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<br />0018j3 <br /> <br />fundamental to the discipline of fluvial geomorphology' as recorded by Leopold. Wolman. and <br />Miller (1964), Schumm (1977), Dunne and Leopold (1978), Richards (1982), and Leopold <br />(1994). The adjustment of the channel size to the volume of through-flowing water was well- <br />established by Leopold and Maddock (1953) in their concept of the hydraulic geometry of <br />streams. Typically, the size of streams and rivers increases in the downstream direction such that <br />there is a relationship between drainage area at a given location and many channel size and <br />streamflow parameters. Even so, the size of the stream channel is more directly related to <br />discharge than drainage area (Emmett, 1975). For illustrative purposes, several of these <br />relationships between flow and channel geometry are shown for the claim sites in the Snake <br />River system (Figure 15). <br /> <br />A variety of observations suppon the generalization that alluvial channels are both <br />adjustable and, over time, establish channel sizes and forms consonant with the flow and <br />sediments available to them. In a given river reach, or length of stream, repeated measurements <br />of cross sections of a channel reveal maintenance of the channel form as the river migrates across <br />the valley floor (Leopold and Wolman, 1960). Similarly, observations of channel width <br />following a period of high flood flows, show an increase in width and subsequent narrowing <br />following a period of average or more normal annual flows (Wolman and Gerson, 1978;' <br />Osterkamp and Costa, 1987). <br /> <br />The influence of materials comprising the banks of the river channel on channel size and <br />shape is illustrated by a set of gravel-bed rivers in the Colorado River basin (Andrews, 1984). <br />Channel width increases as discharge at the bankfull-stage increases in channels with gravel <br />boundaries. At the same time, for a given discharge, channels with vegetated banks, as opposed <br />to those without, are narrower. Similar influences of bank material on channel form in rivers <br />carrying sand and silt have been described by Schumm (1960). <br /> <br />It is commonly observed that many, if not most, alluvial rivers are subject to episodic <br />floods. That is, the flow ovenops the river banks and spills over the adjacent lands. Floodplains <br />are formed by lateral movement of the channel and deposition of bars and by vertical accretion <br />resulting from deposition of sediment by floods. To the extent that the adjacent land is the <br />product of deposition by the existing river it is, by definition, a floodplain. The floodplain <br />therefore is a flat area adjacent to the channel constructed by the river in the present hydrologic <br />regimen. Deposits and surfaces other than the floodplain may exist on the valley floor. If they <br />are alluvial, that is riverine in origin, they may constitute terraces (topographic surfaces) or <br />terrace deposits laid down by the river under a different and earlier hydrologic regimen. <br />Although there is some evidence to suggest that the bankfull stage, Le., height of the floodplain, <br />in many rivers corresponds to a discharge of constant frequency, for example every I to 2 years <br />(Wolman and Leopold, 1957; Nixon, 1959; Emmett, 1975), variability is encountered among <br />river sites in a given region and in different regions (Williams, 1978). Similarly, in some rivers <br />there is a close correspondence between flows during which much of the annual sediment load is <br /> <br />, Fluvial refers to of, or pertaining to, rivers; produced by river action. <br />Geomorphology refers to that branch of both physiography and geology which deals with the form of the <br />earth, the general configuration of its surface, and the changes that take place in the evolution of <br />landforms. <br />United States' Expert Report Disclosing Methodologies for Quantification of Organic Ad Claims Consolidated Subcase No. 63-25243 <br /> <br />13 <br />