Journal
QUATERNARY RESEARCH
Volume 91, Issue 2, Pages 620-637Publisher
CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1017/qua.2018.67
Keywords
Channel planform change; Channel adjustments; Channel migration; Channel narrowing; Geographic information system; GRASS GIS; QGIS; Scrivia River; Italian rivers
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A detailed, quantitative, multitemporal analysis of historical maps, aerial photos, and satellite images was performed to investigate the channel planform changes that occurred along the Scrivia River floodplain from 1878 to 2016. Various channel planform features, including channel length, area, width, braiding, sinuosity, lateral migration, activity, and stability, were computed through an innovative geographic information system-based procedure, starting from manually digitized active-channel polygons. Three active-channel morphological evolution stages are evident from: (1) 1878 to the 1950s; (2) the 1950s to the end of 1990s; and (3) the end of 1990s onward. In the first period, the river was generally able to migrate in its floodplain, shaping the riverscape. Active-channel narrowing and increasing channel stability characterize the second period. The most recent phase shows an inversion of the morphological evolutionary trend. This last phase is characterized by a slight generalized widening related to the reactivation of stabilized surfaces and to bank-erosion processes. Particularly from the 1950s to the 1990s, in-channel sediment mining and channelization with consequent occupation of riverine areas strongly affected the Scrivia River. These factors, together with floods, are thought to be the most likely causes of such consistent and fast morphological changes.
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