FRESH SURFACE WATER River Morphology and Channel Processes - Iware Matsuda

RIVER MORPHOLOGY AND CHANNEL PROCESSES

Iware Matsuda
College of Economics, Kanto Gakuin University, Yokohama, Japan

Keywords: Channel processes, river morphology, drainage basin, river system, stream
order, Horton's laws, alluvial plain, channel pattern, sediment load, rejuvenation.

Contents
1. Introduction
2. Channel Processes
3. Drainage Patterns

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4. Channels in Alluvial Plains
Glossary

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Bibliography
Biographical sketch

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To cite this chapter O

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Summary
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Channel processes reflected in river morphology are erosion, transportation and

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sedimentation. These processes develop drainage basins. Every drainage basin has its
own shape. Some indices are proposed to explain the shape of a drainage basin
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quantitatively. As for channels in a drainage basin, concept of stream order is

introduced and is related to the total length and the gradient of channels and the area of
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drainage basins. A drainage pattern means a plan of a river system, and reflects a
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variety of information about geology and predominant slope of the drainage basin.
Sediment loads are classified into bed load and suspended load. In contact with a river
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bed, bed load consisting of material of larger diameter than fine sand, is brought to the
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lower reaches. Fine materials such as clay and silt are held in suspension in stream
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water and are carried without contact with the river bed. The three main channel
patterns in alluvial plains are: braided, meandering and straight. Channels on an
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alluvial fan show a braided pattern, and their depth is shallow. The river bed is
composed of gravelly deposits. Channels in a flood plain meander and have a river bed
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composed of sand. Channels bifurcate in a delta, and bifurcated channels have muddy
river beds and tend to be straight. The movement of water and the kinds of sediment
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load affect the depth and width of a channel.

1. Introduction

Rain water flowing down slopes comes together to form a stream flow. The space
where a stream flow runs is a channel. A river is the general term for a channel and the
water in it. The area supplying water into a channel is a drainage basin. The boundary
between drainage basins is a water divide. A river system is composed of the main
stream and many tributaries. However, there are many cases where several tributaries
have similar length and flow, and it is difficult to determine which is the main stream.
A drainage pattern is a plan of a river system. A river develops various landforms

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FRESH SURFACE WATER River Morphology and Channel Processes - Iware Matsuda

through channel processes. The main channel processes or fluvial processes are erosion,
transportation and sedimentation. Erosion predominates in the upper reach area of a
drainage basin, and valleys composed of channels and slopes are formed. The materials
brought to the lower reaches in a channel are sediment load. Weathering of the rocks
composing slopes is the main cause of production of sediment load. Sediment load is
deposited to form an alluvial plain. Three basic channel patterns are detected in alluvial
plains. They are braided, meandering and straight. River morphology is explained by
channel patterns and channel forms, and is decided by such factors as discharge, water
surface slope, water velocity, depth and width of the channel, and river bed materials,
etc. These factors are not independent but inter-related to each other.

2. Channel processes

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2.1. Erosion

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Running water carries out two processes. One is erosion and the other is corrosion.

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Erosion is a hydraulic action and is derived from the energy of running water. Gravel
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being brought by running water scours the channel and removes sediment from the

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river bed. Erosion makes a channel broader and deeper. These processes are also called
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lateral erosion and deepening erosion respectively. If deepening erosion predominates,
a canyon is formed. Lateral erosion forms a channel with a broader river bed. Stream
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water reacts chemically with rocks and dissolves them. This process is called corrosion.
Karst landforms composed of calcareous limestone provide a well-known example
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created mainly by corrosion.

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Valleys in mountains can be very deep. Deep valleys are formed not only by stream
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water but also by the effects of weathering. The rocks composing slopes have been
weathered for a long period of time, and become rock fragments or rock wastes
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including other fine materials. Gravity, in combination with heavy rain falling on the
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slopes, causes the weathered materials to fall down into the valley bottom. These
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process result in downstream extension of the valley and retreat of the upper slopes.
The weathered materials deposited in a valley bottom are scoured by running water and
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carried to the lower reaches.

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2.2 Transportation
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The higher the water velocity, the more capacity a river has for transporting sediment
load. There are three different processes in transporting sediment load. They are
corrosion, suspension and traction. Corrosion is the process in which stream water
corrodes rocks and brings them invisibly into solution. Such fine materials as clay, silt,
fine sand and materials lighter than water are transported in the water or on the water
surface without contact with the river bed. This process is called suspension, and
materials carried in suspension are the suspended loads. Suspended load creates the
turbidity of stream water. Gravel of larger diameter slides or rolls, and sand hops or
bounds on a river bed. These processes are called traction. Sediment load carried by
traction is known as bed load.

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2.3 Sedimentation

A flood caused by heavy rain carries a huge volume of bed load from mountains to the
plain. When a flood flows from the mountains to a plain, the capacity to transport bed
load is suddenly reduced. Particles of bed load are deposited in order of their size, and
an alluvial plain is formed. An alluvial fan composed of gravel is formed in the
uppermost reaches of an alluvial plain. The surface of an alluvial fan is like a segment
of a cone. The radial profile toward the lower reach is concave and the cross-sectional
profile is convex. A delta being developed near a river mouth consists of fine materials
and sand. The morphology of a delta is derived from the interaction of fluvial and
marine processes. If neither of these two processes is superior to the other, an arcuate
delta is likely to be formed. This form indicates a state of maturity in a delta. In the
case of sediment load entering a calm bay, a bird foot delta is developed. In some

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cases, strong coastal currents and sea waves move the sediment supplied by river, and a

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cuspate delta with several lines of sand bar can form. A flood plain consisting of
natural levees and back swamps occupies the transitional area between an alluvial fan
and a delta. A natural levee is composed of sand and silt. Clayey deposits distribute in

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back swamps are lower and wetter than natural levees.
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The channels on an alluvial fan are interconnected and show a braided pattern. When a
large flood flows down from mountains, the channels on an alluvial fan often change
their course, and the newborn channel is maintained until the next flood. The former
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channel is abandoned and is supplied water only by groundwater. The lower reaches of
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the abandoned river remain as a feature on floodplains and deltas. Figure 1 is the
landform classification map of Nobi plain, Aichi prefecture, in central Japan.The Kiso,
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Ibi and Nagara Rivers develop the plain. Since an active fault runs between the plain
and the western ranges, the western part of the plain is down-faulting and very flat
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lowland is formed. Typical landforms in an alluvial plain are distributed along the Kiso
River, flowing into the plain from the northeastern mountains. They are the alluvial fan,
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natural levees, back swamps and the delta. Many abandoned channels flowing down
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from the alluvial fan can be detected in the lower reach area.
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Figure 1. Landform classification of Nobi Plain.1: mountain and hill; 2: river terrace;
3: alluvial cone; 4: alluvial fan; 5: natural levee; 6: back swamp and river course;
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7:higher delta; 8: lower delta; 9: reclaimed land; 10: abandoned channel.

2.4. A Graded River

As erosion proceeds, the gradient of a river bed becomes progressively gentler, and the
energy of running water decreases. Eventually the capacity of running water for
transporting sediment load will come to match the supply. In this condition, neither
erosion nor sedimentation occurs on the river bed and its gradient does not vary. Such
rivers are named graded rivers. Although the gradient of a river bed does not change,
the materials composing the bed are removed and replaced. The gradient of a river bed
of a graded river decreases gradually towards the lower reaches, and the longitudinal
cross-section of the channel conforms almost to an exponential line. When a sudden

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FRESH SURFACE WATER River Morphology and Channel Processes - Iware Matsuda

change occurs in the gradient of part of a channel, almost all the river system might be
affected. Such changes can be natural or humanmade, such as construction of dikes
and bridges; these changes break the state of equilibrium.

2.5. Rejuvenation and River Terrace

Rejuvenation occurs when a channel being in a state of equilibrium or progressive

sedimentation changes its predominant process to erosion. The main causes of
rejuvenation are uplift of the ground, lowering of sea level due to glacial eustasy
(lowering of base level), decrease of sediment load and increase of discharge due to
climate change, etc. Various landforms are formed by reactivated channel process.

2.5.1 River Terrace

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When channel rejuvenation occurs, a channel begins to deepen and a new gorge is
formed in an alluvial plain. As a result, the surface of the former alluvial plain becomes
higher than the river bed, and river water ceases to overflow onto it. The former

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alluvial plain then becomes a river terrace. A river terrace has two components: terrace
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surface and terrace slope. If sedimentation and erosion are repeated again and again,

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several steps of a river terrace can be formed.

Physical weathering predominated in high mountains during the last glacial age,
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supplying an abundance of rock fragments. Valley bottoms were buried by very thick
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deposits. The supply of rock fragments decreased in the post-glacial age, however, and
rejuvenation occurred to form river terraces. River terraces formed by climate change
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are called a climatic terrace. Since a climatic terrace has a steeper gradient than an
alluvial plain formed under the recent climate, these two surfaces intersect each other
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in the lower reaches and the former is buried under the latter.
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2.5.2 Incised River

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Usually, channels in a flood plain are meandering. A meander is a sinuous bend in a

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river, and a river may meander continuously for hundreds of kilometers through a flood
plain. The term is derived from the River Meanderes in Turkey. If a meandering
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channel has been rejuvenated, a channel begins to under-cut a river bed while keeping
a meandering course. As a result, a meandering valley is formed, and the river running
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in the valley is called an incised river. If under-cutting proceeds rapidly, the valley
walls can have bilateral symmetry. This type of meandering is named an entrenched
meander. If the position of a channel is gradually moved, this type of meandering is
called an ingrown meander. In the case of an ingrown meander, the valley wall of the
undercut slope becomes steeper, and asymmetrical valley slopes are created.

2.5.3 Antecedent River

When a part of a drainage basin is uplifted by crustal movement, rejuvenation of

channels is initiated. If uplift movement is slower than under-cutting, the channel
course is kept and a gorge is formed. A river that forms a gorge along a meandering
course is called an antecedent river. If uplift movement is faster than under-cutting, the

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river bed becomes discontinuous on either side of the uplifted area. The upper reaches
of the river are dammed up, and a nickpoint appears on the downstream side. The
nickpoint, the source of the truncated river, moves back toward the upper course, often
creating a waterfall. Another cause of development of a nickpoint is that the rate of
erosion of rocks is larger in the lower reaches than it is in the upper reaches. Niagara
Falls is a typical example of this.

2.6 River Capture

When rapid head erosion proceeds into an adjacent drainage basin, the valley head
eventually works its way towards another channel, and it becomes connected with the
upper reaches of the formerly separate basin. This phenomenon is called river capture.
The point where river capture takes place is called an elbow of capture. The lower

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reaches of the captured river are deprived of the headwaters and a dry valley named a

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beheaded river or a wind gap remains. On the other hand, there is an increase in the
discharge of the river with the enlarged drainage basin and under-cutting is accelerated
to form a gorge. River capture can happen several times in the evolution of a drainage

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basin.
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3. Drainage Patterns

3.1. Drainage Basins AP

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3.1.1 Shape of Drainage Basins

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Every basin has a unique shape. Horton (1932) proposed the form factor in order to
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express the shape of a basin quantitatively. The form factor (F) is defined as
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F=B/L,
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where B and L are the mean basin width and the maximum basin length, respectively.
Since a drainage basin is composed of very complex slopes, the area of a drainage
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basin is measured from horizontal projection of these slopes. If the area of a drainage
basin is A, the mean basin width B is
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B=A/L.
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Accordingly, F=A/L2.

Generally, F is less than 1 because the maximum basin length is longer than the mean
basin width.

After Horton advocated the form factor, other ways of expressing the shape of a basin
were proposed. Two examples are the circularity ratio (Miller, 1953) and the
elongation ratio (Schumm, 1956). The circularity ratio is the ratio of the area of a
drainage basin to the area of a circle having the same perimeter as a drainage basin.
The elongation ratio of a drainage basin is the ratio of the diameter of a circle with the
same area to the length of the basin.

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3.1.2 Stream order

Figure 2 shows stream order after Horton (1945) and Strahler (1957). According to
Hortons order, the main stream has the highest order from the river-mouth to the head
of a stream and the largest tributary has lower stream order by 1, than the main stream.
Since Hortons order was complicated, Strahler proposed an improvement. According
to Strahlers order, the stream originating in the uppermost part of a drainage basin is
given the first order. If two first order streams join, the stream order becomes the
second in the lower reaches, i.e. if two nth order streams join, an (n+1)th stream is born.
Where a stream joins with another stream having a lower order, the stream order
doesnt change. Strahlers order, being generally easier to understand, is more popular
than Horton's.

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Figure 2. Example of stream order, as proposed by (a) Horton, and (b) Strahler.
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Horton (1945), Schumm (1956) and others discussed the relationship between stream
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order and factors composing a drainage basin. The most important results are as
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follows:
As stream order increases, the number and the mean gradient of streams
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decrease in an inverse geometric ratio.

As stream order increases, the mean length of streams and the mean area of
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drainage basin increase. The shortest and the steepest streams have the smallest
drainage basins.

On the other hand, Hack (1957) deduced the empirical equation:

L=cAr and Q=jAm,

where L is the length in a geometric ratio, A is the area of a drainage basin and Q is the
discharge. This means that as stream order increases, the discharge increases in a
geometric ratio.

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3.2 Drainage patterns

A drainage map is a plan of all streams or river systems in a drainage basin. It presents
some characteristics of drainage basins through drainage pattern and drainage texture.
It is possible to deduce the geology of the basin, the strike and dip of depositional
rocks, existence of faults and other information about geological structure from
drainage patterns. Drainage texture reflects climate, permeability of rocks, vegetation,
and relief ratio, etc.

Howard (1967) related drainage patterns to geological information. Some typical

patterns are shown on Figure 3. A dendritic pattern (a) is most common. This pattern is
formed in a drainage basin composed of fairly homogeneous rock without control by
the underlying geologic structure. The longer the time of formation of a drainage basin

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is, the more easily the dendritic pattern is formed. A parallel pattern (b) is apt to appear

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in areas where the strata of sedimentary rocks decline in the same direction. Channels
are formed in the steepest direction. If faults or large joints develop, a rectangular
pattern (c) is likely to be formed. A trellised pattern (d) shows a questa which is

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developed in a drainage basin composed of alternation of tilted hard and soft strata.
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Another case results from parallel folding. A radial pattern (e) appears on a newly born

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volcano or an area composed of rocks with domed structure. Channels develop along
the maximum gradient of mountain slopes. An annular pattern (f) is apt to be formed in
an area with a dome structure. If the gradient of the land surface is very gentle, a
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systematic stream pattern may not be created.
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Figure 3. Drainage patterns.a: dendritic; b: parallel; c: rectangular; d: trellised; e:

radial; f: annular

Quantitative expression of drainage texture is so difficult that qualitative expressions

such as coarse, medium and fine are usually used. Drainage texture contains two

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different concepts of density and frequency. Drainage density is defined as the length
of streams per unit of drainage area and is measured by dividing the total length of
streams by the area of a drainage basin. Drainage frequency is derived by dividing the
number of streams by the area of the drainage basin. Although two drainage basins
may show similar drainage density, their drainage frequency is not necessarily the
same. In the same way, similar drainage frequency does not mean similar drainage
density. Coarse drainage density is likely to appear in areas of permeable rocks and low
rainfall intensity. On the other hand, fine drainage density develops in badlands
because of impermeable rocks, thin vegetation cover and heavy rainfall. A drainage
basin in humid regions often shows medium drainage density.

4. Channels in alluvial plains

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Every channel has its own characteristics. However, channels show some common

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characteristics in areas of similar landform. Table 1 lists some common characteristics
of channels classified by where they run. As for channels flowing in a mountainous

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area, river bed materials are rock or gravel, the channel pattern is straight or braided,
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debris flow and traction transport heavy sediment loads, and the gradient of river beds

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is steep. Characteristics of channels in alluvial plains differ on an alluvial fan, a flood
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plain and a delta. River bed materials are gravelly on an alluvial fan, sandy on a flood
plain and muddy on a delta. Gravelly sediments show a braided channel pattern and are
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moved by traction. A sand bed channel usually meanders in a flood plain but is straight
in some cases. Traction or suspension is predominant in these channels. Channels
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bifurcate on a delta and the bifurcated channels are usually straight, but channels
meander in the upper reaches. Muddy sediment loads are carried by suspension. Of
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course, there are many examples of intermediate types of river bed materials and
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channel patterns.
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Classification Channels in Channels in alluvial plains

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of channels mountains Alluvial fan Flood plain Delta

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Riverbed
rock, gravel gravelly sandy muddy
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materials
bifurcated,
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Channel strait, meandering,

braided strait,
pattern braided strait
meandering
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Transportation
debris flow, traction,
by running traction suspension
traction suspension
water
Depth of shallow to
various shallow deep
channel deep
Gradient of steeper than 1/50 to 1/100 to gentler than
riverbed 1/100 1/500 1/2000 1/1000

Table 1. Classification of channels and their characteristics

The channel forms in an alluvial plain reflect the movement of water and the particle
size of the load flowing down the channel. The greater the water volume in the channel,

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the wider and deeper is the channel. Sediment loads are classified into suspended load
and bed load. A channel that brings a heavy bed load has a large width-depth ratio and
shows little meandering. Gravelly bed load is deposited to form bars. When bars divide
a channel, a braided channel pattern is formed. Channels having a braided pattern are
generally wide, shallow and steep.

Channels in which suspension is predominant are narrow and deep. That is, the
width-depth ratio is small. If the gradient of a channel or the velocity of running water
is small, a straight pattern is likely to be formed. On the other hand, if the gradient of a
channel or the velocity of running water is large, a meandering pattern is readily
developed. The gradient of a channel is in proportion to the volume of sediment load
and is inversely proportional to the water volume. The steeper the gradient of the
channel, the larger the diameter of sediment load. Consequently, the channel profile is

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concave-upward in general, i.e. the gradient of the channel becomes steeper toward the

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upper reaches. The horizontal sinuosity of a channel is defined by the ratio of the
channel length to the valley length or the ratio of the gradient of an alluvial plain to that
of a channel.

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Since rivers on an alluvial fan often change their channel courses; the drainage pattern

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is radial, but the channel density is small. Channels often tend to dry up in the central
part because running water permeates under the river bed. On the other hand, many
springs appear in a fan toe area. Many channels originate from these springs. The
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gradient of channels decreases from the head of an alluvial fan, and reaches 1 to 100 or
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less at the fan toe. If raised embankments are constructed on a channel running on an
alluvial fan, the river bed becomes higher than the surrounding land surface. Raised
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bed rivers appear frequently on alluvial fans formed in temperate humid climates.
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Channel density is larger in a flood plain than in an alluvial fan. Although channels
meander, meandering zones are fairly straight and parallel. Pools are formed at the
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bending parts of a channel. The flow of water changes direction at a pool, and strikes
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against the opposite bank. Accordingly, the curvature of meandering is enlarged. When
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a meandering channel turns its course by about 360 degrees, both necks in the upper
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and lower reaches meet each other. As a result, the lobe between the necks is cut off to
make an ox-bow lake. Generally speaking, the gradient of channels is 0.1 1.0 to 100
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in a floodplain. The channel depth is larger in a floodplain than in an alluvial fan.

Navigation is possible, and most of channels are tidal.
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The channel density becomes larger in a delta due to bifurcation. A bird foot delta
develops in a bay where the water is not influenced by strong currents or longshore
drift. Bifurcation continues to form a radial channel pattern. The height of a river bed is
lower than the surrounding land, and the gradient of a channel is generally less than 0.1
to 100. The channel depth is large and navigation is possible. All channels are tidal.

Glossary

Alluvial plain: A plain formed by fluvial processes.

Arcuate delta: A delta the shoreline of which shows an arc or a part of an arc.
Cuspate delta: A delta the shoreline of which protrudes seaward near the river

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Channel process:
Drainage pattern:
Drainage texture:
Graded river:
Horton's laws:
mouth.
Morphogenetic processes being carried out by running water in a
channel. Main processes are erosion, transportation and
sedimentation.
A plan of a river system in a drainage basin. Each pattern reflects
geological structure, prevailing direction of a slope, etc.
Fineness of drainage network. Two concepts of density and
frequency of channels are combined.
A river in which the gradient of the river bed does not vary. In
this condition, erosion is in proportion to sedimentation.
Two laws suggested by R. E. Horton. He defined stream order
and discussed the relation between the order of streams and the
number or length of streams.

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Rejuvenation: Renewal of former processes. Erosion is one of the fluvial

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processes reactivated.
Sediment load: Materials brought down a channel by river water.
Suspended load: Materials brought by river water without touching the river bed.

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Bibliography
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Hack, J.T. (1957). Studies of longitudinal stream profiles in Virginia and Maryland. United States
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Geological Survey Professional Paper, 294-B, 45-79. [Relations between the gradient of a river bed and
sediment load were discussed for the rivers flowing in this high rainfall region.]
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Horton, R. E. (1932). Drainage basin characteristics. Transaction of American Geological Union, 13,
350-361. [The first article providing quantitative description of river basin shape. Horton proposed the
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basin factors for analyzing basin shape.]

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Horton, R.E. (1945). Erosional development of streams and their drainage basin: Hydrophysical
approach to quantitative morphology. Bulletin of Geological Society of America, 56, 275-370.[Horton
tried morphometric analysis on a basin by proposing the stream order and deduce the famous Hortons
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laws.]
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Howard, A.D. (1967). Drainage analysis in geologic interpretation: a summation. Bulletin of American
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Association of Petroleum Geology., 51, 2246-59. [Some basic drainage patterns were described and
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related to geological conditions.]

Miller, V.C. (1953). A quantitative geomorphic study of drainage basin characteristics in the Clinch
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Mountain area, Virginia and Tennessee. Columbia University, Department of Geology, Technical Report,
No.3, Contract N6 ONR 271-300. [Miller proposed the circular ratio for expressing characteristics of
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basin shape.]
Schumm, S. (1956). Evolution of drainage systems and slopes in badland at Perth Amboy, New Jersey.
Bulletin of Geological Society of America, 67, 597-646. [The elongation ratio was proposed to show
characteristics of basin shape, and drainage basin evolution was discussed.]

Biographical Sketch

Iware Matsuda majors in geomorphology and Quaternary geology. His special theme is the historical
development of alluvial plains. He was on the staff of the Department of Geography, Faculty of Science,
Tokyo Metropolitan University from 1965 to 1992. In 1992, he moved to College of Economics, Kanto
Gakuin University. He has been Dean of the College since 2000. At the university, he lectures on
applied geomorphology, focusing on analysis of natural hazards from a geological and
geomorphological point of view.
He has been a member of the Committee of Earthquake Hazard Assessment of the Tokyo Metropolitan

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Government for many years. He has been engaged in assessment of earthquake damage in Tokyo
Metropolis and other self-governing bodies. He has visited many places which suffered from flood
damage as well as earthquake damage. His study fields are not restricted to his own country. He has
carried out field surveys in Bangladesh, Mexico, New Zealand, Philippines, Spain, Turkey, USA, and
Venezuela, among others.

To cite this chapter

Iware Matsuda, (2004), RIVER MORPHOLOGY AND CHANNEL PROCESSES, in Fresh
Surface Water, [Ed. James C.I. Dooge], in Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS),
Developed under the Auspices of the UNESCO, Eolss Publishers, Oxford ,UK,
[http://www.eolss.net]

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