Journal article
River channel conveyance capacity adjusts to modes of climate variability
- Abstract:
- River networks are typically treated as conduits of fixed discharge conveyance capacity in flood models and engineering design, despite knowledge that alluvial channel networks adjust their geometry, conveyance, planform, extent and drainage density over time in response to shifts in the magnitude and frequency of streamflows and sediment supply. Consistent relationships between modes of climate variability conducive to wetter-/drier-than-average conditions and changes in channel conveyance have never been established, hindering geomorphological prediction over interannual to multidecadal timescales. This paper explores the relationship between river channel conveyance/geometry and three modes of climate variability (the El Niño–Southern Oscillation, Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation, and Arctic Oscillation) using two-, five- and ten-year medians of channel measurements, streamflow, precipitation and climate indices over seven decades in 67 United States rivers. We find that in two thirds of these rivers, channel capacity undergoes coherent phases of expansion/contraction in response to shifts in catchment precipitation and streamflow, driven by climate modes with different periodicities. Understanding the sensitivity of channel conveyance to climate modes would enable better river management, engineering design, and flood predictability over interannual to multidecadal timescales.
- Publication status:
- Published
- Peer review status:
- Peer reviewed
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(Preview, Version of record, pdf, 2.7MB, Terms of use)
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- Publisher copy:
- 10.1038/s41598-019-48782-1
Authors
- Publisher:
- Nature Research
- Journal:
- Scientific Reports More from this journal
- Volume:
- 9
- Article number:
- 12619
- Publication date:
- 2019-09-02
- Acceptance date:
- 2019-08-13
- DOI:
- EISSN:
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2045-2322
- Pubs id:
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pubs:1043222
- UUID:
-
uuid:46d04f6f-38f3-4946-94a7-b203aba9c904
- Local pid:
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pubs:1043222
- Source identifiers:
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1043222
- Deposit date:
-
2019-08-13
Terms of use
- Copyright holder:
- Slater et al
- Copyright date:
- 2019
- Notes:
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© The Author(s) 2019
Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.
- Licence:
- CC Attribution (CC BY)
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