Articles | Volume 4, issue 3
https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-4-685-2016
https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-4-685-2016
Research article
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29 Aug 2016
Research article | Highlight paper |  | 29 Aug 2016

Gravel threshold of motion: a state function of sediment transport disequilibrium?

Joel P. L. Johnson

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Cited articles

Ancey, C., Davison, A. C., Bohm, T., Jodeau, M., and Frey, P.: Entrainment and motion of coarse particles in a shallow water stream down a steep slope, J. Fluid Mech., 595, 83–114, https://doi.org/10.1017/s0022112007008774, 2008.
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Buscombe, D. and Conley, D. C.: Effective shear stress of graded sediments, Water Resour. Res., 48, W05506, https://doi.org/10.1029/2010wr010341, 2012.
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Short summary
Accurately predicting gravel transport rates in mountain rivers is difficult because of feedbacks with channel morphology. River bed surfaces evolve during floods, influencing transport rates. I propose that the threshold of gravel motion is a state variable for channel reach evolution. I develop a new model to predict how transport thresholds evolve as a function of transport rate, and then use laboratory flume experiments to calibrate and validate the model.
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