Long-term modelling of fluvial systems at the watershed scale: examples from three case studies

What is it about?

The aim of the present research is to demonstrate how the so-called “morphodynamic quasi-equilibrium hypothesis” is effective in modelling riverine landscape morphodynamics evolution at the watershed scale, focussing on the long-term changes of longitudinal profile and bed grainsize composition of large alluvial rivers.

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Why is it important?

Though the 0-D approach does not allow for a spatial distribution of the input parameters, namely the liquid and solid discharge, the modelling outcomes show reasonably good qualitative trends. At the scale of analysis (centuries to millennia) and for the chosen large sedimentary systems (thousands of kilometres long), which show high inertia to geomorphological changes likely owing to their longitudinal scale, the model can be helpful in detecting where the present conditions reflect a big disturbance to the “natural” trend.

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