BR_A01.qxd 08/06/2006 16:03 Page i BRAIDED RIVERS BR_A01.qxd 08/06/2006 16:03 Page ii Other publications of the International Association of Sedimentologists SPECIAL PUBLICATIONS 25 Reefs and Carbonate Platforms in the Pacific and Indian Oceans 35 Fluvial Sedimentology VII Edited by G.F. Camoin and P.J. Davies Edited by M.D. Blum, S.B. Marriott and 1998, 336 pages, 170 illustrations S.F. Leclair 24 Tidal Signatures in Modern and Ancient 2005, 589 pages, 319 illustrations Sediments 34 Clay Mineral Cements in Sandstones Edited by B.W. Flemming and A. Bartholomä Edited by R.H. Worden and S. Morad 1995, 368 pages, 259 illustrations 2003, 512 pages, 246 illustrations 23 Carbonate Mud-mounds 33 Precambrian Sedimentary Environments Their Origin and Evolution A Modern Approach to Ancient Depositional Edited by C.L.V. Monty, D.W.J. Bosence, P.H. Systems Bridges and B.R. Pratt Edited by W. Altermann and P.L. Corcoran 1995, 543 pages, 330 illustrations 2002, 464 pages, 194 illustrations 3 The Seaward Margin of Belize Barrier and 32 Flood and Megaflood Processes and Deposits Atoll Reefs Recent and Ancient Examples Edited by N.P. James and R.N. Ginsburg Edited by I.P. Martini, V.R. Baker and G. Garzón 1980, 203 pages, 110 illustrations 2002, 320 pages, 281 illustrations 1 Pelagic Sediments on Land and Under the Sea 31 Particulate Gravity Currents Edited by K.J. Hsu and H.C. Jenkyns Edited by W.D. McCaffrey, B.C. Kneller and 1975, 448 pages, 200 illustrations J. Peakall 2001, 320 pages, 222 illustrations REPRINT SERIES 30 Volcaniclastic Sedimentation in Lacustrine 4 Sandstone Diagenesis: Recent and Ancient Settings Edited by S.D. Burley and R.H. Worden Edited by J.D.L. White and N.R. Riggs 2003, 648 pages, 223 illustrations 2001, 312 pages, 155 illustrations 29 Quartz Cementation in Sandstones FIELD GUIDE SERIES Edited by R.H. Worden and S. Morad 2000, 352 pages, 231 illustrations 1 A Field Guide to the Neogene Sedimentary 28 Fluvial Sedimentology VI Basins of the Almeria Province, SE Spain Edited by N.D. Smith and J. Rogers Edited by A.E. Mather, J.M. Martin, 1999, 328 pages, 280 illustrations A.M. Harvey and J.C. Braga 26 Carbonate Cementation in Sandstones 2001, 368 pages, 170 illustrations Edited by S. Morad 1998, 576 pages, 297 illustrations BR_A01.qxd 08/06/2006 16:03 Page iii SPECIAL PUBLICATION NUMBER 36 OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF SEDIMENTOLOGISTS Braided Rivers: Process, Deposits, Ecology and Management EDITED BY Gregory H. Sambrook Smith, James L. Best, Charlie S. Bristow and Geoff E. Petts SERIES EDITOR Ian Jarvis School of Earth Sciences and Geography Centre for Earth and Environmental Science Research Kingston University Penrhyn Road Kingston-upon-Thames KT1 2EE UK The second international conference on Braided Rivers was supported by the following sponsors, to whom we are extremely grateful: International Association of Sedimentologists British Sedimentological Research Group British Geomorphological Research Group BP BR_A01.qxd 08/06/2006 16:03 Page iv © 2006 International Association of Sedimentologists and published for them by Blackwell Publishing Ltd BLACKWELL PUBLISHING 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148-5020, USA 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK 550 Swanston Street, Carlton, Victoria 3053, Australia The right of Gregory H. Sambrook Smith, James L. Best, Charlie S. Bristow and Geoff E. Petts to be identified as the Authors of the Editorial Material in this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988, without the prior permission of the publisher. First published 2006 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd 1 2006 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Braided rivers : process, deposits, ecology and management / edited by Gregory H. Sambrook Smith...[et al.]. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-1-4051-5121-4 (pbk. : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 1-4051-5121-8 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Braided rivers. I. Sambrook Smith, Gregory H. GB1205.B67 2006 333.91′62—dc22 2005034253 A catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library. Set in 10.5/12.5 pt Palatino by Graphicraft Limited, Hong Kong Printed and bound in Singapore by Fabulous Printers Pte Ltd. The publisher’s policy is to use permanent paper from mills that operate a sustainable forestry policy, and which has been manufactured from pulp processed using acid-free and elementary chlorine-free practices. Furthermore, the publisher ensures that the text paper and cover board used have met acceptable environmental accreditation standards. For further information on Blackwell Publishing, visit our website: www.blackwellpublishing.com BR_A01.qxd 08/06/2006 16:03 Page v Contents Acknowledgements, vi Morphological analysis and prediction of river bifurcations, 233 Braided rivers: where have we come in Guido Zolezzi, Walter Bertoldi and Marco Tubino 10 years? Progress and future needs, 1 Greg Sambrook Smith, Jim Best, Charlie Bristow Braided river management: from assessment and Geoff Petts of river behaviour to improved sustainable development, 257 Depositional models of braided rivers, 11 Hervé Piégay, Gordon Grant, Futoshi Nakamura John S. Bridge and Ian A. Lunt and Noel Trustrum A sedimentological model to characterize Bank protection and river training along braided river deposits for hydrogeological the braided Brahmaputra–Jamuna River, applications, 51 Bangladesh, 277 Peter Huggenberger and Christian Regli Erik Mosselman Scaling and hierarchy in braided rivers and Morphological response of the their deposits: examples and implications for Brahmaputra–Padma–Lower Meghna river reservoir modelling, 75 system to the Assam earthquake of 1950, 289 Sean Kelly Maminul Haque Sarker and Colin R. Thorne Approaching the system-scale understanding Use of remote-sensing with two-dimensional of braided river behaviour, 107 hydrodynamic models to assess impacts of Stuart N. Lane hydro-operations on a large, braided, gravel-bed Cellular modelling of braided river form and river: Waitaki River, New Zealand, 311 process, 137 D. Murray Hicks, U. Shankar, M.J. Duncan, A.P. Nicholas, R. Thomas and T.A. Quine M. Rebuffé and J. Aberle Numerical modelling of alternate bars in shallow Effects of human impact on braided river channels, 153 morphology: examples from northern Italy, 327 A. Bernini, V. Caleffi and A. Valiani Nicola Surian Methods for assessing exploratory computational Ecology of braided rivers, 339 models of braided rivers, 177 Klement Tockner, Achim Paetzold, Ute Karaus, Andrea B. Doeschl, Peter E. Ashmore and Cécile Claret and Jürg Zettel Matt Davison Riparian tree establishment on gravel bars: Bed load transport in braided gravel-bed interactions between plant growth strategy rivers, 199 and the physical environment, 361 Christian Marti and Gian Reto Bezzola Robert A. Francis, Angela M. Gurnell, Geoffrey E. Petts and Peter J. Edwards Sediment transport in a microscale braided stream: from grain size to reach scale, 217 Index, 381 P. Meunier and F. Métivier BR_A01.qxd 08/06/2006 16:03 Page vi Acknowledgements We would like to thank the following reviewers: Jacoby, B. Jones, M.G. Kleinhans, S.N. Lane, I.A. P.E. Ashmore, P.J. Ashworth, N. Asselman, P.A. Lunt, F.J. Magilligan, C. Marti, B.W. McArdell, Carling, F. Cioffi, P. Conaghan, T.J. Coulthard, R.I. D. Moreton, E. Mosselman, A.B. Murray, A.P. Ferguson, C.R. Fielding, R.A. Francis, A. Gardiner, Nicholas, C. Paola, J.D. Phillips, J.M. Pugh, M. A.J.G. Gerrard, D.J. Gilvear, H.-P. Hack, T.B. Hoey, Sterling, R.E. Thomas, B.R. Turner, J. West and J. Hooke, P. Huggenberger, F.M.R. Hughes, D.L. D. Whited. BR_C01.qxd 08/06/2006 16:06 Page 1 Braided rivers: where have we come in 10 years? Progress and future needs GREG SAMBROOK SMITH*, JIM BEST†, CHARLIE BRISTOW‡ and GEOFF PETTS* *School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK (Email: [email protected]) †Earth and Biosphere Institute, School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK ‡Research School of Geological and Geophysical Sciences, Birkbeck College and University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK INTRODUCTION required. The topics identified are not, of course, exhaustive, but reflect the flavour of discussions at In 1992, the first conference on Braided Rivers was the second conference, and hopefully will serve as held at the Geological Society of London (Best & a backdrop to the contributions that follow. Bristow, 1993). It sought to bring together a wide range of practitioners, primarily sedimentologists, geomorphologists and engineers, to review the DYNAMICS state-of-the-art in research, and discuss common problems and future research directions. At the time It is fair to say that study of the dynamics of of the first conference, considerable effort had been braided rivers has been revolutionized in the past devoted to the investigation of single-channel decade, largely through the development of new meandering channels, as well as more generic techniques for measuring flow and bed morpho- considerations of coarse-grained rivers, as cham- logy. Three broad techniques can be highlighted pioned by the benchmark series of gravel-bed as having produced significant results and hold rivers conferences that had begun in the 1980s. huge future promise: However, with the backdrop of the onset of man- agement plans for one of the world’s greatest 1 flow quantification using acoustic Doppler current braided rivers, the Brahmaputra–Jamuna (see profiling (ADCP); Mosselman, this volume, pp. 277–288 and Sarker 2 direct measurement of bed morphology using & Thorne, this volume, pp.