A 184-year record of river meander migration from tree rings, aerial imagery, and cross sections

Schook, Derek M.; Rathburn, Sara L.; Friedman, Jonathan M.; Wolf, J. Marshall

doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2017.06.001

Cited by 46 publications

(68 citation statements)

References 83 publications

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“…These trees had previously been dated above-ground level by Schook et al (2016Schook et al ( , 2017 and were selected to span ages of known major flooding events (the 1978 flood, the 1923 flood, and the 1887 flood), and to also include more recently established trees. These trees had previously been dated above-ground level by Schook et al (2016Schook et al ( , 2017 and were selected to span ages of known major flooding events (the 1978 flood, the 1923 flood, and the 1887 flood), and to also include more recently established trees.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Seedlings are unable to establish in the shade under existing trees (Johnson et al, 1976), needing sunlight, minimal competition, and a steady water supply to germinate (Read, 1958). These characteristics generally result in stands of plains cottonwood that germinate on new alluvial sand deposits (Schook et al, 2017) and that date within a few years of the most recent flood event (Scott et al, 1996). Plains cottonwood are tolerant of burial, and new stems often sprout from the buried stems and roots (Hupp, 1988;Van Haverbeke, 1990).…”

Section: The Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Cross-sections are labeled PR followed by a number corresponding to the distance in 1978 measured downstream in kilometers along the center of the channel from Crazy Woman Creek near Arvada, Wyoming Meade, 1990, 2018;Moody et al, 2002). Published geomorphic research of Powder River has relied heavily on the information provided by the database of cross-sections, documenting centennial rates and patterns of river migration (Martinson and Meade, 1983;Martinson, 1984;Schook et al, 2017), floodplain development (Moody et al, 1999;Moody and Troutman, 2000;Moody and Meade, 2008;Pizzuto et al, 2008), channel responses to varying discharges (Pizzuto, 1994), evolution of point bars (Moody and Meade, 2014;Ghinassi et al, 2018), and meander cutoff processes (Gay et al, 1998). The meander bend at PR163 Due to location and available data, the meander bend at PR163 (Moody and Meade, 2018) was selected to study buried plains cottonwoods ( Figures 1B and 3). Published geomorphic research of Powder River has relied heavily on the information provided by the database of cross-sections, documenting centennial rates and patterns of river migration (Martinson and Meade, 1983;Martinson, 1984;Schook et al, 2017), floodplain development (Moody et al, 1999;Moody and Troutman, 2000;Moody and Meade, 2008;Pizzuto et al, 2008), channel responses to varying discharges (Pizzuto, 1994), evolution of point bars (Moody and Meade, 2014;Ghinassi et al, 2018), and meander cutoff processes (Gay et al, 1998). The meander bend at PR163 Due to location and available data, the meander bend at PR163 (Moody and Meade, 2018) was selected to study buried plains cottonwoods ( Figures 1B and 3).…”

Section: The Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Dates of past flood events, for example, have been identified using scars, damaged stems (Sigafoos, 1964;Hupp, 1988) and changes in wood anatomy (Yanosky, 1983) of riparian trees. Dendrochronology has provided age information to interpret channel dynamics (Hupp, 1992;Friedman et al, 1996;Scott et al, 1997), for example by quantifying the ages of scroll bars formed by the lateral migration of meandering rivers (Everitt, 1968;Schook et al, 2017). Dendrochronology has provided age information to interpret channel dynamics (Hupp, 1992;Friedman et al, 1996;Scott et al, 1997), for example by quantifying the ages of scroll bars formed by the lateral migration of meandering rivers (Everitt, 1968;Schook et al, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Event‐scale floodplain accretion revealed through tree‐ring analysis of buried plains cottonwoods, Powder River, MT, USA

Metzger

Pizzuto

Trampush

et al. 2019

Earth Surf Processes Landf

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Six plains cottonwoods along the axis of a meander were excavated to determine if dendrochronology could identify the year and location of germination and date past overbank sedimentation events. Samples from all excavated trees showed clear anatomical changes associated with burial, including increased vessel size, decreased definition of annual ring boundaries, and decreased ring widths. Some of these burial signatures were created by deposition of only a few centimeters of sediment, and most burial events were detected by multiple samples from the same tree. Four of the trees germinated at or near the upper surfaces of bar deposits, while two germinated within thin overbank deposits draped over bar deposits, indicating that germination is closely associated with bars. Dates and inferred thicknesses of overbank sedimentation events are consistent with repeated topographic surveys and data obtained from cesium‐137 (137Cs) analyses. However, the record of overbank sedimentation extracted from the trees does not entirely reflect the history of past peak discharges documented by stream gaging, largely because individual trees are progressively less likely to be flooded through time as the river migrates farther away. Germination dates and locations closely track past positions of the river channel. Germination elevations and the elevations of the tops of point bars appear to be decreasing with time as the bend migrates, implying vertical incision by Powder River at a rate of 7.1 ± 4.3 mm/yr. The rate of floodplain growth determined by elevation changes decreases progressively through time, ultimately reaching an apparent plateau after 0.8–1.3 m of vertical accretion. While similar patterns of vertical accretion have previously been interpreted as resulting from decreasing flood probability with increasing floodplain elevation, distance from the channel is also a first‐order control on vertical floodplain growth. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Event‐scale floodplain accretion revealed through tree‐ring analysis of buried plains cottonwoods, Powder River, MT, USA

Metzger

Pizzuto

Trampush

et al. 2019

Earth Surf Processes Landf

Self Cite

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“…This is the case of the Isola Pingherli site in the Tagliamento River (Figure 4a). For this site, it was possible to acquire a set of historical aerial photographs, which are considered as one of the possible methods to identify channel migration [69]. The main engineering work in this area was probably a meander rectification carried out in the late 1920s and which became the main stream of the river about 30 years later (Figure 4a).…”

Section: The Tagliamento River: Site Description and Field Data Collementioning

confidence: 99%

Numerical Modelling of Cohesive Bank Migration

Bosa

Petti

Pascolo

2018

Water

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River morphological evolution is a challenging topic, involving hydrodynamic flow, sediment transport and bank stability. Lowland rivers are often characterized by the coexistence of granular and cohesive material, with significantly different behaviours. This paper presents a bidimensional morphological model to describe the evolution of the lower course of rivers, where there are both granular and cohesive sediments. The hydrodynamic equations are coupled with two advection-diffusion equations, which consider the transport of granular and cohesive suspended sediment concentration separately. The change of bed height is evaluated as the sum of the contributions of granular and sediment material. A bank failure criterion is developed and incorporated into the numerical simulation of the hydrodynamic flood wave and channel evolution, to describe both bed deformation and bank recession. To this aim, two particular mechanisms are considered: the former being a lateral erosion due to the current flow and consequent cantilever collapse and the latter a geostatic failure due to the submergence. The equation system is integrated by means of a finite volume scheme. The resulting model is applied to the Tagliamento River, in northern Italy, where the meander migration is documented through a sequence of aerial images. The channel evolution is simulated, imposing an equivalent hydrograph consisting of a sequence of flood waves, which represents a medium year, with reference to their effect on sediment transport. The results show that the model adequately describes the general morphological evolution of the meander.

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