Gravel bed channels have a much greater capacity than sand bed channels to regulate the mobility of the bed surface through the formation of a surface layer of bed particles that is coarser than the particles supplied as load. The coarse surface layer affects bed mobility in two important ways. First, it reduces differences in mobility between coarser and finer particles on the bed surface by m...

Bed surface particle size patchiness may play a central role in bedload and morphologic response to changes in sediment supply in gravel-bed rivers. Here we test a 1-D model (from Parker ebook) of bedload transport, surface grain size, and channel profile with two previously published flume studies that documented bed surface response, and specifically patch development, to reduced sediment sup...

[1] Bed load sediment particles supplied to channels by hillslopes are reduced in size by abrasion during downstream transport. The branching structure of the channel network creates a distribution of downstream travel distances to a given reach of river and thus may strongly influence the grain size distribution of the long-term bed load flux through that reach. Here we investigate this hypoth...

[1] Partial transport is documented in the gravel bed channel of Carnation Creek using magnetically tagged stones. For four flood peaks the active proportion of surface grains was used to map streambed areas into distinct units of three different levels of grain entrainment. In partially mobile regions of the bed, the active proportion of surface grains declines with grain size. As flow increas...

Abstract—The present experimental study insights the decontamination of instantaneous velocity fluctuations captured by Acoustic Doppler Velocimeter (ADV) in gravel-bed streams to ascertain near-bed turbulence for low Reynolds number. The interference between incidental and reflected pulses produce spikes in the ADV data especially in the near-bed flow zone and therefore filtering the data are ...

Textural patches (i.e., grain-size facies) are commonly observed in gravel-bed channels and are of significance for both physical and biological processes at subreach scales. We present a general framework for classifying textural patches that allows modification for particular study goals, while maintaining a basic degree of standardization. Textures are classified using a two-tier system of t...

[1] In a drainage network, sediment is transferred through a series of channel/valley segments (natural sediment storage reservoirs) that are distinguished from their neighbors by their particular capacity to store and transport sediment. We propose that the sediment transport capacity of each reservoir is a unique positive function of storage volume, which influences sediment mobility and avai...

The objective of the study is to improve the understanding of relationships between multiple spatial scales and the development of micro-habitat as well as its co-dependence with the net-spinning caddisfly (Stenopsyche mamorada). In this study, two target riffles located in the Asa River basin were investigated during the spring of 2006. Three major findings of this research were that; 1. the t...

A 0.9 km-reach of Uvas Creek, California, was reconstructed as a sinuous, meandering channel in November 1995. In February 1996, this new channel washed out. We reviewed project documents to determine the basis for the project design and conducted our own historical geomorphological study to understand the processes operating in the catchment and project reach. The project was designed using a ...