Ahmed Gaweesh, PhD

Assistant Professor, Hydraulics Research Institute, Egypt

 Main contents
 Introduction
Important Concepts and Definitions in Geomorphology
 Morphodynamic Processes and Phenomena
Morphological time scales
 Geomorphological Equilibrium
Supply and discharge
 Reach Characteristics
Morphological properties corresponding to Hydrologic Regimes
 Change in Regime
Short and long term response to interventions

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 CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION

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Technical Terms:
ALLUVIAL RIVERS
They flow on a bed of their own sediment which they continue to form
and deform

GEOMORPHOLOGY
Systematic study of geomorphological forms and processes that
create the forms.

MORPHODYNAMICS
Study of the dynamic processes that create the forms, based
on the mathematical description of laws of physics.

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Bed Forms
• For flow in channels composed of erodible granular
material, a strong physical interrelationship exists
between the friction factor, the sediment transport rate
and the bed geometry.
• The changes in bed forms result from the interaction of
the flow, fluid and bed material.
• Thus the resistance to flow and sediment transport are
functions of the slope and depth of the stream, the
viscosity of the fluid and the size distribution of the bed
material.

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The bed forms are of interest in practice for several
reasons such as:

• Bed forms determine the roughness of a stream.

• Navigation is limited by the maximum bed level and

depends therefore on the height of the bed deformation.

• Bed forms and sediment transport have a mutual

influence.

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Bed forms classification

A generally accepted classification

depending on the flow regime, as the
following:
Lower Flow Regime
Froude number Fr = [u/(gh) 0.5 ] <0.7±0.2; (no sharp
transition)
Flat bed – Ripples – Dunes
Upper Flow Regime
Froude number Fr = [u/(gh) 0.5 ] >0.7±0.2;
(no sharp transition)
Plan bed - Antidunes - Chute and pools

Idealized bed forms in alluvial channels

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Morphodynamic Scales
Length & Time Scales in Fluvial Morphology 

Ganti et al. (2014) 8

Spatial scales
 The shape of alluvial rivers is made up by the combination
of many gemorphological forms, which can be recognized at
specific spatial scales.

 The development of these forms is governed by the

balance between entrainment and deposition of sediment
over different control volumes and times.

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Spatial scales can be classified into:
 Basin scale (deal with large parts of the river basin
or entire system, drainage system)
 Reach scale (deal with the planform of the river
reach)
 Corridor scale (flood cross-section: meanders)
 Cross-sectional scale (main river width, pools and
point bars)
 Depth scale (water depth: dunes, anti-dunes)
 Process scale (sediment grains: ripples)

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The Amazon river basin

The Amazon, which has the

largest drainage basin in the
world, about 7,050,000
square kilometers , accounts
for approximately one-fifth
of the world's total river
flow, that will finally be
discharged into the Atlantic.
The Amazon drainage basin with
the Amazon River high lighted

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River Nile Basin

• Recognize the entire

river network
and tributaries.
•The drainage basin of
the Nile covers
3,254,555 square
kilometres , about 10%
of the area of Africa.

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Basin scale: drainage network

Recognize the
entire river
network

La loire river basin, Italy

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Issues involve in basin scale are:

• Soil erosion,
• Reservoir or lake sedimentation,
•Rainfall –runoff and the corresponding sediment
yield

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Reach scale: entire river reach with uniform
characteristics (slope, width, sinuosity)

By focusing in
the basin, river
reach is a large
part of the river
that can
reasonably be
considered as
“uniform”

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Reach scale (cont.)
 A river reach in morphodynamic equilibrium is
characterized by a longitudinal bed slope that can be
considered as constant.
 Reach-scale issues mainly deal with the assessment of
the impact of human interventions, such as river training
and rehabilitation.
 Morphodynamic studies regard bed aggradation and
degradation.

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 River corridor scale: meanders

further
zooming in
the river, we main channel width
bring into
focus the river
floodplain

corridor width

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River corridor scale (cont.)

Studies focusing at this particular spatial scale mainly deal

with:

 Flood risk,
 River rehabilitation
 Sediment exchange between main channel and flood plains

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Cross-sectional scale: point bars and alternate bars
More focusing on the main river channel,
Point bars, central and multiple bars are the
characteristic geomorphological features at
this spatial scale

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Cross-sectional scale (cont.)

Multiple Bars

Al-Jur River

Multiple Bars at Al-Jur River – South Sudan

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Cross-sectional scale (cont.)

Typical engineering issues are:

river navigation and
design of hydraulic works, such as groins and bridges.

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 Cross-sectional scale: multiple bars

In this case, we
can recognize the
river banks and corridor width
the water depth
with its
variations in
main channel width
space, due to the
presence of local
deposits and
scours

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Depth scale: dunes

Typical issues
requiring depth-scale DUNES ON A
morphodynamic POINT BAR
studies are: the
assessment of scour
around bridge piers,
bank erosion, bank
accretion, dune
formation.

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 Process scale: ripples
It is the smallest spatial scale that
is relevant for river
morphodynamics.
This is the scale of the
fundamental studies describing
processes such as sediment
entrainment and deposition, for
which local phenomena like the
water turbulence play a major
role.

The typical geomorphological forms to be

studied at this small spatial scale are ripples.
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2: MORPHODYNAMIC PROCESSES AND PHENOMENA

MORPHODYNAMIC PROCESS
Process is series of actions, changes, or functions bringing
about a result.

Morphodynamic processes are the underlying actions or

mechanisms: sediment entrainment, deposition, bank failure

Morphological phenomena are the results of the processes at

different spatial and temporal scales

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Definition of morphodynamics
 The balance between entrainment and deposition of
sediment by water flow is the fundamental process
governing the geomorphological changes of alluvial rivers at
all spatial and temporal scales.

 The water flow over a mobile bed generates spatial

variations of the sediment transport capacity, causing either
entrainment or deposition of sediment.

 Subtractions and additions of sediment are the cause of local

bed level changes that in turn alter the original flow field.

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Definition of morphodynamics )Continue)
 The discipline of river morphodynamics deals with the
interaction between water flow and sediment, which is
controlled by the bed shape evolution.

 Morphodynamic studies use the fundamental

techniques of fluid mechanics and applied mathematics
to describe these changes and to treat related problems,
such as local scour formation, and bank erosion.

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Morphodynamic processes

Include the following:

 Water movement (current, waves, turbulence)
 Sediment movement (particle entrainment, deposition,
transport)
 Floating debris (entrainment, transport, deposition)
 Bank failure

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Dunes movement
 The amount of transported sediment increases if the
flow velocity increases, with the result that erosion
occurs in areas of accelerating flow whereas
sedimentation occurs in areas of decelerating flow. The
upstream slope is eroded and the sediment deposited
on the downstream This explains why dunes move
downstream.

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3. GEOMORPHOLOGICAL EQUILIBRIUM

 A river segment can be considered in geomorphological

equilibrium when for a certain time interval it does not
exhibit any relevant morphological changes.

 A river reach can be considered in morphodynamic

equilibrium during a certain time interval, if longitudinal
bed slope, sinuosity, averaged width and depth do not
appreciably change.
 This occurred within the engineering time frame (order of
magnitude: tens of years).

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 CHAPTER 2
Relevant River Reach characteristics

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Relevant river reach characteristics according to:
1-Planform
 The river morphology continuously progress along the
descent from the mountains to the sea and several
different plan-forms can be observed along the same
water course.

Different I, V, D50

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1-1 Mountain rivers

• The river bed

consists of coarse
sediment, such as
gravel, cobbles and
boulders.

• The longitudinal bed

level profile is
characterized by
“stair-step” profiles.
Step and pool configuration mountain rivers

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1-2 Braided reach
The water flows through
several branches.
The river bed is often
formed by coarse-grained
sediment, such as gravel
and sand.
The topography of a
braided river change
rapidly, in the time-span
of a single flood event.

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1-3 Meandering rivers
 mostly found in low-land alluvial plains.
 They have a single, rather permanent,
sinuous channel without large longitudinal
width variations.

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 1-3 Meandering rivers (cont.)

 A beach, formed by a sediment deposit at the inner side of

bends is the active part of the point bar .
 A pool is present at the opposite side of the channel, where
the flow velocity is higher.
 Due to erosion, the outer bank progressively retreats, but at
the same time, due to local sedimentation the inner bank
accretes.

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1-4 Delta
 Close to the sea the river can split into
several channels forming a delta or
remain concentrated in a single channel
forming a funnel-shaped (cone)estuary.
 Sometimes the river forms a combined
delta-estuary.
 In this zone the river is influenced by the
sea, which introduces tide, storm surge
and salt intrusion in the system.

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 2- Relevant river reach characteristics according to
Discharge:
 The hydrological regime of rivers depends on location and
size of their basin and on the source of their waters:
rainfall, ground water, …etc.
 In general, low-land rivers have rather regular regimes,
with distinct high- and low-flow seasons.
 Upper rivers have irregular regimes and their discharge
strongly reacts on rainfall.
 Floods in mountain rivers have durations of hours,
whereas in low land rivers flood have durations of several
days.

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 3- Relevant river reach characteristics according to
Bed material

 River reaches can be classified on the basis of the type of

sediment or material (rock, concrete) forming their bed.
 Gravel and cobbles are mainly present in mountain rivers.
Coarse sediment is entrained and transported only by the
highest flows.
 For this reason, in gravel-bed rivers, the bed is mobilized
only during rare or periodic high flow events, with the
consequence that the water is usually clear.

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3- Bed material (cont.)

 Instead, sand-bed streams are characterized by near-

continual bed motion and sediment concentrations that
increase exponentially with the discharge. The water is
often turbid.
 Fine sediment, such as silt and clay, is mainly found in
secondary channels, and low-dynamic pools in lowland
rivers, as well as on river floodplains and deltas.

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3- Bed material (cont.)
 Fine-bed river reaches are usually found in estuaries.
Depending on consolidation and cohesiveness, fine beds
either are in motion over a wide range of flows or are
stable for most flows.
 The largest parts of sediment in suspension are usually
finer than the bed material.
It is so especially during high flows, since during this
types of events large quantities of sediment are eroded
from the catchment soil and transported by rain water to
the river system.

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