The Threshold Between Braided and Meandering Rivers

John Pitlick and Erich Mueller

University of Colorado

Channel Patterns

Sunlight Cr., WY

(Schumm, 1985)

Colorado River, RMNP

Original idea

Distinction based on slope:

For the same discharge, braided
rivers tend to have higher slopes
than meandering rivers

Leopold and Wolman, 1957

More recent work

Unit Stream Power (W/m2)

Distinction based on unit stream

power:

= gQS
W
no difference between braided and
meandering channels

Median Grain size (mm)

Lewin and Brewer, 2001

Recall the basic premise:

Given
Discharge, Q
Sediment load, Qs
Grain size, D
Find
Width, B
Depth, H
Velocity, U
Slope, S
Rubey, 1952

Given
Channel-forming discharge, Q
Sediment load, Qs
Grain size, D
Find
Width, B
Depth, H
Velocity, U
Slope, S

Sediment loads are not measured

in many places

Alternative formulation
Given
Channel-forming discharge, Q
Slope, S
Grain size, D
Find
Width, B
Depth, H
Velocity, U
Sediment load, Qs

Assume slope is +/- constant

over short time scales
Calculate Qs

To calculate sediment loads we need to know:

1. Width, W
2. Grain size, D
3. Shields stress,
*

=
*

( s ) gD

HS
(s 1)D

c = threshold for bed load transport

Are there sign. differences in W, D and t* of braided and meandering rivers?

Width: Braided rivers are much, much wider than single thread rivers

width vs. discharge

Ashmore and Sauks, 2006

if width ~ Q1.0

Sunwapta River

unit discharge (UH) and Shields stress, 
, would be ~constant

Width adjustment experiments

St. Anthony Falls Lab, U. MN

(with J. Pizzuto and J. Marr)

Shields stress approaches a constant value at bankfull Q

1.7
-0.066

1.6

Shields Number,

Y = 0.086*X

1.5

0.07

1.4
1.3

0.06

1.2
1.1
0.05
0

60

120

180

240

300

360

Time (min)

Very useful result!

420

480

540

Transport Stage,

0.08

Use that result to predict channel geometry  sediment loads

1. Channel-forming Shields stress:

H
h
=

b* (s 1) D50
S

(0.048) (1.65) D50

=
S

2. Mean velocity:

3. Continuity:

Q2
B
=
W HU

1E+04
Colorado
Power (Colorado)

2-year Flood (m3/s)

U = u* 1 ln 11H
3D50

1E+03

1E+02

1E+01

y = 0.40x0.72
1E+00

1E-01
1.E+00

where Q2 is the 2-year flood

1.E+01

1.E+02

1.E+03

1.E+04

Drainage Area (km2)

1.E+05

Bankfull 
:   



  
  

 


0.20

Bankfull

0.15

0.10

0.05

0.00
0.0001

0.001

0.01

0.1

Reach Average Slope

Based on measurements at > 200 sites in N. America and Britain

Mt St Helens

May 18, 1980 eruption

North half of mtn. collapsed 

largest historic landslide in the world

Debris avalanche covered an area of ~60 km2

Buried the NF Toutle River under > 100 m of
sediment

Toutle River continues to erode

through the debris avalanche
carries the highest sediment loads of
any river in the US

Field studies, 2006 & 2007

100.5

Elevation (m)

100.0
99.5
99.0
98.5
98.0
97.5
0.0

5.0

10.0

15.0
Distance (m)

Measure
width & depth of active channel
average gradient
grain size of the bed material

20.0

25.0

30.0

Field studies, 2007

NF 125

Channel-forming flow?

SW Washington

2-Year Flood (m3/s)

1000

100

10
Q = 0.97*A0.88
2

10

100
Drainage Area (km2)

1000

10000

Strategy (recap)

1. Channel-forming Shields stress:

H
h
=

b* (s 1) D50
S

(0.048) (1.65) D50

=
S

2. Mean velocity:

U = u* 1 ln 11H
3D50

3. Channel width:

B =
W

Q2
HU

where Q2 is the 2-year flood

Finally estimate bed load

1. Calc. transport rates, qs, for 15 increments of discharge:

qs = k

c
1 *

4.5

= k 1 1

4.5

Parker (1979)

2. Weight transport rates by

frequency of discharge, sum
to get annual load:

Qs = Qs f (Qi )
15

i=1

Segura and Pitlick, 2010, WRR

Mount St Helens, WA

Bankfull Bed Load Discharge (m /s)

100

10-1

Qs =3.2e-3*Q1.00
R2
= 0.99
10-2
0

20

40

60

80
3

Bankfull Discharge (m /s)

100

120

Sunlight Creek, WY

EF Big Lost R., ID

Big Lost River, ID

Bankfull Bed Load Discharge (m /s)

10-1

10-2

10-3

Qs =2.6e-4*Q1.20
R2
= 0.91
10-4
0

10

15

20
3

Bankfull Discharge (m /s)

25

Where
s the threshold?

Big Lost River, WY

Toutle River, WA

Bankfull Bed Load Discharge (m /s)

100

10-1

10-2

Toutle: Qs = 0.0030Q^1.0
10-3

Big Lost: Qs = 0.00026Q^1.2

10-4
0

20

40

60

80
3

Bankfull Discharge (m /s)

100

120

Well-sorted surface layer

Poorly sorted surface layer

Conclusions
1. Effects of sedment supply on channel planform
seem obvious, but we have yet to quantify these effects
2. Average stresses in braided rivers are not any higher
than in single-thread rivers, but
3. Threshold shear stresses may be lower, hence transport
intensities are much higher
4. Linkages between stress and width should be a focus
of future research on braided/meandering transition

Conditions leading to braiding are partly a function

of the hydrology

Discharges that exceed the threshold for

transport (H = 0.3 m) are quite common

Grain size:
Sunlight Creek, WY

Shields stress:
Single-thread channels
20

10

15
Frequency

Frequency

10

0
0.00

0.02

0.04

0.06
*

ref

0.08

0.10

0.12

0
0.60

0.80

1.00

1.20

1.40
*

1.60

1.80

2.00

2.20

2.40

Ratio of Bankfull to Refernce

Mueller et al. 2005

Shields stress:
Braided channels
20

10

SL
WR FS SW

15
Frequency

Frequency

TL SU
6

10

LY
5

0
0.00

0.02

0.04

0.06
*

ref

0.08

0.10

0.12

0
0.60

0.80

1.00

1.20

1.40
*

1.60

1.80

2.00

2.20

2.40

Ratio of Bankfull to Refernce

Mueller et al. 2005