Controls on the alluviation of oxbow lakes by bed-material load along the Sacramento River, California

Differences in the nature and quantity of sediment filling oxbow lakes have significant implications for the evolution of meandering rivers and the development of floodplains, influencing rates of meander migration and the valley width over which migration takes place. In an effort to identify the controls on the alluviation of oxbow lakes by coarse bed material, this study examined the sedimentary records stored within oxbow lakes of the Sacramento River of California, USA, and found that the volume of gravel in storage correlated negatively with the diversion angle separating flow between the river channel and the entrance into each lake. A method was devised for estimating the original channel bathymetry of the studied lakes and for modelling the hydraulic and sediment-transport effects of the diversion angle within channels recently abandoned by meander cut-off. The diversion angle determines the width of a flow separation within the abandoned-channel entrance, reducing the discharge diverted from the river channel and thus limiting the ability of the abandoned channel to transport bed material. Aggradation rates are faster within entrances to abandoned channels with high diversion angles, resulting in the rapid isolation of lakes that store only a small volume of coarse-grained sediment. Aggradation rates are slower within channel entrances where diversion angles are low, resulting in the slow transitioning of such channels into oxbow lakes with a larger and more extensive accumulation of coarse-grained sediment. These findings compare well with observations in other natural settings and the mechanism which is described for the control of the diversion may explain why some oxbow lakes remain as open-water environments for centuries, whereas others are filled completely within decades of cut-off.