Articles | Volume 4, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-4-273-2016
https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-4-273-2016
Research article
 | 
22 Mar 2016
Research article |  | 22 Mar 2016

Geometry of meandering and braided gravel-bed threads from the Bayanbulak Grassland, Tianshan, P. R. China

François Métivier, Olivier Devauchelle, Hugo Chauvet, Eric Lajeunesse, Patrick Meunier, Koen Blanckaert, Peter Ashmore, Zhi Zhang, Yuting Fan, Youcun Liu, Zhibao Dong, and Baisheng Ye

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Cited articles

Andrews, E. D.: Bed-material entrainment and hydraulic geometry of gravel-bed rivers in Colorado, Geol. Soc. Am. Bull., 95, 371–378, 1984.
Ashmore, P. E.: How do gravel-bed rivers braid?, Can. J. Earth Sci., 28, 326–341, 1991.
Ashmore, P. E.: Fluvial Geomorphology, in: vol. 9 of Treatise on Geomorphology, chapter Morphology and dynamics of braided rivers, Academic Press, San Diego, CA, 289–312, 2013.
Brauderick, C. A., Dietrich, W. E., Leverich, G. T., and Sklar, L. S.: Experimental evidence for the conditions necessary to sustain meandering in coarse-bedded rivers, P. Natl. Acad. Sci., 16936–16941, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0909417106, 2009.
Bunte, K. and Abt, S.: Sampling surface and subsurface particle-size distributions in wadable gravel- and cobble-bed streams for analyses in sediment transport, hydraulics, and streambed monitoring, Technical report, United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Fort Colins (CO), 451pp., 2001.
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Short summary
In meandering rivers, flow and sediments are carried in a single thread whereas in braided rivers they are carried through numerous threads. The geometry of single-thread follows scaling relationships with discharge. The most famous of these, "Lacey's law", states that a river's width scales with the square root of its discharge. We here show that threads from braided rivers also accord with Lacey's law, and that the geometry of meandering and braided threads cannot be differenciated.
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