River Dynamics


Book Description

Rivers are important agents of change that shape the Earth's surface and evolve through time in response to fluctuations in climate and other environmental conditions. They are fundamental in landscape development, and essential for water supply, irrigation, and transportation. This book provides a comprehensive overview of the geomorphological processes that shape rivers and that produce change in the form of rivers. It explores how the dynamics of rivers are being affected by anthropogenic change, including climate change, dam construction, and modification of rivers for flood control and land drainage. It discusses how concern about environmental degradation of rivers has led to the emergence of management strategies to restore and naturalize these systems, and how river management techniques work best when coordinated with the natural dynamics of rivers. This textbook provides an excellent resource for students, researchers, and professionals in fluvial geomorphology, hydrology, river science, and environmental policy.




Dams and Geomorphology


Book Description

Dams profoundly impact the geomorphology of rivers by altering the natural patterns of water, sediment and energy flow in rivers. These changes have a largely negative impact on aquatic and riparian ecosystems upstream and downstream of the dam. Natural dams also impact river geomorphology, although with positive and negative repercussions for aquatic and riparian organisms. In 2002, the 33rd Binghamton Geomorphology Symposium convened under the theme "Dams and Morphology," and featured invited papers and contributed posters on topics of natural dams, artificial dams, and dam removal. Fourteen of these papers have been included in this volume.




Modeling and Practice of Erosion and Sediment Transport under Change


Book Description

Climate and anthropogenic changes impact the conditions of erosion and sediment transport in rivers. Rainfall variability and, in many places, the increase of rainfall intensity have a direct impact on rainfall erosivity. Increasing changes in demography have led to the acceleration of land cover changes in natural areas, as well as in cultivated areas, and, sometimes, in degraded areas and desertified landscapes. These anthropogenized landscapes are more sensitive to erosion. On the other hand, the increase in the number of dams in watersheds traps a great portion of sediment fluxes, which do not reach the sea in the same amount, nor at the same quality, with consequences on coastal geomorphodynamics. This book is dedicated to studies on sediment fluxes from continental areas to coastal areas, as well as observation, modeling, and impact analysis at different scales from watershed slopes to the outputs of large river basins. This book is concentrated on a number of keywords: “erosion” and “sediment transport”, “model” and “practice”, and “change”. The keywords are briefly discussed with respect to the relevant literature. The contributions in this book address observations and models based on laboratory and field data, allowing researchers to make use of such resources in practice under changing conditions.




Effects of Sediment Transport on Hydraulic Structures


Book Description

Sediment transport is a significant part of the scientific area of river hydraulics. Therefore, the first section of the present book presents effects of sediment transport on hydraulic structures, that concern alluvial channel hydraulics. The second section refers to a serious consequence of river sediment transport, namely reservoir sedimentation. Sediment transported in a river originates from the corresponding basin, that is eroded by rainfall water. Hence, the quantification of soil erosion is also addressed in the second section. While soil erosion is the original physical process that causes reservoir sedimentation, the latter process may increase coastal erosion in case that the river feeding the reservoir, discharges its water into the sea. So, the effect of reservoir sedimentation on coastal erosion is further treated in the second section. Finally, the third section of the book is dedicated to the phenomenon of local scour around bridge piers, in particular the conditions of ice cover.




Handbook of Climate Change Impacts on River Basin Management


Book Description

Climate change not only involves rising temperatures but it can also alter the hydro-meteorological parameters of a region and the corresponding changes emerging in the various biotic or abiotic environmental features. One of the results of climate change has been the impact on the sediment yield and its transport. These changes have implications for various other environmental components, particularly soils, water bodies, water quality, land productivity, sedimentation processes, glacier dynamics, and risk management strategies to name a few. This volume presents a diverse collection of case studies from researchers across the globe examining the impacts of climate change on river basin management in various geographical, hydrological, and socioeconomic contexts. The case studies yield important insights that can inform strategies to build resilience and adapt river basins to a changing climate.




Global Change and River Ecosystems - Implications for Structure, Function and Ecosystem Services


Book Description

Rivers around the world are threatened by changes in land use, climate, hydrologic cycles, and biodiversity. Global changes in rivers include, but are not restricted to water flow interruptions, temperature increases, loss of hydrological connectivity, altered water residence times, changes in nutrient loads, increasing arrival of new chemicals, simplification of the physical structure of the systems, occurrence of invasive species, and biodiversity losses. All of them affect the structure and functioning of the river ecosystem, and thereby, their ecosystem services. Understanding the responses of river ecosystems and their services to global change is essential for protecting human well being in all corners of the planet. Rivers provide critical benefits by providing food from fisheries and irrigation, regulating biogeochemical balances, and enriching our aesthetic and cultural experience. Predicting responses of rivers to global change is challenged by the complexity of interactions among these man-made drivers across a mosaic of natural hydrogeomorphic and climatic settings. This book explores the broad range of determinants defining global change and their effects on river ecosystems. Authors have provided thoughtful and insightful treatments of specific topics that relate to the broader theme of global change regulation of river ecosystems.




Sedimentary Crisis at the Global Scale 1


Book Description

The Earth’s oceans are currently undergoing unprecedented changes: rivers have suffered a severe reduction in their sediment transport, and as a result, sediment input to the oceans has dropped lower than ever before. These inputs have varied over millennia as a result of both natural occurrences and human actions, such as the building of dams and the extraction of materials from riverbeds. Sedimentary Crisis at the Global Scale 1 examines how river basins have been affected by the sedimentary crises of various historical epochs. By studying global balances, it provides insights into the profound disruption of the solid transport of fluvial bodies. The book also explores studies of various rivers, from the Amazon, which remains relatively unaffected, to dying rivers such as the Colorado and the Nile.




Biogeochemical Dynamics at Major River-Coastal Interfaces


Book Description

A comprehensive, state-of-the-art synthesis of biogeochemical dynamics and the impact of human alterations at major river-coastal interfaces for advanced students and researchers.




Handbook of Engineering Hydrology


Book Description

While most books only examine the classical aspects of hydrology, the three-volume set covers multiple aspects of hydrology, and includes contributions from experts from more than 30 countries. It examines new approaches, addresses growing concerns about hydrological and ecological connectivity, and considers the worldwide impact of climate change. It also provides updated material on hydrological science and engineering, discussing recent developments as well as classic approaches. Published in three books, Fundamentals and Applications; Modeling, Climate Change, and Variability; and Environmental Hydrology and Water Management, the entire set consists of 87 chapters, and contains 29 chapters in each book. The chapters in this book contain information on: Long-term generation of scheduling of hydro plants, check dam selection procedures in rainwater harvesting, and stochastic reservoir analysis Ecohydrology for engineering harmony in the changing world, concepts, and plant water use Conjunctive use of groundwater and surface water Hydrologic and hydraulic design in green infrastructure Data processing in hydrology, optimum hydrometric site selection and quality control, and homogenization of climatological series Cold region hydrology, evapotranspiration, and water consumption Modern flood prediction and warning systems, and satellite-based systems for flood monitoring and warning Catchment water yield estimation, hydrograph analysis and base flow separation, and low flow hydrology Sustainability in urban water systems and urban hydrology Students, practitioners, policy makers, consultants and researchers can benefit from the use of this text.