Thesis (M.A.G.)--Texas State University-San Marcos, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 66-68).

xv, 137 p. : ill., maps. A print copy of this title is available through the UO Libraries under the call number: KNIGHT GB565.O7 H84 2008 / This study examines the role of floods in shaping the geomorphology of the multichannel, gravel-bed upper Umatilla River, northeastern Oregon, USA. Three parts are presented: (1) the development and application of an error-sensitive aerial photo-based planform channel-change detection and measurement methodology, (2) an examination of the occurrence, variability, and landform impacts of channel widening, straightening, and lateral movement during two mid-to-Iate 20th century flood periods, (3) an investigation of the effects of these floods on channel complexity, a proxy of habitat quality and indicator of ecological health in multi-channel rivers. Floods in 1964-5 (17- to 37-year recurrence interval) scoured, widened, and straightened the active channel in conjunction with large lateral movements, bar accretion, and capture of marginal vegetated areas by lateral scour. Following the flood, lateral movements were smaller, the channel narrowed, and bars, scoured areas, and vegetation lapsed from the channel. A similar flood in 1975 also scoured, widened, and straightened the channel; however, lateral channel movement and changes in channellandforrns were less in 1975 due to latent adjustment of the channel to the first flood. Migratory straightening, meander cutoffs, and avulsions dominated lateral movements during flood periods, whereas episodes of migratory (lateral) extension and (downstream) translation of meanders dominated lateral movement between flood periods. Channel changes were spatially variable and generally greater in reaches with wide floodplains. Floods reduced the overall complexity of the river channel, although the magnitude of change was highly variable and some areas increased in complexity in response to flooding. By contrast, channel complexity increased in the period between floods, particularly in laterally confined areas where complexity loss was high during the first flood period. Two key processes appear to most affect channel complexity: (a) lateral scour and avulsions, which capture vegetation into the channel, and (2) migrations of the main channel, which reflect bar accretion and dissection. Results of this study are broadly congruent with theories (and their corollaries) emphasizing adjustment of channel dimensions, increased rates of change, and reduced complexity in response to flood disturbance, but only partially consistent with theories emphasizing large geomorphic changes in structurally confined settings. This dissertation includes both previously published and co-authored material. / Committee in Charge: Dr. Patricia F. McDowell, Chair; Dr. W. Andrew Marcus; Dr. Patrick J. Bartlein; Dr. Joshua J. Roering

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Geography / Marcellus Caldas / One of the critical challenges facing our world today, is managing our intensive use of land to support a growing population, while also ensuring the continued provision of ecosystem services that have supported human civilization thus far. The Great Plains region is representative of this complex global challenge because it supports some of the most productive agriculture in the world, yet is also degraded by land cover change, habitat loss, and nonpoint source pollution from nutrients, sediment, and pesticides. In the absence of regulatory remedies, nonpoint source pollution is typically addressed through voluntary adoption of Best Management Practices (BMPs). However, meaningful reductions in nonpoint source pollutants are too often elusive. This is due to two overarching factors: variable rates of effectiveness based on site-specific, geographic factors; and variable rates of adoption due to social, economic, and policy pressures. Therefore, to address the problem of nonpoint source pollution, we must better understand the interacting physical processes behind nonpoint source pollution, and the cultural processes driving land management choices. The unifying variable between rates of effectiveness and rates of adoption, is land use/land cover (LULC) driven by land management practices. This dissertation seeks to integrate an advanced understanding of the interactions between the physical impacts of LULC on nonpoint source pollution removal in stream riparian zones, with an evaluation of Indigenous cultural frameworks to better inform land management paradigms. This dissertation explores the relationship between fluvial geomorphology, hydrology, and nutrient dynamics in riparian areas of incised stream channels. To add to this understanding, I utilize a transect of nested piezometers to observe riparian zone hydrology under both forested and row-crop land cover along an incised stream, James Creek in northeast Kansas. The investigation of coupled hydrologic/biogeochemical relationships addresses whether precipitation interflow to incised channels is interacting with the soil in such a way that denitrification processes are facilitated, or inhibited. These issues may be better addressed through multiple BMPs and management for whole ecosystems – a view that is contained within the Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) framework. Understanding Indigenous values and land management preferences may provide an alternative cultural framework for valuing native land cover, and help government agencies and NGOs promote increased adoption of BMPs. A greater understanding of these Indigenous cultural frameworks will also help to bridge gaps in understanding between government agencies and Indigenous tribes in questions of resource management. Therefore, this dissertation examines Indigenous governance of natural resources, and historical barriers that have led to the unique situations that exist today. Utilizing mixed-methods research, the overarching goal of this dissertation is to apply advanced understandings of riparian hydrology and water quality function in the Great Plains to best management practice recommendations based on a sound understanding of Indigenous nature-society value systems.

Identifying tectonically active faults and quantifying rates of movement is a key challenge in the Earth Sciences, in addition to this the interactions between active faulting and the landscape, specifically involving the fluvial network, is a relatively new area of study. Previous work has highlighted the value of understanding how the fluvial network responds to active tectonics, showing that a comprehensive understanding of the dynamic relationship between fluvial geomorphology and active tectonics is an important next step in geological research. This study presents new information about the poorly constrained Quaternary tectonic history of the Gediz Graben, Turkey, providing the first quantification of rates of movement of the key fault array that presently controlling graben topography. The fluvial network has been investigated and the data has been used in order to add resolution to the tectonic history for the fault array, allowing for the quantification of post-linkage throw rates. The study then investigates the key controls on the behaviour of the fluvial network that cross the active topography building fault array in the Gediz Graben. This study shows that there has been a linkage event occurring between 0.6 – 1 Ma, involving the three segments of the graben bounding fault array. The pre- and post-linkage throw rates are then extrapolated using data derived from the fluvial network, showing a faulting enhancement factor of 3 at the centre of the fault array, with the throw rate at the centre of the array predicted to have increased from a pre-linkage rate of 0.6 ± 0.1 mm/yr to a rate of 2 ± 0.2 mm/yr. This research provides evidence that the fluvial network can be used in conjunction with other types of evidence to provide a greater resolution tectonic history. Using both digital data and field studies this research presents an examination of the factors that influence the behaviour of bedrock rivers undergoing perturbation due to tectonics. Factors such as drainage area, tectonic throw rates and lithology have been investigated and the complicated interactions of these variables with the fluvial system have been quantified. This study shows that the bedrock rivers are a significant source of information about tectonics, but further work is needed to resolve quantitatively how various factors influence how rivers adjust to tectonic perturbation, in a variety of tectonic situations, in order to enable river to be used as a primary tool for deriving information about tectonics.

Thesis advisor: Noah P. Snyder / Thesis advisor: Mathias J. Collins / Large wood (used interchangeably with the term “instream wood”), which refers to trees, logs and other wood within a channel, is beneficial to river ecosystems and is being used more frequently as a component of river restoration projects. The process of large wood becoming stable within a river channel, inducing floodplain formation, and eventually providing large wood back to the system is known as the ‘floodplain large-wood cycle’ hypothesis (Collins et al., 2012). In a stream restoration context, this process can be viewed as an indicator of a self-sustaining cycle. The ‘floodplain large-wood cycle’ hypothesis was formulated in the Pacific Northwest. To investigate this process in other regions, I used the Merrimack Village Dam (MVD) study site in southern New Hampshire. The study site provided a location where instream wood was recruited to the river from an adjacent terrace as a consequence of erosion associated with a dam removal. Assessment of wood in this scenario was used to evaluate the ‘floodplain large-wood cycle’ (Collins et al., 2012), and to compare MVD to “passive” large wood restoration and deliberate, and potentially engineered, large wood restoration sites throughout New England. To assess multiple sites, I identified metrics to evaluate the effectiveness of large wood to promote ecological and geomorphic complexity within channels. The metrics were quantified at the MVD site and several other sites in New England with natural or placed large wood. I also collected additional data at the MVD site using methods implemented during previous studies, including cross section surveys and repeat photographs (Collins et al., 2017; Pearson et al., 2011). The study assessed habitat and geomorphic effects of large wood within river systems in the northeastern U.S. and provided information to evaluate the use of large wood during river restoration. Overall, only 33%, 33%, and 20% of surveyed sites are consistent with hypotheses formulated regarding significant differences in depth variability, velocity variability, and median velocity between test and reference reaches, respectively. With evidence for and against each hypothesis at both passive and active sites, large wood structures did not cause the geomorphic and hydraulic changes I expected to see. The availability of sand in a channel and the stream slope influencing sediment transport seem to be important factors in determining whether or not large wood has the ability to impact the geomorphic and hydraulic characteristics of a channel. At the MVD site, where sand is available, up to 0.90 m of sediment deposition is seen on top of the surface eroded by a March 2010 flood, surrounding recruited trees. Evaluation of historical aerial imagery further indicates that evidence of the ‘floodplain large-wood cycle’ hypothesis is present at the MVD06 cross section on the Souhegan River in New Hampshire. / Thesis (MS) — Boston College, 2022. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Earth and Environmental Sciences.

No description available.

A hydraulic model was developed to determine differences in the hydraulic characteristics of three different reaches of an urban- and agriculturally-impacted stream in southwest Virginia. The three reaches all had cattle excluded from the channel in 2010. The farthest upstream, Treatment 1, was left to progress without intervention beyond cattle removal while the other two, Treatments 2 and 3, were regraded and stabilized using common stream restoration techniques and a forested riparian was established. The banks of Treatment 2 were regraded to a slope of 3:1 while Treatment 3 was designed with a flat inset floodplain cut into the banks. The model results showed that the self-adjustment in Treatment 1 exhibited inset floodplains with diverse topographical structure including floodplain channels. These adjustments provided higher floodplain volume and mass exchange between the channel and the floodplain when compared with the stable, straight Treatment 2. Comparisons between Treatment 1 and Treatment 3 did not clearly show which treatment was more well connected, with some metrics showing Treatment 1 was more connected while others indicated the opposite. Overall, the findings indicate that stabilization of channelized streams without consideration of the natural planform prolongs adjustment to a channel-floodplain form with more exchange of water, sediment, nutrients and providing refuge for biota. / Master of Science / A water flow model was developed to determine differences in between sections with different management practices an urban- and agriculturally-impacted stream in southwest Virginia. The three reaches all had cattle excluded from the channel in 2010. The farthest upstream, Treatment 1, was left to progress without intervention beyond cattle removal while the other two, Treatments 2 and 3, were stabilized by changing the bank slope and planting trees. The banks of Treatment 2 were regraded to a slope of 3:1 while Treatment 3 was designed with a flat section cut into the banks. The model results showed that the self-adjustment in Treatment 1 created an bench similar to Treatment 3. This section flooded more readily and allowed for higher flow of water between the channel and the floodplain when compared with the stable, straight Treatment 2. Comparisons between Treatment 1 and Treatment 3 did not clearly show which treatment was more well connected, with some metrics showing Treatment 1 was more connected while others indicated the opposite. Overall, the findings indicate that stabilization of channelized streams in their man altered state prolongs adjustment to a more natural form which provides services including flood mitigation, sediment cycling, nutrient cycling and habitat for plants and animals in and along the stream.

Orientador: Archimedes Perez Filho. / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Geociencias / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-12T00:19:34Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Zancope_MarcioHenriquedeCampos_D.pdf: 4275470 bytes, checksum: 17f2356f75bb7d955ab74166ed6bded0 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008 / Resumo: Este estudo mostra que a dinâmica fluvial do Rio Mogi Guaçu (NE do Estado de São Paulo, SE Brasileiro) é influenciada pelas estruturas geológicas da bacia hidrográfica e pelas litologias que sustentam o leito fluvial. Essas estruturas e litologias afetam a forma do perfil longitudinal, alterando as relações entre a dinâmica da corrente fluvial e a carga sedimentar, seccionando o curso d'água em trechos com diferentes condições de transporte e morfologia do canal. A análise do perfil longitudinal do Vale e do Rio Mogi Guaçu permitiu correlacionar as estruturas geológicas e a distribuição da litologia com as anomalias na forma do perfil. Estas anomalias são setores do curso fluvial situados acima ou abaixo da linha de tendência do perfil longitudinal. Litologias resistentes à erosão fluvial sustentam anomalias acima da linha de tendência do perfil, enquanto que estruturas e lineamentos orientaram movimentos neotectônicos quaternários, promovendo anomalias abaixo da linha de tendência. A análise do desenvolvimento dos meandramentos e a associação de pedofácies mostraram duas planícies do Rio Mogi Guaçu com comportamentos morfodinâmicos distintos. A primeira delas, situada a montante de uma anomalia da forma do perfil longitudinal, mostrou processos de migração dos meandros concentrados exclusivamente no cinturão meândrico e solos com maturidade mínima e intermediária. A segunda, situada a jusante de outra anomalia, mostrou processos de migração dos meandros dispersos por toda a planície aluvial e solos com maturidade mínima. As estruturas geológicas e litologias promovem as anomalias na forma do perfil longitudinal do Rio Mogi Guaçu por meio de mudanças no gradiente fluvial, formando setores com comportamentos morfodinâmicos diferentes. / Abstract: This study shows that fluvial dynamics of the Mogi Guaçu River (NE State of São Paulo, SE Brazilian) is influenced by hydrographic basin geological structures and lithologies that sustain the river bed. These structures and lithologies affect the shape of the longitudinal profile, changing the relationships between the stream flow dynamics and sedimentary load, breaking the river into segments with different transport conditions and morphology of the channel. Longitudinal profile analysis of the Mogi Guaçu Valley and River allowed to correlate the geological structures and distribution of lithology with the anomalies in the shape of the profile. These anomalies are segments of the river located above or below the trend line of the longitudinal profile. Lithologies resistant to fluvial erosion sustain anomalies above trend line of the profile, while structures and lineaments oriented Quaternary neotectonics motions, promoting anomalies below the trend line. Meandering development analysis and pedofacies association showed two floodplains of Mogi Guaçu River with different mophodynamics behaviors. The first of them, upstream an anomaly in the shape of the profile, showed meanders migration processes concentrated exclusively in the meander belt and soils with minimum and intermediate maturity. The second, downstream another anomaly in the shape of the profile, showed meanders migration processes for the whole floodplain and soils with minimum maturity. The geological structures and lithologies promote the anomalies in the shape of the longitudinal profile of the Mogi Guaçu River through changes in the fluvial gradient, forming segments with different mophodynamics behaviors. / Doutorado / Análise Ambiental e Dinâmica Territorial / Doutor em Ciências

Master of Science / Division of Biology / Martha E. Mather / In contrast to well documented adverse impacts of large dams, little is known about how smaller low-head dams affect fish biodiversity. Over 2,000,000 low-head dams fragment United States streams and rivers and can alter biodiversity. The spatial impacts of low-head dams on geomorphology and ecology are largely untested despite how numerous they are. A select review of how intact low-head dams affect fish species identified four methodological inconsistencies that impede our ability to generalize about the ecological impacts of low-head dams on fish biodiversity. We tested the effect of low-head dams on fish biodiversity (1) upstream vs. downstream at dams and (2) downstream of dammed vs. undammed sites. Fish assemblages for both approaches were evaluated using three summary metrics and habitat guilds based on species occurrence in pools, riffles, and runs. Downstream of dams vs. undammed sites, we tested if (a) spatial extent of dam disturbance, (b) reference site choice, and (c) site variability altered fish biodiversity at dams. Based on information from geomorphic literature, we quantified the spatial extent of low-head dam impacts using width, depth, and substrate. Sites up- and downstream of dams had different fish assemblages regardless of the measure of fish biodiversity. Richness, abundance and Shannon’s index were significantly lower upstream compared to downstream of dams. In addition, only three of seven habitat guilds were present upstream of dams. Methodological decisions about spatial extent, and reference choice affected observed fish assemblage responses between dammed and undammed sites. For example, species richness was significantly different when comparing transects within the spatial extent of dam impact but not when transects outside the dam footprint were included. Site variability did not significantly influence fish response. These small but ubiquitous disturbances may have large ecological impacts because of their potential cumulative effects. Therefore, low-head dams need to be examined using a contextual riverscape approach. How low-head dam studies are designed has important ecological insights for scientific generalizations and methodological consequences for interpretations about low-head dam effects. My research provides a template on which to build this approach that will benefit both ecology and conservation.

The primary goal of this project is to develop a relative chronology of events in the geologic history of the Kentucky River, and to consider the geologic controls on those events. This study utilized published geologic and topographic data, as well as field observations and extensive compilation and comparison of digital data, to examine the fluvial record preserved in the Kentucky River valley in central Kentucky. Numerous fluvial features including abandoned paleovalleys, fluvial terraces and deposits, bedrock benches, and relict spillways between adjacent river valleys were identified during the course of the study. The morphology of the modern valley coincides with bedrock lithology and can be used to describe the distribution and preservation of modern and ancient fluvial deposits and features in the study area. Bedrock lithology is the dominant control on valley morphology and on the distribution and preservation of fluvial deposits and features in the study area. Some stream trends are inherited from the late Paleozoic drainage of the Alleghanian orogeny. More recent inheritance of valley morphology has resulted from the erosion of the river from one lithology down into another lithology with differing erosional susceptibility, thus superposing the meander patterns of the overlying valley style onto the underlying lithology. One major drainage reorganization related to a pre-Illinoisan glacial advance disrupted the northward flow of the Old Kentucky River toward the Teays River system and led to organization of the early Ohio River. This greatly reduced the distance to baselevel, and led to abrupt incision and a change in erosional style for the Kentucky River. The successful projection of valley morphologies on the basis of bedrock stratigraphy, the history of erosion suggested by fission track data and the results of this study, as well as soil thickness and development, all argue against the existence of a midto late-Tertiary, low-relief, regional erosional surface. This study instead hypothesizes that the apparent accordance of ridge-top elevations in the study area is a reflection of a fluvially downwasted late Paleozoic depositional surface.