Hydrologic controls on junction angle of river networks

Abstract

The formation and growth of river channels and their network evolution are governed by the erosional and depositional processes operating on the landscape due to the movement of water. The branching angles, i.e., the angle between two adjoining channels, in drainage networks are important features related to the network topology and contain valuable information about the forming mechanisms of the landscape. Based on the channel networks extracted from 1 m Digital Elevation Models of 120 catchments with minimal human impacts across the United States, we show that the junction angles have two distinct modes with α1≈ 49.5° and α2≈ 75.0°. The observed angles are physically explained as the optimal angles that result in minimum energy dissipation and are linked to the exponent characterizing the slope-area curve. Our findings suggest that the flow regimes, debris-flow dominated or fluvial, have distinct characteristic angles which are functions of the scaling exponent of the slope-area curve. These findings enable us to understand the geomorphic signature of hydrologic processes on drainage networks and develop more refined landscape evolution models.