Channel morphologies embody the physical reaction between channel substrate, bed material, and flow regime. This study examines reach-scale morphology variability in an ungauged tropical headwater stream. Field morphology classifications are validated through quantifying instream wood distribution and modeling the down-reach hydraulic variation of boundary shear stress and mean stream power. Bifurcated reaches display increased wood abundance and loading, as they provide a means of storage for unattached pieces. This corresponds with the transition from a stepped morphology to a widened, meandering reach that bifurcates around a mid-channel bar, followed by a transition back to a stepped morphology. Hydraulic modeling of two bifurcated reaches demonstrated significant variability in shear stress and stream power in one dimension through these transitions. These results substantiate the effectiveness of coupling field classification schemes with ultra-high resolution topographic surveys when investigating unmonitored streams and they indicate that transitional reaches can punctuate bedform regularity in high-energy drainages.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TCU/oai:etd.tcu.edu:etd-05232013-092054 |
| Date | 23 May 2013 |
| Creators | Lisenby, Peyton Everett |
| Contributors | Michael C Slattery, Thad A Wasklewicz, John M Holbrook |
| Publisher | Texas Christian University |
| Source Sets | Texas Christian University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf, application/octet-stream |
| Source | http://etd.tcu.edu/etdfiles/available/etd-05232013-092054/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to TCU or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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