Influence of terrain on scaling laws for river networks

Abstract

The upper Cheat River network departs from scaling laws describing a large number of river networks in North America. This departure is traced to its corrugated terrain. The more typical random terrain of the lower Cheat River network obeys the standard scaling laws. We modify the random network model of Scheidegger to include the effects of topography, reproducing the behavior observed in the Cheat River basin.