Abstract
The ratio of channel width to channel depth (α) is widely used to quantify the valley geometry of natural alluvial river channels. However, rare studies discussed the feasibility of α to constrain the changes of tectonic and climatic forcing in landscape evolution. To reveal the implication of alluvial valley α values on the effect of rock uplift, we selected an ideal site of the Rumei catchment (RMC) in the mountains of southeast Tibet, where is crossed by the active Lancang River Fault (LCRF) with different spatial characteristics. We used remote sensing, topographic analysis, and grain-size data to analyze channel valley geometry (e.g. valley width, depth, gradient, and α), valley geometry relations and grain-size distribution. Based on the present study, we found that there are three definite groups of α values (α ≤ 4, 4 < α ≤ 6, and α > 6) among the 13 channels in the catchment. The low α group corresponds to alluvial channels at the downstream end of the catchment, where the channels are steep and are controlled by rock uplift driven by thrusting. The medium α group includes channels in the headwaters of the catchment of RMC. High α channels are found in the mid-catchment location of RMC. The time of sediment transport in the mid-catchment has been constrained using radiocarbon ages on organic sediments in alluvial terrace deposits, whose results indicate that the high α channels there were disturbed by a major sediment transport event (debris flows or flood deposits) sometime between 630 and 1991 years ago. We observe that the grain size of deposits is not well related with variation of α values in the study area. We interpreted that the spatial difference of α values is dominantly controlled by the thrusting of LCRF. Hence, we concluded that α is a good indicator of the effect of rock uplift on channel morphology, which could be used to constrain the changes of tectonics in tectonically active mountains.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author.
References
Crosby BT, Whipple KX (2006) Knickpoint initiation and distribution within fluvial networks: 236 waterfalls in the Waipaoa River, North Island, New Zealand. Geomorphology 82:16–38. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2005.08.023
Finnegan NJ, Roe G, Montgomery DR, Hallet B (2005) Controls on the channel width of rivers: Implications for modeling fluvial incision of bedrock. Geology 33(3):229–232. https://doi.org/10.1029/2003JF000086. (10.1002/esp.3507)
Henck AC, Huntington KW, Stone JO, Montgomery DR, Hallet B (2011) Spatial controls on erosion in the Three Rivers region, southeastern Tibet and southwestern China. Earth Planet Sci Lett 303(1–2):71–83. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2010.12.038
Jaiswara NK, Kotluri SK, Pandey AK, Pandey P (2019) Transient basin as indicator of tectonic expressions in bedrock landscape: approach based on MATLAB geomorphic tool (Transient-profiler). Geomorphology 346:106853. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2019.106853
Ji T, Zheng W, Yang J, Zhang D, Liang S, Li Y, Liu T, Zhou H, Feng C (2022) Tectonic significances of the geomorphic evolution in the Southern Alashan block to the outward expansion of the Northeastern Tibetan Plateau. Remote Sens 14:6269. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14246269
Johnson K, Nissen E, Saripalli S, Arrowsmith JR, McGarey P, Scharer K, Williams P, Blisniuk K (2014) Rapid map** of ultrafine fault zone topography with structure from motion. Geosphere 10(5):969–986. https://doi.org/10.1130/GES01017.1
Lave J, Avouac JP (2000) Active folding of fluvial terraces across the Siwaliks Hills, Himalayas of central Nepal. J Geophys Res Solid Earth 105(B3):5735–5770. https://doi.org/10.1029/1999JB900292
Leopold LB, Maddock T (1953) The Hydraulic Geometry of Stream Channels and Some Physiographic Implications. U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 252, 57 pp.
Liu C, Shi B, Zhou J, Tang C (2011) Quantification and characterization of microporosity by image processing, geometric measurement and statistical methods: application on SEM images of clay materials. Appl Clay Sci 54(1):97–106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clay.2011.07.022
Liu Z, Zhou S, Yu H, Zhang W, Guo F, Chen X, Guo J (2022) Quantitative analysis of tectonic geomorphology research based on web of science from 1981 to 2021. Remote Sens 14:5227. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14205227
Luo JC (2016) Deformation and research activities in eastern Tibet Markam Zhuka fault [in Chinese]. Unpublished Master’s thesis, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu, China, p 69
Manning R (1891) On the flow of water in open channels and pipes. Inst Civil Eng Ireland Trans 20:161–207
Menze BH, Ur JA (2012) Map** patterns of long-term settlement in northern Mesopotamia at a large scale. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 109(14):E778–E787. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1115472109
Montgomery DR, Gran KB (2001) Downstream variations in the width of bedrock channels. Water Resour Res 37(6):1841–1846. https://doi.org/10.1029/2000WR900393
Schwanghart W, Scherler D (2014) Short communication: TopoToolbox 2—MATLAB-based software for topographic analysis and modeling in Earth surface sciences. Earth Surf Dyn 2(1):1–7. https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-2-1-2014
Snow RS, Slingerland RL (1987) Mathematical modelling of graded river profiles. J Geol 95:15–33. https://doi.org/10.1086/629104
Snyder NP, Whipple KX, Tucker GE, Merritts DJ (2000) Landscape response to tectonic forcing: digital elevation model analysis of stream profiles in the Mendocino triple junction region, northern California. Geol Soc Am Bull 112:1250–1263. https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(2000)112
Sun JJ, Frattini P, Wang XL, Blasio FVD, Lanfranconi C, Jiao QS, Sala J, Liao XH, Crosta GB (2023) Deposit comminution in a weak variably-cemented breccia rock avalanche. Eng Geol 326:107331. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enggeo.2023.107331
Val P, Silva C, Harbor D, Morales N, Amaral F, Maia T (2014) Erosion of an active fault scarp leads to drainage capture in the Amazon region, Brazil. Earth Surf Process Landforms 39:1062–1074. https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.3507
Wang X, Liu H, Sun J (2021) A new approach for identification of potential rockfall source areas controlled by rock mass strength at a regional scale. Remote Sens 13(5):938. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13050938
Wang X, Clague JJ, Frattini P, Qi S, Lan H, Zhang W, Crosta GB, Zhang W (2024) Effect of short-term, climate-driven sediment deposition on tectonically controlled alluvial channel incision. Geology 52(1):17–21. https://doi.org/10.1130/G51671.1
Whipple KX (2004) Bedrock rivers and the geomorphology of active orogens. Annu Rev Earth Planet Sci 32(1):151–185. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.earth.32.101802.120356
Whittaker AC, Cowie PA, Attal M, Tucker GE, Roberts GP (2007) Bedrock channel adjustment to tectonic forcing: Implications for predicting river incision rates. Geology 35(2):103–106. https://doi.org/10.1130/G23106A.1
Wobus C, Whipple KX, Kirby E, Snyder N, Johnson J, Spyropolou K, Crosby B, Sheehan D (2006a) Tectonics from topography: Procedures, promise, and pitfalls. In: Willett SD, Hovius N, Brandon MT, Fisher DM (eds) Tectonics, climate, and landscape evolution. Geological Society of America Special Paper 398. https://doi.org/10.1130/2006.2398(04)
Wobus CW, Tucker GE, Anderson RS (2006b) Self-formed bedrock channels. Geophys Res Lett. https://doi.org/10.1029/2006GL027182
Zhang J, Yang H, Liu-Zeng J, Ge Y, Wang W, Yao W, Xu S (2021) Reconstructing the incision of the Lancang River (Upper Mekong) in southeastern Tibet below its prominent knickzone using fluvial terraces and transient tributary profiles. Geomorphology 376(5–6):107551. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2020.107551
Acknowledgements
We gratefully appreciate the critical comments and corrections of the anonymous reviewers and editors, which improved the quality of this paper.
Funding
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 42172304 and 42177146), and the Science and the Key Research and Development Plan of Yunnan Province (Grant No. 202103AA080013).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
XW: Conceptualization, methodology, formal analysis, writing—original draft preparation; SL: Writing—review and editing; ZL: Writing—review and editing; JS: Formal analysis and visualization; WF: Fieldwork and data collection; JW: Fieldwork and data collection. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Wang, X., Liu, S., Li, Z. et al. Implication of alluvial valley width-to-depth ratio on the effect of rock uplift. Environ Earth Sci 83, 409 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-024-11714-y
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-024-11714-y