Meandering rivers in the midwestern US that anabranch: Prevalence, morphological characteristics, and power regimes

T. Shukla, B. L. Rhoads

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

Rivers in intensively managed agricultural landscapes of the midwestern United States typically are meandering, but studies elsewhere suggest that many rivers throughout the world have been transformed into this type of planform from preexisting anabranching forms. This study examines the prevalence, morphological characteristics, and stream power of anabranching reaches in the Wabash River watershed, which is characterized by a diverse glacial history and extensive agricultural land use. Results indicate that anabranching reaches constitute only a small percentage of the total length of rivers in this watershed (0.35%) but are more prevalent in relatively young glacial landscapes compared to older glaciated regions and unglaciated areas. The stream power of anabranching reaches tends to be consistently higher than that of adjacent meandering reaches upstream and downstream. The study is a first attempt at characterizing juxtaposed anabranching-meandering systems in intensively managed agricultural landscapes.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationRiver Flow - Proceedings of the 11th Conference on Fluvial Hydraulics, 2022
EditorsAna Maria Ferreira da Silva, Colin Rennie, Susan Gaskin, Jay Lacey, Bruce MacVicar
PublisherCRC Press/Balkema
Pages398-405
Number of pages8
ISBN (Print)9781032346137
DOIs
StatePublished - 2024
Event11th International Conference on Fluvial Hydraulics, River Flow 2022 - Kingston, Canada
Duration: Nov 8 2022Nov 10 2022

Publication series

NameRiver Flow - Proceedings of the 11th Conference on Fluvial Hydraulics, 2022

Conference

Conference11th International Conference on Fluvial Hydraulics, River Flow 2022
Country/TerritoryCanada
CityKingston
Period11/8/2211/10/22

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Geotechnical Engineering and Engineering Geology
  • Fluid Flow and Transfer Processes

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