GG231 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Saguenay River, Dynamic Equilibrium
Document Summary
Flash floods: little to know warning and occur rapidly, account for most flood related deaths. Regional floods: covers large area but build up over time, usually flat topography, occur after periods of prolonged rainfall or large snow melt. Canada 1996: most recent and most expensive flood in recent times occurred on the saguenay river in quebec. Dynamic equilibrium: overall balance between the work the river does and the sediment load it receives. Sediment is supplied by erosion, landslides and more. Changes in the amount of water or sediment carried by a river brings about changes in channel gradient or cross sectional shape, changing the velocity of the water. If you were to change land use from forest to agriculture such as corn, that increases the amount of sediment. First the stream will be unable to transports the additional load and will deposit some of the sediment, increasing the gradient of the river.
