Nonlinearity and unsteadiness in river meandering : a review of progress in theory and modelling

Auteur(s) et Affiliation(s)



Description :
In this paper the AA. wish to assess recent progress in addressing the issue of nonlinearity and present an attempt to investigate some of the features of the process brought up by unsteadiness. They attempt to set up a fairly general framework. Hence they first derive a classification of river bends based on a systematic assessment of the various physical mechanisms affecting their morphodynamic equilibrium and their evolution in response to variations of hydrodynamic forcing. They then review some recent developments which allow to treat analytically the flow and bed topography of mildly curved and long nonlinear bends subject to steady forcing, taking advantage of the fact that flow and bed topography in mildly curved long bends are slowly varying. In conclusion, they discuss how the present assessment relates to the debate on meander modelling of the late 1980s and suggest promising lines of future developments.


Type de document :
Article de périodique

Source :
Earth surface processes and landforms, issn : 0197-9337, 2011, vol. 36, n°. 1, p. 20-38, nombre de pages : 19, Références bibliographiques : 45 ref.

Date :
2011

Editeur :
Pays édition : Royaume-Uni, Chichester, Wiley