Fluvial connectivity and climate: A comparison of channel pattern and process in two climatically contrasting fluvial sedimentary systems in South Africa

The aim of this research was to investigate the dynamics of valley formation, sediment delivery and channel pattern in two climatically contrasting fluvial sedimentary systems in South Africa. Each system comprised a network of headwater valley fills and floodplains underlain by sedimentary Karoo Supergroup rocks that are intersected by resistant dolerite dykes and sills. The Seekoei River Floodplain and Gordonville valley fill site in the Great Karoo, however, experience less than half the annual precipitation of the Nsonge River Floodplain and Hlatikhulu valley fill in the KwaZulu-Natal Drakensberg Foothills. Furthermore, rainfall is more variable in the Karoo. Despite climatic differences, headwater valley fills were geomorphically similar. In contrast, floodplains in the two regions were vastly different, even when the same downstream control (a resistant dolerite intrusion crossing the drainage line) was considered. Upstream of a dolerite dyke, the Nsonge River is highly sinuous and located in a wide floodplain that has been carved by lateral planation of the underlying bedrock. In comparison, the Seekoei River, located upstream of a dolerite sill, is discontinuous and characterized by floodouts and avulsing distributaries that undergo periods of bedrock incision, followed by infilling. It is likely that this disparity is caused by the inability of infrequent, unsustained flows to develop meanders and, thus, adjust the channel planform to changes in discharge, sediment load and valley slope. Flow variability, thus, exercises a strong control on channel pattern and causes floodouts in headwater settings and the semi-arid Karoo floodplain. As a result, sediment transport in the Seekoei River is likely to be episodic, and net retention of sediment in the semi-arid floodplain is greater than in the sub-humid Nsonge River Floodplain, where sediment depth is limited. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.