COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: Avulsion, Anastomosis, and Floodplain Sedimentation in Meandering Fluvial Systems

9303851斯林格兰这项研究将研究撕裂作用的过程，即从现有河道永久引流，以及撕裂作用在河流泛滥平原和冲积沉积演变中的作用。这种方法将是协作的，重点是数学模型实验，以及现代和近现代的河流泛滥平原。该项目将试图解决诸如撕裂的原因、撕裂在洪水流域中启动和传播的过程、滩地随后对撕裂的反应方式以及撕裂对滩地沉积性质的影响等问题。由于撕裂作用是泛滥平原堆积的必然结果，它可能在冲积沉积层序的演化中起着至关重要的作用，但迄今未被认识到，因为它可能是一个主要的沉积过程，而不仅仅是一种废弃旧河道而形成新河道的机制。如果正确理解，撕裂可能需要改变我们看待曲流带的起源和作用的方式，撕裂与漫滩洪水的相对重要性，以及泛滥平原沉积的产生方式。

9303851 Slingerland This study will investigate the processes of avulsion, i.e., the permanent diversion of flow away from an existing river channel, and the role of avulsion in the evolution of river floodplains and alluvial sedimentary deposits. The approach will be collaborative, focusing on mathematical modelling experiments, and modern and near-modern river floodplains. The project will attempt to address such questions as the causes of avulsion, the processes by which avulsions initiate and propagate through flood basins, the manner in which floodplains subsequently react to avulsion, and the effects of avulsion on the character of floodplain deposits. Because avulsion is an inevitable consequence of floodplain aggradation, it may play a vital, and heretofore underappreciated, role int he evolution of alluvial sedimentary sequences because it is likely to be a major process of deposition instead of merely a mechanism by which old channels are abandoned and new ones formed. When properly understood, avulsions may require modifications in the way we view the origin and role of meander belts, the relative importance of avulsive vs overbank flooding, and the manners in which floodplain deposits are generated.