Channel morphology

Channel morphology is also called river channel morphology, it is a complete study of the channel from
geography aspect to channel fluids dynamics aspect.

The following are the major components in Channel Morphology:

 Channel geometry
 Hydraulic geometry
 River or Channel bed confirmation
 River or channel pattern
 Channel types
 Channel fluid dynamics

Channel geometry:
It includes the study or measurement of the following:

 Channel length
 Channel width
 Channel depth
 Wetted perimeter
 Channel thalwegs

Channel Geometry
Channel Length: 
Distance from river source to the mouth of the river.

Channel width: 

 The straight cross-sectional distance of the channel is called channel width. Channel width varies with
the volume of water seasonally.
 In India, the maximum width of the river channel can be measured in monsoon seasons.

Channel depth:
It is measured the vertical distance from the river water surface to maximum bed depth.

Wetted perimeter:
It measured by the cross-sectional distance of the wetted portion of valleys.

Channel thalwegs:
It represents the line connected with all the maximum depth of water from the source to the mouth of the
channel.

Channel bed topography

It refers to the study of erosional and deposition features present such as sand bars, sand dunes, potholes,
plunge pools, etc in the river bed and how these features interact with the river fluid such as water and river
sediments.

Channel pattern

The following are the pattern of the Channel:

 Straight channel
 Sinuous or Meandering channel
 Braided channel: two more channels with a braided bar and a small island.
 Anatomic channel: two or more channels with large stable islands.
 Channel Pattern and Types

Channel types
There are two types of channels.

 Stable channel
 Unstable channel
The straight channel is generally a stable channel as compare to braided channel. The position of braided bar
and islands are changes frequently in braided channels hence it is called the unstable channel.

Channel fluid dynamics:

Study of channel fluid dynamics such as channel discharge capacity, channel velocity, sedimentary load
capacity, transportation capacity, etc.