Factors controlling the geometry of fluvial meanders

Abstract

The geometry of a meandering stream depends strongly on the relative stream size (Q2/51 g1/5)/D, on the valley slope, SV, and on the charge, Qs/Q, where Q and Qs are the fluid and sediment discharges respectively, g is acceleration due to gravity and D is the mean sediment size. The geometry depends less strongly on the relative settling size of sediment, D/(v2/3 / g1/3), where v is the kinematic viscosity. For constant values of Q, Sv and D, the effect of increase of charge reduces the meander length, ML, and the mean channel surface width, B, whereas meander width, MB, bend radius, RM, and mean channel depth, H, increase. For a constant value of (Q2/5 / g1/5)/D the values of ML, MB, RM and B increase with the increase of valley slope but the value of H tends to decrease. © 1970 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.