16761: Catchment to Coast

Stuart McLelland
David Milan
Chris Hackney
Lecture 1: Introduction
Ideas
Equilibrium
Continuity
Long Profile
BIG IDEAS that are key to understanding geomorphology

UNIFORMATARISANISM
LANDSCAPE EVOLUTION
EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE
SCALE
PROCESS AND FORM
MAGNITUDE AND FREQUENCY
The Grand Canyon-Arizona. To me this represents physical geography because it shows the
processes linked to sedimentology and how erosion occurs over a long period of time.

UNIFORMATARIANISM
The Himalaya mountains are an example of continental collision which is still ongoing, I believe
this represents physical geography as it shows how it is a continuous process and is always
occurring somewhere

LANSCAPE EVOLUTION
This represents physical geography to me because i have seen myself where the two continental plates meet.
It also ties in with the theory of tectonic plates. The definition of the two pieces of land and the visual of how
the two continents have drifted apart 2cm a year really brings to life the concept of physical geography.

EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE
Shows the variable scales of physical geography from single rocks to
the greater landscapes which make up the background

SCALE
Shows a picture of the Sahara desert and the alternate ripple
depositions from changing wind direction and slope angles.

PROCESS AND FORM

To me this image represents Physical Geography, although the disaster has only just struck land it
shows a small part still unaffected by the Tsunami and the other area already destroyed, this
portrays to me that physical geography is so powerful that it completely change the environment in
a matter of a few seconds.

MAGNITUDE AND FREQUENCY

 Patterns that
keep repeating
Abrasion
 No
abrasion?
Equal mobility?
Patches
100,000 yrs

10,000 yrs

10 – 100 yrs 1 yr 1 day

Questions asked depend on scale

ANALYSIS: understanding details of process

mechanisms
vs.
SYNTHESIS: understanding how broader, more
complex systems operate
 Two problems with timescales
1. Availability.
Not enough time to get the data needed and the past is
effaced (or partly rubbed out) in most physical systems

2. Physical systems operate at different time scales.

Landscapes exist ‘now’ and can only be studied over short
time periods (e.g. PhD 3 years) up to 50 years
Can we safely extrapolate back through time?
Space-time substitution …... (ergodic principle)
By DanHobley (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)],
 Two problems with spatial scales
1. Resolution:
At very small scales may not be able to observe detail, whilst
at very large scale resolution is increased

2. Complexity:
increases as the size increases (small to large) and as scale
becomes larger (low to high resolution)
 To understand hill slope
runoff do we study the 100m
hillside or the porewater
flow along 1cm path?
 2
Equilibrium
If the pencil is nudged off balance by
1/10000th the width of an atom, it will
fall over in 3.1 seconds

Movements of air sufficient to

unbalance pencil

Positive feedback – every movement

shifts the centre of balance further
away from equilibrium making it
inevitable it will fall over
 Increased Increased global
emisions of CO2 mean
and other temperature
greenhouse (global warming)
gasses to the
atmosphere

Dieback of Decreased rainfall

Amazonia and increased
vegetation due to drought stress
drought stress over Amazonia
Shallow channel

Fast flow

Bed erosion

Deeper channel

Slower flow

Erosion stops
Static Equilibrium (10-3 years)

Steady–state Equilibrium (101 years)

Dynamic Equilibrium (103 years)

Decay Equilibrium (107 years)

Thresholds
Thresholds
Intrinsic forces
 Irreversible

Non-linear
Is your long
profile in
equilibrium?
 2
Continuity
Closed systems
Open systems
DISCHARGE OF
RIVER VELOCITY
velocity
DISTRIBUTION
profile
IN CHANNEL
SHEAR STRESS
bed roughness ON BED
CHANNEL
GEOMETRY
CHARACTER OF
BED MATERIAL competence
and capacity
availability
selective of sediment
transport
BANK EROSION

erosion and BEDLOAD BEDLOAD SUPPLY

deposition TRANSPORT FROM UPSTREAM
Continuity
equation
 Continuity Equation
input -output = change in storage
 Continuity in channel flow
V1

Q = W1  D1  V1 = W2  D2  V2 W1
V2 D1

Q = discharge
W = width W2
D = depth D2
V = velocity

subscripts 1 and 2 refer to measurements at cross-sections 1 and 2

 Continuity in sediment
• Change in elevation = deposition - erosion
Magnitude &
frequency
 Efficiency

Ratio of work done to

energy expended
Usually assumed that the
more energy expended the
greater the work done
Wolman & Miller 1960 +
MAX. TRANSPORT
RATE
Magnitude and frequency of forces in WORK
geomorphic processes

Looked at “work” in terms of sediment

load transported in sand bed rivers, USA
FREQUENCY
Max. work associated with flows occurring
1-2x per year (approx. = bankfull stage)
-

Higher magnitude floods - a lesser role - APPLIED STRESS, X

relatively infrequent e.g. discharge

WORK = FREQUENCY x RATE

e.g. sediment transport

 Does
sediment input =
sediment ouput
in your long profile?
 4
Long Profile
 What does this tell me
about the system?
Height

Distance downstream
 If deposition increased
downstream?
Height

Distance downstream
 If erosion increased
upstream and deposition
increased downstream?
Height

Distance downstream
 What if erosion was
reduced upstream?
Height

Distance downstream
Hilley, G.E. & Arrowsmith R.J. 2008. Geomorphic response to uplift
along the Dragon's Back pressure ridge, Carrizo Plain, California,
Geology, 36 (5), DOI: 10.1130/G24517A.1
http://geology.geoscienceworld.org/content/36/5/367
Can you explain the
changes in shape in
your long profile?
Questions &
Thank you