River channel patterns: Braided, meandering, and straight

Abstract

A. Analyses of sand sizes used in flume experiments and fed into flume-river. _ _ _ _. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ B. Data o n size characteristics of sand on channel bed and on bars in flume-river.__ _ _ _ _ _~-~- .- .-C. Summary of data on flume experiments a t California Institute of Technology .__._-~ ~. .- .-D. Comparison of hydraulic characteristics of uiidivided and divided reaches of braided streams.

Elysium planitia, mars: Regional geology, volcanology, and evidence for volcano-ground ice interactions

“…In order to test for possible fluvial channels, morphometric measurements were made on the sinuosity and width of four of the largest channels (identified in Figures 1 and 7) and the length versus width of the streamlined islands. An investigation of meandering terrestrial rivers by Leopold and Wolman (1957) showed that bank full width (W) is related to wavelength (X) by the following relationship h = KW'. '…”

Sediment Transport and Channel Stability

“…Ikeda et a1 (1981) extended their analysis to perturbatiC'.....s of channels which were initially sinuous. None of the theories adequately reproduces the sort of behaviour observed by Leopold and Wolman (1957) and others.…”

“…Leopold and Wolman (1957) plotted bankfull discharge against channel slope for a number of natural channels. This indicated that in those rivers the braided channels were separated from the meandering channels by a line given by the equation:…”

“…Chang (1979) approached the problem theoretically using a minimum stream power concept to determine a stable channel slope, which he compared with the valley slope. He derived a diagram of valley slope against bankfull discharge which is reminiscent of those of Leopold and Wolman (1957) and others but which shows two distinct regions of braiding, one being between the areas of straight and meandered channels. No ohservations seem to substantiate these results.…”

“…This shows reasonable agreement between the regime theory and the observed slopes. shows the observed slopes for multiple channels and the corresponding predictions for SRl, SRI, SR3, SR4 and SR6' The corresponding width for a multiple channel with n branches was Table 12.6 Comparison of slopes and breadths for multiple channels observed by la) Leopold and Wolman (1957) and Ibl predictions for multiple channels using the present theory and the White et all1982l regime theory determined by calculating the width of a single channel carrying a discharge of Q/n and multiplying by the number of branches 11. For each test the predicted slope and breadth closest to the observed values are shown in italics in Table 12.6.…”