Cycles of aggradation and degradation in gravel-bed rivers mediated by sediment storage and morphologic evolution

Abstract It has been observed that the relation between sediment storage and sediment transport rate in gravel-bed rivers exhibits counter-clockwise hysteresis, or aggradation-degradation cycles. Previous work has attributed these cycles to external changes to the sediment supply rate. We present a set of nine flume experiments that test the hypothesis that aggradation-degradation cycles can occur even under steady sediment supply conditions when the sediment transport rate temporarily nears the sediment supply rate. The experiments are designed to examine the transport-storage relations under a range of conditions with different initial bed condition, sediment supply rate, discharge, and supply material texture. The sediment transport efficiency of the experimental channel was strongly influenced by the existing bed morphology inherited from historical flows. The discharge and grain size distribution of the supply material played a secondary role, with higher discharge conditions and finer sediment feed material producing increased transport efficiencies. The transport-storage relations revealed that the transport rate of the channel changed with the volume of sediment stored and was, therefore, mediated by the channel morphology. Aggradation-degradation cycles were observed even under steady sediment supply and discharge conditions and were mediated by morphologic adjustments within the channel that temporarily led the transport rate to be near equal to the sediment supply rate. In other words, the probability of hysteresis in the transport-storage relation increases when the channel is near a transport equilibrium. The findings demonstrate the complexity associated with developing a unique relation between sediment transport and storage in gravel-bed rivers, and highlights the importance of considering the morphologic evolution and historical bed conditions.