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Lecture 6: Meandering Rivers

I. Introduction: If you look closely at a map of the U.S., river systems broadly look like this:

Ocean

Delta

Headwaters

Flood Plain of
Meandering River

A. Headwaters: a whole system of branching creeks, streams, and small rivers that act to
collect all runoff and funnel it into one main channel leaving the area (dendritic drainage
pattern). Natural ridges break up the small drainages into drainage basins. There is not
much of a sedimentary record of headwater systems because they are characterized by erosion.
If you walk around here, you will see that the rivers and streams are typically incising
(cutting down) into their banks. Thus, we have river valleys.

B. Meandering Rivers: once the drainages reach relatively flat ground, they tend to form
relatively broad channels that wander back and forth like a snake. Moreover, they tend to
deposit lots of sediment: thus, we have a great geologic record.

Key variable is the base level: base level is the elevation below which a river cannot easily
erode. Oceans for the ultimate base level. If a river tried to erode below sea level, ocean floods
the channel, and this body of still water stops the strong river currents, thus stopping valley
incision. Away from the oceans, lakes and resistant geologic units can define geologically
temporary base levels.

The slope of the river drainages from the headwaters to base level tends to make a smooth curve:

A lake or really tough rock unit may drastically slow

Erosive headwaters downwards erosion. This allows smooth river
where slope is significant gradients to form both up and down stream of this point.
(v-shaped valleys, The flattened slopes favor the development of a
dendtritic drainages) meandering river, but its deposits should generally
Elevation

Elevation

be geologically ephemeral.
Meandering rivers
where slope levels out
as it approaches
base level defined by ocean.
Sea Level Sea Level

Distance Distance
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If sea level is the only base level in a drainage system, you get a single smooth curve. If a lake
or tough rock unit defines a secondary base level, you get two smooth curves, and two areas
where the low slopes can allow the development of meandering rivers.

The next time you fly across the country, keep your eyes open for meandering rivers. They are
very common. However, in terms of the ancient geologic record, the meandering rivers on the
coastal plains, near deltas, are most likely to be important. The others are much more likely to
get eroded away as the secondary base level is destroyed by erosion and the landscape undergoes
continued erosion.

C. Deltas: When river finally reaches ocean or a lake, the river hits the still body of water,
current velocities drop, and sediment is rapidly dropped to form a lobe of sand and muck. Great
geological record. Lots of deposition.

II. Details of Meandering Rivers:

A. Plan View:

Crevasse Splay Oxbow Lake

Levees Chute
Point Bar
Chute Chute
Chute

Side Bar

River Flood Plan

Channel Chutes used during floods. (topographically defined)

B. Map view: Where are currents going to be fastest? Answer: look at channel cross sections.
Start with straight section of a river. Where is current going to be fastest?

Then, what happens when this fast current hits the corner? Answer: it is carried by its
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momentum to outside of bend. Overall, as current moves along a meandering river, fastest part
of current goes from outside corner to outside corner, crossing over in the middle between
bends.

Deepest = Fastest = Pool

Cross-Over
Points
(Riffles)

Thalweg = Deepest part of channel

Riffles will be slower.

Deepest = Fastest = Pool

C. Channel Cross Sections: How do fast currents affect shape of channel?

1. Cross-section of straight part of channel:

Levee Levee

Flow coming out of page.

Relatively shallow, flat bottom.

2. Cross-section at bend of river: erosion focused on outside of bend

Inside Bend Outside Bend

Much deeper at outside of bend, shallower at inside of bend.

3. Two results: first, deepest parts of channels are along bends. These are termed
"pools". Cross-over points are called "riffles". The line that traces the deepest parts
along a given river is called the "thalweg". Cool words.

Second result: fastest currents shift from side-to-side in a river. This ends up creating
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a secondary cork-screw current within the river called a transverse or helical flow.

The helical flow pushes the highest velocity currents down along outer bank. Outer bank
thus sees strongest flow parallel and perpendicular to main river flow. This causes lots
of scouring (erosion).

The helical flow also helps carry previously eroded sediment toward the inside of the
bend, where water velocities are lower and thus allow sediment deposition.

C. Channel migration (along outside of bends in the river)

1. View from above: start with a small bend in a river (any river will always have a
small bend)
Deposition Deposition
Deposition

More
More erosion erosion
More erosion

More erosion
Deposition

Big Flood
=
Avulsion!
= Levees
More New Oxbow seal off
erosion Lake! old bend.

More erosion

Harper's article reading on meander loop cut-offs and state boarders.

2. Cross-section of channel: erosion at one side, plus deposition on the other! The
accumulating sediment on the inside of a bend forms the point bar. The point bar is most
often exposed during drier parts of the year, and is under water during floods.
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Cross-Section of Channel Levee

Levee
Silt/Mud
Finest Sand
Rip Poorly sorted!
ple
s
Epsilon Du
Cross Beds nes Coarsest Sand
Gravel Lag Scour

Width of Channel is roughly constant (with consistent flow), but migrates.

Scouring on right, deposition on left.

How should grain-size vary as a function of depth along the point bar? Fastest currents
in deepest water near outside of bend: gravels or coarsest sands. Then sediments fine as
you enter shallower waters.

You may see cross-bedding on two scales:

a. Normal dune (deeper) and ripple (shallow) crossbeds throughout.

b. The succession of point bar surfaces can leave cross-beds that span the entire
depth of the channel. This special cross-beds, termed epsilon cross-beds,
appear much as drawn above.

c. Paleocurrent directions from normal cross-bedding should cover more than

180°! (See direction of flow along meander loops.) Middle of range (median) of
a large, areally extensive data set should point down-stream toward the ocean.

Epsilon-cross beds should point in direction of loop migration.

D. Depositional processes out of the channel: Vertical Accretion!

1. Channels: erosion plus deposition. No net change. Erode flood plain, leave behind
channel sands in old meander loops and new muds in oxbow lakes. Channel sands tend to
be poorly sorted.

2. Levees: When a river floods its banks, the water passes from a deep channel to
shallow flow. Friction with the bottom becomes relatively a lot more important (draw
velocity profile), and thus currently velocities drop rapidly. As a result, coarser
sediment carried in suspension in the turbulent river channel is abruptly dropped on
banks.

This creates a ridge or levee of silt-to-sands along the river banks. Sands fall nearer
the river banks, while silts and muds are deposited further away (size-sorting).
Material is generally dropped out of suspension, but can get ripple x-beds and
laminations from currents. Much better sorted than channel deposits.
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Flood Plain Sandy Sandy

Levee Levee Flood Plain
more clay More silt More silt more clay

Channel

As flood wanes, mud can settle out from water trapped behind levees ==> leads to mud
drapes on levee silts/sands. In a vertical section, more distal levee deposits would show
thinly interbedded sands, silts, and muds ± plant debris. Unfortunately, tree roots etc.
could homogenize this sediment before it becomes part of the geologic record.

An exceptionally large flood may push a sheet of sand across the normally muddy flood
plain deposits. This is called an overbank sand.

2. Chutes: Small channels used during floods only. Expect to see small-scale channel
deposits, interbedded with flood plain silts/muds settling out of suspension. Plant
debris.

3. Crevasse Splay: Floods can punch small holes in levees. Rapid erosion of levee gap
plus rush of flood waters produces fan-shaped lobe of sand. Because includes both bed-
load and suspended sediment, are often coarser than levee deposits and are poorly sorted.
The combination of traction (bed load) and suspension deposition plus decrease in flow
produces a fining-upwards sequence that can leave a massive bed (deposition from
suspension) plus rippled units (traction currents), plus flood plain silts and muds
(suspension). Cool stuff.

4. Flood Plain: Away from levees and chutes, flow velocities are very slow due to
shallow flow and friction with all sorts of trees, bushes, houses, tractors, etc. Thus,
flood plains are rich in silt, mud, and organic matter. Fertile soil. In ancient record,
should see ancient soils (paleosols) and roots. Cool of sediment can range from dark
greys to reddish hues tinted with layers of green. Reflects relative amounts of organic
matter (dark) and oxidation state of Fe (oxidized = red, reduced gives greenish color).

5. Oxbow Lake: Once it is isolated by formation of cut-off channel, point bar sands and
gravels will be buried by silts and muds carried in by river floods and by sediment
slumping in from sides as rain fills up lake. Commonly well-laminated and may contain
plant remains and shells of ostracods and freshwater mollusks. In cross-section, seen as
a fine-grained organic-rich plug of dark mud on top of sand.

6. Levee and flood plain deposition result in significant vertical accretion of sediment:
this raises the land level around a major meandering river:
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river
channel
broad river valley flood plain "mound"

levees
Occasionally, a major flood that breaches a levee will cause the river to find its way to
the lower land on one side of the levee/flood plain mound area. It will now establish a
new, roughly parallel meandering river channel that may or may not rejoin the
originally channel downstream before it hits the delta. This jump to a new channel is
called avulsion. It is different from a mere cut-off of a meander loop.

Slides: maps show several sets of meander loops/oxbows taken by lower Mississippi
River.

Yazoo Rivers: a small river that wants to join a major river but is prevented by the
levee/flood plain mounds. Such a river will flow in a course parallel to the main river
for some time before it finally enters the main drainage. Named after the Yazoo River in
Mississippi.

E. So, what does the ideal vertical sequence look like? Draw.

1. Channel migration into flood plain clays. Scour + fining upwards sequences of gravel
(maybe) and sands. Poorly sorted and often immature. May contain lots of mica and
plant debris that is generally not found in marine sands.

Sand deposition may be terminated by cut-0ff (silts/muds) or by gradation to levee

sands and silts followed by flood plain muds.

Channel deposits may have ordinary cross-beds plus channel-scale (meters) epsilon
crossbeds that reflect successive point-bar surfaces. These are commonly seen in the
road cuts of West Virginia, for example.

2. Flood plain muds. May be puctuated by fining-upwards splay deposits and levee
sands, plus overbank sands, paleosols, thin coals, and more channels.

3. As suggested by maps, can get a complicated mix of facies. Overheads/handouts

illustrate some vertical sequences plus one valuable block diagram showing the lateral
discontinuities of individual sand bodies, oxbow lake mud plugs, paleosols, and a bunch of
vertical sections. This block diagram gives you an idea of what to expect to see in large
outcrops.
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Flood plain mudstones with root traces,

desication cracks, caliche nodules.

Point-bar silts and muds, with some

sandstone flood deposits.

Fining-upwards sequence of sandstones.

May be planar beds. Trough/tangential
cross-beds (dunes) grading upwards to
straight ripple x-beds.

Basal Conglomeritic Lag

in erosive contact with underlying cycle

D. Some Hand-Sample Sediment Characteristics: "Dirty" poorly sorted, angular to

subangular sands and muds. Commonly find quartz, feldspar, mica, and bits of black plant
debris. Mica and plant debris are rare in marine sands, because waves crashing at beach tend to
winnow away mica and destroy plant debris.