Abstract
Bedload is moved down the East Fork River in distinct wavelike pulses that have the form of composite dune fields The moving material consists mostly of coarse sand and fine gravel The wavelengths of the pulses are about 500–600 m, a distance that is predetermined by the pattern of stoage of bed sediment in the river during low water As the river discharge increases, the bed sediment is scoured from the storage areas, and it is moved onto and across the interventing riffles As the river discharge decreases, the bed sediment is scoured off the riffles and moved into the next storage area downstream Each successive pulse of water discharge sets into motion a wave of bedload that continues to move unitil it reaches the next storage area
Similar content being viewed by others
References Cited
Andrews, E. D., 1979a, Scour and fill in a stream channel, East Fork River, western Wyoming: U.S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 1117, 49 p.
Andrews, E. D., 1979b, Hydraulic adjustment of the East Fork River, Wyoming, to the supply of sediment,in Rhodes, D. D., and G. P. Williams, editors, Adjustments of the fluvial system: Dubuque, Iowa, Kendall/Hunt Publishing Co., p. 69–94.
Emmett, W W., R. M. Myrick, and R. H. Meade, 1980, Field data describing the movement and storage of sediment in the East Fork River, Wyoming. Part I. River hydraulics and sediment transport, 1979: U.S. Geol. Survey Open-File Rept. 80-1189, 43 p.
Emmett, W. W., R. M. Myrick, and R. H. Meade, 1982, Field data describing the movement and storage of sediment in the East Fork River, Wyoming. Part III. River hydraulics and sediment transport, 1980: U.S. Geol. Survey Open-File Rept. 82-359, 289 p.
Emmett, W W., L. B. Leopold, and R. M. Myrek, 1983, Some characteristics of fluvial processes in rivers,in Proceedings of the Second International Symposium on River Sedimentation, October 11–16, 1983, Nanjing, China: Beijing, Water Resources and Electric Power Press, p. 730–754.
Gilbert, G. K., 1917, Hydraulic-mining débris in the Sierra Nevada: U.S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 105, 154 p.
Griffiths, G. A., 1979, Recent sedimentation history of the Waimakariri River, New Zealand: J. Hydrol. (New Zealand), v. 18, p. 6–28.
Hayward, J. A., 1979, Mountain stream sediments,in Murray, D. L., and P. Ackroyd, editors, Physical hydrology, New Zealand experience (Toebes memorial volume): New Zealand Hydrol. Soc. p. 193–212.
Holmes, G. W., and J. H. Moss, 1955, Pleistocene geology of the southwestern Wind River Mountains, Wyoming, Geol. Soc. Am. Bull., v. 66, p. 629–653.
Leopold, L. B., M. G. Wolman, and J. P. Miller, 1964, Fluvial processes in geomorphology: San Francisco, W. H. Freeman & Co., 522 p.
Meade, R. H., W. W. Emmett, and R. M. Myrick, 1981, Movement and storage of bed material during 1979 in East Fork River, Wyoming, USA,in Davies, T R. H., and A. J Pearce, editors, Erosion and sediment transport in Pacific Rim steeplands: Internat. Assoc. Hydrol. Sci. Publ. 132, p. 225–235.
Meade, R. H., R. M. Myrick, and W W Emmett, 1980, Field data describing the movement and storage of sediment in the East Fork River, Wyoming. Part II. Bed elevations, 1979: U.S. Geol. Survey Open-File Rept. 80-1190, 171 p.
Meade, R. H., R. M. Myrick, and W. W. Emmett, 1982, Field data describing the movement and storage of sediment in the East Fork River, Wyoming. Part IV Bed elevations, 1980: U.S. Geol. Survey Open-File Rept. 82-360, 197 p.
Mosley, M. P., 1978, Bed material transport in the Tamaki River near Dannevirke, North Island, New Zealand: New Zealand J Sci., v. 21, p. 619–626.
Pickup, G., R. J. Higgins, and I. Grant, 1983, Modelling sediment transport as a moving wave—the transfer and deposition of mining waste: J. Hydrol., v. 60, p. 281–301.
Wier, G. J., 1983, One-dimensional bed wave movement in lowland rivers: Water Resources Research, v. 19, p. 627–631.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Meade, R.H. Wavelike movement of bedload sediment, East Fork River, Wyoming. Environ. Geol. Water Sci 7, 215–225 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02509922
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02509922