abstract: A fundamental gap in geomorphic scholarship regards fluvial terraces in small desert drainages and those terraces associated with integrating drainages. This dissertation analyzes four field-based case studies within the Sonoran Desert, south-central Arizona, with the overriding purpose of developing a theory to explain the formative processes and spatial distribution of fluvial terraces in the region. Strath terraces are a common form (Chapters 2, 3, 4) and are created at the expense of bounding pediments that occur on the margins of constraining mountainous drainage boundaries (Chapters 1, 2, 3). Base-level fluctuations of the major drainages cause the formation of new straths at lower elevations. Dramatic pediment adjustment and subsequent regrading follows (Chapter 3), where pediments regrade to strath floodplains. This linkage between pediments and their distal straths is termed the pediment-strath relationship. Stability of the base level of the major drainage leads to lateral migration and straths are carved at the expense of bounding pediments through an erosional asymmetry facilitated by differential rock decay between the channel bank and bed. Fill terraces occur within the Salt River drainage basin as a result of the integration processes that connect formerly endorheic basins (Chapter 4). The topographic, spatial, and sedimentologic relationship of the Stewart Mountain terrace (Chapter 4) points to a different genetic origin than the lower terraces in this basin. The high Stewart Mountain fill terrace records the initial integration of this river. The strath terraces inset below the Stewart Mountain terrace are a result of the pediment-strath relationship. These case studies also reveal that the under-addressed drainage processes of piracy and overflow have significant impacts in the evolution of drainages the lead to both strath and fill terrace formation in this region. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Geography 2013

O estudo das formas do relevo terrestre teve um avanço expressivo com a utilização das modernas ferramentas de sensoriamento remoto. Na região Amazônica, devido à vasta cobertura de nuvens, bruma e fumaça, quase que o ano inteiro, de certa forma, ocasiona dificuldade para levantamento com sensores ópticos. As melhores imagens para a região, portanto, são as imagens provenientes de radar, pois esse sistema tem a vantagem de adquirir imagens, independente, da presença de nuvens ou fumaça. Desta forma, este trabalho teve por objetivo principal o uso das imagens do Radar de Abertura Sintética (SAR) R99B para o mapeamento geomorfológico ao longo do furo do Ariaú no município de Iranduba. A escolha desta área se justifica por apresentar características naturais e socioeconômicas bem peculiares. Na questão natural, Iranduba está encravado entre os dois maiores caudal da região: rio Negro e Solimões/Amazonas e composto de um ambiente de terra firme e várzea. Na questão socioeconômica, é nesse município que se encontra, também, o maior polo oleiro do estado do Amazonas. A metodologia empregada neste trabalho foi baseada na adaptação dos métodos propostos por Lima (1995), composta de três fases: identificação, análise e interpretação. O método proposto permitiu a interpretação das feições geomorfológicas baseadas na textura das imagens SAR/R99B com múltiplas polarizações para as terras baixas com altitude não ultrapassando 100 m. A fim de buscar entender a dinâmica fluvial da área do Ariaú foi realizado trabalho de campo e levantamento pedológico. Como resultado desta pesquisa, obteve-se mapa da drenagem, mapa geomorfológico das feições fluviais e os principais nutrientes do solo na calha do Ariaú. As imagens do SAR mostraram-se eficientes para as diferentes feições geomorfológicas para o mapeamento de média escala, no entanto, a falta de imagens nos diversos períodos hidrológicos, seca, enchente, cheia e vazante, de certa forma, compromete um melhor entendimento do ambiente. Este trabalho, portanto, coloca-se como uma perspectiva para novas interpretações geomorfológicas dos ambientes fluviais nas áreas baixas da Amazônia. / The study of the forms of terrestrial landscape had a significant progress with the use of modern remote sensing tools. In the Amazon region, due to extensive cloud cover, haze and smoke, almost the entire year, somehow, causes difficulty imaging with optical sensors. The best images for the region, are the pictures from Radar because this system has the advantage of acquiring images, independent of the presence of clouds or smoke. Thus, this work aimed to use pictures of the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) R99B for geomorphological mapping along the Furo do Ariaú in the municipality of Iranduba. The choice of this area is justified due to its peculiar natural and socioeconomic characteristics. In the natural matter, Iranduba is wedged between the two major flow region: Rio Negro and Solimões /Amazonas and composed of an environment of upland and floodplain. In the socioeconomic issue, it is in this city that lays the largest polo potter in the state of Amazonas. The methodology used in this study was based on the adaptation of the methods proposed by Lima (1995), composed of three phases: identification, analysis and interpretation. The proposed method allowed the interpretation of geomorphological features based on texture of SAR/R99B images with multiple polarizations to the lowlands to an altitude not exceeding 100m. In order to try to understand the dynamics of the Ariaú river area fieldwork and soil survey were conducted. As a result of this research a map was obtained, including the drainage map, geomorphological map of the river and the main nutrients in the soil trough Ariaú. The SAR images were effective for different geomorphological mapping to medium scale, however, the lack of pictures in different hydrological periods, drought, flooding and receding somewhat, compromises a better understanding of the environment. This work, therefore, arises as a prospect for new interpretations of fluvial geomorphic low-lying areas of the Amazon.

Master of Arts / Department of Geography / Richard A. Marston / River migration has resulted in a land owner losing 80% of his farmable land along the west bank of a reach h of the Big Blue River near Marysville, Kansas. Analysis of meander geometry and meander movement revealed that a single meander is moving down valley, resulting in the loss of farmland. The rate and direction of river meander migration were measured using photogrammetric analysis of aerial photographs and topographic maps covering a period from 1956 to 2006. The greatest annual rates of channel migration and farmland erosion were closely associated with high flow events on the river between 1983 and 1986 and between 1986 and 1988. Analysis of recurrence interval, riparian vegetation, and bend curvature indicate that the rates of farmland lost and total meander migration are explained largely by the magnitude of floods. The direction in which the meander moved is largely explained by the bend curvature.

Orientador: Archimedes Perez Filho / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Geociências / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-22T04:45:44Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Quaresma_CristianoCapellani_D.pdf: 11456086 bytes, checksum: ac3b2ad24ae2edbaa1dd18ac224886b6 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012 / Resumo: Com base na Teoria do Equilíbrio Dinâmico e na abordagem sistêmica, formulou-se a hipótese de que a gênese e a aceleração de processos erosivos, identificados atualmente na bacia do Rio Santo Anastácio-SP/Brasil, resultam de rompimento do equilíbrio dinâmico, com conseqüente reativação da rede de drenagem. Tratam-se, portanto, de exemplos de processos e formas antropogeomorfológicos, tendo em vista que foram desencadeados pelo uso e ocupação das terras, que desrespeitaram fragilidades e dinâmicas naturais, bem como por alterações no nível de base local pela construção da Usina Hidrelétrica de Porto Primavera. Assim, adotou-se método comparativo dos anos de 1962 e 2010 com base em 85 amostras circulares de 10km2, distribuídas a fim de abarcarem o maior número de canais de primeira ordem, bem como de diferentes elementos físicos. Na seqüência, para o ano de 1962, traçaram-se as redes de drenagem, a fim de comparar índices (Densidade de drenagem e Densidade hidrográfica), e elaborou-se mapa de uso e ocupação das terras, com base em fotointerpretação por estereoscopia de 332 fotografias aéreas e, para fins comparativos, o mesmo procedimento foi realizado para o ano de 2010, utilizando-se de 24 cenas - ALOS/ PRISM e AVNIR2. Os resultados foram confrontados com mapas pedológico, geológico e geomorfológico da área de estudo, os quais foram digitalizados e vetorizados. Além disso, a obtenção de dados de precipitações pluviométricas permitiu melhor entendimento dos padrões de precipitação da área, e trabalhos de campo possibilitaram o reconhecimento da área e a reambulação dos mapas produzidos. Os resultados permitiram verificar que a rede de drenagem encontra-se em estado de desequilíbrio, pelo menos, desde a década de 60. Este estado manifesta-se pela retomada erosiva acelerada da rede de drenagem, em busca do restabelecimento de perfis de equilíbrio, mais ajustados em relação ao aumento brusco de entrada de matéria e de energia, ocasionado, sobretudo pelo desmatamento nas primeiras décadas de ocupação / Abstract: Based on the Theory of Dynamic Equilibrium and systemic approach, formulated the hypothesis that the origin and acceleration of erosion, currently identified in the River Basin Santo Anastácio-SP/Brazil, result from disruption of the dynamic balance, with subsequent reactivation of the drainage network, examples of geomorphological processes and forms with anthropogenic genesis, considering that were triggered by the use and occupation of land, that disrespected weaknesses and natural dynamics, as well as changes in local base level for the construction of the Porto Primavera Hydroelectric Plant. Thus, the years 1962 and 2010 were compared, based on 85 samples with circular 10km2, distributed with the goal of straddling the largest number of first-order channels, and different physical elements. Subsequently, for the year 1962 were traced drainage networks to compare indexes Drainage density and Density hydrographic, and the map has been prepared for use and occupation of land, based on photointerpretation of 332 stereoscopic aerial photographs and, for comparative purposes, the same procedure was performed for the year 2010, using 24 scenes - ALOS / PRISM and AVNIR2. The results were compared with pedological, geological and geomorphological maps, which were scanned and vectorized. Furthermore, data from rainfall allowed better understanding of the patterns of precipitation in the area, and field work enabled the recognition of the area, and the correction of maps produced. Results showed that the drainage system is in a state of imbalance, at least since the 60s. This condition is manifested by erosions' reactivation of the drainage network, seeking the restoration of equilibrium profiles, more consistent with the new entry conditions of matter and energy, caused mainly by deforestation in the early decades of occupation / Doutorado / Análise Ambiental e Dinâmica Territorial / Doutor em Geografia

No description available.

Orientador: George Luiz Luvizotto / Resumo: A formação das rias fluviais na Amazônia possui uma relação bem conhecida com o processo de avanço do nível do mar durante o Holoceno. Sugestões sobre a presença de controle estrutural e tectônico na gênese destas e de outros elementos do relevo amazônico tem sido levantadas por diversos autores, porém poucos elementos conclusivos foram apresentados até o momento. Este trabalho apresenta, no primeiro momento, uma série de evidências de diferentes fontes mostrando controle estrutural ao longo do ria do Tapajós e em áreas de terra firme adjacentes. A metodologia utilizada, é inovadora por integrar dados geomorfológicos, geológicos e geofísicos (sísmica, magnetometria e gravimetria) obtidos sem custo e disponíveis para grandes áreas, o que é uma grande vantagem em uma zona de difícil acesso como a Amazônia. Trata-se ainda de uma abordagem pouco usual dentro da geomorfologia na qual encontramos resultados muito promissores. Os resultados mostram a influência de elementos estruturais na configuração do relevo amazônico na região do baixo Tapajós. É proposto um modelo de horsts e grábens limitados por lineamentos com direção ENE-WSW com expressão regional. Em seguida apresentamos uma classificação para o canal do Tapajós baseado em variáveis morfométricas extraídas de perfil transversal. A classificação apresenta três trechos distintos para o canal do Tapajós no perímetro analisado, denominados Trecho do Canal Estreito, Baixo Trecho da Ria e Alto Trecho da Ria. Estes trechos possue... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The formation of the fluvial rias in the Amazon has a well-known relationship with the process of sea level transgression during the Holocene. Suggestions about the presence of structural and tectonic control in the genesis of these and other elements of the Amazonian relief have been raised by several authors, but few conclusive elements have been presented so far. This work presents, in the first moment, a series of evidences from different sources showing structural control along the Tapajós Ria and in adjacent land areas. The methodology used is innovative because it integrates geomorphological, geological and geophysical data (seismic, magnetometry and gravimetry) obtained at no cost and available for large areas, which is a great advantage in an area of difficult access such as the Amazon. It is also an unusual approach within geomorphology in which we find very promising results. The results show the influence of structural elements in the configuration of the Amazonian relief in the region of the lower Tapajós. A model of horsts and grabens limited by lineaments with regional expression is proposed. Next, we present a classification for the Tapajós channel based on morphometric variables extracted from transversal profiles. The classification presents three distinct sections for the Tapajós channel in the analyzed perimeter, here called Narrower Channel Reach, Lower Ria Reach and Higher Ria Reach. These reaches have statistical support and agreement with most of the s... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor

Over the last century, the construction and management of large dams and stream-flow diversions, and periodic drought have resulted in significant declines in stream flow of the lower Rio Grande in the Big Bend region. Reductions in mean annual flow and peak discharge have resulted in channel narrowing by the formation of vertically accreting inset floodplains. Narrowing has been temporarily interrupted by infrequent large dam releases greater than 1000 m3/s that have temporarily widened the channel; however, after each of these events, narrowing has resumed. Prior to 1942, floods of this magnitude occurred approximately once every 4 years and maintained a wide sandy channel. Since 1942, they have occurred 4 times. The decline in frequency of these large floods has resulted in a channel approximately 50% narrower than in the 1940s. Since the most recent channel widening floods in 1991, the channel has narrowed between 35 and 50%. In two large floodplain trenches, we observed between 2.75 and 3.5 m of vertical accretion during the same period. Additionally, nearly 90% of bare active channel bars have been converted to vegetated floodplains. Since 1991, the cross section channel area at the Johnson Ranch gage has decreased by approximately 30%. The reduction in cross section area and the invasion of non-native vegetation have resulted in higher flood stages, flooding at lower discharges, and continued vertical accretion. Channel narrowing has negatively impacted the native and endemic aquatic ecosystem through the loss of ecologically important habitats such as backwaters, side channels, and low velocity portions of the channel. Reductions in cross section area and resultant increased flood stages have also endangered historic cultural sites within the Big Bend region. Restoration efforts are currently underway within the region without a clear understanding of these historical channel changes and why they occurred. Our reconstruction of historical channel changes shows that the most significant periods of channel narrowing occurred during drought and increased stream-flow management. Management practices also appear to have enabled the invasion of non-native riparian species, which promoted sedimentation, bank stabilization, and additional channel narrowing. In order to restore historical measures of channel width, management options include non-native vegetation removal, common low magnitude dam releases that provide flood disturbance and prevent vegetation establishment, and large dam releases in excess of 1000 m3/s that create and maintain a wide channel. Vegetation management is expensive; and time consuming, and managed dam releases are politically unpopular and expensive, however, without the management of non-native riparian species and reinstatement of portions of the historical flood regime, ecological restoration will be difficult.

Flow regime, the magnitude, duration and timing of streamflow, controls the development of floodplain landforms on which riparian vegetation communities assemble. Streamflow scours and deposits sediment, structures floodplain soil moisture dynamics, and transports propagules. Flow regime interacts with environmental gradients like climate, land-use, and biomass-removing disturbance to shape riparian plant distributions across landscapes. These gradients select for groups of riparian plant species with traits that allow them to establish, grow, and reproduce on floodplains – riparian vegetation guilds. Here I ask, what governs the distributions of groups of similar riparian plant species across landscapes? To answer this question, I identify relationships between riparian vegetation guilds and communities and environmental gradients across the American West. In Chapter One, I discuss guild-based classification in the context of community ecology and streams. In Chapter Two, I identified five woody riparian vegetation guilds across the interior Columbia and upper Missouri River Basins, USA, based on species’ traits and morphological attributes. I modeled guild occurrence across environmental gradients, including climate, disturbance, channel form attributes that reflect hydrology, and relationships between guilds. I found guilds’ distributions were related to hydrology, disturbance, and competitive or complementary interactions (niche partitioning) between co-occurring guilds. In Chapter Three, I examine floodplain riparian vegetation across the American West, identifying how hydrology, climate, and floodplain alteration shape riparian vegetation communities and their guilds. I identified eight distinct plant communities ranging from high elevation mixed conifer forests to gallery cottonwood forests to Tamarisk-dominated novel shrublands. I aggregated woody species into four guilds based on their traits and morphological attributes: an evergreen tree guild, a mesoriparian shrub guild, a mesoriparian tree guild, and a drought and hydrologic disturbance tolerant shrub guild. Communities and guilds’ distributions were governed by climate directly, and indirectly as mediated through streamflow. In Chapter Four, I discuss the utility of guild-based assessments of riparian vegetation, current limitations to these approaches, and potential future applications of the riparian vegetation guild concept to floodplain conservation and management. The classification of vegetation into functional trait-based guilds provides a flexible, framework from which to understand riparian biogeography, complementing other models frameworks for riparian vegetation.

This study uses a spatial model to visualize LWD mobility areas in an approximate 1km reach of Cummins Creek, a fourth-order stream flowing through an old-growth Sitka spruce-western hemlock forest in the Oregon Coast Range. The model solves a LWD incipient motion equation for nine wood size combinations (0.1m, 0.4m, 1.7m diameters by 1.0m, 6.87m, 47.2m lengths) during the 2-year, 10-year, and 100-year discharge events. Model input variables were derived from a combination of field survey, remotely sensed, and modeled data collected or derived between June 2010 and July 2011. LWD mobility map results indicate the 2-year discharge mobilizes all modeled diameters, but mobile piece lengths are shorter than the bankfull channel boundary. Mobility areas for each wood size combination increases with discharge; 10-year and 100-year discharge events mobilize wood longer than average bankfull width within a confined section of the main stem channel, and mobilize LWD shorter than bankfull width within the main stem channel, side channels, and floodplain. No discharge event mobilizes the largest LWD size combination (1.7m / 47.2). Recruitment process was recorded for all LWD during June 2010, revealing that all mobile wood in the study reach was shorter than bankfull width. Based on these conflicting results, I hypothesize the distribution of wood in Cummins Creek can be described in terms of discharge frequency and magnitude, instead of as a binary mobile/stable classification. Mobility maps could be a useful tool for land managers using LWD as part of a stream restoration or conservation plan, but will require additional calibration.

Les grandes quantités de sédiments transportés par suspension dans les rivières alpines sont associées à d’importantes problématiques socio-économiques et environnementales telles que le transport de polluants, la dégradation des milieux aquatiques ou l’envasement des retenues hydroélectriques. Pour faire face à ces enjeux, il est nécessaire de mieux comprendre le rôle joué par le lit des rivières alpines sur la dynamique de ce transport. A partir de larges bases de données issues de la littérature et de nouvelles mesures de terrain, la première partie de cette thèse propose une étude à une échelle régionale de i) l’influence de la configuration des sources sédimentaires sur la variabilité du transport solide par suspension, ii) l’estimation de la quantité et de la disponibilité des particules fines dans le lit des rivières alpines et iii) l’analyse de la relation entre transport solide par suspension et mobilité du lit de ces rivières. Ces analyses montrent que la configuration du bassin versant en amont du point d’observation contrôle significativement la dynamique du transport solide par suspension observée en aval. De grandes quantités de sédiments fins sont en effet stockées dans les rivières alpines alluviales et il est ainsi possible de prédire une partie significative de leurs flux en suspension pour les forts débits à partir d’une modélisation de la mobilité de leurs lits. La seconde partie de la thèse teste ces résultats à une échelle locale. Pour cela, une campagne de mesures a été réalisée durant une saison complète de fonte sur un cours d’eau alpin typique, la Séveraisse. Un large panel de mesures directes et indirectes a été mis en œuvre pour mesurer la suspension, le charriage et les évolutions topographiques sur un tronçon de 3.5 km. Ces mesures confirment que les particules fines transportées par suspension interagissent fortement avec le lit dans ce type de tronçon morphodynamiquement actif. Ce dernier peut être perçu comme une zone tampon intermédiaire contrôlée par le forçage amont sédiments-débit liquide ainsi que par la mobilité et la morphologie de son lit. / The large quantities of sediments transported as suspension in Alpine rivers are associated with important socio-economic and environmental issues such as pollutant transfer, aquatic habitat degradation or dam siltation. To address these issues, it is required to better understand the role of Alpine river beds on the dynamics of this transport. In the first part of this thesis, we use large datasets from the literature and new field measurements to investigate at a regional scale i) the influence of sediment sources configuration on suspended load variability, ii) the quantity and availability of fine particles in Alpine river beds and iii) the relation between suspended load and river bed mobility. These analyses show that the catchment configuration upstream the observation point can significantly control the suspended load dynamics observed downstream. This first part also shows that large quantities of fine particles can be stored in alluvial Alpine rivers. For these rivers and for high flow rates, it was possible to predict a significant part of suspended load based on riverbed mobility modeling. The second part of the thesis tests these results at a local scale. To do so, an important field campaign was performed during the entire melting season of a typical Alpine river, the Séveraisse. A large panel of direct and indirect measurements was used to measure suspended load, bedload and topographic changes on a 3.5-km reach. These measurements confirm that suspended particles strongly interact with the river bed in that kind of morphodynamically active streams. The latter can be considered as an intermediate buffer controlled by the upstream hydro-sedimentary forcing and by the river bed mobility and morphology.