Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Relationship between morphology and sediment transport in a canyon river channel, Southern Brazil

  • IASWS2022: Interactions Between Sediments and Water
  • Published:
Journal of Soils and Sediments Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

Mountain rivers differ from alluvial rivers due to their morphology and hydraulic characteristics. Within various types of mountain rivers, the canyon rivers are those under the direct or indirect influence of canyon landscapes. Studies involving canyons are extensive in the literature. However, there is a lack of knowledge to establish a relationship between morphology, topography, local sediments, and river channel characteristics. This study aims to understand the relationship between morphology, topography, and local sediments in a canyon river in Southern Brazil.

Methods

Topobathymetric data were obtained during a field survey using a total station and an RTK-GPS device for three reaches (canyon landscape (CL), transition landscape (TL), and floodplain landscape (PL)) in the canyon river. Features such as bankfull width, depth, channel slope, and floodplain width were obtained. Geomorphic patterns of the reaches were evaluated in terms of their classification and similarity level through cluster analysis. Sediment size was surveyed using the zig-zag pebble-count procedure.

Results

Results suggest that sediment supply is an essential characteristic of the canyon’s influence on river morphology. This condition improves the heterogeneity observed in the Geomorphic Unit Tool and topographical results. The thalweg lines are more complex in CL than the TL and PL reaches. Three grain-size-distribution curves presented similar sediment size and mean diameters. Sediments larger than d80 remain immobile or, at least, need fractioning for transporting or depositing somewhere. Alternatively, these sediments may be transported during debris flow events or discharges with a high return period.

Conclusion

The influence of the canyon on river characteristics weaken from upstream, close to the gorge, to downstream toward the floodplain. The valley shape can affect sediment transport since the entrenchment caused by the canyon walls influences the water level and the hydraulic conditions for incipient motion conditions.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10

Similar content being viewed by others

Data Availability

Data were presented throughout the paper.

References

  • Aberle J, Smart GM (2003) The influence of roughness structure on flow resistance on steep slopes. J Hydraul Res 41:259–269

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Almeida JAS, Barbosa LMS, Pais AACC, Formosinho SJ (2007) Improving hierarchical cluster analysis: A new method with outlier detection and automatic clustering. Chemometrics Intelligent Lab Syst 87:208–217. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemolab.2007.01.005

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Andrews ED, Johnston CE, Schmidt JC, Gonzales M (1999) Topographic evolution of sand bars. Washington DC American Geophysical Union Geophysical Monograph Series 110:117–130. https://doi.org/10.1029/GM110p0117

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Andrews JL, McNicholas PD (2014) Variable selection for clustering and classification. J Classif 31:136–153. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00357-013-9139-2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Belletti B, Rinaldi M, Bussettini M et al (2017) Characterising physical habitats and fluvial hydromorphology: a new system for the survey and classification of river geomorphic units. Geomorphology 283:143–157. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2017.01.032

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bevenger GS, King RM (1995) A pebble count procedure for assessing watershed cumulative effects. Res Pap RM-RP-319 Fort Collins, CO: US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station 17 p 319. https://doi.org/10.2737/RM-RP-319

  • Blom A, Viparelli E, Chavarrías V (2016) The graded alluvial river: profile concavity and downstream fining. Geophy Res Lett 43:6285–6293. https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL068898

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brierley GJ, Fryirs KA (2004) Geomorphology and river management: applications of the river styles framework. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

  • Buffington JM, Montgomery DR (2013) 9.36 geomorphic classification of rivers. In: Shroder JF (ed) Treatise on Geomorphology. Academic Press, San Diego, pp 730–767

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Bunte K, Abt SR (2001) Sampling surface and subsurface particle-size distributions in wadable gravel-and cobble-bed streams for analyses in sediment transport, hydraulics, and streambed monitoring. Gen Tech Rep RMRS-GTR-74 Fort Collins,CO: US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station 428:74. https://doi.org/10.2737/RMRS-GTR-74

  • Byrne M, Foo SA, Ross PM, Putnam HM (2020) Limitations of cross- and multigenerational plasticity for marine invertebrates faced with global climate change. Global Change Biol 26:80–102. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14882

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Campagnolo K, Kobiyama M (2021) Woody debris characterization in a small basin with Araucaria Forest. Rev Bras Geomorf 22:1–12. https://doi.org/10.20502/rbg.v22i2.1984

  • Church M (2002) Geomorphic thresholds in riverine landscapes. Freshwater Biol 47:541–557. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2427.2002.00919.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Church M (2006) Bed material transport and the morphology of alluvial river channels. Ann Rev Earth Planet Sci 34:325–354. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.earth.33.092203.122721

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cook KL, Whipple KX, Heimsath AM, Hanks TC (2009) Rapid incision of the Colorado River in Glen Canyon—insights from channel profiles, local incision rates, and modeling of lithologic controls. Earth Surface Process Landf 34:994–1010. https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.1790

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Jong C (2015) Challenges for mountain hydrology in the third millennium. Front Environ Sci 3.

  • De Waele J, Martina MLV, Sanna L et al (2010) Flash flood hydrology in karstic terrain: Flumineddu Canyon, central-east Sardinia. Geomorphol 120:162–173. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2010.03.021

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gan G, Ma C, Wu J (2007) Data Clustering: theory, algorithms, and applications. Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics

  • Gasparini NM (2014) A fresh look at river flow. Nature 513:490–491. https://doi.org/10.1038/513490a

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • González-Ávila I, Jato-Espino D, Paixão MA et al (2023) Sociogeomorphological analysis in a headwater basin in southern Brazil with emphasis on land use and land cover change. Land 12:306. https://doi.org/10.3390/land12020306

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • González-Ávila I, Paixão MA, Kobiyama M (2022) Análise geomorfométrica de uma bacia montanhosa com presença de cânion. Rev Bras Geomorfol 23:1947–1959. https://doi.org/10.20502/rbg.v23i4.2164

  • Hardiman N, Burgin S (2010) Adventure recreation in Australia: a case study that investigated the profile of recreational canyoners, their impact attitudes, and response to potential management options. J Ecotourism 9:36–44. https://doi.org/10.1080/14724040902863333

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harishidayat D, Omosanya KO, Johansen SE et al (2018) Morphometric analysis of sediment conduits on a bathymetric high: Implications for palaeoenvironment and hydrocarbon prospectivity. Basin Res 30:1015–1041. https://doi.org/10.1111/bre.12291

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harpman DA (1999) The economic cost of the 1996 controlled flood. In: The Controlled Flood in Grand Canyon. American Geophysical Union (AGU), pp 351–357

  • Hazel JE Jr, Kaplinski M, Parnell R et al (1999) Topographic and bathymetric changes at thirty-three long-term study sites. American Geophysical Union Geophysical Monograph Series 110:161–183. https://doi.org/10.1029/GM110p0161

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Inbar M, Schick AP (1979) Bedload transport associated with high stream power, Jordan River, Israel. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 76:2515–2517. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.76.6.2515

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kearsley LH, Quartaroli RD, Kearsley MJC (1999) Changes in the number and size of campsites as determined by inventories and measurement. American Geophysical Union Geophysical Monograph Series 110:147–159. https://doi.org/10.1029/GM110p0147

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kuiper FK, Fisher L (1975) 391: A Monte Carlo comparison of six clustering procedures. Biometrics 31:777–783. https://doi.org/10.2307/2529565

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lamb MP, Howard AD, Johnson J et al (2006) Can springs cut canyons into rock? J Geophys Res: Planets 111. https://doi.org/10.1029/2005JE002663

  • Lane EW (1957) A study of the shape of channels formed by natural streams flowing in erodible material. U.S. Army Engineer Division, Missouri River Basin, Corps of Engineers. (MRD Sediment Series), Omaha

  • Leopold LB, Wolman MG (1957) River channel patterns: braided, meandering, and straight. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.

  • Marzolf GR, Jackson WL, Randle TJ (1999) Flood releases from dams as management tools: interactions between science and management. In: The Controlled Flood in Grand Canyon. American Geophysical Union (AGU), pp 359–367

  • Mazzali LH, Campagnolo K, Diaz LR, Kobiyama M (2021) Aplicação da NBR 15505–2:2019 na Análise dos Trechos da Trilha do Rio do Boi, no Parque Nacional de Aparados da Serra, Sul do Brasil. Biodiversidade Brasileira 11:134–147. https://doi.org/10.37002/biodiversidadebrasileira.v11i4.1688

  • Mueller ER, Grams PE, Schmidt JC et al (2014) The influence of controlled floods on fine sediment storage in debris fan-affected canyons of the Colorado River basin. Geomorphology 226:65–75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2014.07.029

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nester PL, Gayó E, Latorre C et al (2007) Perennial stream discharge in the hyperarid Atacama Desert of northern Chile during the latest Pleistocene. Proc Nat Acad Sci 104:19724–19729. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0705373104

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paixão MA, Corseuil CW, Kobiyama M et al (2021) Occurrence of multi-disasters in the Mampituba River Basin, southern Brazil, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Intern J Erosion Control Engin 13:84–92. https://doi.org/10.13101/ijece.13.84

  • Paixão MA, Kobiyama M (2022) Flow resistance in a subtropical canyon river. J Hydrol 613:128428. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2022.128428

  • Paixão MA, Kobiyama M (2019) Relevant parameters for characterizing mountain rivers: a review. RBRH 24:e10. https://doi.org/10.1590/2318-0331.241920180115

  • Pizzuto JE, Webb RH, Griffiths PG et al (1999) Entrainment and transport of cobbles and boulders from debris fans. In: The Controlled Flood in Grand Canyon. American Geophysical Union (AGU), pp 53–70

  • Schmidt JC, Andrews ED, Wegner DL et al (1999) Origins of the 1996 controlled flood in Grand Canyon. In: the controlled flood in Grand Canyon. American Geophysical Union (AGU), pp 23–36

  • Schumm SA (1977) The Fluvial system, illustrated edn. The Blackburn Press, Caldwell, N.J.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sissakian VK, Jabbar MFA (2010) Morphology amd genesis of the main transversal gorges in north and northeast Iraq. Iraqi Bull Geol Mining 6:95–120

    Google Scholar 

  • Sklar L, Dietrich WE (1998) River longitudinal profiles and bedrock incision models: stream power and the influence of sediment supply. In: Rivers Over Rock: Fluvial Processes in Bedrock Channels. American Geophysical Union (AGU), pp 237–260

  • Smith JD (1999) Flow and suspended-sediment transport in the Colorado River near National Canyon. Washington DC American Geophysical Union Geophysical Monograph Series 110:99–115. https://doi.org/10.1029/GM110p0099

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smoliński A, Walczak B, Einax JW (2002) Hierarchical clustering extended with visual complements of environmental data set. Chemometrics Intelligent Lab Syst 64:45–54. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-7439(02)00049-7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tanioka K, Yadohisa H (2012) Subspace hierarchical clustering for three-way three-mode data using quadratic regularization. Procedia Computer Sci 12:248–253. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2012.09.064

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Topping DJ, Rubin DM, Nelson JM et al (1999) Linkage between grain-size evolution and sediment depletion during Colorado River floods. American Geophysical Union Geophysical Monograph Series 110:71–98. https://doi.org/10.1029/GM110p0071

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tsakiris AG, Papanicolaou ANT, Hajimirzaie SM, Buchholz JHJ (2014) Influence of collective boulder array on the surrounding time-averaged and turbulent flow fields. J Mt Sci 11:1420–1428. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-014-3055-8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Valdez RA, Shannon JP, Blinn DW (1999) Biological implications of the 1996 controlled flood. Washington DC American Geophysical Union Geophysical Monograph Series 110:343–350. https://doi.org/10.1029/GM110p0343

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vannote RL, Minshall GW (1982) Fluvial processes and local lithology controlling abundance, structure, and compositi on of mussel beds. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 79:4103–4107. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.79.13.4103

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Vasconcellos SM, Kobiyama M, Dagostin FS et al (2021) Flood hazard mapping in alluvial fans with computational modeling. Water Resour Manage 35:1463–1478. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-021-02794-7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Venditti JG, Rennie CD, Bomhof J et al (2014) Flow in bedrock canyons. Nature 513:534–537. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature13779

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Webb RH, Schmidt JC, Marzolf GR, Valdez RA (eds) (1999) The controlled flood in Grand Canyon, 1st edn. American Geophysical Union, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Wheaton JM, Fryirs KA, Brierley G et al (2015) Geomorphic mapping and taxonomy of fluvial landforms. Geomorphology 248:273–295. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2015.07.010

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wiele SM, Andrews ED, Griffin ER (1999) The effect of sand concentration on depositional rate, magnitude, and location in the Colorado River below the Little Colorado River. American Geophysical Union Geophysical Monograph Series 110:131–145. https://doi.org/10.1029/GM110p0131

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wohl E (2010) Front Matter. In: Mountain rivers revisited. American Geophysical Union (AGU), p 574

  • Zhang L, Li T, Wang G et al (2020) How canyons evolve by incision into bedrock: Rainbow Canyon, Death Valley National Park, United States. Proc Nat Acad Sci 117:14730–14737. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1911040117

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zolfaghari F, Khosravi H, Shahriyari A et al (2019) Hierarchical cluster analysis to identify the homogeneous desertification management units. PLOS ONE 14:e0226355. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0226355

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors thank all the Aparados da Serra National Park office staff of ICMBio for logistic support for the present study. This study was financially supported by the Brazilian agencies CAPES and ANA (Finance Code 001 and grant number 16/2017). The authors also thank CNPq for research scholarships.

Funding

CAPES and ANA (Finance Code 001 and grant number 16/2017).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

    Maurício Andrades Paixão, Masato Kobiyama, Cristiano Poleto & Itzayana González Ávila

  2. University of Lincoln College of Science, Lincoln, Lincolnshire, UK

    Luca Mao

  3. Disaster Prevention Research Institute, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan

    Hiroshi Takebayashi & Masaharu Fujita

Authors
  1. Maurício Andrades Paixão
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Masato Kobiyama
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Cristiano Poleto
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Luca Mao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Itzayana González Ávila
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Hiroshi Takebayashi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Masaharu Fujita
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Cristiano Poleto.

Ethics declarations

Competing interest

The authors declare the following financial interests, which may be considered as potential competing interests:

  • Maurício Andrades Paixão reports financial support was provided by the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development.

  • Maurício Andrades Paixão reports a relationship with Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation that includes non-financial support.

Additional information

Responsible editor: Jadran Faganeli

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Paixão, M.A., Kobiyama, M., Poleto, C. et al. Relationship between morphology and sediment transport in a canyon river channel, Southern Brazil. J Soils Sediments 23, 4208–4222 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-023-03584-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-023-03584-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation