rivers), and three streamsin which a debristorrent had af-
2262 MADEJ: DEVELOPMENT OF CHANNEL ORGANIZATION AND ROUGHNESS

Ex,:avated Road-Stream

o o Cr•)ssinogs
o o
• •o.o/k•oo oo= o
ocO
•8•m• • oOo••
• o•oo oo
o • o..•o o
••o o
Hi•a•higochi,
•
Japan
o o
o o

o • •rnithCreek,
Ore Ion Ooa•t Ral•ge eM'['•t. Helen•
c: 0.01
iri•oe
Oreek
••,
ß Navarro

LostMan•reek River
•
Redwood
Cr=ek••
o.ool
O.Ol o.1 1 lO lOO lOOO

Drainage Area (kin2)

Figure 2. Distributionof studysitesby drainagearea and channelgradient.

fected the channel bed. All study reaches were relatively annualsedimenttransportthroughthat channelreach (sedi-
straightand had sinuositiesof <1.2. ment pulse/annualsedimentload). Becausemoststreamsdid
In additionto the high-orderstreamsdescribedabove,chan- not have any associatedsedimenttransport data, these are
nel developmentwas documentedin 124 steep, low-order simply estimatesbasedon regional trends and adjustedfor
streamreachesthat were modifiedduring a watershedresto- drainagearea. Although rough, these estimatesare useful as
ration program.The focusof the restorationprogramwasthe indicatorsof the relative influenceof a sedimentpulsein a
removalof abandonedlogginghaul roadsin order to restore given channelnetwork.
natural drainagepatternsand to reducesedimentproduction Longitudinalprofile surveysformed the basisfor much of
from the roads[Madej,2001]. During road removal,road fill the followingdataanalysis. In Redwood,Bridge,andLostMan
was excavatedfrom streamcrossings, and heavyequipment Creeks, elevations of channel bed and water surfacewere mea-
formed new channelsthrough the former road prism. Sedi- suredusinga self-levelingleveland stadiarod. The spacingof
ment supplywas high in thesenewly excavatedchannels,be- surveyshotsaveragedabout 1/4 channelwidth, but it wasnot
causeof the availabilityof decompacted
road fill. Thesenewly constantbecauseall major breaks in slope were surveyed.
formed channelsrangedfrom 4 to 52% in slopeand drained Similar types of surveydata were obtained for the Navarro
between 0.02 and 3.2 km 2. River. Details of the methodare givenby Madej [1999].The
Table 1 also lists the relative magnitudeof the sediment abundanceof forcingelements(largewoodydebris,boulders,
pulseenteringstudyreaches.The volumeof sedimententering and bedrockoutcrops)wasnotedqualitativelyduringthe sur-
the channelwas scaledas a ratio of sedimentinput to mean veys.In the HigashigochiRiver and Smith Creek, longitudinal

Table 1. ChannelCharacteristics
of StudyReaches
DrainageArea, Bank-Full Channel D so, Size of SedimentPulse/
StudyReach km2 Width,m Gradient, % mm Annual Sediment Load

Little Lost Man Creek 9.0 8 2.50 50 no pulse(control)

Lost Man Creek 32 17 0.70 30 3
Upper BridgeCreek 25 23 1.24 30 3
BridgeCreek Canyon 27 12 1.66 60 3
Lower Bridge Creek 30 15 1.12 32 3
Redwood Creek at Weir Creek 520 60 0.24 22 25
Redwood Creek at Bond 590 70 0.18 18 25
Creek
Redwood Creek at Elam 600 110 0.15 15 25
Creek
Excavated road-stream 0.1-3.2 1-2 4-52 •--200 10
crossings
HigashigochiRiver 28 80 8.37 9 4
Smith Creek 30 70 2.21 9 104
Navarro River 530 60 0.28 22-32 0.3
Gwynn Creek 2.1 3.3 3.25 9 9
Cape Creek 2.9 4.2 3.65 9 9
Little Cummins Creek 2.6 3.4 3.61 9 9
Flume NA a 1 1.00 0.57 10b

aNA is not available.

bRateof inputof sediment
pulsewasabout10timesthebackground
bedloadtransport
rate.
 MADEJ: DEVELOPMENT OF CHANNEL ORGANIZATION AND ROUGHNESS 2263

profile data were reconstructedfrom publishedsurveyplots, steps,if present,were inventoried.Stepswere defined as a

and the spacingof the surveyshotsis not known. distinctbreak in slopegreater than 0.3 m high with a flatter
Data for analysiswere also obtainedfrom a flume experi- tread upstream(to distinguishthem from cascades, whichare
ment [Lisleet al., 1997].The flume was 1 m wide and 160 m morecontinuous runsof turbulentwater).A total of 124cross-
long, with a slope of 0.01 and a bed composedof a poorly ings,with a combinedchannellengthof 2800 m, were usedto
sortedmixtureof sandandfinegravel.First,the flumewasrun analyzechanneldevelopment.
until a seriesof migratingalternatebars formed. Next, sedi- To analyzechangesin channelroughnessvaluesthrough
ment was introduced over a section of flume 60-80 m down- time, U.S. GeologicalSurveywater dischargerecordsfrom five
stream of the flume entrance.The flume was run at steady gaugingstationsin the RedwoodCreek basinwere used.Four
waterdischargeuntil the sedimentaccumulationdispersedand stations were located on reaches of Redwood Creek that had
seemedto disappear.Bed elevationswere measuredat 0.5-m aggradedin the past,and recordsfrom a gaugingstationin an
intervalsdownthreelongitudinalprofiles,onelocatedoverthe undisturbed,unloggedtributary,Little Lost Man Creek, were
channel's centerline and the other two located half the distance usedasa control.Gaugingstationswerepurposelyconstructed
to eitherbank.From thesedata I constructed thalwegprofiles in straightreachesto avoid complicatedhydraulicsdue to
for four runs:one before the sedimentinput, two during the bends,so roughness due to channelcurvatureis negligible.In
dispersalof the sedimentwedge,and one at the conclusionof addition, an analysisof sequentialaerial photographsfrom
the flume run. The thalwegprofilescoveredthe distance80- these sites confirmed that other factors which could affect
140 m downstreamof the flume entrance(downstreamof the channelroughness,suchas changesin channelplanform,in-
sedimentintroduction).Pointsin the longitudinalprofilewere channelwood,or streambank vegetation,were not important
linearlyinterpolatedto form a datasetwith thalwegelevations at the gaugingstations.
spaced0.3 m apart. Channel roughnesswas calculatedusing the Manning's
From the varioussetsof longitudinalsurveydata, distribu- equation:
tionsof residualwater depths(the depthof water belowthe
elevationof the downstreamriffle crest [Lisle, 1987]) were = ,
calculated.Standardstatistics(mean, median, and standard
deviation)were calculatedfor the populationsof residualwa- wheren is the roughnesscoefficientManning'sn, d is mean
ter depths to document changesin channel structure.The flow depthin meters,as an approximationof hydraulicradi•us,
standarddeviationof water depthswasusedas an indicatorof S is the water surfaceslope(m/m), and v is mean velocity
the variabilityof bed topographyandwasnormalizedby bank- (m/s). Valuesfor thesevariableswere obtainedfrom gauging
full width in comparisonsacrosschanneltypes.In channels stationrecords(U.S. GeologicalSurvey(USGS) Form 9-207).
that did not displaywell-definedpoolsand riffles(Higashigo- Mean depth, not specificallylisted on the USGS form, was
chiRiver andSmithCreek),residualwaterdepthscouldnot be calculatedas "area/width."Water surfaceslopewas assumed
defined.In thesecasesa linear regression wasfit throughthe to be equivalentto the gradientof the channelbed surveyedat
bed profile, and the absolutevalues of residualsfrom the low flow. Channelbed profiles(surveyedat the gaugingsta-
regressionline were usedas an indicationof bed variability. tions at low flow) showedno significantchangein channel
The greaterthe standarddeviationof the residualvalues,the gradeduringthe studyperiod.Water surfaceslopemaychange
greateris the variabilityof bed topography. with discharge,so this value is only an approximationof the
Channelorganizationwasanalyzedthroughspatialautocor- true energygradientat the gaugingstation.Becauseslopewas
relation techniquesthat are describedmore fully by Madej usedas a constantfor all discharges at a givensite, absolute
[1999].A spatialautocorrelationcoefficient,Moran'sI [Leg- valuesof roughnessmay be slightlyoff, but patternsin chang-
endreandFortin, 1989,AppendixA], documentedthe presence ing n valuesshouldstill be valid.
of regularityin the bed profiles,basedon surveysof bed ele- Before examiningtime trendsin roughness,roughnessval-
vations.Two scalesof spatial autocorrelationwere studied. uesmustbe adjustedfor the influenceof discharge.Extreme
Short lag distance correlation representsthe tendency of summerlow flows,whenwater depthand bed particlesizeare
pointscloseto one anotherin the channelbed to havesimilar equivalent,were not used in the analysis.To test whether
elevations(i.e., neighboring pointson a riffle crest).This scale trendsin time were significant,I usedthe methoddescribedby
of correlationis called"patchsize"in landscapeecology,but HelselandHirsch[1992,p. 335].A multipleregression analysis
hereI referto it as"bedreliefpatchsize"to distinguish it from wasconstructedusingboth time and dischargeas variablesin
geomorphic"patches"definedby areasof uniformsurfacebed the model:
material.At longerlag distances, significantpositiveor nega-
tive spatialautocorrelationrepresentspairsof pointsthat are In(roughness) = B0 + B•(time) + B2[(ln(discharge)]+ e.
more similaror more dissimilarfrom eachother, respectively,
(2)
thanexpected.A positiveMoran'sI represents regularspacing
of channelunits,suchas betweenpool and pool or riffle and The t statisticfor B • testsfor significantchangeswith time.
riffle. I refer to this scaleof autocorrelationas "topographic The size distributionof particleson the streambedat the
regularity."In thispaper,the correlationdistanceis expressed gaugingstationswasdeterminedthroughpebblecounts[Wol-
in termsof channelwidth to compareregularityacrosschan- man, 1954].In thisstudy,pebblecountsconsisted of a random
nelsof differentsizes.The strengthof topographicregularityis selectionof at least 100 particlesfrom a riffle crestnear each
indicatedby the magnitudeof the value of Moran'sI. gaugingstation.The intermediateaxis of each pebble was
A different approachwas used in evaluatingchannelbed measuredandtalliedusingWentworthsizeclasses. Cumulative
patternsin newly excavatedchannelsat restoredroad cross- sizedistributioncurveswere constructed, from whichD so(the
ings.Excavatedstreamcrossings were surveyedwith a clinom- medianparticlesize)andD84 (the particlesizethat is coarser
eter to measurestreamgradient,and the numberand type of than 84% of the bed material)were calculated.
2264 MADEJ: DEVELOPMENT OF CHANNEL ORGANIZATION AND ROUGHNESS

Table 2. Resultsof ThalwegProfile Analyses

Bed
Median Relief
Residual Standard Patch, Topographic
Case Study Water Deviation, m/ Regularity, Moran's
Study Reach Time of Survey Depth, m m/CWa CW m/CW Ib

Higashigochi before flood NA c 0.0120 NA NA NA

after flood, August 1982a NA 0.0065 NA NA NA
after flood, August 1982b NA 0.0110 NA NA NA
after flood, May 1983 NA 0.0140 NA NA NA
Smith Creek 1983 NA 0.0033 NA NA NA
1984 NA 0.0040 NA NA NA
1995 NA 0.0064 0.2 6.3 0.11

3 Upper Bridge Creek 1986 0.08 0.0100 0.4 none NA

1995 0.08 0.0104 0.4 3 0.15
1997 0.01 0.0052 0.2 none NA
1999 0.08 0.0104 0.2 none NA
BridgeCreek Canyon 1995 0.08 0.0125 0.5 none NA
1999 0.05 0.0175 0.8 none NA
Lower BridgeCreek 1986 0.01 0.0100 0.5 none NA
1995 0.03 0.0093 0.3 none NA
1997 0.00 0.0060 0.3 none NA
1999 0.01 0.0120 0.3 4.1 0.10
GwynnCreek recent torrent 0.01d 0.0150 2 10 ?
Cape Creek 12-yearold torrent 0.20d 0.0240 1 5 ?
Little Cummins Creek 120-yearold torrent 0.17d 0.0240 1 5 ?
4 Lost Man Creek 1 year postdam 0.08 0.0080 0.7 none NA
6 yearspostdam 0.19 0.0140 0.5 10.2 0.20
control reach 0.23 0.0180 0.6 4.5 0.24

5 Navarro River 1995 0.34 0.006 1.5 8.6 0.36

1996 0.75 0.013 1.2 8.9 0.50
1997 0.71 0.013 1.2 9.3 0.58
Redwood Creek at Weir Creek 1977 0 0.002 NA NA NA
1983 0.36 0.006 1.1 4.3 0.09
1986 0.46 0.009 0.8 3.6 0.09
1995 0.51 0.010 0.6 3.3 0.09
1997 0.32 0.007 0.5 2.9 0.08
Redwood Creek at Bond Creek 1977 0 0.002 NA NA NA
1983 0.16 0.004 0.6 5.3 0.24
1995 0.24 0.006 0.5 8.0 0.18
1997 0.22 0.004 0.3 8.2 0.07
Redwood Creek at Elam Creek 1977 0 0.002 NA NA NA
1983 0.06 0.002 0.6 3.4 0.17
1986 0.14 0.003 0.5 2.6 0.07
1995 0.31 0.004 0.4 2.5 0.18
1997 0.17 0.003 0.3 2.4 0.11

6 flume before sedimentpulse 0.010 0.006 0.9 8.0 0.29

duringsedimentpulsea 0.009 0.005 0.9 none NA
duringsedimentpulseb 0.009 0.004 0.9 none NA
after dispersionof sedimentpulse 0.011 0.006 1.2 8.0 0.19

a CW is bank-full channel width. NA is not available.

bMoran's
I isdefined
in Appendix
A. Valueindicates
meanresidual
waterdepth.

There are severallimitationsto this studyof channelorga- wasunknownfor somestreams,and onlysedimentpulsesthat

nization.First, manyof the surveysusedin this analysiswere
conductedfor reasonsother than documentingresponses to
sedimentpulses,and the surveyswere not necessarily located
in the best streamreachesto analyzesuchresponses. The
spatialresolutionof the surveys used(spacingof surveyshots
about 1/4 channelwidth apart) was usefulin detectinginter-
mediate-sized bed forms,but the surveyscannotdetectsmall-
scalestructures andorganization.Likewise,becausethe survey
transectswere generally20-30 channelwidthslong, longer-
scaleorganization, if present,wasnot detectableby thesesur-
veys.Surveyswere not availableacrossthe full rangeof chan-
nel gradientsor for streamswithwidevalleys,surveyresolution
couldbe easilymobilizedby a streamwere studied.
5. Results
Trajectoriesof changesin channelstructureand organiza-
tion followingsedimentpulses(Figure 1) were evaluatedby
measuringfour aspectsof channelbed topography:median
residualwater depth,the standarddeviationof distributions
of
waterdepths,bedrelief patchsize,andtopographic regularity
(Table 2). Bed formsin steepchannelsdominatedby step
morphologywere analyzedusingthe number,spacing,and
heightof steps.The followingdiscussion
describesresponses to
 MADEJ: DEVELOPMENT OF CHANNEL ORGANIZATION AND ROUGHNESS 2265

sedimentpulsesin channelsrangingin channelgradientfrom 50 ,

>20% to 0.15%.
ß Excavated
StreamCrossings
t:::40
5.1. Case 1: Developmentof Steps in Excavated i-I Billi et al., 1998
Road-Stream Crossings C: 3O
The firstcaseinvolvesthe developmentof stepsandpoolsin
A

artificiallymanipulatedchannels.Since 1978, hundredsof ki- g,) 2O

lometers of abandoned roads have been removed in Redwood
• lO
Nationaland StateParks,California.A majorpart of the road
removalprocessis to excavateculvertsandroadfill from road- o
streamcrossingsusingheavy equipment.When culvertsand o.o 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
the overlyingfill material are removed,the equipmentopera-
Channel Gradient (m/m)
tors form a smoothchannelbed connectingthe channelup-
stream of the old road bed to the channel downstream of the Figure 3. Graph of stepspacingagainstchannelgradientin
road prism.Althoughthis newlyexcavatedchannelbed is in the Rio Cordon and in excavatedroad-streamcrossings.
the samegenerallocationas the channelbed before the road
wasconstructed,it is not necessarilyin the samealignmentor
at the same elevation as the original streambed.The newly than in a natural step-poolstream is consistentwith the idea
excavatedchannelscan be consideredto have undergonea that the frequencyof organizingflowsin step-poolchannelsis
sedimentpulsebecausea largesupplyof poorlysortedroad fill low and that the organizationof the channelbed into regularly
material that remained in the channel bottom and formed the spacedstepsfollowingroad restorationwill probablytake sev-
newchannelbankswassuddenlyavailablefor reworkingby the eral decades.At the time of the inventoryin 1997 and 1998,
stream.
stepswere stillrandomlydistributedwith no characteristicstep
Followingexcavation,channelsadjustedby varyingdegrees length,but channelbedsshowedincreasedbedvariabilitysince
of incision,head cutting,bank erosion,and transportof sedi- excavation,thusfittingthe generalconceptualmodeldisplayed
ment [Madej, 2001]. As a stream inciseda freshly excavated in Figure 1. Eventually,after a period with severalorganizing
crossing,fine-grainedroad material was eroded and trans- flows,stepsmaybecomemoreregularlyspaced,asthe channel
ported,leavingcoatsetmaterialin the channelbed.Depending adjustshydraulicallyto the sizeand typeof bed materialavail-
on the particlesizeand streamgradient,thesecoarseparticles able in the channel.
became organized into steps.In some locations,previously The developmentof stepsis an important componentof
buried boulders, tree roots, and wood were exhumed and energy dissipationin these excavatedcrossings.In the 124
formedsteps.Nevertheless,in mostcasesthe new channelwas crossingsthe averagepercent of total elevationdrop due to
not simplyan exhumationof the preroadchannelbecauseof steps(whichis assumedto be proportionalto the percentof
the degreeof disturbancein thesechannelsduringthe original energydissipated)was35%. Although62% of the channelsin
road construction and later in the road removalprocess. the presentstudyshowedstep developmentand thus higher
Photographstaken immediatelyafter the excavationspro- roughness valuesthan in freshlyexcavatedchannels,they have
vide evidencethat mostnew channelswere smoothand sloped not yet attainedthe roughness valuestypicalof well-developed
evenly through the remaining road fill material. Moderate step-poolchannels[Wohl et al., 1997]. Plunge pools down-
floods(3- to 5-yearrecurrenceintervals)occurredin 1983and streamof the stepsin the presentstudywereshallow(<0.1 m)
1986, and a 12-year flood occurredin 1997. By the time the and mayscourdeeperwith time, leadingto furtherenergyloss
channelswere mapped in 1997 and 1998, many steps had due to turbulenceand hydraulicjumps over steps.
developed;38% were formed dominantlyby wood, and 62%
were formedby cobblesor boulders.The averagestepheight 5.2. Case 2: Sediment Pulses in Steep (2-8% Grade)
Channels
(0.5-0.6 m) wassimilarfor bothwoodand boulderstepsand
wasabouttwice the sizeof the dominantbed particle. Few studiesdocumentchannel changesin steep channels
The frequencyof steps(numberof stepsper 30 m of channel followingsedimentpulses.In a steepgravelbed river in Japan,
length)wascomputedfor eachexcavatedcrossing.The initial the Higashigochi,Maim [1991] surveyedseverallongitudinal
step frequencywas assumedto be negligible,basedon an profilesfollowinga pulse of sedimentcausedby landslides.
analysisof photographstaken immediatelyafter excavation, This river has the higheststreampower (basedon "drainage
and measuredstepfrequenciesof <2 steps/30m were consid- area times channelgradient")of the sitesconsideredin this
eredto be within probabledetectionlevels.Any stepfrequency paper.In August1982a flood accompanied by extensiveland-
of ->2 steps/30m was consideredsignificantdevelopmentof slidingraisedthe streambedfrom 3 to 8 m, and this sediment
bed variationfollowingstream-crossing excavation.According was subsequently erodedfrom the reach. By May 1983 the
to this definition,62% of the excavatedcrossings showedsig- channel bed had returned to its former elevation. Almost no
nificantstepdevelopmentthroughtime, and in thesecrossings woody debriswas observedin the surveyedreach, which was
meanstepfrequencywas5.3 (___2.6) stepsper 30 m of channel steep(averagegradientis -8%) anddid not havea pool-riffle
length. morphology. Initially,roughnesselementswereprimarilyboul-
The relationshipof step spacingand channelgradientwas ders within the coarsegravel bed, and many of these were
comparedto that of another step-poolstream, Rio Cordon buriedfollowingthe sedimentpulse.Table 2 liststhe standard
[Billi et al., 1998] (Figure 3). Althoughmanyof the excavated deviationsof the regressionresidualsbasedon the longitudinal
crossings fell within the rangeof Rio Cordon,manyothershad profilesurveys, whichare an indicationof bed variability.Im-
stepsspacedsignificantlyfarther apart. The fact that there mediatelyfollowingthe sedimentpulse,the standarddeviation
were fewer, more widely spacedstepsin excavatedcrossings decreased andsubsequently increasedthroughtime (Table2).
2266 MADEJ: DEVELOPMENT OF CHANNEL ORGANIZATION AND ROUGHNESS

The first surveyof August 1982 representsthe peak of the valuesapproachedthe predebristorrent levels),the patternof
deposition,whereasthe secondsurveyof August1982followed regularlyspacedbarsthat waspresentin 1995wasobliterated
the recessionalflow when the river had partially eroded the in 1997and had not reappearedby 1999.Largewoodydebris
flooddeposits[Maim, 1991].By May 1983the riverhad eroded in this channel,much of it depositedby the debristorrent,
down to its prefloodlevel, and the standarddeviationof re- stronglyaffectschannelmorphologyin thisreachand contrib-
sidualshad increasedto slightlyabove the preflood level. utesto the irregularbed form spacingby causingmanyforced
Theseresultssupportthe conceptualmodelpresentedearlier pools.
of highsedimentloadsinitiallyleadingto decreasedheteroge- Farther downstream, a canyon reach, which is narrow,
neity, with an increasein bed variation through time. The steeper,andbouldery,showedlittle responseto the releaseof
resolutionof thesesurveyswastoo coarseto examinetrendsin sedimentfrom erosionof the debristorrent depositupstream
spatialautocorrelation. and the release of sedimentfrom a debrisjam that broke
Another exampleof responsein steepchannelsfollowinga upstreamof the canyon.No bed form regularitywasapparent
sedimentpulseis from Mount St. Helens,Washington,which either beforeor after the debristorrent.This is not surprising
erupted in 1980 and generateda lateral blast and extensive becausethe reachwascharacterizedby bouldersand bedrock
laharsin the LewisRiver drainagebasin.The newlydeposited outcrops,aswell as largewoodydebris,both beforeand after
bed materialwasverypoorlysortedandrangedfrom smallbits the debris torrent. The possibilityof exceedingthe critical
of pumiceto boulders.A tributaryof the Lewis River, Smith dischargeto movesuchbouldersto rearrangethe bed is neg-
Creek,wassurveyedseveraltimesfollowingthe eruption,and ligible.
the channelexhibitedup to 10 m of aggradation[Martinsonet The downstreamreach of Bridge Creek, also with high
al., 1986;U.S. Geologicai Survey, unpublisheddata,1996]. woodydebrisloading,did not havewell-developedalternate
Although there were many downedtrees in the channelfol- bars. This reach respondedto the debristorrent in 1997 by
lowingthe eruption,the influenceof woodydebrison Smith both a decreasein water depthand bed variation.The lack of
Creek morphologywas dwarfed by the volume of volcanic significantshort and long lag distanceautocorrelationin this
depositsthat obliteratedthe preeruptionchannel.Even though reachin 1997indicates that the channelbedtopography was
surveyswere conductedduring a relatively low-flow period randomandnot organizedinto anyregularbed forms.By 1999,
(1982-1995)whenmostfloodsexhibiteda <5-year recurrence water depth and channelvariabilityhad increased,bed relief
interval, these flows can be consideredorganizingflows be- patcheshad returned, and weak topographicregularitywas
causethe fine-grainedvolcanicdepositswere readily mobi- apparentat a spacingof four channelwidths.A newlyformed
lized. Surveyswere analyzedin a similar manner to the Hi- debrisjam upstreamof this reachwhich trappedsomesedi-
gashigochi River data set (Table 2). ment from the debristorrent mayhaveassisted in the recovery
The generaltrend in Smith Creek is of increasingbed vari- of channel variation in this reach through the metering of
abilitythroughtime. Cross-sectional surveys[Martinsonet al., sedimentsupplyand transport.In-channelwoodplaysan im-
1986] show a concomitantdecreasein mean bed elevation portantrole in thisstream,andaswoodfrom the debristorrent
during this period as sedimentwas transportedout of the is redistributedduring future flows,channelmorphologywill
reach. The resolutionof the early surveyswas too coarseto likely continueto change.
examinetrendsin spatialorganization,butweakregularityhad Resultsfrom Bridge Creek are consistentwith thosefrom
appearedby 1995.More detailedsurveyscouldcertainlyshed anotherstudyinvolvingchannelsurveysin streamsaffectedby
more light on the developmentof channelorganizationin this debristorrents.Kaufmann [1987] substitutedspacefor time
system, whichis responding to an extremeincreasein sediment and studiedmorphologiccharacteristics in three channelssub-
load from the eruption.The flood of record(>40-year return jected to debristorrentsof variousdates.Channelbedswere
interval)occurredin 1996,andthe USGS is currentlyresearch- surveyedevery meter in a 100-m reach in three channels:
ing the effectsof recenthigh flowson channelmorphology. Gwynn,Cape,andLittle CumminsCreeks,Oregon.Kaufmann
showedthat channelcomplexityincreasedwith time becauseof
5.3. Case 3: Channel Reorganization Following the creationof transversebars,glides,riffles,pools,and side
Debris Torrents
channels.In GwynnCreek,whichhad a torrent2-3 yearsprior
In 1997 a debris torrent that originatedfrom a road fill to the study,mean depth and standarddeviationof bed eleva-
failuredeposited about15,000m3 of sediment andwoodin tionswerelow (Table 2), poolswereinfrequent,androughness
BridgeCreek,a 30-km 2 tributaryof Redwood Creek.Profile valueswere low. Water depth, standarddeviationof water
surveyshad been conductedpreviously(in 1986and 1995) in depths,poolfrequency,androughness valuesweresignificantly
three reachesof BridgeCreek downstreamof the torrent site. higher in both Cape and Little CumminsCreeks,which had
These surveyswere repeatedin 1997 and 1999 to document not experiencedtorrentsfor --•12and --•120years,respectively.
channelchangesfollowingthissedimentpulse.Formationand In termsof spatialautocorrelation,Kaufmannfoundshortlag
destructionof debrisjams downstreamof the debristorrent distanceautocorrelation(bed relief patches)abouttwo chan-
site have causedsecondaryeffectsin sedimentroutingin this nelwidthslongin the newlydisturbedchannel(GwynnCreek),
stream. which decreasedto one channelwidth with time (Cape and
Table 2 reports the resultsof the surveys.The upstream Little CumminsCreeks).He alsoreportedweak regularityin
reach of Bridge Creek, which was directlyimpactedby the the profilesat ten channelwidths in the more recentlydis-
debris torrent deposition,respondedimmediatelywith de- turbed channel and at five channel widths in channels with
creasesin water depthand channelbedvariation.The channel older debris torrents.
down cut throughthe debristorrent depositsrapidly (mean Hoganetal. [1998]reportsimilartrendsin streamsin British
channelbed elevationhad dropped-0.5 m by 1999,following Columbia,where debristorrentsare an importantmechanism
the increaseof 0.7 m in 1997).Althoughmedianresidualwater leadingto woody debrisjams in channels.Here they recog-
depth and standarddeviationrecoveredquickly(by 1999 the nized that initial responseto jam formationwas a loss of
 MADEJ: DEVELOPMENT OF CHANNEL ORGANIZATION AND ROUGHNESS 2267

stream channel complexity,less variable water depths, and 1995

more prevalent riffles. In some cases, channels became
braided. In more recentlydisturbedchannelsthe distancebe- 0.5
tween stable riffle-poolswas greater than in channelswith 0

older disturbances. Through time, poolsbecamemore exten- .o.5

sive, a single-threadchannel developed, previouslyburied
large wood was exhumed,and channel morphologybecame 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14

more complex. Lag Distance (Channel Widths)

5.4. Case 4: Reorganization of a Channel Bed Following 1996

Dam Removal
0.5
In 1989a 3-m-highdamwasremovedfrom Lost Man Creek,
a 32-km2 tributaryof RedwoodCreek,and roughlythree
fourthsof the4000m3of sediment
storedupstream
of thedam .o.5

was alsoremoved.Heavy equipmentexcavateda new straight

channelthroughthe remainingsandandgravelin the bed at an 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
elevation -2 m lower than the channel bed that existed when Lag Distance (Channel Widths)
the dam was in place. The remainingaccumulationof loose,
1997
easilymobilizedsedimentupstreamof the old dam sitecanbe
considereda sedimentpulsebecauseit representsa large sed- 0.5
iment supplysuddenlyavailablefor reworkingby the stream. 0
Longitudinalprofilesurveyswere conductedat the dam sitein
.o.5
1990and 1996to documentchanneldevelopmentin this area.
In addition,a 1990surveyof Lost Man Creek upstreamof the
dam-influenced reach was used as a control to evaluate what 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
Lag Distance (Channel Widths)
the channelconditionmay havebeenwithout the influenceof
a dam.
Figure 4. Correlogramsbasedon Moran'sI spatialautocor-
Followingdam removaland one high flow season(1990), relation coefficient for the Navarro River. The horizontal
Lost Man Creek at the dam site exhibited low values of median dashedlines representthe 95% confidenceintervalsfor Mo-
residualwaterdepthandstandarddeviationwhencomparedto ran'sI. Pointsplotted abovethe line showlag distancewith
the controlreachlocatedupstreamof the dam influence(Ta- significantpositivecorrelation.
ble 2). No regularlyspacedbed formshad appeared.By 1996
the depthandvariabilityof the channelbed had increased.Bed
relief patchsizehad decreased,andtopographicregularityhad are mostcommonin the upstreamreach,RedwoodCreek near
formed at a spacingof !0.2 channelwidths.Becauseof previ- Weir Creek, which showedthe weakestregularity.
ousloggingactivityalongthis streamas well as the dam con- In the Navarro River basin a single landslidecontributed
struction,the supplyof in-channelwood is low, and so the about 60,000 m3 of sedimentto the channelin 1995 and
influenceof large wood on channelmorphologyis alsolow in dammed the river. Subsequentsurveys[Sutherland,1999]
this reach.In contrast,the controlreachhad deeperwater and showedseveralmeters of downcuttingin the channel at the
higherbed variabilityand showedstrongtopographicregular- landslidesite. My analysisof thosesurveysshowsresultscon-
ity spaced4.5 channelwidths apart. This suggeststhat the sistentwith the other riversin this study(Table 2). Median
dam-affectedreachwill evolveto a more complexchannelwith water depth and standarddeviationincreasedwith time since
shorter wavelengthfeatures as it becomesbetter organized the sedimentpulse.Althoughthe spacingof topographicreg-
throughtime. ularityhardlychanged(Figure4), the strengthof the regularity
increased(Table 2). The fact that the alternatebar structure
5.5. Case 5: Reorganization in Low-Gradient, High-Order wasnot eliminatedafter the sedimentpulsemaybe due to the
Streams Following Landslides relativelysmallsizeof the pulsecomparedto the total annual
Three reachesof Redwood Creek were studied intensely sedimentloadof the NavarroRiver (Table 1) or becausemuch
from 1977(immediatelyfollowinga largesedimentinputfrom of the landslidematerialabradedrapidlyandwastransported
a flood and associated landsliding)to 1997 [Madej,1999].Re- as suspended sediment[Sutherland, 1999].
sultsfrom these longitudinalprofile surveysare reported in
Table 2. In general,water depth and bed variabilityincreased 5.6. Case 6: Sediment Pulse Under Controlled Channel
with time, and bed relief patchsizedecreasedwith time since Conditions (Flume Experiment)
the 1975 flood and associatedsediment input. In January The previouscasesof channelorganizationinvolvedforcing
1997a flood renewedaggradationin the three reaches,causing mechanismsof channeldevelopmentdue to the presenceof
a decreasein water depthandvariabilitymeasuredin the 1997 wood, bedrockoutcrops,boulders,etc. to variousdegrees.To
surveys.Although the three reachesof channeldisplayalter- examinebed organizationwithout suchfactors,data from a
nate bars,bar spacingis not completelyregular.Topographic flume experimentwith an introducedsedimentpulse[Lisleet
regularityis lessthan the five-to-eightchannelwidth spacing al., 1997] were analyzed.Median residualwater depth and
frequentlyreportedin the literature.This probablyreflectsthe standarddeviationinitiallydecreasedafter the sedimentinput
influenceof other forcingmechanismsin the channel,suchas andthenincreasedthroughtime to their originalvalues(Table
channel bends, bedrock outcrops, boulder deposits, large 2). Bed reliefpatchsizeremainedaboutthe samethroughthe
wood,etc.,that are presentin thesereaches.Forcingelements run. Topographicregularitywasspacedat eightchannelwidths
2268 MADEJ: DEVELOPMENT OF CHANNEL ORGANIZATION AND ROUGHNESS

14 In the three Redwood Creek reaches,bed variabilityin-

creasedthroughtime, but the increasewaslessin downstream,
C__• Eli
wider reaches(J and K in Figure6) than a narrower,steeper
• , 10 . F reach(I). This maybe becausecontinuedchannelaggradation
{D t- 8 in the downstream reach indicates that the channel is still
I
processinghigh sedimentloads, and topographicvariability
a• •D 4 A ß G may not have yet reachedthe stage of developmentof the
o
upstreamreach.Alternatively,the variabilityof bed topogra-
•;.• 2 ; B phy may not increasein a downstreamdirectionas quicklyas
0 , , , -i
channel width increases,and so the normalized value of vari-
1.4 1.2 1.0 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0.0
ability is smallerin downstreamreaches.
Channel Gradient (Percent) Figure 7 summarizesanotherindicatorof channelorganiza-
tion, that of the bed relief patchsize,scaledby channelwidth.
• Littleinfluence
of forcing
elements If the distributionof bed elevationsis random(the bed eleva-
o- -• Large influence
offorcingelements tionsof adjacentsurveyedpointsare not related),the valueof
the indexis aboutzero. BridgeCreek reachesthat had a recent
A- UpperBridgeCreek E- Navarro River debristorrentandhighwoodloading(B andC in Figure8) had
B- LowerBridgeCreek F- RedwoodCreek near Weir Creek shortbed relief patches.In contrast,mostchannelsresponded
C- Flume G- RedwoodCreek at BondCreek to a sedimentinputby a smoothing of the channel(fillingin the
D- Lost Man Creek H- RedwoodCreek at Elam Creek pools). In thesecases,there were initially long stretchesof
(* is controlreach) channelbed with similarbed elevations, with correspondingly
highvaluesof bed relief patchsize.As the channeldeveloped
Figure 5. Trends in medianresidualwater depth, scaledby
channelwidth,with increasingtime sincesedimentpulse. more pools and complexbed topography,the similaritybe-
tweenadjacentpointsdiminished,and the lag distanceof sig-
nificant autocorrelation decreased with time. It should be
beforethe sedimentpulsebut wasdestroyedduringthe pulse. noted that a limitation in this type of study using channel
Visually,the experimenters noteda changein bar spacingand surveysfrom many sourcesis the resolutionof the surveys
migration of bar fronts that correspondedto these results themselves.It is difficultto comparevaluesof bed reliefpatch
(T. E. Lisle,personalcommunication, 1999).The experiment- sizewithoutknowingthe levelof detail of the surveys because
ers stoppedthe flume run when it seemedthat the sediment the spacingbetweensurveyshotsdeterminesthe scaleof fea-
pulsehad disappeared. At this point the bed had reorganized ture and autocorrelationthat can be detected. For this reason,
into distinctperiodic bed forms, and topographicregularity profilesfrom the HigashigochiRiver and Smith Creek were
reappearedat a spacingof 8 m. not usedin spatialautocorrelationanalyses.
In this casestudythe trajectoryof streamchannelevolution A fourth indexusedto describechannelstructureand orga-
did not go througha phaseof primary scaleorganizationdue nizationis topographic
regularity,definedby regularlyspaced
to forced bars and pools (Figure 1), becausethe flume was featuressuch as steps,pools,and riffles (Figure 8). Upper
devoidof suchforcingmechanisms. In the absenceof woodor
bank irregularitiesthe channelreestablished its originalstruc-
ture and organization.The processing of the sedimentpulsein 0.03

the flume was detectablethroughchangesin channelorgani-

zation, althoughnot necessarilythrough tracking the move-
ment of a distinct wave down the flume.
0.02

5.7. Trends in Channel Structure and Organization

The resultsof the casestudiespresentedin section5.1-5.6
supportthe conceptof increasing channelstructureand organi- 0.01

zation with time sincedisturbance.Figure 5 summarizesthe

trendsin medianresidualwater depth in streamswith various
channelgradients.In all studyreachesin whicha medianwater 0.00
depthcouldbe calculated, initialwaterdepthswerelowfollowing 10 1 0.1
a sedimentpulse,anddepthincreased withtimefollowingdistur- Channel Gradient (Percent)
bance,whetheror not forcingelementswere abundant.
Figure 6 depictstrendsin the variabilityof bed topography • Littleinfluence
of forcingelements
throughtime, scaledby channelwidth. In all streams,bothwith o- - ß Largeinfluence of forcingelements
and without abundantforcingelements,variabilityof bed to-
pographyincreasedwith time since a sedimentpulse. This A- Higashigochi River G- Lost Man Creek

variabilityshowsincreasingdevelopmentof complexityin a B- Oregon Coast Range Rivers (ø is controlreach)

C- Smith Creek,Mr. St. Helens H- Navarro River
longitudinaldirection.Most likely,complexitywasalsoincreas-
D- UpperBridgeCreek I- Redwood Creek at Weir Creek
ing in a cross-channel direction as well, but a three-
E- Lower Bridge Creek J- Redwood Creek at Bond Creek
dimensionalview of channelstructureand organizationawaits
F- Flume K- Redwood Creek at Elam Creek
further work. Bed variabilityalso increasedin the excavated
streamcrossings, but thoseresultsare not shownon thisgraph Figure 6. Trendsin bed variability,scaledby channelwidth,
becausea different surveyprocedurewasused. with increasingtime sincesedimentpulse.
 MADEJ: DEVELOPMENT OF CHANNEL ORGANIZATION AND ROUGHNESS 2269

BridgeCreek (B) showedno developmentof regularity2 years

after a debristorrent,perhapsbecauseof the highwoodload- •: 12
ing in this channel,althoughwater depth and variabilityhad E
• 10
increasedwithin 2 years. This observationsuggeststhat the
"' 8
developmentof channelstructureoccursmore quicklythan
channelorganization,which is consistentwith the conceptual • 6
model introducedearlier. In lower Bridge Creek, the flume,
o 4
and dam removalcasestudies(C, D, and E, respectively)the
channelbedinitiallyshowedno regularity(a valueof zero),but 2
regularityof bed formsdevelopedthroughtime. Regularityat o

o 0
a scaleof longerthan sevenchannelwidthsonly developedin
1 0.1
channelswithout many forcingelements,consistentwith the
Channel Gradient (percent)
conceptualmodel introducedearlier. Topographicregularity
barely changedin the Navarro River (F), but the strengthof
• Littleinfluence
offorcingelements
the regularityincreasedwith time (Table 2). In this casethe
alternate bar forms downstream of the landslide were not o- - • Largeinfluenceofforcingelements
destroyedby the sedimentpulse;rather,fine-grainedsediment
A- OregonCoastRangeRivers F- Navarro River
from the landslideinitiallysmoothedout the bed,andcomplexity G- Redwood Creek at Weir Cr.
B- UpperBridgeCreek
redevelopedthroughtime. In RedwoodCreek at Bond Creek H- Redwood Creek at Bond Cr.
C- LowerBridgeCreek
(H) the lengthscaleof regularityincreased, whilethe strengthof D- Flume I- Redwood Creek at Elam Cr.
the regularitydecreasedfollowinglarge landslideinputsin this E- LostMan Creek(* is controlreach)
reach in 1997. In other RedwoodCreek reachesand Oregon
CoastRangerivers(A, G, and I) the lengthscaleof regularity Figure 8. Trendsin topographicregularity,scaledby channel
decreased with time as the channelsbecamemore complex. width, with increasingtime sincesedimentpulse.
In excavatedstream crossings,not shownon Figure 8 be-
causea different surveymethodologywas used,regularityin
step spacingwas developingin someof the channelsbut was
still lessthan that reportedin the literaturefor other step-pool roughness due to boundarymaterials(skinfriction)increases.
channels.Crossingswithout wood or coarseclasts,or with In addition,as bed topographybecomesmore complex,form
boulderstoo coarseto transport,showedlittle or no stepde- roughnessshouldalso increase.Increasesin form roughness
velopment.Theseresultsfrom manytypesof channelssuggest should have the most influence at low to moderate flows,
that the degreeof regularityand organizationthat developsin whereas the roughnessdue to bed topographywould be
a channeldependson the time sincedisturbance(numberof drownedout at very high flows,whenmean depthof water is
organizingflows),the sizeof sedimentpulse,and the presence muchgreaterthan the verticaldimensionof bed topography.
of forcingelementsthat can influencechannelmorphology. The hypothesistested here is that an increasein bed form
developmentdetected in the study reachesshould manifest
5.8. Changes in RoughnessValues Through Time itself in a concomitantincreasein Manning's n roughness
Both skin friction and form drag contributeto flow resis- coefficientat low to moderateflows.Water dischargemeasure-
tance in a channel. If a channel bed becomes coarser, the mentscollectedat five gaugingstationsalongRedwoodCreek
were usedto test this idea. Up to 25 yearsof water discharge
measurementrecords(1972-1997) were examined,usingthe
2.5
relationshipdefinedby the Manning'sequation(equation(1)).
Besidesbed topographyother factors, such as in-channel
wood, meanders,abrupt changesin channel geometry, and
F
hydraulib
jumps,cantheoretically
contribute
to flowresistance,
but field observations
showthat thesefactorsare not important
at the gaugingstationsusedin this study.The channelsat the
gaugingstationsare highlyconfinedand have no floodplains;
0.5
consequently, energylossduringoverbankflow is not an im-
portantfactor.Another considerationis that a sedimentpulse
0.1 maychangethe channelgradientin a reach,affectingthe slope
Channel Gradient (percent) variable in the Manning'sn calculation.However, to account
for the observedchangesin Manning'sn (for example,at a
• Littleinfluence
of forcingelements discharge
of 4 m3/sat Redwood
CreeknearBlueLake,n was
o- -i> Largeinfluenceofforcing elements 0.24 in 1972 and increasedto 0.60 in the 1990s), channel
gradientwould have had to have increasedby a factor of 8,
A-Oregon CoastRangeRivers F- Navarro River from 0.0005 to 0.0040 m/m. Instead, surveysat the gauging
B. UpperBridgeCreek G- Redwood Creek at Weir Cr.
stationsfrom the 1970s,althoughlimited, depictlittle or no
C- LowerBridgeCreek H- Redwood Creek at Bond Cr.
changein slopeduring the studyperiod.
D. Flume I- Redwood Creek at Elam Cr.
Table 3 showsresultsof the analysisof Manning'sn values
E. LostMan Creek( * is controlreach)
throughtime. There was strongevidencethat Manning'sn in-
Figure 7. Trends in bed relief patch size,scaledby channel creasedthroughtime after accounting for the effectof discharge
width, with increasingtime sincesedimentpulse. (p valuesfor time were all <0.09 for streamswith a sediment
2270 MADEJ: DEVELOPMENT OF CHANNEL ORGANIZATION AND ROUGHNESS

Table 3. Resultsof Multiple RegressionAnalysisRelatingChannelRoughness(Manning'sn) Valuesto Dischargeand

Date of Measurement

Drainage p Value
Area, Channel Period of p Value for for
GagingStation km2 Gradient,% Record Measurements Adjusted
r2 Discharge Date

Little Lost Man 9 2.5 1974-1988 133 0.48 0.0001b 0.7024

Creek (control)a
Redwood Creek 67.7 0.25 1972-1997 287 0.72 0.0001b O.0001b
near Blue Lake c
Redwood Creek 389 0.28 1980-1988 54 0.83 0.000lb 0.0001b
at Panther Creek
(Q < 20 m3/s)
d
Redwood Creek 479 0.31 1975-1981 46 0.76 0.0001b O.0001b
at SouthPark Boundary
(1 < Q < 30 m3/s)
e
Redwood Creek 523 0.24 1977-1982 13 0.72 0.0004b 0.0922b
at Weir Creek f

aRegression
equation is In Manning'sn = -0.916 - 8.19 x 10-6 date- 0.270In discharge.
bVariable
isstatistically
significant
at the90%confidencelevelor better.
CRegression
equation is In Manning'sn - -3.57 + 9.93 x 10-s date- 0.192In discharge.
dRegression
equation is In Manning'sn = -4.68 + 1.81 x 10-4 date- 0.383In discharge.
Q is discharge.
eRegression
equation is In Manning'sn = -5.66 + 2.83 x 10-4 date- 0.277In discharge.
fRegression
equation is In Manning'sn = -5.69 + 4.26 x 10-s date- 0.209In discharge.

pulse).In contrast, in Little LostMan Creek,the controlstream, areasampledeachyearvariedwith differentsurveycrews.This

the coefficientfor time is not statisticallysignificant. causesa problem in interpretingthe resultsbecause,for ex-
The increases in flow resistance are consistent with either a ample,a crewmay havesampleda fine-grainededdydeposit
coarseningof the channelbed through time or increasedde- one year but may not have included it in the samplearea
velopmentof bed topographyor both. To analyzethe possible anotheryear. Becausethe pebblecountswere not necessarily
effects of increasedparticle size on roughnessvalues, size conducted in a standardized manner, these results should be
distributiondata basedon pebblecountsat the gaugingsta- usedcautiously.
tionswere analyzed.Theseresultsshowmixedtrends(Figures Althoughthe pebblecountdata havetheseconstraints, some
9a and 9b). Althoughpebblecountswere centeredon a given generalizationscanbe made.RedwoodCreek near Blue Lake,
channelcrosssectioneachyear, the total area of channelbed which had a significantincreasein roughnessvaluesthrough
time, actuallyshoweda decreasein surfacebed particle size
during the same period. Other factors, such as more pro-
a 80 nouncedbed relief,mustbe responsible for the increasein flow
resistance.At the two other stations exhibiting increased
6o roughness valuesthroughtime (RedwoodCreek abovePan-
ther Creek and RedwoodCreek at Weir Creek), the channel
bed surfacedid coarsenduringthe sameperiod. Skin friction
at the gaugingstationshas the vertical dimensionof 30-130
20
mm (rangeof D 84in the channelbed). In contrast,thevertical
dimensionof bed topography(the depth of poolsand heights
of bar faces)is 1-3 m. Becausethe increasein flowresistance
1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000
is seenat all stages,notjustsummerlow flow,it isprobablydue
to the developmentof bed topographyaswell ascoarsening of
Year
140 the bed. This idea is supportedby Prestegaard [1983],who
120
showed that bar resistance accounts for 50-75% of total resis-

100 tancein wide, low-sinuosity

gravelbed streams,andParkerand
80
Peterson[1980],who demonstratedthe importanceof bar re-
sistance at low to moderate flows.
6O

4O
2O 6. Discussion and Conclusions
0 [ ] [ i
The resultspresentedin this paper support a conceptual
1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000
modelwhichproposestrajectoriesof channelrecoveryfollow-
Year ing sedimentpulsesin gravelbed streamsacrossa range of
- [] - Redwood Cr. at Weir Cr. channel gradients.A sedimentpulse commonlydiminishes
--x--RedwoodCr.at S. ParkBoundary channelstructure,organization,and roughness.All the case
--o-Redwood Cr. at Panther Cr.
• Redwood Cr. near Blue Lake studiespresentedin thispaperfollowedthisgeneralpatternof
decreased water depthandbedvariabilityfollowinga sediment
Figure 9. (a) Changesin D so based on pebble countsat pulse.Median water depth,bed variability,and development
gaugingstations.(b) Changesin D 84basedon pebblecountsat of forcedpoolsandbarssubsequently increasedwith the num-
gaugingstations. ber of organizingflows.The model alsosuggestedan increase
 MADEJ: DEVELOPMENT OF CHANNEL ORGANIZATION AND ROUGHNESS 2271

in spatial organizationof the channelbed through time. In ture features,suchas bridge crossingsand buried pipelines.
most streamsthe length of bed relief patchesdecreasedwith The effectof sedimentpulseson a channelmaynot necessarily
time sincea sedimentpulse,indicatingincreasedbed complex- be detectableas a distinctsedimentwavemovingdownstream.
ity. Topographicregularitydevelopedat five to 10 channel Instead, this researchshowedthat more subtle changesin
widths in streamswithout many forcing elementsand two to channelstructureand organizationcan also accompanysedi-
five channelwidths in streamswith forcing elements.One ment pulses.
stream reach with high wood loading did not develop any An issueof concernin the PacificNorthwestregardingman-
regularitywithin 2 yearsof a debristorrent,whichsuggests that agementof forestedlandsis the rangeof morphologicaldiver-
the time requiredto organizethe channelinto regularlyspaced sity in natural systems.Under many ecosystemmanagement
bedformsis greaterthanthat neededto developan increasein activities,land managersattempt to replicate the range of
bed variabilityand structure. naturalvariabilityin watershedprocesses. To date, variability
Not all gravelbed streamsare expectedto perform as the in the magnitudeand frequencyof many processeshas not
conceptualmodel (Figure 1) proposes.For example,a low- been adequatelyquantified.The disturbanceregime in a wa-
variabilitybedrock-dominatedstreamthat receivesa sediment tershedaffectsthe range of variabilityin channelconditions.
pulsemay actuallyrespondby an increasein variabilitywith The results presentedhere provide a basis upon which to
the addition of mobile material. Alternatively,if a sediment comparevariabilityof channelbed patternsin differentlysized
pulsecausesbank erosionand associated tree fall, scourpools streamsin responseto sedimentpulses.In addition,an under-
may increasein frequency.However,channelchangesin many standingof the trajectoriesof physicalrecoveryin disturbed
typesof situationsfollowedthe trajectoriesproposedby the stream systemswill help predict the biologicalresponseto
conceptualmodel. As a sedimentpulse is processedby a disturbances.Channel structureplays an important role in
streamsystem,the channelstructure,organization,and rough- providingaquatichabitat, and the typesand scalesof rough-
nesswill change,and the manifestationof a sedimentpulse ness elements influence the distribution of microhabitats,
maybe reflectedin changesin theseelements.Future research benthicinvertebrates,and channelcomplexity.
will focuson examiningsuchchangesunder a wider range of Geomorphicrecovery,as proposedby Wolmanand Gerson
field conditions. [1978],requiresthe attainmentof a preexisting landform.Geo-
The developmentof regularityin many channelsindicates morphicwork in streamchannelsnot onlyentailsa transportof
the self-adjustingnature of channels.Fluvial processes, over materialand a changein form but alsoa reorganizationof bed
time, were able to organizepreviouslyrandomhillslopeinputs forms. Through this researchI suggestthat measuresof geo-
into regularly spacedbed forms. Regularity in streamswith morphiceffectiveness can includenot only channelform but
forcingmechanisms,suchas large in-channelwood and bed- also the arrangementof suchforms following a disturbance.
rockoutcrops,developedat a shorterspatialscale(two to five
channelwidths)than in streamswithout suchforcingmecha-
nisms(five to ten channelwidths). Alternatively,if forcing Appendix A: Definition of Spatial Autocorrelation
elementsare abundant,there may be an absenceof any topo- Coefficient
graphicregularity.Owing to the random distributionof bed- Moran's I at distance class d is as follows:
rockoutcrops,wood, and other obstructions, naturalriverswill
not displayas regular a spacingas a artificial channelin a ElE E Wij(Xi - i•)(Xj-- i•)
flume. The channel in the flume experimentexhibitedself-
organizingbehavior that processedsedimentinputs into a
I(d)= WE (Xi-.•)2 '
strongpattern of regularlyspacedbed forms. wherex is residualwater depth at pointsi andj in the channel
Roughness increasedthroughtime at severalgagingstations and• is mean residualdepth.All summationsare for i andj
in RedwoodCreek duringthe sametime periodaschannelbed varyingfrom 1 to n, the numberof data points,but excludethe
relief wasincreasing.Becauseneitherbed material size,chan- cases wherei = j. Thewo takethevalueof 1 whenthepair(i,
nel gradient,nor riparian vegetationchangedsignificantlyat j) pertainsto the distanceclassd andare 0 otherwise.W is the
most sites,the developmentof bed forms probablyplaysan number of pairs of pointsused in computingthe coefficients
important role in the observedincreasein flow resistancein for the given distanceclass.Moran's I may be positive or
the channel.The developmentof bed topographyin a gravel negative,with values usually ranging between -1 and +1.
bed river contributesto channelroughnessand flow resistance Moran'sI comparesvaluesfor pairsof points(residualwater
and can influencebed particlemobility[Churchet al., 1998]. depths)at differentdistanceclasses (lag distance).
Increaseddevelopmentof bed formsand increasedvariabil-
ity of bed topographywill influencethe distributionand mag-
nitude of secondaryflowswithin a channel.An understanding Acknowledgments.Many people at RedwoodNational and State
Parksassisted me with channelsurveys, and RandyKlein providedthe
of the spatiallyvaried conditionsof the channelbed may fur- 1986 Bridge Creek surveydata. I am grateful for discussions with
ther the understandingof nonuniformflow. In addition,by Gordon Grant, Julia Jones,Fred Swanson,and StanleyGregory,who
identifyingscalesof longitudinalbed forms we may increase helpedme honemy ideaswhile workingon thisproject.JamesPizzuto
the understandingof sedimenttransportand alluvialsedimen- and an anonymousreviewerprovidedvery usefulcommentsand sug-
gestionsfor revisions.Partial fundingfor this projectwasprovidedby
tation. Models of sedimentroutingcould alsobenefitfrom a the CaliforniaDepartmentof Fish and Game.
knowledgeof channelorganization,becausehow a channel
processes its sedimentload in one part of the channelnetwork
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(ReceivedJune20, 2000;revisedMarch 20, 2001;
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