Geomorphic Analysis of River Systems - An Approach to Reading the Landscape

Informationen zum Autor Kirstie Fryirs is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Environment and Geography at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia.  She has worked extensively on river systems in Australia.  Her research focuses on geomorphic river evolution, post-European disturbance responses, sediment budgets and connectivity, and geoecology. Her research is used extensively in river management practice. Gary Brierley is Chair of Physical Geography in the School of Environment at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. Building upon his geomorphic research on river systems in western Canada, Australia and New Zealand, his recent work has been undertaken in western China and parts of South America. His research interests also include concerns for environmental justice, transitional practices in river science and management, and emerging approaches to environmental governance. Klappentext Filling a niche in the geomorphology teaching market, this introductory book is built around a 12 week course in fluvial geomorphology.'Reading the landscape' entails making sense of what a riverscape looks like, how it works, how it has evolved over time, and how alterations to one part of a catchment may have secondary consequences elsewhere, over different timeframes. These place-based field analyses are framed within their topographic, climatic and environmental context. Issues and principles presented in the first part of this book provide foundational understandings that underpin the approach to reading the landscape that is presented in the second half of the book. In reading the landscape, detective-style investigations and interpretations are tied to theoretical and conceptual principles to generate catchment-specific analyses of river character, behaviour and evolution, including responses to human disturbance.This book has been constructed as an introductory text on river landscapes, providing a bridge and/or companion to quantitatively-framed or modelled approaches to landscape analysis that are addressed elsewhere. Key principles outlined in the book emphasise the importance of complexity, contingency and emergence in interpreting the character, behaviour and evolution of any given system.The target audience is second and third year undergraduate students in geomorphology, hydrology, earth science and environmental science, as well as river practitioners who use geomorphic understandings to guide scientific and/or management applications.The primary focus of Kirstie and Gary's research and teaching entails the use of geomorphic principles as a tool with which to develop coherent scientific understandings of river systems, and the application of these understandings in management practice. Kirstie and Gary are co-developers of the River Styles(r) Framework and Short Course that is widely used in river management, decision-making and training.Additional resources for this book can be found at: www.wiley.com/go/fryirs/riversystems. "Recommended readings for each chapter complement the bibliography and enhance the book's overall value. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates, graduate students, and professionals/practitioners." ( Choice , 1 August 2013) Zusammenfassung This book covers concepts and principles in fluvial geomorphology. The authors focus on developing mastery skills for "reading the landscape. " This text provides a learning tool that documents a way of seeing and thinking about river forms and processes. Inhaltsverzeichnis Preface xi Acknowledgements xiv 1 Geomorphic analysis of river systems: an approach to reading the landscape 1 Introduction 1 How is geomorphology useful? 2 Geomorphic analysis of river systems: our approach to reading the landscape 3 Key messages from this chapter 7 2 Key concepts in river geomorphology 9 Introduction 9 <...

List of contents

Preface xi
 
Acknowledgements xiv
 
1 Geomorphic analysis of river systems: an approach to reading the landscape 1
 
Introduction 1
 
How is geomorphology useful? 2
 
Geomorphic analysis of river systems: our approach to reading the landscape 3
 
Key messages from this chapter 7
 
2 Key concepts in river geomorphology 9
 
Introduction 9
 
Spatial considerations in reading the landscape 9
 
Catchment linkages and (dis)connectivity 14
 
Conceptualisation of time 17
 
Differentiating behaviour from change 21
 
Disturbance events 22
 
Magnitude-frequency relationships in river systems 23
 
River sensitivity and resilience 25
 
Catchment-specifi c analysis of river systems: combining spatial and temporal concepts 26
 
Conclusion 27
 
Key messages from this chapter 27
 
3 Catchment-scale controls on river geomorphology 29
 
Introduction: what is a catchment? 29
 
Process zones in catchments: sediment source, transfer and accumulation zones 29
 
Longitudinal profi les of rivers 31
 
Geomorphic transitions along river longitudinal profi les 32
 
Catchment morphometrics as controls on river character and behaviour 34
 
Geologic controls on drainage network form, and river character and behaviour 37
 
The infl uence of catchment confi guration upon fl ow and sediment fl ux 41
 
Conclusion 42
 
Key messages from this chapter 42
 
4 Catchment hydrology 44
 
Introduction: what is hydrology? 44
 
The hydrological cycle 44
 
Operation of the hydrological cycle 45
 
Runoff generation 47
 
Groundwater fl ows 49
 
Catchment-scale runoff and discharge generation models 50
 
Channel initiation 51
 
Gully and channel formation 51
 
Flow regimes of perennial, intermittent and ephemeral rivers 53
 
Discharge and the magnitude/frequency of fl ow in river systems 54
 
Flood stages and hydrographs 56
 
Analysis of hydrograph shape 58
 
Discharge measurement 59
 
Flow frequency 60
 
Flow variability 61
 
Conclusion 62
 
Key messages from this chapter 62
 
5 Impelling and resisting forces in river systems 65
 
Introduction 65
 
Impelling and resisting forces and Lane's balance of erosion and deposition in channels 65
 
Mechanics of fl uid fl ow 67
 
Impelling forces in river channels 68
 
Resisting forces in channels 70
 
Vegetation and wood as resistance elements in river systems 72
 
Manning's n as a unifying roughness parameter 75
 
The balance of impelling and resisting forces along longitudinal profi les 77
 
Conclusion 79
 
Key messages from this chapter 79
 
6 Sediment movement and deposition in river systems 81
 
Introduction 81
 
Grain size (sediment calibre) and defi nitions of bedload, mixed load and suspended load in rivers 81
 
Phases of sediment movement along rivers: the Hjulström diagram 84
 
Entrainment of sediment in river channels 85
 
Transport of sediment in river channels 88
 
Material properties that affect sediment movement in river systems 93
 
Deposition in river systems 102
 
Interpreting sediment sequences as a tool to read the landscape 104
 
Conclusion 114
 
Key messages from this chapter 114
 
7 Channel geometry 116
 
Introduction 116
 
Bed and bank processes that infl uence channel shape 117
 
Channel shape: putting the bed and banks together 124

Report

"Recommended readings for each chapter complement the bibliography and enhance the book s overall value. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates, graduate students, and professionals/practitioners." ( Choice , 1 August 2013)

Product details

• Authors: Gary Brierley, Gary J Brierley, Gary J. Brierley, Brierley Gary J., K Fryirs, Kirstie Fryirs, Kirstie A Fryirs, Kirstie A. Fryirs, Kirstie A. (Macquarie University) Brierley Fryirs, Kirstie A. Brierley Fryirs, Kirstie/ Brierley Fryirs, Fryirs Kirstie A.
• Publisher: Wiley, John and Sons Ltd
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 25.12.2012
• EAN: 9781405192750
• ISBN: 978-1-4051-9275-0
• No. of pages: 352
• Subjects: Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Geosciences > Geology; Non-fiction book > Nature, technology > Nature: general, reference works; Geomorphologie, Geowissenschaften, Earth Sciences, Geomorphology, Fluvial Hydrology & Limnology, Hydrologie der Flüsse u. Binnengewässer