GG282 Lecture Notes - Flood, Overbank, Sediment Transport
Document Summary
Natural stream channels adopt a variety of forms including: In a natural meandering stream, glow velocities in the channel are not uniform. Gradually shift their position laterally as they migrate across the floodplain and produces a variety of floodplain landforms. In a natural state, a meandering channel is relatively stable and provides a variety of habitats for organisms and may have a high resource value. In general there is an inverse relation between flow volume and frequency of occurrence. When discharge exceeds the bankfull capacity of a stream channel, overbank flow occurs (a flood) Erosion, sediment transport and deposition may accompany high discharge events. The morphology of a natural river channel and the channel pattern are strongly influenced by relatively frequent low magnitude flooding events that occur approximately once every two years. A plot of the frequency of discharge as a function of time for a given stream is called a flow duration curve (or flow duration hydrograph)
