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The spatial variation of bed material texture in coupled basins on the Queen Charlotte Islands

University of British Columbia

Whether one is interested in the geomorphology, hydrology, or ecology of a river, the nature of the bed sediments is of major importance. Despite a long history of interest our ability to predict local grain size is poor, which is unfortunate given the labour and costs associated with bed material sampling. A preliminary model of sediment texture variation at the drainage basin scale, which makes a fundamental distinction between coupled and uncoupled hillslope-channel units, is presented. It is hypothesised that grain size variations in strongly coupled rivers are unstructured as a result of overbank colluvial inputs and special storage elements. These preclude the development of the systematic downstream structure commonly associated with fluvial sorting and abrasion processes in uncoupled channels. This conjecture is assessed empirically using data collected in two rivers on the Queen Charlotte Islands. It is found that distance alone does not explain changes in grain size, and that local variations are dominated by large organic debris jams. Impermeable jams are associated with upstream fining and downstream coarsening but the effect diminishes as the jams become more permeable, often with age. Jam placement is random, but frequent, and consequently at the drainage basin scale, grain size changes dramatically and unpredictably over very short distances. No deterministic structure is apparent. Further analysis reveals that the observed variations of surface median grain size and Fredle index are best regarded as stochastic phenomena. Sampling criteria are then determined which enable the accurate characterisation of such variation, once a stream has been classified by land use and position relative to hillslopes.

Text

2010-11-03

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/29788

Geography

University of British Columbia

Graduate