Influence of large woody debris on morphological evolution of incised, sand-bed channels

This paper documents the influence of Large Woody Debris (LWD) on the morphological evolution of unstable, degrading, sand-bed rivers in the Yazoo Basin, North Mississippi, USA. The study was performed as part of the Demonstration Erosion Control (DEC) project. Twenty-three river reaches were studied, with the aim of determining whether the presence of LWD was beneficial or detrimental to the recovery of stability in degrading, sand-bed river systems and to provide the geomorphic understanding necessary to underpin enhanced LWD management strategies. The results demonstrate that locations of LWD inputs, volumes of LWD stored in different reaches and number of jams per unit channel length are causally related to the morphological processes occurring during different stages of adjustment in these unstable, incised fluvial systems and may be explained using a Channel Evolution Model (CEM). The net impact of LWD jams on reach-scale sediment budgets was found, in general, to be positive: that is, jams trap more sediment than they mobilise. This suggests that LWD probably accelerates rather than retards recovery of a stable longitudinal profile and channel configuration following incision. Field typing of LWD jams, based on their impacts on the flow pattern, reveals that jam type is a function of the size of large, key elements in the jam in relation to the channel width. A Debris Jam Classification Scheme is proposed on this basis, with the spatial relationship between jam type and drainage basin area expressed using a dimensionless function of the ratio between channel width and average riparian tree height. The scheme features four jam types, Underflow, Dam, Deflector and Flow Parallel/Bar Head, each of which has a different morphological impact on local channel geometry. These jam types may be used to classify LWD jams as an aid in determining appropriate management strategies, according to their location within the drainage basin. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.