Direct measurements of secondary currents at a river inflexion point

Abstract

SECONDARY currents are defined as currents which occur in a plane normal to the local axis of primary flow. They may develop in pipes or open channels as a result of non-equal distribution of boundary shear stress or by skewing of cross-stream vorticity into a long stream direction1–3. Secondary currents distort the distributions of primary isovels and boundary shear stress from those found in simple flows and have important effects on sedimentary processes of erosion and deposition4,5. Direct measurements of secondary currents in river bends were reported recently6. Further data have been obtained for the reach around the inflexion point between bends (Fig. 1) and are reported here.