Landscape-scale modeling to forecast fluvial-aeolian sediment connectivity in river valleys
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Abstract
Sedimentary landforms on Earth and other planetary bodies are built through scour, transport, and deposition of sediment. Sediment connectivity refers to the hypothesis that pathways of sediment transport do not occur in isolation, but rather are mechanistically linked. In dryland river systems, one such example of sediment connectivity is the transport of fluvially deposited sediment by wind. However, predictive tools that can forecast fluvial-aeolian sediment connectivity at meaningful scales are rare. Here we develop a suite of models for quantifying the availability of river-sourced sediment for aeolian transport as a function of river flow, wind regime, and land cover across 168 km of the Colorado River in Grand Canyon, USA. We compare and validate these models using topographic changes observed over 10 years in a coupled river sandbar-aeolian dunefield setting. The models provide a path forward for directly linking fluvial hydrology with the management and understanding of aeolian landscapes.
Study Area
| Publication type | Article |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Title | Landscape-scale modeling to forecast fluvial-aeolian sediment connectivity in river valleys |
| Series title | Geophysical Research Letters |
| DOI | 10.1029/2024GL110106 |
| Volume | 51 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Publication Date | August 20, 2024 |
| Year Published | 2024 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | American Geophysical Union |
| Contributing office(s) | Southwest Biological Science Center |
| Description | e2024GL110106, 10 p. |
| Country | United States |
| State | Arizona |
| Other Geospatial | Grand Canyon National Park |