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  1. Abstract

    Riverbed elevations play a crucial role in sediment transport and flow resistance, making it essential to understand and quantify their effects. This knowledge is vital for various fields, including river engineering and stream ecology. Previous observations have revealed that fluctuations in the bed surface can exhibit both multifractal and monofractal behaviors. Specifically, the probability distribution function (PDF) of elevation increments may transition from Laplace (two‐sided exponential) to Gaussian with increasing scales or consistently remain Gaussian, respectively. These differences at the finest timescale lead to distinct patterns of bedload particle exchange with the bed surface, thereby influencing particle resting times and streamwise transport. In this paper, we utilize the fractional Laplace motion (FLM) model to analyze riverbed elevation series, demonstrating its capability to capture both mono‐ and multi‐fractal behaviors. Our focus is on studying the resting time distribution of bedload particles during downstream transport, with the FLM model primarily parameterized based on the Laplace distribution of increments PDF at the finest timescale. Resting times are extracted from the bed elevation series by identifying pairs of adjacent deposition and entrainment events at the same elevation. We demonstrate that in cases of insufficient data series length, the FLM model robustly estimates the tail exponent of the resting time distribution. Notably, the tail of the exceedance probability distribution of resting times is much heavier for experimental measurements displaying Laplace increments PDF at the finest scale, compared to previous studies observing Gaussian PDF for bed elevation.

     
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    Free, publicly-accessible full text available July 1, 2025
  2. Abstract

    Predicting the transport of bedload tracer particles is a problem of significant theoretical and practical interest. Yet, little understanding exists for transport in rivers in the presence of bedforms, which may trap grains and thereby influence travel distance. In a series of flume experiments with a sandy gravel bed in a large experimental flume, bed elevation and tracer travel distances were measured at high resolution for a range of discharges. As discharge increased, bedform height increased and bedform length decreased, increasing bedform steepness. For all tracer sizes and flow conditions, bedforms act as primary controls on the tracer travel distances. Bedform trapping increases linearly with the ratio of bedform height to tracer grain size, with 50% trapping efficiency for a ratio of two and 90% trapping efficiency for a ratio of four. A theoretical model based on the extended active layer formulation for sediment transport is able to capture much of the distribution of measured travel distances for all tracer sizes and discharges, providing a first connection between tracer transport theory and bedform trapping and indicating normal diffusion of tracers at relatively small timescales. Variable bedform geometry can influence trap efficiency for individual bedforms and the theoretical model can help identify “preferential trapping” conditions. The distribution of tracer travel distances for a mixture of grain sizes and variable discharge, as expected in natural rivers, displays heavy tail characteristics.

     
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  3. Abstract

    The knowledge of structural controls of river networks (RNs) on transport dynamics is important for modeling and predicting environmental fluxes. To investigate impacts of RN’s topology on transport processes, we introduce a systematic framework based on the concept of dynamic clusters, where the connectivity of subcatchments is assessed according to two complementary criteria: minimum‐ and maximum‐flow connectivity. Our analysis from simple synthetic RNs and several natural river basins across the United States reveals the key topological features underlying the efficiency of flux transport and aggregation. Namely, the timing of basin‐scale connectivity at low‐flow conditions is controlled by the abundance of topologically asymmetric junctions (side‐branching), which at the same time, result in a slow‐down of the flux convergence at the outlet (maximum‐flow). Our results, when compared with observed topological trends in RNs as a function of climate, indicate that humid basins exhibit topologies which are “naturally engineered” to slow‐down fluxes.

     
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  4. Abstract

    Understanding channel migration is essential in interpreting long‐term evolution of fluvial systems and their deposits. Using data from an experimental delta, we analyzed the kinematics of the upstream channel and assessed the relative dominance of continuous lateral channel migration versus abrupt changes (i.e., avulsions). Detailed investigation of channel centerline location at minute intervals reveals a short‐term correlation between the magnitude of migration rates measured at the same location and a spatial correlation that diminishes with distance between points. The main finding is that the channel migrates across the entire deltaic domain without large and abrupt lateral shifts but through continuous lateral migration at variable rates. Long periods of back and forth small moves are separated by short bursts of rapid lateral migration. This finding contradicts the default expectation that that aggrading systems are characterized by avulsions and suggests that highly mobile rivers tend to avulse less. We contrast this with another experiment conducted under similar conditions but with finer sediment supplied at a lower rate which shows drastically less lateral migration; the kinematics is instead dominated by periodic flow reconfiguration episodes akin to avulsions, an indication that channel migration‐style depends on the sediment load. The characteristics of these two experiments parallel two regions of the Mississippi River, the meandering and highly mobile alluvial plain and the less dynamic deltaic region, suggesting that bedload sediment deposition at the transition into backwater zone plays an important role in re‐shaping the river planform and migration style.

     
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  5. Abstract

    Catchments are complex systems containing channel networks and hillslopes. Channel networks interact with hillslopes and are pathways for transporting water, sediment, and nutrients. Understanding the branching and flux transport patterns of channel networks is critical for predicting the response of catchments to external forcing such as climate and tectonics. However, factors creating complexities in catchments are not fully understood. Here, we propose a new framework based on multiscale entropy approach to evaluate complexity of catchments using two different representations of channel networks. First, we investigate the structural complexity using the width‐function, which characterizes the spatial arrangement of channels. Second, we utilize the incremental area‐function along the main channel to study the functional complexity that captures the patterns of transport of fluxes. Our analysis reveals stronger controls of topological connectivity on the functional complexity than on structural complexity, indicating unchannelized surface (hillslope) contribution to the increase of heterogeneity in transport processes.

     
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