Sinuosity evolution along an incising channel: New insights from the Jordan River response to the Dead Sea level fall

Elad Dente; Nadav G. Lensky; Efrat Morin; Thomas Dunne; Yehouda Enzel

doi:10.1002/esp.4530

Sinuosity evolution along an incising channel: New insights from the Jordan River response to the Dead Sea level fall

Elad Dente, Nadav G. Lensky, Efrat Morin, Thomas Dunne, Yehouda Enzel

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

The geomorphic evolution of the Jordan River in recent decades indicates that interaction between incision and high-magnitude floods controls sinuosity changes under increasing mouth gradients during base-level fall. The evolution of the river was analyzed based on digital elevation models, remotely sensed imagery, hydrometric data, and a hydraulic model. The response varies along the river. Near the river mouth, where incision rate is high and a deep channel forms, overbank flooding is less likely. There, large floods exert high shear stress within the confined channel, increasing sinuosity. Upstream, near the migrating knickzone channel gradients also increase, incision is more moderate and floods continue to overtop the banks, favoring meander chute cutoffs. The resulting channel has a downstream well-confined meandering segment and an upstream low-sinuosity segment. These new insights regarding spatial differences along an incising channel can improve interpretations of the evolution of ancient planforms and floodplains that responded to base-level decline.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	781-795
Number of pages	15
Journal	Earth Surface Processes and Landforms
Volume	44
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.4530
State	Published - 15 Mar 2019
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Acknowledgements—This research was supported by the Israel Science Foundation (grants No. 18/1471 and 18/946) and by the Israeli Government (Geological Survey of Israel project number 40555). We wish to thank the editor, associate editor, John Armitage and an anonymous reviewer, for their thorough comments that greatly improved this paper.

Funding Information:
This research was supported by the Israel Science Foundation (grants No. 18/1471 and 18/946) and by the Israeli Government (Geological Survey of Israel project number 40555). We wish to thank the editor, associate editor, John Armitage and an anonymous reviewer, for their thorough comments that greatly improved this paper. Landsat imagery data and SRTM DEM were made available by the U.S. Geological Survey (https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/). The hydrologic data in this study was provided by the Hydrological Survey of Israel. We wish to thank Vladimir Lyakhovsky for his valuable comments and suggestions regarding the analytical solution of the diffusion equation.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Keywords

base-level fall
channel incision
channel sinuosity
meanders
overbank floods

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Geography, Planning and Development
Earth-Surface Processes
Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous)

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10.1002/esp.4530

Cite this

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title = "Sinuosity evolution along an incising channel: New insights from the Jordan River response to the Dead Sea level fall",

abstract = "The geomorphic evolution of the Jordan River in recent decades indicates that interaction between incision and high-magnitude floods controls sinuosity changes under increasing mouth gradients during base-level fall. The evolution of the river was analyzed based on digital elevation models, remotely sensed imagery, hydrometric data, and a hydraulic model. The response varies along the river. Near the river mouth, where incision rate is high and a deep channel forms, overbank flooding is less likely. There, large floods exert high shear stress within the confined channel, increasing sinuosity. Upstream, near the migrating knickzone channel gradients also increase, incision is more moderate and floods continue to overtop the banks, favoring meander chute cutoffs. The resulting channel has a downstream well-confined meandering segment and an upstream low-sinuosity segment. These new insights regarding spatial differences along an incising channel can improve interpretations of the evolution of ancient planforms and floodplains that responded to base-level decline.",

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N2 - The geomorphic evolution of the Jordan River in recent decades indicates that interaction between incision and high-magnitude floods controls sinuosity changes under increasing mouth gradients during base-level fall. The evolution of the river was analyzed based on digital elevation models, remotely sensed imagery, hydrometric data, and a hydraulic model. The response varies along the river. Near the river mouth, where incision rate is high and a deep channel forms, overbank flooding is less likely. There, large floods exert high shear stress within the confined channel, increasing sinuosity. Upstream, near the migrating knickzone channel gradients also increase, incision is more moderate and floods continue to overtop the banks, favoring meander chute cutoffs. The resulting channel has a downstream well-confined meandering segment and an upstream low-sinuosity segment. These new insights regarding spatial differences along an incising channel can improve interpretations of the evolution of ancient planforms and floodplains that responded to base-level decline.

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Sinuosity evolution along an incising channel: New insights from the Jordan River response to the Dead Sea level fall

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

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