Flow and sediment dynamics in a low sinuosity, braided river: Calamus River, Nebraska Sandhills

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe interaction between channel geometry, flow, sediment transport and deposition associated with a midstream island was studied in a braided to meandering reach of the Calamus River, Nebraska Sandhills. Hydraulic and sediment transport measurements were made over a large discharge range using equipment operated from catwalk bridges. The relatively low sinuosity channel on the right‐hand side of the island carries over 70% of the water discharge at high flow stages and 50–60% at low flow stages. As a result, mean velocity, depth, bed shear stress and sediment transport rate tend to be greater here than in the more strongly curved left‐hand channel. The loci of maximum flow velocity, depth and bed shear stress are near the centre of the channel upstream of the island, but then split and move towards the outer banks of both channels downstream. Variations in these loci depend on the flow stage. Topographically induced across‐stream flows are generally stronger than the weak, curvature‐induced secondary circulations. Water surface topography is controlled mainly by centrifugal accelerations and local changes in downstream flow velocity. The averaged water surface slope of the study reach varies very little with discharge, having values between 0·00075 and 0·00090. As bed shear stress generally varies in a similar way to mean velocity, friction coefficients vary little, normally being in the range 0·07–0·13. These values are similar to those in straight channels with sandy dune‐covered beds. Bedload is moved mainly as dunes at all flow stages. Grain size is mainly medium sand with coarse sand moved in thalwegs adjacent to the cut banks, and with fine sand at the downstream end of the island. These patterns of flow velocity, depth, water surface topography, bed shear stress, bedload transport rate and mean grain size can be accurately predicted using theoretical models of flow, bed topography and sediment transport rate in single river bends, applied separately to the left and right channels.During high flow stages deposition occurs persistently near the downstream end of the island, and cut banks are eroded. Otherwise, erosion and deposition occurs only locally within the channel as discharge varies. Abandonment and filling of a strongly curved channel segment may occur by migration of an upstream bar into the channel entrance at a high flow stage.